Warrior of Light
mrsquishr
Chapter 7: Influence Spreads
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Slipping back through his bedroom window, just as the first rays of sunlight began to illuminate the morning, Lucien was satisfied with the night. The vampire he hunted down had been rather forthcoming with answers, and he was now privy to the happenings of the more mystical side of the world.
Apparently, within the last five or so years, some kind of war had sparked off and consumed a large part of the eastern seaboard of the United States; though it had wound down and the fighting had lulled in recent times. Still, he now had a contact inside of the supernatural community and planned to make good use of it.
Though apparently young for a vampire the creature had lived for almost a century, developing connections that Lucien intended to make use of. Simple fear of him wouldn’t let him achieve this though, and he had to create a more tangible incentive to help him.
In the vast library of techniques, he had acquired over the years, there existed some tailored for those with Darker allegiances. Lucien couldn’t make use of these personally, saturated with Light as he was, but the vampire would be perfectly suited to them.
He couldn’t just give that kind of power to something that would probably try and kill him with it the second he let down his guard of course; he had to manufacture a kind of backdoor into anything he handed over. This is what he would spend the next couple of weeks working on, delving into the secrets of the Dark Lords of his old world.
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The differences between the Light and the Dark were many but, in the end, they all came back to the methods that granted them their power. Give, and take.
Those of the Light embarked on the path of Sacrifice of the Self, suffering burning agony for years and mutilating their own flesh in return for another step towards ascension. They tended to trend towards flashy displays of overwhelming power, burning rays of Light scorching the land and blasts of force that could bring the end of entire cities. Only those who possessed the single-minded determination to press through the pain could proceed; and practitioners tended to either fall in battle or were driven insane from the pain that the Light could bring upon an unprepared form.
The Dark was incomparable to these methods, though not any weaker for it, and existed as an almost perfect foil to the unbearable heat of the Light. It was cool, it was calming, and it was easy to lose yourself in; sinking into its embrace if you delved a little too deeply. Practitioners of the Dark did not sacrifice themselves for power but rather others, offering them up in foul rituals that granted them unholy strength. This was a path that emphasized subtlety, rewarding those who could plan the downfall of whole cities with unfathomable power, pulling the strings from behind the curtain. The mental corruption from giving yourself to the Dark was the downfall of the powerful, and those without the strength of self to resist became uncaring forces of nature that consumed all around them.
The vampire was a perfect example of one of the methods of channeling the Dark, consuming the lifeblood of their victims and feeding the shard of Dark that they held in their heart. Only with the complete destruction of the head or heart could they be destroyed, and they possessed a horribly effective regenerative ability, fueled by their stolen power.
Their long lives allowed them to plan grand rituals on the scale of entire capitals; and they were the most consistent of the Dark Lords; you could always count on one of them popping up at the most inconvenient of times.
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Lucien had killed his fair share of the creatures, burning through their armies of thralls and blood fiends before leveling their towering castles, and had recovered some measure of the knowledge they hoarded in their vaults. At the time he used this to better combat the twisted creatures but would now put them to work in a different way.
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He started with a technique used to amplify physical abilities, by pulling them from victims along with their blood, and build off it with another intended to control thralls that were sired by a different master. Linking them together with a ritual intended to grant a small boost in power, he was ready to create his first ally.
He would need to the ritual for the binding and bower boost, setting it up by where they had met last. He would also need to show the vampire how to drain attributes from its victims and write out a set of comprehensive instructions for it. This involved carving symbols over the parts of the body that one wanted to draw from before cutting the throat of the poor person, draining the blood away, and consuming the marked parts.
A rather distasteful method to gain power in Lucien’s opinion, and he intended to hand it over with the condition that it only be used on those who had hurt others instead of innocents. The thrall binding would ensure this compulsion would hold, along with one ensuring loyalty towards himself, and make it so he wasn’t releasing a ritually enhanced monster on the unsuspecting communities nearby.
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Lucien and his vampire compatriot would meet in the same warehouse district in the beginning of January, and a light snowfall had started up while they talked in the shadows of a building. Lucien was not overly concerned with the cold weather, as it soothed the burning Light inside of him, and so was not wearing anything more than a t-shirt and shorts. It was quite the contrast to the vampire across from him, bundled up as it was in high quality winter gear to preserve whatever warmth it could.
Standing here, looking at the thing across from him he almost couldn’t tell it was anything other than a rather pale man in his 40’s, and the pulsing shard of Dark in his chest was the only giveaway.
“What happened to the terrifying predator of the night that I met earlier?” he asked the man, a humorous lilt to his voice.
“Well, I have to blend in somehow,” it responded while shivering slightly at a gust of cool air, “and if I don’t draw to heavily on my powers then I look like this.”
Lucien nodded and rubbed his bare chin thoughtfully. “Alright, you know what we’re here for. I’ve got it all set up inside, let’s get this over with and then you can go get warm.”
With a new sense of urgency, the vampire followed him into a nearby warehouse a large area in the middle drawing its attention.
“That’s it?” It asked, “a circle of blood and a couple candles?”
“No, not quite,” he responded and reached towards the thing. “Did you bring what I asked for?”
The vampire pulled a small bag out of its pocket at the prompting and dumped it into Lucien’s outstretch hand, a dozen small gems falling into his palm.
“It’s all about sacrifice, be it money or blood, and these will serve as the ritual primer.” Lucien instructed, placing them at the base of the candles surrounding the circle.
“Come, stand inside and we’ll get started.”
The vampire stepped uneasily into the circle, glancing at the boy standing just outside of it. “Okay, now what?”
With a flex of willpower all the candles lit with a whoosh, and the gems began to glow in the firelight.
Biting off the tip of his thumb, Lucien held the Light back from instantly healing the wound and reached up towards the vampire’s forehead.
“Err. Can you lean down a little?” He couldn’t quite reach high enough and was left standing on his tippy toes in front of the creature.
With a grin now plastered on its face, it squatted slightly so he could reach, and Lucien traced a symbol with his blood on the skin. This is what would serve to link the two together, ensuring he could not be betrayed.
Stepping back, he observed his handiwork with a careful eye, then raised both palms towards the circle. Channeling a pulse of Light into it a glow surrounded the vampire, and the circle on its face likewise lit up. With a rapid series of cracks, the gems shattered, and all the candles went out.
Lucien dropped his hands and stepped back, giving his new minion time to breathe. He could feel it when he closed his eyes now, almost like another limb, started to focus on the subservience he wanted the vampire to feel.
Shooting it a quick grin, he asked “how do you feel now?”
As it stood to its full height, the creature looked over his hands with disbelief. “It worked? I feel powerful, there is new strength running through my veins!”
Looking up at Lucien with a new sense of awe, it bowed to him. “Thank you, master, your new servant will make sure to repay this generosity.”
Pleased with this response, Lucien handed over the instructions for the attribute theft technique with explicit instruction on who to use it on; as well as ensuring his servant wouldn’t be able to spread it around without permission.
The vampire turned to leave, before stopping the looking back at him. “One last thing master, what is your name?”
“You can call me Helel.”
