The town of Ghed'ahre, nestled in the midst of the Wyrm Forest in the Underworld, was the place to be for the undead, with all the luxuries that a vampire could possibly need to live a comfortable afterlife.
There was Herb's Designer Coffin Shop, where one could find some of the most comfortable and fashionable coffins in all the lands. Vampires flocked from near and far just to purchase Herb's designs. A pair of vampresses in particular by the names of Beatrice and Viviane had even made it a competition to see who could get the newest model before the other.
Towards the entrance of the village were a collection of shops that sold various items. One such shop sold bottled blood. It wasn't always the freshest, but with limited access to the Overworld, it was all that was available. Another shop sold powerful spells and amulets for the few vampires who possessed magic, and another sold armor.
In addition, the town boasted of having the largest graveyard in the entire underworld, a grand cathedral, which was ordinarily used for council meetings and midnight soiree's, and last but certainly not least, the Cursed Slot Casino; the only casino not only in the underworld, but all of the mainland. The casino was a regular hangout spot for many vampires as they drank and gambled to their heart's content.
Te'ijal had lived in Ghed'ahre for over eight-hundred years now, and she honestly couldn't think of a better place to call home, and after some time away, she was happy to be back.
The town was humming with chatter as usual as Te'ijal strolled the cobblestone streets. No conversation was exactly private when everyone could hear you. Over time she had learned to block out all the voices, but sometimes she allowed herself to listen in, hoping to catch up on the latest gossip.
Most of those in the casino were either complaining about Marcello and his trickery or about the cursed slot machines, which no one ever seemed to win. Hearing nothing of interest there, she moved on.
Adriana was swooning over Gyendal, as per usual. She, like so many other vampresses in Ghed'ahre, was enamoured with him. They all gushed about how handsome and how evil he was, always asking Te'ijal whether he was dating anyone. Frankly, it was kind of disturbing, as Te'ijal did not particularly enjoy hearing about their racy fantasies involving her brother.
Drowning them out, she went on searching for something different. She soon stopped as a conversation up by the cathedral caught her attention.
"I do so look forward to hearing what Gyendal has to say at tonight's meeting," claimed Agustin.
"Indeed, he has some brilliant ideas for the town," Corina agreed. "I was so pleased to hear that he had overtaken the council."
Gyendal had overthrown the council? This was news to her.
She had been so busy tracking his activity in the Overworld, trying to figure out what he was up to, that she hadn't kept track of what he was doing back in the Underworld. Could it be that he knew she was following him, and had purposefully sent his thugs out to lead her off his trail?
Whatever the case, she would find out soon enough, but first she needed to find her husband.
Crossing the road to her house, a moderately sized, two bedroom structure with an attic that housed all of her old artifacts, she pulled open the door and stepped inside. Her house ghost immediately came out to greet her, but aside from him, there was no one else in the house.
Galahad hadn't returned home yet.
To be honest, she hadn't expected to find him at home, but still she held onto the hope that he would be there waiting for her.
Oh well…
Patting the air above the ghosts head, she did a quick walkthrough of the house, passing the limited edition couples coffin she had ordered before she left. Perhaps it was best that Galahad wasn't already home. She wanted to see his reaction to the coffin in person.
Her eyes roamed over every inch of the place, making sure that nothing had been stolen while she was gone. Thieves weren't exactly a thing in Ghed'ahre, but it would be all too easy if one wanted to. Locking doors was pointless as they could just break doors down at will.
She was pleased to report that nothing was out of the ordinary, and with that, she headed into the attic to grab a few things that she thought she might need before leaving the house.
"Crumpet, where are you?" she said in no more than a whisper.
The meeting wouldn't be taking place for a while, as time worked differently in the Underworld. Days passed in the Underworld while years passed in the Overworld. It could be terribly confusing if you weren't used to it, but to Te'ijal it was yet another thing that made Ghed'ahre unique.
Starting back out towards the town border, she fine-tuned her senses to drown out the noises inside the town and focus on any noises she could hear from the forest. Wyrm Forest was generally a quiet place, save for the occasional ghost haunting, so any noise coming from within was easily tracked.
It didn't take long before the sound of fighting reached her ears, coming from the east, sounds of steel against steel, mixed with rattling bones… Te'ijal rolled her eyes. She should have known that Galahad wouldn't get far. While he had managed to break out of the Underworld in the past, he hadn't been able to since the password system had been put into effect.
Knowing that he wasn't far, she set off at a more leisurely pace, which was a refreshing change after all the running she had done.
Sure enough, she found the golden-haired knight not too far from the beaten path, locked in combat with a group of Gyendal's Skeleton Guards. He was so busy trying to fight them off, that he didn't even seem to notice her. She, of course, took full advantage of this, and leaning up against a nearby tree, watched the scene unfold.
The truth was sure and simple; Galahad was a fine specimen of a man, not to mention one of the strongest warriors she had ever come across. She was proud to say that the immortality she had so graciously gifted him with had only added to his natural abilities. Such a waste it would have been to let him grow old and weak. Now she would be able to marvel at the man for all eternity.
Though she could have stared at him for much longer, she knew there were more pressing matters at hand that needed attending to, and chose to make her entrance.
He caught sight of her soon enough, craning his neck to glance back at her all while holding the skeletons back.
"What are you doing here, wife?" Galahad asked, never once missing a move.
"Galahad, we must talk about this nonsense," Te'ijal said, folding her arms across her chest.
He must have picked up on what it was she was referring to, as his expression darkened and he turned back to face his opponents.
"I'm busy! Leave me be!"
She shook her head at his behavior. "Your suicide mission won't work, dear husband. You can't die if you're already dead."
"No thanks to you!" he retorted. "You stole my soul and turned me into this creature!"
As she had told Mel, theirs was a long story, one that had begun centuries ago. Galahad had been a paladin at the time, serving under the King of Sedona, a port city in the Arishta Isles. She had travelled there along with a group of human heroes who sought to destroy the demon Ahriman.
The noble paladin joined their quest, and Te'ijal fell madly in love with him. She knew from the moment she laid eyes on him that she had to have him, and so she hatched a plan to do so. As he had just said, she stole his soul, using it as leverage to force him into marrying her and then turned him.
Needless to say, he had never quite forgiven her for it, but it didn't bother her all that much. She didn't care if he hated her, so long as he stayed by her side.
Which was exactly what she needed of him now.
"Husband, we must talk."
He ignored her.
She sighed. Evidently, he wasn't going to listen to her, especially not with the guards pestering him.
And so, she decided to take matters into her own hands. Lunging into the fight, she took down the skeleton to Galahad's right, tearing him apart bone by bone and sending them flying off into different areas of the forest, before starting on the one to his left. Without the other two distracting him, he was able to focus his full energy on the leader, ripping him to pieces with his Thor.
With that taken care of, Galahad sheathed his sword, before promptly turning back to face his wife. "I'm leaving," he said as he started past her. "I'd appreciate it if you would not follow."
She followed him anyway, smirking as she trailed behind, half skipping, half walking.
"I have a proposition for you."
"Your last proposition got me killed," he glared back at her over his shoulder. "No thanks!"
Wishing to speak with him face to face, she sped in front of him, turning so that she was walking backwards.
Galahad came to a brief halt, tensing at the sudden move, but relaxed soon after and continued on. He had grown used to vampiric speed for the most part, but there were still moments here and there where it caught him by surprise.
"Tell me, how would you feel if your precious humans were enslaved by vampires for all eternity?"
That definitely got his attention, bringing him to a screeching halt.
"You speak nonsense!"
She shook her head sadly.
"Not if my brother has his way. He has found the Orb of Darkness, and he will use it to destroy all light in the Overworld."
He raised a skeptical brow. "If you speak the truth, then what has stopped him? Why hasn't he already done so?"
Now, that was an interesting question. Why hadn't Gyendal gone through with his plan to take over the Overworld already? He had the orb. What was he waiting for? Was there some sort of magical ritual involved that needed to take place at a certain time or location?
"I do not know," she confessed, "but I intend to find out."
"Why do you even care? The humans are nothing but food to you."
That was hardly true. She had many friends who were human, and she had helped their kind on multiple occasions.
"You of all people should know that I have a soft spot in my heart for my dinner."
He let out a small scoff at that, suggesting that he didn't believe her, and she had to admit that it did hurt a tiny bit, but she chose to look past it for now. It didn't matter right now whether or not he believed her. All that she needed of him was his cooperation.
"Gyendal is meeting with his followers soon. Will you help me stop this evil plot he has hatched?"
He didn't answer at first, as he appeared to be contemplating the offer, though he really needn't have bothered. Te'ijal knew him well enough to know that it wasn't an offer he could bear to refuse. Though several centuries had passed since his days as a royal paladin, he still lived by the same code of chivalry.
"For the humans, I fight," he replied. "I shall agree to accompany you. Let us leave now before I change my mind."
A little while later, Te'ijal and Galahad were back in Ghed'ahre, perched on the rooftop of the grandesque cathedral. From there, they could spot the congregation trickling inside, sharing ideas and opinions as to what was to come. Te'ijal rolled her eyes when she heard Viviane and Beatrice arguing over who was going to make a better impression on the Lord of Twilight. She was fairly sure her brother would pay them absolutely no attention, or at least not in the way that they were hoping.
They waited until every last one of them was inside before leaping down from the roof and sneaking in themselves. Carefully they crept up the steps, hiding behind the corner of the wall so that they could observe without being seen. With any luck, their scents would just blend in with the rest and no one would even notice. Though, she had doused Galahad in cologne before they came, just to be safe. He was still scowling at the smell.
The familiar echo of Gyendal's footsteps sounded as he stepped out into view, turning to face the congregation, a smug smirk tugging at his lips. That couldn't be good. Something had obviously made him happy.
"Fellow vampires, the time has come to take the Overworld as our own! Too long have humans, our dinner, ruled that land," Gyendal began.
Cheers and shouts rang through the cathedral, as the crowd hung on his every word. They all seemed to agree with what he said, or if they didn't, they didn't dare speak out against him.
"It is shameful to all vampires that weak short-lived creatures have kept us from the fine lands above. By our very nature, we are meant to rule human-kind, and we should wait no longer," he continued.
One of the town elders, a grey-haired vampire by the name of Agustin, stepped forward to voice his thoughts.
"How are we to do this, Gyendal?" Agustin asked. "The humans may be weak, but they have the sun on their side. Even a vampire mage with your powers is no threat to them… even at night!"
Gyendal did not seem phased by this, as he took it in stride, his smirk never leaving his face.
"It is light, any light, that weakens vampire magic in the Overworld," he agreed. "But what if we took the sun and stars away?"
This proposition certainly got the crowd's attention, as all at once they began to whisper amongst themselves, wondering what he meant by that and how he intended to pull such a spectacular feat off.
Te'ijal, on the other hand, already knew how he intended to do this, for as they spoke, Gyendal reached into his cloak and produced the very orb that he had stolen from Mel back in Harburg.
A hush then fell over the crowd as he held it up for all to see.
"Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to our redemption, the Orb of Darkness."
The orb wasn't glowing as it had in Mel's hands, but it still swirled with darkness regardless, spreading awe in its wake.
Once everyone had seen it, Gyendal lowered it again and set it down on a pedestal that had been set up beside him.
"This orb was crafted by the dark sorcerer, Mordred Darkthrop, centuries ago, and with it, we can destroy light for good."
The crowd roared as they began to shout out their approval of the plan, insisting that they do it immediately. Gyendal raised a hand to silence them, and just like that the room was quiet again. He always did have a gift for commanding people's attention.
"Unfortunately, I cannot at this moment… but soon, I will."
The council appeared to be dissatisfied with this statement, as some began to question him, even going so far as to doubt his capability.
This, of course, infuriated Gyendal. If there was one thing he hated, it was being thought weak. Gyendal then went into detail, telling them of how he had come upon the sorcerer's journal some years ago, and what he had learned from it. Apparently, Darkthrop himself had failed to complete his goal, dying at the hand of his son, but not before he had completed two orbs: the Orb of Darkness and the Orb of Light.
"What of this Orb of Light?" one asked.
"Yes, if the Orb of Light exists, what is to stop the humans from using it to destroy us?" asked another.
Gyendal chuckled darkly. "You needn't worry, for I have discovered the Orb of Light in Naylith and disposed of its guardian. No human knows of its existence."
The crowd continued to question him, and Te'ijal started to drown them out as a result. However she soon toned back in, as they finally reached the part she was most curious to hear.
"Before Mordred's death, he placed a spell on the orbs so that only those of his bloodline could remove the orbs from their resting place. Not only that, but he also made it so that only a mage heir can activate them."
That didn't exactly answer all of her questions. She could see why he would need her to obtain the orb for him, but it didn't answer why he still wanted her.
Hoping that he might elaborate a bit more, she continued to listen.
"The girl is not a mage, but Darkthrop's notes indicate that there is a way to get around this. I have not found the answer yet, but I shall soon."
Te'ijal had an idea of where they might find the answer. The only issue would be getting to it before Gyendal did. Motioning to Galahad, they turned to start back down the steps. They needed to leave quickly if they wanted any chance at finding it.
Then she stopped, as something she heard alarmed her.
"I have discovered the girl's location," Gyendal claimed. "Tonight we shall capture her and bring her here."
He had found her? How was that possible? She had been so careful to lead his thugs well away from Thais. She had even refrained from going to check up on the girl, in case he should send someone to follow her. Clearly he had found other means of tracking her down.
A sudden urgency overtaking her, she picked up the pace, rushing out of the cathedral with Galahad following shortly after, and out of town. She didn't stop until they were far enough from the cathedral that she was sure no one would hear them speaking.
Coming to a halt at the edge of the forest, she turned back to face Galahad. "We must get to the girl before Gyendal does. I told her to go to Thais. She should be there."
Galahad nodded his head in agreement, deep in thought.
"Your brother spoke of an additional orb called the Orb of Light, in a place called Naylith. Do you know of them?"
She could honestly say that she hadn't known about the second orb, though it did make sense for there to be both an Orb of Light and an Orb of Darkness to maintain balance. Something told her that finding the Orb of Light was the key to stopping Gyendal. They only needed to find it.
"I know Naylith. It's a kingdom in the overworld, high in the mountains, inhabited by butterfly creatures," she explained, recounting the last time she had been there. "They're hard to catch, but quite tasty."
He scowled at her, but said nothing.
She licked her lips. He looked so delicious when he was angry.
"Oh come now, husband. You've been starving yourself ever since I turned you. Don't pretend that you don't want to have a little nibble here and there."
He put up a strong facade, but she knew deep down that he was just as tempted as she was. Perhaps he was even more so, considering how long he had gone without feeding. Then again, he probably didn't even know what it tasted like. If only he would let himself go for once, then he would realize how delightful it could be.
"You do not tempt me, creature!" Galahad exclaimed. "I shall never drink blood from a human!"
"Such a shame."
Despite what she might say, a part of her was all right with his preferred diet. With his still very much human complexion, he had this golden glow to him that she quite liked. She didn't doubt that he would look handsome with the same pale complexion as her, but still she preferred the way he currently looked.
"We do not have time to argue. We must go and warn the girl, and I want to find this Orb of Light."
She nodded her head, a smile tugging at her lips as she followed after. It pleased her to see that he was being agreeable for once, even if it was solely for the sake of the girl. He always sought to do what was right. His heart, though dead, still remained noble and pure.
"Thank you," she whispered.
"Don't thank me…"