Chapter 6

• *Erolzwald*
• The tower was blackened by the flames, as all the wiring had been destroyed. Observing the bodies Lord Ascelius told the alpha that five vampires attacked at the same time. It was reported that no one made any mention of what was going on until a citizen noticed that there was smoke coming from the top of the tower. Since no one was alerted to the situation, Alpha Zevar surmised that the guards were killed first then the tower was put ablaze.
• The bodies were taken away, while Alpha Zevar and Lord Ascelius talked among themselves about what the next course of action would be. “With the telecommunications down, I need to leave for the north now.”
• Lord Ascelius glared at the alpha, “what would leaving do that would benefit this situation?”
• “It will not help here, but if my intuition is correct, I have a feeling that things are going to get a lot worse before it even gets better. The north will have no way of knowing what is going on here.” Alpha Zevar was pacing the location, “We have no idea of how long this has been going on.” He glanced at the capital, “if the capital falls and the other locations do not have knowledge of what is going on, they will fall as quickly as Erolzwald will.”
• Lord Ascelius pinched the bridge of his nose, “let me get this straight … you are going to leave with a unit of fighters to go to the north to warn them, while you know Erolzwald is about to be attacked … Are you off your rocker?”
• Alpha Zevar shot his head towards Lord Ascelius, “I am the only one that is going to leave. With any luck, telecommunication will still be working at the other kingdoms.” He was moving his body towards the stairs while he was talking. “Rimvan once told me he was training fighters with skills that were not the same as the others. He calls those his elites, we need to find them and see what they are able to do. While I am gone, I am going to leave Beta Morris in charge. He knows the ins and outs of the capital.”
• Lord Ascelius snorted, “he is injured!”
• “You are correct, today was his first day of training. It might only be light training. The doctor told him he was to build up and go from there. Though regardless of his injuries, his mind is sharp … that is why I chose him as the Beta.” Alpha Zevar said as he held the door open for Lord Ascelius.
• “Let's say you are able to get to the north, what will you do next?” Lord Ascelius said as they continued to walk toward the alpha’s office.
• “If Rimvan was not exaggerating, between his elites, my warriors and your Ancillae fighters, there might be a chance of holding things off while I gather my army and bring them here.” Alpha Zevar set the pace for them to stroll the halls of the castle.
• “What about the Erolzwald warriors?” Lord Ascelius asked, wondering why the alpha would not add them to the list of fighters.
• Alpha Zevar stifled the sarcastic laugh, “you need to see their skills first to understand why I call them basic! The only thing they have going for them would be their skill with the blowguns. And that is reserved for the human fighters.”
• Huffing, “that terrible?”
• Smirking, “I would have accepted their skills in the first year of training. The glory of Erolzwald has been tarnished in such a short time.” Alpha Zevar was shaking his head back and forth with sadness. “Coldfurgus, placed no value into his army and allowed it to fall apart.”
• “When are you leaving?” Lord Ascelius asked as they neared the office.
• Alpha Zevar thought about it, “I am going to get a few hours of sleep, I will be leaving before the sun comes up.” Turning the door handle, “travelling in dire wolf form ... I should be able to get to Dorasea in 21 days. I will only stop when I need to, each time I come across a small settlement, I will warn them of what is going on. Everyone will need as much time as possible.” Getting to where he had the map of Dorhelhound, “the red pins show where we have seen or there was a report of seeing feral vampires. The blue pins are the places Rimvan said he was attacked by feral vampires. The white pins are all the alpha’s that were Coldfugus’s allies.”
• Lord Ascelius studied the map, “none of the small communities from Latun all the way to Adamant tower have not said a thing about the increase of unregistered vampires.”
• “When was the last time you heard a thing from those small communities?” Alpha Zevar kept his eyes on the map as he asked his question.
• Clearing his throat, “from my knowledge, we haven’t had any issues with them in a few centuries.” Lord Ascelius was waiting for the alpha to make a sly comment.
• Alpha Zevar sighed with a great deal of troubling thoughts, “nor have I … I hope all is well with those colonies. I should have kept in better contact with our brothers and sisters of the far south.” He said with a lot of remorse in his words.
• “We can not focus on what we should have done. We need to focus on what we are going to do in the hours to come. Self pity will get us nowhere!” Lord Ascelius continued to look over the map. Placing pins in the map, “these are the locations where there might be activity. Levan’s blood indicated there was business there.”
• "It would make sense, Rinrit was the alpha of Unzarzar.” Glancing briefly over the map, “After the last meal of the day, we are going to have a quick meeting.” Alpha Zevar said as he aimed for the office door. “After that I will get some sleep and leave as I had instructed.”
• Before the alpha could leave, “I could not help but notice how many heads are in the dungeons, by any chance any of them would be sentenced to death?”
• The alpha smirked, understanding where this conversation was going, “I will give you the list when we have our meeting.”
• ***
• “I will primarily be advancing along the shuttle tracks, the nomads sometimes hunt around that area. Without this knowledge, they are vulnerable and an easy target, I need to warn them of what is going on.”
• Raising her hand, Melantha spoke next, “I will travel with you and part ways when the tracks lead to Whispering Port, I have a parcel that needs to be picked up there!”
• Lord Ascelius narrowed his eyes on Melantha, “what is there that is so important?”
• Melantha shyly smiled, “I ask my undead mother to put gold into my financial account. Oh come on Lord Ascelius, you have seen with your own eyes … The people need help. I will get the doctor here to take what is only needed and pay for the person or family to get on the shuttle and out of here. It is a winning scenario for all of us.” Pointing to Alpha Zevar, “as the alpha had said to me earlier.”
• Damillan thought about what Melantha had said, “you know that is not a bad idea. This breaks the traditions but it isn’t like Erolzwald is to blame for the dead Alpha King’s doings. We need food, there are families that want to leave but don’t have the gold to do that.” Damillan shifted himself in the chair to look directly at Lord Ascelius. “Lord Ascelius, I would like to leave as well. We would only be gone for a short time.” He glanced at his comrades to get their approval.
• “How long are we talking about?” Lord Ascelius hissed, not happy with the thought of letting his fighters leave a situation that could place everyone in danger.
• “The ideal path …” Alpha Zevar was doing the math in his mind, “it will take me six to eight days to get to the conjunction, which is located near the Golden forest. From there it would take Melantha another two or three days tops to get to Whispering Port. With Melantha’s vampire speed, she would be able to get back in six to eight days.”
• “When was the last time you fed?” Lord Ascelius kept his eyes locked on Melantha.
• “With a handshake and my word,” Melantha said a couple of hours ago, that she would pay the maid when she got back. Damillan and the others laughed as they said that they had fed off those whom they questioned during the interrogation.
• “This is very dangerous, but the people here are in need. If we do not do something fast, everyone here is at risk of being killed. Between vampire attacks, hunger and diseases, take your pick on what will happen to the people.” Lord Ascelius tossed his hands up in the air, “how many of you want to go?”
• All hands went up in the air minus Julius and Astaroth. “How many families could leave on the next shuttle?”
• “The shuttle will be here in three days,” Beta Morris said, “if it is not all booked up, anywhere from one to 16 families could be on board and leave.”
• Alpha Zevar commented. “We could do an honour system with the shuttle conductor. Get the blood from the donors, pay for their tickets and pay the debt when the Ancilae’s get back.”
• Lord Ascelius hummed for a couple of seconds, “that is what I was thinking. I would also thinking about placing an order for an evacuation, but I already know an evacuation can not be ordered until immediate danger has presented itself.”
• Alpha Zevar and Beta Morris sighed loudly, “I already thought about that, even looked to see if there was a loophole and I found nothing that would allow us to invoke a state of emergency.” Beta Morris stated.
• Alpha Zevar handed Lord Ascelius the list of prisoners that are to be sentenced to death. Those that Coldfurgus had in the holdings were to have their cases looked at again for proper sentencing. Taking the list, “I would also like the list of names that were trained under Rimvan Longarm.” Lord Ascelius said.
• Alpha Zevar glared at Beta Morris, “do you have that list?”
• “That is going to be a bit of an issue, since Rimvan did not say who they are. I have an idea of who they might be, but it is only a hunch.”
• Lord Ascelius wrinkled his nose, “I thought you were the beta to the late prince.”
• Beta Morris smiled, “that I was! But Finja never told us names and we made sure not to ask. If you want to know the list, speak with Straightarrow. His family and the Longarms were very close. He works with Gus in the tech team. Another person that might know is Davder Applefinger. He worked together with Rimvan on a lot of the missions together. His family had been close with the Longarm family as well. He is also known for wanting to get Coldfurgus off the throne and Zek replacing him.” Beta Morris took a deep breath in, “Davder was not quiet about it either. You can imagine the issues Coldfurgus and Davder had. Multiple times he was charged with one crime or another, each time he was acquitted of those charges based upon lack of proof to back up the claims.”
• Lord Ascelius taped the folder that was in front of him. “I would like an audience with Davder Applefinger.”
• “I will arrange that for tomorrow!” Beta Morris said to Lord Ascelius, “while you are gone, I will work on getting as many people and families out of Erolzwald. I will start with getting those who want to go to Whispering Port gone before the end of the month. Everyone else I will work on getting to the northern kingdoms.” He told the alpha.
• “That sounds like the beginning to a good plan.” Alpha Zevar rubbed his hands down his tired face. “I want everyone out of here before the food supplies are completely gone, or at least as much of the population as possible. Or even the worst possible thing that could happen.” The alpha did not elaborate on the topic further. “While you are doing that, I want you to go through the list of prisoners that Coldfurgus had placed in the dungeons and those that were falsely accused get them out of there.” Alpha Zevar said as he flipped through dozens of pages, “something tells me that more than half of these charges are fake. Yet I want to cover everything to make sure.”
• “While you both are doing this, I will work with the elite fighters and get things moving with the blood donations.” Lord Ascelius added to the conversation.
• Julius and Astaroth looked at each other with a smile, “we will take care of the security here. And hunt down any more traitors!”
• “We should end things now so Alpha Zevar can get some rest and we can leave here … let's say in nine hours. Will that be enough time for you to rest?” Melantha asked the alpha.
• “That is more than enough time!” Alpha Zevar smiled at Melantha as he stood up, “I have to speak with my delta’s, then everything will be set.” He landed his eyes on Lord Ascelius, “is there anything else that needs to be discussed.”
• Standing up, “not now, and anything I need I will go to Beta Morris.” Lord Ascelius said as he shook the alpha’s hand, “safe travels Alpha Zevar!”
• *Island*
• It was nearing the end of the season as everyone was getting ready to leave the vacation island to return to their homes for the winter season.
• Maids were rushing around making sure that all hotel rooms were properly cleaned and everything was closed up properly for the winter. While homeowners made sure there were no objects out that could blow away during the harsh winds.
• The last stragglers who chose to leave the island enjoyed their last night on the island before the last ship would leave for the other kingdoms. Many had placed their items on their assigned ships so they would not have to worry about them in the morning.
• A couple walked hand in hand, strolling the sands, glancing up at the celestial object, smiling and enjoying the peacefulness they were feeling.
• “You want to go for a swim?” The male asked the female companion.
• “Naekian Swiftshard, are you out of your mind? The water is freezing!” The female laughed as she watched her husband take off his footwear.
• “Oh but Mrs. Swiftshard, if the water were freezing then it would be a solid and not a liquid.” Naekian took off his pants and shirt. Rushing into the water, he dived under the water. “Come on Ray, join me!” Naekian yelled once he surfaced from the water.
• The pair were laughing as Ray began to strip down to nothing but her bra and panties. Inch by inch Ray joined her husband to celebrate the last night on the island.
• “You are crazy!” Ray shivered in the water as she stood in one place with the water up to her shoulders.
• “Give it a moment and you will acclimatise and everything will be great.” Naekian wrapped his arms around his wife and kissed her lips.
• With her lower lip vibrating up and down, “I am getting out of here, I can’t take the cold water anymore.” She turned around and began to head towards the shore.
• Jumping up, “Suit yourself!” Naekian laughed as he went under the water.
• Ray wasn’t that far away when she heard from behind her a blood curdling scream. “This is not funny Naekian!” Ray turned around to see that where Naekian was there was a lot of splashing going on. “If this is your idea of a joke Naekian, you can stop it right now.” Ray’s heart was pointed in her chest.
• Ray felt something grab her by the ankle trying to move her foot away. She could feel her body being pulled under the water. Closing her eyes and grabbing a lung full of air, Ray felt her body hit the seafloor.
• Holding her breath she opened her eyes, to her left and right she spotted eyes glaring at her. Ray's heart rate picked up, realizing the danger she was in. It wasn’t until she spotted the fangs aiming for her neck did Ray scream underwater. Releasing all of the air out of her lungs.
• Struggling to get to the surface to get air into her lungs, Ray fought with everything that she could. Before she knew it, she was unable to move.
• Ray could not move as her body was being lifted to the surface. “She is human!” A male’s voice entered her ear.
• “The master will want her to live and test out her organs.” A male was smiling into Ray's face, “You are a lucky one!” The male held onto her chin as she could only stare at his fangs. “The master wants breeders and she smells like a breeder.”
• The male behind Ray whined, “I’m hungry! Come on Zin … it isn’t like the master is going to miss one human.”
• “Feed off the shifter! The human will be delivered to the master, as we have been ordered!”