NightBane

"My father was old. I am still young. Younger than the both of you as well. Stronger than all others."

- NightBane, The Nightbane Chronicles III

NightBane, real name Balius, is the son of Wolfwing and the estranged father of Edward and Cenara. He is a former Avatar of Death, who Forsook Balius in favour of his son Edward. He became a Werepyre to avoid his impending death and then, in his search for power, drank the blood of a thousand dragons to become the first Dracopyre.

Appearance and personality
"You have lost too much of your humanity and crave too much power."

- Evina's letter to Balius, Nightbane's Fortress

Balius remains most of the time in his Dracopyre form, which... In his human form, Balius is heavily built and has long, white hair, as well as feral expression. He wears no clothing other than a beige-coloured loincloth...

Upon being Forsaken by Death and turning into a Werepyre (and subsequently, a Dracopyre), Balius became obsessed with power and ruling over Darkovia. He became ruthless and arrogant, due to his newfound power.

Early life
Born before Luminovia's fall, Balius was the son of Cara DeLivali and Erimus and the older brother of Katerina. The family enjoyed a period of peace until Balius and Katerina's adolescence. At the time, Erimus opposed Father Seth Cay Dhows—a malicious agent working within the Lady of Light's church—who manipulated the events so that Erimus was tainted with lycanthropy by Constantin Petyrovich but also inflicted with vampirism by Safiria, and left to die from the infection in Luminovia's edge. Balius and Katerina found him gravely injured, and he pleaded the two to flee and let him die. However, Katerina remained by his side, while Balius went to fetch the moglin Dewlok. When he did, Balius returned to find his father missing (as he had turned into the first werepyre, and taken the name "Wolfwing") and his sister dead by Erimus' hand (The Father's Door).

Thereafter, Balius' mother—unaware of Seth Cay Dhows' involvement in her husband's condition—sought the aid of her old friend, Drageth Slugwrath, and Dhows as well. The shadow agreed to her request, and protected Cara and Balius by sending them to the distant future, where Luminovia had already become Darkovia, and which let Dhows whisper to Balius, "unfettered" by Erimus but with him always remembering what he had seen (The Father's Door).

Forsaken
"You see, NightBane is the deadliest monster to ever be born of Darkovia."

- E to Galanoth and Cyrus, The Nightbane Chronicles II

Balius eventually became an Avatar of the Annunaki known as Death, who bound itself to Balius' soul. He also met, and fell in love with, Lady Evina. Balius married her and together they had two children, Edward and Cenara (Nightbane's Fortress). However, Balius was Forsaken by Death, who chose their firstborn Edward as its new avatar. Doomed to die, he sought his father, and became a Werepyre. Though Balius returned to his family, Evina saw that he had become a monster and left him; she went to live with her sister on Felrood Abbey, where she met and married a farmer (Nightbane's Fortress), with whom she had another child, Donovan. At the time, Balius saved the Werepyres from oblivion but committed a crime by drinking the blood of a thousand dragons, and became a Dracopyre. He also actively went against Wolfwing's policy of passivity in the Darkovian war: he went wild and nearly wiped out all vampires and lycans so as to rule Darkovia. However, he disappeared underground when Wolfwing confronted him (The Nightbane Chronicles I, II and III).

Years later, after amassing an army of weredragons and nightraiders, NightBane returns in a new bid for power and raises a castle in Darkovia, from wherein he sends his forces to attack Battleon. Aware of NightBane's return, Safiria, Petyrovich and Wolfwing confront him, of which the one to attack Balius is Wolfwing. However, NightBane bests him in battle and returns to his castle, where he enters an uneasy alliance with the Vampire Queen and the Were-King. He also meets Epheel, an agent of the Devourer, with whom he strikes a deal: NightBane will allow events to transpire without interfering, and in turn, he will be rewarded with "ultimate power". Meanwhile, his son Edward traces the attack on Battleon back to NightBane and leads the allied forces of Galanoth, Cyrus, the Chosen and Artix von Krieger into Darkovia. With the Darklaw in their power and further support from Safiria and Petyrovich, the alliance raids NightBane's castle and the Chosen attacks him. Seemingly defeated, Balius abandons his castle, making it seem as he is wounded. He then meets with Epheel and agrees to remain inactive for a while. (The Nightbane Chronicles I, II and III)

Now a member of the Network, NightBane....

At this time, his wife left him, for He joined The Network in hopes of using The'Galin to gain even more power, but Cenara convinced him otherwise. Afterwards, NightBane dedicated his "life" to redeeming himself and killing The'Galin. In He killed Epheel and was converted to the side of unity. (The Beginning of the End), it is revealed that Ryuusei Cartwright and Agent Smith wanted to turn his son, Edward, against him. He redeemed himself and he died fighting The'Galin. (The Manifestation)

Legacy
during the chaos Cenara was infected with some of NightBane's Dracopyric blood. Death left her because of this, but she did not become Forsaken thanks to Dewlok's Moglin magic. A cure was found near Granemor that kept her alive, and allowed the blood to turn her into a full Dracopyre, GraceFang (the blood also aged her a little). She appears to have full control of her Dracopyric powers, and can shift between forms at will. Donovan also became a Dracopyre named NightReign and has become Cenara's adversary. Cenara later taken her brother's place as the ShadowSlayer trainer once Edward could no longer continue. If you choose to she can turn you into a Dracopyre and she can also train you to be a ShadowSlayer.

Battle
NightBane is fought........

Powers and abilities
Balius......