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Demon plane of Oblivion, City of Ash
Year 192 in the Rule of the Dead
"Do we go to our death - or worse?"
Malkoazed over at his best friend, Prince Kallen the Just, wishing he had a better answer for hi to ease the apprehension in Kallen&039;s eyes
As the vahold, Malkoht was out
"The ru up a renewed resistance as the dozen guards forced theht of stone steps But his bonds were mystical; Malkom was unable to teleport or break free
At the base of the stairs lay a subterranean chah the floor was of packed earth, the walls were hung with rich silks and tapestries Rare crystal and glass adorned the roo every inch of the area for an escape Ahead, a pair of winded deuards lined the walls, with swords at the ready In the back, a black-robed sorcerer worked at a vial-cluttered table
Gods, let the rumors be untruethose whispers of the Scarba - the abominations
Kallen muttered, "Can you see a way out of this?"
Norured his way out of seely iuards shoved Kallen and Malkorave
"Ronath will pay for this once I get free," Kallen grated Ronath the Arest demon after Malkom He&039;d once been Kallen&039;s favored coht"
&039;Twas Ronath who&039;d turned Malkoh But without Malko defense, Kallen&039;s fortress had fallen just a week later The Trothans&039; beloved prince had been captured
Blinded by his hatred for Malkoly doomed Kallen and all the Trothans
Malkoe As he was neither noble nor good like Kallen, his retribution would be far more vicious than the prince could ever envision
Without warning, a va directly onto the throne Clad in costly silk robes, the male was pallid, his skin untouched by Oblivion&039;s blistering sun His eyes holly red, his visage twisted by madness
The Viceroy
When the vampires had con"uered Oblivion and turned it into a colony, they&039;d dispatched the Viceroy, their most malicious leader, to act as ruler of the plane
"Ah, h Malkoe, they refused to speak anything other than their native Deue was now punishable by death
The vampire rubbed his narrow, clean-shaven chin "At last, you have both been captured"
Malkom and the prince were the leaders of the rebellion, and to break them would be to break the resistance The vampire overlords had searched for theers, the two slaves exited the roo moments later with an unconscious demon boy One of their own, handed over for a vampire&039;s refresh He strained even harder against his bonds but couldn&039;t get free before the vampire collected the boy in his are spiked within Malkos, overwhelmed with memories of his childhood as a blood slave His only consolation was that this boy was unconscious, a luxury he himself had never been afforded Nor had Malkom&039;s neck been taken, for that skin would have been readily seen - and he hadn&039;t been kept only for his blood
"Steady, Malkom," Kallen murmured in Demonish "Keep your wits about you"
How many ti kept me sane
The Viceroy dropped the boy froround like refuse, then dabbed at his lips with a crisp handkerchief "I confess, you two fascinate me" His red eyes burned with curiosity "A friendship between a beloved royal and his brutal guard dog The highest of the high, and " He flicked his hand at Malkom
No one had been more perplexed by their friendship than Malkom Kallen was the crown prince of the Trothan Demonarchy, hundreds of years old, and filled isdom
Malkom was the illiterate thirty-year-old son of a whore, raised as a vae
Yet somehow he and Kallen had become comrades in arms, brothers by choice if not by blood Kallen had said he&039;d recognized so in Malkom, an innate nobility As if he&039;d kno badly Malkonorant, and fatherless," the Viceroy intoned "The son of a demon whore who sold her body" With a sneer, he added, "Until she could sell one of her offspring"
Malko to life, when you should have been nowaste in a back alley"
"If Malkom is not noble in blood," Kallen said, "then he is noble in deed"
Kallen, still defending ine none so lowly, yet you had the gall to resist us, knowing death awaited Aly, you very nearly routed us from your world, demon"
Malkoh he&039;d won nuined his foes were on the brink of surrender Malko-dead vampires here
Decades before his birth, they had arrived from an alien plane filled withhere for one reason
Blood
When the vampires consumed Trothan blood, it made them more powerful than they&039;d ever been, made them heal from injuries more swiftly Blood had eventually become the currency in Oblivion
"So very nearly," the Viceroy continued "But in the end, breeding will tell" The vampire traced to stand just beside the" He reached down to rip Malkom&039;s rich cloak from him "But you can only mask what you truly are Under those manacles at your wrists, I bet I would find bite scars"
Again Malkom voiced no denial He nor marks
The details of his past weren&039;t necessarily held secret All the demons in Ash kne Malkom had earned his bread as a boy, how he&039;d eaten frorown too old for a vampire lord&039;s tastes
But for this vampire to knoell
"Does not "
"Do not listen to hiood man A stalwart leader"
"Who was betrayed at the earliest opportunity?" the va led by the powerful and devious Ronath had tricked Malkoht in a h repeatedly
"You rose up high for the briefest time But I will break you down once more"
Malkom craned his head up to face the Viceroy "Break me down?"
"You subain"
"Is that e live still? Forthis vampire could do would be worse than what the slave azed at the de
" &039;Tis not so simple," the Viceroy said "It never is with our kind" Had he signaled so to the sorcerer at the back of the chamber? "You&039;ve destroyed so many ofwith you two, the strongest of your kind You shall be transfore"
The rumors&039;Twas said that the overlords had developed a rite to transform Trothans into Scarb a - demonic vampires who thirsted for the blood of their own A deer than both
The Viceroy drew his sword from a scabbard at his hip "You will drink my blood, and it will open your veins to the ritual Your deaths will be the catalyst" He ran a finger over the edge of his sword, while in the shadows his sorcerer began to chant, fueling a sinister curse
Power e the rooics Soing in
Even ht on Malkoest va his head backward, while another wedged a bit between Kallen&039;s teeth
"No, no!" Malko violently
The Viceroy sliced his orist " &039;Tis a gift I&039; for you, make you dine on deash to Kallen&039;s pried-open mouth "You will becoins now"
"Do not drink it, Kallen!" Malkom bellowed, but they forced him to s it
They set upon Malko him until he was too weakened to resist The Viceroy&039;s thick, vile blood was forced down his throat as well
Then the vaainst the chains with every ounce of power left in his body, but neither he nor Kallen could get loose
Kallenmoment - just before the Viceroy&039;s sword sliced clean through Kallen&039;s neck His body collapsed backward, his head tuhtless eyes stared up at Malkoritted
Malkoaped in disbelief while years of their shared memories flashed in his mind
The two demons&039; countless battles, more victories than defeats The dozens of times Malkom had saved Kallen&039;s life; the thousands of ti him to better himself
"You are a fearless warrior who&039;s ence to learn how to read! Who the devil convinced you otherwise?" "You are stronger and faster than the others, your will to live greater than any I&039;ve known You see details others are blind to Uni"ueness is a kind of nobility, is it not, brother?"
Throughout, Malkoun to shed the taint of his past He&039;d dared to entertain dreams of a better life
Now Kallen was dead Malko ith loss Kallen Dead
Or worse
The sorcerer cast a layer of black dust over Kallen&039;s body
"No!" Malko, more power