One hour after you sent Izedin off, every dragon in your kingdom had gathered in your capital, ready to receive your address. You were pouring over the details of the speech you were prepared to give, making sure every part was perfect. Public speaking was never easy for you, and doing so as a king just added to the anxiety. Hopefully, your preparations will help you through this endeavor. You walked out of your private quarters, and greeted your subjects. There were roars of applause among the audience. After a minute of this, you breathed a huge plume of pure black fire into the air, trying to calm the audience down. It worked. "Greetings, my loyal draconic subjects!" You yelled, starting your speech off. More roars were roared, but were quickly silenced. "As you all may know, my Master, Rowan Tyrell, is king of Kelper, the kingdom just north of us. He has asked me to enlist the help of you all, my royal subjects, in trying to calm the people of Kelper down, and accept my Master as their new King. The people are not pleased with the fact that my Master is ruling them, and are rebelling, revolting, and protesting the authority of their new king. We find this unacceptable. This is where we come in. People are afraid of dragons. Puny, weak humans cower in fear at the sight of one of us! Let's use that to our advantage. It's not like I want to kill any of them. Far from it! My Master is trying to turn over a new leaf. He wishes to be a benevolent ruler, to help his people rather than senselessly murder them all like before. I too, am changing like that. This is why I feel it is time for Humans and Dragons to coexist peacefully. No more will dragons have to seclude themselves because the humans hate us, and no more shall the humans cower in fear at the sight of one of us. My Master wishes for this to become a reality as well. This is the plan: Humans always respect people who can control dragons. No mortal is more powerful than a dragon. Let's show Kelper how to respect their king." You finished, smiling at the fact that you were able to give the whole speech. The dragon crowd roared in applause. They really seem to like you. You retreated back into your private quarters, where you changed back into your human form. As you were stretching your arms and legs, Izedin walked in.
"My Lord." Izedin started.
"Come in." You ordered, still stretching out your human body.
"The team Ozelyn prepared for your mission is ready. Give the command, and we will fly to Kelper." Izedin reported.
"Thank you Izedin. I'll be ready in a few minutes." You responded. "Anything else?"
"Nothing more to report, My Lord." He replied. "If I may, I will take my leave now."
"You may." You sighed. Once you could no longer feel his presence, you smiled to yourself and said, "He's too formal." Once you were done with your stretches, you felt great. You walked out of your quarters and noticed a group of about 10 dragons waiting for you. "You must be the team Izedin informed me of."
"Yes, My Lord." The dragon in front answered. He was a large, green, Florawing dragon. "We are ready for your orders."
"Thank you." You smiled, changing into the Angel of Death, making your crown become a small ring on your finger. It felt good to feel all of the power of the form flood into your body. You flew up with blinding speed, stopping at eye level with the dragons. "The plan is quite simple. I've coordinated with my Master what he will do. You just need to sit and act ferocious. It's all for show. Maybe prove some points with Magic, but make sure not to hurt a single person. That'll screw everything up. Understand?"
"Yes, My Lord!" The team yelled in unison.
"Perfect. Follow me." You smiled, flying towards Rowan's castle. It wasn't a very long journey, which was good. You wanted to make sure that the distance between you and Rowan wasn't much. You probably could have done it in less than a minute, but flying with dragons behind you made it take a bit longer. Once you arrived, you saw Rowan standing on the balcony of his castle that he used for speeches. There was also a very large crowd of people gathered in front of him. He was giving the speech he needed to for the plan. "Perfect." You smiled, landing next to Rowan and quickly transforming into your human form.
"And my Familiar has arrived." Rowan smiled, looking towards you. "Everyone, this is Gannoth Tyrell."
"Hello citizens of Kelper." You smiled, waving towards the crowd. You then took off the ring on your finger, and allowed it to become your crown.
"Gannoth is very special." Rowan grinned. "He is the King of Dragons." As soon as he said it, your dragon team spread itself around the skies, with the leader landing on the roof of the castle.
"Be careful Ozelyn." You yelled to the dragon. "I don't want our castle falling apart!"
"Of course, My Lord!" Ozelyn relpied obediently. During this ordeal, the crowd of people were talking amongst themselves. You could hear that people were scared. After all, dragons are scary.
"Relax, my subjects!" Rowan said calmly. "There is no reason to be frightened. Today marks the beginning of a new era! An era where Dragons and Humans live together in harmony. Soon, there will be no reason for one of you to be afraid of a dragon."
"Yes." You started, lifting yourself into the air and transforming into your smaller dragon form. After you transformed, you landed on the ground in front of the crowd. "We dragons do not wish to be feared or revered. We wish to live peacefully. And, we also wish for you to accept my Master as your king. Progress cannot happen until you stop rebelling."
"I have made a promise to the Gods stating that I would change. No more shall Rowan Tyrell be the destroyer of kingdoms. Now, Rowan Tyrell will be the ruler of kingdoms!" Rowan proclaimed. Somehow, this seemed to calm the audience. "I just wish to be respected as you once respected the former kings of the land. Is that so much to ask for?" You heard responses in the audience, mostly saying, "Why not?" People were accepting that the immortal Rowan would be their king for eternity. "Thank you my subjects. I will stop at nothing to make sure this kingdom is the best it can be." With that closing remark, Rowan bowed, before receiving the first applause he ever received. You could tell that Rowan was happy as he swished his cloak and walked into the castle. You flew up, thanked your dragon group, and dismissed them back to Kitria. You wanted to spend some quality time with your Master. You transformed into your human form, and followed Rowan into the castle.
"Master, that went well!" You smiled, wrapping your arm around Rowan's shoulder.
"Yes, it did." He smiled. "And I didn't even have to manipulate them with my magic. How was your speech?"
"It was good." You replied. "Everything went as expected. They really love me."
"That's great!" Rowan smiled, patting you on the back. "You were the first in eons to unite the dragons. Of course they'd like you!"
"Thanks Master." You smiled. The two of you continued to walk through the castle, making your way to the library. There was a book you wanted to read about the history of the kingdoms. However, when you walked into the library, there was someone sitting on one of the couches. You were shocked to see someone else in the castle, and assumed the form of the Angel of Death. However, as you looked in his direction, you felt oddly calm. You couldn't figure out why, but you did.
"Hello Rowan, Gannoth." He said calmly. His voice was smooth and elegant. One that oozed dominance and power, yet made you feel like he was trustworthy and kind. "I was not expecting you here so soon." He turned towards you and revealed his face. To say he was beautiful would be an understatement. This man was more handsome than words could describe. Yet, his eyes were glowing red, similar to yours. As he smiled, you noticed extremely sharp fangs where his canine teeth should have been. Not like yours or Rowan's either. These were much sharper. You instantly realized that this guy was a Vampire. As you made this realization, he rushed towards you at a blindingly fast speed. "You seem delicious." He smiled, giving you a good look at his fangs. "Yet, I know that attacking you would only destroy my immortal self." He laughed. "And Gannoth, don't mind your calmness. That's an effect I have on people."
"Who are you?" Rowan asked, seemingly unaffected by his calming effect.
"Where are my manners?" He laughed before returning to the library. You transformed back into your human form, and followed him into the room. You, him, and Rowan all took seats in the sitting area of the library. "My name in Lucien Bordeaux. My sister is somewhere here, but I don't see her."
"I'm over here silly!" She yelled from the shadows. She emerged from her hiding place, revealing herself to be a girl you'd estimated to be about sixteen years old, or at least appearing so. You also finally got a good look at Lucien, who appeared to be 18. "Hi! I'm Marcelle! We've come a long way to meet you!" She smiled as she rushed towards the couch where Lucien was sitting.
"I'm sure you've figured out, but we're vampires." Lucien started. "And have been for thousands of years. We might not look it, but the two of us are the most powerful vampires in history."
"And what does this have to do with me?" Rowan inquired, confused as to why two vampires were in his home. "And aren't vampires not supposed to be able to enter somewhere without invitation?"
"Well, that's how powerful we are." Lucien continued. "We've transcended many vampiric weaknesses. Sunlight, invitations, mirrors, and garlic are no problem. Stakes are still an issue though. There's no getting around that one. Now, what does this have to do with you. That's what you would like to know, right?"
"Yes." You replied.
"Can I say it, brother!" Marcelle asked excitedly.
"Sure sis." Lucien sighed.
"YAY!!" She smiled enthusiastically. "We heard you became the king of this place, and wanted to be like, guards for you. We want to help you too!"
"There's something you missed." Lucien interrupted. "Something about a mutual friend."
"Oh right! Silly me!" Marcelle laughed. "Archdemon Zebulon asked us to find you too!"
"You two know the Archdemon?" Rowan asked, surprised at this revelation.
"Yes Rowan, I do." Another familiar voice stated. The Archdemon appeared on another one of the couches in the area. "I see you've met Lucien and Marcelle."
"I have, Your Grace." Rowan replied. "I don't fully understand what is going on though."
"Okay. All kings have their own personal guard. Even if the king is fine on his own, they still have one. I asked these two to do that, seeing how I knew they'd be more than willing to." Zebulon explained.
"Well, if you insist." Rowan smiled. "My only issue would be how they would be, feeding." Rowan looked concerned, emphasizing the term feeding.
"Don't worry about that!" Marcelle smiled.
"Indeed." Zebulon laughed. "These two vampires have a bit of a gift. Their magic can help with being able to drink blood without the need of any living beings."
"Yes." Lucien smiled. "Although the thrill of the kill is rather pleasurable, we very rarely do it. We have our methods."
"I'm not going to question it." You stated. "I'm more than okay with this."
"Well, I don't see any problems with this either." Rowan smiled. "Welcome to the Royal Guard."
"Thank you, my King." Lucien smiled.
"Please, Rowan is fine." Rowan smiled.
"I just call him Master because I'm used to it." You smiled. "He's not much for formalities."
"Stop Gannoth." Rowan laughed, play-punching your arm.
"I can't wait to talk to you more Rowan!" Marcelle smiled.
"Me too Marcelle." Rowan smiled.
"Well, I'll leave you all to get to know each other. Goodbye for now." Zebulon said as he vanished from the sofa.
"I guess we should get to know each other better, as the Archdemon suggested." Rowan smiled.
"Indeed." Lucien agreed.
"Can I go first?" Marcelle asked eagerly.
"Of course." Rowan smiled.
End of Chapter
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