Free Dark Soul Silenced - Part One by Simon Goodson Page A

angrily in the back of his throat he turned and started down the path, walking away from the village.  The dead man's lantern had smashed, its light had gone out, but Rafael had no need of its light – he could see the path ahead clearly.
    Anger was his constant companion, anger and the dark burning hunger, but tonight his anger blazed higher than normal.  The aborted chance to feed increased his anger but wasn’t the main cause.  He was furious over losing his latest convert.  When he found the man trussed up and hanging from a tree, clearly the victim of an intense beating, Rafael had been unable to resist.  The man had an aura of strength despite what he had been subjected to, and the beating would prove a source of anger, a drive for revenge, which would help with the transformation.
    Entering the clearing Rafael had exerted his influence, driving away the wolves and driving all resistance from the man.  Rafael quickly freed his victim, lowered him to the floor then started the ritual.  Turning someone, making them a convert, was an intricate process.  Each stage had to be carefully managed, each step timed correctly.  It began with Rafael feeding from the man, tasting both his blood and his life force, but only briefly.  He had to resist the desire to drain the victim dry.  Within his body Rafael’s blood mixed with that of his victim.  In the next stage Rafael sliced his own wrist and allowed his precious blood to flow into the victims mouth.  As the victim gulped down the blood, gagging and spluttering, the conversion began.
    Over the next few hours gestures and rituals had to be performed at the right times, and twice more the victim was fed Rafael's own blood.  Finally, when he was sure the process was well underway, Rafael left – seeking shelter long before sunrise and the danger it brought.  The victim was left on the clearing floor, body already undergoing changes.
    Rafael was weakened by the process and had rested for several nights — all the time sensing the transformation raging through his victim.  Powerful as the victim would end up being he would also be no more than a slave, unable to resist Rafael's will.  Each convert strengthened Rafael further, increased not only the allies he could call upon but also the power he could wield directly.
    His most recent victim had made a fast recovery, proving to be every bit as powerful as Rafael had foreseen.  Rafael was pleased as he sensed the dark hunger exerting more and more power over the victim, driving him to seek shelter during the day, then to start hunting the creatures of the forest.  The slight setbacks when the victim refused to make the final kills didn't worry Rafael.  He had seen it before and knew that soon the burning hunger would demolish all resistance.
    Then came the night when the victims mind sharpened into a finely honed blade, nothing left but the driving hunger.  The victim had sensed people.  He was heading for them to make his first kill.  Rafael followed the emotions of the hunt with relish, feeling the joy of the chase give way to the anticipation of feeding.  The convert was about to take the final step.
    When the victim somehow managed to disrupt the feeding, to push away the dark hunger and flee, Rafael cursed and howled at the night.  He knew the victim would still succumb, but he was impatient.  Rafael decided the victim would pay a suitable penance once fully converted and under his control.  Annoyed though he was, he knew the victim couldn't possibly hold out much longer.  No one ever had.
    With the victim's hunger pushed down deep Rafael found it harder to track what was happening, though he still had a vague sense of the victim's direction and location.  What happened next still came as a horrifying shock.  Rafael had settled down to sleep the day away in one of his many safe locations, but as the sun rose outside he screamed in agony.  Fire seemed to sweep through his body.  For a moment he