I could hear them coming. The sound of their metallic boots marching on the rocky floor sent reverberations through me. I felt my heartbeat speed up as terror encompassed me.

Confident as I had been moments ago I was now very much scared. In fact it was a fright that was so sudden that I couldn’t understand. But the consequences of my actions has come calling, and it did not seem like there was a way I could outrun it. I could feel the other prisoners surround me, the bulk of their body encompassed and hid me as I held on to the sleeping baby.

I could hear the guards talking, I could feel the hostility as it wafted off them in waves of pure aggressiveness. People were going to die, and this time there was little to be done against our enemies.

I began to hear their bodies fall and hit the ground. They fought back, they clawed and pushed. They used the only weapons they had at their disposal, the mining picks that has been an instrument of their own suffering for years, and their bodies. It was gruesome and bloody, the guards did not seem to care even as a few of them fell along with the prisoners.

The glint of silver weapons and armor under the dull light of the cavern sent an eerie and foreboding glow cutting through the dim atmosphere. I knew they were going to kill their way to me and the recently named Cassie. There was no where else to go, we had the mountain to our back, and our enemies to our front. The only visible outcome of this altercation was death and immense pain.

But a lot of people were paying a price for a hopeless cause. It was not fair, and mostly so when the entire situation was not their fault. The chasing wisps of an idea went through my head as I came to a resolute decision.

I handed Cassie over to that nice looking old lady who could fight really well. I think her name was Abba. Then I whispered quick words into her ears, I had no idea what I had said in the haze of the moment, my heart and mouth were moving to fast for my mind to keep up. She looked up at me after hearing what I had said and gave me a warm hug. It made me feel more confident in the choice I had just made.

She bounded into the darkness, bringing the full brunt of her vampiric speed to bear as she disappeared so fast she left after images behind. I could not help the smile that went past my lips, this was for a just cause, I had no regrets and I certainly was not going to back down now. My fingers glowed blue, that deep dark blue seemed so ominous to me as I used it to trace words over my skin. I did not need to remember, so I chose to forget.

Then I turned and made my way through the still densely packed group of prisoners. My sudden movements brought a lull to slaughtering that was going on. I felt immensely grateful for it though, it meant no one else had to die.

I could feel blood under my thin shoes, I could feel it seep into my soles as regret washed over me. But I did what I had to do. And they understood what was at stake, they made their choice.

But my guilt and gazes from their dead eyes did not make me feel any better. I felt like they were silently judging me, blaming me for their deaths. I felt the need to scream to them that I was sorry, that it was not my fault and I had no intentions of any of this happening.

But who would listen, it was most certainly not them, and the fact that I had strangely lost my temper and led a massacre would not have been an acceptable excuse. It was strange, very strange. Because with the guilt and the self loathing and regret I did not once detest my choice of saving her. Of saving Cassie. She deserved as much right to live as any body, if only so many people did not have to die for that privilege.

I looked up, and I could finally see him face to face. He was still as pale and stocky as the first time I saw him. His blond hair was hidden beneath a silver helmet with the depiction of a snarling wolf carved onto its surface.

Adein looked dangerous, and so much more than the first time now that he was wearing armor. There was a whip of pure silver wrapped around his right arm while he held a particularly resplendent silver sword on his left. He looked regal and impressive. But he still very much felt like a killer.

I saw him scrutinize me, as his eyes widened. There was a lazy grin on his face, and in time it turned into a full blown laughter. I could not pin point or see what he found funny, but I knew it was not going to end well for me.

“did I not warn you not to cause problems in my prison.”

He spoke those words with such loveliness you would think he was talking to a very close friend of his. But his face changed as it twisted and contorted in pure malice and hate. Tears of blood and red lava spilled from his eyes and cracks appeared on his face. He was horrendous.

And then with a voice more higher pitched than before, filled with so much pain you could not help but feel sorry for him. Then he spoke shouting at me for all of his worth.

“Why are you making me do THIS!!!!!, WHY!!!!!”

And then the silver whip in his hand flew towards me. I watched it fill my vision a dread took over every single edge of my body. As it covered my sight and about to impact on my face most probably leaving terrible wounds. I was shook awake.

I was drenched in sweat, heart racing and eyes wide I could hear and feel the terror in my voice. So far I have tried to forget and let go of the aftermath of my saving Cassie, but some things just won’t go away.

Adein. I hated that man with a passion that rivaled anything under the sun, I loathed him and would very much love to pry his eyes from his skull. But I was also terrified of him, very terrified. If I could have the fortune of never seeing him again, I would be very happy. But I needed to find him, I needed to make him pay. If not, I’m not sure my nightmares would ever come to an end. I needed them to stop, it was extremely draining.

“Are you okay my lord?”

I turned at her voice, I felt her hands as it encircled me. I felt her rocking me like a baby. I stiffened in shock. There was a lot of reasons why I had chose to keep a healthy distance away from Teluna’s mother. The woman had a beauty that would make even the best of men loose control over themselves.

At the moment I probably didn’t care about her beauty, but I very much cared that she was the one here at such a vulnerable time in my life. For some reason I hated the idea of being weak in front of her, especially her. I did not give a reply to her question, but neither did I leave the comfort of her arms. It was soothing the way she held me, and I felt less afraid, less worried.

I could not remember for how long she held me, I lost track of time as the hours blended together, all in a haze of whispered words and soothing music as she tried to calm me down. I fell into what you would call a semi conscious state. And in there, nothing else mattered, it was just me and her voice, me and her presence.

********************************************

When I woke up next she was gone. I couldn’t help but let out a sigh of both relief and disappointment. As king there was a lot of things I felt I could do, but hooking up with Teluna’s mom was not one of them. She was different than most if not all of the women I have met so far, her moods changed within the hour. I have seen her care and love with such gentleness you would think she was some immortal maiden from the heavens. I have seen her give orders, work, organize and even scold Teluna with such fierceness that I couldn’t help but respect.

But the best part about her eventually comes back to her beauty. She was not really tall though, about a 170 cm or so, her skin was fair and under the constant darkness of the pit in correlation with the lack of sunlight, she was pale. Her skin was marred with numerous faded silver scars that spoke of the pain that she herself has had to go through. She was a strong woman, and I saw it every day in her dark eyes, her silky long black hair and that strange but peculiar way she looked at the world.

A lot of things had seem stranger to me since the day I woke up knowing nothing and as a blood thirsty vampire. This feeling that I seemed to have every time she was around was even more foreign. I did not like the amount of power Kuyait had over me, and the fact that she was not even trying too, always pissed me off.

I got off my bed and crossed the room to the balcony, there was nothing much to see outside than the numerous vampires and dark elves that went about taking care of their daily business. My nightmares have kept me up and worried for numerous nights, but looking at this people every morning has reminded what I was fighting for. What I chose to fight for, I very well knew I could have refused to be king, because let’s be honest, what is there to be king over. Of course the population of the vampires and dark elves here, even with all the deaths numbered in millions. But in the end this was still a prison, a prison we were all trapped in.

But in the end it was not just about the power, I was no saint. I never claimed to be a good person and I know for a fact that I am not. I was a different person from who I used to be as a human, memories or no memories. The path I have chosen to take has no space for an activist, there’s only space for a conqueror. And I intended to be him.

“my lord Kael something has come up.”

My attention was drawn again, as I headed Kuyait's voice behind me. She was not clothed in any fancy cloths and she was already a mother but Gods was she beautiful. Even the almost invisible scars on her face and body did little to cover it up.

“The gnomes have confirmed that there are people digging from the other side of the collapsed tunnel.”

My eyes widened in shock as I took in the news. Honestly, I thought we would have enough time, but it seems not. And this was mainly my fault, but also the fault of the leaders. They chose to do nothing during the duration of my coma, instead opting to wait for me to wake up. That was quite incompetent and now that stupid decision has come to bite us in the ass.

“has it been confirmed who are digging beyond the collapse?”

She shook her head in answer as she looked up at me.

“The gnomes could only find out from the vibrations that this people had on a lot of metal equipment both on their bodies and that which they use in digging. Also they claim that they move strangely.”

Strangely? what did that mean exactly. I turned to Kuyait and asked her the question bothering me.

“What do they mean by strangely?”

“I was told that it was as if they were crawling on their bellies. Which would have been understandable if the excavated path made through the tunnel was narrow. But the gnomes can also confirm that they are moving in a tunnel three meters tall and wide.”

I had a basic idea of what was happening here, but I honestly prayed I was wrong. Because if I was right. I would probably end up dead long before I even become the king of anything.

“Do we have a rough estimate of the numbers?” I asked

“No my lord. They are moving strangely enough that the gnomes are not able to pinpoint their exact shape with through the vibrations.”

Shit!!, can’t I just have a break. I scrunched my eyebrows in thoughts as I tried to figure out my next course of action. But I could not figure anything out at the moment. Kuyait served as my personal maid and assistant. It was another thing she was competent at, but even her worried gaze had no answers for me at the moment. I turned to her and spoke as clearly as possible, but I doubted that I could completely hide the worry in my voice away from her.

“Kuyait, get me Teluna and Nisi. And please summon the council for me immediately, tell them we are In danger and the threat is close by. The Naga’s have returned.”