Moments before the raven haired beauty embraced him her loud shout reached his ears. “TRISTAN!!!! I MISSED YOU!!” She hugged him tightly and her soft curves pressed against him. He hesitated for a moment, upon seeing the rather unsightly of the surrounding men who until he arrived had been ogling her with a reverence reserved for the truly beautiful. He sighed in resignation before returning the embrace with one arm; he bent his head down and kissed the top of her head before saying. “Heya Gorgeous, while I don’t dislike your attentions, deal with your admirers first.” He then swiftly disengaged himself, a rather difficult thing, to escape from the embrace of a Succubus. The crowd of admirers swarmed her as he left; she pouted for a moment before she turned to them and answered their flurry of questions, about him and their connection. Tristan looked back and chuckled at the nearly imperceptible frustration deeply hidden in her eyes. He then turned back around and continued on towards his destination, one of the backstage rooms. Neither of them noticed the intense rage coming from a waifish figure in one of the dimly lit corners.

Tristan was waiting in one of the more private back rooms, usually meant for one on one meetings of the private sort. He looked around the red and purple room, taking in the hedonistic and decadent furnishings of it. It like the other rooms of its kind was made to inflame the passions and lust of its occupants. There were even several spells set up from the branches of Body and Mind magic, to further the effects. Luckily for Tristan however he was nearly immune to such things due to being mostly Undead, though his Vampire side made him a very primal being as well. There was a round table with a plush cushioned bench curving around it on the left side of the room. He was still looking around the room when a soft body plastered itself to his back. He was adjusting to that when a sensuous, familiar voice whispered to him. “Hello my Master, it has been a while.” At those words, he turned around and caught only a flash of red hair, and a playful chuckle reverberating about the room. He felt a fleeting touch caressing his back and he swung that way with one arm hoping to catch her. Her voice came teasingly “Oh, I don’t believe you were this eager to touch me when I first became yours.”

“Silence!!” he practically roared, his face a far cry from his usual indifference, she inspired strong feelings in him, that was certain, just not the ones she wanted. It was then that he Changed, assuming a more battle ready form, his hair became longer and silver colored, forming a veritable mane, reaching nearly down to his waist. His eyes became crimson with slitted black pupils, the largest change however was his face, it became more angled, sharper, and his canines grew and became more prominent. His senses also became sharper and more sensitive, especially to blood, which was what he needed right now. He inhaled sharply and detected nothing but a faint scent, he frowned and then realization flashed across his face when he saw the spell Runes scattered about the room, lit. His Change regressed, making him look normal once more, and then his hair started to become gray and then crumble into ash. Within moments his appearance had drastically changed, he was no longer something even remotely recognizable as human. He looked like a cross between the two undead beings known as the Revenant and the Lich. He opened his eyes and the Runes that dimmed as they lost their influence on him. She sighed in disappointment before speaking. “Awww, so you figured it out, no matter my Master, soon enough our bond shall be consummated.”

The faint presence that he had felt faded, and he reverted to his normal form once more, the stench of rotting flesh and Death fade as he did so. It was at that moment that Erica, the woman from the stage entered the room. Her flashed a dark purple as she near instantly determined that something had happened, something similar to what one of her kind could do. “What happened?” she asked, her voice laced with worry though no less sensual. “Nothing you can help with.” He responded in a weary and tired voice. “Come on Tristan, I might tease you, but I do care about you.” She responded, worry still evident in her voice as she hugged him. Tristan smiled softly at her as he responded. “Yeah I know, the strange relationship we have isn’t exactly the typical one of a magical human and a succubus, now is it.” Erica giggled daintily at that moment before her tone turned serious. “Yeah, you’re certainly right; normally one of my kind would try to drain a delicious morsel like you. Was this incident connected to THAT?” Tristan responded faintly. “Yeah, it is, this like that is because of my Bond.” His last words were tinged with slight bitterness. As Tristan returned her embrace he thought back to that day so many years ago.

They first truly met years ago quite by accident, well for the most part, before that they had only seen each other once or twice. It had been many months after he and what inhabited Kandace’s body, uh parted ways. Back then he didn’t know much about the world he was thrust into, but he didn’t particularly care. It hadn’t been that long since he had ran after Order agents tracked him down and almost killed those he had been staying with. When he met her he had been working part for some rather unsavory fellows, he would kill their enemies for a price, though he wouldn’t harm innocents. He reveled in their deaths it took his mind off losing Kandace, though due to his nature and relationship with Death he couldn’t truly lose himself, like many Rogue and Feral mages did. After a successful bounty collection he had been walking through the seediest part of the city he was in at the time. He had been heading to his other place of work, a club, one of the very few respectable establishments in this part of the city. It had a powerful backer, but they still had to give protection money to the Alpha of a Werewolf pack that ran most of the cities underworld.

Tristan had been walking down the street with his head down counting his steps when he heard the music from the club as a patron left. He looked up at it for a brief moment, the neon sign was lit up but some of the sign was out while others flickered. He walked forward and pushed open the door, as he entered the club, a large muscular figure in tight black clothing typical of most bouncers, rose up for a moment, but upon seeing it was Tristan let him pass through the foyer and into the club. Unlike many clubs in this part of the town, it wasn’t what some would call a gentlemen’s club, if anything it was reminiscent of an early 1900’s era jazz club. There was a band on the stage against the back wall and in front of that there was a beautiful raven haired woman who was singing to the tune the band was playing. She was wearing a strapless dress, Dark Cobalt in color, which contrasted well with her hair. Her enchanting voice wove its spell across the patrons of the club as Tristan took a seat at one of the round tables around the room.

Just as soon as the spell was woven it ended, her enchanting voice faded from the room and the music joined it. A deafening applause rose and there were several catcalls and the like as she descended the stage. After that the band started playing a pleasant and mellow tune, most of the patrons of the club conversed amongst themselves, at the tables and at the bar. Erica was talking to one of the clubs regulars when she was interrupted by a trio of rowdy men. They were Werewolves, representatives of the Pack that ran things, that was the only reason Dante; the Bouncer hadn’t ejected them already. “Come on, babe, we know what you are, and we know what you want, come with us.” Spoke the tallest of the trio. Erica just shook her head and ignored them; this happened to her often, she continued speaking to the patrons at the table. One of the trio, the smallest and least patient of them grabbed her hand and pulled her away. She spoke softly, but the venom was evident in her voice, now devoid of the lust inflaming lilt it usually carried. “I said no; now leave before I tell your Alpha.” The trio ignored her and approached with malicious and lustful intent.

One of the trio reached towards her, but frowned when he felt a resistance as he tried to move his arm forward. “I believe the Lady said no, so please drop this.” Said a chilling and cold voice, it was Tristan. While he wasn’t all that familiar with the lady, one of his jobs was to keep this place safe. “This isn’t any of your business Bat.” The tallest practically growled at Tristan. Tristan just shook his head before saying. “This is your last chance, I know your Alpha, and I really don’t want us to part on bad terms.” The trio snorted in unison, and pushed Erica back as they advanced towards Tristan. They all shifted in unison, to their bipedal wolf-man forms inherent to Werewolves. The middle one of the trio rushed towards Tristan swinging heavily furred arms tipped with gleaming claws at him. Tristan dodged for a while before he stumbled as he hit a table behind him, this let the Were clip him in the shoulder, nearly taking the arm off, while one of the others rushed forward and took him head off with a sickening squelch. Blood went everywhere, painting the wall and part of the ceiling. They turned back towards Erica whose eyes were heavy with pity and sadness

The trio reverted to their human forms, their faces alight with triumph, the fight and victory brought other primal urges to the surface. Erica went along with them for a moment, if only to prevent them from harming the few patrons left. Most of them had left once the incident started, the patrons were no strangers to the supernatural, but that didn’t mean they would stay in harm’s way. The trio all grinned at each other as they started to follow the Succubus as she walked towards the back. They paused as a heavy sigh reverberated around the room. Following that sound the Trio froze and in Erica’s eye confusion and incredulity could be seen. “So it seems you have chosen Death over Life, I don’t blame you, I, myself have enjoyed the embrace of death many a time, but she doesn’t let me stay for long.” At the end Tristan’s voice took on a dark edge and he chuckled. They all turned back and saw Tristan’s body standing, the head still missing, but the arm had reattached itself. Most of the blood that had splattered had travelled back to his body, all except the splatter that had covered the Trio.

As Tristan’s head rose up and his flesh knitted itself back together, the Were’s rushed towards him Changing forms as they went. The farthest away of the Were’s paused upon seeing the dark and malicious grin on Tristan’s face, his worries were well founded. As the two front most Were’s rushed towards him, Tristan’s grin deepened and he snapped his fingers. The two Were’s continued running before they frowned and paused just short of Tristan. The frowns turned to looks of horror at the areas that were flecked with Tristan’s blood, they had started to decompose. They both fell to their knees in unison as they started howling at the pain. Tristan had perfect control over his body and all it contained, even if it wasn’t connected to him anymore. He had turned his blood into a substance that induced necrosis; it took him a while to actively master this ability. He looked up from the still howling and decomposing Were’s to the last of the Trio, who was shaking and shivering, and spoke. “Go back to your Alpha and tell him what you did and how you caused your own deaths, Dante here will take their remains and make sure you tell the truth.” The Large bouncer had entered the room long ago, though no one noticed, he waited for everything to end before acting.

He then turned around and left the few Patrons and other people staring after him. As Erica gazed upon him she felt something she hadn’t felt in so long since she first came to this Plane, fear, and true hunger. That boy had power, true power; it was a miracle that he was mostly sane. She turned away as a plane formed in her mind, one that would reward Tristan for his actions and assuage the sudden hunger. It was in the night when she came to his room, it had been a simple matter to find out from the Barkeep where he stayed. She wove some magic to keep him asleep and approached him, as she approached the bed she felt his consciousness rise and try to break the chains the magic had woven on him. “Don’t worry.” she said, and paused while she removed Tristan’s clothes revealing his lightly muscled form. “I mean you no harm, these people have been kind to me, and I am going to thank you for your help today.” She then stripped; removing the White nightgown she wore revealing her in all her naked succulent glory. As her flesh met the cool air, Tristan’s body reacted to it, despite his lack of consciousness.

She climbed astride the bed with an unnatural gracefulness, her body exuding the aura of a predator with its prey. She climbed up onto his body and ran her hands up his form, marveling at the state of his body despite what exactly he was. She positioned herself astride him and lifted herself up a bit, the room was came, though that changed as she started to impale herself on him. A red glow crept from Tristan’s chest and surrounded him; it took the form of a beautiful woman. A deadly and enchanting voice came from the figure. “Who dares to try to claim my Master?” Erica’s eyes were wide as she stayed frozen. She stammered “I’m sorry I didn’t know my-“A fog of crimson enveloped her, interrupting her response, it forced her against the wall, and then the pain began. The Pain was overwhelming, but it wasn’t great enough to make her body numb, or to force her into unconsciousness, but it was close, bordering on that threshold. Even if she was capable of coherent thought she would not be able to describe how it felt, the closest would be if her blood and bodily fluids were replaced with gasoline and then lit on fire.

It was at this point that Tristan fully awoke; the red mist had broken Erica’s magic, but it still took him a while to fight of the mantle of sleep. Upon seeing what was happening to Erica he went into motion rolling off the mattress still naked. ”ENOUGH!!” He roared and the crimson figure and the fog enveloping Erica dimmed for a moment. The figure turned towards him and a nearly human face took shape, it was sad, but then it turned around and the pain Erica felt intensified and rage could be felt from the Crimson figure. “By the power granted to me by our Bond and the Bloodline Pact, I banish-“his words stopped as the Crimson figure vanished before he could finish. She left a message in his mind that only he could hear. ‘I will leave Master, for now, but I won’t let you banish me again, not yet. Don’t worry I will find you once I am fully back on this Plane.’ He looked over at Erica, who had fallen to the floor when the Crimson figure vanished. He went over to her and checked, making sure she was ok. He then got down on the floor next to her and waited for her to get properly oriented again. He held up a hand to stop her when she started to speak. ”First” he began “We should be properly introduced. I Am Tristan Carver, Undead Death Mage and the Inheritor of Vlad Tepes Dracula. You are?” As he spoke he extended one hand towards her, she grasped it and started to speak.

(AN:It is now back into the Present time)

Tristan was pulled from his reminiscence by Erica speaking. “Tristan you alright?” He nodded in reply before speaking “Yeah, sorry, just thinking of the past.” Erica smirked and was about to respond when a loud knock sounded on the door. “Mr. Carver, the Boss would like to see you.” Tristan opened the door, and standing there was one of the higher ups of the club, just under Giovanni in authority. Erica released Tristan and walked out speaking over her shoulder as she did so. “I will talk to you when you are finished, maybe we will be able to properly talk soon.” Tristan merely nodded in response as the other man stepped into the room and spoke. “As I said The Boss would like to see you, it is about your next Fight in the Pit.”