"Well, my brother and I were turned into vampires about 5000 years ago..." Marcelle started, seemingly ready to talk for hours. "I can't remember the actual number! It's been so many years!"
"5,067 to be exact Marcelle." Lucien interrupted.
"Brother! It's my turn to speak!" Marcelle whined, clearly upset that her brother interrupted her.
"Sorry Sis." Lucien chuckled. "Carry on."
"Where was I." Marcelle said, clearly still angry at her brother. "Right! We were turned when I was 16 and he was 18. At first, we were really bad vampires! We were really weak and stuff. Now we're not! But, I do have something that I think you'd be interested in Rowan! We were alive during Falcour's terror spree." Rowan gasped upon hearing this. Never would it have crossed his mind to ask someone about what Falcour was like. "Brother is better at telling the story than I am though."
"Indeed. We were alive during that dark time." Lucien started. "The Archdemon stated that you were the reincarnation of him, yet you are far different. Falcour was a deranged psychopath. He went around and killed for the sake of killed. Destroyed for the sake of destroying. He was a man of pure terror. Yet, there are many things people do not know about him. He was always the violent person that he grew up to be, and this violence was stemmed from one particular hatred he had. Rowan, are you familiar with elves?"
"Elves?" Rowan asked, confused. "I've read about them once or twice."
"Well, elves were just one of many non-human races that lived in these continents." Lucien started. "Elves, dwarves, gnomes, orcs, and many more. For reasons known only to him, he hated all of these races. The races that formed societies that were not human disgusted him. Eventually, he started to gain immense power. The Archdemon stated that he was part of the reason why he gained this power, but didn't realize how much he'd regret it. Falcour used this power to destroy all of the kingdoms of the elves, goblins, orcs, and every other race he could. He even killed those who worshiped the Archdemon. Eventually, a hero was chosen by the Gods and felled Falcour before he could destroy everything. But, not before Falcour eliminated almost every single non-human in the world. Today, very few, if any, are still alive."
"Did you help in the fight against Falcour?" You asked.
"We could not." Lucien answered in a regretful tone.
"We'd just been turned when the uprising began, and we were super duper weak!" Marcelle added. "If we'd fought, we'd been killed for sure!"
"Oh." You reacted, not knowing what else to do.
"I did meet him once." Lucien started, shuddering. "It was the most terrifying moment of my life. Here I was, a weak vampire who could barely survive, meeting the most powerful sorcerer in existence, at the time. He came to the town we were living in, looking for those he wanted to smite. At one point, he looked at me, and started talking to me. He could tell that I wasn't completely human anymore. I stood there, frozen. I couldn't move. I don't know why he didn't kill me, but I'm thankful he didn't."
"I am too." Rowan smiled.
"You're a good guy Rowan." Lucien smiled. "You might have part of the soul of Falcour, but you definitely are not him."
"I wouldn't say good." Rowan laughed.
"Yes, but you care about others." Lucien started. "You care for your familiar. You care for your people. You already seem to care about us! You don't kill for the sake of killing."
"Anymore..." Rowan interrupted.
"You are going to be a strong leader, and I am more than willing to pledge my allegiance to you, and give all my power to serving you." Lucien stated.
"Me too!" Marcelle smiled. "You too Gannoth!"
"To us, you are both royalty, and we will do everything we can to follow your requests." Lucien finished, standing up to bow.
"You remind me a lot of one of my dragons Lucien." You started. "My right hand, Izedin, is very formal, like you are."
"I'll take this as a compliment." Lucien smiled.
"It's more of an observation." You laughed, getting up from your chair. "Well, I'm a bit hungry."
"As are we. We've come a long way." Lucien smiled. "Don't worry, not for blood."
"Let's go into the city to get something!" Marcelle smiled.
"I've never actually walked through the city..." Rowan started. "Until today, the people didn't like me at all."
"Well, now's your chance to meet the people!" Marcelle smiled. "Come on!" She yelled, immediately grabbing Rowan's hand and dragging him out of the castle.
"She's has enough energy for all of us." You laughed.
"Yeah. I'm used to it." Lucien smiled. "Let's try to catch up." You quickly ran after Marcelle, and walked out of the castle together. The fresh air felt great running through your short, blond hair. The air seemed even cleaner and fresher today than ever. Yet, you had a bad feeling about it. Something seemed off. As you walked through the gate, you caught a glimpse of the city. You knew Rowan created it out of thin air, and you were amazed. There was so much detail in the city, with each building having the same style, but being unique. It looked like a city that had been there for decades, if not centuries!
"Master, this is amazing!" You yelled.
"Thank you Gannoth." Rowan smiled. "I try." The four of you kept walking through the city, the people looking at you with a mixture of surprise and respect. Some tried to get close to meet their king. Those people were surprised to see Rowan very receptive to them. He spoke briefly to many people who wanted to speak to him. However, after a while, he stopped speaking to them, seeing how you were hungry and wanted something to eat. Rowan couldn't take all the time he wanted. Eventually, you made it to the market, where you saw many delectable foods. Fresh meats, produce, bread, fish, cheese, and more! You were in heaven. You were hungry enough to eat a dragon! However, as you approached the first of many places you wanted to buy food, that uneasy feeling returned. You looked to the sky and saw a very ominous looking cloud. It was almost black, contrasting itself with the deep colors of the evening sky. At one point, it stopped moving, right above Rowan. You seemed to be the only one who noticed this cloud. Almost immediately after it stopped, you heard a crackling sound.
"MASTER!" You yelled, running towards him and diving at him, moving him out of the way. Right as you started moving, a bolt of deep-purple colored lightning erupted from the cloud and struck where Rowan was standing. Unfortunately, you were there. You felt a searing pain through your entire body, before being knocked out completely.
End of Chapter
Llamas2000
I like to leave things at a cliffhanger!