The History of a Legend

[eldestwatcher]

An account of the life of Maximus Aurelius, also known as Milosh, as dictated to the Brother Paul, a monk of the Franciscan order.

I lowered my spear, pushing hard to restrain the crowds that either wanted to free the man or kill him right then and there.
"Back! He will die at the appointed time! No later, no sooner!" It seemed forever before we finally reached the top of Calvary, and two soldiers grabbed the cross, placing it on the ground while two more pinned the man to it. Another soldier handed me the mallet and spike. Nodding, I walked to the left side of the cross, placed the spike to the man's wrist, and drove it through with a single strike. It took several more to drive it into the wood. The entire time, the man on the cross didnt' utter a sound. He grimaced, and the pain was evident, but not through screams.

I handed the mallet off, and another soldier pounded in the right spike, then another pounded a spike into the man's feet. The mallet went to another soldier then, and I watched as the sign was nailed to the extended vertical. "King of the Jews." Even as sober as I usually was since the death of my wife and son, I had to smirk at that. Stepping back to the side, I grasped the cross and hefted it over my shoulder, lifting it to the vertical until it dropped into the ground. Bones cracked.

It seemed hours. The other soldiers gambled for the man's clothes, though I saw no value in them at all. They were poor, a beggar's clothes. The crowd seemed split into two halves. Those who jeered, and those who cried. And then, there was me, standing at the back, watching.
"I'm thirsty."
I watched as the soldiers put vinegar on a sponge and held it to the man's lips. [He chuckled.] Of course this man wasn't willing to drink that. I certainly wouldn't, no matter how thirsty I was. A few minutes later, I was further surprised. The man was speaking in barely more than a whisper, yet I seemed to hear him clearly. He said, "Father, forgive them. For they know not what they do." At that point, I think I was starting to get an idea what I had done.

The crowd grew louder at those words, and one of the thieves beside him joined in. Frankly, I was shocked to hear the words that came next, and apparently so was the rest of the crowd. First, Jesus just looked at the man who was cursing him, but then the other thief spoke up. Now I forgot to mention, this same thief had previously mocked Jesus, though he had not actually cursed him. Now he spoke words that I remember clearly.
"Don't you fear the wrath of God, even in the end? You'll curse us both into the pit, is that what you intend? We're only getting what we're due after lives of sin, but don't you talk to him that way. He's done nothing wrong!"

Anyway, it wasn't long before Jesus said words that sent a chill down my spine. "Father, into your hands I commend my spirit." He gave a final glance around at the crowd, and then said, "It is finished." That was when the sky grew dark, I looked up, and realized that the moon had moved in front of the sun. But how that had happened, when the moon was nowhere in sight just a few minutes earlier... I realized the truth then, and spoke it out loud. "Surely, this man has no guilt."

[eldestwatcher]

I left then, but as I was walking past an outlying house, a man attacked me. Now, I am very well trained, and I was then, but there was nothing I could do against this man. The house was like all the others in the region; it was mud bricks covered with another layer of mud to seal cracks, and wooden beams to support, with a flat roof. I was completely comfortable, as there was no place a man could possibly ambush me from. At least, that was what I thought. This man jumped down at me from the two-story roof, landing on my shoulders and knocking me to the ground. As he knocked into me, I dropped my spear, and pinned as I was after that, I could not reach my sword. As it happened, he was actually a vampire. He bit me, and turned me. The bite was painful, but when he fed me his blood, it was like a powerful elixir and sweet, flowing over my tongue like honey. But then came the pain. For the following day, I experienced the worst pain I had ever felt.

When I woke up the next night, I felt a strange power, but it wasn't entirely demonic. There was something good about it. As it happens, I was both a demon and an angel. In addition to the power I felt, I could also see differently. The night was brighter, and the colors more vivid. I could smell things I never smelt before, and hear things that even dogs could not hear. I no longer liked garlic, though I was not allergic to it as it turned out my sire was. I could walk in daylight, though I grew drowsy around noon. I could wear religious and anti-demon emblems, and did. I had another power. In addition to the immense strength and speed of a vampire, I could produce and control fire with my mind. It was living flame. I could take on the hideous visage of a vampire, or become a beautiful and terrifying angel, clad in a flexible armor of the purest silver. My weapons became wreathed in holy flame then, and were deadly at a touch to demonic beings. Nothing much happened for the next fifty years.

Then I found the Underworld, and with it, the love of my life. Dahlia was her name, and she was a night elf. I don't clearly remember her appearance, except that she was tall, and had blond hair, which never happened among her people. She wielded twin scimitars. We had a daughter, named Luna, who took after her mother, except that she returned the the tradition with her black hair. Also, she preferred a katana and naginata. Sixteen years later, Dahlia and I were walking in a forest when we were ambushed, and she was seriously wounded. In an effort to keep her alive, I turned her. Unfortunately, no angel was there to save her soul, and as a demon she turned against me, disappearing.

I disappeared as well then, becoming Milosh and joining a large demonic and vampiric army. Using my previous experience, I advanced quickly. I hate to recall the things I did during that time, as my human soul was fully hidden then. My demonic part was in full control. I especially remember using a control over fire to lead a squadron of flying demons on firebombing raids. My demonic portion enjoyed watching women and children burn to death, and my human part didn't care. Around about 500 A.D., I led a contingent in a raid on a castle. The defenders were primarily of the elven variety, though there were also some strange horned and tailed folk. They were not, I must point out, demons. There was nothing evil about them. But being what we were, we had a great advantage, and destroyed the defending army. Eventually, my lieutenant and I broke away from the main body to enter the dungeons. There was surprisingly little resistance until we entered one especially well-lit dungeon to find the lady of the castle, wearing flowing red robes, standing before a book with her arms raised.

It was a spell, and it caused my human soul to care once more. I became decent again, and in an instant had turned on my lieutenant and killed him. I then went through the castle, side-by-side with the lady, killing the rest of my own army. The lady's name was Luna, and she had also worked a spell to wipe my memory of our relationship.

We married, and had a daughter, whom I named Illyanna Undomiel. The castle where we lived was beautiful, with vast gardens tended by faeries. We also owned estates in Africa. We lived like that for almost five-hundred more years, before the first Inquisition learned of me. They captured Illyanna and used her to get to me. After I proved immune to crosses, sunlight, wooden stakes, and fire, they imprisoned me beneath the Vatican, until one of their own, one of the Assassini, turned rogue and released me. So we come to now.

[eldestwatcher]

An eyewitness account of an attack by Milosh upon a mortal city.

I watched as the army grew closer. It seemed like there were hundreds of demons, vampires, and werewolves, but they stopped beyond the walls. Then I saw it, flying demons, led by a flying master vampire, who threw fire upon the guards. The fire thrown by the master was different, though, like living flame. Even after the guard was ashes, it continued to burn upon the bare rock.

These horrors continued until not one soldier was left. I thought it would end there, or perhaps only hoped, that the army would be satisfied with looting, but it would not be so. The true horrors were yet to come. These flying beasts landed within the city and opened the gates, admitting the army. I watched as the master vampire, Milosh, gave a young child to his lieutenant and forced the child to watch as he drank it's mother's blood. But while the mother yet lived, he ordered his lieutenant to rend the child limb from limb. They did this at every house. Every adult was turned, or slaughtered if they refused, and every child under twelve torn to pieces. Those children who remained were forced into slavery. I ran to warn the slayer, but was too late, finding her in the grip of Milosh who even then was draining the last drop of blood from her lifeless body. Her clothing had been torn from her, and I grow sick to write that I believe he raped her before he drained her blood. I myself escaped, using tunnels from the monastery at the edge of town. I write this now in hiding, for even now the monsters... [The parchment is stained with blood.]

[eldestwatcher]

A Father and a Hero, by Illyanna Undomiel Aurelius

I don't honestly know that much about my father's life in the scheme of things, but I felt obliged to write something positive about him after finding the previous writings. He was a great man, since my mother saved him. Tall dark and handsome would be putting it lightly. You can take my word for that, since my family seems to have a slight tendency toward incest. I'll come clean now, before we go any farther. By the time I turned sixteen, I had fallen in love with my own father. The same thing happened to my mother, and the same situation occured. Both times, he disappeared. This time, though, he was captured by Inquisitors.

My father was the kindest man I have ever known, even if he wasn't technically a man. We had several heavenly beings in our courts, almost all of them in our air force, but he was the only one who devoted his entire life to the betterment of... everything, actually. He assisted the faeries in our extensive gardens, he helped the healers in the infirmaries, we even have wild animals coming to us, asking him for assistance with wounded mates or babies. He never failed to help, to heal. To make a long story short, his love for all living creatures was what ultimately defined him, and it was for this reason that he studied war. He realized that in order to truely help the living, he would have to destroy the dead. He did this in two ways, first of all by creating the order of the Watchers, and secondly by studying with the greatest weapons masters of all time. He studied and practiced with Cordelia, our general and captain of the guard, who taught him to duel-weild long swords. Telia, another soldier and guard, was an expert with twin-tipped naginata, and taught him to weild it as well. Annalouise, beautiful half-elven Annalouise, was a spy and an archer, and trained him in both of these. It is for this reason that I have sealed this message with a seal that can only be broken by a Slayer, for I truely believe he is still alive.

Father, wherever you are, whatever year it is now, look for me. I vowed on my eighteenth birthday I would wait for you, and nothing can break an elfmaiden's promise.

[loekie]

Sorta yeah.. I'll check it out when I get a chance hun! It's awsome though!!

[eldestwatcher]

kk

[loekie]

(Soooo sorry.. which part of this was relevant to the post?

[eldestwatcher]

All of it. Micah directed her to read the third section first, then the first two.