July 13 Entry 1

My name is Cerbarius Darkheart, and i write this journal for anyone who happens to find it. My life, four hundred and eighty-seven years now i believe, has been spent living in exile. I have moved from town to town, country to country, but have yet to find a home that suits me and accepts me for what i am. Perhaps it is because of the rumors that follow my kind everywhere, or perhaps the fact that i can't step into a church without facing a terrible retribution for that which i cannot control. Whatever the reason, i know that it comes down to my being a vampire.

Now, before you decide to throw away this journal or burn it and be done with it, at least know why i am what i am. This is, after all, the reason i am writing in the first place and why i have not driven a stake through my own heart. Or perhaps it is my fear of death, even though i face a life that is worse than anything the spirit realm could throw at me. I feel the need to describe my life, to explain what a man who was once loyal to his own kind must face when he is bitten.

Ask yourself, if you were to be forced to change your life because of a simple bite, if you were forced to live in exile becuase your family was afraid of the children, if you wanted to die, but could not bring yourself to drive a stake through your own heart, if you understood the unrelenting hunger that drives us to feed, would you be so quick to treat me as if i were worse than vermin? I'll leave you to ponder that.

I feel the hunger, i have to feed soon, but i have to be more cautious. The frenzy took hold of me yesterday, and i killed two men. They were found by the guards just minutes afterwards.

I must control myself, but i must feed.

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July 21

Entry 3

This town has accepted me better than i would have thought possible. I have even shown what i am to the residents, and they acted as if they had seen it before. It is strange, but people god has decided to shine his holy light upon my path, to give me a second chance.

I have found that i have a sudden wish to protect dragons. Perhaps this is how i am to pay for my second chance. Earlier today, i found myself in the company of two dragon hatchlings, one male and one female. The female did not take to me very well, but the male was friendly. For the first time since the time i had been biten, i feel as though i just may have a friend. The hatchling, whose name i found to be Aris, kept me company through the day.

Aris's mother has invited me to stay with them, and i gratefully accepted. However, something seems to be troubling the dragons...something dark and terrible. I do not know what it is, but i know that words have been spoken to them, and that it put grave fear in their hearts.

I plan to protect this family of dragons at all costs, and to ensure the safety of their young.

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