Chapter 2

• *Erolzwald*
• Alpha Zevar had placed the telecommunicator down, after receiving the confirmation that all of those who were to leave Erolzwald, to head back to Unnash. The Longarm family had been given protection during their travels to Unnash to complete their burial right. Glancing at the pile of papers that was growing on the desk, Alpha Zevar began to get to work.
• Hours later, with a knock on the door, the alpha’s attention was taken away from the task at hand.
• “Come in!” Alpha Zevar yelled. "The door is unlocked!"
• Opening the door a runner had handed him a slip of paper. Lowering his head, he waited for the alpha to dismiss him. Sighing out loud, the alpha dismissed the runner. Unfolding the slip of paper he read the message the runner had given him. “Barnacles!” Alpha Zevar hissed as he slammed the paper on the desk. Another dead end to the whereabouts of Alpha Reacher.
• Glancing at the digital clock, Alpha Zevar was about to call it a day when his telecommunicator began to ring. Sitting back in his seat he answered the call.
• A male voice was on the other end, “Alpha King Coldfurgus …” Alpha Zevar heard the male say.
• “I am afraid to inform you that Coldfurgus will no longer be answering any calls, I am Alpha Zevar second in command of the soon to be crowned Queen Alpha Finja, may I ask who this is?”
• “Ah … yeah … um … I am Rodge White the leader of Deamarid. I am not sure if you know where we are located but we are not far from the Unzarar Mountains. The reason I have called is because we have had a few citizens going missing. I have tried to get a hold of Borne more than once, but they will not believe me that it is vampire attacks here. I was hoping you could put in a request for an investigation to Emperor Baldwin, as we are unable to handle this problem on our own.”
• Alpha Zevar, began cursing in his mind, knowing the rules and regulations when it came to dealing with the vampire emperor. He was writing everything down as Rodge was speaking. “How many have gone missing?”
• Clearing his throat, “In the last year ... 575. Zane Hunter said he had spoken with someone from Borne but they said without evidence they would not conduct an inquiry.” Rodge sounded frustrated and beaten.
• Alpha Zevar was stunned unable to respond right away, “That seems unusually high!” He commented. Continuing to write down the remaining information that was needed. “I have written down everything and I will be making my next call to the emperor.” Alpha Zevar told Rodge as he was pulling out his rolodex to find the number combination to get a hold of the emperor.
• “Phew!” Rodger sounded relieved that his concerns were taken seriously. “Thank you sir, I didn't mean to disturb you …”
• “This is a matter of importance, you did not disturb me, Rodge.” Alpha Zevar kept his tone calm, “I will let you go so I can make the necessary call.” The alpha could not get over how many people had gone missing without a proper investigation. Something was amiss.
• Not wanting to think that Rodger was exaggerating, it was not characteristic for a leader to exaggerate on matters like this. Punching in the number combination to get a hold of Emperor Baldwin. The line rang several times, with no one picking up the other line, it had gone to the ansafone. Leaving a detailed message of what was happening at Erolzwald and Deamarid. Alpha Zevar ended the message leaving his name and contact number.
• Placing the receiver back where it belonged, the alpha sighed knowing that the chances of speaking with the emperor were slim, most likely he would be dealing with a representative of the emperor's council. With him being a well respected alpha, he had hoped this would be enough for someone to respond to his call. If he was lucky something might be done about the situation.
• Leaning back into his chair, Alpha Zevar allowed his mind to wander on the issues that were going on. Closing his eyes and massaging his temples he could feel the pressure building. This was not Unnash, nor familiar grounds. Erolzwald was the capital. A place families come in the hopes of living their dreams of riches and fame.
• Getting his footing was going to take a bit more time, and without his allies being at the capital to support him, this would take more time than he would have wished.
• Frustrated and hungry the alpha made his way to the grand hall, it was the last meal of the day and the food should be ready. He also needed to meet up with the remaining Delta’s that had chosen to remain behind instead of going home for the winter.
• ***
• Getting to the grand hall, a runner spotted him, giving him a slip of paper, the alpha read it while the male waited. After reading the message, the alpha told him that he was free to go.
• Alpha Zevar shoved the message in his jacket pocket as he made his direction toward his assigned chair where he always sat to eat his meals.
• Alpha Zevar smiled at everyone he strolled past as they bowed with respect. On the alpha’s mind was not pleasantries but the issue he just read. With the trackers on the trail of Alpha Reacher, they could not help but notice the increase of feral vampires, which was noticeable around the mountains of Bazzu.
• Another place the alpha would have to add to the list of questionable locations when he speaks with someone from the emperor’s kingdom. Alpha Zevar made a mental note that if he did not receive a callback, he was going to call them again shortly after sunrise. If he had to, he would continue to call every hour until he reached someone and not the ansafone.
• ***
• Many had retired for the day as the alpha rubbed his swollen red eyes, his body begged for rest and sleep. A runner knocked on the alpha's door, rushing in with a slip of paper, Alpha Zevar had received another message that there had been spotted vampires around Bone Hills, Sarde plains and Silver lowlands. In one of the messages, it stated that they would have thought it were regular registered vampires if it had not been for the fact that they had been attacked.
• With more growing concerns, “What is going on here?” Alpha Zevar said to himself as he sat in the alpha’s office. Picking up the office telecommunicator, he pressed the number code to get a hold of the vampire Emperor. As with all the time before, he left a message. Stating the new information that had been given to him. Though there was no proof in his hands of this activity, Alpha Zevar could not help but think that something sinister was going on.
• Yawning the alpha called it a night, knowing that there was nothing more he could do. He would have to wait until daybreak to further his investigation into the matter of the uprise of the vampire in their lands and kingdoms.
• ***
• Slugishly Alpha Zevar motioned towards his bed, praying that sleep would come easy. As much as he tried, his rising concerns and racing mind would not allow sleep to come. Tossing and turning, the alpha tried to sleep, he even tried to imagine his wife's slumbering body beside him, yet that would not work.
• Giving up on trying to sleep Alpha Zevar got out of bed, he went to his office and began to call the number code that he had called two times as far. Each time his call would go to the ansafone.
• Tapping his finger on the desk, Alpha Zevar kept on wondering how many times Coldfurgus had received a report, and it was overlooked. Alpha Zevar exhaled loudly, only a handful of times was the term feral vampires brought up to him by Rimvan Longarm.
• Alpha Zevar shook his head back and forth as he recalled the conversation he had with Rimvan on the topic of the rise of the feral vampires. The alpha growled at his foolishness. Alpha Zevar remembered how he would dismiss Rimvan, telling him that he must be mistaken, the vampire emperor would have known about this.
• The alpha slammed the telecommunicator down in frustration as his call again went to the ansafone. “Barnacles!” The alpha growled.
• Pulling out the map of Dorhelhound and tacking it to the wall, the alpha began pushing pins into the locations where his trackers had said they spotted a feral vampire. Then with a different colour, the alpha pushed a pin in the locations where he remembered Rimvan saying he had been attacked by feral vampires on a mission, that he had been sent out by Coldfurgus.
• Sighing again the alpha was seeing a pattern. The locations his trackers had been, were areas where Rimvan had been attacked. Alpha Zevar placed a blue pin at Deamarid, another place that had missing citizens.
• Opening the cabinet, the alpha was looking for information on Deamarid. Once the file had been found, he took it over to the desk and began reading over the reports. “Barnacles!” He hissed when he realized the information was outdated by a couple of years. Thinking to himself, “Coldfurgus must have thought of the location unimportant to not have updated information.”
• With the little he had Alpha Zevar guessed that the population would primarily be human and the last little bit a mix of everything else. Occupations there were fishing, hunting and mining. Nothing out of the ordinary for a small community like theirs.
• ***
• After a few hours of rest, Alpha Zevar was in his office ready to call the emperor again. As he unlocked the door, he could hear the telecommunicator ringing. Rushing over to his desk he picked up the phone.
• Answering the telecommunicator, “Hello this is Alpha Zevar speaking.” The alpha practically yelled into the receiver.
• The person on the other line announced that they were Lord Ascelius of Emperor Baldwin’s court and he was returning his call.
• Without wasting any time, the alpha told Lord Ascelius what the issue was. Lord Ascelius was about to dismiss Alpha Zevar telling him that if he did not have the evidence to prove his claims the emperor would not get involved.
• Alpha Zevar was feeling frustrated and angry, “how would you like me to send the bodies? By the time they get to you, they will be very decomposed but the markings should still be visible.” Alpha Zevar was not kind in his wording. “We have no idea how threatening this situation is, though I do know one thing … if you allow this to carry on, you are going to have a bigger issue on your hands than there is now!”
• Alpha Zevar could almost picture the wheels of Lord Ascelius' thoughts turning. “Claims like this can only be made by the alpha king!” Lord Ascelius retorted.
• Alpha Zevar pinched the bridge of his nose as he was speaking. In his mind, he was yelling at the individual on the other line. “At this current moment, I am acting as Alpha King as the Queen has yet to be crowned and is doing burial rights for her dead father!” He focused on keeping his tone calm.
• Lord Ascelius exhaled into the receiver, “Fine, I will take this information to Emperor Baldwin. I will get back to you later on!”
• ***
• Things had gone from unsettling to more threatening as the hours and days went by. It began with finding one body and then another. Erolzwald had been finding bodies sporadically all over the location. For several days Alpha Zevar was in communication with the emperor’s vampire council regarding the issue with the feral vampire attacks. Once the alpha was able to send a picture of the latest attack that was left for the guards to find. It was enough for Lord Ascelius to be convinced that there was indeed a feral vampire in the area of Erolzwald.
• While Alpha Zevar was dealing with the vampire council, the alpha searched the reports cabinet, and what he found disturbed him greatly. Rimvan Longarm had reported several times the missing humans of the capital but several other smaller kingdoms of Dorhelhound. Alpha Zevar knew that Rimvan had spoken about his concerns, but everyone brushed it off. What no one had spoken about was how many reports were given to Coldfurgus regarding missing loved ones, all of them were classified as humans. The majority of the missing humans came from the eastern kingdoms, where the population of humans had been higher than most western kingdoms.
• Alpha Zevar’s heart pounded in his chest as he placed each piece of paper down in front of him on the desk. This was not only deadly to the human population, as a human, the chance of them defending themselves against a vampire or shifter was slim. Without special training, humans are easy prey.
• “Barnacles!” Alpha Zevar cursed, “why didn’t I take Rimvan seriously when he warned us about the increase in the population of feral vampires.” He recalled how Rimvan would bring up the conversation and they all laughed at him, telling him that if this was the case, Coldfurgus would have notified the emperor. “Bloody fools we are!”
• The more Alpha Zevar thought about the situation the more frustrated and angry he became. Not only were the humans in danger of having their population drastically reduced, but if each of them had been turned into a vampire, this would have placed the other species endangered as well.
• The alpha sat in his chair as he rested his head in his hands. The severity of the situation was overwhelming, regretting not listening to Rimvan could be the death of himself and so many others. Add in the crisis that Erolzwald was facing with the financial downfall, many were going to go hungry this winter.
• Alpha Zevar massaged his temples to relieve the growing aching in his head. The alpha’s mind was racing in several directions, recalling the history classes he took as a youth. The fear that if there was a massive annihilation of one species this could spiral into something more, an event that neither the shifters nor vampire lords wanted to happen again.
• Alpha Zevar raised his head as he massaged his temples, “come in!” He yelled after the three taps on the door.
• Gus opened the door, Alpha Zevar had asked Gus to gather as much information as he could on the topic of feral vampire attacks. It was customary for the coroner to record the cause of death. Between Gus and his coworker Silvertooth, they not only got the information for Erolzwald, but they also collected information for all of Dorhelhound.
• Gus pointed out to Alpha Zevar that the hardest hit by mysterious circumstances were all kingdoms that did not like or do as Coldfurgus told them. Because of this, the human population of Dorhelhound was cut in half over the last four decades. Gus continued pointing out that the humans were not the only species to be affected by the attacks, all shifters were targeted as well. The death toll for Dorhelhound reached 6,978,405 confirmed deaths, three times that of those who were reported missing.
• Alpha Zevar's expression showed how stressed and unhappy he was over this information. “History appeared to be repeating itself, my dear boy!” He whispered.
• Agreeing with the alpha, “Alpha Zevar, I can't confirm this and it is only a theory, but I believe this has been going on much longer than what we believe it to be. The evidence that has developed, shows that in many ways, the possibility of a war between the feral vampires and the other species is being developed. The decline of the Dorhelhound's population of all species hasn't been seen for more than 6000 years. If you permit me to do so, I know a connection, he is very reliable and trustworthy. He does live the life of a nomad and would have a better understanding of what is going on around the kingdoms.”
• “Who is this person?” Alpha Zevar was willing to take any assistance that he could.
• “Zane Hunter! He is Rimvan’s brother, they both worked closely together on this issue. To get a hold of him though I will have to send out several runners, they are the best of the best.” Gus suggested the alpha.
• For over a minute, Alpha Zevar thought about what Gus had told him. “How do you know Zane Hunter?”
• Gus smiled from ear to ear, “he saved my fathers life when I was a small child. When Zane comes to Erolzwald, my family opens their door to him. Because of Zanes' relations to Rimvan, we were introduced. Plus working with Finja, you can’t go a day without her father coming to visit her at the work site.”
• Gus reminded Alpha Zevar of his second-born child, Doyen and his eagerness to help out in any way he could. For the first time in a while Alpha Zevar smiled, “if you believe that Zane Hunter would be useful in this crisis, I will listen to him.”
• Gus bowed and exited out of the room with a new purpose.
• Alpha Zevar chuckled as he watched the young man stroll out of his office with his head high. Reminding him a lot of his beloved son Doyen. As long as he had a task to complete he always had a smile on his face. Picking up the receiver he placed a call to his brother. Not expecting to have his call answered, he wished to hear the voices of his loved ones.
• Leaning back into his chair, the alpha recalled his history lessons as a youth in the educational academy. In the century-long war that was over 6000 years ago, between the shifters and vampires. This war was the cause of over 50 percent decline in the population of billions of species of plants and animals.
• To preserve the remainder of living creations, the vampire council and the first recorded Alpha King, Leestithen Alzrin of the northern kingdoms, ceased the devastation of Dorhelhound. Each side came to an agreement and signed a new treaty.
• Picking up the telecommunicator Alpha Zevar pressed the number code to call the vampire council, the alpha was not going to take any chances! He had to let the emperor know that the situation could be worse than what he had originally thought.