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Cha'kaar had caused a mild panic when the few townies still hanging around were surprised to see him with a grave diggers shovel on one shoulder, and had lept to the natural conclusion that Niles had finally croaked. When he'd waved the them off of their panic about Niles, they grew bitter at what he was about to do. They left him be to do the dirty deed in peace, knowing that if one soul must be disturbed to save their own, it was worth doing. As long as someone else was prepared to do it, that is.

An older man had directed him to the correct grave, and fiddled with the hem of his hat, turning it in his fingers as he mumbled into his chest.

"He was a good man, sir. A bit slow on the uptake, but quite nimble with his fingers, as raccoons is, but a good man..." He put his hat back on and patted the heavy gravestone. The words Ryan Herrald were carved deep into the rough stone.

"Make sure you leave him decent..." With a final pat of the stone, he left for the inn to drown his sorrows, leaving Cha'kaar alone in the graveyard once more with the afternoon sun shining down on his burly form. He made to start work, but the newer graves caught his eye.

Setting the shovel aside, he aproached the graves, and his heart sank.

Their were four, and each was marked with the name of the assistants he had lost within a few short months, and each one he cared for deeply. Each one was a mark of how he had failed not only them, but their families as well.

As was custom for those who died far from home, they were buried wearing their robes, as well as aging amulets, curious devices that were invented to keep meat fresh and therefore, did the opposite of their namesake. These ones were stronger than those used in butcher shops to preserve the entire body as long as possible, should the family wish to have them taken home. So far, their families had not claimed them, nor had he recieved any word from the city even inquiring about their health. The only communication he had was when a new assistant was sent, and when he had to send a letter about their deaths a few months afterwards. Then a new one would turn up on his doorstep despite him never asking for a replacement assistant, and Cha'kaar realised that they were sent to spy on him and his work, even though they didn't realise it themselves.

He'd broken the locks on their sealed satchels, read their orders, and knew that they had been sent out to find anything unusual, most likely so the guild could send in their battlemages and steal the work of those who either had access to "forbidden" knowledge, or just had rare or unique plants of a magical nature.

The time now was not for speculation of the guilds plans, but to mourn. He got down on one knee, pressed his right hand over his heart, the index and middle finger of his left hand against his forehead with his muzzle pointed to the ground, and said the rites of passing for each of them, little realising that he was being watched from the treeline. The figure simply observed, hidden, and waited as Cha'kaar paid tribute to each of the graves in turn.

Errol Kyran.

Syrran Linn.

Lilrek Sein.

Sierra Arrain.

The last name he had spent the longest on. Her death was the greatest blow because he witnessed her death, and was unable to prevent it. She was gifted with intelligence, and a will you could bend steel around. She was also the only one to fall in love with him for his mind, body and soul, despite the age difference. They had made love less than two days after she had arrived. Her fur was so silky smooth, he felt like the faintest touch would corrupt her forever, as though he had plucked a star from the heavens themselves, only so he could corrupt it with his terrible lust.

Her death was all too clear, and he knew he'd remember every single, terrible second for eternity. She had gone out deep into the marshes like the others, just like her orders had said in one of those blasted letters, and he had tracked her down before she went too far in the darkness. She'd unwittingly disturbed a bloated Dart Newt, a creature that remained harmless unless puffed up and on the hunt for food.

He had called out her name, she turned and smiled, but his warning cry was too late, the smile vanished as the dart struck her back, near her heart. She fell to her knees and dropped her lantern, and he'd rushed forward and held her in his arms, the dart buried too deep, and too close to her heart to do anything but watch as the poisons spread through her system.

She had stroked his cheek, kissed his lips, and finally told him that she had loved him ever since they first met. Cha'kaar had wept openly as her heart slowed, and finally stopped, her eyes clouded over, and he felt her soul pass into the afterlife, leaving him alone once again.

But now, said a new voice in your head, you have Darrius, you can move on, and start your life anew and no longer be alone.

That thought lingered for a while, but he knew he'd never forget Sierra for as long as he lived.

A glint of sunlight brought him back to the task at hand. He'd spent over ten minutes alone at her grave in silent contemplation before realising the ever setting sun. The shovel bit deep into the soft, grassy soil, and after less than a half hour, he was making decent, if awkward progress. Possibly because he should have been using a spade or some such, but Cha'kaar could never grasp why the shape of the spade or shovel made digging easier.

The figure had seen enough, and left. A blue glow from the network of veins in his arm lit up as he sprinted off into the undergrowth silently to return to his master's side.

The sun was a distant red blob in the sky and was setting rapidly, casting an orange glow over the yard when the shovel hit wood, and punched a hole the size of a head in the weak, waterlogged wood. It was then that Cha'kaar noticed something wrong. Their was no scent of dead or even rotting flesh, and whatever was in there, was rather fresh looking.

Turning the shovel around, he prodded at the body with the wooden handle. It was solid, and felt alive. The lupine looked around the graveyard for a moment before carefully widening the hole with his digging impliment. The face that he saw was not the raccoon called Ryan Herrald, but the bat-like features were present throughout.

It was at this point when the sun was the lowest in the sky, that the creature chose to awaken. Cha'kaar nearly screamed as the thing snarled at him, and swung it's arms up, shattering the weak coffin lid into little more than matchsticks, and sent the wolf on his arse on the muddy ground, less than a meter from the hole. He scrabbled to his feet and grasped the handle tight and waited, the sound of heavy breathing and shuffling was heard before the creature scuttled out of it's hole on all fours. It stood on two feet in front of Cha'kaar and wheezed, clutching it's head.

The creature was an impressive size at over seven feet tall, but was awkward in appearance, having more in common with a feral bat than usual. Their were no arms, only wings, and fingers on the knuckle of the wing. What was left of the sun caused it to smoulder whenever the light hit it's form.

Cha'kaar took the faintest step back when it noticed him, the supposed headache washed from it's mind in that instant. It pressed a knuckle to the ground, bringing it's face level with Cha'kaar's and much too close. He could make out every line on it's face and every twitch of it's nose as it sized him up. And then it spoke, each word a deep, distant sigh, as though they were arriving from a distance.

"Wwwho disturbs my sssleep? Wwwho isss ssso bold to ssstand before me?" It bared it's teeth for a fraction of a second, wether as a warning, or as a quick faint smile is beyond guessing.

"I-I do... I'm... I'm called Cha'kaar..." He stammered, completely out of his depth right now, holding the shovel up in front of him like some kind of shield.

"Wwwhy do you wake meee?" The eyes flickered up and down, sizing him up once more, a hungry look in the creatures eyes. "I am in a... gennnerous mood, ssso ask your questions quick... before I grow... wwweary of youuu."

"I need... I need the statue you were... buried with, Ryan. My friend w-was injured by you..." The creature tilted it's head to one side.

"rrryan... Yesss... I remember him... He fffound the relic, and he took me... into hisss form..." A hissing chuckle followed, along with a wave of it's wing.

"You may take it... under one condition..." Cha'kaar closed his eyes and groaned inwardly. He knew he was going to regret this.

"And what is the... condition...?" The eyes flickered over his form once more.

"I need... food, but I also crave... companionship..." The look in the beasts eyes were all to clear of intent now, and Cha'kaar had no wish to relent to the monsterous thing.

"I see..."

~***~

Niles had spent the last hour carefully going through the books he had stored, looking for anything that might be useful to Cha'kaar and his slightly unusual request, setting the books upon the altar, occasionally snatching a look up at the small living quarters above his head, as though trying to see through the wooden floorboards.

The child had been sleeping this whole time and hadn't made a single sound. Blackbeak sighed inwardly, knowing that they'd never be able to leave after dark, and that they'd most likely have to take his bed for the night, the bedroll in the cellar being much too small, especially for visitors.

The sun had just about set when Cha'kaar returned, covered in mud. He placed the relic, wrapped up tightly in bandages on the altar next to the books and headed off to the cellar, returning with a bundle of rope.

"...What are you doing out there that requires rope?" The wolf simply held up his index finger in passing and left out the door. After a good ten minutes, he returned, dragging the body of some overly large creature behind him, letting go of the rop after he'd lugged it in between the aisles, streaking mud across the flagstones and plush looking carpets. Despite the size and beastality of the creature before him, Niles merely cocked an eyebrow.

"I thought you hated bats?" The reply was the clank of half a shovel hitting the floor. The slight grimace on blackbeaks face of the metal hitting stone passed quickly.

"Seems like your kind of response..." Niles fluffed up his feathers a little, the cold beginning to bite deep in proxcimity to the beast, whose chest rose and fell slowly, indicating that it was only stunned.

"I'd have thought you'd have killed it before it woke up... whatever it is..." The beast had a strange attraction to it, one he could not place, and it only served to stoke some unnoticed flame deep within his soul. As he reached out to the touch it, Cha'kaar gripped him gently by the wrist and led him back to the altar, the crow stealing a glance every now and again at the slumbering creature.

"Don't get too attached, he's my test subject, to see if I can reverse the process on this..." While keeping an eye on the bird, he unwraveled the cloth on the relic, revealing it's horrid form.

The statue was carved with some amazing precision out of a dark, unidenifyable stone, and depicted a crouched bat with it's hands on a fist sized red jewel, carved into a vague heart shape, it's leathery wings wrapped around it, as though to protect it from harm. The bat was not a pleasant looking critter, having it's jaw open wide as though ready to sink it's fangs into the jeweled organ in front of it. Niles regarded the statue with the same, all consuming curiousity of the large beast behind them. Clearly whatever had caused both the townie and Blackbeak's change was coming from the idol, which was never a good sign, especially considering how awful the thing looked.

Realising that Niles was going to be more of a hinderance than a help in this matter, he carefully shoo'ed him into the cellar, locking it carefully behind him. With the bird out of the way for now, Cha'kaar poured himself over the various books, setting some to his right that had relevent information, and some to his left, which were useless books of hymns or some such.

About halfway through the pile did he actually locate information on the artifact in hand. He carefully read out the words, mumbling them under his breath as his eyes scanned the yellowing and crackled pages.

"Out of all the artifacts I have uncovered, this rather grim statuette has to be the most interesting. It was created by the very first blood demon in existance, who was summoned by accident by a young deer who longed to change his form to that of the bat, so he could soar above the trees. The demon took pity on the lowly creature and scooped out a rock from the very depths of the world, and fashioned the idol pictured on the opposite page."

Of course, the opposite page contained a picture, drawn by hand from the artist's own memory, who had captured it's likeness to a tee. The crouching figure, the wings and jeweled heart, even the fangs looked as though they could leap from the page and for your throat.

"He demon had told him to prick his finger on the fangs of the statuette and let the blood fall upon the heart, and his wish would come true by nightfall. The demon had laid a curse upon the idol and the eager fool did just as the demon instructed, and by nightfall, he had turned into a hideous beast that fed upon the lifeblood of those around him to sustain itself. Image depicted on next page."

Cha'kaar flipped the page and mentally checked off the similarities. Fingers at wing joint, check. Large fangs, check. Bat-like appearance, big check. And all the various other little and less obvious similarities, such as it walking on all fours than standing on two legs.

"Many of these artifacts have turned up throughout time, and it is said that the blood demon made many to punish those too weak to resist the call of the blood. However, the design acts like a mirror, or a beacon, and the blood as a catalyst, which pulls a demonic entity from another plane of existance and forces itself into the body of the mortal who made the blood pact, hence the beastial nature, and the almost complete ignorance of family members. The design of this beacon is crude at best for the first blood demon, and can easily be reversed, possibly because they never suspected that mortals would be able to undo the beacons power."

What followed was a list of enchantments that would reverse the beacon, and act much like a vacuum for the demon inside the hosts body, pulling them out and hopefully reversing any changes made.

Cha'kaar settled on the simplest one, which required several runes placed around the individual and a minor incantation. Producing a piece of chalk, he worked quickly to inscribe the runes around the beast known as Ryan, who was stiring, and did not seem to be in the best of moods if one could judge by the swearing in demon-tongue.

"Good morning sunshine." He crooned at the hulking bat before him.

"May the blood demon's take you!" It spat, struggling at the thick rope holding it in place within the circle.

"Oh come on, don't be like that, you're going to help me cure my friend, wether you like it or not." The creature made to lunge at Cha'kaar, but it's nose flattened at an invisible barrier made by the circle.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, that barrier is a little something I added to the spell. You looked like a strong brute, and I'd rather you not break free halfway through the reading and have your way with me. Seriously, not fond on being forced into those kind of situations." It snarled at the wall, having broken the wing bindings and was scratching at the invisible field.

He held up the book and began to recite the runes names, each one began to glow with an arcane light as their names were read. A bright and quick flash of light served to signal the spells end. The creature writhed as he was bathed in the light, turning him into something resembling the brightest star in bat form. Their was no scream, or any noise from the figure that was slamming itself against it's invisible prison as it shrank in size and returned to a much more manageable humanoid state, wings shrinking, and even arms began to appear.

However, as with such situations, their was a small problem.

As the light faded, leaving the individual on the ground, it was obvious to anyone that would care to look, that he was no longer a raccoon.

The wings were quite obvious, as were the large ears. Whatever the blood demon had done, it had left a very perminant mark, rendering his previous masked, ring-tailed form lost and replaced with the form of that of the clan of bats.

Cha'kaar dropped the barrier and lifted the unconcious man to a pew, laying him on it carefully, which is difficult when they have wings that get in the way, and consulted the book again. Flipping the page revealed to Cha'kaar that the editor of the book needed a broadsword to the chest, as on the next page was a sentence that related to the spell used.

"Please note that complete removal of blood demon's corruption requires either a purification amulet or robes of a similar nature." It was then that he flipped the pages to the front of the book and checked up the editors name, vowing to visit him and give him a good smack for such printing mishaps.

A groan from the pews alerted the lupine who stood ready, in case the demon had left behind some surprise. Ryan swung his feet onto the floor and stood rather uneasily, clutching at his head.

"Maraan's blessing! It feels like I had my head caved in..."

Whatever body size Ryan used to be before was unknown, the months of lack of food and slowed down metabolisim by the curse had left him rather thin, but not so bony as to be unnattractive, even giving him a slight curve that looked beautiful with the combination of moon and candlelight. His new wings seemed to glisten in the light, even making them see-through with a strong enough light. A semi mohawk ran between his ears, a little fluffy and unkempt from his time in the grave. As the eyes traveled down, it was quite evident that his new form was fairly well endowed if the size of the sheath and orbs was anything to go by.

The man managed to open his eyes and focus on Cha'kaar, who had dropped his defensive stance and was awkwardly trying to tug his loincloth down to hide any embarrassment that might occur. Ryan stretched out his hand and made to grip ahold of the wolf's shoulder to steady himself, collapsing against him instead.

Cha'kaar's cheeks were flushed red as the young man pressed against him, ignoring the wolf's errection pressing against his stomach, either due to the pain in his head, or because he didn't notice. Normally, Cha'kaar wasn't interested in any of the bat clans as they never struck him as pretty, but this one seemed to be different. Ryan opened his eyes and stared into the wolf's, the dark brown pools captivating him, ensnaring him.

"... What in all the land has been happening? Where am I...? And what in the name of the gods happened to me?!" The last part was screamed as he caught sight of himself in the highly polished surface of the altar. The scream broke whatever hold the frightened man had over him and he quickly regained his composure, the man needed comfort and some kind of familiarity before he hurt himself.

The lupine rushed to his side, careful not to step on his limp wings in case they tore. It took a few minutes to calm him down, and even longer to explain what happened to him.

"...So, I'm stuck like this?" He had taken the tip of a wing and was fiddling with the edge, looking at it intensely throughout the explination. Cha'kaar felt sorry for him and all that he'd been through, and to come all the way through it stuck in a body so completely different than his own must have come as one hell of a shock, and one that wouldn't be overcome truely for several months. He was now sporting a set of cotton trousers that he'd dug up out of one of Niles' drawers which kept him decent.

"Not necessarily, a second clensing rite could remove the form and anything else that the demon has left, giving you your old life back." He placed an arm around the poor soul to hold him close as Ryan considered the options.

"Look, I need to give the same rites to Niles before he croaks or something, okay? I'll be right back, and don't go anywhere." With that, Ryan was left on his own as Cha'kaar headed into the basement, finding the old bird sitting on his bedroll, half dozing with the heat from his runed robes.

The wolf chuckled softly and let the old bird rest for a few more minutes as he hurried upstairs to where Darrius was still sleeping under the effects of the spell he'd cast on him a few hours ago, and pulled out a spare set of robes that Niles used on special occasions, and possibly as bedwear. They were made of silk and coloured an off-white, creamy colour. A few modifications and runes applied to the outer lining, and they were ready.

Returning to Niles, he dropped the silken item on his lap, jerking him from his rest.

"Put that on and I can try to cure you upstairs." The bird rubbed at his eyes and lifted up the clensing robes.

"...What have you done to my ceremonial robes?!" Cha'kaar had split a seam down the front that would reach almost down to the birds vent, revealing his scar quite easily. Yes, it could easily be repaired with some stitching, but he could also be easily exposed with the tiniest twitch of the material.

"Look, they're needed to remove the demon in your blood, and yes, it's a demon. Just like doctors believe they can't get sick, priests believe they can't get possessed. I'll explain what I can upstairs in five minutes, and you better have those on when you get up there." With that, he left Niles to splutter and stumble over furniture as he struggled to get dressed in time. Which, actually, takes a bit of time when the headache feels like a sledgehammer rattling your skull with each beat of your heart.

As Cha'kaar made it upstairs, he caught Ryan in the corner of the church, taking a few experimental flaps, and even posing a little. It looked as if he'd decided to keep his new form, or for a short while at least. After a few minutes of this interesting sight, the clacking of claws on the stone steps revealed that blackbeak had finally gotten dressed, and stood in the doorway, clutching onto the frame, panting.

"I'm... I'm ready..." He croaked.

Even in his weakened and frail state, he had an air of teasing beauty. The robes revealed his slender body, and the slit down the front simply drew the eyes towards his scar and lower body. The effect was spoiled somewhat by the old bird clutching onto the doorframe as if it were the only real thing in the world and panting like a bellows.

The wolf linked arms with the old bird and carefully led him to the nearest pew, away from Ryan and his display, in case he should prove too distracting.

Niles wasn't looking too good. His eyes watered perminantly, and he was struggling to breathe from his last vigorus exercise running up the stairs. Clearly he was close to entering the deathly coma that had claimed Ryan. Cha'kaar knew he had to speed this up.

"Okay blackbeak, you remember when Ryan entered the village with that statue he was holding? It was a cursed artifact, created by one of the first blood demons. He passed the curse onto you when he bit you, and the only reason it's not killed you stone dead in less than a day, is simply because you're a holy man, on holy ground." Niles could only rub his eyes, the light of the candles, even when his eyes were closed was causing him grief, his skin was as cold as ice and his bones ached like nothing he'd ever felt before. He waved his hand at the lupine to silence him.

"Just... just fix it..." He sobbed. "It hurts... it hurts to even exist... to even be...." The sight of Niles utterly defeated felt like a blade through his heart, as though the pillars of his world were trembling, ready to crack, and drop him into the darkness below. Niles had always been there for him since they had met, and he had always been strong, if rather disagreeing in his own way, the sight of him now was a culture shock that he could ill-afford.

Cha'kaar planted a single kiss on the birds cheek and scooped him up in his arms. He felt almost weightless, and their was no sign of a struggle or complaint about being carried or even kissed, a very bad sign.

He laid the bird in the circle of runes, like he'd done for Ryan and recited the spell. This time, their was no struggle, no movement, not even a lightshow. The final words rolled out across the empty room with Ryan watching from the corner with interest, and still nothing.

Cha'kaar suspected the worst, until the robes started to stain black, moving from the neck, and down further, turning them into an ebony colour, the spell carefully teasing out the evil this time instead of burning it out. The spell carefully worked the darkness out, unweaving whatever grim fate it held in store for Niles, undoing all of his physical ills. The emaciated frame filled out to a healthier, slimmer form, the patches of missing feathers grew back in record time, and the church even began to feel warmer, the cold being banished, much like the rest of the symptoms.

The entire process took twenty minutes to fully erradicate the darkness from his system. The runes glow faded, and left the room illuminated by candlelight once more. Niles eyes flickered open and he took a deep breath before answering.

"Oh my... My head... it's as clear as a bell!" He sat up quickly and ran his hands over his head, quickly realising that the missing feathers had been replaced with new ones and his bones had stopped aching. For the first time in weeks, he felt good. Good and warm! He scrabbled to his feet and launched himself at Cha'kaar, wrapping his arms around the mans chest and lifted him off his feet in a bear hug.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" He yelled, clearly happy that he no longer felt like death warmed up and only regained his composure as Ryan stared at them both. He dropped the breathless wolf onto his feet and cleared his throat.

"Um, yes, thank you... on behalf of the town." He rubbed at his right elbow a little, clearly a little flustered, but quickly settled back into his gruff ways.

"Listen, Char'kaar... You've kept up your end of the bargain, so I guess you can use my bed tonight. Too dark out to travel... And the bat, whoever he is, can sleep on one of the pews. Or pile in with you lot, it's up to you..." He grumbled and strode off upstairs to leave them be, only returning a few minutes later with some blankets and a highly polished wooden box. He dropped the blankets in the arms of the bat, who sneezed as a small cloud of dust rose from the sheets.

"If you need me, I'll in the basement on the bedroll, and make sure to knock, will you?" And he loped off to the door for the basement, he turned and jerked a thumb towards the stairs.

"And Dan'kir? Once you get your friend sorted up down here, go upstairs and see your boy, Darrius. He's awake, finally. Goodnight." The last word was said not unkindly as he closed the door of the basement with a click, taking the box and his black, evil-stained bed robes with him.

The lupine spent a while getting rid of as much dust as he could from the blankets and set up a temporary bed on one of the pews for Ryan before hurrying off upstairs. Sure enough, Darrius was sitting up in bed, a smile cracking across his face as he caught sight of his lover.

Despite the tired look, he seemed much better and a lot happier as Cha'kaar carefully hung his loincloth on the chair and moved close the the young vulpine, stroking his muzzle with a thumb. His right eye shone bright blue, even in this low light.

A tender kiss met his lips as he laid his young lover down, and sought to give him a night that would wash away the horrid memories of today, and replace them with this blessed hour of their coupling.