The Laeshi swooped low, dodging a high hanging branch. The trees below him were massive. Yet, they appeared in poor health, their trunks painted in dull and rotten colours, their branches drooping as if all life had been sucked out. There were few animal cries despite the size of the forest and even those sounded desperate.

Rising in the air, the Laeshi saw what seemed to be a mirage in the distance, a colossal castle shimmering in the mist - he knew better than to believe that though. He had been flying for several months, almost nonstop. Midway, he had even abandoned his crew, too blinded by the reward to wait any longer, and he knew for certain the castle in front of him was all too real.

It was the Fullhorn’s House. They rarely allowed visitors in but he would be, he was certain of that much. The Laeshi smirked as he thought of their name - Fullhorn. It proved how stupid humans were, to believe the Cruorems were humans all this time and not doubt a thing, and this showed why humans were unwitting prey in the food chain.

Minutes later, landing on the cold stone, the Laeshi folded his wings in and straightened his clothes and hair. His steps echoed in a haunting manner as he paced down a dark tunnel, navigating his way to the bottom layer. But as he was passing through a corridor, glancing over his shoulders every few moments, he found a large, muscular man leaning on the wall by the end of the corridor, seemingly waiting for him.

“You have balls, Laeshi, I’ll give you that. To enter our House without permission, you certainly have balls. Though, I guess you won’t be needing them after today,” the muscular man said, his eyes still shut.

“No, lord. I come with news,” the Laeshi answered.

The muscular man didn’t bite the hook, instead remaining quiet, perfectly still like a statue.

“It is to do with your lost lamb, Bian.”

The muscular man opened his eyes, his expression tightening into a scowl, the feeble light casting a deep shadow over his face. “What?” The man faced off the Laeshi for a while, before beckoning him to follow. “Either way, you’ve lost all say in your life already. Be it true, you will be a king. Be it false, the dogs can have a treat tonight!”

The Laeshi meekly followed, keeping his head down as he passed by other Cruorems on their way. He was led down and around, walking the maze of a castle with ease, eventually stopped in front of a towering set of wooden doors.

“Father will see you inside. Don’t bother keeping up any pretences you may have,” the muscular man said, pushing the door open for the Laeshi but staying outside.

The winged vampire figured it was a feast hall as he walked in. There was a large table with tens of chairs around it, selections of food and skull-sized mugs covering its top. The lanterns around were well-lit, giving the room a jovial mood. Or at least it would have had it not for the man sitting at the end of the table, the only person in the grand hall other than the Laeshi.

This man was smaller than the muscular Cruorem and looked to be middle-aged. He had a well-groomed beard and neatly combed hair, both the colour of thick smoke. Despite his comforting appearance, however, he somehow made the Laeshi feel little, like an ant to a Goliath.

“Bian Cruorem, she was always a troublesome one, you know?” the middle-aged Cruorem said, his voice pleasing to the ear.

Yet, the Laeshi gulped at this. As far as he knew, the Cruorems could not communicate through telepathy, and the muscular Cruorem hadn’t rushed ahead to update this man on the latest news. The most plausible explanation to the Laeshi, as mad as it seemed, was that the middle-aged man had heard. Despite the distance, despite the stone walls, this man had still heard.

“I did not know,” the Laeshi answered, deeply bowing.

“Mm, a good trade has to be equal. I’ve given you some information, now tell me what you have,”

“The Yhaoli had ordered me and my crew to go to Visgamar. We were meant to aid some human rabble take control from the Imperial forces, and while the rabble-leader was holding a meeting of some sort, I noticed a girl with a strong smell of blood, one ever so sweet. I immediately figured she was Bian,” the Laeshi explained, telling the details he had rehearsed during the trip here. “But I had to be sure so I followed her, and found her exactly so, a true Cruorem. She had three black talons across her neck and two arched horns,”

“Visgamar, eh? That’s quite far – she must have planned this escape better than any of us expected. But who was she fighting and how come she didn’t notice you?” the middle-aged Cruorem asked.

“I was in a tunnel, lord, watching her fight from a distance. I left the second she had won as I knew she would spot me. She was fighting some humans, I think friends of the rabble-leader. She fought alongside a Zakari,”

“A Zakari?” the middle-aged Cruorem asked, raising his eyebrows. “Are you certain?”

“He used Giah and had an uncanny mastery of ice. There is no doubt he was a Zakari,”

“Yes, no doubt indeed. Isn’t that interesting, she somehow met one of the last ones. Is it a coincidence, or?”

The Laeshi didn’t know if it was an open-question or not. Either way, he could tell the middle-aged Cruorem’s interest was falling – he had to strike while the iron was hot.

“Lord, I pledge to you I will travel as fast as I can to look after Bian and separate her from the Zakari,” he said.

“Mmmm,” the middle-aged man thought aloud. “Yes, Bian will need a guardian angel. You should leave now. As for the Zakari, leave him unharmed. She’s not one to be trifled with and I’d rather she didn’t turn her fangs towards us if possible. But if it’s looking too bad, kill him and bring Bian back at once – I’ll deal with her when the time comes,”

The Laeshi nodded his head and stood, brimming with joy.

“Oh, not you,” the middle-aged Cruorem pointed at the Laeshi, causing the winged vampire’s blood to freeze. He fell back into his chair, unable to move. “No, you’ve got a lot more purpose here than there. I think we’ve got a much longer chat ahead of us, especially about the monster king, your monster king, Yhaoli,”

*****

Leo looked at the four Seekers, feeling a sort of pride he hadn’t felt in forever. They had come in as garbage but now they were true Seekers. He had trained many recruits over the ages but these four were a different standard: they had a different mettle about them, similar to Kasib.

“You’ve all come a long way in these months,” Leo said, breaking into a genuine grin. “I’m sure deep inside you’re wondering why I worked you like dogs when some high-ranked Seekers like Jowler are fat fucks,”

The four in front of him didn’t respond but their eyes twinkled.

“It’s quite simple, really. None of you were born with gifts like the ability to use magic, or even better, to use Giah.” Leo said, winking at this, “And that’s what the Awakening helps you with; it gives you a gift you shouldn’t have, one your body can’t accept. But burn your body out, make it focus on healing and then intensify that until it can barely heal. Your body will shut down, and when your body is dead in all but name, we give you the gift. A rebirth in a sense, I guess,” he finished, leading them into the largest hut.

Jowler was already inside, shaking his head. “A fat fuck, am I now? I remember how much you used to respect me, Leo,”

The four Seekers followed him in like zombies, alive but not really. Their minds had been broken over the months – it had begun as a toughening but as time passed, the stress had grown too much for any of them to bear. Their bodies would have long been destroyed had it not been for the powerful drugs and meat they had been fed.

But now it was time for them to come back. Leo had been through the process – it was an unforgettable process, one that numbed you to your bones, but once it was over, their minds would slowly build up again.

“Which Elixirs did you chose for them by the way?” Leo asked.

“Djinn, Barghest, Einherz, and Siren,” Jowler said, his old age suddenly washing over him as he looked down, his expression pensive.

Leo turned to him in shock, before biting his teeth down as he realised what this meant. “It’s serious, isn’t it?”

“There’s no point in keeping around those Elixirs when Yhaoli is breaking the Empire apart. The Tribes have begun their invasion, you know? Soon, the Metoles will have to move, whether it be to the capital or the frontlines, I’m not sure. But it means the Horsemen will soon make their way here, destroying the forest,”

Leo wanted to argue against using those Elixirs but deep inside, he knew Jowler said the truth. While those potions had been hard fought for, there were no better subjects for them than the four in front of him. While some of them had lower potential, he knew with these potions that argument would become nought.

“It’s alright,” Jowler said, comforting Leo. “If all goes to plan, these four will kill some of those legendary shits and get us better Elixirs. If not—”

“Then we still gave it our best shot,” Leo finished.

“Damn right. But to be safe, you tell the others outside you made the choice to use these Elixirs, not me. Those ingrates respect you more nowadays,” Jowler scowled.

Leo smiled while shaking his head, before turning to the four Seekers. “Drink,”