Derek followed Romulus into an old small church that was closed off from the city. Inside its chambers were stained glass windows with hundreds of male and female Civtos head inside and hid under the floorboards.
"It will most morning soon. We better get to your training and back home before time runs out." said Romulus
" Right. Training. Does that mean I can do all the cool ninja fighting moves like Jet-lee and Bruce Lee." Derek proclaimed as he kicked the air like a ninja.
Romulus gave a hearty laugh as he said " You will do all that and more. I promise you. But to be a Civito you must abide by our guidelines. It is what keeps us aligned with the Supreme One."
Derek shook his head at that. " I only worship one God."
Romulus inclined his head in approval. " It is the same God or is it not? In our world, we refer to him as the Supreme One or Adoni. And it is what makes us different from the rest." Civto.
Now he understood. They were like spiritual vampires, but something still weighed heavily on his mind. " If you all worship the same God, why are you, vampires? I mean aren't vampires suppose to be taken aback by that sort of thing"
Romulus nodded " We are those who fell from Adoni while we were yet believers, Lucian chose us because of it and enslaved us when we fell away from our faith. But because the Surpeme one is eternally faithful and died for our sins, we do not share the same fate as Lucian and others like us. We were forced to be this way, and there is no way of ending it unless the prophecy has been There is a prophecy saying the Supreme One will send a human to deliver us from bondage. And that Derek, I am pleased to say is you."
Derek gapped in disbelief." But how do you know it's me?"
Romulus turned to stare at a large picture of a man with a sword holding a book and looking out in triumph. "Through prayer, Derek. After I met you, I sensed your faith. And it was failing Derek, why is that?" Derek didn't know what to say to that as he thought about it himself. He remembered always going to church on Sundays, and reading through the bible left and right, until one day, all of that just didn't interest him anymore. He didn't do anything bad, but it had been a long time since he had prayed. "
The goal of the Civito vampires is to rebuild their faith once more. Although we cannot change what we have become in the years Lucian joined us, the Supreme One always can. Never forget that Derek." Derek nodded. "Oh and by the way."
He motioned to a young man not much older than him himself. "Bryce step forward if you please." A tall tan young man about three inches taller than Derek stood in front of him, with a stern and serious look in his eye. " Derek, this is Bryce, and he will be your mentor."
The one called Bryce looked about seventeen years old with dark silky hair. He stood before him in an open long black trench coat, black sleeveless t-shirt and black jeans. His eyes were warm coffee-colored brown and he wielded a long mechanic iron staff. Derek could tell just by the sight of him that he meant business.
" Bryce, I want you to show our new friend around our world. Show him the ropes." he nodded in agreement, though slightly amused at the thought that he would be training such a vampire.
Wasn't Romulus the one suppose to be training him? But Bryce knew never to come between the head leader and his duties. There was something about Romulus that seemed darker secret than usual vampires that by far toped his own. But Romulus had a heart for fallen Christians and people. Just like he had all those years ago.
Romulus walked casually over to the Civito Elders, who oversaw all the training and mission taking facilities. He gave a slight wave as he called out " You two will be partners from this day on. But for now, seeing what Mr. Juniper can do is all that is important now. Bryce? Take good care of our little friend."
" I will, great leader," he said as he bowed down in respect.
" So you're the chosen one who's gonna free us from Lucian's reign." He chuckled in amusement. " Just follow me and I will show you all the hidden ravines of our secret world," he said as he turned to Derek who quickly followed in agreement. As they made their way to the door of the sanctuary, one of the old Elder from the sanctuary teleported in front of them.
"It's you!" cried the Civito elder.
"What?" Derek asked.
"You're the one from the prophecy" The elder pointed toward an image that caught Derek's attention. Derek looked up at the image of a strong powerful man holding up a sword above his head with the Book of Truth in his right arm, in victory toward the Supreme One. Apparently that man was him, one of the next three guardians who will guard the Book. Derek followed Bryce into the Darkhavenger Cavern. All the other vampires sneered and scoffed in his direction. Bryce continued walking down the hall ignoring them all as he said: "First of all your not at all what I expected the chosen one to be." Derek looked down in pity. He wasn't that hero they were all raving about. He was just some guy mistakenly drawn into this crisis situation. He didn't want to be who he was in the first place yet here he was.
"it's not like I wanted to be this hero Bryce. But it seems that this Supreme One chose me. What else am I suppose to do?" Bryce turned toward him with a stern stare.
"You can run like all the rest who claimed to be him," he said giving a quick glance to the wall image.
" But only the supreme one knows, so naturally everyone including Romulus trusts his judgment."
"And you trust Romulus?" Derek asked.
"I trust only me and the Supreme One." Derek wondered about that. What was Bryce hiding? What was it about him that was so overprotective and defensive. He guessed Bryce would always be a mystery. Bryce led Derek outside the Darkhavenger. Motioning for Derek to stand next to him, Derek asked: "Where are we going?"
"Let me introduce you to the most loyal and courageous dragon partner a vampire could ask for." and they vanished in a flash.