AN: These chapters are being Cross posted from my account over on QQ and SB, I currently have nineteen chapters up over there, so it'll be daily uploads until this is caught up with them.
"He's beautiful my love." The beautiful woman said with a smile.
"He reminds me of you." The man laughs.
The woman raises a single delicate brow. "You must be joking love, he's an exact copy of you. He even has your eyes!"
The man laughs and looks down at the child. "Yes he does." The red orbs stare back at him full of innocence and wonderment. His long ears push aside the black hair that runs down his small head.
He smiles and when he looks up from his son's beautiful eyes horror fills him to see his wife gone. Where had she gone? He couldn't find his son either, he had disappeared with his wife. He searches desperately to find them both, eventually he steps outside.
It's silent, the village is empty. He sees it then, the graves. They span as far as the eye can see, and kneeling in front of it all is his wife. No not his wife, the maiden.
He staggers next to her, his body once so full of strength falls to its knees at her sides. Even now she clutches the swaddling cloth, but the baby isn't there anymore. Only the dust from a future that could have been remains.
His head hangs low as the memories return, never to be forgotten. Memories of this life and the last flood bring nothing but pain and heartache. Not all memories are bad however, and mixed within are moments of happiness, or joy and life. Including one that he had let go to waste for many years believing himself unworthy of even thinking about it once more.
The world is dark but the inn is warm and filled with light. The elves are happy and full of life, it's been a good day and with the arrival of the weekend they have enough time to get drunk and enjoy life a bit. He's in the corner soaking it all in when she arrives.
Tall and delicate with flowing blonde hair. Her face is like a perfect porcelain sculpture made in the likeness of the goddesses of old, her smile radiant and full of warmth. Her figure is the perfect mix of petite and full bodied with enough weight to show curves, but not enough to find fault. She was beautiful in every way and like every night she scanned the booths and when her eyes landed on him they lit up with happiness.
It hurt his heart to think about how happy she was to see him when he couldn't, wouldn't, return those feelings. Not when he knew it would just hurt them both in the end.
"Imril! I knew I would find you here again tonight." She said happily before leaning close to whisper conspiratorially, "You know you can join them too right? You don't need to sit away from everyone else."
I chuckled and pushed her away slightly, causing her to pout before taking a seat across from me. "I know that Reliasia, I just like absorbing the atmosphere. It helps me relax, to remember what life is like." I said, a smile on my face.
She shook her head and sighed. "Imril you really must stop talking like that, I know you've done things you're not proud of but that's all in the past. Plus it was against humans, so it doesn't count!" She said laughing, elves weren't known to have a particularly high opinion of humans after all.
Of course I knew she was just joking with me, she held no special animosity for humans. It helped I will admit and a smile slowly came across my face as she spoke on and on about what she had done throughout the day. She spoke about who she had talked to, who was doing what, what had happened to who and where, and generally the newest gossip.
I listened silently, just enjoying the sound of her voice. Eventually however she stopped talking and stared at me. Being the fool I was I didn't notice and just continued to stare at her smiling, happy just to be in her presence. I only snapped out of it when I noticed she was blushing and she had moved next to me.
We stared at one another, lost in one another's eyes and before I knew it I had drawn close, far closer than I ever should have. She met me in the middle and soon enough her lips were upon my own. They were like the softest velvet, and she smelled of vanilla and raspberries.
The wider world fell away for what felt like eternity as our lips met and our bodies entangled with one another. I could feel her hands running through my hair and across my horns, while my own wrapped around her supple waste and brought her closer. We only broke our kiss when she ran out of air, causing her to break away out of breath and panting.
Staring at her I could see the hunger, the need and desperation she had for me in that moment. In my weakness I fell to my own temptations and before I knew it we were in her home and our bodies were melding with one another's.
"I love you Imril." She said silently from beneath me. I gently cupped her face and kissed her. She smiled when I spoke. "I love you too Reliasia."
She giggled beneath me, and soon enough the both of us were asleep as she snuggled into my arms.
The next morning I awoke to her comfortable warmth next to my own. She was smiling in my arms even still and as the night came back to me I knew I had made a grave mistake. She must have seen it in my eyes as well because her smile died and she looked at me in concern. "What's wrong?"
"I..we shouldn't have done this I'm sorry. I have to go." I said, releasing her and trying to leave the bed. She stopped me, wrapping her arms around my body. "Please Imril, don't leave me. I love you."
I was paralyzed in her arms, her warmth like a curse that sapped the strength from my body. A curse I never wanted to break free from. "I..I love you too." I said while my voice cracked and my body shook.
"Then don't leave. If you love me don't leave the bed, stay here with me and be mine. Be mine so that I can be yours." She said, whispering in my ear. Her words were desperate and full of fear, fear that I would leave and this night would be forgotten.
It would never be forgotten.
I knew I couldn't. I knew what I was, what I could do and what I could become under the right circumstances. Even now I hungered, even now I wanted nothing more than to rip out the throat of a villager and drain them dry of every last drop of their sweet blood. It was a mercy what I did to her, it was a mercy to kiss her upon the head and leave under the cover of my hood.
I didn't see her for a week after that, and she didn't talk to me again for two. She only said one thing before I left that fateful day. "Please." Please don't leave her, please love her again, please don't let this be the end.
She would be happy I think. To know that I had never left that village, and that even now I had not forgotten. That I would never forget. I had an eternity to repent, and it wouldn't be enough.
That night when I woke no tears were shed. Just another nightmare to add to the pile, just another night of shame and fear to add to the pile. But just maybe I thought, it was time to move on.
I was old now, and I was young then. Would it be so wrong of me to want more from life than power and self-hatred? Was it so wrong of me to want love again, even when I knew I would never again have hers?
Staring out into the night air I made my decision. No, it wasn't. I would never forget, but that doesn't mean I would never move on either, not for the rest of my eternity.
Forty years, that's how long I had been in this world. Forty years of life as the progenitor of an entire race and type of Vampires. While I wouldn't say all of them had been well lived, especially most of my early years I would say that they had been instrumental in forming me into the man I would become.
It only made sense I supposed. Suffering, chaos, strife, struggle. They all made the man, forged him and molded him into what he would become in the end. He would either break under the strain or he would grow from it, and despite how close I had come to breaking so many times I had persevered and in my opinion I was all the better for it.
It had been twenty five years, a generation had been born and come of age since I founded my Kingdom. A lot can happen in twenty five years, far more than I thought possible. In the past ten alone the mortal population had expanded massively due to the massive amount of work I had put into increasing the standard of living across the board.
Medical aid became far more advanced than it had once been through magical means, and child deaths plummeted within my borders. Food grew at literally supernatural rates, and to live in my Kingdom at the time, during its golden age, was in my mind at least the best place to be in this world.
In just twenty five years since my conquest the population in my kingdom's borders rose from three-hundred to nigh on six-hundred thousand, a doubling of the population. The Vampiric population continued to grow as well, even if at a slower rate. Three thousand two hundred and twelve Vampires called my Kingdom home.
The clans grew more powerful as their numbers swelled, and as my kingdom prospered the calls for expansion came ever more fervently. Why should the kingdom not expand, they asked? We were stronger than ever, stronger than even the great Dragon Lords who ruled from their caves and swamps.
I crushed those voices with my silence, and even when the Aspect Lords approached me to ask why I made no move to expand our kingdom beyond its current borders all they received was my simple answer. "Because it is not yet time, have patience."
That at the time was enough for them. The Bloodlords were more powerful than ever, and the borders of my kingdom still offered them more than enough power to sate their ambitions. It was the clan lords and the others of the second and third generations who rebelled against this idea. They along with their children were hampered by the size of the kingdom, and by the size of the population.
There was not enough for them, no new land to partition and rule over, and no new positions to fill. So even as the kingdom prospered and wealth flowed seemingly unending my younger children grew discontent as Vampires are wont to do and they began to scheme.
It began simply enough, in the twenty-seventh year of my reign tensions began to flare along the borders where hunting grounds met the lands of other nations. Sentries and civilians going missing, merchants found dead alongside the road drained of all blood, and children disappearing in the woods.
Soon enough Chieftains and kings were sending diplomats and messengers demanding answers for these disappearances. I gave them none and sent them on their way.
The disappearances continued, and soon enough entire villages would go missing in the night. The final straw was when a traveling princess was found drained and left to rot after having gone missing nearly a month before. War came to my kingdom once more nearly thirty years after the last had ended.
Just as I had promised the previous leaders of the Demi-humans I had declared no war of conquest. In fact I had done nothing at all to cause the hostilities, I had simply let things play out as they may, I had even given orders that no hostile actions were to be taken against the Demi-human kingdoms.
Still I did smile when the declarations of war came from the surrounding Kingdoms. Unlike the last war however I did not take the field personally, I had far too much paperwork to see to, and the new lands of my kingdom would need to be integrated efficiently. This time I promised Carmine that I wouldn't leave the task for him, and I couldn't go back on my word.
When the legions were raised and began their march however I did take the time to see them off and offer my wishes. Twenty thousand Blood knights, Ten thousand Demi-human regulars, Two-thousand Vampiric Lords and champions to lead and command it all. It was a force unmatched in the lands of the Demi-humans, and it was mine.
The second Vampiric war was much different from the first. Without being limited by only three Vampires my armies could move around with much more flexibility, especially when they weren't relying on Blood knights for every engagement. The Demi-humans weren't simply going to roll over however, and calling up decades old oaths of unity against the threat my kingdom posed nearly the entirety of the Demi-human races came together against my armies.
One-hundred twenty thousand Demi-humans mustered across four armies marched from the east and north to break my armies. Among them were another five thousand elves sent by the Elven Emperor in the north. He had seen the threat my kingdom posed and he was keen to put a stop to the threat I posed before I could grow too strong.
Thankfully the Dragon Lords didn't intervene as well. They were content to watch the wars of their perceived lessers from the side lines, confident that their power was once more secure after the deaths of most of the six.
My armies were vast and mighty, but against so many even my generals struggled in the beginning. Carmine, acting as the supreme commander of the armies, of which my original had split into three, decided upon ignoring the Demi-human castles and fortifications. They could be dealt with at a later time, the armies needed to be destroyed before they could join together or reach the kingdom itself.
Moving with a speed only possible due to superior logistics, magic, and Vampiric physicality, Carmine led a force of one thousand Vampires and four thousand knights across nearly a hundred miles of forest. In just three nights he had reached the first Demi-human army which numbered nearly twenty-five thousand strong. Knowing that they faced creatures of the night the Demi-humans had wisely kept a strong night watch posted at all hours.
It meant little when spears of blood pierced their brains before they could react and Vampires faster than shadow climbed over their walls in the dead of the night. Hundreds died in the first few minutes alone, over a thousand before the alarm was rang and the camp awoke in full. By then it was too late, the entirety of Carmines forces had entered the Demi-human camp and begun their slaughter.
By daybreak half the camp was dead, a quarter had fled, and the rest had been clapped in chains to become blood slaves. It was a major victory and in the days and weeks to come one that would land a major blow to the Demi-human morale. Whereas before they had been nearly sprinting for my lands, now they moved more cautiously and towards one another.
They planned to meet, consolidate, and then move towards my lands and strike a blow with the combined might of tens of thousands of Demi-humans in a horde of a size unseen in history. My generals, Carmine and Ucelia especially saw it for what it was immediately and moved to counter this.
The two secondary armies moved east to match the two that were moving in from those easternmost lands. While they went to stall those armies Carmine moved for the final two northern ones. Knowing the Elves were the larger threat, he moved first for the army in which they were moving.
Having unburdened themselves of their blood slaves when they met with the other two armies after the defeat of the first Demi-human army, Carmine moved at extreme speeds across the region once again. Crossing nearly a hundred and fifty miles in a night and a half he would give his army one day of rest before they assaulted the Demi-human/Elven army.
When the sun began to set on the third day the Elven sentries took their positions along their camp's perimeter. They were relaxed, confident that no attack would come when the sun was still visible on the horizon. However the sun only stopped a Vampire, a blood knight felt nothing from its presence.
From the dense foliage thousands of Crimson armored knights appeared at a sprint that was far faster than should have been impossible for a being to reach while in full plate. They moved as if it weighed nothing. The Elven sentries however were not the Demi-humans, they were far faster, and far more disciplined.
Right before the Knights reached the perimeter the alarm went out across the camp while sentries were cut down. The camp awoke nearly instantly, most groggy from their half asleep state, but many simply got up from their cots and threw on their armor without having ever gone to sleep.
The Blood knights killed perhaps a few hundred before the Camp had organized itself into basic groups and formations cut off from one another, and they would kill perhaps two thousand before the clumps of soldiers had connected with one another to form a united resistance. Unfortunately for them they were unable to push back the knights completely before the sun had completely set.
From the darkness they came like a tide of shadow and blood. A thousand Vampiric champions and lords flowed over the camp's perimeter and reinforced the Blood Knight lines. Instantly the Demi-humans broke and ran when they suddenly began dying by the score. Only the Elves and those nearest to them held the line.
Not only because they were far more skilled than their Demi-human allies, and their discipline was nearly unbreakable, but also because Carmine, under my orders, tried to capture as many of them as he could. After two hours of fighting he followed my orders as best he could and nearly two thousand of the elves were clapped in chains and sent south to my capital.
As for the Demi-humans the majority of them had routed after only six thousand had been killed. Only two thousand had been caught in the after battle clean up and sent south with the elves. Carmine had been far more focused on taking elven captives than Demi-humans and as such far more had escaped him than normal.
Still, the army was destroyed and not likely to reform any time soon. The elves were captured or killed, and before long the morale of the remaining Demi-human armies took yet another dip. Within a fortnight the third northern army had been destroyed in a similar way to the first two, overwhelmed by the power of my children.
With three armies destroyed within two months the Demi-humans began to rethink the war and before long Lords, Kings, and Chieftains began requesting parley. They offered tribute, marriages, alliances, vassalage, and a thousand thousand riches if only I would agree to peace.
I refused them all.
Carmine crushed the final two armies in a pincer movement that encircled them and sandwiched the demi-human armies between the intersection of two rivers. The demi-human armies numbering forty thousand strong were destroyed in a single day without the intervention of a single Vampire.
Twelve thousand dead, twenty thousand in chains, eight thousand either drowned or unaccounted for, likely having either successfully crossed or joined the thousands of others that drowned and simply not been accounted for. It was a decisive loss for the Demi-humans and soon the neighboring nations were offering terms of complete surrender.
Those that agreed to be completely integrated into Relyirica, the name I had finally decided upon for my kingdom, were spared my army's touch. Those that didn't were subjugated in totality, their populations harvested for blood, and their greatest warriors and leaders integrated into the clans. One, a Lizardmen, even became the eleventh of the Bloodlords when he was able to single handedly fight and nearly defeat Uthelian.
To my surprise he inherited the Aspect of the soul, making him the third Bloodlord to inherit it, threatening the already established clan's dominance of the Magical market. Not that I particularly cared, I liked Karyusu. He was solid, dependable, and wise. He was exactly the type of person I needed in my council and I knew he would become Aspect Lord if given the time he needed to do so.
I bestowed upon the title the Learned to signify my favor for him. I thought it was an appropriate sign of what I expected from him, he would prove my hopes had not been unfounded in time.
The conquest lasted a year and a half and by its end Relyirica had grown by leaps and bounds, growing from the size of Hungary to the size of France, an enormous land area expansion that brought nearly a third of all Demi-human lands under my direct control. The Demi-human kingdoms that I hadn't conquered were forced to become tributaries, they would each pay a tithe yearly of ten thousand gallons of blood and three hundred pounds of gold.
The conquests brought a great many gains. The mortal population rose to a little over 1.2 million, the Vampiric population grew to a little over six thousand, another Bloodlord had been added to the ranks, war spoils flooded my treasuries, tens of thousands of gallons of blood had been collected, and a little over sixty thousand blood slaves had been gathered.
The two thousand Elves were set aside from the rest and sent back to their cells when a new festival was about to begin. I had other plans for them. Unlike the last I invited my Bloodlords to partake, along with their three most trusted Clan lords. They were even allowed to choose any of the slaves they wished to join their clans, of which they chose nearly a hundred.
The night quickly became one of blood and death as rivers of blood flowed beneath our feet and we drank, and drank, and drank, and drank until we could drink no more. Somewhere along the process I felt it, that final click. Suddenly I felt powerful, at a peak that I didn't know was possible. My aura of blood and fear spread throughout my body as the feast stopped.
My children looked my way even while they were in the middle of their meals and shaking like leaves they gingerly backed away from me as the blood began to flow towards me. Soon enough a vortex of blood surrounded me and all those slaves that had yet to be touched found themselves drained of their blood through their orifices as they dropped dead.
My Children ran, three of the clan lords weren't fast enough and their blood was drained from their bodies and added to the vortex. I was bathed in blood, I was doused in the magical power of tens of thousands of sacrificed sentient beings and I Ascended.
When the vortex finally died and the last of the blood entered my gullet, to disappear into the ether I stepped out from it more powerful than ever. I was a Demi-god of blood, a lord among lords, I was more powerful than all my Bloodlords and their clan lords combined. I was the Progenitor of all Vampires, and now I finally had the power to say that without fear.
High on my power, but cautious not to grow arrogant I declared the festival a success and retired to my room. I ignored the shaken looks on the faces of my Children even as they looked at me with renewed reverence, and religious awe.
The next night, after a good rest so that I could acclimate to my new power I summoned all the Elven prisoners. When they had arrived I summoned the Bloodlords as well, they would be needed for the events to come. They arrived without much fuss, if a little paler than usual as soon as they were in my presence.
With the prisoners arrayed before me and my First born at my sides I spoke. "Let your greatest warrior, Scholar, and leader step forward. If they do so I shall spare all the rest of you from death and consumption by my Children."
My tone was harsh and arrogant, quiet but commanding all the same. The years spent dealing with Vampiric politics and power brokering had quickly turned my learned aristocratic tendencies and ways of speaking into a genuine article. It was effective as well, because soon enough three Elves stood before me, two men and a woman.
"State your names and how you are supposed to be the greatest of your cohort."
The rightmost male stepped forward first. His voice was confident and charming, smooth and sounding as if a million angels had descended from heaven all at once. "I am Ilrimeir the Commander of this cohort, at least after the previous one was killed during the raid upon our camp. I may not be the greatest Leader of all elves, but here at least I command."
I liked him. He would make a great propagandist I could already tell. Humble and naturally disarming with his elven beauty, he would be a powerful diplomat.
The female stepped forward next. She was small and ill-fitting in her robes. Obviously a mage, and a learned one at that if her intelligent and curious eyes were anything to go by. "I am Elian, First mage of this cohort. I would qualify as the most learned of our scholars, First Lord of Vampires."
Simple and to the point. She even used my title, something I appreciated. She would do for the task that would be set before her.
The final one to step forward was the leftmost male. He was tall, nearly seven foot two. He was handsome, more masculine leaning than the regular beauty of the elves but still good looking nonetheless. He was well muscled, lean and angular in all the ways a warrior should be. He filled out his armor well, and when he spoke it was a low gravely baritone.
"I am Qulyan, First Blade of this cohort. I do not claim to be the best warrior among the elves, but here none can match my skill. None will dispute that." He said before going silent. His eyes were closed, his ears were twitching and his hands flexing. He was ready for violence to erupt, he would not go down without a fight.
Oh yes he would fit right in with the rest of the lords.
I stood and approached the three of them. With a singular flick of my wrist they fell to their knees as I manipulated the blood in their bodies to my will. With another flick their necks were laid bare and one by one I gave them the gift, transforming them into the newest of the Bloodlords.
When they awoke only ten minutes later they were barely ravenous. The frenzy was present of course, but not nearly as much as it had been in Carmine and Ucelia, much less the Demi-humans. I fed them the blood they needed to overcome the frenzy, much less than others had needed, and soon enough they were kneeling at my feet.
"Do you swear to obey my commands for all eternity?" I asked, spreading bloody symbols across their foreheads.
"We do." The responded.
"Do you acknowledge me as your Lord and progenitor? Creator of your bloodlines, and ruler of all Clans?" I said as my blood dripped into their mouths.
"We do." They stated as one.
"Then I Imrilion, First Lord of all Vampires name you my Bloodlords and give to you the right to found and lead your own clans." I finished and pulsed my magic, sealing our bond as master and servants. They were now bound to me just as the others had been, their oaths binding for all eternity.
"Now go and create your clan from your former Cohort." I said pointing towards the shocked Elves who had watched the proceedings in pure horror. "Remember none are to be fed upon, all of them will become Kin. You may each choose four hundred for yourself, the rest will be given to the other Bloodlords for their own clans."
They nodded and soon enough they were choosing their new clans members from the pack. I made sure to do this as soon as they regained consciousness, I didn't need silly things like emotions or former loyalties stopping them from making their oaths or turning their former comrades. That would have made my entire plan for them mute.
By night's end all two thousand elves had been turned, all of them second generation, most of them owing their loyalty to one of their former leaders. Those that had been chosen by the other Bloodlords would be too disconnected from one another to work together.
Just like that I had three new clans to look after my vastly expanded domains, and thousands of new Vampires to keep it in line, Vampires that I had a feeling would be even more powerful than those that came from Demi-humans. At least on average, Demi-humans were far too diverse to reliably turn them, Elves on the other hand were all magically potent, and those that I had ordered turned at least were all skilled in some key way.
They were amazing candidates to receive the gift, and within two years of assigning them to administrate parts of the newly conquered territories their lands were prospering. Not nearly as much the heartlands did of course, but far more than the lands administered by the other lands, except for those ruled by Karyusu, who ruled with wisdom and a justness I didn't think possible.
Hell, even Carmine took some notes from the Lizardman to improve the operations of his own lands.
Like always though soon enough after all the excitement the years began to pass by quickly once more. Being immortal vastly changed your perception of time, and even when two decades had passed since the end of the second war it felt like barely any time had passed at all. Of course I could see where time had passed, the expanding cities, the ever grander armies, reports that grew increasingly large, and clans that became ever more belligerent as they expanded.
Time passed, my kingdom's prosperity rose, the Clans grew, and I worked day in and day out. Years, years upon years passed and Relyirica's Golden Age seemed like it would never end. Even as I fell into a routine that never seemed to end and began to disassociate from the outside world years passed without me truly caring that they had even gone by.
At least until the report crossed my desk. Our spies among the humans had reported the appearance of a great castle in the sky, They spoke of the coming of eight Draconic Demi-gods whom claimed to wish for nothing more than to push back the inhuman tides that threatened to end human civilization.
One hundred and twelve years after my coming and ninety-seven years after I had founded Relyirica, the Greed kings arrived in the new world. I could only hope that I had prepared enough.