Now this isn't part of the tales of Lucius I just wanted to put it up on the internet, so please comment:
There is a well known fact about science that people find it hard to accept new ideas. This is in most situations a minor nuisance; however there are always stories about people who have been in fatal accidents because of such things. A good example of this is the fate of the scientific community on the planet Deis, a relatively Earth like planet with a race of humanoids inhabiting it.
This species had flourished for millions of years, into a civilization that was a perfect, peaceful Utopia. However there was a fatal flaw which was that no one had come up with a new scientific theory in over 2 thousand years and they were in fact so comfortable with their beliefs that they never changed them.
One day the radios of the planet all received a very unusual message. This message was from a super intelligent race of cat like creatures and the following is a rough English translation of what that message was:
“Attention lower life forms. We are the Jocain who have for billions of years inhabited this universe. Although we have seen much we are currently interested in a scientific experiment which should show us workings of a solar system. Unfortunately for you this experiment involves smashing your planet into another one. You have one of your weeks to vacate the planet before we smash these worlds together. Thank you so much for your interest. End transmission. (Long Pause) I can’t wait to play this game of yours; I mean pool with planets that is such a cool idea. What? We’re still on? Hracisopof (a word who’s meaning shall not be mentioned here).”
Now as it turns out the inhabitants of this world had been traveling in space for a while now but had never encountered an extra-terrestrial race before. Therefore all of the scientific community was skeptical. Not one politician or scientist thought that it was anything other than a hoax.
The next day a very strange thing was seen. Thousands of square kilometers of the planet had been painted white. Initially perplexed by the phenomena scientists decided to have a look at a satellite photograph and were amazed when they saw a pattern. It was shaped in an enormous character which they didn’t understand. In our numerical system this character translates to ‘8’.
The day after that an, even stranger phenomena was recorded. The rest of the planet was painted black and although this planet had no idea what it meant you probably do by now.
The next day they received another message from the aliens which said:
“Well I haven’t seen much evacuating so unless you want to die, you might want to get going.”
By this time the political establishment was ready to accept that this was not a hoax. They had spaceships lined up all over the world preparing for evacuation of the population. These were due to fly the next day. The majority of the scientific community still did not believe that there was an actual alien civilization. They cited many reason including “Why on Deis would an alien civilization who could cross the vast distances required for space travel play pool with planets?” However the main reason was that they believed it wasn’t possible for there to be life on other worlds and nothing would change their minds. It probably wouldn’t have comforted them to know that the aliens in question were actually college students on their version of spring break.
The next day the space ships left the planet with the populace all intact. Except for the majority of the scientists who decided that it was pointless since it was all a hoax. The people who left would live for a couple more decades. The scientists would not.
The day after the scientists decided to do everything they’ve always wanted to but never could, such as insulting religion, nude runs and of course wild rave parties (which weren’t technically prohibited but were rather embarrassing to be caught at). Thanks to the ships taking only the essentials there was quite a lot of alcohol and party food left over. This may have accounted for the fact that none of the scientists saw the giant space ships in the sky each looking vaguely like a vase.
The next day the planet was moved into position along with many other planets into a big triangle. To prevent gravity from destroying the set up several anti-gravity shields were positioned around it. The aliens were very anxious to get playing. The scientists were very busy trying to come up with an acceptable solution for why the planet had just been moved.
And then the frozen planet of Hoth was launched at the formation of planets and smashed them off in all directions. Unfortunately the planet of Deis fell into one of the 6 black holes stationed around the arena and all the inhabitants died. They were not a great loss as they were all idiots who basically maintained that nothing was happening right up until the end. The real tragedy was that the Deis was sunk straight after launch, meaning that the game ended in the first round. The aliens, very disappointed, went off to find a new planet to make into a ball.
This story has two morals. One, accept new ideas if enough evidence points towards them. Two, if you are going to play a game use readily available resources like balls. Planets take a while to replace.
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Chapter 4
The next few days went by without much occurring. They ran for about 7 hours each night and covered about 70km. The rest of the time they hid in the leather tent which was almost completely pitch black. Cipher for some reason had a problem with this and made sure a lamp was on at all times.
Whenever Lucius asked him about it he would simply reply “I’m not letting the grue get me.”
Although the nights (which were technically days) were boring the rest of the time Lucius managed to see some very interesting parts of the world. The landscape was flat and the ground covered in loose sand.
Grass managed to survive here but it was mostly yellow and unkempt. Trees dotted the landscape somehow scraping out a living in this arid environment. These trees were covered in a grey bark and there leaves always had a yellow or brown tinge to them.
After 7 long days, Lucius and Cipher arrived in the town of Maylin.
The town of Maylin was not fancy or even modern for a town of fifteen thousand. The houses were all wooden with dusty tin rooves. There were a few houses with gardens, but the majority were of the dusty variety.
Cipher wandered forward slightly before saying “Why on Earth did you want us to come here.”
“I don’t know.” Lucius said cautiously.
“So you agree that this place is hell.”
“No. I just know I’m supposed to be here, but I don’t know why.”
“Ok, crazy-psycho-vampire. We might as well make the most of it.” Cipher began to roam through the narrow streets and Lucius followed him. Although it was initially ok, Lucius smelt a smell so sweet it hypnotised him. The pain then began rack his chest.
“No. Not now.” He snarled.
“Yeh I know what you mean. I haven’t had anything to eat in week, and you are a newborn. You must be ravenous.”
Lucius tried to ignore the agony in his chest. He knew that he could break into any of the flimsy structures in the neighbourhood and sate his thirst; but he withstood. Cipher just sighed and leapt onto the nearest roof. He darted away before Lucius could ask him what he was doing.
As he stood their clasping his chest, Lucius wondered what Cipher was doing. And that’s when a screaming man was thrown into the wall from over the roof.
He was clad in shiny silver armour. A sturdy build and a deep tan made up this warrior who took a moment to get back up. This was surprising considering he was just thrown into a wall at, at least 30km per hour. Just as he got up a second, similarly clad man was hurdled into the first. He was closely followed by Cipher.
“Hey Lucius. You still hungry?” He asked as he leapt off the roof and onto the narrow street.
“I won’t eat them.” Lucius growled, although the pain in his chest made him hesitate before saying this.
“Who said anything about them? One is for me.” He said bluntly.
“You know what I mean!”
“Unfortunately I do. Normally you would just find a criminal. But you are too hungry for that.” Chuckled Cipher as he darted at the man and pulled him up to his mouth.
“Do NOT eat him!” Roared Lucius, his words laced with what he hoped was authority. Unbeknownst to either of them the 2nd guard began to sneak up on Cipher from behind.
Cipher sighed once again and threw his hapless victim into the wall. “Look these people signed up for this sought of thing. They’re guards. They face death every day. We are just going to give it to them.” At this point the other guard stabbed Cipher from behind. The sword’s point burst through his chest and Cipher looked down at it with disdain. Turning around he exclaimed “Ow.”
Faster than the human eye could see he leapt behind this man and bought his teeth to his throat. His normally pretty-boy-type face, transformed into the masquerade of death. The poor man struggled for a little while before going limp. Lucius watched on in horror, yet the pain in his chest made him want it.
After throwing the corpse from his side Cipher glanced back down at his chest, the protruding sword glistened with his blood. He then proceeded to push the blade backwards through his chest. As it hit the ground Cipher examined the gaping wound in his chest. Lucius watched in awe as the hole miraculously healed.
Upon seeing his expression Cipher just laughed and said “It is but a flesh wound.”
“That should have killed you.”
“No. The only things that would kill us are chopping off our heads, stabbing us through the heart with silver, or by setting us on fire. And sunlight.”
“Are there other things I don’t know about?” Asked Lucius angrily.
“No. Not that I can think of.”
“Void spawn.” Spat the first guard back against the wall. He was trembling violently, and looking for his weapon.
“You are going to kill him.” Asked Cipher. It wasn’t a question.
Lucius didn’t want to, yet the agony drove him forward. He walked menacingly towards the man. The man attempted to fight Lucius off, but it was easy for him to parry the blows. Lucius slammed him up against the wall with bone shattering force. CRAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK.
Lucius’ face turned into that of the demons and he bought his teeth to the man’s neck. Just before he bit down though the guard cried “The guards will make sure all you void spawn burn in Tarturus. They’re onto you.”
“Wait Lucius.” Cipher called.
Lucius barely managed to restrain himself from biting down onto the man’s neck. The blood pulsing underneath it had increased and Lucius could smell. The pain in his chest made it all the more difficult. But he managed.
Cipher walked up to the man and said “We only just got here. Who are you looking for?”
“The rest of the vampyra. They inhabit this entire region in huge numbers.”
“Thank you. Lucius you can kill him now. I’m bored.”
Lucius didn’t even wait until he had finished. He bit into the neck of the poor individual before him and the blood poured into his throat. The man whimpered a little before he finally stopped moving. Dropping the corpse to the ground Lucius turned back to Cipher. The pain was gone now and he didn’t feel guilty. ‘Now that’s weird’ He thought.
“Now I know he’s lying.” Exclaimed Cipher as Lucius’s face reverted to its normal angelic form.
“How do you know that?”
“Because our kind only ever go to places where there is already an existing population. We never set up new colonies.” Cipher explained in an intellectual manner completely dissimilar from his usual vain attitude.
“Well maybe they changed.”
“Vampires are immortal. We don’t change.”
“New blood?”
“Well whatever it is, we’re going to need a place to rest. Sunlight will be up soon, that and I look terrible without my beauty sleep.”
“Maybe I should just call you Captain Masculinity.” Lucius said, his mind still trying to figure out what happened to his guilt.
“Why thank you Lucius. But I think we should find a hotel or something.”
“Sure. Why not?”
They wandered through the stuffy streets of Maylin for about 10 minutes before finally finding a hotel. It wasn’t a brilliant residency, not even close, but it’s wooden frame seemed sturdy enough to stay together. They entered through the double doors at the front and found a small desk to the back of the room.
Walking up to the desk Cipher tapped a small silver bell on the desk. From it came the sweetest note he had ever heard. Less of a bell and more like an angelic choir. Lucius pondered this for a moment, but he was quickly distracted by an even more amazing sight. It was her.
The same girl he had seen in his dream only a week before. The same long brown hair, the same shining brown eyes. She was the exact same person and despite the late hours, looked completely a wake.
“You need a room.” She asked in a voice that sounded more like singing than a language.
“What else would we be doing at this hour?” Said Cipher in such a way that Lucius thought he might be flirting with her. “Sweetheart.” Yes definitely flirting.
“Two beds?” She asked.
“Oh so you automatically assume that we want two beds.” Said Cipher.
“What?” Asked the girl.
“What?” Asked Lucius rapidly.
“What? This side of the world isn’t very open minded. I just want them to know that it’s ok. There is no need to hide.”
After a moment’s pause the girl asked “So one bed?”
“Oh, no we’re straight. Two beds will do fine.”
“Wait, what do you want?” She asked stunned.
“Two beds. Honestly aren’t the people here slow.” Said Cipher in disdain.
“Ok. I’ll just get you your keys than.”
“You do that darling.”
After the girl had left the room in search of the keys, Lucius asked “Why on Earth do I hang around with you.”
“Well hopefully it isn’t just for my dashing good looks.”
Under his breath Lucius whispered “Captain Vanity.”
“I heard that.” Cipher chuckled.
The girl came back into the room holding a small wooden key. “Ok that will be 15 pounds.”
“No discounts for looks?” Asked Cipher.
At this the girl smiled. That smile that so in tranced Lucius, that could hold the gaze of everyone in a room. Than she grabbed Cipher’s head and smashed it down onto the table in one startling fluid motion, like a snake catching a mouse.
Roaring in pain Cipher brought his face back to the demon once more “You are going to regret that bitch.”
Grabbing Cipher by the shirt she through him against the wall knocking half a dozen books from shelves all across the room.
“Can’t we go somewhere and just make friends?” Asked Lucius as he struggled to keep a straight face.
“Not now.” Spat the enraged Cipher as he stumbled to his feet.
“You should listen to your friend idiot.”
“Honestly what are you 12 years old?”
“Try 150.”
“And yet you look so young.”
“Save the nice talk for someone who cares.” Said the girl as she smashed Cipher to the ground.
“Wait!” Roared Lucius; stopping both contestants instantaneously. Cipher was trapped in a comical head lock.
Dropping Cipher to the ground the girl said “I agree. Anyway I wanted to bring you here.”
“See I knew she liked me.” Said Cipher as he staggered to his feet.
“Well actually I just needed Lucius. You were just the bitch who followed.”
Before Cipher could respond with a terrible retort, Lucius asked “Why?”
“Because something is happening and I need your help.”
“Ok, but I think we should know your name, if you know ours.”
The girl snickered before answering in almost a child’s voice, “Rhea.”
Whenever Lucius asked him about it he would simply reply “I’m not letting the grue get me.”
Although the nights (which were technically days) were boring the rest of the time Lucius managed to see some very interesting parts of the world. The landscape was flat and the ground covered in loose sand.
Grass managed to survive here but it was mostly yellow and unkempt. Trees dotted the landscape somehow scraping out a living in this arid environment. These trees were covered in a grey bark and there leaves always had a yellow or brown tinge to them.
After 7 long days, Lucius and Cipher arrived in the town of Maylin.
The town of Maylin was not fancy or even modern for a town of fifteen thousand. The houses were all wooden with dusty tin rooves. There were a few houses with gardens, but the majority were of the dusty variety.
Cipher wandered forward slightly before saying “Why on Earth did you want us to come here.”
“I don’t know.” Lucius said cautiously.
“So you agree that this place is hell.”
“No. I just know I’m supposed to be here, but I don’t know why.”
“Ok, crazy-psycho-vampire. We might as well make the most of it.” Cipher began to roam through the narrow streets and Lucius followed him. Although it was initially ok, Lucius smelt a smell so sweet it hypnotised him. The pain then began rack his chest.
“No. Not now.” He snarled.
“Yeh I know what you mean. I haven’t had anything to eat in week, and you are a newborn. You must be ravenous.”
Lucius tried to ignore the agony in his chest. He knew that he could break into any of the flimsy structures in the neighbourhood and sate his thirst; but he withstood. Cipher just sighed and leapt onto the nearest roof. He darted away before Lucius could ask him what he was doing.
As he stood their clasping his chest, Lucius wondered what Cipher was doing. And that’s when a screaming man was thrown into the wall from over the roof.
He was clad in shiny silver armour. A sturdy build and a deep tan made up this warrior who took a moment to get back up. This was surprising considering he was just thrown into a wall at, at least 30km per hour. Just as he got up a second, similarly clad man was hurdled into the first. He was closely followed by Cipher.
“Hey Lucius. You still hungry?” He asked as he leapt off the roof and onto the narrow street.
“I won’t eat them.” Lucius growled, although the pain in his chest made him hesitate before saying this.
“Who said anything about them? One is for me.” He said bluntly.
“You know what I mean!”
“Unfortunately I do. Normally you would just find a criminal. But you are too hungry for that.” Chuckled Cipher as he darted at the man and pulled him up to his mouth.
“Do NOT eat him!” Roared Lucius, his words laced with what he hoped was authority. Unbeknownst to either of them the 2nd guard began to sneak up on Cipher from behind.
Cipher sighed once again and threw his hapless victim into the wall. “Look these people signed up for this sought of thing. They’re guards. They face death every day. We are just going to give it to them.” At this point the other guard stabbed Cipher from behind. The sword’s point burst through his chest and Cipher looked down at it with disdain. Turning around he exclaimed “Ow.”
Faster than the human eye could see he leapt behind this man and bought his teeth to his throat. His normally pretty-boy-type face, transformed into the masquerade of death. The poor man struggled for a little while before going limp. Lucius watched on in horror, yet the pain in his chest made him want it.
After throwing the corpse from his side Cipher glanced back down at his chest, the protruding sword glistened with his blood. He then proceeded to push the blade backwards through his chest. As it hit the ground Cipher examined the gaping wound in his chest. Lucius watched in awe as the hole miraculously healed.
Upon seeing his expression Cipher just laughed and said “It is but a flesh wound.”
“That should have killed you.”
“No. The only things that would kill us are chopping off our heads, stabbing us through the heart with silver, or by setting us on fire. And sunlight.”
“Are there other things I don’t know about?” Asked Lucius angrily.
“No. Not that I can think of.”
“Void spawn.” Spat the first guard back against the wall. He was trembling violently, and looking for his weapon.
“You are going to kill him.” Asked Cipher. It wasn’t a question.
Lucius didn’t want to, yet the agony drove him forward. He walked menacingly towards the man. The man attempted to fight Lucius off, but it was easy for him to parry the blows. Lucius slammed him up against the wall with bone shattering force. CRAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKKKK.
Lucius’ face turned into that of the demons and he bought his teeth to the man’s neck. Just before he bit down though the guard cried “The guards will make sure all you void spawn burn in Tarturus. They’re onto you.”
“Wait Lucius.” Cipher called.
Lucius barely managed to restrain himself from biting down onto the man’s neck. The blood pulsing underneath it had increased and Lucius could smell. The pain in his chest made it all the more difficult. But he managed.
Cipher walked up to the man and said “We only just got here. Who are you looking for?”
“The rest of the vampyra. They inhabit this entire region in huge numbers.”
“Thank you. Lucius you can kill him now. I’m bored.”
Lucius didn’t even wait until he had finished. He bit into the neck of the poor individual before him and the blood poured into his throat. The man whimpered a little before he finally stopped moving. Dropping the corpse to the ground Lucius turned back to Cipher. The pain was gone now and he didn’t feel guilty. ‘Now that’s weird’ He thought.
“Now I know he’s lying.” Exclaimed Cipher as Lucius’s face reverted to its normal angelic form.
“How do you know that?”
“Because our kind only ever go to places where there is already an existing population. We never set up new colonies.” Cipher explained in an intellectual manner completely dissimilar from his usual vain attitude.
“Well maybe they changed.”
“Vampires are immortal. We don’t change.”
“New blood?”
“Well whatever it is, we’re going to need a place to rest. Sunlight will be up soon, that and I look terrible without my beauty sleep.”
“Maybe I should just call you Captain Masculinity.” Lucius said, his mind still trying to figure out what happened to his guilt.
“Why thank you Lucius. But I think we should find a hotel or something.”
“Sure. Why not?”
They wandered through the stuffy streets of Maylin for about 10 minutes before finally finding a hotel. It wasn’t a brilliant residency, not even close, but it’s wooden frame seemed sturdy enough to stay together. They entered through the double doors at the front and found a small desk to the back of the room.
Walking up to the desk Cipher tapped a small silver bell on the desk. From it came the sweetest note he had ever heard. Less of a bell and more like an angelic choir. Lucius pondered this for a moment, but he was quickly distracted by an even more amazing sight. It was her.
The same girl he had seen in his dream only a week before. The same long brown hair, the same shining brown eyes. She was the exact same person and despite the late hours, looked completely a wake.
“You need a room.” She asked in a voice that sounded more like singing than a language.
“What else would we be doing at this hour?” Said Cipher in such a way that Lucius thought he might be flirting with her. “Sweetheart.” Yes definitely flirting.
“Two beds?” She asked.
“Oh so you automatically assume that we want two beds.” Said Cipher.
“What?” Asked the girl.
“What?” Asked Lucius rapidly.
“What? This side of the world isn’t very open minded. I just want them to know that it’s ok. There is no need to hide.”
After a moment’s pause the girl asked “So one bed?”
“Oh, no we’re straight. Two beds will do fine.”
“Wait, what do you want?” She asked stunned.
“Two beds. Honestly aren’t the people here slow.” Said Cipher in disdain.
“Ok. I’ll just get you your keys than.”
“You do that darling.”
After the girl had left the room in search of the keys, Lucius asked “Why on Earth do I hang around with you.”
“Well hopefully it isn’t just for my dashing good looks.”
Under his breath Lucius whispered “Captain Vanity.”
“I heard that.” Cipher chuckled.
The girl came back into the room holding a small wooden key. “Ok that will be 15 pounds.”
“No discounts for looks?” Asked Cipher.
At this the girl smiled. That smile that so in tranced Lucius, that could hold the gaze of everyone in a room. Than she grabbed Cipher’s head and smashed it down onto the table in one startling fluid motion, like a snake catching a mouse.
Roaring in pain Cipher brought his face back to the demon once more “You are going to regret that bitch.”
Grabbing Cipher by the shirt she through him against the wall knocking half a dozen books from shelves all across the room.
“Can’t we go somewhere and just make friends?” Asked Lucius as he struggled to keep a straight face.
“Not now.” Spat the enraged Cipher as he stumbled to his feet.
“You should listen to your friend idiot.”
“Honestly what are you 12 years old?”
“Try 150.”
“And yet you look so young.”
“Save the nice talk for someone who cares.” Said the girl as she smashed Cipher to the ground.
“Wait!” Roared Lucius; stopping both contestants instantaneously. Cipher was trapped in a comical head lock.
Dropping Cipher to the ground the girl said “I agree. Anyway I wanted to bring you here.”
“See I knew she liked me.” Said Cipher as he staggered to his feet.
“Well actually I just needed Lucius. You were just the bitch who followed.”
Before Cipher could respond with a terrible retort, Lucius asked “Why?”
“Because something is happening and I need your help.”
“Ok, but I think we should know your name, if you know ours.”
The girl snickered before answering in almost a child’s voice, “Rhea.”
Thursday, August 27, 2009
Chapter 3
“Lucius,” Said a raspy voice. An aged voice. “Lucius, would you please be so kind as to repeat what I just said.”
Looking up Lucius’ gaze fell upon an old man huddled over a large cluttered desk. The man was balding, and his face was worn with age. His hands trembled as he held the ink quill in one hand, but his face was twisted into the personification of rage.
“Sorry sir. What were you saying?” Asked Lucius, his eyes were drooping and he was a little dazed. He must have fallen asleep.
“So you can’t can you. I thought not; well next time you are bored of my classes please just draw in your notebook.” He spat these words at Lucius. “You’re classmates were distracted.”
Turning around he saw a giggling gaggle of girls at the back of the room. They were all wearing long blue dresses, which went down to their ankles. “Ahem.” Coughed the old man, the girls instantly fell quiet. Their heads twisted straight down, yet Lucius could still hear them conversing under their breath.
“Now if you don’t mind, work. I know I can’t stop you from talking, but please the cane won’t ever go away.” He snickered under his breath at this point, but this caused him to burst into huge bouts of dry coughs.
“Your dream nice?” Asked the tall girl sitting next to him. She had short red hair that went down to her shoulders, a rebellious act in these times she was often prone to saying. Her eyes were a greyish blue. She wore a rough white t-shirt and dusty grey jeans, completely at odds to the ball-room gowns that the other girls seemed to wear. She often stated that she hated the clothing that these woman were forced to wear in their society.
“Melinda, please tell me I didn’t snore?” Lucius asked half joking.
“No it was very discrete. I think the fact that your head crashed against the desk sought of gave you away.” She started poking him in the head. “Honestly it is like a rock.”
“Well thanks, I feel so much better.” Lucius said, the sarcasm ripe in his voice.
“You’re making a bad impression on the new girl.”
“Who?”
“Wow, maybe it isn’t like a rock after all. You were all over her before.” Teased Melinda. Seeing the blank expression on his face, she sighed and pointed to the far corner of the room.
What Lucius saw made him gasp. She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. She was slender, with beautiful deep, dark brown hair. Her eyes were a startling luminous brown that seemed to light up the room. And her smile seemed to draw people towards her. All the other guys in the room were shooting looks at her every chance they got.
She got up, ignoring every other person in the room. Her eyes were intent on him and she seemed to glide through the desks in the way between her and him. She seemed to be ethereal; almost divine. Nothing but a ghost lost in the world of the living.
When she was standing right in front of him she whispered a single word into his ear “Maylin,” and then dropped a note onto his desk. She then flowed away from him and drifted through a wall at the end of the room.
Lucius picked the note up off his desk, which was a faded yellow, yet the writing was a rich jet black. It said only one sentence:
‘Come to Maylin.’
As soon as he had finished reading, the parchment vanished into a puff of smoke.
“Lucius what are you doing?” Melinda asked fear and concern crept into her normally unwavering voice.
“I was reading the note that the new girl gave me.” Lucius explained, feeling suddenly out of place.
“What new girl?”
A little bit dazed he said “Never mind.”
“Ok you can all leave the class now and return to your extremely wealthy families.” Said the old man; disdain clearly in his voice. Every one leapt from their seats packing up as they left the class room. The girls all seemed to move in swarms, while the guys tended to roam off by themselves.
“So what are you doing this weekend?” Melinda asked whilst grabbing all of her books off the table. Lucius was ready by the time she had packed away her quills.
“My father wants me to go with him to a book burning or something.” He said, disgust filling his voice.
“I do hate your father. I can’t believe he wants to get rid of the knowledge of the old ones.” She swung her bag over her back, and walked out the door, Lucius followed suit.
“My father believes they’re sins against the gods; but they tell us so much about our world. They found evidence in those books of a flying machine.” He said this with a deep expression of amazement.
“I don’t know why someone doesn’t send him a message to stop it.” She said this in a way that could have inspired an army.
“I have tried, but he refuses to.”
“Maybe I can send him a message.” This came from a colossal titan of a man behind him. He was covered in huge, bulging muscles and wore a huge metallic suit of armour. His face was completely enclosed in a massive knight’s helmet, giving him an almost robotic appearance.
He brought up a huge knife and burrowed it into Lucius’ stomach. Just as quickly he tore it out and darted away.
Lucius just touched the wound with trembling hands. The blood stuck to the tips of his fingers. It was his blood.
Falling backwards he landed on the rough tiled surface with a resounding THUD. Melinda crouched over him shouting for help. As he lay there he felt his consciousness slip away and his last sight of the world before he blacked out was the ethereal girl who only mouthed the word “Maylin”.
“Lucius, how long have you been down here for?” Asked the most-un-welcome voice of Cipher. He was laying over Lucius with a deep sense of amusement hidden in his eyes.
“Damn, even being stabbed is better than this.” Exclaimed Lucius, half of his face carpeted in dirt from the now muddy floor. He pushed Cipher from him dusting his clothes off as he went. “I did get to see my friends again.”
“What? Lucius what are you doing down here?” Asked Cipher.
“I was burying the girl I...”
“You buried her!” Yelled Cipher in astonishment. “Honest to god you buried her?”
“Yes. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“How can you do that?”
“I had to bury her!” Lucius yelled back with determination. “She couldn’t have gone into the next life if I hadn’t.”
Cipher sighed before he said in fatherly tone, “Lucius I think we are going to need to have a little talk. It is apparent that you don’t want to kill humans.”
“Of course I don’t.”
“Yes, but we need to drink human blood, which usually results in their deaths. Look, I think the reason that you don’t want to kill them is you still see yourself as one of them, just maybe with a disease. You are NOT human. They are beneath us. Don’t let your conscience cloud your judgement.”
“But are we so different from humans?” Lucius asked in a highly sympathetic tone.
“Yeh, we’re undead.” Explained Cipher, as if he was pointing out the most obvious thing in the world.
“But...”
“Lucius, look I know you will never be one of the vampires who loves drinking blood. You’ll be those who will do it reluctantly once per month. And that is ok, but you do have to drink their blood. I’m sorry.” Cipher said in a solemn voice. Then in a cheerful mannerism he added “Now how about we go to Becca.”
“What,”
“Becca, the cradle of vampire civilisation. Nice beaches, fine women and lots of humans to eat. Plus they do have very good hair dressers out in the bay.” He tossed his rich blonde hair around as he said this.
“Captain Vanity in full swing. Wait didn’t this originally start off as a conversation about how you were going to be nicer about my love of humans?” Asked Lucius.
“Yes but you forgot one important thing.”
“And that would be?”
“I’m Cipher.” Bounding away from Lucius he darted from the basement, all the while shouting back, “I expect you up here in 5 minutes.”
After briefly giving his respects to the poor girl who lay dead in the dusty ground, he wandered upstairs to find Cipher. Ascending the rickety staircase that connected the basement from the 1st floor he felt as if a weight had been lifted from him. The guilt he felt for the girl’s death was still there, but it wasn’t killing him.
When he got upstairs he found Cipher waiting for him, carrying only a black leather bag, which he had slung over his shoulder.
“What’s in the bag?” Asked Lucius.
Giddy with excitement Cipher ripped the bag from his back and proceeded to tear it open. Tipping it upside down a huge leather tent fell out. “The pegs and rope are in another pocket, but this is a thing of beauty. Completely blocks out the sunlight, meaning we can sleep during the day.”
“Wow.” Said Lucius in a sarcastic tone.
“Fine, go burn in the sunlight. It will take us about a month to get to Becca.”
At this point Lucius remembered something. He did not know why he thought this but he knew it was right. “No. We shouldn’t go there.”
“Oh right. Where then should we go?”
“Maylin.” Lucius burst out saying.
“Maylin? That place is a dump. And the humans are all so scrawny.”
“Please. I have a feeling that we have to go there. And I am going out there whether you like it or not.” Explained Lucius.
“Oh fine. I just really wanted to go to Becca.” Said Cipher grumpily.
“Are you pouting?” Snickered Lucius.
“No.” Said Cipher too quickly.
“That is just sad.”
“Shut up.” He said hurriedly. Recovering he continued “Now it should only take us about a week to get to Maylin.”
“Ok fine. Are we going to take horses?” Asked Lucius.
“No we should be able to run most of the way. We don’t have stamina.”
Cipher walked outside the small house without hesitation. However Lucius wasn’t the same. Just before he left the house, he made the sign of Galinti, a 6 pointed star on the door. In this act he asked the gods to forgive all evil deeds done within it’s walls. He could only pray is prayers would be answered.
Looking up Lucius’ gaze fell upon an old man huddled over a large cluttered desk. The man was balding, and his face was worn with age. His hands trembled as he held the ink quill in one hand, but his face was twisted into the personification of rage.
“Sorry sir. What were you saying?” Asked Lucius, his eyes were drooping and he was a little dazed. He must have fallen asleep.
“So you can’t can you. I thought not; well next time you are bored of my classes please just draw in your notebook.” He spat these words at Lucius. “You’re classmates were distracted.”
Turning around he saw a giggling gaggle of girls at the back of the room. They were all wearing long blue dresses, which went down to their ankles. “Ahem.” Coughed the old man, the girls instantly fell quiet. Their heads twisted straight down, yet Lucius could still hear them conversing under their breath.
“Now if you don’t mind, work. I know I can’t stop you from talking, but please the cane won’t ever go away.” He snickered under his breath at this point, but this caused him to burst into huge bouts of dry coughs.
“Your dream nice?” Asked the tall girl sitting next to him. She had short red hair that went down to her shoulders, a rebellious act in these times she was often prone to saying. Her eyes were a greyish blue. She wore a rough white t-shirt and dusty grey jeans, completely at odds to the ball-room gowns that the other girls seemed to wear. She often stated that she hated the clothing that these woman were forced to wear in their society.
“Melinda, please tell me I didn’t snore?” Lucius asked half joking.
“No it was very discrete. I think the fact that your head crashed against the desk sought of gave you away.” She started poking him in the head. “Honestly it is like a rock.”
“Well thanks, I feel so much better.” Lucius said, the sarcasm ripe in his voice.
“You’re making a bad impression on the new girl.”
“Who?”
“Wow, maybe it isn’t like a rock after all. You were all over her before.” Teased Melinda. Seeing the blank expression on his face, she sighed and pointed to the far corner of the room.
What Lucius saw made him gasp. She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. She was slender, with beautiful deep, dark brown hair. Her eyes were a startling luminous brown that seemed to light up the room. And her smile seemed to draw people towards her. All the other guys in the room were shooting looks at her every chance they got.
She got up, ignoring every other person in the room. Her eyes were intent on him and she seemed to glide through the desks in the way between her and him. She seemed to be ethereal; almost divine. Nothing but a ghost lost in the world of the living.
When she was standing right in front of him she whispered a single word into his ear “Maylin,” and then dropped a note onto his desk. She then flowed away from him and drifted through a wall at the end of the room.
Lucius picked the note up off his desk, which was a faded yellow, yet the writing was a rich jet black. It said only one sentence:
‘Come to Maylin.’
As soon as he had finished reading, the parchment vanished into a puff of smoke.
“Lucius what are you doing?” Melinda asked fear and concern crept into her normally unwavering voice.
“I was reading the note that the new girl gave me.” Lucius explained, feeling suddenly out of place.
“What new girl?”
A little bit dazed he said “Never mind.”
“Ok you can all leave the class now and return to your extremely wealthy families.” Said the old man; disdain clearly in his voice. Every one leapt from their seats packing up as they left the class room. The girls all seemed to move in swarms, while the guys tended to roam off by themselves.
“So what are you doing this weekend?” Melinda asked whilst grabbing all of her books off the table. Lucius was ready by the time she had packed away her quills.
“My father wants me to go with him to a book burning or something.” He said, disgust filling his voice.
“I do hate your father. I can’t believe he wants to get rid of the knowledge of the old ones.” She swung her bag over her back, and walked out the door, Lucius followed suit.
“My father believes they’re sins against the gods; but they tell us so much about our world. They found evidence in those books of a flying machine.” He said this with a deep expression of amazement.
“I don’t know why someone doesn’t send him a message to stop it.” She said this in a way that could have inspired an army.
“I have tried, but he refuses to.”
“Maybe I can send him a message.” This came from a colossal titan of a man behind him. He was covered in huge, bulging muscles and wore a huge metallic suit of armour. His face was completely enclosed in a massive knight’s helmet, giving him an almost robotic appearance.
He brought up a huge knife and burrowed it into Lucius’ stomach. Just as quickly he tore it out and darted away.
Lucius just touched the wound with trembling hands. The blood stuck to the tips of his fingers. It was his blood.
Falling backwards he landed on the rough tiled surface with a resounding THUD. Melinda crouched over him shouting for help. As he lay there he felt his consciousness slip away and his last sight of the world before he blacked out was the ethereal girl who only mouthed the word “Maylin”.
“Lucius, how long have you been down here for?” Asked the most-un-welcome voice of Cipher. He was laying over Lucius with a deep sense of amusement hidden in his eyes.
“Damn, even being stabbed is better than this.” Exclaimed Lucius, half of his face carpeted in dirt from the now muddy floor. He pushed Cipher from him dusting his clothes off as he went. “I did get to see my friends again.”
“What? Lucius what are you doing down here?” Asked Cipher.
“I was burying the girl I...”
“You buried her!” Yelled Cipher in astonishment. “Honest to god you buried her?”
“Yes. I don’t see what the big deal is.”
“How can you do that?”
“I had to bury her!” Lucius yelled back with determination. “She couldn’t have gone into the next life if I hadn’t.”
Cipher sighed before he said in fatherly tone, “Lucius I think we are going to need to have a little talk. It is apparent that you don’t want to kill humans.”
“Of course I don’t.”
“Yes, but we need to drink human blood, which usually results in their deaths. Look, I think the reason that you don’t want to kill them is you still see yourself as one of them, just maybe with a disease. You are NOT human. They are beneath us. Don’t let your conscience cloud your judgement.”
“But are we so different from humans?” Lucius asked in a highly sympathetic tone.
“Yeh, we’re undead.” Explained Cipher, as if he was pointing out the most obvious thing in the world.
“But...”
“Lucius, look I know you will never be one of the vampires who loves drinking blood. You’ll be those who will do it reluctantly once per month. And that is ok, but you do have to drink their blood. I’m sorry.” Cipher said in a solemn voice. Then in a cheerful mannerism he added “Now how about we go to Becca.”
“What,”
“Becca, the cradle of vampire civilisation. Nice beaches, fine women and lots of humans to eat. Plus they do have very good hair dressers out in the bay.” He tossed his rich blonde hair around as he said this.
“Captain Vanity in full swing. Wait didn’t this originally start off as a conversation about how you were going to be nicer about my love of humans?” Asked Lucius.
“Yes but you forgot one important thing.”
“And that would be?”
“I’m Cipher.” Bounding away from Lucius he darted from the basement, all the while shouting back, “I expect you up here in 5 minutes.”
After briefly giving his respects to the poor girl who lay dead in the dusty ground, he wandered upstairs to find Cipher. Ascending the rickety staircase that connected the basement from the 1st floor he felt as if a weight had been lifted from him. The guilt he felt for the girl’s death was still there, but it wasn’t killing him.
When he got upstairs he found Cipher waiting for him, carrying only a black leather bag, which he had slung over his shoulder.
“What’s in the bag?” Asked Lucius.
Giddy with excitement Cipher ripped the bag from his back and proceeded to tear it open. Tipping it upside down a huge leather tent fell out. “The pegs and rope are in another pocket, but this is a thing of beauty. Completely blocks out the sunlight, meaning we can sleep during the day.”
“Wow.” Said Lucius in a sarcastic tone.
“Fine, go burn in the sunlight. It will take us about a month to get to Becca.”
At this point Lucius remembered something. He did not know why he thought this but he knew it was right. “No. We shouldn’t go there.”
“Oh right. Where then should we go?”
“Maylin.” Lucius burst out saying.
“Maylin? That place is a dump. And the humans are all so scrawny.”
“Please. I have a feeling that we have to go there. And I am going out there whether you like it or not.” Explained Lucius.
“Oh fine. I just really wanted to go to Becca.” Said Cipher grumpily.
“Are you pouting?” Snickered Lucius.
“No.” Said Cipher too quickly.
“That is just sad.”
“Shut up.” He said hurriedly. Recovering he continued “Now it should only take us about a week to get to Maylin.”
“Ok fine. Are we going to take horses?” Asked Lucius.
“No we should be able to run most of the way. We don’t have stamina.”
Cipher walked outside the small house without hesitation. However Lucius wasn’t the same. Just before he left the house, he made the sign of Galinti, a 6 pointed star on the door. In this act he asked the gods to forgive all evil deeds done within it’s walls. He could only pray is prayers would be answered.
Friday, July 24, 2009
Message 1
Yes after about 3 weeks I have published the 2nd chapter, so I am beating you Millie. This chapter is definetly not as good so please comment.
Chapter 2
Lucius just stared back at the mysterious enigma of a man who had announced himself as Cipher. ‘Who is this person and how does he know my name?’ he thought as he gazed at Cipher’s cool and calm face. His blond hair stuck to his forehead due to the rain that dripped down it.
“How do you know my name?” Asked Lucius, he searched deep inside himself to find enough courage to say this.
At this Cipher just chuckled. He stepped over the corpse of the young girl, not being fazed at all. Pacing around the room with an awe of nobility around him, he wandered towards the mirror hanging over the mantelpiece and inspected himself. “Do you know it is extremely difficult for my hair to look blonde when it’s wet? And yet it does. One of my incredible abilities I would say.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“No I suppose I didn’t, but then again…” He turned away from the mirror at this point. “, why should I?” Seemingly satisfied with his response he began to put his hair into different styles. “Lucius I think we should go into the other room at this point, there should be a fire place and I am freezing.”
“Well Captain Vanity I feel like you aren’t telling me the whole story so please would you be so kind as to do so?” Lucius asked grudgingly. He looked around the room for anything he could use as a weapon in case this Cipher character turned violent. After his eyes locked onto a rusty, metal pike resting near the wall he looked back up at Cipher.
“Well is that any way to treat family?” Chuckling Cipher looked back around, is blonde hair almost covering his eyes.
“What do you mean by that?” Snarled Lucius, he edged slowly towards the rusty pike not wanting to alert Cipher to his presence.
“I mean that if you come with me into the lounge room I will tell you the answers to those questions and more.” He parted his hair to the sides of his face, and then began to examine his teeth, which were a rich, pearly white. “So Lucius, what do you say.”
“I say,” His hand clasped around the rusty metal spike, small flanks of red iron peeled off and fell to the floor. Raising it over his head he prepared to swing it down onto the unaware Cipher’s blonde head. “...burn in hell.” He swung the spike as hard and fast as he possibly could. It swept towards Cipher skull in a perfect arc.
It never hit his head. Instead it was now clasped in the hands of a demon. It’s nails sharpened to points and covered with a red dust. It had moved so fast that the movement hadn’t registered to Lucius at all. The beast smirked to reveal a mouth full of sharp, ripping teeth; it’s animal like yellow eyes examining him with a human intellect.
“Come now Lucius. Are you really going to kill two people in one night? Look at the damaged you have already caused.” It gestured towards the frail body of the girl lying in the doorway. Tears began to well up in Lucius’ eyes.
He dropped the metal spike to the floor and began to breathe profoundly. “We’re the same?”
“Pardon?”
“Your face…” Lucius struggled to find the words he wanted to say “, it looked like mine when it…”
“Changed?” Asked the beast, chuckling. As he said this his face changed, with the rows of jagged teeth descending back into it’s gums. The yellow eyes processed by the demon filled up with the deep dark blue of the sea. Cipher had returned. “Do you know why?”
“We ARE the same.” He said frustrated.
“Bingo. It is true we are of the same species.” Said Cipher with an evil smirk on his face.
“What are we then?” Demanded Lucius; almost spitting the words at Cipher.
“Come out into the lounge and I will tell you.” This time instead of waiting for an answer he darted out from the hallway and into the lounge room. Before Lucius had time to react he could feel the warmth of a roaring fire.
Lucius hesitantly followed Cipher into the room. As he marched he examined the rest of the household. It was bright thanks to the crackling fire in the next room, he could see the inside of the house appeared to be made of a yellow wood. It was surprisingly dry when one thought of the tempest occurring outside.
When Lucius entered the lounge room he saw three wooden chairs that had been hastily thrown together. They looked like they could hold his weight but he didn’t wish to risk it. They cast long shadows on the floor and surrounded a similarly constructed circular table. These pieces of furniture surrounded the fireplace.
It was exquisitely carved, totally out of place in this poor, wooden house. It appeared to be marble, with the image of a rose carved into it in huge flowing lines. It’s cleanliness was astounding considering the fires that must have roared in it. Even now with the huge, yellow fire, not a trace of soot could be found.
Sitting on one of the chairs next to the fireplace was Cipher. Half of his face was completely shrouded in shadow while the other was as clearly shown as if the blaze of the sun was cast upon him. His eyes shown in the fierce light, as did his blonde hair. Upon his face he wore that same dark smile.
“Sit, would you please.” He gestured towards the chair directly opposite him. Lucius marched over to the chair and sat cautiously.
“Oh please Lucius. If I had wanted to kill you I would have used that pike, although it wouldn’t have done any good.” He placed down two teacups on the table, as well as pulling out a small metal flask. “Drink?”
“No thanks. I’m good.” Lucius said menacingly.
“Such a shame. Well I hope you don’t mind, I will be having one.” He opened the flask and poured some of the liquid into the elegant, little, china teacup. The liquid was a deep crimson colour. “You sure you don’t want some?” Asked Cipher, as he snickered away at his own private joke.
“I’m sure.” However even as Lucius spoke these words the haunting smell of the red liquid entangled him in it’s web. He was intoxicated; all he could think about was the marvellous smell that emanated from the liquid. His chest began to constrict once more in the same hunger pains as when he saw that girl. “Put it away!” He demanded.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t quite hear that.” Said Cipher mockingly. He pulled the teacup up to his lips and took his first sip, not a drop touching his lips.
“Put…it…away!” Demanded Lucius, in a slow menacing tone. Upon the site of Cipher sipping the liquid his chest constricted even further. The pain was mmense.
“I’m sorry, wha…?”
“PUT IT AWAY NOW!!!” Roared Lucius. The pain was like a fire in his chest.
“Fine.” Said Cipher, not even deterred. He took once last hurried sip (still not letting a drop touch his lips) and poured the last of the substance back into the flask. “Normally blood goes off very quickly once out of the body. But you have to love magic.” He shook the flask to emphasize his point, before putting it into his coat.
“That was blood?” Asked Lucius; the pain subsiding almost as soon as Cipher had put the flask away.
“Of course.” Cipher stared at Lucius as if he had made a joke. Lucius just gazed blankly back at him and slowly realization came to Cipher. “You don’t know what you are, do you?”
“I know I’m a demon and so are you.” Said Lucius, his voice filled with venom.
“Please,” Cipher laughed as he said this “… demons are nowhere near as civilized.” And almost as if it were an afterthought he said “Also demons were never humans.”
“Then what am I?” Lucius asked frustrated.
“Come on Lucius. You were a noble when you were human. You would have received the greatest education a bunch of apes could. You should know what we are. The blood, speed. You woke up in a coffin for Verone’s sake. Surely you know?”
He knew. Lucius could imagine only one thing that matched those symptoms, but a lump rose in his throat as he thought those horrid words. Could it be true? Could he be one of those monstrous beasts? He whispered it “A vampyr.”
“Lucius speak up. What are you?” Cipher asked this one without any humour evident in his voice.
“A vampyr.” He forced these words out.
“Bingo. Although our kind prefer to pronounce it vampire. Flows better. Vampire; has such a good ring to it.” Cipher laughed at this.
“I can’t be one of those things.”
“First off, that is rather racist. Secondly you’re being a hypocrite. You’re a vampire. Deal with it.”
“So what. I’m just supposed to deal with the fact that I will be drinking the blood of innocents for the rest of my now extremely long life. Yes I can deal with that!” Lucius said this with anger ripe in his voice.
“See you continue to be racist. Vampires just need to drink blood, it doesn’t matter what source it comes from.”
“So you don’t drink human blood?” Lucius asked, his eyes filled hope.
“I never said that.” Cipher didn’t look at Lucius as he said this instead he was pulling splinters off his wooden chair.
“But you said…”
“That we don’t have to drink human blood. It does taste better.” Said Cipher manner-of-factly.
“And you don’t care that you are killing humans?” Asked Lucius in disgust.
“No.” Cipher began to scrape dirt from underneath his fingernails.
“I get the impression that you really want me to stop talking.” Lucius said this bluntly.
“Would you? I would prefer to just explain some things to you.” Cipher sighed, a look of boredom painted on his face.
“Like what?”
Cipher looked back up at Lucius to begin his speech. He put as much emphasize as possible into this one sentence. “The physical laws of the vampire.”
“What? There are laws.”
“In much the same way that humans need to eat food, we have certain behaviours that govern how we survive.”
“Such as?”
“We need to drink blood.”
“Wow, a revelation. I never knew that. This will change my life. Thank you Cipher, for all you have done.” Lucius said in a monotonous drawl.
“Shut up Lucius, this is important.” For the first time since they had met, Cipher was being serious. “You only have to drink once a month. There are other things as well but the only one you need to know at the moment is that vampires catch fire when we go into sunlight.”
“Ouch.” Lucius exclaimed a little surprised. He had heard stories that the vampyr didn’t go out in the day, but that seemed…
“Oh yeh, ‘when the children of Melakor enter the light cast down by the purity, golden flames will erupt from their body to cleanse the darkness from their soul.’” Cipher began to chuckle “Or so it does say in ‘The Tome of Verone’. I do love the classics. However they do manage to describe the effects miraculously well. Such a shame the only copies were locked away in New Bessa, if I remember correctly, you’re father had his hand in that.”
Lucius didn’t care. He stared through a window in the wall to his right. Branches were tossed around effortlessly almost as if they were a boat on the sea. The rain could be heard pounding on the roof, like the hammering of a giant. The lightning had finally gone.
All of this gave Lucius a matter of perspective. The poor girl who laid dead at the entrance to this homestead her suffering had just begun. Remembering the rites of his people, Lucius knew what he had to do.
“Are you done?” He asked Cipher. For the first time since he had killed that girl, he did not cry over her death, he was too full of a fierce determination.
“There is some other information that you should probably know; but that is about all you need at the moment.” Cipher didn’t seem to have noticed any change in Lucius, in fact he seemed sought of relieved their conversation was over. “I have the bedroom upstairs, if there is another one, you can have it.”
“Fine.” Lucius was a statue; he just continued to stare out through the window. The footsteps of Cipher slowly faded behind him. He got up gradually, the chair creaking under him. He doused out the fire and then headed towards the basement.
He spent the next hour in that basement. It was dark and damp, yet much dryer than outside the home. It had a rough dirt floor, and was poorly lit, with no gas lamps and only one rack for a flaming brazier. But even with these few problems, it was the perfect place for what he had in mind.
He pulled a shovel from the side of the basement. It had a slimy, green handle causing his hands to constantly slip down it. The metal spade on the end was caked in mud, but could still be used successfully.
Walking to the centre of the room, he stood in recognition of the following task, before he continued. He began to dig a rectangular hole in the ground 1.5 metres deep, 2.5 metres long and 1 metre wide. His task was filled with determination, because it was the only way to feel anything besides guilt.
Sweat was slick on his forehead. His arms and back ached, his eyelids slowly drooping. His whole body felt like it was going to collapse.
Finally he had dug the whole and he went to the body of the poor girl. He wrapped her in a white sheet and tied it onto her with some spare rope. Ever so carefully he placed the body into the tomb. Once properly aligned he hopped back out and began to shovel the dirt back into the grave.
This task was much easier, because the soil was loose. However Lucius still felt an immense mental strain due to the guilt of his actions. Tired and weary he shovelled the last spade of dirt into the grave.
He then began the most important part of the ceremony. According to the beliefs of his people, the soul could not pass into the next life until the body had been buried and the proper rites had been said. He was an educated man and therefore could perform the rituals.
“By the...,” The lump in his throat prevented him from talking, actually giving him physical pain if he did so. He choked down these words and had to start over.
With determination he spoke these words again, “By the power of Galinti, who gave unto this world the gift of sound, follow my voice, to the light of the purity.” A moment’s pause before he walked over to the opposite side of the grave and begun the rites again. He did this two more times, before he bowed his head and collapsed onto the ground.
He lay crying on the dirt. Tears streamed down his face and pooled into puddles on the rough, dry soil. His last thought before falling to sleep was ‘Is this my life now?’
“How do you know my name?” Asked Lucius, he searched deep inside himself to find enough courage to say this.
At this Cipher just chuckled. He stepped over the corpse of the young girl, not being fazed at all. Pacing around the room with an awe of nobility around him, he wandered towards the mirror hanging over the mantelpiece and inspected himself. “Do you know it is extremely difficult for my hair to look blonde when it’s wet? And yet it does. One of my incredible abilities I would say.”
“You didn’t answer my question.”
“No I suppose I didn’t, but then again…” He turned away from the mirror at this point. “, why should I?” Seemingly satisfied with his response he began to put his hair into different styles. “Lucius I think we should go into the other room at this point, there should be a fire place and I am freezing.”
“Well Captain Vanity I feel like you aren’t telling me the whole story so please would you be so kind as to do so?” Lucius asked grudgingly. He looked around the room for anything he could use as a weapon in case this Cipher character turned violent. After his eyes locked onto a rusty, metal pike resting near the wall he looked back up at Cipher.
“Well is that any way to treat family?” Chuckling Cipher looked back around, is blonde hair almost covering his eyes.
“What do you mean by that?” Snarled Lucius, he edged slowly towards the rusty pike not wanting to alert Cipher to his presence.
“I mean that if you come with me into the lounge room I will tell you the answers to those questions and more.” He parted his hair to the sides of his face, and then began to examine his teeth, which were a rich, pearly white. “So Lucius, what do you say.”
“I say,” His hand clasped around the rusty metal spike, small flanks of red iron peeled off and fell to the floor. Raising it over his head he prepared to swing it down onto the unaware Cipher’s blonde head. “...burn in hell.” He swung the spike as hard and fast as he possibly could. It swept towards Cipher skull in a perfect arc.
It never hit his head. Instead it was now clasped in the hands of a demon. It’s nails sharpened to points and covered with a red dust. It had moved so fast that the movement hadn’t registered to Lucius at all. The beast smirked to reveal a mouth full of sharp, ripping teeth; it’s animal like yellow eyes examining him with a human intellect.
“Come now Lucius. Are you really going to kill two people in one night? Look at the damaged you have already caused.” It gestured towards the frail body of the girl lying in the doorway. Tears began to well up in Lucius’ eyes.
He dropped the metal spike to the floor and began to breathe profoundly. “We’re the same?”
“Pardon?”
“Your face…” Lucius struggled to find the words he wanted to say “, it looked like mine when it…”
“Changed?” Asked the beast, chuckling. As he said this his face changed, with the rows of jagged teeth descending back into it’s gums. The yellow eyes processed by the demon filled up with the deep dark blue of the sea. Cipher had returned. “Do you know why?”
“We ARE the same.” He said frustrated.
“Bingo. It is true we are of the same species.” Said Cipher with an evil smirk on his face.
“What are we then?” Demanded Lucius; almost spitting the words at Cipher.
“Come out into the lounge and I will tell you.” This time instead of waiting for an answer he darted out from the hallway and into the lounge room. Before Lucius had time to react he could feel the warmth of a roaring fire.
Lucius hesitantly followed Cipher into the room. As he marched he examined the rest of the household. It was bright thanks to the crackling fire in the next room, he could see the inside of the house appeared to be made of a yellow wood. It was surprisingly dry when one thought of the tempest occurring outside.
When Lucius entered the lounge room he saw three wooden chairs that had been hastily thrown together. They looked like they could hold his weight but he didn’t wish to risk it. They cast long shadows on the floor and surrounded a similarly constructed circular table. These pieces of furniture surrounded the fireplace.
It was exquisitely carved, totally out of place in this poor, wooden house. It appeared to be marble, with the image of a rose carved into it in huge flowing lines. It’s cleanliness was astounding considering the fires that must have roared in it. Even now with the huge, yellow fire, not a trace of soot could be found.
Sitting on one of the chairs next to the fireplace was Cipher. Half of his face was completely shrouded in shadow while the other was as clearly shown as if the blaze of the sun was cast upon him. His eyes shown in the fierce light, as did his blonde hair. Upon his face he wore that same dark smile.
“Sit, would you please.” He gestured towards the chair directly opposite him. Lucius marched over to the chair and sat cautiously.
“Oh please Lucius. If I had wanted to kill you I would have used that pike, although it wouldn’t have done any good.” He placed down two teacups on the table, as well as pulling out a small metal flask. “Drink?”
“No thanks. I’m good.” Lucius said menacingly.
“Such a shame. Well I hope you don’t mind, I will be having one.” He opened the flask and poured some of the liquid into the elegant, little, china teacup. The liquid was a deep crimson colour. “You sure you don’t want some?” Asked Cipher, as he snickered away at his own private joke.
“I’m sure.” However even as Lucius spoke these words the haunting smell of the red liquid entangled him in it’s web. He was intoxicated; all he could think about was the marvellous smell that emanated from the liquid. His chest began to constrict once more in the same hunger pains as when he saw that girl. “Put it away!” He demanded.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t quite hear that.” Said Cipher mockingly. He pulled the teacup up to his lips and took his first sip, not a drop touching his lips.
“Put…it…away!” Demanded Lucius, in a slow menacing tone. Upon the site of Cipher sipping the liquid his chest constricted even further. The pain was mmense.
“I’m sorry, wha…?”
“PUT IT AWAY NOW!!!” Roared Lucius. The pain was like a fire in his chest.
“Fine.” Said Cipher, not even deterred. He took once last hurried sip (still not letting a drop touch his lips) and poured the last of the substance back into the flask. “Normally blood goes off very quickly once out of the body. But you have to love magic.” He shook the flask to emphasize his point, before putting it into his coat.
“That was blood?” Asked Lucius; the pain subsiding almost as soon as Cipher had put the flask away.
“Of course.” Cipher stared at Lucius as if he had made a joke. Lucius just gazed blankly back at him and slowly realization came to Cipher. “You don’t know what you are, do you?”
“I know I’m a demon and so are you.” Said Lucius, his voice filled with venom.
“Please,” Cipher laughed as he said this “… demons are nowhere near as civilized.” And almost as if it were an afterthought he said “Also demons were never humans.”
“Then what am I?” Lucius asked frustrated.
“Come on Lucius. You were a noble when you were human. You would have received the greatest education a bunch of apes could. You should know what we are. The blood, speed. You woke up in a coffin for Verone’s sake. Surely you know?”
He knew. Lucius could imagine only one thing that matched those symptoms, but a lump rose in his throat as he thought those horrid words. Could it be true? Could he be one of those monstrous beasts? He whispered it “A vampyr.”
“Lucius speak up. What are you?” Cipher asked this one without any humour evident in his voice.
“A vampyr.” He forced these words out.
“Bingo. Although our kind prefer to pronounce it vampire. Flows better. Vampire; has such a good ring to it.” Cipher laughed at this.
“I can’t be one of those things.”
“First off, that is rather racist. Secondly you’re being a hypocrite. You’re a vampire. Deal with it.”
“So what. I’m just supposed to deal with the fact that I will be drinking the blood of innocents for the rest of my now extremely long life. Yes I can deal with that!” Lucius said this with anger ripe in his voice.
“See you continue to be racist. Vampires just need to drink blood, it doesn’t matter what source it comes from.”
“So you don’t drink human blood?” Lucius asked, his eyes filled hope.
“I never said that.” Cipher didn’t look at Lucius as he said this instead he was pulling splinters off his wooden chair.
“But you said…”
“That we don’t have to drink human blood. It does taste better.” Said Cipher manner-of-factly.
“And you don’t care that you are killing humans?” Asked Lucius in disgust.
“No.” Cipher began to scrape dirt from underneath his fingernails.
“I get the impression that you really want me to stop talking.” Lucius said this bluntly.
“Would you? I would prefer to just explain some things to you.” Cipher sighed, a look of boredom painted on his face.
“Like what?”
Cipher looked back up at Lucius to begin his speech. He put as much emphasize as possible into this one sentence. “The physical laws of the vampire.”
“What? There are laws.”
“In much the same way that humans need to eat food, we have certain behaviours that govern how we survive.”
“Such as?”
“We need to drink blood.”
“Wow, a revelation. I never knew that. This will change my life. Thank you Cipher, for all you have done.” Lucius said in a monotonous drawl.
“Shut up Lucius, this is important.” For the first time since they had met, Cipher was being serious. “You only have to drink once a month. There are other things as well but the only one you need to know at the moment is that vampires catch fire when we go into sunlight.”
“Ouch.” Lucius exclaimed a little surprised. He had heard stories that the vampyr didn’t go out in the day, but that seemed…
“Oh yeh, ‘when the children of Melakor enter the light cast down by the purity, golden flames will erupt from their body to cleanse the darkness from their soul.’” Cipher began to chuckle “Or so it does say in ‘The Tome of Verone’. I do love the classics. However they do manage to describe the effects miraculously well. Such a shame the only copies were locked away in New Bessa, if I remember correctly, you’re father had his hand in that.”
Lucius didn’t care. He stared through a window in the wall to his right. Branches were tossed around effortlessly almost as if they were a boat on the sea. The rain could be heard pounding on the roof, like the hammering of a giant. The lightning had finally gone.
All of this gave Lucius a matter of perspective. The poor girl who laid dead at the entrance to this homestead her suffering had just begun. Remembering the rites of his people, Lucius knew what he had to do.
“Are you done?” He asked Cipher. For the first time since he had killed that girl, he did not cry over her death, he was too full of a fierce determination.
“There is some other information that you should probably know; but that is about all you need at the moment.” Cipher didn’t seem to have noticed any change in Lucius, in fact he seemed sought of relieved their conversation was over. “I have the bedroom upstairs, if there is another one, you can have it.”
“Fine.” Lucius was a statue; he just continued to stare out through the window. The footsteps of Cipher slowly faded behind him. He got up gradually, the chair creaking under him. He doused out the fire and then headed towards the basement.
He spent the next hour in that basement. It was dark and damp, yet much dryer than outside the home. It had a rough dirt floor, and was poorly lit, with no gas lamps and only one rack for a flaming brazier. But even with these few problems, it was the perfect place for what he had in mind.
He pulled a shovel from the side of the basement. It had a slimy, green handle causing his hands to constantly slip down it. The metal spade on the end was caked in mud, but could still be used successfully.
Walking to the centre of the room, he stood in recognition of the following task, before he continued. He began to dig a rectangular hole in the ground 1.5 metres deep, 2.5 metres long and 1 metre wide. His task was filled with determination, because it was the only way to feel anything besides guilt.
Sweat was slick on his forehead. His arms and back ached, his eyelids slowly drooping. His whole body felt like it was going to collapse.
Finally he had dug the whole and he went to the body of the poor girl. He wrapped her in a white sheet and tied it onto her with some spare rope. Ever so carefully he placed the body into the tomb. Once properly aligned he hopped back out and began to shovel the dirt back into the grave.
This task was much easier, because the soil was loose. However Lucius still felt an immense mental strain due to the guilt of his actions. Tired and weary he shovelled the last spade of dirt into the grave.
He then began the most important part of the ceremony. According to the beliefs of his people, the soul could not pass into the next life until the body had been buried and the proper rites had been said. He was an educated man and therefore could perform the rituals.
“By the...,” The lump in his throat prevented him from talking, actually giving him physical pain if he did so. He choked down these words and had to start over.
With determination he spoke these words again, “By the power of Galinti, who gave unto this world the gift of sound, follow my voice, to the light of the purity.” A moment’s pause before he walked over to the opposite side of the grave and begun the rites again. He did this two more times, before he bowed his head and collapsed onto the ground.
He lay crying on the dirt. Tears streamed down his face and pooled into puddles on the rough, dry soil. His last thought before falling to sleep was ‘Is this my life now?’
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Chapter 1
It was the sound of thunder to which he awoke. It boomed overhead, entirely annihilating the sound of the rain which could usually be heard pounding on the roof above. The sound of the wind which normally tossed around the carriage, in which he lay, could not be heard at all. But as the thunder receded he could yet again hear all these noises.
He couldn’t see anything, the darkness completely blanketed everything. Reaching up his hands pressed against the hard engraved wooden covering of the box. This surprised him and reaching out to the sides and felt the same wooden planks. He began to panic and then attempted to push against the wooden covering over him and after a slight administration of force managed to shove it from him.
The smell of fresh air was miraculous to him; seemingly magnified twenty times from that which he used to know. It smelt beautiful to him, enticing and filled with a thousand different flavors. Pushing the last of the wooden lid from him he leapt from his imprisonment and gazed around at the world.
He was in a small elegant room. It was simple yet astounding with violet curtains tied back to either side of a dozen windows. Its carpet was of the same rich colour as the curtains being perfectly clean, not a trace of dirt. Towards one side of the chamber there was a magnificent door which appeared to be hand crafted from the finest, golden wood. He headed towards it needing to slouch due to the height of the room.
Immediately upon opening the door he was assaulted by the chill of wind and rain. It that instant he was soaked right down to the bone and with the wind chill he was nearly frozen, barely able to move. Mustering up all his might he struggled out the door and into the maelstrom beyond.
The world outside the carriage was even worse. At this point he actually regretted getting out of the coffin in which he was contained. At least in there it was warm. He walked to the front of the carriage to see if he could find anyone to talk to. Instead he found mindless brutality.
The drivers of the carriage were dead. Their heads had been torn from their bodies as if madman had sliced them off with a sword. Their features were barely visible until an enormous burst of lightning illuminated the bodies. Each of them at had their bodies viciously clawed at almost as a lion had disemboweled them. Both of the drivers were holding the reins to some horses yet none were to be seen.
At this moment he felt a pain in side of him. It wasn’t a crippling pain merely a hunger pain yet it was coming from his chest. At this time he could ignore it, but he knew he could not escape from it forever.
Leaving the two corpses alone he wandered up the road and through the pouring rain. Huge puddles of dark, dirty water covered the road with the only land being thick, horrible mud. Braving the impenetrable conditions he struggled to wade through the waist high mud. At some points he had to swim through the puddles to navigate around trees that had fallen during the storm.
Finally after what seemed like days he managed to reach dry land. The rain still pelted down on him but the ground was hard granite not able to be contaminated by the mud. Exhaustion forced him to rest upon this rock; it surface appeared to radiate heat.
He reluctantly arose from his resting place and walked up along a path leading from the road. It was small, barely more than a bush walking track, but it led to the cover of a grove of trees and therefore was good to follow. It wasn’t tiled or even carved, instead appearing to have been eroded into the ground through constant use. It was slick with rain, but still dryer than the road he had initially used.
He staggered forward mustering what little strength he had left. Eventually he arrived at the grove of trees; the rain was slowed by the canopy above him. However so was what little light he had, the forest in front of him was completely black, impossible to see anything at all. Even the lightning could not illuminate his surroundings.
After blindly staggering through this void for what seemed like an eternity, he managed to spy a small light up ahead of him. It could barely illuminate anything, but he thought he saw a structure near it, possibly the source of the light. As he marched towards it, his boots sloshed against the damp earth and leaves.
All he could think about was the warmth and heat that would be found inside that building. He began to see it better as he got closer. It appeared to be white yet heavily chipped and filthy from years of dirt and rain. The building had two stories, as well as a small patio that barely managed to cover the door. There were 4 windows, two on the top floor and two on the bottom, with one of those on the bottom being the source of the illumination.
At the sight of this he broke into a run. He had to get to the comfort and warmth of the building above all other things. The mud sloshed around his feet, a gale of wind pushed him ever closer towards the door. He felt like he could feel the heat.
He stopped abruptly at the door, finally free from the freezing grip of the rain. He took the moment to look around the front of the house. Puddles saturated the grass that covered the front lawn. Looking up the roof was incredibly dirty, covered in mud and sleet, paint chipping off due to the harsh wind. The door was ugly and appeared to have been hastily thrown together from spare wood. He knocked upon it.
“Just a minute.” Said a feminine voice that came from the upstairs of the house. Footsteps could be heard rushing down the stairs. The sound halted just behind the door and it was pulled open.
There stood a young woman at the door. She was a brunette with jade eyes and a plain face. Her hair was cropped back in a tight bun and she had a polite smile on her face. She seem to be taken back by a young man arriving at her door. Almost day dreaming as she looked into his eyes. As he looked past her he could see why.
There was a mirror hanging from the wall behind her. In it he could see what appeared to be an angel. The angel’s hair was shoulder length and had a jet black color to it. His eyes were a sparkling blue like that of a tropical ocean. It’s body was heavily muscular; cloths clinging to his skin. To his amazement the angel was actually him.
“Sir, what is it ye want?” Asked the girl when she finally realized he wasn’t looking at her. And at that instant the girl was doomed, for the hunger returned inside of him, but it was a thousand times worse. It felt like is chest was constricting in, his heart imploding. Or he could think about besides the pain was this girl’s blood.
He stared at her and began moving forward menacingly. She was transfixed, not moving at all just staring back at him and inhaling heavily. He felt a change come over him but what it was he couldn’t tell. He bent down towards her neck and bit deep into her throat.
She barely struggled as the blood gushed from the open wound and into his mouth. It caressed his throat, the warmth of the blood completely undoing the effects of the cold. His chest lightened.
After about one minute the blood flow stopped and he dropped the girl’s body to the ground. He looked back into the mirror and instead of seeing the angel, he saw a devil. It’s mouth was full of horrible pointy teeth, his eyes had turned a deep yellow like that of an animal’s. He had become a monster.
He looked down at the corpse of the young girl which was completely pale, the red gone from her lips, her neck bathed in blood. Looking back up at the mirror the angel had returned yet tears saturated it’s eyes.
“What have I done?” He cried, tears ran down his face. The guilt was immense like nothing he had ever felt before. To no one in particular he asked again. “What have I done?”
“You have had your first taste of human blood.” Said a voice from behind him. “Doesn’t it feel good?”
He turned around and saw the owner of the voice. It was a man with short, blond, messy hair. His eyes were a deep, dark, blue like the middle of the ocean. His skin was white but not very pale. And he was displaying a beautiful set of sparkling white teeth. He was wearing a dark leather coat, and black pants. His coat covered a white shirt.
“Who are you?” He asked to the blonde man.
“My name is Cipher and I know all about you, Lucius.” Announced Cipher with a smirk on his face.
He couldn’t see anything, the darkness completely blanketed everything. Reaching up his hands pressed against the hard engraved wooden covering of the box. This surprised him and reaching out to the sides and felt the same wooden planks. He began to panic and then attempted to push against the wooden covering over him and after a slight administration of force managed to shove it from him.
The smell of fresh air was miraculous to him; seemingly magnified twenty times from that which he used to know. It smelt beautiful to him, enticing and filled with a thousand different flavors. Pushing the last of the wooden lid from him he leapt from his imprisonment and gazed around at the world.
He was in a small elegant room. It was simple yet astounding with violet curtains tied back to either side of a dozen windows. Its carpet was of the same rich colour as the curtains being perfectly clean, not a trace of dirt. Towards one side of the chamber there was a magnificent door which appeared to be hand crafted from the finest, golden wood. He headed towards it needing to slouch due to the height of the room.
Immediately upon opening the door he was assaulted by the chill of wind and rain. It that instant he was soaked right down to the bone and with the wind chill he was nearly frozen, barely able to move. Mustering up all his might he struggled out the door and into the maelstrom beyond.
The world outside the carriage was even worse. At this point he actually regretted getting out of the coffin in which he was contained. At least in there it was warm. He walked to the front of the carriage to see if he could find anyone to talk to. Instead he found mindless brutality.
The drivers of the carriage were dead. Their heads had been torn from their bodies as if madman had sliced them off with a sword. Their features were barely visible until an enormous burst of lightning illuminated the bodies. Each of them at had their bodies viciously clawed at almost as a lion had disemboweled them. Both of the drivers were holding the reins to some horses yet none were to be seen.
At this moment he felt a pain in side of him. It wasn’t a crippling pain merely a hunger pain yet it was coming from his chest. At this time he could ignore it, but he knew he could not escape from it forever.
Leaving the two corpses alone he wandered up the road and through the pouring rain. Huge puddles of dark, dirty water covered the road with the only land being thick, horrible mud. Braving the impenetrable conditions he struggled to wade through the waist high mud. At some points he had to swim through the puddles to navigate around trees that had fallen during the storm.
Finally after what seemed like days he managed to reach dry land. The rain still pelted down on him but the ground was hard granite not able to be contaminated by the mud. Exhaustion forced him to rest upon this rock; it surface appeared to radiate heat.
He reluctantly arose from his resting place and walked up along a path leading from the road. It was small, barely more than a bush walking track, but it led to the cover of a grove of trees and therefore was good to follow. It wasn’t tiled or even carved, instead appearing to have been eroded into the ground through constant use. It was slick with rain, but still dryer than the road he had initially used.
He staggered forward mustering what little strength he had left. Eventually he arrived at the grove of trees; the rain was slowed by the canopy above him. However so was what little light he had, the forest in front of him was completely black, impossible to see anything at all. Even the lightning could not illuminate his surroundings.
After blindly staggering through this void for what seemed like an eternity, he managed to spy a small light up ahead of him. It could barely illuminate anything, but he thought he saw a structure near it, possibly the source of the light. As he marched towards it, his boots sloshed against the damp earth and leaves.
All he could think about was the warmth and heat that would be found inside that building. He began to see it better as he got closer. It appeared to be white yet heavily chipped and filthy from years of dirt and rain. The building had two stories, as well as a small patio that barely managed to cover the door. There were 4 windows, two on the top floor and two on the bottom, with one of those on the bottom being the source of the illumination.
At the sight of this he broke into a run. He had to get to the comfort and warmth of the building above all other things. The mud sloshed around his feet, a gale of wind pushed him ever closer towards the door. He felt like he could feel the heat.
He stopped abruptly at the door, finally free from the freezing grip of the rain. He took the moment to look around the front of the house. Puddles saturated the grass that covered the front lawn. Looking up the roof was incredibly dirty, covered in mud and sleet, paint chipping off due to the harsh wind. The door was ugly and appeared to have been hastily thrown together from spare wood. He knocked upon it.
“Just a minute.” Said a feminine voice that came from the upstairs of the house. Footsteps could be heard rushing down the stairs. The sound halted just behind the door and it was pulled open.
There stood a young woman at the door. She was a brunette with jade eyes and a plain face. Her hair was cropped back in a tight bun and she had a polite smile on her face. She seem to be taken back by a young man arriving at her door. Almost day dreaming as she looked into his eyes. As he looked past her he could see why.
There was a mirror hanging from the wall behind her. In it he could see what appeared to be an angel. The angel’s hair was shoulder length and had a jet black color to it. His eyes were a sparkling blue like that of a tropical ocean. It’s body was heavily muscular; cloths clinging to his skin. To his amazement the angel was actually him.
“Sir, what is it ye want?” Asked the girl when she finally realized he wasn’t looking at her. And at that instant the girl was doomed, for the hunger returned inside of him, but it was a thousand times worse. It felt like is chest was constricting in, his heart imploding. Or he could think about besides the pain was this girl’s blood.
He stared at her and began moving forward menacingly. She was transfixed, not moving at all just staring back at him and inhaling heavily. He felt a change come over him but what it was he couldn’t tell. He bent down towards her neck and bit deep into her throat.
She barely struggled as the blood gushed from the open wound and into his mouth. It caressed his throat, the warmth of the blood completely undoing the effects of the cold. His chest lightened.
After about one minute the blood flow stopped and he dropped the girl’s body to the ground. He looked back into the mirror and instead of seeing the angel, he saw a devil. It’s mouth was full of horrible pointy teeth, his eyes had turned a deep yellow like that of an animal’s. He had become a monster.
He looked down at the corpse of the young girl which was completely pale, the red gone from her lips, her neck bathed in blood. Looking back up at the mirror the angel had returned yet tears saturated it’s eyes.
“What have I done?” He cried, tears ran down his face. The guilt was immense like nothing he had ever felt before. To no one in particular he asked again. “What have I done?”
“You have had your first taste of human blood.” Said a voice from behind him. “Doesn’t it feel good?”
He turned around and saw the owner of the voice. It was a man with short, blond, messy hair. His eyes were a deep, dark, blue like the middle of the ocean. His skin was white but not very pale. And he was displaying a beautiful set of sparkling white teeth. He was wearing a dark leather coat, and black pants. His coat covered a white shirt.
“Who are you?” He asked to the blonde man.
“My name is Cipher and I know all about you, Lucius.” Announced Cipher with a smirk on his face.
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