The floors of the council room are all I see for minutes before the elders order me to rise with their ancient murmurs. When I stand on my feet, I keep my head bowed slightly, it is disrespectful to look the old ones in the eyes. I wait for their command.
"You have done well, sângele de sânge" one of the elder's purr, the tone in his voice sends shivers down my spine, like creeping icicles forming on my bones. There are a total of four elders on each throne, they are all chosen depending on their loyalty and strength to the clan, these elders have been in place for countless centuries. No one in this clan has lived long enough to see them chosen.
The oldest elder Domitia, and the strongest. She is the matriarch of the entire clan. Dealing harsh judgements and punishments to those who wrong us, she is the most feared vampire in all of the world. There are stories that she was once a priestess in the ancient times of age of B.C. Thousands of years of knowledge has given her an eye for powerful decisions the clan could never make. But these are but stories she has most likely let run free to give her more power in the supernatural world.
And the meanest of them all, Felix. Felix is perhaps the cruellest prick any immortal creature has ever seen. Even Domitia at times flinches at his savagery and dirty secrets. He is known for testing the vampire's loyalty of the clan. Commonly setting fake situations for new arrivals of the clan to see how far their allegiance lies. I was tested hundreds of years ago when I was chosen to be a Bloodshadow, he set out a trap for me to be captured and tortured for five weeks, vampires from the clan had posed as enemy werewolf spies during the interrogation. The only thing that kept my sanity was the fact that I would have their heads.
And I did. I did not care that It was a command from their masters. They still paid for what they did to me. Lucius and Markus were the main agents during the time I spent with them. But like all mysterious deaths in the clan, they are always avoided. Political power is a dangerous motive. And I used that to my advantage.
Hadriana is the third elder. But she is known for her kindness to her allies. That is why she has the most supporters upon her throne. It will be thousands of years before she is chosen for a better fate. But never be fooled by her kindness as weakness, she is the most ruthless of us all. Destroying armies of werewolves has made her one of the most respected figures in the vampire society.
And finally, Titus. Mysterious one of them all. No one knows where he came from or even what his story is, there are no legends about him among us and no one cares to delve deeper. The only rumour is that Titus is not just a vampire… but a breed of something else as well. It is hard when you are never to see the appearance of any of the elders. They all wear blood red robes that fall to their ankles. The only identifying feature of their actions and personality is the words they choose in situations the council is given.
"You have brought back us a present Bloodshadow" Hadriana chuckles, I look to the crimson-soaked bag tied to my belt, I undo the knot holding it secure and lift the head high out of the bag. The blood still dripping soundly onto the marble tiles.
"hmmm… Let me guess" Felix guesses sarcastically "General Vixen" his snow-white hands fidgeting on the arms rests upon his throne.
"Yes, Maestru, he had quite the pair of lungs on him. So much to say that when I teared off his head, I could have sworn he was still squawking" I say in reply, the elders giggle and smirk dark under their hoods. But Domitia remains silent as always.
They all lean in on instinct to hear my words about what I learned. This same procedure done so many times.
"My Masterat, I have received many rumours about this same information the general has given me, countless ties to the exact same matter" I say forcefully, wording my message in a way that doesn't sound like I'm giving advice. "Apparently there lies a new group of supernatural species bringing together an order of some kind. Not a cult or a society. But an army" I explain, waiting for permission to continue.
Domitia finally speaks "What faction of supernatural's?"
"Werewolves and Witches apparently, maestru"
She thinks for a moment, I can almost hear it, they all remain silent for a time, like their communicating in a way I don't quite understand. Too below to comprehend.
"You have done well, sângele de sânge" Hadriana says finally "You have been nothing but loyal to our council and have never failed to complete a task nor contract, don't think we haven't been paying attention to you" she goes on "We will decide what we want you to do next, but for now, say hello to Natalie for me and enjoy your rewards" she stops, and I can almost see a smirk under that darkness of a hood.
I bow in thanks, "Am I dismissed, masterat?"
"You may go" Domitia waves me off.
I bow once more and make my way out of the council chamber.
Let me make this clear, I have no intention of being a loyal servant. And that won't be my story.