[ WP ] `` You may have one wish granted . '' `` I want all my debts cleared . '' `` How much do you owe ? '' `` You misunderstand . My debts are not monetary . ''

It had taken decades to procure the final orb of power capable of summoning the beast beyond this world. That was more than enough time to learn how to seal the beast, command the beast, and understand the rules of the beast's power. All that remained was a simple ritual and I could have what was rightfully mine. I had sold my birthright for the pittance of a single night of passion as a foolish youth, but now I would reclaim what the heavens themselves owed me and exact my vengeance. 
 
 `` Speak your wish, mortal, that I may be unsealed and judge your greed.'' 
 
 `` Erase my debt.'' 
 
 The beast stared through me with an icy gaze as if to chill my very soul. I stood firm, refusing to compromise my demand. No threat of punishment for my greed would stand in my way. Not now, not when I was this close. 
 
 `` Even if it is only to satisfy others, you would wish for wealth knowing the result?'' 
 
 `` I do not owe a single coin to any man dead or alive. I will say it again. Erase my debt.'' 
 
 The beast's stare shifted from judgment to piercing inquisition. The air of oppression weighing upon my chamber faltered for a moment in a betrayal of otherworldly resolution. I had won the contest of wills. All that remained was to claim the spoils of victory. 
 
 `` Erase this debt of a thousand years, foul demon. Return my mortal lifespan to me and take this curse of blood away from me.'' 
 
 The beast nodded slowly and placed one craggy palm upon my head. A wave of sensations flooded my consciousness. A feeling of mortality, an unfulfilled hunger fading to nothingness, and a sense of incredible peace assured me that I could no longer be called a vampire. Having claimed his price in sin, the beast silently retreated through a curtain of fire to the unholy realm. 
 
 I drew a knife from my belt with a sigh. My debt had been erased in entirety. My thirst for vengeance had disappeared along with my thirst for blood. Even as a mortal, I still had my youth. That would be enough time to find a new purpose.
