Chapter 5

• *Erolzwald*
• Alpha Zevar and two units had been patrolling the south portion of Erolzwald, looking for a body. After an hour of searching trackers had found the dead body of a little girl, 15 miles outside of the capital wall. Melantha, Valinia, Nelo, Theron, and nine Erolzwald warriors found the body.
• “The muscles are still soft!” Melantha studied the body further, “there is still warmth to the touch.” She informed the group. “He was left here roughly two hours ago.”
• Valinia glared up at the canopy of trees around them, not finding any unregistered vampires. She began to sniff the location, hoping that she would get a hint of what location they had gone to. Nelo had motioned with his hand for the other Ancillae to fan out and hunt for any sign of where the vampires could have gone. He took the west location along with Theron. With both of them working together, they found footprints heading to the capital and leading back to them.
• “They are using the trees to travel, making their hideout difficult to find.” Theron told the group.
• Melantha stood up, “we are looking at at least six vampires here.” She pointed to the dead boy. “They are going to be back, there is no way a child will sustain their hunger.” She whistled for everyone to come back. “We need to leave and let Lord Ascelius know what we have found.” She told Theron.
• Once the group was back together, each member said they could only find footprints. Some of them were new while others were old. One thing was sure with the degradation of the prints, the trackers could tell the unregistered vampires had been here longer than what the alpha and Lord Ascelius suspected.
• “They are getting comfortable, which means if we do not find them soon, we will be finding more dead bodies.” Theron commented to the group to hear.
• “Are you thinking what I am thinking?” Melantha asked Theron.
• “We are dealing with a group of vampires that can control their thrust. I am banking on someone who was exiled from the kingdom. Nomadic tribes are protective of their bloodline and would have respect for life.” Theron promptly spoke his thoughts.
• “That is what I was thinking, if it were a fledgling, the body count would be higher. We are looking at a coven of vampires that are 50 plus years reborn.” Huffing out loud, “we need to get back now!”
• ***
• Alpha Zevar and Lord Ascelius were in the conference room going over the information that they had collectively found. Under the alpha’s order, those who had been sent out to inspect the structure of the capital’s walls were brought in. The first unit that Lord Ascelius and Alpha Zevar interviewed found nothing suspicious. They looked for structural damage which they reported to the proper authority.
• Dismissing that unit, the next group was brought in, they had surveyed the east side and found nothing that alarmed them that needed to be fixed. They did point out a few areas that needed to be observed for natural weathering, but nothing out of the ordinary.
• Once that group had been dismissed, Beta Morris and Damillan strolled into the conference room. Sitting down in the available chairs Beta Morris began, “I found the group's behaviour to be odd. They said they checked the location and found nothing. When I questioned them about the gap in the wall they stated that it wasn’t there when they did their check. It must be something new.”
• Lord Ascelius sighed, “which could be true!”
• “I would agree with that as well if their heart beat did not change once the mention of the passageway was not brought up.” Damillan commented.
• Alpha Zevar rang the bell, “place them all in separate cells to be questioned. Until proven innocent, they are going to be charged as traitors.” There was a knock on the door, with it opening three seconds later. Beta Morris gave this guard the list of interest to him. "I want them in the cells in less than 30 minutes.”
• Beta Morris and Damillan stood up from their seats, “take Sieden, Norrix, and Astaroth with you as well. They will be able to do the interrogation a lot faster than any of you.” Lord Ascelius said as the two males were close to leaving the location.
• Pulling out his personal telecommunicator he was getting ready to dial out to the emperor, seeing if anyone was capable of answering his call when Melanatha stormed into the room. “We have a big issue! We found the dead body of a little boy, 15 miles away from here. And there are roughly six vampires with the ability to cloak their scent. My opinion, I believe there are a lot more here that we do not see.”
• Lord Ascelius placed the telecommunicator down on the table, “your observation is like mine. Did you come across any vampires?”
• “No sir!” She answered promptly, “I thought it best to get back to headquarters and discuss our next course of action.” Melantha cleared her throat, “I also wanted to get the little boy to the right authority so that his remains could be looked after properly.” She inhaled roughly.
• Alpha Zevar could tell that with Melantha finding the body it had triggered an emotion in her. Compassion for the child and rage at who had done this to a child. “What else can you say that you found?”
• Melantha told the alpha and lord everything they saw in the short time they had surveyed the location. Following protocol, she made the group decision to leave the area to get more reinforcement.
• Lord Ascelius narrowed his eyes on the Ancillae, “I know you want to avenge the little boy, but that is not going to happen today. The vampires have found refuge in the northern section of Erolzwald. We need to make sure that what was dealt with today by myself and Lieutenant Ardan is all that is here.”
• Bending her upper body down, “yes sir!” Melantha said, bringing her body back up, “there is a good chance that those who are in the capital limits are also part of the group that killed the little girl. Lord Ascelius let me lead the unit and I will hunt the muddy goars down and slaughter them all!”
• “You are too emotionally invested to allow leadership over the unit, Valinia will take the lead and you will be her second. If there are any reports of misbehaving you will be reprimanded!” Lord Ascelius' demeanour was cold and demanding of authority. “There is no room for emotions when we have no idea who is behind these attacks.”
• “Is there any way we could narrow down who it might be?” Alpha Zevar asked as he looked over the list of names of banish, nomadic and wanted vampires.
• Melantha moved beside the alpha, with an underliner, “these vampires have never harmed a child and follow the one law that is secreid, we are never to harm a child in any way.”
• Taking the list from Melantha, “the ones you have to worry about are,” Lord Ascelius placed his name on the list of wanted vampires, “they are who we are suspecting, but we don’t work with speculations, only evidence!” Taking a writing tool, Lord Ascelius looked over the banished list, “those individuals said they would be back and that the emperor would regret everything that he has done to them.” Placing an asterisk beside several names.
• Sighing, “this at least gives us something to work with!” Alpha Zevar said as he made a mental list of the names he read.
• Lord Ascelius stood up and sent his sights on Melantha, “I need to do a check in to the emperor, I want Valinia to begin the search in the northern section of Erolzwald ruins.” Directing his attention to Alpha Zevar, “did you find any ichor subsidizers?”
• Leaning in his chair, “I did and you are going to have to pay them, unfortunately, Coldfurgus left Erolzwald destitute and the financial institutes closed their doors only a couple of hours ago for good!” Alpha Zevar folded his hands on the table, “in all my life, I have never seen things this bad, I just can’t help but wonder if all the chaos is linked together to one dead man.”
• “It is clear that Coldfurgus was behind the treasonous acts. Without evidence it is only a theory, one that should not be dismissed!” Lord Ascelius showed Alpha Zevar his personal telecommunicator and walked out of the conference room.
• Once the door was closed, Melantha turned her head to where the alpha was sitting, “it is customary for the host to pay for our food!”
• The alpha’s eyes watered up, “Melantha between you and I, we don’t have enough food to feed the people of Erolzwald. Those that are offering themselves to you, are giving the gold to their loved ones so they can leave here. Coldfurgus has squeezed the last bit of life out of these people.” The alpha sniffled, “they are desperate!” He took a large intake of air. “One man told me that if he were to die, he would rather it be you with a bit of gold to give his family to live longer, then wait for the feral vampires to kill them and leave his family with nothing.” He cleared his throat, “he wants his death to mean something, instead of nothing.”
• Listening to the alpha's tone of voice and the pace of his heart, “This is not good!” Melantha whispered. She was not blind, she could see the evidence of the state of the capital. She did not know how bad things were.
• “I have called for a shuttle to give those that can pay a chance to leave. But I have to wait for the shuttle to get here from Sarde.” Alpha Zevar was nodding his head, “they need money to board the shuttles. Many families here have relatives living in different kingdoms. As you have seen, each day, families are leaving here with nothing but the clothing on their backs.” His tone was sombre. “If this was Unnash, things would have been different!”
• “Alpha, may I use the office telecommunicator and call my family?” Melantha asked with a thought in her mind.
• Giving Melantha a warm smile, “The door is unlocked, you may call your family!” Alpha Zever replied as they both were standing.
• ***
• Lord Ascelius was walking the hall as he was calling Emperor Baldwin. Glancing at the people he passed he could see how more depressed they were feeling. Waiting for the grim reaper to shake hands with them.
• “Sorry, my boy,” Emperor Baldwin answered. “I meant to call you back but we have an issue here. What do you have to report?”
• Lord Ascelius made eye contact with one of the maids of the castle, “there are unregistered vampires here, killed four of them, I believe that there are more.” He spoke in the vampiric language.
• The emperor hummed, “How many are you figuring?”
• Lord Ascelius huffed out air, “evidence shows a coven. Emperor Baldwin, I believe in the near future Erolzwald will be attacked.”
• Lord Ascelius explained some of the issues that had been going on. And the killing of a youth. As lord Ascelius had predicted the emperor was beyond upset.
• The connection was beginning to crackle as the lord and emperor were speaking. Turning around Lord Ascelius directed his feet to the telecommunicator tower. Informing the emperor of what was going on before the line of connection died.
• As Lord Ascelius had figured the tower was tampered with, like the other times, he could not pick up a hint of who the culprit was. Frustrated with the situation, he ordered Gus to fix the damage, then he ordered five guards to be stationed at the telecommunication tower, to reduce the chances of it being damaged again.
• ***
• Meeting up with Beta Morris, Damillan, Sieden, Norrix, and Astaroth at the cells. “What did you find out?” Lord Ascelius asked Damillan.
• Beta Morris was wiping his hands clean of blood, “Chearto Jundibro only mentioned those that were captured and imprisoned here. He told me that he came in here to get his orders. After I get something to eat I am going to question Levan.”
• Lord Ascelius turned his head to the right, “who is Levan?”
• Smirking, “he used to be the Alpha of Unzarar!” Beta Morris tossed, “Alpha Zevar wanted to do a detailed investigation in his involvement in the down of Erolzwald. I am starting to think he has more to deal with everything that is going on.”
• Lord Ascelius glanced one at a time to the Ancillae, “what about you?”
• “Nahmeid Ruka was following the orders of Chearto Jundibro!” Damillan responded to Lord Ascelius. The other vampires nodded in agreement with what Damillan had said.
• Lord Ascelius took off his royal ring, indicating his birth rank, handing it to Damillan. “I think I am going to have a little chat with Levan.”
• Opening the door to the cell that Levan had been held in, the repugnant smell of fecal matter and urine hit Lord Ascelius’s nose. Wrinkling his nose he walked over to the prisoner. Chains were connected to his hands, feet and neck. Studying Levan he could tell that he was only a wolf, to the lord, Levan was nothing of importance.
• The moment Levan lifted his head, he growled at Lord Ascelius, “vampire!” Smirking, “You're not hiding yourself very well.”
• “Are you responsible for the missing people?” Lord Ascelius asked without a hint of emotion.
• Levan began to laugh, “took you long enough to clue into what was going on.” He cackled louder. “Even after years of Rimvan Longarm reporting the situation, no one took the old fool seriously.” Levan’s face turned dark and diabolical, “then again, if Rimvan was a fool … what does that make you?” Levan’s laugh was chilling.
• “Who are the vampires behind the attacks?” Lord Ascelius's nails retracted. Not liking the thought that the vampire empire had been made a fool. The more Lord Ascelius’s eyes began turning red with his rage building.
• Levan laughter was like a volcano erupting spilling lava all over the area, “hit a nerve didn’t I!”
• Lord Ascelius lost his temper. With each punch that landed on Levan, he laughed more.
• Howling with laughter, “Face it little vampire, you have been outsmarted. They are going to destroy everything you hold dear to your blackened hearts.” Levan spat out the mouth full of blood on the lord.
• Retracting his teeth, Lord Ascelius ripped Levan’s head to the side as he sunk his teeth into his flesh. Drinking enough to get what information he needed. Roughly pushing Levan forward, “I would call you an animal, but even animals take care of the youth and those that live in a pack.” Lord Ascelius stomped by Levan as he held his neck with his hands.
• Laughing, “You still don’t know who is behind this and where the covens are located.” Levan blackened his chuckle.
• It was Lord Ascelius' turn to laugh, “your blood gave me the information I needed. Beating you was for pleasure.” Walking out of the cell he ordered the guard to turn off the light to Levan’s cell.
• ***
• Alpha Zevar was getting off the phone when Lord Ascelius and the Ancillae strolled into his office. “Are you done with the phone?” Lord Ascelius maintains his composure.
• Motioning the telecommunicator towards Lord Ascelius, “I have finished speaking with my brother, the line is all yours.”
• Lord Ascelius motioned for Damillan to make a call while he took out his personal telecommunicator.
• As both males held the telecommunicator to their ear, Alpha Zevar waited patiently for one of the vampires to tell him what they found out.
• “Cold red … Viscari is behind the attacks … we need back up!” Damillan placed the telecommunicator back down on the base. Breathing loudly he waited for Lord Ascelius to finish with his task.
• “Get me my brother Hannibel!” Lord Ascelius listened to what was being told to him. “I don’t care if he is fornicating with one or all of his mistresses, get my brother now.” Pinching the bridge of his nose Lord Ascelius let out a low rumble from his chest, “of course! You bloody idiot, I will wait.” Taking the telecommunicator from his ear, he pressed a button.
• Lord Ascelius took a couple of meditative breaths before he opened his eyes and spoke, “Levan plus many other alphas have been working with vampires to overthrow Emperor Baldwin. Can you give me the list of vampire names again?” He asked the alpha.
• As he had requested, Alpha Zevar pulled out the list of vampire names that they had earlier been looking over.
• Glancing over the list Lord Acselius pointed out the names, “General Vitor Viscari and his family … Balvalur Nude … General Fuleir Frostbreeze and his family … General Nal Nurkuz and his family … and,” Lord Acselius was flipping through the pages. “His name isn’t on the list but Tukir Mipvuk and Shu La.” Lord Acselius gave the list back to the alpha. “Unzarar, Azgar, and Burha are their major locations of where they have been hiding. Bazzu, Galata and Khurazadd are the other areas that have been worked on to build up the population of fledglings.”
• Lord Acselius was interrupted by a “hello!” coming from his telecommunicator.
• “Took you long enough brother!” Lord Acselius commented with an irritated tone.
• Huffing, “Why are you disturbing my time?” Lord Hannible said as if he had better things to do.
• “Balvalur and Viscarti are behind the vampire attacks! You remember the reports? The leaders that tried to tell us there was something going on, that would have been Balvalur and Viscarti.”
• Lord Hannible snorted, “stop being so dramatic brother, I sent Amena out to do an investigation. It is going to be nothing, just like the other times!”
• Yelling, “Did you send a unit with Amena, when was the last time she did a check in?” Lord Acselius was past being patient with his brother.
• Laughing came from the other side, “you know damn well I will not waste my resources on a bunch of humans. When Amena calls …”
• “Listen to me, you nipple head!” Lord Ascelius pounded the top of the desk. Naming off all of the individual names that he collected to his brother.
• Lord Hannibel was no longer laughing, huffing out, “I know Shu La, the biggest mistake of my immortal life. And he is trouble! I am going to call Amena now, I will call you back once I have spoken with her.” The line went dead.
• Alpha Zevar growled, “I have one question, what does it take for an investigation?”
• Lord Ascelius looked guilty, “a call from the Alpha King, but considering what I saw when I drank the blood of Levan. I now know Coldfurgus was part of this!” Lord Ascelius held his head high, he was about to continue speaking when Beta Morris charged into the room.
• “The telecommunicator tower is on fire, with five dead guards. There was a report of movement heading to the west.” Beta Morris said before anyone could say anything.