Blood, Soul, Beast. Life, Magic, Transformation. Creation, Ascension, Change. The three aspects and their domains, the cornerstone of all Vampiric power and the ascension of the Vampiric race. They are the gift of the First Lord bestowed upon all of his children. His blood runs through us all and it empowers us to be far greater than we ever could have been without him.
We are his Kin and Kine. We are the children he has adopted and made whole, those with whom he has deigned to share his immortal and all powerful blood. The blood is sacred, the kiss a blessing, the hunger the price we must all pay. Power is never free, and just as the blood picked you up and made you greater than you ever could have been before so too must you participate in holy communion through the blood to continue your deathless existence.
Hail the First Lord! May his Immortal reign never end!
-The First Cardinal of the fanatical Cult of the First Lord.
She woke not long after we touched down along the outermost forests of the Demi-human lands. Our travel over the last night had been incredibly exhausting for me because I had been working on a time limit. I only had five hours to cross nearly a thousand miles to reach one of my hiding spots that I had created and it had absolutely drained me.
Moving at speeds fast enough to match a fucking plane was not an easy thing to do, much less maintain it for any sort of distance. If it weren't for the fact that I was incredibly physically powerful and had nearly ten years of growth under my belt I doubt I would have been able to do it. The fact that a lot of said growth came from my greatest sin still haunts me.
As such I didn't even try to interfere when she woke up with a wild look in her eyes and immediately tried to bolt out of Carmine's hands and into the woods. She failed of course due to his immensely more powerful strength and flailed in his arms. He tried to calm her, to speak sweet nothings into her ears and reason with her in her rabid state.
He failed of course and so he simply dropped their bags and held her close until morning came. Protected from the dreadful rays of the sun but still affected by its coming she quickly began to grow drowsy in his arms until she fell asleep. He wasn't much better and fell asleep within a few minutes of her.
I of course had grown used to the fatigue and narcoleptic effect the sun had on me after years of dealing with it and I was able to stay up for an hour or two longer than them preparing for the night to come. She would need chains to bind her until she had overcome the beast within and regained control of her mind and body.
It was a difficult task to create blood chains being as drained as I was, especially when the sun was out and about. Despite the difficulty I persevered and soon enough I was holding chains of incredibly dense and hardened blood that would be effective at keeping her locked in the safe house until we returned with enough blood to fuel her still transforming mind and body.
Once I was done I quickly found my own space on the floor of the hidden cabin and went to sleep.
When I woke the both of them were already awake and staring at me, likely having woken as soon as the sun went down. I had been the same during those first few years but as time went on and I gained a greater ability to operate while the sun still shone so did my need for sleep grow along with it. Recently I had even begun to sleep for multiple days at a time if I had stayed up particularly late.
Thankfully that night was not one such night and soon enough I was fully awake and Ucelia, Carmine had told me her name while I chained her, was carefully chained to the ground. Despite my worst fears however she was quite docile and even though she had struggled against the chains a bit at first she quickly calmed down when it was obvious she wouldn't be escaping them.
I figured the way she hadn't been able to escape Carmine's grip had affected her beastial selfs instincts and now she simply accepted the entrapment while we were around.
With his bestial wife chained and nothing to worry about for the moment I and Carmine quickly took off into the woods for his first hunt. We had to move around on foot as he had not yet begun to truly discover the extent of his Vampiric abilities, but even on foot the two of us were far faster than the eye could see.
I led him through the darkness of the Demi-human lands to our first target. I had marked many of my future targets with my blood over the years and it was beyond easy to track them down once I had done so. No longer did I worry about a potential victim escaping from me as long as even a single drop of my blood had entered their body in some way.
Quite the easy task when my victims were either unaware of my presence or incapable of stopping me from inflicting at least a single wound upon them as they ran.
When he finally came to a stop next to the small campsite of our target I was more than a little surprised to see that he had others with him. Two older beastmen and three adults, all of them some kind of cat based Demi-humans. I held Carmine back from immediately attacking and observed the interactions they were having with one another and after a time they brought up the target's exile.
They talked for a long time about politics, a changing tribal landscape, and the shift in the balances of power with the many deaths and disappearances that had been occurring over the last two years. Apparently the tribe which they came from had decided that it was time for him to return after his long exile. His crimes would be overlooked and his past forgiven if he agreed to return with them and fight at their side once more.
Of course he agreed. Oh he pretended like he wouldn't and extorted them for some minor concessions but in the end he agreed all the same. He had been a warlord, a conqueror and warrior that had fought to make his tribe greater than it ever had been before. When he had been caught violently raping the chiefs daughter he had nearly been killed, only his connections and reputation had been enough for his life to be spared.
The chief had only taken his manhood in the end and not his life.
I of course had seen enough by this point. It was obvious that he and the little delegation that had come to negotiate with him were well within my criteria as acceptable targets. I had spent the last two years ensuring the worst of the Demi-humans warlords and tyrants died to my fangs and it seemed as if it was time for me to do so again.
I signaled Carmine that the hunt was on and before I could even finish speaking I was looking at an empty space he had once occupied. In the next moment the screams began as he waded into the small campsite and brutally killed the men and women within. None were spared from his thirst and when I heard it grow quiet I calmly walked into the light to see him drinking from the last of the beastmen.
The rest of the bodies were little more than husks and he had saved our original target for last. He looked to be in ecstasy as he drank from the dying beastman, so much so I almost felt bad about ripping him from the body and holding him away from it. His wife needed the blood though and even as he scratched and bit at my arm to try and get to the man's body I worked calmly.
The man's blood tasted nearly as powerful as an elfs and once I had confirmed as much I quickly condensed it and poured it into one of my vials. It barely filled a quarter of the flask due to the fact much of it had already been drunk by Carmine himself, but that was fine. The night was long as our hunt wouldn't stop until the sun rose once more.
Once Carmine had calmed down and apologized profusely for what he had done we continued with our hunt. The hours ticked by and target after target was tracked down and killed. Most of them were given to Carmine to eat, their blood not high enough quality to warrant being saved for Ucelia. I of course drank from a few of the dozens we hunted to regain my strength but most of the spoils went to them in the end.
When we finally returned to the safe house just thirty minutes before dawn the floor was scratched to hell, the chains were nearly ripped out of the ground, and there were even some nicks on the chains themselves. An impressive feat considering I had made them myself.
As soon as she saw us, or more accurately the two bottles of condensed blood on my belt she went ballistic. Gone was the feigned civility and out came her true bestial instincts as she desperately reached for the blood around my belt. Carmine restrained her easily enough, and with her body pressed into his own he carefully opened her mouth and presented it to me for feeding.
Not willing to watch the woman squirm in the grasp of her husband any longer than I had to, I uncapped the vials and slowly drained them into her mouth in the same way I had done to Carmine. She fought and struggled to drink more of the blood even as I kept a steady flow, and eventually when the second vial was drained she grew lethargic as the sun crested over the horizon.
The next night went similarly to the first. I chained Ucelia, I and carmine left to hunt, and when we returned we fed her. The third was different, only because when the last vial, her fourth, was completely drained the light of awareness returned to her in the same way it had to Carmine and she slumped in his embrace.
Sleep claimed the two of them a few minutes later when the sun came up once again. When the night came once again however it was immediately far more interesting than the last few had been. Mainly because the two of them were arguing.
"You should have known I would never have agreed to this Carmine! You've made me into a monster and a demon! I remember what it was like, I remember how I was those first few nights!" She woke me with her shouting, the anger in her voice obvious as it cracked due to her sheer volume.
Carmine however was calm, his voice an even low rumble with a slight rasp. "I was not going to leave you my love. I didn't have the time to explain what was happening, not and still give us time to escape from the clutches of the Gods."
A slap sounded through the cabin.
"You son of a bitch. Don't try to act like you did this for me, you did it for yourself!" She stepped closer to him, stalking his way like a beast ready to pounce with her fangs extended and her claws out in full.
"You knew I would never agree. You knew that he was coming for you and you didn't even try to warn me. I saw the way you kneeled at his feet, I heard the words he spoke to you about the oath you had made." Her eyes flashed red and suddenly she was on top of him and raking his claws across his face.
"You sick bastard! You were planning this for years! You knew it was going to happen! You knew and yet you never told me!" Carmine let his wife practically maul him, his regeneration hard at work to repair the damage as fast as she could make it. "Tell me why Carmine! Tell me why you didn't trust me enough to tell me! To give me the choice at the very least! I thought you loved me!"
Her fists slammed into his chest and he bent a little bit from the force of it as a little bit of his blood left his mouth. "I did, and I still do my Love. That hasn't and never will change."
Huffing as she caught her breath she glared down at him. "Obviously we have different definitions of love, because this isn't love. It's manipulation. If you had loved me you would have given me the choice." She said before slowly getting off of him and moving for the door.
She froze before she could open it. Her body was shaking with effort and strain and suddenly her eyes opened in a panic. "Wh-at.. What's happening to me?!"
I spoke for the first time since she had awakened. "I'm constraining you of course. Did you think I was just going to let you walk away so easily?"
"What do you want from me, Demon?! I did not make the deal with you that my husband did, and I wish to have no part in whatever schemes you are conceiving. I simply wish to leave and never be bothered by you again." She said, her voice filled with a mixture of fear and anger.
I couldn't help but smile at her indignation. I found it funny that she thought I cared enough about her to actually care about her part in the plan. She was only here and alive because Carmine loved her, not because I particularly liked her or thought she deserved to be a Vampire.
"Nothing. I personally would have killed you already, but Carmine loves you. Loves you enough to share my gift with you without a second thought as soon as he could. My first Child made you my Kin and as such I will treat you as Kin. That includes service in my household, whether you wish it or not." I said, Vampiric arrogance washing off my body in waves. I had practiced my aristocratic, arrogant speeches during my free time just for this occasion.
I let her have some control of her body once more when I felt her attempt to turn my way. She nearly tripped when she could suddenly move once more, but undeterred she slowly turned my way and spit on the floor in front of me. "I spit on you and your kin. I refuse to be your servant in this life or the next Demon. Kill me now and know you have done yourself a service."
I still smile at the memory, I liked her immensely more from that moment on. The fire and the passion, the conviction and will. I could see why Carmine married her, she was the perfect woman for a man of his ambition.
She however wasn't quite as happy with the fact that I was smiling. "Why do you smile, Demon? Do you think my words are mere jest?"
"I am not my Child. In fact I fully believe that you stand behind them fully and utterly and I support as much. I wouldn't want my Kin and Kine to value themselves any less than you reveal yourself too, and I can understand your words and concerns." I approached her, my large form making itself more readily apparent the closer I grew to her. I could see the fear enter her eyes as she began to realize just how large I was.
I never did transfer back into a more Humanesque form after my sin, instead maintaining that of my more Vampiric form to never forget what I had done. Meaning I stood at nearly eight feet tall with large black bat-like wings, curling black horns, scaled arms and legs, and large claws. The red eyes, midnight black hair, and protruding fangs that were even larger than theirs were only added to the menace.
"However I also know that Carmine did not turn you out of Malice, and he didn't hide the truth from you because he did not love you. I have seen his memories through the blood and you stand out as perhaps his most absolute love."
"Then why didn't he tell me?" She asked, her voice hoarse and raspy.
"Because I knew what your answer would have been." Carmine spoke before I could. "Because I knew that I would lose you and with you everything that I had accomplished, along with my chance at immortality." His eyes flickered towards me as he spoke.
"I would have refused Ucelia." He said as he took her hands into his and I released my control over her. "He would have come in the night to fulfill our oath and I would have turned him away, refused his offer and likely died. All because I refuse to spend an eternity without you." He looked into her eyes trying to put his sincerity into her mind through will alone.
She was silent. Her eyes were puffy and at some point the tears had begun to flow as she stood looking at the man with whom she had sworn to love for the rest of her life in matrimony. "We could have lived a normal life my love. We could have told the gods of the oath and how you had changed. They favored you, they would have kept you safe from him. We could have… we could have grown old together and had children. Was that such a horrible future for you to imagine?"
"No it wasn't. Had I never made the oath it would have been my perfect future, the one I would have strived to attain for the rest of my life. Unfortunately I did make the oath, I imbibed the blood and knew that there was something more for me in this life. He gave me a destiny, a purpose, and a gift of power when I was at my lowest. His blood gave me strength even before I received the gift, and it was that strength that led to our meeting in the first place." He said.
I will admit at the time I didn't know that my blood could do that without the kiss itself, but it was useful information to have. Information I would use very effectively afterwards.
Carmine closed his eyes and sighed deeply, sorting through his thoughts and emotions. I could feel it through our connection, it was a weak connection at the time but even then I could feel the emotional turmoil he was experiencing. Eventually he opened them and spoke. "It was that oath and that power that gave me the ability to meet you. I would have never been able to do so otherwise, I likely would have ended up dead in a ditch long before we ever met." His voice grew desperate and he had to pause before continuing.
He squeezed her hands tightly, their already pale skin somehow growing a shade paler. "Were it not for that oath I would not be the man today, nor would I have been blessed enough to meet you. He was my savior, my master, and in the end my destiny. I could never have escaped him or his coming, because without him I would not be here today."
A singular tear escaped his eye as he closed them tight and put her hands to his head. "Please forgive me for not telling you. I love you, and I always will. But when you ask me whether or not I could give up my destiny for that future then the answer was always no. I can die happy at his hands having been judged unworthy for my love, but never could I turn my back on him. Not against the man whom I call lord and master."
She didn't speak, neither did I. This was a moment to be shared between lovers alone and I had been intruding, curious to see how things would turn out, but I had already seen far too much. I left them to their own devices and disappeared into the night on a new hunt.
When I returned near the dawn they were both asleep in one another's arms and the smell of… seminal fluid was quite present. While I wasn't very happy with the fact they had coupled in my cabin I also wasn't going to judge a pair of married lovers for expressing themselves and carrying out their marital duties.
I set six vials of blood next to them for when they woke up, the fruits of my hunt. While not quite the high grade blood that I had fed them during their bestial phases, it was more than enough to keep them happy when they woke up. I had little experience with matters of the heart in this life, and the thought of getting close to someone like they were scared me if I must be honest.
The last time I had allowed myself to truly grow close to someone was before my sin. One of the Elven maidens who had been interested in my stories of travel had tried to romance me on multiple occasions, and I had rebuffed her again and again. She was persistent however and every night she would try some new method of winning my affection.
She never did succeed. I was far too scared of being involved with her like that to even attempt having a relationship, scared that I would end up harming her. When the day of my departure came she was in the front of the crowd that saw me off, she even kissed me on the cheek before I began to leave.
I had thought maybe I could visit her again someday, maybe I could offer her immortality, maybe I could be happy.
She died screaming as I ran her down and opened her belly with my claws.
….
A choked sob escapes the man, the night is silent and none stir at the sound. He is alone in the darkness even while in his seat of power. None will come, none will offer comfort, and only the stone knows of what happens in the dark.
….
The night came before long and so began the hunt once more. Unlike Carmine who took to it well Ucelia is far more reluctant and picky with her food. She requires a backstory for every kill, a justification for every drop spilled, a lesson in morality every time she goes to bite and feed. It's a hassle, but with Carmine at my side we are able to teach her well enough.
Soon enough the nights morph into weeks, and then into months as I teach the two of them the life of a Vampire. They are hunting on their own before long, and not long after that they both discover their powers. It was through them I learned that my Children only inherit part of my power, one of the Aspects acting as the base of the bloodline while the other two aspects contribute minor traits.
Carmine inherited the aspect of Blood from me and since Ucelia was his Childe she inherited the bloodline from him. Like myself they could use Hemokinesis, though it seemed to come slightly harder to Carmine than it did to myself, and the drain on his magic is greater than it was for me. Ucelia is even worse than Carmine, requiring much more effort and magic on her part.
While not enough a difference to be immediately noticeable I immediately could make some assumptions from it. Those assumptions would be confirmed over the next year as they came into their powers and abilities. Carmine and Ucelia grew at different rates and by different amounts both physically and magically.
Even though Ucelia gained more magical power than she did physical power unlike Carmine who was the exact opposite, Carmine was always ahead of her magically. Even if it was only by a bit she could never quite reach him in either potency or reserves. Though she did quickly become more efficient with her magic and more skilled with it.
It was a great showing in the difference that a generation could bring and it told me immediately that it had been a good idea on my part to wait ten years before I created another of my kind. Even if the generations did cause a gap, it wasn't an insurmountable one from what I could tell, at least early on.
Other than that however their powers were very similar. They had the ability to manipulate blood, track their own blood's location, create arms and armor with it, harden and condense it, and even make blood knights with it. Though their knights were a bit basic and it seemed that while they had inherited enough of the aspect of the soul to create them, it wasn't enough to make them as complex as my own had become over the years.
They could also create wings of their own, batlike like my own were. They weren't quite capable of taking a Vampiric form but they could slightly enhance their bodies by shifting limbs into basic animal configurations. It was nowhere near my own abilities but it was a good baseline to use to guess at what other bloodlines would likely be like.
None of the aspects were completely missing, and they retained all of my very basic abilities, but those not tied to their main aspect were much weaker and used far more magic than was comfortable.
With a more complete understanding of how my gift spread and worked through successive generations I felt a little more secure in the knowledge of my own safety. It was nice to know that I wasn't nearly as limited as my kin were, though I would learn more with time that would disabuse me of the notion that my kin could never attain power similar to my own.
For the time however I was happy, and after two years' time with the two of them I felt confident in their abilities. Confident enough in fact that I decided it was time.
During those two years teaching and studying my Children I hadn't been idle. I had been busy creating a vast legion of Blood Knights, studying the Demi-human clans, and building up the location that would serve as the center of my Kingdom. I had been preparing for it for two straight years, and I was happy with my progress.
I had a basic keep that I had built myself, blood magic and stolen memories helped immensely, and while it wasn't perfect it was mine. With a singular curtain wall, and a keep no larger than a mid sized mansion it alone had taken me a straight year of work to create. After I was done it served as our new place of rest, far better than a simple cabin.
Its location was highly advantageous as well. Located near the center of Demi-human country and surrounded on all sides by dense forest and rivers it was very defensible. It was also located near local iron, stone, and coal mines used by the Demi-humans that I would use myself after I had conquered them.
About twenty miles to the north there was a small gold mine one of the other tribes had found, and it would be one of my early conquests as well. Gold had little meaning to me, but trade and an economy were important parts of nation building, and I would not have my nation fall because we relied on a barter system.
The centerpiece of it all of course was Me, my Vampire Children, and the ten thousand Blood knights I had created with their help. Eidetic memory and extreme multitasking really helped out when it came to managing them all. I will not lie, especially when I could delegate to Carmine and Ucelia.
In the twelve years since I had come to this world my blood knights were far different from my first experiments with them. They were nearly completely independent and extremely skilled fighters. They all shared the skills and memories of the best fighters I had come across and eaten, including many of those that had almost killed me with skill alone.
Even the memories of Carmine were used in their creation, he being the best swordsmen I knew. Finally with my far greater blood manipulation abilities their bodies, armor, and weapons were far greater than they had ever been before. I had even used my first blood spell on them to cause the weapons to inflict a bleed effect on any cut with them.
Looking upon my legions as they were arrayed before me, I smiled. It had begun.