Chapter 13

"Did you find it?"

"Indeed, he dropped this one in his latest battled against the minions."

The vampire coven hidden within the old remains of City Z inspected the vile. It was taken off of Metal Bat during their last fight. The elder peered into the glass and swashed around the contents rather oddly. "Hmmm, I wonder what this does…" he thought aloud.

Curious, he popped the cork and sniffed it. "Ugh! Vile thing that is!" he protested. "It must be an strengthening agent. I know the bond of Garou is nothing to sneeze at, yet compared to him, it must be used to have him keep up with him no doubt."

"Would elder drink it?" one of his underlings asked.

He shook his head. "No, there's something odd about this. This was made for the match in particular… and by a skilled Naga no less. Curiouser and curiouser…" he said.

"Does it matter if the bond is strengthened?"

The elder smirked. "Of course not! One forgets the true power of the plague. Consistent hunger for blood, feeding consistently and never satisfied. Garou has done no such act worthy of his father. He has been resisting this power ever since obtaining it. What a shame, if he indulged himself, he could have stood a chance against us. But the numbers will work against him no less. We will simply tire them out and then overwhelm them!"

The vampires licked their lips with greedy intentions. "What will be done? How do we share the spoils?"

"Oh it's first come, first serve to say the least. The one who gets Garou to bleed is entitled to the blood that exits the wound. The bond however will be far trickier. His blood will be rather particular, however if Garou is killed, he will gain his strength, we would have to kill him shortly after."

"What of the girl? We all know of the seer."

The elder smiled. "I have already bought her. I paid off the other elders for the child. Her eyes… will be of great use to me. Better still, I think I will let this one grow up a little more, and make her my bride… but then again… why wait?"

#

"What was that thing?"

"He entered unnoticed and escaped without a sound!"

The vampires that confronted Zombieman in the ruins of the House of Evolution were trying to understand what just befell them. All have heard of the S class hero, and yet they didn't know of his skills with darkness. They spoke to their elder of the situation however he merely blow off their concern. "He is of no threat, despite the fact he maybe impossible to kill, he learned nothing from us. I doubt he will have trouble with him again…"

"But… elder… he used the shadows." One chimed.

This got his interest. "Did he now?" he asked with curiosity. "How?"

"As we said, he came in without making a sound, no one picked up on his scent until he walked from the darkness. Then, we ran after him, but he knew to sever the lights above himself. When we attacked… he was already gone!"

"Shadows? Perhaps the Shadow King has found a minion on the mortal plain." He muttered to himself. "Didn't Demona herself try to gain favor of the Shadow King recently? I know she made quite the offering… She even went as far as flooding him with vessels, including a powerful Naga warrior that had been held prisoner for years by an enemy forces…"

"She has, but there has been no sigh of the King since. Some say he refused her offerings. Others claim he accepted that and nearly half her army!"

"Let's find out about this. Let's summon a shadow to this room and see what is going on. Make certain it's a councilman!"

The vampires worked feverishly, marking up the floor with a summoning symbol. Of course they could try to go to the shadow realm themselves, however there is no guarantee they would return. Instead, they opted with the lesser of the two.

They drew it all out in pure white chalk, then, the elder offered his blood on each point of the pentagram. "Bring forth a council member to the Shadow King, bring him to me now!" he called.

The chalk lit up, then blue fire erupted!

The fire took form as it became a face and various parts of the shadow creature, but its body appeared to be made from black mist. He stood rather proudly, and familiar in a sense, the elder then froze to the face of it. "Can it be…" he whispered. "Bloodbore?!"

The vampire shadow did a small bow. "Long time no see… brother." He stated. "You called?"

The elder slowly descended from his throne, staring at his immortal sibling for the first time in nearly 3000 years. "Brother… is this what became of you? Why elder said he had an important task…"

Bloodbore's hand raised gently. "Rest assured, it was for the greater good. Now, what is the meaning of this summons?" he asked. "I doubt you knew I was on the Shadow King's council"

"No, not the least bit…" he sighed but then smiled. "Brother… can you tell me the current Shadow King's state of mind? We have heard many things about him, yet don't know if any are true. Did he make an agreement with Garou's mother?"

"Yes," he said without doubt. "He formed an alliance with her, in exchange for a body that can walk the mortal world without pain or death."

He grew intrigued. "And yet, she fell to Garou… how?"

"The shadow King got what he wanted… and then abandoned her. Far be it from me to guess why. Perhaps since he gained what he desired, she was no longer needed or useful to him."

"Ah," the elder said with great interest. "Then tell me, how did you get on the council? I have seen them in the past year to say the least. Yet, you were never on there…"

"Changes were made to say the least. Brother, what is with these questions?"

"I am trying to decide on what has really happened. We are about to call ragnarok upon Garou and his coven, yet things are not quite making sense. He left the contract too open and loose, it will be exploited to the fullest extend to say the least… however… why did he agree to one so soon and so quickly?"

Bloodbore merely smiled. "You would have to ask him."

The tone he spoke. The elder knew Bloodbore well enough that he knew something else going on. "Brother… what are you not telling me?"

There was silence from the shadow, he looked his sibling in the eyes and stated. "Bow out." He warned. "Break out of the contract, pay the penalty and leave this land… while you still can." He warned. "This shall be my only warning, and my last gift to you. For the sake of your coven…" With that he vanished.

Bloodbore was gone and yet the room appeared startled. "Bow out? What does he mean by that?"

"We are not losing a winning war! What did that old bat mean?!"

The elder thought it over, despite becoming a shadow. Bloodbore spoke as he always did. He wouldn't lie often, when he did, it was merely to fool and enemy or to bide time. Yet this tone… this was his warning tone.

"Elder?" his eldest fledgling asked.

"Never mind what he said, you are all right about this, we are not bowing out of an easy war!" he protested.

They howled and cheered to the elders order, then, the message came to them by a bat. The time has been called.

Ragnarok will be called upon tomorrow night!