Andromeda sat comfortably on her father's throne. Her black and red gown, tailored by the most skilled seamstress in all of the kingdom, draped over the royal seat. One of her pale white hands twirled the ends of her long, silky black hair, while the other held a crystal glass containing the blood of a female virgin. Her favorite.
Alone in the cold, confined empty throne room, she knew that everything-the whole kingdom-would be hers before the night ended. Soon, she would no longer be just one of the princesses, she would be the Queen of Aurum. Oh, how she loved the sound of that. Queen Andromeda. She took a sip of the blood. Some stained her ruby red lips so she licked it. Hmm. Delicious. Perfect.
One of the wooden doors of the room opened. Proteus, dressed in his signature white ceremonial garb, entered. His short platinum blond hair framed his feminine face. He strode toward the Princess as she stood up.
"Is it done?" Andromeda asked, her translucent gray eyes twinkling.
"Yes," Proteus answered. But he didn't look as pleased as the vampiress was. He shook his head. "Is this really what you want, Princess? Poisoning the King and ordering the knights to kill the royal family except you? It seems... extreme."
Andromeda huffed. Why were they even discussing this now? The deed should be done. Tonight. They've already talked about their plan and both agreed to do it. She said, "We'll go through as planned. As promised, you will have your rightful place as the Royal Advisor. No longer will you be Augustus' slave. You will serve by my side always." Her fingers lightly caressed Proteus' cheek, slowly. Possessively. "You'll always be mine. My boy."
The other vampire caught her hand. "Is this your final answer?"
Andromeda's brows furrowed. What was happening? Proteus was acting strange. But she replied, "Yes."
"Enter!" The vampire commanded.
The doors of the throne room suddenly burst open and platoons of soldiers rushed inside. After them, the King, Andromeda's Father, and some members of the Royal Council entered. Their eyes were blazing and their mouths were formed into frowns. King Aurelius even scowled. With a booming voice, he exclaimed, "Andromeda, I always knew you were the cunning one, but to be this greedy! You wanted your family dead!"
"You're a traitor! A vermin to this kingdom!" Andromeda's uncle and the Royal Advisor, Augustus, was red in rage. "We gave you everything you wanted but you want us dead!"
Andromeda was shocked. Inside, she was panicking. She searched for Proteus' eyes and saw that he was smiling. The vampiress wanted to choke him to death then and there. But she willed herself to be calm and composed. She told the court, "The kingdom that all of you are leading is becoming weak. You are cozying up to the humans. Even planning to give them rights, though they're nothing but cattle. Can't you see what's happening? Our people are being divided. Soon there would be disagreements in the court. Some of the council members will side with the humans. They will fight against us. There will be a civil war. The kingdom will be in chaos. Why let it come to that? I say, stay the same. Let the humans be blood banks and let the vampires rule with an iron fist. You and your court are becoming weak, Father-"
"Do not call me that!" The King intervened. "Do not dare call me that when you intend to poison me and put my head on a stick for all the kingdom to see!"
"Oh no, I won't do that. I was thinking of giving your carcass to the pigs."
Slap!
King Aurelius wasn't able to contain himself. Seething with anger, he had struck his daughter on her cheek. And then he grabbed her arm and threw her to the waiting soldiers.
With a smirk, Andromeda straightened herself and dusted imaginary dirt on her skirt. "You plan to leave me at the mercy of the soldiers who swore their loyalty to me? Not a very wise idea, old King."
But the commander of the Knights said, "We swore loyalty to Proteus, not to you, my Lady."
Andromeda gaped. What the hell were they saying? "You will do as I command!" she exclaimed.
To this, the Knight responded, "We don't listen to a woman's commands."
Misogynistic fools! Andromeda clicked her tongue. What now? This couldn't be happening. Her plan was perfect. Flawless. But that idiotic serpent Proteus ruined it all! For a moment, the image of a young Proteus, on top of a horse, extending his pale arms toward her, appeared in her thoughts. She mentally shook her head. No. She couldn't trust him anymore. He had betrayed her.
King Aurelius pointed in her direction. He ordered the Knights, "Restrain her!" And the soldiers did.
"Go on, kill me, and witness the death of your glorious kingdom. With me, we, vampires will be continuously served and revered. With your council, vampires would be seen as nothing but fools!" The vampiress breathed deeply, witnessed the rage of her father before her.
"Silence!" The King bellowed. The orange glow of the lit torches all around the room flickered. He called, "Magus!"
A slight, old man in a black dress and dark cape walked in front and stood beside King Aurelius. "It is ready," he said.
"Good," the King commented. Then, he looked at the rest of the crowd, shouting, "I, Aurelius, King of the kingdom of Aurum, vampire of the highest order, hereby sentence Princess Andromeda, my traitor daughter, to exile!"
Exile?
No.
No!
"No!" Exiled to where? Andromeda did not know and didn't want a life without being treated as royalty. "Kill me instead!" It'd be better than torture.
But the King already made up his mind. He continued, "She will be sent to a world where our kin, the vampires, do not exist, where humans are scarce, and where monsters freely roam the lands!"
The soldiers roared and stomped their boots on the floor. Andromeda felt claustrophobic, the throne room suddenly felt like a prison cell. She wanted to get away from it, escape away from the wrath of her father and his subjects. But where would she go? Aside from the castle, she didn't have a home.
Magus lifted his hands and in front of him a pendant looking like a drop of red blood floated. He uttered words in the ancient, forbidden language and Andromeda knew she was about to be cast away to an ugly world.
Desperate, she flew to one of the soldiers, took his sword from him, and tried to cut her beautiful head off. However, Proteus the snake was able to rid her of the sword and pushed her toward the chanting Magus. At that moment, a portal opened from the pendant, sucking Andromeda into it.
"No!" she shouted, trying her best to not be pulled into the wormhole. But, even with all her mighty strength, she could not get away from her fate. Slowly, her body was devoured by the chasm. She shouted angrily, cursing the King and his people. And before she was sent to the other world, her eyes met Proteus' and her heart quivered. Her last words in her kingdom were: "I will kill you, Proteus."
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"Andromeda... Andromeda... Wake up..." a young male's voice echoed inside Andromeda's head.
Her eyes snapped open. She looked around and noted that she was in the middle of a forest. Somewhere she wasn't familiar with. In the 325 years of her life, she had memorized every little detail in the forests of Aurum. She was certain that, now, she wasn't in any of them.
Damn.
She really was transported to another land.
No, not just another land.
But to another world.
The vampiress stood up, felt her knees wobble. Damn, she cursed again. This wouldn't be the end of her, she swore. She would thrive. She would find her place in this unknown world and be royalty again. How, she didn't know. But she was damn well sure she would do anything to be treated as a princess again. And maybe, even become queen.
Then she'll amass an army and head back to Aurum. She would take back what was hers. She would be the ruler of the mighty race of vampires.
First, she had to find the nearest town. What did Aurelius say? Ah. "She will be sent to a world where our kin, the vampires, do not exist, where humans are scarce, and where monsters freely roam the lands!" That was what he said. So, there won't be any of her kind here. That was unfortunate but that also meant she might be the strongest species in this land. Gifted with extraordinary strength, sharp intuition, and some magic, the vampire race was the mightiest in all of Aurum, and their whole world. Here, she might be the only one on top of the food chain. That was good news.
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
She heard a very loud thumping noise.
What was that?
Then, the sound of running horses echoed in the forest. People? Were the noises coming from the few people populating this world? Andromeda's heart lifted. She knew they were near. Her food. Her future servants. She could do it. In time, she would be their ruler.
Thud.
Thud.
The noise was too loud, no way coming from humans.
That was when she first saw them. Two gigantic human-like monsters shot through from the tall trees. They were naked but didn't have genitals. Andromeda's first thought was: "A freaking big bank of blood!". A human that size could make her stomach full for days! She should capture it and then drink its blood. It would be a damn feast. But how to restrain the big creature?
Summoning her magic, she waved her hands and tried to transform into a bat.
Nothing happened.
What?
She tried it again but failed once more. Something stung her chest. She looked below and noticed the blood-shaped pendant hanging on her neck. It glowed as she tried her magic. Damn. She was cursed by Magus. The pendant was making sure that she couldn't use her magical powers here.
To hell with that. She still had her physical strength.
Andromeda ran after one of the giants and climbed its body. It was still walking steadily, ignoring her. When she reached its wide neck, the vampiress balanced herself on top of it, bared her fans, and bit it with all her might. The taste of human blood flooded her mouth. However, just as she thought she was lucky to find such a huge prey, she realized that the blood from the gigantic human-like creature wouldn't reach her stomach. It was as if it disappeared quickly as soon as she sipped it.
"Ugh," she groaned and stopped drinking its blood. Of course, her father wouldn't throw her into a world where feeding would be easy.
She didn't have a choice. She needed to find the humans, somehow blend in with them, and then hunt for her prey. A vampire only needed to drink blood once in a while. Andromeda already drunk her fill that day so she still could go on for weeks without feeling thirsty.
She jumped from the giant's shoulder and hid in the trees. Once on the ground, she tore her clothes and covered herself with dirt. Then, she listened. The sound of galloping horses was coming from somewhere on her right. Where the gigantic naked human was heading.
They were near...
With her heels on, she ran as fast as she could toward the noise.
Above her, something whizzed. She looked up and saw a human with a short green cape seemingly flying through the trees. In a quick motion, he was on top of the giant, expertly slicing its nape and instantly killing it.
So that was how these large creatures were defeated. She was fascinated, especially with the flying human. With the wires connecting his hips and the trunks around them, he settled in front of Andromeda.
The human was short, as short as Andromeda. His black hair was parted in the middle and he glared at the vampiress through intimidating dull gray eyes. "How the fuck did you get here?" he asked in an irritated voice.
Andromeda knew being quiet was better than telling a lie.