Cirencester didn’t seem all that interesting to Malachi, it was a small back water village of the Visio Aeternae Clan that didn’t see much traffic, nor much of anything else it seemed. It was just a small groups of what can just about be classed as buildings huddled around a murky spring that was little more than a puddle. But uninteresting was exactly what Malachi, and his student, Valerian, needed for the project they had been working on for the last two and a half centuries, if the rest of the clan found out what they were trying to do at the wrong time, or in the wrong way, they would most certainly be entombed in marble enthused with holy water and garlic for the rest of eternity.

The hovel that they occupied on the surface appeared much like the rest of the village on the surface, a wattle and daub hut popular among the lowest ranks of society, which hadn’t caught up with the societies of other races in terms of comfort, and natural science inspired engineering. However Malachi and Valerian had developed underneath this hut secretly, building a huge alchemy tower of brick with many comforts that would not be unfamiliar to the clan chiefs and their caste, with the obvious exception that rather than towering hundreds of metres above the surface, it tunnelled for hundreds of metres below ground.

It was in one of the lower levels of this building that Malachi was pouring over his notes while Valerian was out gathering some key ingredients for their next attempt at creating their serum, trying to distract himself from his nerves. Although Valerian was a bright student, and took to alchemy far more easily than anyone else he had met, this was the first time that he did not go along to ensure that Valerian did not make any mistakes in the identification of the ingredients. After decades of study, Valerian had proven himself more than capable of this task, so he felt a twinge of guilt about his doubt, however they had come so close to success, the consequences of mistakes would be devastating.

As the hours wore on, and evening became ever closer, Malachi became growingly concerned that Valerian had been caught, as some of the ingredients he had been sent out to fetch were not permitted to be in possession of their kind, however just before dusk, Malachi heard footsteps coming down the nearby corridor.

"Your late" he stated, without looking up from his notes, as Valerian entered the room.

"Sorry Master, I spent some time dodging Lysanders cronies up by the north shore of the Yiwth Lake" Valerian muttered nervously in response.

"Very well, it was to be expected, bring what you’ve gathered over to the workbench".

As Malachi studied the current version of the serum ingredients list and preparation method, Valerian carefully organised the various herbs, roots, plant extracts, berries and other ingredients into various containers ready for preparation, doing a final check in his head to ensure he hadn’t missed anything before moving on to getting ready the preparation equipment. Malachi came over and started studying each item in detail frowning slightly.

 "You seem to have done well" he grunted in grim approval "though we will soon see how well"

 "I learnt from the best" Valerian replied as he watched his master start to prepare for the complex task of concocting the serum.

Several hours later, as Malachi made the last few adjustments to his equipment before leaving the concoction to simmer he called to Valerian in order to instruct him to start preparing some food, after working into the small hours, he was feeling rather hungry. He knew his hunger was purely psychological due to the fact he is a vampyre, therefore didn’t need to eat, he still felt the need to consume something after working for so long. He suspected that this was mainly the last vestiges of his humanity, which had been taken from him many centuries before, coming back to haunt him. His humanity. Something that he is desperately trying to reclaim. Something that, although he may not be able to completely retrieve, he hoped was something he might be able to get a lot closer to through the help of this serum. If things went as he hoped, there would be no need to prey on the weak, no need to succumb to animalistic instincts, no need to live lives of constant violence.

It also helps that sharing a meal with his student would give them a chance to discuss where they go from here. Due to the fact they couldn’t openly start pushing their work, they had to be careful who they approached. Of course, they had a few supporters, but only a few, and certainly not enough to go up against Lysander, and the other clan chiefs, which will be the biggest hurdle for the plan, due to their ultra conservative views. That’s the problem with the undead. They spend so long living what passes for lives for them for so long, that change becomes so objectionable to the point of being blasphemy.

"Come Valerian, lets eat"