The Line of Corvinus
By L.E.Benedict
The 600 year blood feud between the Vampires and Lycans has ended with the death of Viktor eldest of the Vampire Council of Elders, and the death of Lucian the most feared and ruthless Alpha of the Lycans. Not only has the feud ended, but a new age of cooperation between the species has emerged. My Lord, Michael has seen to this.
For years the Lycan have been trying to combine the bloodlines, and for years they’ve failed. It was useless. Even at the cellular level the two species, Vampire and Werewolf, destroyed each other. Yet the key was to locate the rarest of bloodlines; a direct descendant of Alexander Corvinus, Hungarian, a warlord who came to power in the early seasons of the fifth century; just in time to watch a plague ravage his village. He alone survived. Somehow, his body was able to change the disease, mold it to his benefit. He became the first true immortal. And years later, he fathered at least two children, who inherited this same trait.
The sons of the Corvinus Clan: One bitten by bat, one by wolf, one to walk the lonely road of mortality as a human. The two species, Vampire and Werewolf, do have a common ancestor. A pure source was needed, untainted, an exact duplicate of the original virus. The Corvinus strain itself was hidden away in the genetic code of his human descendants, and passed along in its dormant form, down through the ages to Michael Corvin. His blood allows for a perfect union between our species.
The blood from a Lycan spilled in the burial chamber, another victim of Viktor’s rage, found its way to Marcus’ resting place under the floor into his tomb. Marcus, a direct descendant of Alexander Corvinus, and the last of the old Council of Elders, had been Awakened at the time appointed to him, but not in the prescribed methods that had been practiced for over 14 thousand years. A vampire, infected by the blood of a Lycan, rose as the second of a new creature not seen on this Earth for time immeasurable. He was revived with the coherent thoughts of a mad man, a Lycan, driven insane by the long search for a descendant of Corvinus. The Lycan was a medical man, educated. The mad old Doctor knew the stories and legends from forbidden texts and manuscripts that had been hidden away, left to be forgotten and turned to dust, and so now did Marcus.
Two sons of Corvinus now lived as this new breed of immortal; greater than any Vampire Elder, or Lycan Alpha that had ever before lived. The feud between the Lycans and the Vampires, which had started with the death of Sonja, secret bride of Lucian the most feared and ruthless Alpha of the Lycans, and ending with the death of her executioner, Viktor, her own father. Now Vampire and Lycan worked together because of this new blending that Viktor had opposed so intensely. Lycan joined the ranks of the Death Dealers, both species kept in line by their devotion to their new gods.
Marcus was enraged when he learned of the deaths of both Amelia, and Viktor. He was even more infuriated when he learned how he had been Awakened, and at what he had become. How quickly Marcus recovered from his disgust though when he learned the power of that dark transformation. It was abomination, but the changes to what he had always known, made him mad and even more power-hungry than the four thousand years previous he had been one of the Elders. A vampire, now infected with the Lycan strain of the virus, is forced to remember his humanity. For a Vampire it was a thing left so long in forgetfulness and the passages of time that it is less than nothing now. For Marcus, his humanity was the dust of devastation and despair, and this drove Marcus insane beyond all endurance. Still, he was now a Lycan Alpha, as well as a Vampire Elder. He held the great power that had lain dormant in his blood all these long years. This power was now fully awakened, Marcus was determined to set it lose upon the world.
Marcus was resisting the thought of forming a new Council of Elders. Part of him wanted it all for himself. But Marcus was an Elder for good reason. He knew very well, the Council must be reformed, if both species were to survive for another 10 thousand years.
In the Vampire Elder burial chamber, the old Lycan Doctor is being forced to tell Viktor what he knows about Kraven, and the search for Michael and the special genetic trait he carries in his blood, passed down from his family.
Michael was hunted down by the Lycan, and infected with the Werewolf strain of the virus. Doomed to endure the wrath of Victor, the oldest and strongest of the Vampires Elders; caught in the middle of a war that no human even knew about, Michael struggled to stay alive until he was infected with the vampire strain by his beloved Saline. Together they defeated Victor, ending the ancient feud.
Lycan served as the day time protectors of the Vampire. Slaves to the Vampire, forever in servitude.
A new candidate had been found. A cousin, one untainted, and with the original strain of the virus, the same as Michael. The survival of both Covens depended on what happened after tonight. Millennia had taught the Vampires that the Covens would sink into chaos and ruin if they did not have the Elders in place to guide the Covens through the ages. A new Council of Elders must be formed. Marcus was blind to this. He no longer cared for rebuilding the Council, driven insane by his new power; Marcus wanted the power all to himself. He would not suffer any new descendant of Corvinus to live, and when Marcus took power, he waged a bloody war on Michael, and his quest to rebuild this new Council of Elders, threatening to tear the Covens apart.
Michael knew that a new power was growing, in the months following Viktor’s defeat. He could feel it calling to him whenever he fed, a shadow, massive in it’s hatred of everything that lived. It hungered for new life, and would never be stopped once it was fully awake. Michael was drawn to this power, and was repelled at the same time. He knew it must never be Awakened, but he also knew if he didn’t find the location of this terrible power, the Covens would be torn apart by Marcus’ madness.
“There’s no going back. There’s no going anywhere. Nothing short of the total annihilation of both species could stop that which has been set in motion. We had to take Eric before more of Marcus’ Death Dealers got to him. My own cousin is our new candidate. He is infected now, and he will feed.” Michael said remembering his own hunger and the need to feed very soon. He was almost not able to keep from draining his cousin dry. He might have killed Eric, instead of just infecting him. It took a supreme effort to throw his victim to the ground, and stop the mad frenzy that took over his mind during the heat of last night’s battle. To feed; that was most important. He grew tired with hunger, while talking with his beloved Saline. “Our life was supposed to be better than this, wasn’t it?” he thought to himself.
“I just don’t understand how you can be so sure of this. We haven’t been able to do a blood test. You’re the doctor. He could have died, if he’d not been the one we seek,” said Saline. “It’s just you have taken great pains to spare those that do not carry the trait and to try to keep them safe from Marcus”, Saline said quietly, “My love, how can you tell just by looking at him?”
“I’m still just an intern”, he said quietly, looking off into the blackness. More assertive, “I can smell him. He smells…right. He will not die. He will change, and he will feed, and so now must I”, Saline accepted that, remembering that he was half Lycan. “See that he’s fed, and bring him to the library in a couple hours. Also, please bring the digital surveillance of the battle. I want Eric to see the battle with his new vision.”
Saline was Michaels Queen, and she saw to everything while he fed. Michael preferred to feed in private, so she left him to it. She closed the door, and made her way to where Eric was being held. She knew Michael would eat very little. Instead he would be in the library, searching for an answer he hoped was there.
Michael searched the old forbidden texts, and many things have been learned about the original bloodline of the Corvinus Clan. It was now known that Alexander Corvinus was not slain as was originally thought. Instead, after ruthless centuries of bloody domination, Alexander Corvinus had been laid to rest in secret. Like the Vampire Elders ability to leapfrog through the centuries, Alexander would leapfrog through the millennia. According to prophesy, blood enough to fill every beating heart that has ever lived on this earth, an ocean of blood spilled by a descendant of the Corvinus Clan, would be needed to Awaken Alexander from his slumber. Alexander would then rule the Covens. Order would be maintained.
It was midnight when Michael finished feeding, the night shining in the empty room like a shadowy dream. The sounds of the mansion outside of the open window intruded on those first few moments before he could remember where he was and how he had gotten there. On the edge of a nightmare, yet calm filled his breast. He would remember again that the fear would never come to him. He had been fed, satiated and would wait for Saline to bring Eric.
The pursuit for power was still on. Marcus was out there in the night, looking for him. Marcus had been an Elder for thousands of years, second only to Viktor before his death. He would never stop, never be satisfied until Michael’s death was delivered and every descendant of Corvinus was hunted down, and destroyed. Michael knew full well that the Sons of Corvinus would not be turned from their quarry.
Michael wondered if Marcus felt that power that grew out there in the night. Would he see it, and Awaken it for his own goals, or if he was too blinded by his own madness to sense anything outside of himself? Michael knew if Marcus found Alexander first, he would destroy all traces, to keep his power.
As Saline continued on her way to the room where Eric was being held, she recalled the battle of the night before. Since the end of the war between Vampire and Lycan, a new bond had been created between the two species like nothing ever before seen. Vampire and Lycan worked together with perfect cooperation. They complimented each other with the utmost deadly results. And now, like never before, they would fight to the last, never relenting, never giving up, and never stopping until the death of their adversary was delivered. Saline looked on, in the midst of the battle, as Michael infected Eric with this new virus, Vampire and Lycan strains that had been merged within Michael. As the battle raged between the two armies of Death Dealers, Michael turned Eric into a new god. It went as expected. After the last of Marcus’ Death Dealers had been dispatched, Eric was allowed to feed on the cloned blood made by the vampire company, Ziodex Industries, located just outside of London.
After Eric fed and had changed back to his human form, he was demanding to see Michael. Eric knew what Michael knew, in much the same way that Michael himself knew it. It is one of the oddities of being Lycan. The memories are passed to the one being infected. They come as hallucinations and half remembered dreams, flooding the infected mind until all other thought is gone.
Eric didn’t see Saline when she walked into the room. Instead, he saw a thousand years of war between the species. He saw the death of Sonja, beloved of Lucian and he saw the death of her father, Viktor, bane of the Lycan Clan. He saw dark corridors of time, winding through the ages, filled with death and fear, and despair. He saw a hidden power, waiting quietly for release, waiting for…him!
When Eric awoke from his hallucination, he saw Saline was standing next to him, staring into his eyes. “I would ask what you have done to me, but I already know,” said Eric. “Michael has torn my life from me, and left me this waking death. Where the hell is he?” he demanded.
“He has sent me to bring you to him, now,” Saline answered, knowing the turmoil Eric was enduring. “Michael will explain what he can.”
As they passed through the door, the perimeter alarm sounded sending the house guards into motion. “Saline, get out!” one of the guards called. Just then, an explosion rumbled through the mansion, blasting a hole through the wall just ahead.
“Marcus,” cursed Saline. “He wouldn’t dare” she thought as she grabbed Eric by his arm, and dragged him through the escape route in the opposite direction. Michael’s Death Dealers would make sure nothing but the sounds of the battle would be able to follow them, as they made their way to the library.
Michael met them in the tunnel, and said,” Hello Eric. We need to go right now.”
Michael led the way, winding through the half forgotten pathways, to the garage. When Michael was sure there were not followed, he said,” Saline, I have found it. I know where Alexander is.” Michael handed Saline the c-4 and climbed into the driver’s seat of the BMW. As he turned the key, and the engine roared to life, he said, “It’s Ziodex. The new storage facility is built right on top of him.”
Saline was already thinking the same thing. She knew the old legends too, and knew the storage capacity of the Ziodex facility. All the cloned blood was grown here. “We just need to blow the bottom of the tank system, and that will flood the area with enough blood to do this job.”
Marcus waited impatiently in the shadows, as his Death Dealers blasted a hole in the mansion wall. The resistance encountered was not more than he expected, and he knew it was just a matter of time before he was able to exact his revenge. Saline must pay with that abomination she help to create. It was by her hands, the blood was spilled that Awakened Marcus to this power that now gnawed at his mind. All the memories of that animal Lycan were flooding his mind with vulgar thoughts and notions of mixing the species, of one day rebuilding the former glory of the Corvinus Clan.
Marcus demanded of his vision, “What the hell did that little maggot know about the glory of the House of Corvinus? We have been ruling this Underworld since before those Lycans first spoiled the earth with their foul stench. “
As his Death Dealer pushed their way through the defenses of the mansion, opening a way for their dark lord, Marcus remembered his own actions in the war with the Lycans. How much he reveled in the rivers of blood that poured from his every move. The visions of the Lycans mixed with his own so he didn’t know where his thought began, and that of the Lycan virus ended. In one vision, he could see Lycan blood spilled by his own hands. In the other, he saw himself as from a distance, as if he were really another person and he knew not his own mind, slaughtering Lycan he knew and called friends. Marcus had never called a Lycan a friend. Even before the war had started, and the Lycans were still under the rule of the Vampire, Marcus thought the Lycans were animals. These conflicting memories ran though his mind, like the dark shadowy creatures over which he now ruled.
The new Awakening had changed Marcus in this. He knew the harnessed power of the Lycan Clan, combined with that of the Vampire would never be stopped. Marcus lusted after that power. He could smell it in the air. The thought that another had power like his, roaming the night, looking for more to claim this power, the power that was the birthright of the House of Corvinus, drove Marcus. Marcus was the head of the House of Corvinus, and would not now allow that young bastard usurper to live.
As the head of the house of Corvinus, Marcus had shared power with the Elders for many thousands of years. He knew now, that he would never again share power. He must find this Michael Corvin, and put an end to his search for a new Council of Elders. Marcus would have it all. He would not share this power, and the world would crumble under his bloody rule.
Marcus strode through the hole, torn into the stone wall of the mansion, the sounds of battle raged from down the hall. “Where is he?! Where is this Michael Corvin!?” He bellowed over and over again. The change began before he finished his first bellow. His skin darkened, fingers grew in length and Marcus charged down the hallway, rounded the corner straight into the midst of the battle, fully changed into his dark forum. His own Death Dealers, upon seeing their dark lord, withdrew a distance from the battle. Marcus tore though flesh and bone in a flash, eating the hearts of his victims, using the still twitching carcass as a bludgeon, to beat the next one down. “Where is he?!” Marcus demanded as he tore the heart from the last defender. When he received no answer, he threw the body. Calmer now, Marcus commanded, “Search the Mansion. I want them found.”
“My Lord, I think you need to see this” called one of Death Dealers. “The markings on the wall in this cell are fresh.”
Marcus went into the room, and at once the smell assailed him. Marcus knew then, at that moment, that a new descendant of Corvinus had been found, and infected with the virus. The knowledge swept through him. Something else was out there, too. Not just another new being like himself. No, something bigger, more powerful waited. It called to him. It repelled him. It could not be avoided, or ignored.
The mark on the wall only confirmed what he already knew. The mark of the Corvinus Clan, next to the Ziodex logo showed the similarity. The Ziodex plant had been built upon the ancient Corvinus land holdings. The old legends said that Alexander was buried on Corvinus land. It seemed that Michael believed the old legends, and was going to try to find the resting place of the first of the Corvinus clan. Marcus knew that Michael must be stopped at all costs. If the old stories were to be believed, then the Awakening of Alexander would herald the end of all. Marcus remembered the old teachings from when he had first been chosen to be one of the Elders. There was a good reason to have the Council of Elders. It served to keep alive the old stories so that past mistakes would not be repeated.
Alexander was defeated by the very first Elders, and laid to rest with a stake through his heart to ensure his never ending slumber. It was his purpose to destroy all living things, human, Vampire, Werewolf, everything, until Alexander was the only living thing left. The Elders fought hard to prevent that, and formed the Council once the future of all species was assured. Even though Marcus hated Michael, he now knew that he must help Michael re-form the Council, and that he must also stop this new Awakening.
Notes, snippets, etc. :
The first to kill Alexander would be head of the Council of Elders.
That vamp that got away, will try to Awaken Alexander.
He lives in the sewers feeding on rats, and the occasional homeless person that is unfortunate enough to find their way into his layer. Even though he helped to bring about the new order/alliance between Vampire and Lycan, he is outcast because of his betrayal to all sides of the old feud. Longing for the power he once had, he learns of the old prophesy and sets out to see it fulfilled, thinking he will be rewarded for his actions, and that he will once again hold power over the clans. He finds the old burial site, beneath the storage facility of Ziodex.
Michael, Eric, and Marcus will work together to stop him.
Marcus holds the memories of the old prophesy.
Thinking that Marcus is be awakened in the old way, he discovers the truth of the awakening, and of the old prophesy while in hiding. He reveals himself to Marcus, and states his purpose.
Hints of an old prophesy that Alexander will be awakened with the blood of all living things.
After a battle between Marcus, Eric, and Michael that ends in a stalemate, Facts are exchanged, and an uneasy alliance is formed between the three to stop Whosit.
Cloned blood from the Vampire owned company will be used to awaken Alexander.
Stake is removed, and all the blood of the ages flows into Alexander thru that old wound.
Marcus will know that a new generation of Elders will be needed to rule, so he gives his life, to distract Alexander long enough for Michael to deliver the final blow.