The Book of Shadows
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The Monster
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The Eyes of the Beast
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The Legend
A major WiP.
Childhood Nightmare
Deep in the Siberian wilderness, Vulpes Räv was born sometime in the year 1300 to a family already suffering with 7 other children. Winters had been harsh, was across the great nation plagued all. Vulpes was a sickly child, and if not for the vile acts his parents committed, wouldn't have survived childhood.
"Where did Piotr go?" His favorite sister Illanya asked as 4 remaining children sat down for a supper of meat.
"He was taken to the orphanage, now eat your supper." His parents said, just like they said of the 2 others that went missing before such big meals.
By the time it was just Vulpes and Illanya left, the villagers had stormed the house and took their parents away; screaming obscenities at the cannibals, beheading them in the streets as the two siblings looked on in horror before they were taken to an orphanage -- of course, their siblings were nowhere to be found.
Vulpes went through a growth spurt in his early teens, already pushing well above 6 feet in height. Awkward and shy, the other kids teased and beat him up on a near daily basis. Illanya would always care for the boy and tend to his wounds, telling him they would escape this hell soon and make a life for themselves. They spoke of adventures, mansions, servants, anything to escape the nightmare they lived in of gruel, harsh beatings from the holy people that ran the orphanage and teasing.
As a blizzard raged one night, Vulpes found himself joined in bed by his sister. She had just grown into womanhood, and experienced the terror of bleeding for the first time. Scared, Vulpes held her and told her not to worry, he would keep her safe. it was then Father Grigori had found them in their embrace, saw the blood and assumed the worst.
"You do this in a house of God!? You are as sick as your parents were!" The holy man shouted as he beat the boy. Illanya rushed to stop the pot-bellied man.
"Please! Stop! You're killing him!"
"You're next, whore!" Father Grigori shoved the frail girl in anger, all of his strength causing her to back-peddle and with a loud crash, fall to the ground 3 floors below in a broken heap in the snow; neck broken.
Father Grigori merely laughed, and left Vulpes weeping in sorrow for his sister, his love.
Revenge came swift the next night. As Grigori slept in his private chambers, Vulpes entered his room and stood over the fat pig with a heavy, wooden cross in his hands. The canine made just enough noise to wake the holy man, and before Father Grigori could scream out, Vulpes smashed his head in with the cross. He continued to bludgeon him until there was nothing left but paste, blood and bone soaking the bed and the tattered clothing Vulpes wore.
When he left the room, nuns stood in shock -- hearing the noise. Vulpes pointed to them,
"Tonight, you will all die."
He kept his word. He stalked through the stone corridors, killing one by one, with his bare hands. When the night ended, Vulpes had torched the orphanage, standing in the snow barefoot as screams of children echoed into the night air.
Somewhere, deep in the forest surrounding the orphanage; an animal howled.
Adult Death
Vulpes joined the army, and with a mind for tactics and unmatched brutality, quickly rose in the ranks of his homeland and had developed a reputation for his ruthlessness. His enemies and allies alike called him "The Butcher", a name he took pride in. It was not long before he had an army of his own, a General. Gone was the awkwardness of youth and the malnutrition of the orphanage. He stood over 7 feet tall, towering over those his sword would cleave into. Wherever they invaded, The Butcher left signs -- heads on pikes adorned the lands of those he cut down, and women left broken when his army ravaged them.
Children wept.
Unlike those that wore medals honoring their so-called bravery in battle, Vulpes stormed in alongside his men, not content to be on the side lines, he needed to be the first to draw blood to claim victory. In this hubris would be his downfall.
His keepers believed Vulpes to be staging an uprising due to his rise in rank and power; and with gold passing through diplomatic hands, Vulpes would be betrayed by his own men as they readied for battle. His army and that of another swept down upon him -- those that remained loyal to The Butcher fought at his side as blood spilled. 127 men were personally slain by Vulpes in the 2 days of battle before he was finally cut down, heart pierced, wounds gushing crimson. He fell into the mud, sword still in hand; a warrior to the end.
Then came Death. Twas not merely an ideal -- the actual specter of Death rode upon a skeletal steed into the battle field as men screamed in terror and fled, others dropping dead from fright where they stood.
In his life, Vulpes had taken the lives of over a thousand men, women and children -- Death was jealous and would take this one personally. The Grim Reaper dismounted and loomed over The Butcher, dark cowl hiding his grin.
"No one escapes death, Vulpes Räv; no matter how many times you kill to hold back the hands of time; I will only be staved for so long."
And Death reached down to the canine to take his soul -- but instead his skeletal hand was severed from his wrist as Vulpes swung his blade.
"Never!" The Butcher was defiant, even on the cusp of the afterlife he stood to his feet, his own blood pooled around him. "The Grim Reaper does not deserve my soul for he has become too lazy and left most of his work to me!"
Death hissed and spat, drawing its scythe from black robes -- but not quick enough. The last drop of blood in Vulpes would pump through his veins, and The Butcher swung his blade for one last time; decapitating the specter.
Something howled again...
...Vulpes Räv died.
Rebirth in Blood
"Do you want to live. Vulpes Räv?" A voice asked Vulpes in the dark.
"Who speaks to me?" He questioned, unable to see anything but black.
"As you have slain Death, so you shall become him. My avatar. I will give you powers beyond imagination, Vulpes Räv."
"And what sort of repayment is required of me for these so-called powers?"
"You shall father a daughter, and through her shall come the end of the world. A clean slate, a chance to begin again. Mankind is sick, Vulpes Räv; you are proof of this. You now have a chance to be something more than a General, you will become a god."
"Are you God?" Vulpes asked. "Or can I kill you just as I did Death?"
"You can try, but you would surely fail."
Vulpes then felt intense pain, tearing at his entire body -- his soul. Pain that would last for an eternity, it made him scream out, beg for it to end. The voice offered a way out of it.
"Do you accept? Bring forth a daughter of your own blood, build a house in her name and fill it with the souls of six-hundred-sixty-six beings and you shall live forever! You will control the world and have unlimited power! Do you accept!?"
"I will be no slave to any man, beast or God!" He felt as though the pain was literally splitting what remained of his soul into a thousand pieces, but he was defiant to the end.
"ACCEPT!" The voice demanded.
"I...accept..." The Butcher finally gave in and the pain stopped.
"Somehow, I thought you would see it my way." The voice mocked him. "You shall rise again, Vulpes Räv, as me. With knowledge that spans all of time and the universe. You will br stronger than any man alive, immortal, the thing that all mankind fears -- you will be, the END."
And so, through the centuries he existed, and within in himself he made his temple to his future daughter: Hell House. In it he kept those he murdered for his task; a select few beings added to the collection that were deemed worthy to exist in the ichor.
His task of fathering a daughter was not as successful. Dozens of infant males would be slain before the eyes of the women he lay with before tearing out their throats; his seed only wanted to bring forth a successor in his image; but not of his destiny. Not until many centuries later, when man became less afraid of its shadow and more inclined to scientific thought and invention.
The 1800s saw the birth of his daughter, his love: Devina.
Child of Prophecy
"Show me again!" Little Devina, born of Vulpes' blood but never knowing her true father. "Make a wolf this time!"
The union between her mother and him was not one would call beautiful or even willing, but she bore Vulpes a daughter. He had left her for a time, he could not raise her -- he had plans to put in motion, souls to capture and an army to build.
After she was born, her mother told her that Vulpes was merely a soldier that had gone off to war; but Vulpes made sure to check in on her from time to time. It shocked him how much she bore a resemblance to Illanya. Little Devina was 8 when he visited her this time, appearing as a homeless beggar with tricks of shadows to create animal puppets. Little girl had no idea that the ichor that created these animals was as real as she -- one of his many gifts bestowed upon him.
To be continued...
