You be a weak and feeble man if youdon’t take a wench when she offers...
Lord Percy tried to think of honourand decency, of any way to silence the urges of the voice, but could feel allhis compassion, kindness and love for Rowena crumble away...
Within an instant Lord Percy’s handswere clamped around Lilith’s exposed shoulders. He found himself mumbling in alanguage he didn’t understand. As the points of his teeth pieced her skin andhe tasted human blood for the first time he felt a tipping point insidehimself.
That’s it. She’s mine now...
The Dark Urge of Arddhu Og rose up andconsumed him. All that he held decent and true, the virtues that made him agentleman and a noble spirit were torn away and replaced by base animal lust.
As Lord Percy drank the sweet youngblood his skin lost its pallor and took on a glowing vitality. Claude sat upand shook himself then lifted his head and let out a long plaintive howl. Theblood contained something almost magical, a glorious vigour that was sointoxicatingly wonderful it made Lord Percy’s head swim. When he’d drunk hisfill, he pushed Lilith aside and she sprawled unconscious on the settee. He satand brooded by the fire.
A few moments later Lilith woke up.She looked over at Percy and got a terrible shock. Her cool and freaky Arddhulooked very different to the handsome man of just a few minutes ago. His skinwas waxy and red veined, his ears were pointy and his eyes were shining andfiery yellow. There was a halo of light and curled horns around his head. Hewas a monster!
Lilith stammered, “You stay away fromme.”
“Human blood! What sweet nectar flowsfrom their veins! Why did I hide in the shadows and listen to that fool of agirl?”
Lilith got off the settee and backedaway.
“Where are you going?” said LordPercy. “You are my servant now.”
Lilith turned, opened the door and ranout into the hallway. Claude bounded after her, growling viciously, exposinglong pointed teeth. He was about to leap up and drag Lilith to the ground butthe huge dog suddenly stopped and crouched on the floor, whimpering softly.Lilith in a blind panic of self-preservation had somehow reached out intoClaude’s mind and stopped him. She turned and fumbled with the lock to the door– her hands were trembling so badly she found it almost impossible – butmanaged to fling it open. She ran at tremendous speed across the courtyard –somehow the stones no longer cut into her feet and she felt no pain. A physicaland mental transformation was starting to take place. She sprinted through thedark shrouded archway and out of sight.
Lord Percy and Claude stepped out intothe night. The dog trotted forward, following Lilith scent.
“Leave her,” said Lord Percy. Claudeimmediately stopped and sat down. “Leave her to fend for herself. Let us seehow well this arrogant young girl deals with the voice of Og and all itsdemands. Soon she’ll come crawling back to me.”
Claude looked up with dark dolefuleyes. Percy held out a bony hand and stroked his head. “Why did I hide away inthis meagre place, my friend? It is time to embrace what I was destined tobecome. Arddhu Og has told me how it longs to be heard in this realm, and I amthe key. Let us away.”
Lord Percy pulled back the sleeve ofhis purple jacket, revealing a sinewy white forearm imprinted with a tattoo ofa writhing salamander. With one astonishingly quick movement he bit into it andpulled out a chunk of flesh. The wound quickly filled with thick blood thatbegan trickling down his arm and onto the stone chipped courtyard. Withinseconds a lump of pink, vain streaked flesh was twitching at the centre of adark pool. As more blood trickled onto the ground the fleshy lump grew in size,somehow sucking the sticky red liquid into its writhing mass.
It grew at a phenomenal rate. Within acouple of minutes, the convulsing ball of flesh, bone and sinew was bigger thatClaude. Four large fleshy buds sprouted from one side, forming rudimentaryjoints and sinew covered bones. A larger growth of vein matted flash sproutedfrom the other side, forming a thick neck that supported a long flesh covered skull.Eye sockets filled with wild staring eyes, lungs, heart and spleen appearedunder a large rib cage and bones were quickly covered by hugely powerfulmuscles. Dark shiny skin sprouted everywhere. Suddenly there was a mane, a tailand four hooves.
The creature pulled itself up into astanding position and neighed softly. A magnificent black horse stood proud,its coat glossy over powerfully sleek muscles.
Lord Percy sucked the wound in his armfor a second and the bleeding stopped.
“Beauty! How wonderful to see you!”
The horse turned its head and lookedat him with dark eyes.
Lord Percy leapt up into the air andlanded on Beauty’s back.
“Away!” he cried. “Away to take backwhat is rightfully mine – Brimstone Manor!”
The horse reared for a few seconds thensped away into the night, with Claude following closely behind.
ChapterTen - Reunion
See the sad and lonely girl
sitting in a bar.
No one understands the pain
of her dark and ugly scar.
She’s beautiful, her daddy’s rich,
destined to go far.
But she’ll never make it whilst she’s got
her dark and ugly scar.
– Extract from The Girl in the Bar
– By Crocodile, taken from the album Light Fantastic,1969.
Billwoke up from a fitful doze, sat up in bed and scratched his head. He thoughtback to the previous evening and his heart sank. He’d been in Doctor vanDevlin’s house with Frank and Professor Nox for hours, listening to theProfessor’s dull yet obsessive monologue about the history of the Apostles. Hewas forced to go through a ritual that swore him to secrecy. When they’dfinally allowed him to leave it was late evening and Fresher’s Fair had longsince finished. Bill had walked up High Street, making his way back to College,with Frank by his side, telling him he’d been enrolled in the Choral Societyand that he had to go to their meetings at ten sharp every Sunday morning. Billhad felt like a prisoner and was desperate to escape. When they’d got back toConnaught Hall he told Frank he was really
