The Dark Lord

Egypt, 146 BC…

Amadeus stood outside the door listening to his master, enjoying the pleasures of the flesh in the room behind him. It was his job to stand sentry. He’d been pacing the floor, his hand on the hilt of his sword when he saw her lingering beside a tall stone pillar. She was dressed sparsely in sheer white silk and gold bands around her neck and biceps. Her long black hair hung down her bronzed back. She was shapely, full painted lips and bold silver eyes. He’d never seen a more beautiful woman in all his life, and she was eyeing him with fire in her eyes.

She leaned back against the pillar, bending one leg and tilting her head back in an alluring pose. She licked her red lips and bit her full bottom lip giving him a come-hither look. He knew he was supposed to stay at his post, but then she moved down the hall, glancing back at him over her shoulder and gesturing for Amadeus to follow her into the darkness.

Her eyes seemed to almost glow in the dark. Amadeus could not resist; he was compelled to follow her. Amadeus wandered down the hall, watching her hips swing with every step. She disappeared behind a silk curtain that cut off the palace from the balcony overlooking the city. The curtain fluttered in the summer breeze. Amadeus pushed the silk aside and stepped out onto the stone balcony.

She was backed up against the banister. Her eyes shimmered, and she reached a hand out for him. Amadeus took her hand and moved in close, taking her into his arms. He kissed her lips, and they were sweet. Then her mouth moved from his and moved down over his throat. He closed his eyes, and then he felt teeth puncture his jugular. His arms went limp, but she managed to hold him in an upright position.

Amadeus turned white as the blood drained from his body. His knees buckled, and they slowly sunk to their knees together. Her mouth lifted from his neck, and Amadeus collapsed to a laying position in her arms. She looked down at him with bright starlit eyes and his blood on her lips. Her teeth had changed, and now he saw fangs like an animal. She lifted her wrist to her mouth and using her teeth. She tore open the flesh until she bled. She placed her bloody wrist to his mouth, and he was too week to resist as her blood dripped into his mouth and down his throat.

She whispered in his ear something he didn’t understand. She placed a kiss on his lips, laying him down on the stone floor before walking away, leaving him where he was. Amadeus lay there all night until he was found in the morning by slaves. He was immediately tended to and taken to a bed where he lay sickly for days. His blood felt like it was on fire. Amadeus was too weak to move, too weak to eat; he could feel his life slipping away. Three days later, Amadeus heart beat its last.

***

Amadeus shot up and looked around. Where was he? He was in a small room with clay walls. There was a torch outside. The light filtered into the small room casting shadows on the walls. Amadeus realized he was lying in a heap of slave bodies. He didn’t know how he’d gotten here. He remembered being very sick, but he didn’t feel sick anymore. No now he felt stronger than ever.

He felt thirsty, though, very thirsty. “Do you feel the power?” A female voice startled him, and from the shadows stepped the beautiful woman that had led him out onto the balcony.

“Yes.”

“It is a gift that I have given you.”

“Why me?”

“I am a woman, and there is a great disadvantage for a woman alone in the world. I need a protector to do my bidding and see me safe. You will do this for me in return for guidance and educating you on how to use your powers and how to hunt without raising suspicion,” she smiled. “We will be inseparable as mistress and fledgling. Stay with me,” she said, caressing his face, “and we will both live long lives.”

“What have you done to me?” He whispered, looking up into her eyes.

“I have made you immortal. Come young one, let’s find you some food while the night is still new.”

Amadeus climbed off the pile of death, and his hand searched his sides. His sword was missing. “My sword is gone,” he panicked.

She chuckled. “You will not need it,” she promised as she smiled, and Amadeus caught a glimpse of her stark white fangs. She ducked her head as she stepped out through the short narrow doorway.

There were rooms like this all around piled high with bodies scheduled for disposal. The square the rooms surrounded was a mountain of dead stacked on top of one another while the Pharaoh’s guards were burning the dead to ash. A sickness had spread through the city. Hundreds had been dying, all of the bodies were found drained of blood, and the Egyptians believed their Gods were angry and had brought a plague down on the city. From the look in this woman’s eyes, she knew better.

They walked through the streets of Egypt, watching the people. She told him to hang back and wait in the shadows of the dark space between the buildings. It was narrow and black, but he could still see. Amadeus watched as his mistress seduced a man as she had seduced him and led the man to the alleyway where Amadeus lay in wait.

She got him in the dark, and then her fingernails became as sharp as any blade, and she sliced the man’s forearm open. He yelped in pain and then made to slap her, but that was when he noticed Amadeus.

At the very sight of blood, Amadeus’ body reacted. He felt his teeth elongate, and his body ached. His mouth watered, and his face twisted in a snarl. A low growl rumbled in his throat, and unable to stop himself Amadeus attacked the injured man. He wrapped his arms around him, holding him against the wall as his teeth sunk deep into the flesh of his neck. The warm blood flowed, and Amadeus drank at the man like he was made of God’s life-giving water. The man struggled at first, but only at first, and soon he became weak, and his legs would no longer support him.

His thirst quenched Amadeus released the man and stepped backwards, letting the body fall to the ground. His hands were shaking as he realized what he’d done. Amadeus was a soldier. He’d take lives before but not like this. This man had not been his foe but his victim. Amadeus wiped the blood from his lips. “You have made me a monster.”

“We all have difficulties at first, but you will adjust. The kill gets easier with practice. Soon it will not bother you at all,” she promised.

“I will never kill like that again.”

“Oh, yes, you will. If you don’t feed regularly, the thirst will drive you mad, and you will become an animal and massacre anyone in sight. At least if you manage the thirst, you can alleviate your conscience by selecting your prey. Come with me, and I will teach you all you need to know,” she said, offering her hand. Her eyes were so hypnotic he could not tell her no. Amadeus took her hand and took the first step into a new world.