The Making of Vampires Ch. 01

Gabriel reached into his pouch to remove a small amount of masonry dust. He blew it at the enemy. The enemy soldiers slowed. Then they stopped as if frozen in their tracks. Gabriel marveled at the growth of his magical powers. Nearly half the advancing army was immovable, many more than should have been affected. The ones who could move quickly backed away.

Gabriel shrugged nonchalantly. "Lunch anyone?" He heard the humored chuckles of his brothers. They feasted.

They didn't take long and they didn't use any finesse. They drained as many as they could as quickly as possible. Once they felt satiated, they ripped the remaining immobile men apart. Again, finesse wasn't a goal. Efficiency was. Carnage was the result. The brothers felt the stirring of their inner beasts. They had awakened the evil within. It didn't take long to eliminate those men.

***

They stood in the war room again looking at the map. The empire's army had retreated. Those soldiers who remained alive were gone. Their city would have a day or two of reprieve before the main force of the army arrived. They would have time to tend to the dead, douse fires created by flaming arrows shot over the walls by the enemy, and to rest before the next onslaught.

The generals stood with their leaders. August was the new ruler of the city, heir apparent to his father. The soldiers swore allegiance to him even though the brothers expected betrayal after the war with the empire. They did not expect their people to allow vampires to rule.

One of the generals cleared his throat drawing attention from all in the room. "I and my men wish to join you."

Martinelli replied, "Yes, of course, the next battle all with join in."

The general shook his head. "No, sir, you do not understand. We wish to join you as vampires. Three of you destroyed nearly half the forward army. Think of what a whole army of vampires can do."

Gabriel interrupted before anything else could be said. "Wait. Think of what you ask. Not just anyone can deal with the evil that comes from turning into a vampire. Look at what Pleotis did. He killed his own son and daughter-in-law." He refused to mention the rape. "Someone with the wrong constitution will unleash great evil on the world. As much as we need to fight off the empire, we cannot create something worse to torment our people. You need to know there are curses to becoming a vampire."

Martinelli placed his hand on his brother's shoulder, "I understand your caution, but I was thinking the same thing about an army of vampires. Maybe there is way to eliminate someone who may become dark and ruled by the evil. Maybe there is a way to figure out who won't do well with the change. Maybe we can place a limit on number that we turn."

August chimed in, "I'm with Gabriel on this one. I will not create any like Pleotis. How do we prevent that?"

Martinelli closed his eyes with dread for what he was about to say, "We pick those who have something to lose if they mess up. We pick those with loving families. The penalty of falling prey to their beast is elimination of their families as they vampires watch. They maintain an honor code, the same as is for any soldier that we take on in the army, but the penalty if far greater."

The generals nodded in agreement.

Gabriel shook his head, "The army won't be here for a couple of days. Who do the newly created vampires feed on during that time?"

Martinelli replied darkly, "Their families. If they lose control to the blood lust, they kill those they love. That should give them incentive to use caution and remain strong."

Gabriel exchanged looks with August. They nodded agreement.

Martinelli looked to the generals. "I want a list of volunteers. One hundred for each of us to turn, for a total of three hundred. They will be our elite soldiers. They must have families. They must live by the honor and code of the warrior, including any of our magic users. They also must know they will have to fight their internal evil."

Gabriel nodded. "They need to know it is easier to maintain a connection with humanity if they truly love someone. Evil cannot fully claim someone who can love."

There was a knock at the double doors. Martinelli motioned for one of the generals to open it. A messenger entered. Without locking eyes with Gabriel, he handed the magic user a folded parchment.

Gabriel, filled with dread, opened the missive. He dropped his head. "Eviena, my wife is dead. My house burned and she was trapped inside." Sadly, he looked up. "I hoped to hear that she was pregnant and that I would be a father. Well, that is something I will never experience now." He looked around at the generals. "Only men who have fathered children can be on that list. I don't care what reasons a man gives to volunteer. If he hasn't fathered children, then no, he is ineligible."

***

Out of the three hundred newly created vampires, thirty-two couldn't control their blood lust and killed their loved ones. Their guilt was so great they begged for execution. Martinelli granted it. He ended their suffering himself as humanely as he could quickly separating their heads from their bodies. Out of the remaining vampires, only one-hundred-fifty-seven survived the war.

Gabriel suffered the least losses within his men. Eighty-two survived. They were magic users and because of such, remained in the rear of the army. Many of his men would teleport to help injured humans in battle. Many of them died while they performed healing spells as the enemy took advantage of their distraction. The magic users aided the soldiers as much as possible in any way they could.

Gabriel's elite also joined forces and erased the vampires' part in the war. The empire and many of the people of the city believed a plague and starvation contributed to the halt of the expanding empire. It took great magic to change the perception of events, but they worked tirelessly in order to achieve success.

August maintained forty-nine of his regiment. His men were the middle team backing up Martinelli's front line. They helped keep the humans safe and tried to keep the magic users who teleported into battle safe as well, but often failed. They fought against overwhelming odds.

Martinelli suffered the greatest losses. He secretly hoped for his own death, but he survived. His twenty-six men would need him and he would be there for them. Many of his men discovered their demons during battle and committed atrocities that they would never have dreamed themselves capable of doing. He expected some to take their own lives, though Martinelli planned to fight to keep them safe. It was because of their willingness to become vampires that their city and loved ones survived. He would not let their guilt take that victory from them. He wanted them to realize that they deserved to enjoy life for all they had sacrificed.

The brothers discussed plans of rebuilding their forces instead of letting attrition diminish them, but they decided to keep their numbers small. They knew that the soldiers would eventually want to turn their wives and children into vampires to live throughout eternity with them. So they allotted for that possibility as well.

Therefore, you see, this is how vampires are created. Not all are made through great acts of evil, but through great acts of love during desperate times. That is the making of vampires.

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Editor request

This is a multipart story that I would like someone to proof read for me. I need spelling, grammar, and correct word usage such as you're/your. Amazingly, I will type in words that don't belong such as "if" instead of "is" type of thing. Sometimes, words just mysteriously appear for no reason that make no sense in the sentence. I don't know why.

I don't really want much changed in my story. If something doesn't make sense or is confusing, I would greatly appreciate if you would let me know and offer suggestions. If something is passive voice, let me know. Otherwise, I don't like the editing that changes my story. I had another student change my sentences on a piece when I was at the university. Even the professor didn't understand the changes. Turns out, if my sentence was long, she tried to shorten it. If it was short, she tried to lengthen it. No real reason and her suggestions didn't add to the piece that I was working on. So I don't like that micro-editing type of thing.

If you would like to edit for me, let me know. Send me a message through the "contact" section.

Thanks so much for your time and have fun reading. Leave comments and vote. Feedback is appreciated.

Veronica