The crowd of vampires watched on silently as I lifted Malek up from the ground. I was exhausted, way too much, but I was still able to do so. His personality seems to have made a 180 degree turn after we escaped from the seal, but his act was enough to cement his and his coven's decision.
Their future was now fully and completely in my hands. It was a weird turn of events to say the least, and even though I was tired, I still wanted to at least complete a part of what I came here to do.
Exposure or not, I needed to speak with the elders. And not just that, I needed to find out who sent the sirens, it was obvious that Malek's seal was triggered because he had sworn allegiance to me, and without a doubt, this was an open threat to all the elders. Having them all serve me, would be almost impossible now.
The banquet was stopped by the elders, given what has just happened, I doubted anyone would be ready or willing to mingle and have fun. Of course with them leaving, my secret of being a weaver leaves with them. It's a turn of events that would force me to speed up all of my plans, and to try and get stronger faster, by any means possible.
The six vampire elders each sat with me around a round table, each of us mentally preparing for the discussion that's about to come. Asare and Gus were a few tables over, watching over the captured siren, while Asha and Malek were sitting on both sides of me.
"So you're a weaver?" Sousa asked me with a perplexed look on her face.
"I am."
It was as if that was the confirmation they were all waiting for, as they each took a deep breath. Hearing me admit it myself rather than them seeing it, seemed to shock them even more. I didn't blame them, what I was, is something completely unheard of.
The potential of what I could do, was not lost on them, and it was obvious they each wanted such a power for themselves, however they were not stupid either. I could see it in their eyes, it's not just the power that they wanted, they were afraid of the consequences that would come with owning such a power.
"What exactly do you want?" A heavy set vampire asked me. He should be the elder of the warmongering Bediako bloodline coven.
"The complete unification of the vampire race, and their freedom." Asha answered for me.
At first he looked upset that Asha answered instead of me, but he took it in stride. Asha had more power than anyone of them sitting on this table, and it was not because she was unsealed, no! It was because she was my wife. Someone who owned me, body and soul. She was practically the most powerful woman if not the most powerful person in the pit.
The elder of the Hom'rugr bloodline coven, a sultry looking woman with hair as dark as night, full red lips, and one side of her face covered with red tribal tattoos, looked at me and said.
"My name is Bien Haverria Hom'rugr. What I really want to know is, what's in it for you? Should the vampire race become united and free from the oppression of the council of light, what's in it for you?"
I couldn't answer her question immediately. To be honest I never really thought about my gains, everything I've done, I did because I thought it was necessary, that it was the right thing to do. But in the end, no one ever does something out of the goodness of their heart, there was always an agenda, the problem is, I didn't know what mine was, until now.
But what was it, I knew I wanted to help because the situation of the vampires were so bad, but I could have done that without subjugating the elders, I could have been a good Samaritan and gone around unsealing every vampire I could find.
But I was not. The path I've chosen will help the vampire race, free them and make them stronger, but it was a path that led me straight to power. The kind you can't have on your own, power to truly change history and a future that's destined to end in tragedy.
Maybe it was out of a sense of duty, a responsibility to save earth and the seven layer universes. But that would not be the truth, well not fully anyway. I've tasted power, pure unblemished power. A strength I feel when people serve me or when I have to take care of them.
The power of a king, I don't know how or when it started, but this was what I'm after, it was what I wanted. Now it was time for me to face this part of myself that I never knew existed.
"If you had asked me yesterday what was in it for me, I would have told you nothing! That I was doing this all for the betterment of your lives, for a better future, one where your children are allowed to have a childhood, a happy one. It would have been a half truth, it's part of what drives me, but not fully. The true reason why I'm doing this, is really simple. I want to be king! And not just king of the vampires, or the creatures of night, but King over all of Shearath!"
Silence, it was not an awkward silence though, it was a shocking one.
Well at this point you can't say I'm not ambitious, I'm literally at the most bottomed place in the whole of Shearath, a prisoner and member of a race hated by almost half the population of Shearath and all her colonies. A common slave. And I want to be king. Asha and Malek looked surprised, especially Asha.
We were married, but this was something she never knew, our bond was so strong she always knew what I was thinking long before I even made an attempt to act. But this was something even I didn't know I wanted, not until I confronted it.
Maybe my sudden lust for power is because of the darkness in my heart, the darkness that makes me a vampire. But this was a path I've inevitably stepped onto, and I have no regrets about it either. I was going to see it to the very end.
"So you're another bloodthirsty madman with a lust for power." Bien said to me with an arched eyebrow.
"Maybe, but that's the only way things can ever be different. Because even if we break free, we're still outnumbered by the council of light and the myriad races on it by 1 to 1000. True freedom comes when all of Shearath is united, not just the vampires, but the humans, the werewolves, the elves, the devils, even the angels and fallen angels. Because I believe we can be more than just a race of bloodthirsty monsters, and while we have nothing to prove to anyone, we have to make it so that we don't have to fight for anything again on Shearath. That we're allowed to live, right alongside the other races, not as prisoners or dominators, but as equals."
"Then you must be a fool! After everything they've done to us, do you think we would just fold our hands and drink tea with them, under your rule? Preposterous!"
The elder of Bediako coven had a loud voice matching his large frame. His fearsome eyes glared at me in such a way that sent shivers up my spine.
Even sealed, there was such an aura of death around him that I couldn't shake, he was deadly, and even more bloodthirsty than I expected. I was not looking at a person, I was looking at a beast.
"I believe vampires have really long memories due to how long we've lived. I'll like to ask you elders a question, why were we locked up down here? What did we ever do to deserve such torture and punishment?"
They all knew the answer, but saying it out loud would be accepting our faults, cementing the guilt of the ancestors of the vampire race.
A mature looking vampire, with her red hair tied up in a knot and a mole under her left eye finally sighed. She was the leader of the Warren bloodline Coven. She had this mother like vibe, and a beauty strong enough to shake any man, even myself.
"We're here because we were once out of control. At the height of our power, the vampire civilization was unruly, uncontrolled, bloodthirsty to the core, murderous, in essence we were monsters. We spread across Shearath, killing everything we saw in a mad conquest led by a Dracula from the Bediako coven, who was our leader at the time. The same leader who decided to employ every means to take out any other Dracula that might be a threat to his power and murderous path of carnage, leaving us defenseless and weak when he was finally defeated. We're hated for a reason, and that's because there's no race with a capacity for death and destruction greater than the vampires. It's why I know that your ambition, though great, will be met with much resistance, but with the help of the vampires it's not impossible. You're right, just being free is not enough, because no matter what they won't leave us alone, it would give them an excuse to wipe us all out of existence. We have no choice but to take it farther and subjugate the entire planet. But the question remains, are you worthy of such an honor, worthy to be king of not just the vampires, but of all Shearath?"
"Do you have a better choice? I'm the only one who can do this, the only one with the power and the resources to do it." I replied to the Warren Elder
"You're right, we don't have much of a choice but to choose you do we?" Sousa said as she clasped her fingers under her chin.
"I can't make any promises outside of the fact that I'll try my best to be worthy of such a position. Because being worthy of leadership is not something that just happens, I believe I'll need time to grow. And while it's much to early to be making any plans about conquest, we can place our focus on completely subjugating the pit. I'm asking you people to take a leap of faith here, and trust me." I said to them.
The leader of the Warren bloodline Coven stood up from her place on the table and came to my front. Then she bowed and said.
"I Farina Silomer Warren, head elder of the Warren bloodline coven, and Grand elder of the vampire council, swears my strength, my faith, and my loyalty to you, Lord Kael of house Cor. I speak for my family, I speak for my Coven, lead us wisely, lead us justly."
Shocking turn of events wouldn't you say. I think of all the people here she's the least expected of making an oath to me.
I expected someone like Sousa, but not her. She had an aura that made her seem as if she was set apart from the rest of the Grand elders. I did not know what to do rather than give her a nod and a warm smile as Asha helped her up.
I turned to the rest of the elders hoping to see if there was anyone of them who would like to make the same oath. However from the looks in their eyes, they were not so sure of me. The first person to talk was the elder of the Bediako coven.
"You're weak! The first mistake you made is asking for support and strength from us rather than subjugating and taking it for yourself. You don't have the balls to handle the darker parts of leadership, or even to do everything on your own. Me and my Coven will not be submitting to such a man, but I'll do this for you as a common courtesy. In two months time, at the conference I Maze Nahunta Bediako will challenge you not just for the deed to the blue district, but for your women, and your servants. Once I kill you, everything you own will belong to me, and only then will the vampires have a worthy candidate to be king!"
After he finished speaking he walked out on the rest of us, and made the foolish decision of walking past Gus, whose dark eyes twinkled for a second.
The next person to speak was the so called young master of the Inferno bloodline Coven, he did look young, about sixteen or seventeen. And his massive draconic wings unfurled behind him in nervousness as he got up and gave a simple bow.
"I can't make decisions like this on my own. I'll give you an answer after the conference in two months. Thank you for your time."
He walked past Gus just like Maze a few seconds ago. The tiny smile on Gus's lips were enough to tell me that foul play on his part was involved in the direction they chose to use in exiting the arena. Finally the elder of the Hom'rugr bloodline Coven stood up and said to me.
"Just like the previous elder said, I'll give you an answer in two months, if you survive. But it will take more than that, this two months is nothing but a time of observation for me, I would like to see what you can achieve in that time, because unlike Maze and the inferno elder who seem to think you would lose, I know how dangerous a weaver is. So it's not a question of if you would win, but when. Impress me, and you would not just have the loyalty of me and my Coven, but my body as well."
And then she turned and left the arena, leaving me stumped, and Asha glaring holes at her back. So far of all the elders who refused, she's the one I had more hope of roping in. I just needed to find a way to impress her between now and then. As for the threat from Maze, I was not worried about it.
I just killed another elder not too long ago, and while Maze is bound to be stronger, I wouldn't be sitting on my ass for the next two months, especially when you consider one main fact. I was still very much a weaver. Sousa got up and gave a bow, before smiling and saying.
"The Zekeri bloodline coven is not run by just me, but five other elders. We all have to take a vote and see if throwing in our lot with you and Asha is a good idea. But we will have some demands too, so prepare and wait for our answer. It's been fun Lord Kael, and you really have made this a night I won't ever forget, regardless of how short it was. See you soon."
And she sashayed away, brushing past Gus who had a frown on his face just after she went past him. I turned to Malek and Farina, and gave them a deep bow to express my gratitude for them choosing me.
Of course I know more responsibility has been placed on my shoulders, but I could see a brighter future ahead. We should be leaving but there was something we had to take care of first. Maze had said I did not have the balls to handle the darker parts of being a leader, if only he could see me now.
"Gus find out who she works for, and any other important facts you can glean from her mind. Make it painful, don't kill her, and then send her back to her employers broken!"
It was too much, too ruthless, too brutal. But with enemies in the shadows, I had to make a statement, to give a warning.
Of course it would just make whoever sent her take me seriously and prepare for a long fight, at least they'll know, that I'm no pushover. I tuned out the screams of the siren as I turned to Farina and placed my hands on the seal on her forehead.
I was still tired from unsealing Malek, but I was giving a display of power, I'm going to go all out, besides it's better to do this as soon as possible, Farina could also be in danger like Malek.