Kaizer awoke with a jolt, disoriented and enveloped in an oppressive darkness. Faint moans, whispers, and the eerie sounds of scuffling and dragging metal echoed around him. The cold, stone floor met his searching hands, sending shivers through his body as he realized his dire situation. His fingers brushed against something wet, and a vile stench reached his nose, unmistakably the acrid odor of urine. In disgust, he wiped his hand on his attire.
"Hello? Where am I?" Kaizer's voice trembled as he called out, panic rising within him.
Then, it dawned on him—a chilling realization. This was the very same dungeon where Zachary had brought him and Lucius, revealing the secret chamber beneath the prom venue. Panic surged within Kaizer as he cried out, "Queen Hundred? No, you can't do this. You wouldn't seriously do this to me! Please!"
His desperate pleas echoed through the cold, stone chamber, met only with a haunting silence. Kaizer's voice faded into sobs as he curled into a ball on the frigid floor, his chains clinking in the darkness.
"I'm sorry... I'm sorry..." The words tumbled from his quivering lips, a never-ending refrain of guilt. He carried the weight of Thalia, Justice, and the devastation in Elephasia on his shoulders. Each life lost was a burden he could hardly bear.
Amidst the torment, a figure approached him, and for a brief, surreal moment, Kaizer hallucinated, seeing Thalia standing before him. But the illusion shattered in a blink, revealing a frail, sunken-eyed woman with bony features. She clicked her tongue and hummed eerily, her fascination evident as she touched Kaizer's disheveled, black hair.
"You're not a Human," she hissed, her voice warped by madness, her fingers patting his head with an unsettling smile. "Can I eat you?"
Kaizer, bewildered and horrified, struggled to comprehend the woman's insanity. He muttered to himself, hoping she would leave, but her obsession only deepened. She lunged at him, clawing for his throat.
In a desperate bid to fend her off, Kaizer bit into his own hand, drawing blood. With trembling hands, he drew alchemical symbols for Earth and Water with his blood, casting a spell he remembered from his studies, one that he hadn't learned well enough to use without symbols yet. In the ancient tongue of the Elder Vampires, Sanguimaran, Kaizer uttered the incantation with desperate determination.
"Sanguis potentiam, accipe ferrum sanguinis!
Transcendit venas meus, effertur spiritus meus.
Ignavus, sequere me! Ferrum Bastardis Sanguinis!"
The darkness responded, and a sinister, blood-formed bastard sword materialized in his grasp. He swung the sword down at his shackles, cutting through the chains binding his ankles. Then, with all of the adrenaline and pain in his body, Kaizer swung the blade wildly, unleashing a gruesome battle against the approaching prisoner, who was now bringing in more hollow-eyed, skinny assailants. Hundreds of them swarmed him like moths to flame. Blood sprayed in a nightmarish dance as he fought to survive, slicing through waves of faces, the grim sound of flesh tearing along with the breaking of bones echoing through the chamber.
He advanced, sprinting through the corridors of the dungeon and wildly swinging his blade, driven by a burning, vengeful despair. He let out a blood-curdling scream as he hacked away at his assailants. The memory of Thalia and Justice, Elephasia's destruction, and the weight of his sins fueled his every strike. In the abyss of the dungeon, he had nothing left to lose, and he carved a path toward the dungeon's exit with the sword forged from his pain and rage.
He paid no mind to who he was murdering, for the only thing he could see in his mind's eye were the smiling faces of his former classmates, and the wondrous sight of Roshan's mystical home. All of it had gone up in flames. He didn't care anymore.
As the last of the frenzied prisoners fell before him, their moans and whispers silenced, Kaizer stood alone amidst the carnage. His breaths came in ragged gasps, his whole body drenched in blood, his mind a tempest of emotions. Hundreds of slain Humans lay in heaps around him.
With trembling hands, he watched as the sinister, blood-formed bastard sword he had summoned dematerialized into a crimson mist. It swirled around him, a haunting reminder of the violence he had unleashed, until it dissipated into the cold, unforgiving air.
With determination, he retraced his steps, guided by his fragmented memories of the dungeon's layout. Every step he took was a reminder of the horrors he had just faced, the price he had paid for his past mistakes.
When Kaizer reached what seemed to be the dungeon's exit, he faced nothing more than a blank, cold stone wall—no doors, no openings, just an unyielding barrier that mocked his hopes.
But Kaizer had not forgotten the spell he had used once before. With a whispered incantation and a flick of his wrist, he cast the Deception spell—Skeleton Key. The cold stone wall shimmered and seemed to waver like a mirage, revealing a hidden passage that had been concealed by an enchantment.
Kaizer's heart quickened with a sense of triumph. He had outwitted Queen Hundred, aided by the knowledge he had gained from Zachary's guidance. Without that initial revelation, he might have remained trapped in this nightmarish place forever.
With newfound resolve, he stepped through the concealed passage and into the dimly lit halls of Vampire Noble Academy.
As Kaizer's eyes locked onto a rat attempting to escape the dungeon with him, an ingenious idea sparked in his mind. He needed camouflage, for he had no idea if Queen Hundred had yet made it known to the rest of the Vampire Society that he was discarded. He wasn't going to risk getting captured again. With a swift, practiced motion, he released a shadowy tendril from his arm, capturing the rat mid-sprint. He held the small creature up, studying it for a moment.
Without a single thought, he shaped the end of his shadowy appendage into a crushing fist. In a gruesome burst of blood, the rodent's life was extinguished, its crimson fluid pouring down Kaizer's hand and arm. He closed his eyes and focused, trying to imagine how the rat might have felt as it glimpsed the light of freedom in its final moments.
In a miraculous twist, his body began to morph, reshaping itself into the form of a rat. Kaizer found himself in a world vastly different from the one he had known as a Human, surrounded by the towering structures of the Academy, which were now even more impressive in his tiny state. A burning tenacity filled his heart as he scurried away from the dungeon, down the dimly lit hallways, and into the unknown.
He had been absent from the Academy for a while, and the urgency to contact Lucius and Alaric overwhelmed him. His tiny rodent brain raced with questions about whether they had heard the devastating news of Thalia and Justice's fate.
Kaizer scurried through the dimly lit dining hall, the gigantic Vampire students engaged in their conversations, oblivious to his presence. He darted across the polished floor, his beady red eyes scanning the towering faces in search of Lucius. Finally, his keen rodent senses located his friend, sitting with Alaric at a table, their expressions heavy with melancholy.
Summoning the strength of a thousand rats, Kaizer leaped onto their table, causing Alaric to jump and yelp in surprise. Ignoring their shock, Kaizer squeaked frantically, running in circles on the table like a rat possessed.
Lucius, ever perceptive, could tell that this was no ordinary rat. He leaned in, examining Kaizer, and a glimmer of curiosity sparked in his eyes.
"Kaizer? Is that you?" Lucius inquired, his voice filled with disbelief.
Kaizer responded with more excited squeaks, biting into the fabric of Lucius's shirt, urging him to follow. Lucius nodded, quickly glancing around the dining hall to ensure no one else was witnessing this extraordinary scene.
"Okay, we're coming."
With that, Lucius and Alaric rose from their seats, following the rat Kaizer out of the dining hall and into the dormitory. As they entered Kaizer's room, away from prying eyes, Kaizer shifted back to his normal form. Tears streamed from all three of their eyes. Immediately, Kaizer began to frantically sob, struggling to confesss his sins.
"I'm sorry! I couldn't do anything. I was so utterly stupid! I got lost— and Thalia! Justice... I was the last person to see them before— I was the one who—"
Kaizer struggled to articulate his words, his sobs overtaking him completely.
Lucius extended a comforting hand, pulling Kaizer into a tight hug. "It's okay, Kaizer. We know. We've got you, friend. Everything's going to be okay."
They allowed Kaizer to cry it out, offering their silent support. Eventually, they all sat down on Kaizer's bed, and Kaizer fidgeted with his fingers, his gaze fixed on the floor.
"What happened while I was gone?" Kaizer finally asked, his voice shaky.
Lucius replied, "Queen Hundred came looking for you here. We were all searching for you, Thalia, and Justice. But Queen Hundred was particularly furious that you were missing. Next thing we know… the Headmaster of the Academy actually shows up. No one's seen the Headmaster in years because he's a member of the Cauldron, so we all knew it was important. He announced that Thalia and Justice were found on the outskirts of the Black Forest. We got the rest of the day off."
Kaizer sighed, burying his face in his hands.
Lucius couldn't ignore Kaizer's battered, blood-soaked appearance any longer. "Kaizer, what happened to you?"
There was a moment of silence before Kaizer looked at Lucius, his shoulders slumping as more tears welled up. He offered a pitiful, fake smile, his gapped teeth caked in Human blood. "I guess I was disloyal to Queen Hundred?"
Both Lucius and Alaric leaned in, their expressions filled with concern as Kaizer continued his tale.
"She... she found out that I was keeping secrets from her about why I was in Elephasia. I found some things in a vault beneath the Bazaar. I didn't know what it all meant, so I didn't want to tell anybody, not even you guys, until I had some answers."
"Elephasia..." Alaric echoed in awe. "It exists?"
"Ele-what?" Lucius questioned, his confusion evident. "Elephasia? What's that?"
"It's a rumored secret society of elephant people known as the Elephas," Alaric explained. "Legend has it that their city, Elephasia, can turn entirely invisible thanks to their unique mechanical technology infused with magic."
Lucius's bewilderment deepened. "Elephant people? I've never heard of this."
Alaric looked contemplative. "That's because Vampires don't teach it. It's considered an urban legend, a myth. Everyone knows that... Kaizer, you're saying you actually went to Elephasia?"
Kaizer nodded, his fingers trembling as he rubbed them together, still moist from his tears. "Yes. It's an incredible place… or at least it was. It was destroyed—by Queen Hundred, when she found me."
Lucius and Alaric exchanged worried glances. "She really destroyed the whole city?" Alaric asked, his voice filled with concern.
Kaizer nodded once more. "Yes. The whole city. And it's my fault… All those people... so many lives lost. The people who survived... they've lost their home." As he spoke, Kaizer felt a heavy weight of guilt and sorrow weighing on his heart, thinking of Rashon and Barry and the anguish they must be feeling.
A heavy silence hung in the air, and it was Alaric who voiced the unsettling thoughts they had all been wrestling with but were hesitant to acknowledge.
"I have a feeling that the Noble Vampire Society isn't what we think it is," Alaric confessed, his gaze troubled.
Lucius regarded Alaric with a mixture of curiosity and concern. "What are you saying?"
Alaric shrugged, struggling to articulate his intuition. "I don't know, I just have a feeling, that's all."
Kaizer, lost in his contemplation, stared out of his dorm room window at the rocky expanse of Sanguine. "I want to go home," he whispered, his voice heavy with longing.
Lucius and Alaric exchanged meaningful glances, fully understanding the depth of Kaizer's desire to return to the Overworld.
"There's a barrier, Kaizer," Lucius began gently, "I'm sorry to tell you this, but none of us can go to the Overworld. It's controlled by magic that no one has been able to decipher."
Kaizer's eyes blazed with determination, and a profound sense of purpose resonated in his voice. "That's where you're wrong. I've already done it. I crossed the Barrier to get here when I was twelve. I did it again just a few weeks ago— twice — to save a little girl from suffering here. Not only did I cross the barrier, but I was able to control it."
Rashon's words about the nature of the barrier echoed in Kaizer's mind, reminding him of a truth he had uncovered—an unprecedented fact that held the potential to change everything they knew about the Realms.
"The barrier isn't put in place by some kind of unknown magic. It's a machine. Yeah, it's infused with magic, but it's able to be turned off and even controlled, like some kind of device. I saw it when I crossed it. I was transported to the Overworld with the simple touch of a button. Have the Vampires ever mentioned that?" Kaizer revealed, his words hanging in the air like a revelation.
A heavy silence filled the room again, and they exchanged concerned glances. It was becoming increasingly apparent that the Vampire Society held many secrets, and their rigid society had been built upon a foundation of half-truths and blatant lies.
As they contemplated the implications of Kaizer's revelation, a sense of uncertainty and mistrust settled among them. The world they had known was unravelling, and they were left to grapple with the unsettling truth that their reality might not be what it seemed.