The Sons of Dracule

Birth of a Legion

Chapter 2: The Test

Dracule awoke to find himself floating through space being carried towards an unfamiliar galaxy.  He gazed around at the numerous worlds before him and froze in awe at the enormity of space. 

He wondered to himself if this could be the vampire afterlife he had read of in the books of the ancients but this seemed far departed from the empty planes they had depicted.

Continuing aimlessly through the open galaxy the supposedly dead Vampire passed planet after planet, each more demonic and tainted with corruption then the last,  but, despite his confusion, he was under no misconceptions of where he was being lead.

The Eye of Terror gazed outwards before him, some distance away but still immense compared to its surrounding planets.  The aura around it a medley of colour howling out a chorus of unfathomable chatters as it flickered in and out of physical reality.

Whether a short lived detour from his eternal end or merely a dream Dracule was fully aware that this confrontation was no accident.  He had wished for an audience with Chaos in the instance of his demise and for whatever malevolent reason Chaos had chosen to acknowledge him.   

”I DEFY YOU  FALSE GODS!

In the vicinity of the eye Dracule felt that his mind would shatter as the daemonic voices and apocalyptic visions spewed forth.  The swirling mists of chaotic elements that suspended his body in space seemed to writhe around as if each part were alive.  They danced randomly through the empty void at the eyes centre and spiraled around him.

The lack of response was of no surprise and nor was it a deterrent from Dracule's rage. 

“I know what you are…  Reveal yourself to me now and I will spare you when my time comes.”

It was then that it decided to utter its response.

“Such ignorance Dracule.  You title us false gods despite knowing so much of the old world? do you still believe that you are some kind of 'saviour' of the vampire race?  That you ‘the great devourer’ will return, your almost extinct, species to a place of power?”

“…”

“Your delusions mean nothing to us little vampire... You are merely a tool of our own choosing.”

The swirls of chaotic energies became more vigorous, as they swept around and through Dracule’s seemingly weightless body, penetrating his blackened soul and tearing at his very essence while the booming voice continued from within the vortex of the eye.

“You have no concept of what we truly are or that which we are capable of.  You are a fool to believe that you have any greater knowledge or purpose…  You seek nothing more then to feed."

Dracule considered this entity no more a god then heconsidered himself and yet it persisted in trying to misdirect him from the truth.  He spat his reply back at it without hesitation while teetering on what felt like the edge of existence.

“It is true that my thirst for blood is unquenchable but so to is your hunger for souls daemon god.  After all that is why you disregard my race isn’t it?  Because our souls, much like the Emperor’s, are not obtainable to you”.  

“DEFIANT WORM! You dare to assume that you are even capable of perceiving the true nature of Chaos?  To view us as but a single entity is stupidity on your part considering the length of your pitiful life…  Perhaps we were mistaken in believing we had a purpose for you.”

The vampire stammered for a second, reluctant to abide by its will and equally unable to deny the futility of escape.  He cursed under his breath as if he considered for a second that his thoughts would not be heard.

“HAHAHAHA!  So you wish for an escape do you?  Well you do have a choice in the matter.  Either rebel against us and face eternity without rest from the daylight that remains so fatal to you or allow us to initiate a test to take place…  Should you pass you will be rewarded with not only the army but also the power you seek”.

It bellowed a deep thunderous cackle of laughter out into the void of space as the relentless swirls continued to whisper there piercing suggestions.  To think it would ask him to partake in its games as if he were some humble pawn.

“You act as if I could still be persuaded that you are a true deity…  ENOUGH OF THIS!  SLANNESH, KHORNE, MECHANICUS!  What other alias’ have you taken to since we last met fiend.”

“SILENCE!  There is a vast difference between what you believe to be true and that which is beyond the perception of your mind.  You have spoken for long enough and a decision must be made.”

As its words echoed into eternity, the mists of the eye began to shimmer a dark crimson and tightened around the desperate Vampire, crushing his body from the inside, and shrieking wildly all around him.  He gasped as his body seized up in a state of impotent paralysis and struggled to reply in the only way that seemed possible.

“I…  Urgh…  I Accept”

The very core of the eye seemed to swallow him up while his chaotic hosts echoed a chuckle after me.  He hurtled downwards, propelled by some unseen force and vanished into darkness.

Dracule quickly appeared in a dimly lit chamber that took on a medieval setting.  The night covered his distorted features in a shroud of darkness which aloud for only the faintest depiction of his current form and eyes gazed from all around as he scraped and pounded at the side of the arena wall desperate to escape the dull thud of footsteps that approached.

He turned shuddering as he faced the entrance to the chamber.  The darkness that shrouded him from the impatient onlookers was not as forgiving to his intended foe's facade as its grotesque form peered from the articulated hallway it had just traversed.  It snarled at Dracule’s direction with it’s sickeningly dripping mandibles twitching, not hindered by his opponents shadowy cover in the slightest as it sniffed the air.  It continued to etch towards the Vampire as it gripped the roof of the alcove with its huge clawed hand.  An almost human expression of glee fell upon its face while Its hot breathe created a smoky shroud from its faces finer detail.

“Heh heh heh This is a rare treat Dracule. To face one such as you is a long missed challenge”.

Dracule swung around to face the monstrosity, that now stood a mere few feet away from him, full on and narrowed his eyes to focus on its image.  The memory he received back from its telling eyes startled him with a fear not known since his brief life as a human.

“Kailesk…  Is that you?!”

“Ha ha ha ha. That was my name once but no more.  The daemonic entities at work in this place have twisted me over the years and now I am something akin to a god”

The beast, Dracule seemed to have once known, clambered forwards scrapping behind him a serrated clever shaped blade.  Though his form was hideously mutated, and covered in freakish palpitations of putrefied flesh, his eyes had not altered.  Dracule knew that either his journey to this forsaken wasteland had sent him insane or this was indeed his old comrade Kailesk. Once a ogre of a man he know towered well over 12 feet tall.

“You always were fraught with arrogance Kailesk but now you go as far as to claim a higher level of existence?  Our friendship was an age ago and whatever you have become it is not of my brethren”.

“Your Brethren?' Hmhmhm No something far improved.  I screamed and shrieked in agony as they tore at me for decades, resisting there taunts and mischievous torture, in the hope that our so called ‘saviour’ would restore us to our rightful place…  But now I serve as a worshipped champion of my very own arena rather then despair in wait for the likes of you.”

They both looked around at the hordes of black armour that surrounded them in the medieval setting.  The chains still hanging from the freakish form of Kailesk were a sure sign that in all his time here he had never been considered a guest.  The onlookers cheered and screamed around the outside of the arena, awaiting the battle they had set upon the stage to begin.

**********

Dracule winced in the morning sun as he tried to clear his vision and re-adjust his eyes. A stocky humanoid figure stood before him starring out to the sky above.

Picking himself up from the canyon floor Dracule began to walk over to the figure but a sudden realization flashed through his mind which sent him reeling back into the shadows. The sun which had been the most nightmarish of fears for all vampires for so long now seemed to hold no power over either man but Dracule was still reluctant to leave the moderate safety of the darkness.

"You needn't fear brother, the sun is no longer our enemy... A parting gift from our Chaotic hosts."

The previously unknown figure turned as his gruff voice offered a sense of reassurance in Dracule and his features became clear as belonging to his old friend Kailesk. The Warp energies, no longer holding him in a form of monstrosity, now allowed him to display an all too familiar face. He walked calmly up to his fellow vampire's position and, to Dracule's disbelief, knelt before him.

"I am your right hand my lord. To ask of me any task is to consider it already accomplished."

"What the hell do you think you are doing traitor? Not five minutes have passed since we were ready to kill eachother."

"All part of the test Old friend... To turn on ones brother is the true path of chaos and the warp is pleased by such displays of madness."

Dracule was amazed at the sudden change in his companion. He had felt the influence of the warp the entire time he was in proximity of it but had inwardly fought against it. Dracule wondered that if Kailesk had given into those influences could it really have caused such a change in him? A change that now free from the constraints of that hellish place he appeared to be free from.

Kailesk glanced up from his knelt position awaiting a response from his intended senior but Dracule was still in awe of the whole situation and remained silent and motionless.

"If you are unsure of how much trust you can place on someone who served chaos for so long my lord then you simply need to ask yourself what other choice you have... Look around you Dracule. Do you really hope to rebuild an army by yourself?"

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