Nikolai Vanetti
“Thank you, Lord.” Lucian said through gritted teeth, glaring into the hate-filled eyes of his opponent. “This has been a long time coming, Akanji …” he whispered, before cursing as it threw back its hood, exposing its face. “It’s not him!”
“Little Lucian…” The vampyr murmured, straightening up and looking down at him. “…my, how you’ve grown.” He smiled then a predatory, unpleasant smile that made it clear the kind of creature he was. “It’s been a long time, hasn’t it? Tell me, did the Legion tell you about your father? About the way they found him, and how he amused us in his final hours?”
“They told me enough…they told me you all killed him.” Lucian said in a low, fierce tone.
“Oh, we didn’t kill him. No, we had a little fun, and he was just too soft to survive the party, that was all. But then, he always was a weakling.”
“He was a good man who tried his best to help people. He even tried to raise your master, hate-filled creature that he was, and I recognize you now… Nikolai.”
“He was a coward and a failure!” Nikolai snarled. “A weakling who begged to be allowed to die! A coward who wept when we roasted little Anna, too weak even to end her life when she begged her daddy to save her. He was given the choice, you know.
“All he had to do was embrace the Dark Gift and feed on his wife, and we’d have spared the brat. He refused, so I changed her personally, let the blood take hold, then we spitted and roasted her alive, feeding my master’s followers choice bits, while her body tried to regenerate! We killed her and her father’s pathetic group over days, Lucian. You thought the Legion arrived in time to help? We’d already grown bored and left! Your precious Legion did what it always did, too little and too late…”
Lucian stared at him for several long heartbeats as Nikolai searched for a reaction, then he sighed.
“There is truly nothing left of the child that Akanji corrupted left in there, and that is a relief,” he said finally. “I care not what lies you come up with. I am here to remove a stain from the family honor, a blight on the name of all those who came before me and those who lived after. You are a disgrace to the name of your father, and I strip the Name of Nikolai Vanetti from you. You are not worthy of the name of that child…”
I felt the mana being drawn in around us and I smiled, as the Realm itself accepted the right of the Chief Justicar of the Empire to strip the name from this figure. The effect on Nikolai was immediate as he hesitated a brief second before hissing in fury.
“You think I care? You think it matters to me that I no longer bear the name that a weakling bestowed on a small boy? I have spent centuries as…”
“Shitstick,” I declared, interrupting them.
“What?” The former Nikolai hissed.
“If the Chief Justicar of the Empire can strip your name from you, then you must have been a citizen of the Empire when you were named. As such, I can give you a new one. Forevermore, I formally declare your name to be ‘Shitstick.” I dismissed the notification that started to pop up without reading it. Since it wasn’t a global or continental one, I could do that. I grinned as Shitstick’s eyes widened in abject fury.
“Now, even if you somehow escape, everyone’s gonna know your name, bitch.” I winked at him.
“You DARE…” he snarled.
Children
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