The Vinculum

[align=center]Prologue
They painted up your secret
With the lies they told to you
And the least they ever gave you
Was the most you ever knew

And I wonder where these dreams go
When the world gets in your way
What’s the point in all this screaming
No one’s listening anyway…

(Acoustic #3, Goo Goo Dolls)[/align]

[i]He was a hunter… and anyone that was unfortunate enough to be on the field of battle with him was his prey.

What made him so terrifying? Could it be his arm of Godss Steel or the two inch claws of his left hand? Was it perhaps, that he seemed so calm and, dare I say it, happy? While he was slaughtering countless men just because he could? Yes, that was perhaps the reason that he was feared. That was probably the reason that he was known as “The Fierceâ€

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Let it snow, Let it snow

[align=center]Chapter 2[/align]

[align=center]Hear one thousand screams
Hear one thousand voices
A solitary echo

Feel one thousand pains
but one is receiving
a bloody invitation

Do you want to feel the warmth?
To taste the life flow?
Do you want to taste the life?
To taste the life flow?

(Sacrifice Theory, AFI)[/align]


I had been dozing in the branches of a tree when the sounds of thunder reached my sensitive ears. Looking at the sky, I realized that there were no clouds and that meant only one thing.

“The Thunder Makers,â€

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Let it snow, Let it snow

Wow... Saron, this is really, really good. Keep up the good work.


Hmm. I have a few ideas for songs.

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[align=center]Peace is but a shadow of death, desperate to forget its painful past...
Though we hope for promising years, after shedding a thousand tears, yesterday's sorrow constantly nears.
And while the moon still shines blue, by dawn, it will turn to scarlet hue.[/align]

[align=center]Chapter 3[/align]

“I’ve never seen a demon that looks like him. You’re absolutely certain that he isn’t just Harkinian?â€

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Let it snow, Let it snow

Again, this is some really good stuff here... Keep up the good work.

I can probably think of more songs too.

[align=center]Chapter 4[/align]

[align=center]Well, I will silence you.
Here’s the hitch, your horse is leaving.
Don’t miss your boat, it’s leaving now.
And as you go I will spread my wings.
Yes, I will call this home…
Those hands once warmed here, but I have retired them.
I can breathe my own air and I can sleep more soundly
Upon these poor souls,
I’ll build heaven and call it home.
Cause you’re all dead now.
I live with my justice
And I live with my greed in me
I live with no mercy
And I live with my frenzy feet
I live with my hatred
And I live with my jealousy
I live with the notion that I don’t need anyone but me
Don’t drink the water
Don’t drink the water
Blood in the water
Don’t drink the water

(Don’t Drink the Water, Dave Matthews Band)[/align]


Gods, can’t they get it through their fucking thick skulls that I’m not moving? I thought with a snarl as Tul and Bunto came in and tried to distract me from the slaves that were trying to figure out the best way to release me from my bonds without allowing me to become a threat.

I was in a foul mood to put it simply. I had gotten almost no sleep since I had been brought here, I was hungry as hell, and everyone was so damned annoying. Jonta kept glaring at me, and once more, there was someone else that I didn’t know. Green eyes and a head and face wrap kept his identify hidden from me, but every time he looked at me, I thought I saw a flash of recognition in the pale depths of his eyes. I wanted to know his name, but every time I tried to ask, Tul, or Jonta told me to “shut upâ€

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Let it snow, Let it snow

[align=center]Chapter 5

I’m tired of being what you want me to be
Feeling so faithless
Lost under the surface
I don’t know what your expecting of me
Put under the pressure
Of walking in your shoes
(Caught in the undertow
Just caught in the undertow)
Every step that I take is just another mistake to you

I’ve become so numb
I can’t feel you there
Become so tired
So much more aware
I’m becoming this
All I want to do
Is be more like me
And be less like you

(Numb, Linkin Park)[/align]

My mind often wonders when I’m in my human form. That’s the only reason I can even tell I’m in it half the time. The few times my god side has ever taken over, I felt numb as well. My mind just didn’t wonder at all. Why this is, I have no idea, but often it turns to my past… and my parents in particular.

I didn’t love them. No, to me they were just the people that took care of me, and that’s all. Hell, my parents didn’t even love each other. I just assume that in one lust filled night, they managed to conceive me, and that was that. The only reason Kondon, my father, stayed was because he had been ordered to protect my mother, Morian. Even I knew that he would have left to find his mate if it hadn’t been for that simple fact.

Kondon was the epitome of a Calamor male. He protected those that he held dear to him with his life, he had personally been marked by the one that cursed our line, and he never physically hurt a woman. All such wonderful qualities.

Mother wasn’t must better when it came to him. Her father, The Fiercest of the War Gods, was the one that cursed the Calamor men. She knew it, but that wasn’t exactly her fault. She didn’t choose her parents after all. Still, did she have to slap Kondon, and tell him on a regular basis that the only reason he was allowed to see his own son was because he was ordered to protect her? Yes, perhaps she did because he would often get this predatory look in his eyes. It was one that suggested he would do unspeakable things to her if he could, and he would kill her with relish when he got the chance.

Yes, I didn’t love my parents… but I didn’t have anyone else to protect a freak like me.

I was five when I stopped calling Kondon dad or father. I had seen him in a fight with mother, and it had made me learn the hard truth about my sires.

“Morian, why do you insist on having him learn magic? He’s never going to master it. Not with that arm of his, and not with such unpredictable blood in his veins.â€

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Let it snow, Let it snow

Excellent work Saron
I like the personal story behind Dorric.

[align=center]Chapter 6[/align]

It was easily the week that Ordin had planned before I was even considered being released from my cell. We had yet to arrive at the place that the high general wanted to get to, but there were enough Gordonian troops around to merit a battle. That and I’m almost certain that everyone wanted to see just what I was capable of.

“Fierce! Ya get ta come out! ‘Appy day for ya ain’t it?â€

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Let it snow, Let it snow

[align=center]Chapter 8
(Interlude)[/align]

He should have been dead. Simple as that. Normal people did not live with as much blood loss as he had sustained. Normal people did not continue to fight with a gaping wound in their side and a bullet hole in their arm. Normal people didn’t have metal arms.
He wasn’t normal though.

Princess Airia carefully cleaned the wounded man’s back and the gash on his side. He had been brought to the castle earlier that day along with a small unit of Lord Melic’s personal army. He had been starved, apparently dehydrated, wounded, and it looked like none of the soldiers had done a damn thing about it. It made her sick at how heartless some people could be.

“Highness?â€

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Let it snow, Let it snow

It was well worth the wait.
Excellent work Saron, thats really all I can say
I just love reading this.
^_^

[align=center]Chapter 10

Be my savior
And I’ll be your downfall

(Downfall, Matchbox 20)[/align]

My external wounds healed over quickly once I was able to eat and sleep properly once again. However, during the days when Airia was acting as a diplomat to one of the seven races of Harkinin, I was often left alone, and it allowed me far too much time to think. It wasn’t enough for me that that was the only thing that I had done while being a prisoner for the Alnorians. No, now I had to be tormented further while each of my personalities dissected the Alnorian officers and Lord Melic.

Why would a man that is so dedicated to his country up and turn traitor? My human side pondered while they discussed Adam.

Maybe because he knew that there was no way Gordon was going to win this war. It’s possible that he just wanted to be on the winning side, the demon side put in.

‘Talked bad about them when first meet. Why change?’ the beast grumbled before the deity did something unexpected. It talked to the others like an equal.

Adam and Ukona were doing what they felt best for Gordon obviously. They must have figured that by getting close to the Alnorian high officers, they could find things out, and thus, get information. In return, they would give away information as well, but only enough so they wouldn’t be suspected of treachery to their new lords. They would never give away something incredibly valuable unless they knew that they would be getting the same type of information back.

There was a murmur of agreement between them, and the demon brought up a new subject that seemed to the fancy of all of them. Melic.

What does he want, eh? He was a spy for Harkinin, we know that by now. Why does he keep acting like he hates us?

He might have known Kondon or Morian. It seems like they got around enough when they were alive.

Aye, but that doesn’t explain why he acts like he hates us.

‘Grudge?’

Kondon did some nasty things when his own demon side took over. You three know as well as I do that he could have hurt Melic at some point in time.

This has nothing to do with Kondon or Morian. Don’t you remember that book on the Toocharin War? There was a brief passage on Saron Calamor and Melic Toocharin and how they were great generals and what not. This has everything to do with our demon grandfather. He was the one that did something to Melic.

“But, if Melic was a general in that war, that would make him at least in his fifties, if not older. He doesn’t smell like an old man. Ugg, none of this makes sense!â€

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Let it snow, Let it snow

[align=center]Chapter 11
(Interlude)[/align]

Airia struggled to keep her composure as she listened to the constant yelling of the diplomats in the room with her. The Aqauldons, a human like race that had adapted to live in and around water, were refusing to get along with the Ignorians, yet another race of Harkinin, this time adapted to living in the higher altitudes of the mountains. Also, the Desert Dwellers, a dark skinned human race, kept looking at Meche`t with the distain of centuries of hate. In fact, the only two races that seemed to be getting along at the moment were the Fairy Folk and the Tree Elves (why they were called Tree Elves Airia didn’t know. The race resembled large bushes more then they did her race). It was getting on her nerves that there was next to nothing that she could do, and she looked at her bodyguard for some answers. He provided none.

Hell, he probably only came because he could feel how distressed I was. He has a knack for being able to sense that, she thought bitterly as her eyes slowly started to narrow.

Meche`t’s head turned to face the door, and he reached for the handles of his weapons.

“Someone out there?â€

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Let it snow, Let it snow

[align=center]Chapter 12

Tell me how do you feel
For I am lonely too
To know that I am
Just as cold and numb as you

I could fly away
Or I could be no one
And you could be the sunshine
Falling over the
Mountain
Or you could come to stay
Cause you could come right home
I don’t see why I have to
Live this life all
Alone

(What You Want, John Butler Trio)[/align]

I stood looking at my reflection in the mirror and I frowned. I almost didn’t recognize myself as I took in the details that Airia had strived for. I looked just like my grandfather. I had seen him once, and his image, some unattainable and arrogant being, was one that always stayed with me. Now, that same image was plastered on me. Golden claw marks, blue circlet, and the barest traces of red outlining marked my face as it did his. At my side was a plain black hilted sword, and as long as I didn’t draw it, no one would no the difference between it and grandfather’s sword: Chaos. Black gauntlets and gloves underneath them hid my claws and metal hand, but there was still something wrong…

“He doesn’t have blue eyes,â€

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Let it snow, Let it snow