Not that Malek cared right now. Finding Lania's corpse had been a huge shock. Finding Neve's corpse and having MeLoom - pregnant with his child - die in his arms had shattered Malek. And then, in this near-comatose state, to be informed that the bizzare Vampire that so blasphemously shared a name with Raziel had killed his other close friends - Melchiah, Zephon, Rahab, Dumah, Turel, and even the human Raziel himself - had drained what little fight there was from his soul. No wonder that when Mortanius had declared that he should be punished for allowing this to happen - apparently under the belief that the tragedy was somehow due to Malek's overconfidence and lack of preperation - Malek couldn't bring himself to put up any defence.
A part of him, that part of him that was the voice of the Pillar of Conflict, raged, ached to scream at Mortanius, to tell him how it was Moebius, not Malek, at fault. To explain how Moebius had delayed him from protecting the other circle members until it was too late.
Not that Mortanius would have listened. The Death Guardian was normally, if not gentle, then understanding and just. But the actions of the Vampire Raziel and Vorador had done more than kill Malek's friends. The Circle had last more than half its number, leaving only Mortanius, Malek and Moebius as survivors. And with the Circle almost gone and the deaths of its leaders and most powerful warriors, the Sarafan had collapsed virtually overnight. Everything that the Circle and the Vampire hunters had worked for for decades had disintegrated within a week.
The small part of Malek that was still attentive to his situation recognised that Mortanius was furious at this, and needed someone to punish - maybe that part of his humanity still flickered in the Necromancer's soul. But as much as he might want to at this moment, he wouldn't kill Malek. Apart from the fact that it was unprecedented for one Circle member to kill another, the depleted Circle couldn't afford to lose another member, especially not now. Mortanius and Moebius were already scouring Nosgoth for the six babies that destiny would have chosen to replace those that Vorador had killed, but even if they were found immediately, it would be years before they were old enough to begin their duties. Malek was needed at least until then. But he didn't doubt that his punishment would be just as severe as death. He only wondered why that suit of enchanted armour had been set up a few feet in front of where his body was hanging.
"For your failure, Malek of the Sarafan..." Mortanius declared. "You are hereby damned."
Malek's body suddenly spasmed in agony, the worst pain he had ever known. Not only his body, but his very soul seemed alive with torment. And suddenly, he felt a horrible ripping sensation. For a moment, he felt as if he was in two bodies. One was warm, flesh, but being torn apart by unseen hands. The other was hard, cold, and unfeeling. The pain and the vertigo passed, and he looked down on himself, realising he was no longer chained. But his body...
Instead of his arms, he saw plates of metal, inscribed with ancient runes, floating in the air, as if his arms were invisible. The rest of his armour floated in a similar way. He turned, both dreading and knowing what he would see.
The body behind him, hanging in the chains, was decayed, torn, and dead, but he recognised it. Until a few moments ago, it had been his own. The dull pain he felt over the loss of his lover and friends was momentarily replaced by a cold, sharp horror as his punishment was made clear.
"The pleasures of the flesh are no longer yours" Mortanius said coldly. "You have but one purpose, Damned One. You will serve us for eternity."
Malek sagged at Mortanius' words. Forever a ghost, no purpose except to serve and protect the Circle of Nine...
He thought about his new situation as he was finally allowed to return to a more familiar Nosgoth. Two faces floated in his mind, both invoking a red-hot hatred from within him. One of them was untouchable. Moebius, despite his betrayal, was a Guardian, and as much as he'd love to choke Moebius to death with whatever it was that passed for his hands, he knew that he would never do it.
But the other face....green, inhuman, fanged. Malek vowed that if...no, when he and Vorador met again, the Vampire would beg to die before Malek finally sent the monster to its eternal punishment.
***
Malek soon found the advantages to his new body. His first few weeks were mostly spent fighting Vampires. A lot of them intended to take advantage of the loss of the Sarafan to attack the Circle and generally rampage. He found that in his new form he was a much more effective fighter. Even when his armoured body parts were torn apart, he could will them back into position. Many Vampires were perplexed by their new foe, and gradually, he forced the Vampire attacks down.
But though he fought many Vampires, he never met, or heard of an attack by, Vorador. And as months went by, and as the new Circle members were recovered, he found that he was unable to function in Nosgoth. So many living people, so many men with wives and children, only reminded him of what he had lost. For this reason, he built a fortress in the most inaccessible and inhostpitable part of the mountains to the north. He studied about the arts of magically-assisted technology, and though it took several years, with the help of two of the new Guardians - DeJoule the Energy Guardian and Anacrofte the States Guardian, he populated the bastion with magically-animated servants, living suits of armour, albeit lesser forms than his own. He allowed no living person inside his walls.
Finally, he retrieved two items from the Tombs of the Sarafan that he had personally set up. He brought his own body from his crypt and set it up on a mock throne in his bastion, a symbol to anyone who would try to break in - to let them know that they faced a being who had lost everything, the most dangerous type of enemy.
And he brought another body. MeLoom's body was well-preserved considering the time that had passed and the method of her gruesome death. Malek made another tomb for her, in the deepest chamber in his bastion. This is where he spent most of his time not dedicated to fighting Vampires, protecting the Circle, and training and developing new techniques for a future meeting with Vorador.
Over the years, Malek defended the Circle against attacks from Vampires and other hostiles. Until one day, he sensed the death of a Guardian. He was astonished by this - there had been no warning, nothing. He searched quickly with his mind, and located the dead Guardian. It was Ariel, the Balance Guardian. Malek teleported himself to the site, hoping to catch the murderer. But when he arrived, the only other person there was the Mind Guardian, Nupraptor. Malek didn't take much notice of the other Guardian's private lives, but he was sure he'd heard somewhere that Nupraptor and Ariel were lovers. Certainly, Nupraptor seemed overcome with grief here. Malek approached him, but Nupraptor yelled a warning.
"Stay back, Malek!" Nupraptor's eyes screwed up tightly. "Someone...someone did this to my Ariel! Treachery! Betrayal! How...DARE...HE...!!!!"
Nupraptor screamed, and Malek felt pain for the first time in many years. Nupraptor was sending out a wave of mental pain and hatred. But all at once, the assault ceased, and Nupraptor had collapsed, weeping, over Ariel's body.
"Leave me, Malek." Nupraptor sobbed. Malek recognised the Mind Guardian's pain - he'd gone through the same thing several hundred years before, when he'd found MeLoom dying. He left Nupraptor, and sought out the other Guardians in an attempt to find the murderer. Yet no trace of the killer could be found.
As time went on, the consequences of Nupraptor's psionic wrath started to manifest, as the Pillars corrupted and Nosgoth slowly but surely started to come apart. Either Malek did not notice these things, or the madness that had infected the circle drove him not to care. He continued his duties as normal for another thirty years. And if he heard of an event in some backwater part of Nosgoth, some wandering nobleman's murder at the hands of bandits, he took no notice.
And then, one night, he felt a threat to Nupraptor...