*Chapter 126 - Zekul

Chapter 126 - Zekul

That night Trey set out for the slums once more.  He was becoming distraught due to his lack of success at finding those he sought and cursed his luck.

Standing atop the roof of a warehouse beaten by the winds of time and left unrepaired, he looked out  across the city - eyes lightly glowing a brilliantly colored light blue.  He’d been there for a couple hours now and had remained in that position without moving.  He was about to get down and try another area when luck finally had its way with him.

He heard a noise from behind, narrowed his eyes, and whirled about to see two hooded men speedily clambering up the side of the building to stand a few yards away.

The three men stood silently for a time before one of them slowly approached Trey with an outstretched hand in the dark of night.  “We haven’t seen you on these hunting grounds before, and I must admit we were quite impressed by that display at the bakery earlier today.  I believe you gave that man the name of Trey?”

The hooded figure smiled, displaying rows of normal looking teeth - but his eyes began to glow a light blue as well.  The man behind him also began to glow at the eyes as he stepped forward to extend his hand too.  Both of them smelled incredibly pleasant, aromas met Trey’s senses that strangely enough brought him a weird sense of pleasure… or maybe it was just that they didn’t stink like pig shit - a drastic contrast to the rest of this armpit of a city.

But at last!  Trey had finally found them!

Shaking their hands one at a time, Trey gave a curt nod.  “Took me long enough to find some of my own kind here.”

“You were looking for us?” inquired the first vampire.

Trey nodded under the starlit sky.  He needed to sell his situation so that they’d buy it without question.  With his modified facial features, he hoped that wouldn’t be a problem.  “I’m newly turned, the woman who turned me back in Shrubeth told me that I would find more of us here in the town of Mobobe… but you are the first two I’ve met aside from her.”

“Ahh…” said the second vampire with a curt nod.  “A new blood.  And to think you’re already this strong… I would be very interested to see how you turn out two hundred years from now.  Your predecessor must have been very pleased to find such a disciple in you.”

“Speaking of which,” interrupted the first vampire, “Why do you bear the mark of Maltetious on your mace?”

Trey stood confused, “Why would I not?”

The second vampire chuckled, “He is a new blood remember?  He probably does not know of our numen yet.  But we have been rude, let us introduce ourselves.  My name is Furdom.”

Furdom took his dark hood off to reveal his elvish features, blonde hair down to his shoulders stood against his pale white skin.

The first vampire in turn took his hood off as well.  He had a deep red and very short haircut with more human features than Furdom.  “My name is Tenke, I apologize for my rudeness.”

“Not at all.” said Trey with a casual shrug. “But what numen do you two speak of?”

Tenke and Furdom both smirked and exchanged glances.  Then Furdom replied: “The glorious and mighty Aktovan.  You will come to know her soon enough.  Have you eaten yet?”

“I had some soup earlier at the inn, thanks though.”

Trey’d eaten his fair share of people, animals, demons and monsters over the course of his time since acquiring his demonic mask.  He’d acquired a natural hunger for flesh, but he wasn’t about to tell them that.  He wanted them to think of him as a true greenie.

Tenke laughed loudly as Furdom smiled with a shake of his head.  “You truly are a new blood aren’t you?  Well then, what I meant is have you had any meat recently?  I’m not sure how long you’ve gone without a fresh kill, but if you don’t eat enough meat you’ll get sick.  Soup is… usually not sufficient.  Now that you’re a vampire you can begin to think of your diet as nine tenths carnivorous and one tenth other types of food.”

Tenke clapped Trey on the shoulder and gestured to the sleeping city as they stood along the rooftop.  “I remember when I was first turned twelve years ago, I had the hardest time adjusting.  All my once favorite foods had turned disgusting and I got these odd cravings… other people started looking tasty.  Even my family.”

Tenke looked up in thought, remembering the past.  “I felt truly bad about killing my neighbor at the time, but he was my first kill.  He had been bringing in wood from the forest when it happened.  I had tried to stave off the hunger by eating animals for a time, but it just isn’t the same.  Doesn’t taste as good or satisfy as much, and when you realize that you’re now at the top of the food chain - well the lesser races just become cattle to you.  You’ll get used to it.”

Trey faked a smile in recognition of his statement.  Top of the food chain?  These guys had no idea.  He wondered what Ezdeath would have to say about that, but the demoness kept to the shadows a little ways off and silently watched the two pompous vampires brag about it without interfering.

“I’m sure our friend Trey here won’t have much of a problem.  He seemed to have little thought or trouble about killing those men earlier today.” said Furdom with a snort.

“How long ago were you turned?” asked Trey sincerely as he faced Furdom.

Furdom immediately shook his head and put up a hand.  “I was never turned.  I was born a vampire, I am a true blood.  Thirty years ago I was brought into this world, my parents live in Zekul.”

Trey tensed up, anticipation rising.  This is what he had come for, and it was so easily falling into his lap.  “Zekul?”

Tenke’s jaw dropped, “You’re telling me that the woman who turned you failed to mention it?  It is the largest congregation of vampire covens on Nagochus, the unholy vampire city that Aktovan helped build herself!”  Tenke punched Furdom in the side, “After this hunting trip let’s take him home and show him around hmmm?”

“Agreed, but first I must ask… do you speak Elvish?”

“[Elvish Dialect] Yes I speak Elvish, but very poorly.” replied Trey.  “I was being taught not long ago, but have a lot to work on.  Let’s try to keep it to the human dialect if that’s ok.”

That was actually true.  He’d had Piggy teaching him Elvish after being told by Taen that it was a common language in the city of Zekul, according to Maltetious - and that information hadn’t proved wrong.

He was still a long ways from mastering it though.

“[Human Dialect] Well good!  Both Human and Elvish are spoken in Zekul so things should be that much easier for you.  Now then, let’s be on with the hunt and feed already.  I’m starved…”  Furdom motioned for Trey and Tenke to follow as he dropped to the side alley they had come from.

“You know guys… I’m really fine, I don’t think I need anything else to eat…” protested Trey as they rushed through the streets - stepping into another alley to hide as a patrol of guards passed by.  He would play the newbie vampire, somewhat-hesitant-to-kill-other-people card as long as he could do so without bringing judgment down on himself.

“That’s fine, you can just watch while we feed then.” said Tenke.  “We have to pay someone a visit though, a man tried to steal from us in the market today by selling us clothes that were not his to sell.  We tracked him down to the house he lives in… he will be the one we feed on tonight.”

Trey could see where this was heading.

The vampires ran with speeds that nearly would match his own for a solid three minutes with Ezdeath easily trailing them undetected, and as they made their way through the darkened city they came upon the end of the slums.  In front of them stood a house, a candle’s light shown through the cracks of its windows as the three men came up to peek under the sill.

It was a very small house, only with one room.  A haggard looking man stood in rags looking down lovingly at his wife and son who lay upon a bed of hay.  The woman was pregnant, though she too looked frail and sickly.  The little boy, less than ten years old, held his mother’s hand to his face as she sang to him softly.

The man bent to one knee while tears began to build up in his eyes and said, “I’m going to go.  I’ll be back soon.”

The sickly woman held up one hand and grasped at her husband.  “Don’t go stealing again, you’ll lose a hand this time if they catch you…”

Trey looked down to see the man’s left hand was missing three fingers, only his pointer finger and thumb were left.

“But we need to eat Char…” said the man in a whisper.

“Don’t!” coughed the woman.  “Just stay here with me…”

The man sighed deeply and nodded, “I’ll try to find some work tomorrow then.”  He came over to blow the candle out, and the room went dark.  Trey could hear him settling down on the straw next to his family before the vampires withdrew to the front of the house.

Honestly, for the first time in a long time, Trey felt guilty about what was going to happen.  He knew he had a job to do here, but something about the family setting made this all seem very… wrong.

“Wait.” whispered Trey as the two vampires - who were reaching for the door - paused curiously.  “Aren’t you going to wait for them to go to sleep?  You’ll alert his family if you go in now…”

“We can kill all of them.” said Furdom a little loudly as if it were a stupid question.  “If it’s the guards you’re worried about then don’t, they rarely patrol the slums and the ones who passed us earlier won’t circle around on their patrol for another hour.  We hunt here all the time and know their schedule by now.  People are rarely missed when they’re taken here, the poor and unfortunate are not cared for by the others of this city.”

Furdom paused, “It is a common phenomenon I suppose.”

Before Trey could stop him - Furdom had thrown open the door and drawn his dagger.  The man inside could be heard getting up, yelling out: “Who’s there!”

“Wait!” said Trey once more as Furdom and Tenke both turned again irritatedly to the new blood.  Trey was… very surprised at the way he’d reacted.  He hadn’t seen that coming, and he even got a little laugh from Eleknar within his mind - the essence was making fun of him for having a heart.  Nevertheless, Trey knew his own feelings on the matter and would at least try to salvage this situation.  “Please at least spare the family, they haven’t done anything to deserve this!”

Furdom turned to look at Tenke in puzzlement.

“Don’t tell me you’re going to be a vegetarian - one of those vampires who only feeds on animals?” said Furdom in disgust.

Tenke had drawn his dagger too and the family inside the small one room house could be heard panicking as the two vampire’s eyes glowed blue.  “Don’t worry about it too much Trey, you’ll get used to it.  Like I said earlier, I had a hard time adjusting at first too.  This is a good experience to have... you can just watch while we do the work for you.”  Tenke entered the room as the woman inside screamed - her husband could be heard wrestling with the vampire futilely as their small son started to cry.

Furdom stood there watching Trey’s expression for a moment amidst the fighting within.  “I had assumed you were a cold blooded killer after watching you at the bakery earlier today.  I must have been wrong… very interesting.”

Furdom’s teeth began to change as two large fangs sprouted from his mouth while he smiled.  “Take your rightful place at the top of the food chain, you are no longer one of them.”

Furdom walked up to Trey, jabbing a finger into his chest.  “You are one of us!”

The vampire then swiftly turned and lunged into the room after his comrade.  Screams erupted as the woman pleaded for them to stop.  Tearing and wrenching could be heard as the family struggled in the house to Trey’s left.

Trey felt sick.  He didn’t know what to do.  Inside his head, one part of him screamed at him for not going in and stopping them from murdering the family innocents.  Was it because they had children?  Or was it because of the heart-tugging scene he’d witnessed before they’d struck?  Another part of him told him that if he killed these vampires now, word would spread and he would never be able to infiltrate Zekul or retrieve the item Alkir wanted.

But for the first time in a long time, his morals came in strong.

“[English] Fuck it,” said Trey as he decided on what to do.  Taking his mace from his back he began to walk to the doorway, he was going to annihilate those vampires and paint the walls with their guts.

Then he paused… sensing a presence of mana building from behind - and he froze.

“So you are the outsider Furdom was talking about…” said a woman’s voice from behind him.  A hand softly landed on his shoulder and turned him around.  Before him an elf woman with long raven hair and glowing blue eyes donned a red and black dress.  Small fangs hung down as she smiled gently at him, inspecting his figure.  Behind her more than thirty armored and cloaked vampires stood, sapphire eyes glowing in the night against the darkness.  The party of guards that had passed Trey by earlier were lifeless and crumpled in the clutches of a couple of the vampires, some of them had already began to feed silently behind the rest.  One of them was conjuring a flame and letting it die, only to reconjure it over and over again out of boredom.

Name: Vampire Noble

Race: Vampire, Undead

Class: Bloodstricken

Level: ???

HP: ???

MP: ???

SP: ???

DP: ???

Name: Vampire Scout

Race: Vampire, Undead

Class: Scout

Level: 87

HP: ???

MP: ???

SP: ???

DP: ???

The first two of this new group he tried to identify came up with almost nothing.  This was more than he had bargained for.  Even if he did kill the two vampires inside AND managed to kill the rest of them, which in itself was questionable as he didn’t know the extent of their prowess after having snuck up on him like that, the family inside was probably as good as dead.  They would surely be silenced if they tried to escape in the commotion, and it really bothered Trey that he hadn’t ever even heard the large group coming up from behind him… nor had he heard any screams from the guards.  Yet here they were, their corpses being torn apart quietly as the vampires consumed them.

He needed to be less caught up in the moment and more aware of his surroundings, if he wanted to survive he couldn’t let things get to him like this.  He scanned the group, more easily identifying some of the others and his racing heart calmed.  He realized that he would have at least a decent shot of winning a fight after finding that many of them weren’t as strong as the first two, especially when Ezdeath joined in - but still… the experience definitely made him rethink doing anything rash.  He needed to stop being so cocky, lest it got him killed.

“When I heard of what you had done earlier today I thought I would come and introduce myself formally, we of the Vampiric Noble House of Okt are always looking for capable additions to our coven.  I was hoping to judge if that position would be a fit for you.”  The woman stepped forward.  The struggles of the house within were becoming less apparent.  Screams had died down to heavy breathing as the bodies wrestled upon the ground out of sight.  “My name is Lady Noque Okt but you may call me Noque.  I am the wife of Lord Aktav Okt who presides over our great house… Furdom here is our nephew.”

Furdom presented himself, stepping out from behind Trey as blood ran down his face, hands and dagger.  He had dark clothes on so the blood stains couldn’t be very well seen.  Behind him Tenke approached as well and knelt down before the woman, throwing the fragile corpse of the little boy to the side as he did so.

“Ahh… Nice to see you Tenke.  I didn’t realize you were here,” said Lady Noque Okt.

“Thank you my lady,” said Tenke.

Looking at the small broken body of the peasant man’s son, Trey couldn’t contain it and he heaved stomach acid up into his mouth only to swallow it back down as he clutched at his mouth.

Yeah.  That’s what did it.  It was the kid… god this felt so wrong.

“He is a new blood,” said Furdom looking disappointed, “I had thought he was a killer in nature but am now not so sure of myself anymore.”

Lady Noque Okt smirked at her nephew, then took Trey’s hands in her own.  “From what you told me I am sure he is a killer by nature, but probably only when he needs to be.  That will change in time though, when he gets used to his new life among his own kind.”  She looked to Furdom, “And we all know that vampires with the ability to wield magic are well sought after by the great houses, you did right by sending word to me.  Who knows which of the others would have recruited him first otherwise…”

She turned back to Trey who was still trying to mentally recover. “Of course, we will have to see for ourselves what you are truly made of hmmm?”

The vampire noble whirled around with a signal to her guards, both men and women, who followed her out into the street.  Looking back the elf-vampire called out to Trey, Tenke, and her nephew Furdom.  “Coming?”

“Come.”  Furdom said immediately as he pulled on Trey’s sleeve.

Trey didn’t really have a choice and did well in hiding his disgruntled demeanor.  Together with Furdom and Tenke he followed the band of vampires out into the night, giving one sad look back at the slum hut where the murder of that family had taken place only a minute ago.

Even despite his amazing power and strength, he apparently still had a long way to go if a group of vampires like this could so easily have ambushed and killed him.

***

They had been traveling for many days now, up into the Kag Mountains.  Passage was slow while creeping south through gullies and ravines.  The higher they climbed the colder it became and patches of snow were more frequent as they neared the peaks.  Once, far away and up into the sky, Trey surprisingly caught a glimpse of a dark green dragon the size of a small house gliding downwards through the air to disappear behind the next cliff.  Unfortunately for Trey all they had to eat along the way was meat, and during the time spent with these fanged carnivorous friends of his he had not once seen them eat anything else.  Reluctantly he had taken part of their meals so that he didn’t starve while trying not to think of what exactly it might be as they pulled the meats out of their strange bags.

After spending much more time than Trey would have liked climbing through the cold and barren mountains, the vampires stopped at a small dark cave that had been wedged between an enormous set of boulders.  It would have been very hard to find if it wasn’t pointed out to him by the others, and as Trey squeezed his body through the five by three foot entrance into the darkness his eyes lit up in sapphire light allowing him to see.  Furdom and Tenke followed him in as he chased after Lady Noque Okt.  Noque was already down at the end of the narrow tunnel about thirty feet away and waiting for the others to follow her lead.

Taking a sharp left and descending into the tunnels below, the vampires made a trek that lasted half a day.  Twists and turns were common with rocks protruding out from the walls and ceiling.  It looked as if it were ancient with the floor being very smooth - probably from people walking over it over the hundreds of years it had been around.

From down the tunnel Trey could begin to hear shouts and noises that sounded like metal clinking together.

Furdom breathed in heavily as their footsteps fell upon the stone floor.  “New blood, you are about to witness the catacombs of Zekul - vast mazes of them that span out for miles all around the city.  It is one of the ways we keep Zekul hidden.  Not only are the entrances hard to find, but even if one were to find them they would then have to navigate the maze.  I suggest that over the time spent here you get to know them well so that you don’t need an escort to and from the city.  Many vampires have gotten lost and died of starvation or turned to cannibalism because they had forgotten the way.”

“That wouldn’t be good…” muttered Trey as the group of 37 stepped out into an enormous cavern.  Numerous stone walkways spanned out to the front, left and right of Trey with some leading into the sides of the mountain and others splitting off around curves.  Above and below him were more stone walkways held up by giant support columns.  Torches - blinding Trey if he looked directly at them with his night vision enabled - were being carried by two other groups of vampires both of which were heading down and to the right.  One of the groups he saw was leading nearly a hundred terrified slaves in a line and chained proceeding into the darkness - whipping them if they stopped or slowed.

“More cattle, eh Bhetust?!  I see your journey was profitable!” shouted Noque down to the second group.  The pureblood vampire noble gave a stunning grin and her red eyes wandered over the prisoners lustfully.

Some of the vampires leading the slaves below  looked up and one shouted back across the cavern.  “Lady Okt!  Glad to see you, I thought you were going to be gone longer!  And yes, it was most profitable.  I’m sure that your house could use some more breeders and fighters!  And if not I’m sure they taste just as good as the last batch!”

Noque laughed, “I’ll be sure to take a look at your wares when we arrive!  I’ll see you there!”  She waved back at him as the man turned around and followed the rest of the line out into the next tunnel.

Coming down a flight of steps to the next level and crossing a bridge, Trey began to understand why someone could become lost in this place.  They crossed through many tunnels and into many other caverns only to leave them again and find a new one, all of which had walkways leading out into different directions.  Stone statues and monuments of mythical beasts, soldiers and vampires were scattered throughout the catacombs with massive crypts for the dead lining the walls and cavern faces too.  Occasionally torches held up on long metal stakes were seen burning.  Once the group of House Okt vampires came upon another one of their kind feeding on the corpse of a dead man, they merely waved as if it was a normal occurrence and kept moving.

After hours of hiking down into the mountains the catacombs led them into a hall unlike any of the others Trey had yet seen.  It was smoothed out into a pentagon and led fifty yards from the last cavern into the mountain to meet three sets of spaced out heavy iron gates.  Intricately decorated armored vampires stood with long pollaxes  in front of the gates and behind the gates.  One of them stepped forward as the group approached.

“The noble House of Okt, it is good to see you back.  I believe your husband is in need of a leash right about now,” said the man behind armored slits in his black and grey helmet.

Lady Noque Okt rolled her eyes.  “What is it that my husband has done this time Captain Yomep?”

“He killed three of the House of Ithisel after they took one of the cattle he wanted for a breeder.  Ripped open their throats in front of the entire market, Lord and Lady Ithisel are demanding payment and an apology for the incident immediately.”  Captain Yomep chuckled, “You might want to get on that.  Knowing your husband there will be another blood feud between two of the great houses again.  The high priest would not be happy if that were to happen and angering him is not a wise thing to do if you value your lives.”

“Thank you for informing me…” muttered Lady Okt as the captain motioned for the gates to be opened.  One by one they began to raise as vampire sentries on the inside of the gates worked to turn large gears.

“Those Ithisel bastards probably deserved it knowing them,” sneered Furdom as Tenke nodded in agreement, “It saddens me that Lord Okt only killed three and not more.  Their coven is long overdue such punishment.”

Lady Okt continued looking forward but was quick to reply in a sharp undertone.  “Speaking like that will only cause more problems for our great house Furdom, if your parents heard you speak like that it would disappoint them greatly.”

The three gates fully opened and Lady Okt led the group through the pentagon entrance into the largest cavern Trey had ever seen before, nay that he had ever even dreamed of being possible.  His eyes widened and he caught his breath as he focused on the sight before him.

“Welcome,” said Lady Noque Okt with a satisfactory smile, “To the greatest city on the face of Nagochus.  The great and unholy vampire city of Zekul.”

Saying that the cavern before them was ‘Immense’ would have been an understatement.

Miles and miles of city spread out both underneath and above him as Trey looked around.  Obsidian, granite and stone structures stood en masse all about.  In front of him a smooth well-used road led out for another mile before splitting into various other streets and paths leading into other sections of the city.  Stairways were built into the sides of the mountain cavern leading up and down into different levels and small cliffs of the city overlooked the lower sections only to be dwarfed by even higher and larger cliffs.  Windows could be seen from where he stood along the cliff faces of the inside of the mountain as vampires and slave ‘cattle’ walked about through their rooms.  Luminescent vine-like plants could be seen in patches all across the roof of the cavern, along the walls and even on some of the buildings.  Torches and lanterns littered the landscape but most of the light came from the warm glow of magma far beneath them in the crevices and caverns at the bottom.

Trey was looking at the inside of a volcano.  At the very top of the roof above, Trey saw more circular tunnels that had somehow been carved into the mountain leading straight upwards and out of sight - for what reason they had been put there he was unsure.

Taking another look around he saw that even though the space before him was gigantic he couldn’t even see the entire city as cliffs and walls of the mountain obstructed his view while the buildings bent around to the other side of the cavern.  Multiple other gates just like the pentagon entrance he had come out of seconds before could be seen up above, down below, and across from where he stood at numerous points of the city.  There must have been hundreds of thousands of vampires within sight and even more slaves who followed them around in chains or with iron collars welded shut around their necks symbolizing their station.  Children played in the streets and there were even dogs, cows, horses, goats and other animals in pens down the road.

“Normally you would trade or buy for a house or room to rent, but it would please us very much if you were to stay with us at our manor as a guest of the House of Okt.” stated the beautiful Noque - grinning at the open mouthed Trey.

“... Yes of course, I would appreciate it very much… you are too kind,” replied Trey absentmindedly as he tried to take in all of the sights before him and brushed his brown hair back with one hand.

“It impresses you?”

“Definitely.”

“Good.” said Noque simply.  “I must attend to my troublesome husband before he tears our good name to the ground, have Furdom escort you to the Manor and show you to a room.”

Noque turned to her nephew, “Set our guest up with a couple breeders in one of the guest rooms and have them prepare a meal for him as well.  If you have time, show him around the city... but if not have one of the slaves do it.”

Furdom bowed as Lady Okt took her leave.

“Alright new blood follow me!” said Furdom in an upbeat mood with Tenke next to him as they took the lead.  “You’ll be most impressed with our manor!  It is one of the most beautiful buildings in the city, our family spent a fortune on it.”

“How many people does the House of Okt employ?” asked Trey as he kept looking about while they walked through the rocky and obsidian streets.

Tenke, the redheaded vampire underling, responded with a grin.  “I believe the last count was 306 vampires belonged to the house of Okt.  We wouldn’t consider it employment though.  We are all family, but it’s like a hierarchy depending on how long you’ve been in the coven and whose blood is most pure.  Other than that, the House of Okt usually has a few hundred slaves at one time.  Most of them are cattle though.”

“Our house likes to have at least fifty fighters for the games at any given time as well, and we have 78 breeders at the moment too.” clarified Furdom with an arrogant brush of his hand through blonde hair.

Trey thought for a moment, continuing to take in the sight of the underground city.  “So let me guess.  Cattle are the people you eat… Breeders are used for supplying your house with more slaves and fighters are like gladiators?”

“Yes.” replied Furdom with a nod.  “Though the fighters don’t just kill one another.  Sometimes they are used in other types of games as well - they are kept in good condition and treated much better than the rest of the slaves.  The breeders are often used for sex if you get bored alongside household chores, errands and cleaning.  Breeders are second rate to fighters.  Cattle are only there to eat and are third rate.”

“What happens if one of the breeders gets pregnant?  Is it a full vampire or half vampire?” asked Trey quizzically.

Furdom laughed and scratched his head.  “New bloods… Well you see, breeders can’t get pregnant by having sex with a vampire.  It’s impossible, never happened before.  The only babies they will have are going to be slaves.  In order to have vampire children you must have sex with another vampire.”  Cracking a knuckle he continued, “You could turn them and then produce vampire children, but turning them would mean we don’t own them anymore.  It is against the sacred laws of Alktovan to own another vampire.”

Hmmm.  Perhaps this was similar to his own predicament, he’d been trying to get any and all of his slaves pregnant now for a while and had zero luck.

“And do you eat anything other than the ‘cattle’?  Like do you eat actual cows or chickens too?” inquired Trey absentmindedly.

The redheaded Tenke smiled politely and crossed his arms under smooth, dark robes.  “You ask many questions, that is good.  It is the only way you learn.  Yes: we eat other animals here too obviously, but they don’t taste nearly as good to most of us.  We also eat things like pastries and bread!”

Tenke smirked back at Trey, “We noticed you liked those sorts of things at the bakery when we first saw you, I thought it was odd but it isn’t uncommon to find vampires that like those sorts of foods as well.  As I said earlier though, you need to eat more meat or you’ll become sick Trey.  And believe me when I say that you do not want to get that sort of sickness, it’s terrible.  Your muscles fatigue and you can barely move without pain.”

“Has it happened to you?” asked Trey.

“Twice.” replied Tenke.

“That was before he had joined our great house!” interjected Furdom with a laugh and gesture towards the city.  “He will never starve again now that he has joined our coven.  Nor will you if you choose to join us, but we will talk of that later.  Come!” he said - pointing towards a large gated compound atop a ledge two hundred yards away.  “There is the manor!”

Approaching the guarded gates of the manor, Trey again looked over the city to see the glowing magma far below at the opposite end from where he stood.  “Are you not all afraid to live inside this volcano?  What if it erupts?”

“Alktovan, our numen, makes sure that will never happen.” replied Tenke confidently.  “Aktovan is a devout worshiper of  Tilukt, Bringer of Plagues.  Tilukt is one of the old gods that undead worship, and vampires are no exception.  Tilukt has helped her stabilize this place so that we may reside here without it erupting.  She also makes the temperature livable here.  Without her I’m not sure we could survive the heat.  It would be much warmer if she didn’t watch over us like she does.”

This was the first time Trey had heard of numen worshiping the old gods.  He knew numen were very similar to gods, but significantly weaker.  Still, he’d always thought they’d kept themselves separate or even competed for prayers to fuel their powers until he’d first met Maltetious, then his cousin Carol had tried and was still trying to convert him over to Agnude’s side, and now there was this Aktovan character who was a numen to the vampires.  Apparently he’d been wrong.

“The priests help as well!” added Furdom. “At this point Alktovan has done all that was needed in the beginning, the priests maintain the state of our city even if she leaves for a time.”

Two armored vampire guards waved amid their joking and opened the manor entrance to let Tenke, Furdom and Trey in through obsidian gates.

“Who’s the new guy?” one of them said from beneath his helmet where glowing blue eyes stared out.

“A prospect we are interested in recruiting.” replied Furdom flippantly.  “Are my parents in?”

“No.” replied the guard with a shake of his head. “They’re in the country of Veis hunting together as we speak.  They left two days ago.”

Furdom frowned in disappointment but motioned a wave backwards while passing the two soldiers.  “Very well, just know if this man needs to come in and out of the compound that he is a welcome guest.  Inform the others if you see them around.”

The black gates closed behind them as the three companions made their way forward to the mansion.  The large stone house had spires sticking out into the air atop many towers.  It had fine architecture with gargoyles carved into the sides and fire pits all around the grounds to light the way.  To Trey’s left a giant hole in the ground had been dug where twenty men stood guard around the perimeter and iron bars crossed over one another to cover the deep hole like a cage.  Inside Trey could see inbetween one and two hundred slaves bustling about, sitting with their backs to the walls or each other, standing and even some children playing with each other.  Most of them were downcast, depressed and lost to the hopelessness of their situation.  Elves, dwarves, humans and even a few green skinned goblins - the first of which Trey had ever seen - were all present in the pit.  Ladders on top and to the sides of the pit were there next to the latch openings in case the vampires needed to retrieve one of the slaves, and other than these ladders there was no plausible way out of the pit.

Further to his left across the compound’s grounds were sets of large cages in which slaves practiced fighting each other under the guidance of their vampire masters.  Animals in pens with mounds of vegetables were next to these cages and ‘breeder’ slaves - both men and women - walked around the grounds delivering messages, cleaning and doing other chores.  They were wearing brands of the House of Okt above their rags and on the base of their necks underneath the iron collars they wore, a symbol that oddly looked like a crooked scythe intertwined with a snake.

Entering the manor’s front room, there were many well dressed vampires in the great entrance hall joking with one another as their breeder slaves served them bits of flesh and tarts off trays and wine with blood mixed into it from glass pitchers.  Chandeliers hung down from the ceiling as beautiful tapestries, statues and ornaments decorated the area.

“Would you like to try some Master Furdom?  Master Tenke?” asked a small pale breeder in his late teens.

Furdom eyed it warily.  “What cut of meat is it?”

“Infant’s leg, Master Furdom,” replied the breeder straight-faced.

Trey had a hard time keeping his expression normal as he almost gagged and began to get sick again.

What the fuck was wrong with him?  Was he slowly growing back his morals?

Taking what now Trey recognized as the calf of a babe, Tenke stripped the bone of meat like it was chicken and raised his eyebrows in apparent delight.  “Very good!”

Furdom on the other hand declined, despite Tenke’s interest.  “I’m fine for now, Trey would you want some?”

Trey shook his head, “I’m not hungry.  Maybe later, thanks.”

Furdom smirked and turned to the breeder.  “I believe my friend here is vegetarian, do you have any animal meat instead?”

Taking a couple tarts from the tray Frudom handed them to Trey.

“I’ll prepare a chicken master,” said the breeder as he bowed and left the room.

“Who is this?!” exclaimed a small hooded vampiress as she tugged on Furdom’s sleeve.

Brushing the girl off, Furdom made no effort to hide his annoyance.  Whoever she was, he didn’t necessarily like this girl.  “His name is Trey, he’s a new blood.  I’ll introduce you to him later.  Please let the breeder know I’m taking Trey to the guest quarters and to have the chicken delivered there when it is prepared.”

Furdom motioned for Trey to follow him through the small crowd as they made their way up the staircase to the second floor and walked down a lantern-lit hallway with red carpets and stuffed animal heads along the walls.  At the end of the hallway there was a large stuffed spider the size of a cow and to the left of it Furdom opened a door.  Coming in Trey saw that it was a large room that lacked the splendor of the rest of the house.  Bunk beds were pushed up against the walls and a few tables and chairs littered the place as slave servants quickly stood at attention before their masters.

Furdom and Tenke both began to walk down the lined up men and women before them.  The 22 slaves present were all dressed in rags of poor quality and seemed to be terrified of the two vampires - not making any eye contact while they walked up and down from one end to the other.  Three of them were pregnant.

“Head maid,” said Furdom curtly, “How much longer until this one gives birth?”  Furdom roughly grabbed one of the pregnant girls by her hair and yanked her forward with a questioning look towards the woman at the front of the line.

The head maid stepped forward with eyes at the floor.  “Probably another month, Master Furdom.”

Furdom nodded and threw the woman roughly back into line and smiled back at Trey.  “Very well.  Back to business then.  I am off to attend a party at one of the other great houses, one of their daughters has requested my presence and I very well might take her hand in marriage with time.”  Turning back to look at the breeder slaves Furdom eyed her up and down before continuing to speak.  “Therefore I unfortunately won’t be able to give you a tour of the city until another date.  I suggest you take one of the breeders to show you around, these ones are all reliable.  I am not sure how long I will be gone but it will be at least another day if not more.”

“Do you like women or men Trey?” asked Tenke curiously.

Trey scowled and looked back as if that were the most stupid question he had ever heard.  “Women of course.”

Tenke raised his hands up in defense with a chuckle.  “Now, now, not everyone has the same preferences.  We have to make accommodations for everyone.  Osi!  Nothel!  Rusoe!”

Three brunette breeder girls stepped forward in response to their names.

“See Trey to his guest quarters and take care of him.  You three are responsible for his well being.  Give him a bath and after he is done be sure to show him the city and provide him with any food he requires.  I believe he already has some on the way so it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.  You will all be sharing his bed until further notice.”  The girls stood silently until Tenke slapped one forcefully across the face, “I’m done talking!  Begone and do your jobs, meat!”

The girl that had been slapped, still looking to the ground,  quickly came up to Trey and took him by the hand.  “If you would please follow us Master Trey, we would be honored to take you to your quarters.”

The other two vampires waved as Trey exited the room and followed the three girls down a few halls, taking a couple turns and coming to a passageway with a balcony on one side looking down onto the main dining room.  Below the tables were covered in red and dark red stains.  On the other side one of the three brunettes opened up a door and waited for Trey to enter.  Having entered the room Trey dropped his Mace, armor, and other gear onto the large feather bed in the center.  Questionable paintings of vampire feedings, battles and nudes were hung about the room and a large dresser with a mirror was at the wall opposite the bed.  At the far end from the door a large heated wooden bath was propped up on a platform and was being prepared while one of the girls was trying to light the fire underneath the stones to heat it.  A chimney above the bath area lead upward and Trey wondered at  just how effective this method was.

“It may take a while for them to heat the water, master, but in the meantime you may do with me as you wish.”  One of the slave girls began to undress from her rags as the other began to take Trey’s clothes from him.

Raising one eyebrow as the girl climbed onto the bed, Trey was rather pleased.  “Yep.  Now this I is how it’s supposed to be.”