Ch. 11: Dominance and Authority 3

Already, twelves coffins had been brought up using several silk ropes Rainier created. He made introductions with the old man, finding out his name to be Falth Ladia. Though Rainier expected it, he was still surprised to see more dhampirs come out alive from the coffins.

“There really is a family of you guys in these coffins.” Rainier scratched his head as another coffin was pulled up by a group of human looking dhampirs.

Like Falth, all of the dhampirs so far had the last name of Ladia and were equally emaciated as he was.

“Of course. Though the process of unsealing the coffins would go much quicker if we could use our wings.”

“Why can’t you?” Rainier coughed lightly, he had read the encyclopedia entry shortly after freeing Falth, and so he knew all about their abilities as a race.

Dhampir- A race born from the union of a vampire and human. Other variations of half vampire species are notoriously dangerous, but none meet the potential of a dhampir. Dhampirs possess only strengths of vampires and humans; they do not have any of their weaknesses. From the vampires, dhampirs have the power of both day walkers and night walkers, thus they are not weakened at any time of the day. From vampires, they have abnormal strength, blood regeneration, night vision, natural dark magic affinity, and wing flight. From humans they possess evolutionary capabilities, blessed aptitude for mundane and arcane advancement, and other such visionary qualities. Like vampires, dhampirs are given a coffin upon birth will be their main sleeping area until they designate a new coffin as their bed via a ritual. Also, when a dhampir comes of age, they choose a weapon which they will always know the location of and can never break until the dhampir itself dies.

“After a long time of being sealed, would you not be hungry? I have held back since you saved me, but I am quite hungry for blood, even a mere animal would do, but humans prove to be the most nutritious.” Falth’s eyes were clearly staring at the veins visible on Rainier’s skin.

“You won’t be harming this man, not while I’m standing…” Sataska suddenly placed herself between Falth and Rainier.

Falth, who was sitting down on the coffin he emerged from, looked blankly at Sataska before showing a wry smile. “There is no need for worry, little one. I will not be harming the man I swore to serve even if threatened to being burnt alive.”

Fire purification was one of the few ways to kill a dhampir. It was just that normally they never stood still long enough for it to happen. Sealing was in fact the easiest way to deal with a dhampir, forcing them inside their birth coffin and thrusting their blood weapon through the top into their heart.

“This spear of mine will kill… And kill and kill as many times as it needs to keep this one’s master alive.”

‘Quite loyal, isn’t he? Well he’ll be useful that’s for sure.’ Rainier’s expression was a mix between smugness and exasperation. “Falth, if I offered, would you and your family partake of my blood? Of course this is temporary until we find enemies for to harvest blood from.”

Falth’s eyes widened, he was clearly astonished. “Never before has anyone freely offered blood to a dhampir! Not in any memory of mine have I heard of it. Perhaps you do not know the danger your offer suggests? Blood is intoxicating, to a dhampir like I, it is a drug of the highest quality. While I won’t be addicted to your blood per se, I may not be able to stop myself from drinking your arteries dry.”

Rainier gazed upwards and sighed. “If it will ensure your family’s loyalty, then I don’t see why I shouldn’t.”

Rainier realized that the first step in acquiring loyalty was by freely offering danger to one’s life by assisting the servant. In the servant’s eyes, there was simply no plausible reason for the master to risk himself for the low class. And if that master disregarded his life for a ‘mere’ slave or servant, complete devotion would be acquired.

“You would trust not only I, but the rest of my family with your blood?”

“Don’t put it like that. Think of it like I am buying your loyalty by playing with my life. It sounds more dramatic that way.”

“…” Rainier’s casual joke rendered Falth speechless for a few seconds. “Dramatic, huh? HAHAHA! You are quite right, then let us do this. Since I am the oldest of my family, I should be able to break away from drinking the most easily with my will.”

Sataska looked at Rainier with pleading eyes, begging him not to play gamble with death.

“Heh, Sataska, don’t worry. If I die, then I wasn’t as strong as you thought I was and that would mean I’d be a horrible mate in any case.” Not that Rainier planned to be Sataska’s mate no matter how this proceeded.

Rainier made himself comfortable on a stump. One of his hands was gripping onto a slab of firm bark. Rainier held the other arm aloft for Falth who came over and brandished two sharp fangs in his mouth.

“Then please pardon my uncouth behavior for the next few seconds” Falth plunged his mouth on the center of Rainier’s right arm. The two fangs easily broke the skin and Falth instantly began to drink.

The pain Rainier received was intense. It was like feeling two hypodermic needles thrice their normal size into his arm and sucked out more blood than a group of hungry leeches. However, that pain ended after several seconds, like Falth said, he was composed enough to know when to stop drinking. Though the old man seemed like he was thirsty for much more judging by the longing in his eyes.

“It’s been a long time… Ah bliss, my thirst is satiated for now.” Falth spoke with more vigor than before. In fact, everything about him seemed more energetic than before partaking of Rainier’s blood.

Falth stood tall and proud with a muscled stature. His face seemed to have a permanent expression of both grace and firmness. He held on to his spear with discipline far superior than any honor guard. Any bit of weakness that was on his body disappeared. He shuddered and arched his back before letting out a youthful cry. Suddenly, two charcoal black and heavily veined wings sprouted from his back. The bone running through the wings ended in vicious looking claws that quivered on the ends of the wings.

“Each one of us need about the same amount of blood I took, some a bit less, but you’ll need to at least give each one of us a dosage of that much if you wish to reinvigorate all of us.” Warned Falth.

The amount of blood Rainier gave to Falth wasn’t as much as Rainier expected- at least he didn’t feel any worse. His arm looked slightly pale for a second, but it was quickly flooded with a new infusion of blood.

“Do you have to drink straight from the body?”

“Hmm, no, but its effect is much greater the fresher it is. Of course if the blood is poured into a bowl and drank soon after, that would be the same level of freshness.” Falth thought about the inquiry for a second before answering.

“Then wouldn’t it be logical to limit the danger by pouring my blood into a separate vessel? I’ll drain my blood into this mug, I’ve got a good handle on how much is needed, so have the next guy come up for a drink while you assist in bringing the coffins up.” Rainier pulled out a sturdy ceramic mug from Outpost Roseir. “Sataska, don’t worry, this’ll be safer so you help with unsealing the rest of the coffins.

Only Rainier or Sataska could pull out the weapons sealing the dhampirs inside the coffin, so it would be efficient for Sataska to perform the rest of the unsealing.

“Really, I don’t believe you for a second when you say you would be a horrible mate. I chose correctly, and I won’t be denied that truth.” Sataska earnestly admired Rainier’s ingenuity and penchant for survival.

Falth had gained a new level of respect for Rainier. It seemed that the human not only ignored the potential danger of him losing control of his thirst, he never even put the fact that he might die into the equation. Rainier had already developed such a simple idea of dispensing his blood effortlessly and safely.

Rainier began to knead and wring his arm like a dishrag in order to draw out the blood. He opened the wound with the Razor of Envy a little wider to make the process easier. Rainier winced in pain and agony every second of the procedure, but any amount of pain was worth it if it meant his continued survival.

Time passed as Rainier gave cup after cup to more of the dhampirs. They each offered eternal thanks and servitude seeing as the eldest of their family had done the same. They all commented in some way or another how Rainier’s blood tasted unusually delicious taste to the blood. Rainier couldn’t help but notice how, for a lack of a better term, perfect they all were in the looks department. Each of the men was equally handsome in some way or another, not that Rainier knew how to rank someone based on looks when the other party was a male. The females were all of course beautiful, much more so than the average pretty girl back on earth. There were even some that suited Rainier’s tastes to a T.

‘Though I feel like a scumbag if all I do is focus on looks.’ Although he felt a little weaker than when he first started, Rainier could still keep giving blood.

At this point all but two coffins remained. The members of the Ladia family, including those two coffins amounted to thirty-two. They used their wings to fly around the coffins to tie the ropes and simply lift and pull the coffin at the same time for the quickest work. That mean Rainier gained thirty two elite follows. ‘Doesn’t that make me like untouchable? Couldn’t I just have these guys simply be my bodyguards?’

Though Rainier could do that, it felt unbearably… Boring. ‘I may want to survive in this world, but what’s the point of living if I can’t do anything? Isn’t life about doing what you want and having fun? Dying of course isn’t fun, but it’s the thrill, the adrenaline rush that’s getting me going right now.’

Then Rainier had an interesting thought. ‘These guys are essentially calling themselves my servants. They’re also incredible fighters, without a doubt. Maybe I can make use of their talents to…’

“HEAVE!” Falth and two more dhampirs were pulling up one of the last two coffins while three other dhampirs did the same to the final coffin.

One of the dhampirs with Falth, named Porth, wiped the sweat from his brow. “Nera and Tero should be in these two coffins, correct elder?”

“Yes, the twins, I remember seeing them get sealed away in the coffins furthest from mine, and seeing as they have not appeared yet, they must be in these coffins here.”

‘Well then, hurry up and get on with it, I’ve already got the blood ready and I’m tired.’ Rainier just wanted to sleep and get on with the day. It was nearing the evening, so he was feeling tired, especially after giving out so much of his blood.

“Hm? Yes, of course. Let’s hurry up and get these coffins ready for the unsealing.” As if Falth, Porth, and the rest of the dhampirs received Rainier’s mental command, they immediately set into the unsealing process.

‘Did I just…?’ Rainier had a quizzical expression. It was as if the demand he made in his mind took root in the dhampirs heads, as if Rainier commanded them vocally. Although he only suspected, Rainier believed that he could mentally command each of the dhampirs if he so wished, but the only way to find out was to test his theory.

‘Right then… Falth, can you hear me?’ Rainier asked Falth specifically, so far he proved to be quite trustworthy.

Thinking that Rainier had asked him out loud, Falth replied with his voice. “Yes, lord?”

‘Reply with your mind if you can, I’m testing out this telepathy.’ Rainier was ecstatic. He already knew that he shared some sort of telepathic link with Sataska, but he had no idea that he could have one with these dhampirs.

‘You can thought speak? Not even any of the Ladia family can do this. Even among the humans, it is a rare power.’ Falth was quite alarmed yet intrigued at the same time.

‘I call it telepathy, but yes, it seems I can speak with others through my mind.’

‘Amazing, you are full of surprises my lord. I can certainly see that these upcoming days will be interesting.’ Falth nodded with a pleased grin.

“In any case, there’s no point in using telepathy now. Let’s unseal the last two coffins.” Rainier walked over to where the final two coffins were.

Right now there were three neat rows of coffins laid out totaling ten in each row. There was about twelve dhampirs total hanging around the area with the rest keeping watch around the current territory. Rainier could see some of them stretching their bodies out after their abnormally long sleep. Some of them weren’t too happy about the person their elder was going to have them serve, but what could they do? Humans are extinct and the elder already chose to serve the one human they knew of. Besides, even the stubborn dhampirs had to respect that the human not only unsealed them but freely offered his blood.

Each of the dhampirs had their polearm of choice which was used to seal them inside their respective coffin. Rainier was surprised to see the weapons and the clothes the dhampirs wore completely unmarred.

‘With this group, I can turn Outpost Roseir into a decently fortified place. Still a real fortress would be cool.’

“Well, no time like the present. Sataska pull out that weapon.”

“Okay!”

Rainier and Sataska pulled out the sealing weapons simultaneously and soon following were two loud sounds.

*CRACK!* *SLAM!*

The tops to the two coffins were blown off and went flying into the air, even higher than the top to Falth’s coffin.

“Thiiiirrssssty…” “Give usss sustenannnncce…” Two very worn and arid voices called for the same thing, blood.

Falth and Porth knelt down to the coffins, taking the mugs of Rainier’s blood and tipping them down into what Rainier assumed was a mouth both. Gulping noises came from the coffins and the portions of blood were quickly downed.

“F-Falth… Elder, how long has it been?” One of the dhampirs inside the coffin pushed itself up revealing a very young looking and handsome teenage boy.

“I do not know exactly… All that I do is that it has been thousands. Dhampirs like us couldn’t very well survive a sleep this long, we were lucky.”

“I see… What is this? The blood, it’s taking hold of my mind. Poison?!” The boy clutched his head and thrashed about as if trying to shake something loose stuck on his head.

“No, it is not poison. I guess it is similar to a leash to put it crudely? The old master had died; he was a worthless one to serve anyways. The new lord has already gained my respect. His blood has magical properties to it, so please. Accept the burden of servitude once more.” Falth held the boy close to his chest, hugging him like a father. “Nera, come here so that I can hold you as well for the first time in ages.”

Out of the other coffin rose a teenage girl with features similar to the boy, Rainier would believe they were twins without even knowing so earlier. The girl and boy both accepted Falth’s embrace and returned it in kind. It seemed the three had a dear kinship with each other, perhaps familial love?

‘I’ve never had such a thought before. I care about the friends I have but I’ve never thought of someone as family aside from my friend and his younger sister. Even though I said it, I can’t imagine Sataska as a younger sister either.’

“Now you two, I have one command. The Ladia family will be serving Rainier, that human over there. You two will need to be especially close to him as his personal guards. You two are special, more so than the rest of us so I believe in you both.”

‘I get bodyguards? Awesome, I guess.’

The boy, Tero looked at Rainier and back to Falth before nodding firmly. “Of course, you can trust my sister and I!” He then clasped his hands together and declared with a determined voice. “Success and life or failure and death!”

Nera also looked at Rainier, but it was best described as sizing him up. “Yes, Elder.” It was clear that she wasn’t too pleased by the prospect of being Rainier’s bodyguard, but Nera would not disobey Falth’s request. She absolutely trusted everything he said, and so she couldn’t find anything noteworthy about Rainier, there had to be a reason Falth liked him so much.

“Now, Lord, do you have a place of residence?” Falth handed him and Sataska freshly sown articles of clothing made of spider silk and other fibers while asking his question.

It seemed one of the dhampirs was a skilled tailor and quickly made clean clothes for both Rainier and Sataska using completely accurate measurements. The seamstress seemed to be capable of taking their measurements by simply gliding her hands over their bodies in and oddly arousing display, though Rainier remained composed through the matter. Rainier now wore a black form fitting shirt with a hardened leather plate coat for warmth and defense, below he wore matching colored heavy silk pants. Sataska wore an alluring set of hard silk robes colored a distinct dark blue; it had a grey sash to keep it together. In all, the Rainier looked masculine while Sataska had a serene beauty to her. Even Rainier would fall for her if she wasn’t an ant to begin with.

Back to the matter on hand…

“Hm? Oh yea. Sataska and I are currently taking refuge at Outpost Roseir-Huh?” Rainier was instantly interrupted by a dhampir named Ganel who burst into the scene and knelt down on one knee.

“Lord! Elder! We have apprehended an intruder. We were going to kill him instantly but he said he knew the lord.” Ganel reported with urgency, though he didn’t stutter once.

Rainier tested his ability once more. ‘Can I impress orders on others too? I’ll try it… Tell me what the intruder’s name is.’

“Yes, lord. He told us his name was Kosok Kre.” Ganel didn’t even seem to realize that Rainier told him his order via the mind and not vocally. Rainier didn’t even try to use telepathy, he just stared at Ganel and thought out his order.

Falth’s eyes widened again, it seemed he realized what Rainier just did. The twins as well were both confused, but it seemed they saw the same thing as Falth. In any case, Rainier was surprised to hear the arachnacosa prince’s name again.

“Geez, it’s good you didn’t kill him. He’s an ally so to speak. Bring him to me, please.” Rainier, as though he had been in this position before, felt natural in giving out orders.

“Yes, lord.” Ganel turned around and dashed behind the trees to where he presumably captured Kosok Kre.

“My lord… Not only can you thought speak, but you possess mental domination?!” Exclaimed Falth with a wide open mouth.

“This hum- I mean our lord has such a rare power? Mental domination is rare even among the true masters of darkness.” Nera almost said human and received a sharp glare from Falth so she quickly corrected herself.

A true master of darkness, or commonly known as a Lunar Lord, are magic users at the top of their craft in the darkness element. So Rainier knew not what Nera was talking about but he understood that this mental domination was not commonplace.

“I realize it now. I got these mental powers from that evoant queen I killed!” Rainier made a mental note to kill even stronger beings with the Razor of Envy from now on.

“Evoant queen? Ah yes, those do exist now that I think about it. Well that doesn’t explain how you acquired mental domination. Even so, it wouldn’t do for a simple servant like I to know too much about the lord lest someone wrests secrets from me.” Falth grinned knowingly.

“Sataska here is one as well, though she’s nicer than the rest it seems. Treat her as an ally, alright?” Rainier was slightly worried that the dhampirs would not show the same level of decency to Sataska considering how she’s part insect and human.

“As you wish. And I will tell my kin, but some of them may not be too enthused.”

Off to the side, Nera and Tero were speaking to themselves. Even though telepathy was a rare ability, the twins could thought speak to each other at will but not to anyone else unless spoken to.

Tero began the mental exchange between the siblings. ‘What do you think of the new master?’

Nera inspected Rainier with dismissive eyes. ‘He’s weak. I can’t tell what Elder sees in him.’

‘Hey… I’m sure there is some special quality only Elder can see. He was apparently the first to be awakened among all of us, so even though the time was short, he understands the master best.’ Tero tried to change his sister’s conceited view on Rainier, to no avail.

‘Look at him. He’s clearly not even at the tropospheric level of magic in any element. His eyes and demeanor ooze inexperience and immaturity. His weapons are weak and he has that silly mask on him. Also his choice in companion is appalling, to think a human, and our ‘lord’ at that has lain with an insignificant ant.’ Nera only assumed Rainier shared a night with Sataska. ‘Yes, he may have the ability to thought speak with anyone as well as mental domination, but such powers mean nothing if you are too weak and idiotic to make use of them.’

‘Sister, first of all you’re being too unreasonable. Your expectations are quite high due to the previous master’s worthlessness. That man wasn’t even slightly worthy of being our lord: he was an utter piece of trash.’ Tero mercilessly struck down the Ladia family’s previous master. ‘This new lord, Rainier… We haven’t even known him for more than an hour, we do not know if he is unworthy or not. For now, please work with him until he proves himself. As for his companion, I do not see why her being an evoant has anything to do with it. In my eyes, all races are equally worthy or unworthy.’

Nera quietly listened to her brother’s silent speech. She deeply respected her brother’s beliefs and reluctantly accepted his request. Whether this mysterious human is any better than the rest of the extinct humans will be up to his future actions to decide.