There was darkness. At least, that was the last thing Damion remembered as air was forced into his numb lungs. There was a banging above his head. He took a rasping breath and started to move. The banging grew louder and faster. As it repeated over and over again, his memories started to return.
He saw he and his family sitting down to dinner. Suddenly, there was a crash, and something burst through the front door. A monster stood in the middle of the splintered door. Damion leapt in front of his wife and child. The monster roared and attacked. The horned creature blew past him, leaving a large gash in his side. Damion dropped to the ground as his life blood seeped from the wound.
Damion cried out as the pain of the wound revisited him.
His daughter screamed, but he couldn't find the strength to rise. He looked up and saw several men in dark armor enter his home. Leading them in was a man in blood red armor. He ordered the dark warriors to seize Damion. The dying man tried to resist, but one of the knights stabbed him with a dagger.
Damion cried out again from the memory of pain.
The banging intensified.
The knights pulled Damion to his feet. Damion watched in horror as the red armored man killed his family after brutally abusing them first. Using all the energy he had left, Damion broke free from the hands that held him. He charged the bastard, but before Damion could reach him, the red armored man's sword plunged through his stomach.
The pain tore through his gut, and Damion screamed.
The agony brought on an unnatural strength. Damion thrust his arms up, sending large chunks of dirt and rock everywhere. The banging stopped as Damion rose from the hole in the ground. It was night, but he still squinted from the moon light. There was a small cry behind him. Damion turned and saw a raven standing not two feet away. It cried again and flew to his shoulder. At first, Damion went to swat the bird, but something told him not to. Before he could think about it further, a light in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned to face it.
The image of a woman with pearl, white skin, long blue hair, and wearing in a flowing pink dress appeared before him. She smiled at him as she gazed down with fathomless blue eyes. "Hello, Damion," she said with a sweet voice.
Damion was dumbfounded. "Who are you?"
"I am the Goddess Althena," she answered. "I have need of you, dear Damion."
"What can I do?" he said. "I'm dead. At least I thought I was."
"Yes, you were dead. But because your soul cries out for vengeance on those who killed your family, you are able to live again through that bird." She pointed to the crow on his shoulder.
His face darkened at the mention of vengeance. "Yes. I want to make the bastards suffer for what they did to us."
"And suffer they will," she assured him. "But in order for you to accomplish this, you must do something to help me."
"What?"
"You are to be a guardian and a teacher to one who would be this world's savior. You must keep him from the harm others would see upon him, and also from the harm he will do upon himself. After that, you must be his teacher."
Damion was puzzled. "Teach him what?"
"You will know when the time comes," was all she said. "If you accept this task I have lain before you, the vengeance you seek will undoubtedly present itself."
Damion thought for a moment. Finally, he nodded. "Thank you, Damion," said the Goddess. "The journey you are about to take will be filled with untold dangers. Remember what I have told you, for my words will be your guide. The soul you must guard will be arriving in the city of Yin-Pral in several days. Good luck, Avenger." She vanished.
Damion stood there for several minutes. The crow remained on his shoulder. He absently stroked the bird's head as he mulled the current situation over in his mind. Time passed, and he finally began to walk towards his former home. The house was only less than a mile away, so it took him little time to get there. Damion walked through the shattered door and looked around. It was all just as he had left it. Of course the bodies of his family were no longer here, but the blood stains on the floor marked their passage. Damion shut his eyes tight to hold back the tears. He took a deep breath and expelled all of his anguish. With that breath, all of his humanity fled into the shadows of the night. The raven flew from his shoulder as he strode deeper into the dwelling.
He arrived in his former bed room and went to the closet. Damion shuffled through his old clothes until he found an old costume from some festival. Slowly, he pulled on a pair of black leather pants, followed by a black leather shirt and vest, and finally a long black, leather trench coat. The former dead man tightened his boots and moved on to another room. He walked into what used to be his daughter's room. Damion moved carefully, so as not to disturb a single thing in the room. He stopped at a dresser, opened its only drawer, and removed a single box and opened it. Inside the box were several small jars of face paint. His daughter used to play with them and pretend she was in a circus. He retrieved two jars and sat down in front of a nearby mirror.
Damion looked at himself for the first time since he had been resurrected. His skin was pale from death, his brown eyes lacked the spark of life, and his long black hair fell loosely over his shoulders. Damion sighed and proceeded to open the jars of face paint. He dipped his fingers into the jar and began to spread white paint all over his face. When every portion of his visage was covered in white, Damion opened the other jar and dipped one finger in it. He carefully traced the finger on his lips until they were all black. Then he circled his eyes with the paint. At each eye corner, there was a single line extending to the temple. Finally, he drew a long wavy line from under each eye lid down over his cheeks. When he was finished, Damion pulled on a pair of black leather gloves and stood. The Avenger whistled, and the Raven appeared on his shoulder.
Suddenly, there was a loud crash downstairs. With feline agility, Damion made his way down the stairs unnoticed by the intruders. His eyes narrowed at the sight of several black armored men. With a thought, Damion order the crow to circle around behind the men. The bird obeyed and flew off. Seconds later, Damion was able to see through the its eyes. There were five dark knights. Filled with a cold rage, the Avenger descended upon his prey without warning.
Like a shadow, he materialized between the five knights. One noticed him, but Damion dealt with him quickly. A long black dirk appeared the Avenger's hand and soon found itself buried in the knight's throat. He gurgled a cry and fell to the ground dead. The others spun around, but Damion was already gone. The Avenger shot from the nearby shadows, black dirks in each hand. He blew by two more, making deep and deadly slices between the cracks in their armor. One tried to stab the Avenger from behind, but he easily side stepped and drove a dirk into the attacker's skull. The remaining knight let loose a cry and ran for his life. Unfortunately for him, he didn't get very far before several dark beams lanced into his back. His death was instantaneous.
Damion exited the ruins of his old home and whistled. There was a shrill cry as the raven swooped down. It hovered in the air as Damion slowly began to change shape. The form of a man disappeared and was replaced by a black mist. The mist melded with the hovering bird until it could be seen no more. When the bonding was complete, the raven released a loud shriek and flew off to the west.