“Every act ripples across the Cosmos. Every act of benevolence strengthens the Light. While every act of malice feeds the Dark. In our own small ways, we help tip the balance in the Beyond. Our lives and even our deaths give to the Beyond, and in turn, the Beyond gives to us. Our Gods and Seraphim are built upon our virtues. While the Fell Gods and Hellkyn gorge themselves on our sins. Our existence is balanced on a terrible knife-head that we control in a tiny but noticeable way. Never forget that truth, and let it guide your actions'' - Book of Saint Mira 3-13

  A field of identical corpses surrounded the God of Death, while they all belonged to the same person, they each showed a unique and terrible death. No one mourned these scarred bodies nor even knew they existed, for, in fact, they didn't. The field of corpses was little more than a metaphor. A collection of echos, each marking a time when Cole the Deathless proved his epitaph.

  Souls are strange things. Magical imprints of experiences, beliefs, and traits that connect a living creature to the Beyond. To see a Soul in its entirety is to see who its owner truly is, which can be traumatic for both sides of that exchange. Examining a Soul is something only the most capable mortals can hope to do, but it is the bread and butter of the Gods. One God, in particular, had spent countless eternities doing just this. Master Time, the God of Entropy and its myriad facets. Lord of the Halls of Judgment and final arbiter of a Soul’s destiny.

  Master Time wore one of his countless faces. A mortal perception of his cosmic whole, acting as a buffer between his totality and the soul he now examined. The shape he wore was of an Angler, one he favored when dealing with humanoids. In taking this form, Master Time purposely limited himself. Forcing himself to see through the pinhole mortals call consciousness. A necessary trade-off for subtlety and safety. Having a God brush against your soul without any buffer could be deeply disturbing. Something poor Natalie Striga could attest to.

  So, where Master Time might be able to see the totality of Cole’s soul, the Angler could only see the field of Corpses he stood upon. On the surface, this was a manifestation of the trauma of Cole’s myriad deaths, but it hid other even fouler secrets that the Angler now searched for.

  Cole was not the only one disquieted by his most recent resurrection. The God who he served had noticed the abnormality and wanted to investigate. Leading him here, inside of Cole’s soul while he slept. Walking through the field of bodies, the Angler quickly found what he was looking for. Laying atop a small pile of ruined bodies was a disemboweled version of Cole. The Paladin’s most recent death.

  Leaning down, the Angler placed a hand on the Corpse-Cole’s face. The face cracked under the light touch and disintegrated into ash. Brushing away the layer of soot, the Angler saw what lay beneath. A different face, one painfully familiar to the Angler. It was Petar, the Corpse Feeder and near-usurper of the Alukah.

  Gently, the Angler brushed away at the Corpse-Cole and uncovered the rest of Petar’s body. It truly was a copy of the Feeder’s corpse, which did not bode well. Leaving this body, the Angler went over to another and repeated the processes. As he did, the new Corpse-Cole fell apart. Its ashy exterior crumbling away to reveal a twisted mismatch of body parts. Arms, legs, and bits of torso that did not match each other, having only been held together by the Cole-shaped shell of ash.

  Stepping away from the exposed bodies, the Angler looked around at the hundreds of corpses surrounding him. Speaking to himself, the God-in-Disguise said.

  “Oh, this is not good.”

  Natalie Striga had spent her entire life in the town of Glockmire, only leaving it a handful of times and then journeying no more than a two days' ride. Of her two months of undeath, she’d spent most of it out in the frozen wilderness, learning to hate every last second of it. The weather had turned the minute she and Cole left Glockmire. Winter arrived in the Dragontail mountains with its full fury, catching the Vampire and Paladin out on the road in miserable conditions.

  The bitter cold didn’t truly bother Natalie anymore. She was a Vampire now. It would take temperatures not seen outside of the Farthest North to hamper her. But what did bother her was the eternal dampness and her own hunger. Without any body heat or real ability to recognize the cold, Natalie’s clothes were constantly moist. Her own movement and the nightly campfires kept her clothes from actually freezing but did little to dry them out. Every snowflake or bit of frost inevitably added to her damp torment. Of course, a living person would have long frozen to death or noticed the problem before it became so bad. With her newly warped senses, Natalie did neither. Instead existing in a moist purgatory.

  To make matters worse, being up in the day and using her supernatural endurance to match Cole’s pace was rapidly burning through her blood supply. Cole could only feed her with so much, as he needed to keep his wits about him, leaving Natalie both damp and slightly hungry for nearly two months.

  Cole had pushed them to travel as fast as they could, trying to get as much distance between them and Glockmire before the inevitable hunt started. Leaving little time or energy for anything other than simple survival. The days and nights turned into a quiet monotony of miserable travel and little rest. While Cole was used to this sort of thing, Natalie was starting to crack under the strain. She wasn’t sleeping much, using her Blood Reserve to keep herself awake for days at a time because she feared the helpless corpse-sleep that came with each dawn and the strange dreams arriving with it.

  It was after nearly two months of this torment that the two sat around a pitiful campfire in silence. Cole was too tired to make conversation, and Natalie was busy trying to keep her frantic mind under control. It had been three days since she last fed, and the Hunger was becoming louder and louder. Its insidious whispers combined with Natalie’s own irritation regarding the situation, slowly marinating into a petulant grievance aimed at Cole, a grievance that could only be forgiven with enough blood.

  Having finished making camp, they sat thawing themselves by the fire. Trying not to look at her new partner, Natalie stared at the flames,. uUsing the slight disquiet the flickering light inspired in the Vampire-part of her to combat the Hunger. Eventually, Cole broke the silence.

  His words were dry and quiet, coming from a throat now unpracticed with speech. “I need to teach you how to hunt.”

  Natalie turned toward him, a questioning look on her pale face. Cole answered before she could voice her queries. “I think we are close to the border. We should be leaving Roloyo in the next few days. We can slow our pace some and focus on other priorities.”

  That knowledge (ironically) brought new life to Natalie. A long overdue respite would do wonders for her mental health. But still, Cole hadn’t answered her unspoken question. “Hunting, what exactly?” she said, a hint of nervousness in her voice.

  Cole looked at her steadily. “I can tell how bad the Hunger is getting for you.” Natalie flinched at that. Vampire instincts and her own shame reeled at Cole’s bluntness. “You need Blood from sources other than me. There is plenty of game in these woods. I know animal blood is not as…filling, but it will help.”

  Natalie cocked her head in surprise; she hadn’t even thought of using animal blood. It was moments like these that made her remember exactly how knowledgeable Cole was about Vampires. He’d spent his entire life close to them, either as an ally or enemy. Pondering this, Natalie changed the topic.

  “Can you teach me Blood Magic?” Natalie knew she had a knack for it, even before becoming a Vampire. And Cole seemed to know little magic outside of the grim art. If he was going to teach her how to hunt, then maybe he could teach her other skills?

  Cole seemed to think on it for a moment before answering. “I can try, but I don’t know how good of a teacher I will be. I’m not particularly good at Magic, period, and I think Vampire Magic will take more talent to teach than I possess.”

  Biting her cheek in annoyance, Natalie winced slightly. Despite having fangs for two months, she still hadn’t managed to drop that habit. Idly, Cole asked. “Why do you want to learn?”

  Wrinkling her nose in slight annoyance, Natalie answered. “I don’t want to be helpless. I’ve had these powers forced upon me, and I feel like I should at least know enough about them to defend myself.”

  Cole’s question irked something deep in Natalie. Why was he questioning her right to learn magic? She was the bloody Alukah now; she should have the right to use its power. A bitter frown found its way onto Natalie’s face, and the conversation petered out.

  Watching her, Cole could almost see the warring emotions and reactions inside of Natalie. Over the last few weeks, he’d watched a bitter, angry streak develop in her. It worried Cole and left him uncertain of what to do. It could be a simple reaction to so much loss or a symptom of something much more sinister. Bitterly Cole had to admit it was probably a mixture of both.

  Throwing a few more sticks onto the fire, Cole tried a new tactic. “Do you know how it's possible for mortals to fight Vampires and win?”

  Natalie looked at him and gave the obvious answer, “Because of the weaknesses placed on the them? Sunlight, Fire, Silver, that stuff.” Weaknesses that Natalie had shown an incredible resistance to. Only Silver seemed to effect her like a normal Vampire, with the rest having muted or absent reactions.

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  Considering that, Cole replied. “That helps but isn’t the real secret. In truth, the biggest flaw for Vampires is how little, most, focus on defending themselves. All that aggression and hunger drives them to fight with overwhelming offense. Couple that with their pride, and you get ambush predators who like to toy with their prey. Leaving openings that can be exploited by anyone who knows where to find them.”

  A little annoyed at this conversation topic, Natalie bitingly asked, “Why are you telling me this?”

  Pointing a gloved finger at her, Cole actually smiled. “You said you wanted to learn in order to defend yourself. Not to kill your enemies or get revenge. But to defend yourself.”

  Getting up from where he sat, Cole came over to Natalie. Slowly, he put out a hand, which after a moment of hesitation, Natalie took. Looking into her eyes Cole half-whispered. “That's what is going to be the difference, Natalie, between you and everyone else who wants the power inside of you. Don’t lose it, I beg of you.”

  Something about the honest sincerity in Cole’s pale blue eyes put a crack in Natalie’s growing spite. Deflating slightly, Natalie pulled Cole next to her and leaned against him. Letting herself nestle into his larger form. She let out a slightly annoyed huff upon realizing she couldn’t put her head on his shoulder and needed to be content with just leaning on him. Natalie made another noise of annoyance as Cole moved to wrap his arm around her. Her small protest died quickly as his warmth started to reach her.

  In a voice so small it was almost drowned out by the Campfire, Natalie whispered. “It's hard, Cole. It's so jagging hard.”

  His only answer was to pull her closer. Shutting her eyes and letting the bone-deep exhaustion hit her, Natalie continued. “I’m hungry, tired, and feel so angry all the time.”

  With a bit of difficulty, Cole managed to take his glove off with one hand and started running his fingers through Natalie’s snow-damp hair. That seemed to melt through the last bit of Natalie’s anger, and she felt herself fully relax into Cole’s embrace. Letting out a pleased hum at the attention, Natalie asked, “How did you know I like that?”

  At the best of times, Cole was never great with obfuscation . For all his compassion, his truthfulness tended to be his downfall. Exhausted from their trek, and not fully recovered from events in Glockmire, Cole’s facility for tact was diminished. So he answered honestly.

  “Isabelle used to like it. So I figured you would.”

  Instantly, Natalie went rigid. An iron-spike of jealousy hitting into her core. Pulling away from Cole, Natalie fought the desire to say some truly unkind things. It was a struggle. She’d experienced enough to pull out people’s worst self, not even counting having her soul contaminated with an ancient evil.

  Wincing at her reaction, Cole tried to find suitable words. He settled on the tried and true ones. “I’m sorry.”

  The bitter part of Natalie that seemed to grow with every day wanted to dismiss the whole thing with “It's fine” and let herself stew in her anger. But the memory of Cole’s warmth and kind words got through to Natalie’s better parts.

  On some half-baked impulse, Natalie asked. “Why do you love her?”

  A more jaded partner would see her question as a trap. Cole being Cole, just answered honestly. “Lots of reasons, but the one that sticks out to me is her joy.”

  “Her joy?” asked Natalie, having not expected that answer at all.

  “Yes, she was a scholar at heart. She was happiest when she had a project to work on and discoveries to make. I know it sounds silly, but when she would make a breakthrough, she would run from her labs, laughing loud enough to wake the dead, literally in one case. Then she’d track down anyone who would listen and explain what she learned. I know it sounds strange to say, but in those moments, she was more filled with joy and life than you could imagine.”

  Cole’s words made Natalie reassess some things. Predominantly her image of Isabelle. She’d thought of the semi-dead Vampire as a soulless leach who’d created Cole just to abuse and manipulate. While Natalie wasn’t fully ready to discard that idea, she was willing to believe there had been more complexity to the Vampress.

  They sat in silence, Natalie debating whether to apologize for her reaction or to try and change the subject. Cole did it for her. “I first started having feelings for you when we left for Lungu. Your liveliness and passion struck a chord in me. When I later learned of the great personal strength accompanying that passion, I was infatuated. I’ve seen lots of terrible things in my life, including how tragedy can burn people out. That you’ve resisted that and kept that spark is inspiring.”

  Natalie hung her head, guilt and self-loathing running rampant in her soul. Predatory instincts screaming for her to emotionally distance herself from Cole. To cut this connection and the weakness it created. Instead, Natalie bared her heart.

  “That spark… do I still have it?” a faint tremble accompanied her words. The bare hint of the sobs bearing down on Natalie.

  With that intimidating strength of his, Cole spun Natalie to face him and put his forehead to hers. Then spoke the truth. “Of course you do. While it might be buried now more than it was in the past, it's still there. I see flickers of it so often, Natalie. It's not gone, and I don’t think it could ever be. I think it's part of who you are.”

  Pulling away from Cole slightly, Natalie looked him in the eyes and softly said. “Thank you.”

  Cole simply smiled “You are welc-mmpph” Natalie cut him off with a kiss. Showing off her increasing skills by returning life and warmth to her mouth and lips. They both melted into the kiss, enjoying their mutual passion. The intensity of it only increased as Natalie ran questing fingers along Cole’s body, and he tentatively returned the gesture. Placing his large hands on her hips and small of her back. Smiling as she kissed him, Natalie was acutely aware they hadn’t “consummated” their relationship in the most classical sense. Something she was planning on rectifying.

  Eventually breaking the kiss, Natalie let her lips trail down to Cole’s neck, ready to continue their descent down along his body. As she kissed his throat, the overpowering instincts of a Vampire slammed into her mind in full force. This close to willing prey, in the perfect situation to feed, the terrible mix of lust and hunger inside her was incredible. With a pained yelp, Natalie pushed herself away from Cole. Launching herself back a good meter. Leaving a surprised Cole lying on the ground, having been knocked over by her retreat.

  Hugging herself, feeling the warmth drain away, Natalie spoke shakily. “I-I-I want to. I really, really want to. But… I’m afraid. If I lost control and…fed while we were together. I don’t know if I could forgive myself.”

  The still stunned Cole answered with all the eloquence expected from a man who’d just been aggressively kissing a beautiful woman. “Uh.. yes, that makes sense.”

  Awkwardly the two adjusted their clothes and settled back into silence. Cole stared off into space and tried not to think about what had just happened. He hadn’t been intimate with someone since Isabelle’s death and was completely shocked by this new experience. Not because he hadn’t enjoyed it, precisely the opposite. The feeling of Natalie’s soft body pressed to his body left a curious phantom sensation. Trying not to focus on it, Cole changed the topic in his usually deft manner.

  “Let's get some food and get some rest.”

  Sheepishly, Natalie nodded. She doubted the wisdom of feeding right after what just happened. But her self-control was just about spent; she wasn’t about to object. So they settled into their strange nightly ritual. Cole offered his right arm to Natalie while he ate his dried rations with his free left arm. There was something perverse about this odd pattern, but neither of them commented on it. Cole gnawed on the preserved food he had. Annoyed at the weather for freezing his rations into a single solid food clump. While Natalie drank his blood and felt the cruel hunger slowly ebb.

  Shortly after, they retired to their tent and prepared to sleep. Vampires don’t so much as sleep as they do “die,” becoming little more than a lifeless corpse until the Sun sets. Sleeping during the night was not something a Vampire was supposed to do. So for a time, Natalie had been forced to simply lie awake throughout the night. Distracting herself with wood carving and little else. Noting her distress at this, Cole had offered to help find a way for her to sleep during the day.

  After a little experimentation, Cole had found a way to force Natalie into corpse-sleep. Lying down in the tent, Natalie let out a useless breath and said. “Alright, I’m ready.”

  Smiling sadly at her, Cole took off his medallion and placed it on her chest, right over her heart. The effect was instantaneous. Natalie dropped into unconsciousness. The sacred relic’s influence shutting her down. Through trial and error, Cole and Natalie learned that though a sacred item like the medallion might burn away a normal Vampire's flesh, for Natalie, it simply shut off whatever part of her body it touched. Knocking her out when placed on her heart. It was just as effective as staking a normal Vampire, and once removed, Natalie could awaken as normal.

  With her settled, Cole plopped down into his sleeping bag and let out a tired sigh. He was holding together better than Natalie was, but the last two months hadn’t been easy on him either. In part because of the strange dreams that haunted him every night. Dreams he knew were more than unconscious worries. He hadn’t told Natalie about the dreams hoping they would go away, but as he shut his eyes and tried to sleep, Cole knew that hope was probably a foolish one.

  Cole felt like he was falling. He felt like he was plummeting through the air at incredible speeds. Shooting his eyes open in surprise, Cole looked around him, trying to get his bearings. His first impression confirmed his initial thoughts. He was definitely falling. The world around him was a whirl of ash clouds and red-tinted sky. As he tumbled through the air, Cole caught sight of a twisted Moon hanging above him. Its light distorted into a reddish hue with hints of silver around its edges. An Eclipsed Moon.

  In the pale glow of the Moon, Cole saw other things falling with him. Through the ash and shadows, he caught glimpses of shredded bodies and torn limbs. Grimacing, Cole thought to himself. “So far, just like all the other dreams.”

  Awkwardly, he tried to position his body so he could see the ground while he fell. While Cole had fallen off a cliff more than once, he had no knowledge on falling properly. He was no Griffin Knight trained to slow his descent and maneuver through the air if thrown from a mount. Still, Cole managed to change his momentum, so he flipped through the air a little slower. Looking down, Cole saw what lay below him.

  A strange wasteland of ash awaited him. Dotted by ruined monuments and crumbling towers, it stretched out in every direction. In the distance, Castle spires and Temple cloisters stuck out of the ash. While directly below him was a small pile of crumpled figures. Bodies or bits of bodies spread out over a field. As he watched, Cole saw some of the falling corpses around him hit the ground with puffs of ash. Looking away from that, Cole saw he had gotten close to one of the ruined bodies in the air. He was only a meter or two away and could recognize its face. It was Wilhelm or at least part of him. The Innkeeper's ruined face stared at him unblinkingly.

  Stunned, Cole didn’t even realize the ground had come up to meet them. A bone-pulping impact smashed into Cole and knocked him clear out of his dream. Cole lay in the tent, gasping for breath. The wind had been knocked out of him. Frantically sucking down air, Cole sat up and tried to collect his thoughts. The dreams of falling through a sky surrounded by ash and corpses were not new. Hitting the ground in them was. Looking over at the still “sleeping” Natalie, Cole winced and lay back down. He really wouldn’t be sharing these dreams with her now. She had enough of her own guilt and loss without him adding to her plate. Shutting his eyes, Cole tried to sleep. Uncertain of what his evolving dreams portend, but doubted it was anything good.