From: Anders Sandberg <nv91-asa@nada.kth.se>

The Blood of the Tenth Beast

At the dawn of time, great beasts from before creation ravaged the land,
destroying everything within grasp. So terrible were these beings of chaos
and death that only the greatest of heroes could defeat them: Tiamat,
Typhon, Medusa, Hydra and Ymir. But one of the beasts were more horrible
than the others, the being known simply as the Tenth Beast. It was known
to have existed even before the chaos-creator, and its power was immense.
At the same time it was also the most cunning, hiding in the darkness of
the silent air before striking the land beneath with unnatural death. 

But one night it was defeated in a great battle by a hero whose name has
been stricken from all records for his deeds. The battle lasted from
sunset to dawn, and finally the unnamed hero defeated the Tenth Beast by
tricking it to look into the dawn, and drove a wooden pole into its heart.
As the rays of the rising sun revealed the carnage, the hero cut the heart
loose from the cadaver. He saluted the sun god and in triumph began to
drink the blood as the tradition prescribed. But some enemies never die
completely, and especially not the Great Beasts. As the blood began to
pour in his veins, it tainted his soul and filled his spirit with power. 

With a scream of anguish he cursed the day, the sun-god who looked on
impassively and the other men who had not come to his help when he needed
them. His blasphemies were so powerful that the gods themselves heard them
and were angered, and finally the sun-god threw down his flames against
the mortal. The land was scorched, and the corpse of the Beast flamed like
a bonfire. But as the body of the hero died, the blood of the beast grew
stronger. It hid him beneath the ground and began to restore his flesh
just like it once had done to the Tenth Beast. 

Thus the Nameless One emerged from the shadows, forever having to avoid
the gaze of the sun-god and his flames that would devour him as they once
almost did. The blood of the Beast gave him immense power and restored his
health and youth eternally, but he always had to fear the stake through
the heart just like the Beast.  But the worst part was the eternal
struggle between the remains of the hero and the blood of the beast. 

It is said that the Great Beasts never can die, only reform. Ymir was
remade into Midgard, Tiamat into the world. The blood of Medusa fell into
the sea and spawned Pegasus, and Typhon still roars beneath mount Etna. In
the same way the Tenth Beast still lives within the veins of the
descendants of the Nameless One, slowly gaining power and nourishment by
preying on the mortals. And one day they blood of the beast will begin to
gather together, until it is finally incarnated in a single body. And then
the Tenth Beast will be reborn again.