The black carriage and its masked knight riders arrived to a burning village full of screams.
A one sided massacre was occurring before their eyes and yet they did not flinch.
It would be more accurate to say that they did not care.
The problems of those outside the service of their Lord were inconsequential to them.
They were only there to satisfy His Dark Radiance's curiosity and that made it a different situation entirely.
If asked, they would die to satisfy His whims. To them, Lord Valerian was an absolute existence that must be obeyed or appeased.
The carriage door opened and the two higher beings stepped out.
One of the five supreme beings created by the Dark Radiance Himself!
Lady Uriel stepped out. Their arrival had already caught the attention of the soldiers and the Bishop but when Uriel stepped out, the attackers and the victims could not help but stop and stare.
The orange fires from the burning homes bathed her in a light that made her appear celestial.
Her beauty was unlike any the priest had seen in any royal court across any kingdom he had been in on the continent.
He was a greedy man. He craved money and power. His lust was secondary.
He never mixed his business with pleasure and his love of wealth and influence had long outweighed his love of a woman.
Yet in that moment, looking at this possible goddess, his lust nearly overtook him.
If not for the expensively armoured knights and the lady's unparalleled beauty, he might have dared to approach her, order her to submit to him and become his wife but such a divine beauty had to have a powerful entity backing her.
Her clothes and looks were too exquisite and foreign. He, a mere Bishop of one of the churches, could not anger a powerful kingdom.
The church would sooner excommunicate him then serve his head on a platter to appease a wealthy, powerful nation than fight for his sake.
What happened next shocked the dazed Bishop even more. A young man with a crown and equally exquisite robes stepped out of the carriage.
He was wrong! He had been so wrong! He had called the woman an unparalleled beauty but, next to this boy, she was nothing!
Bishop Daniel quickly said a silent prayer to his god for not being one of the twisted men of the cloth that plagued the clergy with their ravenous desire for young men because if he was the sight of this boy would have sent him into a lust filled frenzy.
The young man and the lady seemed to have a conversation between themselves.
On the Haze continent, the churches had the most power. It was considered rude for even royalty to not acknowledge and ignore even a common priest let alone a bishop but instead of getting angry the bishop remained silent and hoped his partner in his own carriage would do the same.
If anything, the newcomer's behaviour only solidified Ferris' belief that they were indeed foreigners.
"My Lord and lady," a villager shouted, "please, save us."
Valerian and Uriel suddenly stopped talking and looked in the direction of the voice.
"Why?" Uriel sneered.
Even though the fires warmed the night air Daniel suddenly felt cold sweat run down his back. He realised that a terrifying aura was coming off that woman!
Daniel was an advanced mage. He was sensitive to these kinds of things and now he felt like it was the time to retreat. The sound of chuckling caused the tension to break.
"Calm down, Uriel. After all this time and you are still quick to destruction? Some things, even against the test of time, will never change."
It was the boy. His laugh and voice were ethereal.
The boy began to move and immediately he was flanked by two knights.
He seemed to be walking towards the bishop whose back stiffened as he fought to find his voice but suddenly felt as though his throat was full of sharp pieces of metal.
His heart was pounding inside his chest as though it wanted to make its own escape but his legs were paralysed.
The boy and his guards walked past him as if he did not exist and Daniel almost fell on his knees to worship his god for this great mercy.
He wanted to leave. What was the life of one small vampire compared to his own?
It was his partner that wanted this not him. His partner was ambitious like himself and had blood ties to the royal family. Together they could do great things but this was not the time.
"What is your name?" The young man's lordly voice caused the bishop to turn his head.
The white haired boy was talking to the vampire! The four guards who had been restraining him and hurting him did not know what to do.
They looked to their captain who in turn looked to the bishop and Daniel immediately signalled for them not to act.
Daniel's signal was not to act but his heart and soul were begging for them not to do a damned thing.
"My...my...name..is...Peter." The young vampire's voice was strained. His wounds were not healing. He was in agony.
"They think you are a vampire but you are not." The young Lord spoke indifferently. It was not a question but a statement. "What are you?"
"I...I...I'm...a..h-hal-half-b-breed." He answered honestly.
"A halfbreed, you say?" The young Lord laughed loudly. "Today must be treasured. Today, for the first time in what feels like an eon, I have seen something I have never seen before! This truly is grand!" He stated.
The young Lord looked around and then focused on the bishop's carriage and smiled. Without removing his eyes from the gilded carriage, he began to talk again.
"Tell me something, halfling. If I were to save your life would you tell me everything you know about yourself and how you came to be?"
"Sa...save....all." Peter stated.
"You dare to bargain with me?" The young Lord asked.
"Pl...please."
"Very well. I am in a good mood because of you. I will save all of you but how do you want me to do that? Should I scare your attackers away?"
"K..kill..."
"Interesting. It seems we have an agreement then."
"Who...are...y-you?"
"Oh, me? I am just an old soul who smelt something familiar in your blood. You can call me, Lord Jata but as for my name, I am Valerian Erebus Jata. It is a pleasure to meet you, Peter."