A Vampire's Paradise

The end is coming. I tried so hard to prevent it. Seriously. A lot of people say that but I'm not most people. In fact, I'm not like anything you've ever seen. My name is Azor. I am a Super Vampire. Not just any Vampire. One of the Guardians of the World. We were the Masters of the Night. The lordly Vampires that ordinary Vampires feared. A long time ago, there were many of us. Beings who reached the utmost of Vampiric Evolution and became the Protectors and Overseers of others. We had powers other Vampires could only dream of. We were revered. The Keepers of Knowledge. The Protectors of the Vampire Race. The Guardians of the World were a secret society of ancient and powerful Vampires who protected the Vampire Nation from outside forces. And I am the Last of them.

We also prevented Vampires from overstepping boundaries and enforced the rules. No Vampire was allowed to kill beyond a certain number of Human beings per year. Also, no Vampire could turn a Human into a Vampire without our permission. The rules were enforced and the Vampire Nation lived in peace. Then, one day, the end came for all of us in the form of the Destroyers. A race of creatures which feed upon Vampires as well as Human beings. The other members of the Guardians of the World have already fallen. And I am the last one. Time is running out for me and the Vampire Nation. Death comes for all, even the so-called Immortals. And I cannot escape. In the end, I guess it's true that it doesn't even matter. Well, I choose to make it matter. Time for me to tell my story.

A long time ago, I was a Human being. I can still remember it but barely. I was a tall, good-looking young black man living in Africa. My name is Calkor and I was the son of Tobek, Warrior Chief of the Masiki Tribe. My mother was Selika, daughter of Vasila, Matriarch of the Masiki Tribe. I came into the world around 9000 B.C. At the time, the men and women of the Masiki Tribe were all warriors, combatting the cannibalistic hordes of the barbaric Weshu in Central Africa. Eventually, we were overrun. They simply had greater numbers. The Masiki Tribe numbered one hundred thousand members, spread over three cities. The Weshu Hordes numbered over a million. One night, they invaded our cities and wiped us out. I was the only one of my people who escaped.

For years after that, I roamed the land. I lived in the wilderness, watching the animals and learning from them. I hunted lions and leopards. I became a swift and merciless killer. And I hunted the men and women of the Weshu. In time, I became a legend among them. They called me Azor-Rak-Kith, a word meaning Killer in the Night. That would become my title. I was the Avenging Angel who struck them when they least expected it. I killed many of them, before I got bored and finally left. For years, I roamed over all of Africa. I got to know many of the tribes. I learned their languages and customs. Eventually, I wound up in the Land of Egypt, long before the Pyramids were ever built.

I befriended a handsome black man named Menos, the King of Egypt. He was a wise and thoughtful ruler. And he was kind to his people. His wife Makisha was the Queen of Egypt. A tall, beautiful and highly intelligent Ebony woman. They had united the various tribes which roamed the Egyptian desert and united them under one rule. This was the beginning of civilization. For the first time in history, laws were written and men and women were told to behave like Human beings rather than animals. This had never happened before. Barbarism was the status quo on the planet Earth. The King and Queen were friendly people. They welcomed me to their kingdom, having heard tales of my legendary exploits against the cannibalistic barbarian tribes of Central Africa. Menos asked me to become a member of his Army. I gladly accepted. After roaming the land for years, it felt good to have a roof over my head. Of course, I couldn't know what nightmare lay in store for me. King Menos was a desperate man. A man whose country was in the grip of Vampires. And he wanted me to fight them for him.

I'll be the first to say that I didn't believe in the Vampires at first. Even back then, skepticism ruled the world. Then, one night, a Vampire entered the royal palace and attacked one of the servants. The Vampire in question was a tall, beautiful woman of regal bearing. And she was no stranger to the castle. For she was Isari, the older sister of Menos, King of Egypt. She had disappeared ten years ago and many believed that she was dead. Yet there she was, drinking the blood of a servant she killed. What a foul creature she was. I attacked her immediately, brandishing my sword. She laughed and came after me. She moved faster than anything Human. And her strength was amazing. She managed to repeal my assault and threw me against a wall. Such was the strength of the Vampire woman.

When she came for me, I slashed her head off with my blade. The Vampire female fell, dead. Within moments, her entire body turned to ash and there was no trace of her left. This was the most shocking thing I'd ever seen. I immediately went to the King's Chambers and told him what happened. He listened with alarm as I told him the story in every detail. He wasn't surprised. He had seen Vampires before. The other men and women in the castle looked at me strangely. I was the first man to have killed a Vampire in this strange land. We organized a round the clock guard around the castle. Nobody slept for the rest of the night. How could they? The Undead were walking the streets and no one was safe. Not even the King himself.

Over the next few months, there would be many Vampire attacks in the city. Men and women were disappearing from their homes, only to return later, as the Undead. Creatures who drank the blood of Human beings. The Vampires were something else. Stronger, faster and deadlier than anything Human. I despised the entire breed. Night after night, we went out to hunt these creatures. They were superhumanly strong and fast, but they were not invincible. Chopping their heads off resulted in their instant death. The war against the Vampires raged in Ancient Egypt. Their numbers were multiplying. And I didn't know where they came from. No one did. Were the Vampires creations of some evil god? Were they unnatural creatures from another world? No one knew.

I watched many men and women I've known get turned into Undead nightmares. Blood drinkers and unholy monsters. The Vampires were overrunning Egypt. Contrarily to myth, they were capable of functioning in the daytime. Vampires can walk in the sunlight. It doesn't kill them. It simply makes them sleepy. And it significantly weakens them. Whatever the source of their inhuman strength and speed is, it seems to get sapped by the sunlight. But sunlight doesn't make them burst into flames. They prefer the night. That's when they're the strongest. We hunted them down in the Desert. We killed as many as we could fight. Yet still more came. One night, King Menos himself was taken, along with Queen Makisha. Panic reigned in the entire country. The King and Queen of Egypt had been taken by the Vampires! As leader of the Army, I assumed the throne since they had no heirs. It is with great sadness that I was crowned King of Egypt.

I lead an Army of men into the Desert, determined to avenge Menos and Makisha. Sadly, we found them. They were both Vampires. I killed them both. Then, I captured a living Vampire and brought her back to the royal castle. I intended to interrogate her, to learn secrets of the Vampires. I wanted to know who they were and where they came from. The Vampire in question was Salisa, a once-beautiful tall young black woman, now a member of the Undead. I tortured some answers out of her. She told me that she was but a soldier in the Master's Army of Night. The Master was the Leader of the Vampire Nation. He was leading their conquest of the Land of Egypt. I pondered that, then had her executed.

When I went to bed that night, my mind raced. Somewhere in the Desert was a Master Vampire. The Leader of the Vampire Nation. If I could kill him, they might stop their assault against the cities of Egypt. The Vampires were getting bolder in their nightly predations in our cities. Every week, dozens of men and women vanished, only to return as blood-sucking nightmares. Those Vampires were the stuff of nightmares. They could enter anyone's domicile. The stuff about them needing invites is a myth. Also, they were immune to silver, sunlight and garlic. Only a stake through the heart and decapitation could stop them. Oh, and fire too. I've set enough Vampire men and Vampire women on fire to know that they burn like a torch in the night. Brightly. It's my favorite method of Vampiric execution.

I decided to change the game plan. I took a group of men and trained them in the fine art of hunting Vampires. They were called the Cadre Hunters. They operated independently of me and their mission was to find Vampires wherever they were and kill them. They answered to no authority. That's how I taught them to be. The rulers of Man's World weren't to dictate to the Cadre Hunters in their sacred mission to wipe out Vampirism. They answered only to themselves but I gave them a Code of Honor. They were to be the Protectors of Humanity and the Bane of the Vampires. The Cadre Hunters were instrumental in hunting down the First Master. Who was the First Master? The ancient Vampire lord who had lived for thousands of years before coming to invade the Kingdom of Egypt. He who was the mastermind behind their hostile takeover of our land. He had many names. In Egypt, he was called Farkrull.

Farkrull lived in an underground lair in the Desert, along with hundreds of other Vampires. He was revered almost as a God by his people. Many claimed that he was a Disciple of the First Vampire. I went out into the Desert to find him. Instead, he found me. The Master Vampire himself came and captured me, after killing all of my warriors. I should have known better than to go into the Desert without the Cadre Hunters. Unfortunately, they were out there in Egypt, recruiting men and sometimes women before training them in the art of killing the Undead. The Vampires were a Plague in Egypt. Tens of thousands of them roamed the Land. As I was caught in the middle of the night, knocked out and dragged underground, I comforted myself with the thought that if the Master Vampire killed me, my Cadre Hunters would avenge me.

I was brought into Master Vampire Farkrull's chambers. The underground lair had been well dug out and artistically decorated, designed both for survival and comfort. Practical and pleasant. I liked it, though it was probably gonna be my grave. I noticed a lot of familiar faces among the Vampires. Men and women I've known. Marki, a handsome young man I once loved like a son. His sister Marlikha, and their mother, Kjaria. I noted with alarm that their father, former palace guardsman Jhiero was also a Vampire. Nice. A happy fucking Vampire family. All of them looked at me the same way a hungry jackal looked at a tasty morsel. Nice. The Vampires in the lair numbered in the hundreds. The monsters I had hunted so fiercely took a perverse pleasure in watching me in shackles. Of course, I was only Human and even the weakest of them was stronger and faster than me but I noticed with a certain pleasure that they looked at me with disguised fright. I was the Vampire Killer. Something to be feared.

They brought me before Farkrull. I must say that I wasn't sure what to expect, but he was far different from anything I'd expected. For starters, he wasn't the menacing figure that I expected. Indeed, Farkrull looked rather affable. Standing five feet ten inches tall, lean, with short blond hair and pale blue eyes. He didn't look a day over forty. He certainly didn't look local. I've heard tales of people like him. Men and women from distant, cold lands who had sky-colored eyes and hair the color of the sun. I had never seen a white man before. In 9000 B.C. Human beings didn't do that much traveling between the continents. Here was a European man who had done much traveling. And he was also a Vampire.

When Farkrull saw me, he smiled. He bade me welcome to his kingdom. I told him that if he was going to kill me, he should get over it. I wasn't afraid of death. Farkrull laughed, and told me that he admired my spirit and my courage. Then, he told me that he wanted me to become his general. The leader of his Army. I looked at him, stunned. He had to be kidding me. He shook his head, and asked a Vampire woman to free me of my restraints. Then we were alone in the room. I instantly reached for the nearest weapon, a broadsword. I brandished it in his face. He laughed, then did something truly shocking. He spread his arms wide, and told me to go ahead and stab him. I did. I thrust the broadsword into his chest. He fell.

I stood over the Vampire Master. He was still alive. He hadn't turned to dust yet. Laughing, he pulled the sword from his chest and before my amazed eyes, his wound healed instantly. He rose to his feet. I backed away from him, now truly frightened. I knew that Vampires healed faster than Humans. Their bodies were also tougher to destroy. But I had never seen a Vampire who could truly regenerate. I shrank from Farkrull. He laughed, then he changed. Before my very eyes, Farkrull changed from an ordinary Vampire into something truly monstrous. A huge, bat-like creature with gigantic wings. I screamed. It was the most horrifying sight I'd ever seen. The creature Farkrull had become grabbed me and sank his teeth into my neck. That's when I died. The rest, as they say, was history.

This is how I became a Vampire. I was transformed by Farkrull, the King of the Vampires himself. I woke up three days later as one of them. Farkrull welcomed me into the Brotherhood of the Undead, as he referred to the Vampire men and women who made up his inner circle. He wanted me to become his general. I've always been a natural leader and a fierce fighter. Farkrull wanted me to transform his band of Vampires into an elite fighting force. So I did just that. Vampires are stronger than Humans and also faster. Most of them don't bother with carrying weapons. I knew that when I was Human and I exploited their overconfidence. I selected the strongest and most durable among Farkrull's Vampires. I trained them in swordfighting and javelin throwing. I also trained them in wrestling and various other forms of martial arts. Many of them were former soldiers, so they took to the training well.

I became Master Farkrull's right-hand man. He trusted me. The Vampires suffered from an extreme overconfidence which often proved their undoing. For starters, they all slept in the same place during the day. That was stupid. I trained some of them to be sentries to watch over their brethren as they slept. Under my command, the Vampires carried swords, shields and spears. They wore bronze and steel armor. They no longer simply relied upon strength and speed. I regulated their feedings. They had the nasty habit of invading villages and killing all of the locals. Draining all of them. I taught them to control their hunger. They devoured half of the village and the other half, they transformed into the Undead. This way, our numbers multiplied. Farkrull was impressed with me. He saw me as the son he wished he had.

He told me things I desperately wanted to know. Around the time we met, circa 9000 B.C. Farkrull was already five thousand years old. He had been walking the planet Earth for a long time. Once, he was a member of a primitive tribe of Europeans, in the Scandinavia Region. He claimed that one day, a giant bat attacked his village. He and the other men fought against the beast. They could not kill it. It killed many of them. And not all of the men and women the monster killed remained dead. Some of them came back, hungry for blood. Farkrull told me about his brother Tarskrull, the first victim of the monster bat. When he rose from the dead, he had superhuman strength and speed, along with a craving for blood. According to Farkrull, he was the First True Vampire. Farkrull killed the monster bat by immolation when he caught it sleeping in a large cavern during the day.

Tarskrull and the other Vampires overan the village where Farkrull was born. Farkrull was turned into a Vampire by his own brother. They were the leaders of this first group of Vampires. They roamed over all of Europe, turning a few Humans into Vampires and feeding on the rest. They then spread over to Asia, Africa and Australia. The two brothers had a falling out. Farkrull wanted to rule the world but Tarskrull wanted the existence of the Vampire Race to remain a secret. Tarskrull was buried deep underground by his brother Farkrull. The Vampire Farkrull finally ended up in the Land of Egypt, along with his faithful followers. There, he lived for thousands of years in the Desert, until the day he decided to conquer the Kingdom of Egypt.

Farkrull couldn't thank me enough to help make his dreams come true. He wanted to conquer Egypt, and finally had an Army which could make it happen. Truth be told, I was only biding my time. I wanted to rule the Vampire Nation. Farkrull was a weak leader. He had been around too long. One day, I got rid of him. I went into his chambers with a torch. I knocked him out, bound him hand and foot with some specially designed chains and then drained him of blood. I drank all of his ancient blood, absorbing his power. This awakened him. That's when I set him on fire. I destroyed the Master Vampire. Henceforth, I would be the King of the Vampires.

With no one standing in my way, I began to conquer Egypt. I didn't invade the land like a supernatural creature stalking the land at night. I rode on a horse, surrounded by an entourage of armed men and women on horseback, and stormed the cities of Egypt. We were an Army the likes of which the world had never seen. Vampires on horseback, conquering the land of Egypt. It took ten years, but we took over the land. I immediately ordered my followers to make as many Vampires as they could. Soon, tens of thousands of us walked the land of Egypt. The Humans feared us. As for me, they worshiped me as the legendary God-King of the Night. For five hundred years, I ruled. Word spread among the Vampires. From far and wide, the Undead joined us. Egypt became a Vampire's Paradise. The only place where we lived openly among the Humans without fear. For the first time in history, all Vampires were united as one people, with one language, living in one territory. It was the Golden Age of the Vampires. Humans were our slaves. Until the day the end came for the first time.

The Humans rose against us. En masse. In spite of my best efforts, they drove us out of Egypt. I organized our exodus from the land. I divided my followers into various Clans. The first Clan formed was the Masiki Clan, named after my now extinct people from Central Africa. Other Clans such as the Tyroch, Ethros and Kronos Clans were formed. The organization of a Vampire Clan was very specific. A Master led the Clan. The Master was the strongest, fastest and smartest member of the Clan. The Master's word was law. The Master was supposed to listen to the advice of his Clan members and be a good leader. The prosperity and safety of the Vampire Clan was a Master's duty.

The newly formed Vampire Clans left Egypt, disguised as nomatic Human tribes. They spread over all of the Known World. Never again would we be this united. Of course, the Vampires would quickly forget this Golden Age, as would the Humans. I alone would remember. That's my burden. All the Vampires who were my friends and entourage back in those days are dust. Eternity is tough on everyone. Even an Immortal. And most Vampires have this cockiness which proves to be their undoing. That's why they don't carry weapons. I saw myself as the Protector of the Vampire Nation. From time to time, I would get disgusted with them. That's why I slept in a deep underground lair for eons. From 7000 B.C. until 3000 B.C. Yeah, for four thousand years, I gave the universe the middle finger and caught up on my beauty sleep.