Chapter 843: Chain Turning
The man on the floor continued to scream in pain and it looked like his limbs were starting to stretch out. Quinn had seen a Wendigo before, and so had Logan.
"Everyone make space! Step away from him, now!!" Logan shouted, ordering everyone away.
All who knew him were aware that Logan only spoke when necessary, so seeing him so agitated, they immediately started helping with clearing the group of people, by making them stand against the side of the walls.
’Vincent, are you sure? Is there really no way to reverse the process or to at least stop his evolution process?’
Unfortunately, Vincent remained silent in front of Quinn’s cries and pleas, making it clear that killing him would be the only option.
’Fine, but what if I capture him? Don’t you think if I restrain him, we can look for a way in the future?’ Quinn suggested in desperation.
’No!’ Vincent shouted back in frustration. ’I’m sorry Quinn, but there is absolutely no way to reverse an evolution once it has begun and you won’t be able to change them afterward. I tried more times than you can imagine and not once did I come even close to a success! What makes you think you can?!’
’I know you don’t mean to be, but you’re actually being selfish to that person! Wendigos are creatures that feed on human flesh. Every second of their life they are under the constant pain of starvation, yet they’re undead creatures who can’t be sated no matter how much they eat! The best thing to do is to finish him off, for your sake as much as his own!’
Paul who was standing by the side with the others was stunned. He too recognised what the creature was as they had met with them when they first had arrived on this planet. Quinn’s hesitation had allowed the transformation to complete, and the Wendigo stood up.
The tall creature immediately turned its head towards Sil and Logan and let out a mighty scream as it launched towards them. However, Quinn appeared before them to protect them.
"I’m so sorry." Quinn apologised, as he sliced at the Wendigo’s head with his hand laced in Qi. The next moment the head fell to the floor, with its body soon after.
[Some of the tenth family members are frightened of you]
[- 200 reputation points]
He had already expected this type of repercussion. Now that the first batch of soldiers had been turned, they were members of the tenth family, so it was only natural for his reputation to go down after losing their respect.
’You don’t understand I didn’t want to do this!’ Quinn wanted to explain his actions, that he had no other choice, but before he got the chance someone else had something to say.
"Quinn!’ Paul shouted, as he stormed towards him. "These people trusted you, and now you killed their companion just like that! My men!"
Clenching his fist it looked like Paul was about to punch him, but before he could do something he would come to regret, he felt a sword being placed against his throat.
"Remember who you work for now!" Leo admonished his fellow Vampire knight. "Who was the one who saved your life and that of the soldiers before you? It was Quinn, the one you swore to protect when accepting your new role! You as an ex-general should know better than to let your emotions get the better of you. Take a look at him! Does it look like he wanted to do what he did?"
When Quinn lifted up his head, Paul could see that Quinn’s eyes were filled with sadness. There weren’t any tears coming out from them, but he could tell that he had taken no pleasure in doing what he did and had merely acted out of necessity.
Nevertheless, it didn’t matter how sorry Quinn felt about the deed, the others were now afraid of being turned. They all had thought that by getting turned they would get to live longer, but apparently the process wasn’t as risk free as they had believed.
Quinn needed to do something to calm their hearts and change their opinion and he had to do it quickly.
"I’m sorry everyone." Quinn apologised by bowing down in front of them. "I should have been upfront and clear about it. As you saw some of your colleagues have become Halflings whereas others became Vampires after turning. It’s a random chance for you to become one or the other and although those two are the most likely evolution you will undergo, there is also a slight chance that you can turn into something else entirely..."
"The thing your friend became is called a Wendigo. They are beasts who feed on human flesh and are in constant pain due to hunger. Unfortunately, the changes are irrevocable. Please believe me when I say, I only did it because there really was no other way. Had I not intervened he would have started attacking those around him to satisfy his never ending hunger. I did what I had to do, before he could start a blood bath."
"I won’t force any of you to turn if you don’t want to. However, you should also be aware about the consequences if you wish to remain humans. If I don’t attempt to turn you know, then the only thing waiting for you is death. It might not be today or tomorrow, but don’t forget you’re in the Vampire World now. Coming here you must have experienced it already, they all pretty much regard humans as nothing more than walking juice boxes. The deal that I’ve struck allowed me to take you in, but if you wish to leave you can only do so after turning. The very best case scenario for a human will be to die on this planet from old age."
"By turning you, you will get another chance to fight. Isn’t that why you joined the military? To fight for not just yourself, but also your family?!l This will be the only way you will get a chance to see them in the future! I promise you all, even if you die, be it today or in the future, I will make sure that your families back home will be supported for the rest of their lives!"
Although his speech was touching to them, it was still hard to feel convinced after what had just happened. The chance might be small, but nobody was eager to take it. It was one thing to do in battle, but an entirely different thing to be struck down after becoming a beast.
Still, Quinn’s appeal to think about their families did give them a new resolve. The mere thought of their loved ones, had been the only thing allowing them to endure rotting in their cells in the meantime, daydreaming about what they would do if they only could get one more day with them.
"How can you promise us that?!" One of the human soldiers shouted. "How can you promise to look after our families? You’re not the Supreme Commander Oscar! You might be a king or whatever here in this castle, but that doesn’t mean you have any power outside of here!"
"But he does." Paul stepped in, after having calmed down. Seeing his stabilized aura Leo retracted his sword.
"I don’t just work for a nobody. The person you are all currently looking at is not only a family leader in the Vampire World, but also one of the great powers in our Human World. He is in charge of one of the great factions comparable to the Big Four. It might come as a surprise to you all, but a lot has happened while you were stuck here. Quinn Talen, is now one of the World Leaders!"
Many of them couldn’t keep their mouths closed after hearing what Paul had just revealed. Would it have come from any other person, they would have called them a liar, but this was their general.
"I knew you wouldn’t follow nobody." Ashley said with a smile.
After much debate and learning some facts. Slowly a few more came to volunteer to be turned. This time though, Quinn took a step back and allowed those who had successfully turned into vampires to do the turning. Those who then turned into vampires could do the same to others.
Eventually, Quinn had to step in once in a while, whenever the chain of turning got broken. As soon as another vampire appeared, a new chain began.
This way they were lucky enough not to encounter any other major hiccups.
The soldiers under Paul’s command were all strong, so most of them had successfully turned into Vampires rather than Halflings, and in the end, Quinn still had fifteen slots left after everyone had been successfully turned.
"Paul, it’s been a long day. Please see to it that your guys find their lodging." Quinn requested, and his Vampire knight did as told.
The ten that were taken in by Leo, and the ten taken by Paul, were allowed to live in the castle. As for the rest, they were free to pick out any of the mansions and large houses just in the inner castle area. Most of the soldiers chose to stay in groups and to live in the large houses together.
This meant that plenty of houses remained available in the inner area. As for getting them settled and learning about their new bodies, Quinn delegated that task to Timmy and Xander. The two would give everyone briefings, about when blood would be delivered, how much and how often to take it, and other things they should be aware of.
It would be a while until they would get used to their new routine, but the good thing was that they were all used to taking orders as soldiers. This made it easy for Quinn to leave most of the day to day stuff to the duo.
The day was nearly over and although Quinn wanted to just rest he decided to do that in one of the training rooms. He knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep after what had happened today, and the best thing to calm him down was letting out the pent up frustration.
’Shit, that never happened before, so I thought it might never happen!’ Quinn thought in frustration.
’You are being hard on yourself, Quinn.’ Vincent came to console him. ’Honestly to have only one person turn bad for a group that size is quite the success. Your plan to make the newly awakened vampires start turning humans as a sort of chain was quite ingenious if you ask me.’’
’That’s not the problem.’ Quinn argued. ’You know when he turned and I had to kill him, my first thought wasn’t how sorry I was to take his life. No, it was "Thankfully it wasn’t one of my friends. At least it happened to him and not them." I can’t help but hate myself for thinking like that!’
Just then, the training room door opened, and the one who had entered was none other than Erin.
"I forget that there might be others that use this place." She stated, as she continued to nonchalantly walk in.
Quinn turned his head but didn’t reply, and just looked at Erin for a while.
She continued to walk forward, until she was right up in his face.
"You can’t be like this." Erin told him. "If I was under a spell or mind control right now, I could have killed you. Quinn, death is normal. You’re not all powerful. It was bad luck that he happened to turn into a Wendigo, but you shouldn’t blame yourself. Those people were soldiers, and right now they need a leader who has his head together. I need someone who has their head together. You understand?"
Her words snapped Quinn out of his daze and it was only now that he noticed how close she had gotten to him. Then a sudden thought entered his head, the words from Vincent about making her his queen.
His face started to turn red imagining himself on the throne with Erin next to him.
"What’s wrong? Are you not feeling well?" She asked, placing her hand on his head.
"No it-"
He got cut off by the sound of the door to the training room opening.
"Oh, I’m sorry, didn’t know someone else was here. I’m sorry for... interrupting you two." Layla quickly closed the door, and at the same time, on the other side of the door, she felt a deep pain in her heart.
*****