That night smelled as if the world itself were burning. Once there stood a vast castle, intimidating not only because of its eerie appearance but for the rumors of a mysterious vampire queen residing there.
Yet… on that one night, the castle groaned like a dying beast, the horrific sound born from the hellfire unleashed by the hunters, self-righteous and ambitious. With their hearts filled with excitement and joy they massacred the castle.
Small footsteps echoed in the hallways of the blazing castle, young Kendaris's mind repeated the final words of his mother again and again, "Run. Don't look back! You are…!"
Part of his memory is blurred, what did she want to say? Kendaris wondered as he ran, tripping over his own feet, his tiny frame fell onto the floor. The castle's ribs of timber collapsed one by one. He couldn't afford to be pathetic, he stood up and the first thing he heard was a loud yell from behind him.
"DO NOT LET THE HEIR RUN FREE!!"
At that moment, his body was frozen, sweat trickled down all over his body due to the blistering heat. Then he lunged forward, too-small feet ran through the almost endless hallways. The flame made it hard to breathe, each breath searing the little boy's lungs. A sudden instinct prickled at his ears, someone was following him. No, not someone. An entire pack of vampire hunters chasing him through the flames of the inferno.
All of a sudden a massive pile of the roof crashed like a meteor. It barely missed Kendaris and landed right behind him with a loud thud, preventing the vampire hunters from reaching the boy. The impact caused Kendaris to trip forward, but despite being hurt and curled up in the floor pathetically, the boy stood up and dragged himself forward til he reached the gates. The magnificent gate to the castle was now just a gate to hell.
Kendaris knew he had no time. He needed to move forward and escape or he would be a part of the rubble and ashes left behind from his own home's destruction. His legs trembled, begging to give up as he stumbled out of the burning castle but he was sharp enough to know, merely stepping out of the hunter's grasp wasn't enough so he ran and ran. The castle was surrounded by forest that swallowed him whole, the trees multiplying with every stride, their shadow cast by the moonlight engulfed him and his lungs feels like they were burned out worse than the fire he had left behind. After what felt like hours of running, his foot smacked against an oak tree's root, a sharp pain shot up his leg as he doubled forward, face slamming into the damp grass., he crawled and scrambled behind the tree's gnarled trunk. He gasped for air like a pathetic wounded animal as he clutched onto his chest with his tiny hands. His head replayed the final words of his mother again, and again, and each time the voice got blurrier and blurrier.
Fireflies blinked around the tree, they are like tiny mocking stars. They drifted close to Kendaris, one landed on his knee. For a moment he was able to calm his nerves and glance at the little glowing 'Moonlit Ember' that was on his knee.
…
Somewhere far away, where the light of the moon did not reach, concealed in a chamber of four walls with a shiny red orb in the midst of this darkness, being the only source of light. There stood a tall figure, dressed in a completely black robe. With a sigh of displeasure, the mysterious figure sat down on a throne that was behind him.
He spoke, "The third castle has met its end it seems." his voice leaving an eerie silence in the near empty room.
From the darkness another voice spoke, "My lord, what should we do with the heir of the third castle? Perhaps we can guide him a way here and become one of us."
After a moment of silence, a soft footstep was heard, someone stepped forward and asked, "We await your orders, Lord."
The two figures stayed silent. Their voices left behind an eerie tension. Both were anticipating the order of the lord who sat on the throne. Then, he spoke, his voice was deep and calculated, "There are many possibilities and nearly every single one of them leads to our destruction… but I do see a path. The one who starts a revolutionary war for the new beginning through blood must know how to control his own blood."
One of the two men spoke with an uncertain tone, "Are you suggesting he is The One? If so, that would mean we are following the most destructive execution out of all of our contingencies."
To which, the other man chuckled and said, "If that is what our lord wants, I have no questions. I await his orders."
Without saying anything the mysterious lord lifted his own wrist and hit the thumb finger with fangs that revealed he's a vampire. Blood trickled down his hand as he slowly hovered his hand over the glowing red orb before him. The red orb shined brighter as a drop of blood fell on it. Instantly, the single crimson bead was transported hundreds of feet above a forest. The wind couldn't catch it fast enough due to its thick syrupy form. The drop of blood missed the leaves of the trees and with a wet snap noise it landed right on Kendaris's hair. It trickled his scalp a warm caress before nestling into his roots like a burrowing insect.
"The enormous landscape of this galaxy will be smeared with blood in the name of revolution and change. In the midst of the beginning of the change, You ask why him? Because war is not waged by soldiers. It is waged by consequences. His father was a fearsome necromancy who craved his name across the galaxy. Every cell in that boy's body knows death like a language. He is the heir of the third castle and our future… he will be what we need him to be."
In moments, Kendaris clutched his head, it felt as if a weight crushed his soul and something inside him started boiling his blood. This sudden burst of pain made Kendaris lay down and curl up, his breath became heavier than ever. The pain was a living thing and he wanted it to end. As his vision started blurring into darkness, he heard a voice. The voice was muffled however it was enough to send a shiver down his spine.
A malicious chuckle and a sigh of success quickly followed by a voice, "Found you… brat."
Kendaris struggled to see where the voice came from. His disability made him feel pathetic. He clutched his face and dug his nails into his own skin, as he did, a scream of pure agony left his throat which was quickly cut off by a sound of piercing flesh. Something sharp pierced right through his chest causing him to slip off his hands from his face to touch the sharp object that pierced through him. He touched not to pull it out but to confirm it was there.
Then Kendaris felt it, a sharp pain from the wound that was like a lightning striking through his chest. The wound didn't bleed. The wound stitched itself around the steel, holding it inside him. It took a second for his vision to return and the first thing he saw was a face of a man, a face filled with a hatred he never wanted and a hunger that he feared, before him was a vampire hunter.
The hunter threw a fist right at Kendaris's neck. Upon impact Kendaris was thrown off the blade that was plunged into him. He slammed against a tree right behind him with a loud thud, no blood came out, only an empty cough. Fear ran through every bones, nerves and fibers in his body as he struggled to stand up and defend himself from the hungry hunter. The man lifted his greatsword to strike the little boy.
As of that moment, something in Kendaris's chest grew, a new sensation unspooled in his veins, not fear. Fury.
His helplessness drowned him in a sea of rage, unable to escape, he became a part of it.
The air split as the hunter's sharp blade hurled downwards upon Kendaris. He flinched quickly as the cold steel cut through the flesh of his shoulder,but couldn't cleave right through him. As the hunter yelled with a face of anger Kendaris's flesh began to knit itself together around the blade.
"Disgusting vampire brat, why isn't my holy sword bypassing your damn regeneration?"
Kendaris slowly stood up, at first his legs stumbled but it took a moment for him to gather his will power and lifted his head, glancing up at the hunter with bloodshot eyes filled with rage.
Before the hunter could do anything, Kendaris's hands clutched into his fists and lunged at him. His fist impacted the man's midsection,, with a surprising force he was thrown back. His body lifting off his feet before crashing back against a tree.
For a second, the forest held its breath before the man stood back up on his feet with a grunt. He clutched his sword and with a dash, he closed the distance between him and Kendaris. Kendaris's hands automatically moved up to protect his face and head, but, the sword drifted right into his chest. The hunter chuckled and lunged forward, pushing Kendaris back against the oak tree's gnarled trunk, pinning him.
Kendaris coughed and desperately tried to free himself, clutching onto the hunter's grip on the sword that pierced him but then, he looked at the hunter's eyes and felt a deep sensation within himself, he felt hatred that boiled like lava inside his blood. He can not die until he punishes the one who made him. Kendaris's hand reaches out to grab the hunter's face but his hands were too short. His fingers spasming as if they are ready to rip the man's flesh off his bones. With gasps he pushed himself forward, letting the sword slowly slide deeper and deeper into himself as his palm finally slapped against the stubbled cheek of the man and gripped tightly.
Then, for a brief second, he felt the blood signing in the hunter's veins, the pressure behind his eyes and that brief second ended with an unpleasant splatter noise.
Kendaris's face was painted with blood, What had been a face of a cruel man became a red mist, a splatter painting the trees behind them. The headless body of the hunter stood frozen for an one impossible moment before collapsing like a puppet with cut strings.
Kendaris stared at it a bit. His instincts kept telling him to run, to be as far as possible from this abomination. Then the rain came, it felt thick, cold sheets, turning the dirt into mud, thinning the blood around him into ruby. His legs then moved, he ran as far as he could from this absolute abomination before he felt a sharp pain coursing through his feet. He immediately fell to the forest floor. Mud splattered all over him. The rain wasn't falling; it was slashing, whipping his skin with sharpened drops of cold water.
Kendaris slowly sat up, his whole body twitching with exhaustion and a flow of emotions he almost felt overwhelmed by. All of a sudden, he heard something, a metallic clank of armoured footsteps. The rain muffled everything else, but those footsteps cut through. A knight, head to toe in black armor. The plates let out a low, grinding noise, like stone scraping noises as he moved. From the visor of his helmet, a faint purple glow seeped out. Not light, but something thicker like mist trapped behind glass. Steady and unnatural, his longsword shimmered with the same eerie haze, swirling current around the blade. It did not flicker, it pulsed.
The knight stopped a few paces away. Rain hissed against his armor, steaming where the purple glow was strongest.
Then he stood there for a long moment, watching.
Kendaris tried to scramble back but the mud binded him to where he fell.
Then, a slightly echoing voice from the inside of the knight helm, deep and hollow said, "If you want to live, follow. If you think this is the end, stay there."