Chapter 8 The Eldentri

A DARK SHADOW crawled on the grounds of a large temple. The walls and the pillars looked old and ancient as though they had long been standing there for over hundreds of years--- and they did. The old Temple of Vampires where the Eldentri, the Vampire Queen's most trusted and horrendous loyal followers and devotees, took the princess for their sacrificial ritual to find the missing Vampire Queen.

The dark shadow further crawled deeper into the temple, passing through the cracked floors and dark corridors. Eventually, it arrived at the very centre of the temple, a wide and spacious room appearing like a throne room. The temple resembles that of an Aztec Temple but the carvings on its walls are ancient language written and invented by the first vampires themselves.

The room was dimly lit due to the torches hanging on all five pillars circling the room. It takes five steps below before reaching the bottom where the other two Eldentri awaits the dark shadow. Alas, it arrived and a man emerges from it.

"You're late, Mazakiel," said Willer, leader of the Eldentri.

"Have you found the princess yet?" asked Siren, the only woman in the group. Mazakiel responded by shaking his head. "Where have you been lurking all this time?"

Mazakiel stares at her blood-red eyes for a moment before eventually fixating his eyes again on the ground. He could have never brought himself to stare at a woman's eyes longer than a moment. He never really understood it but he does not also despise them. Perhaps, it's his socially awkward nature that keeps him from looking someone directly into their eyes--- especially a woman.

"You make me feel like I'm a disease," Siren complained. "Am I that disgusting to you?"

"You know he's always been like that, Siren," Willer commented.

"Of course. But it's been over a thousand years, you're still the same as before? What will the Queen say of your unimproved progress?"

Her last words triggered something within Mazakiel when surprise suddenly registered on his face. His skin turned even paler than its usual colour. He gulped and mentally uttered, 'all I ever wanted is to please Her Majesty. Does my attitude displeases her in some way?'

"I know you've longed for her as much as we do but keeping our heads straight might be the best thing that'll please Her Majesty at the moment." Willer's statement snapped Mazakiel back to his present thoughts. Willer continued, "The human princess no longer has the key in her possession. Escaping the woods is no longer in her options. But as you know, we aren't the only ones searching for her. The Gates have opened just recently and I could feel the tremor of the footsteps from the General and his troops of elite soldiers. These humans did not come here unprepared.

"We must be very cautious. Over the years humans have evolved whereas we vampires have remained the same as we are since the Great Slaughter. Indeed, this is such a displeasing sight to Her Majesty." Willer tightly clenches his fist. Just the thought of missing hundreds of years already makes his blood boil in anger. The tension increasing within his body displayed the veins around his forehead.

"Calm down, Willer. As you said, we've got to keep our heads. Right now, finding that wretched human princess is our top priority. We have to find her before these soldiers or Slyvek does!" said Siren.

"Slyvek?" uttered Mazakiel, as though he was startled.

"He already turned his back against his own kind, Mazakiel. Whoever he is, he is no longer one of us. Opposing the Queen's will is considered treason."

"An unwritten rule you deliberately spread," added Willer. Siren smirked, the full confidence and playfulness of her countenance could bring Willer to massage his temple in exasperation. He sighed. "Slyvek managed to deceive everyone in his so-called "Road to Light" speech. The Queen's resurrection now lies in our hands. But we cannot afford any more delay. We've already waited this long to accomplish our plan. Now, as you can see, enemies will keep coming our way and we all have the same goal--- finding the princess.

"Their numbers are far greater than ours but we might actually be at an advantage here. The more humans to come, the more food we have."

Siren wickedly grinned. "Then what are we waiting for? Let us separate and get this done as soon as possible. I've also been longing to taste the blood of the pesky humans who annihilated our entire race."

Even the silent Mazakiel plastered an evil grin on his face as an approval of the plan. Whoever they may come across their way, it's their job to finish off the opponent. Mazakiel could only hope to come across the human soldiers so, he could finally revive the hundreds of years that their vampire system weakened.

"If you happen to come across the princess, you know what to do and where to take her," said Willer.

After their tasks are cleared for one another, the two members of the Eldentri soon departed from the temple and Willer was the last one to leave. Before taking his departure, Willer takes a last look at the image of a person that was wonderfully painted on the wall of the temple. A faint smile brushed upon his lips and he uttered, "I warned you, as long as I'm here, they will be out of harm's way."

♛♛♛

IAFLEUR WOKE UP in the middle of the night after her conversation with the vampiress, Nassia. Even until this moment that she could not believe how her life is beginning to change in ways she could not possibly control. The change was so rampant, unexpected and instant that she wasn't even given ample time to adapt to the changes first. If only she could have been more careful, if only she wasn't so kind and bold enough to approach a fellow human being and aid them.

If she had just ignored that body by the river that night, could she have spared herself from facing the changes that are so adamantly taking over her life right now? Could she have avoided them all?

Because little does Iafleur know that the worse consequence of touching a vampire's dead body was yet to be experienced by her.

When daylight broke, Dracyan found her staring into nothingness on the balcony of his flat. He slowly creeps from behind her, planning to scare her soul away. But unfortunately, even the slightest sound of his footstep approaching her was picked up by Iafleur's overly sensitive ears.

"Do it and I'll mash you to pieces," she declared.

Dracyan was stunned for a moment but he recovered immediately. He chuckles and approaches her casually. He leans on the railing of the balcony. He takes notice that Iafleur still seems to be staring into a void. 'Her mind must have flown a bit far away.' he mentally uttered.

Dracyan cleared his throat to catch her attention and it worked. She lifts her eyes to look at him. But before she could even utter a word, her cheeks had already flushed red that she had to immediately look the other way.

"What were you thinking appearing to me like that!" she scolded. "W-would you please get a shirt?"

"The human body needs sunlight exposure to produce Vitamin D." Dracyan beamed, flushing more blood on Iafleur's cheeks.

Iafleur could feel the heat from them and the embarrassment. Dracyan should be the one to be embarrassed but why is she the one feeling it? She glared at him before rising from her seat.

"How imprudent!" she yelled and hurries back inside. She heard him laughing from behind, probably to further tease her. Apparently, it worked as it only increased the heat on her cheeks.

And if that wasn't enough teasing for her, Dracyan further went by walking around his flat half-naked and wearing only nothing but his night shorts.

"Will you please just get a shirt?" she angrily demanded.

Dracyan's smirked even grew wider. His overwhelming confidence even prompted him to approach the kitchen counter where Iafleur was preparing their breakfast.

"You know, I never really saw you getting comfortable with me around being naked."

She scoffed as though it shows the incredulity of his words. "Who would be comfortable around someone wearing nothing but their sleeping shorts? I'd say, some elderly would even call our situation undignified and imprudent."

"Is that right? Mightn't they just assume that we're a hormonal teenage couple living together in a single flat?"

Her eyes widened, and she hastily turns to him. "What? Wh-why would e-even 'think' that? A-and besides, we're not teenagers." Tried as might that Iafleur wants to look unaffected before him with his comment. She turns her back again while she pretends to prepare their coffee.

Dracyan chuckled, amused to see her blush. "Which makes it even more interesting. I don't think the elderly should even have a comment on that. It's not like this set-up is not very common in other countries."

If that wasn't enough to turn Iafleur's face into tomato red, Dracyan added a more disturbing revelation to Iafleur: "I really don't understand you. Lariel doesn't act like this when I get naked before her."

"What did you say??" Due to her haste and shock, Iafleur loses grip on the coffee cup and drops it on the floor, the cup shattered into pieces.

"Oh! Let me get that!" Dracyan hurriedly jumps over the counter and into the other side. He bent down and collects the large pieces of the coffee cup first.

"I-I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean to. I'll just replace it w-with a new one." Iafleur hastily picks up a piece in an attempt of helping Dracyan but instead, it got her nicked, and blood came out.

"It's okay. It's okay, it's not a big deal--- hey, are you okay?" Dracyan's playful countenance from earlier was replaced with extreme worry upon seeing the blood on Iafleur's finger.

"Come here, let's get that clean." Dracyan takes her to the sink and gently cleans her tiny wound under the running water.

"Does it hurt?" he softly asks. He noticed Iafleur's eyes to be placid but greatly affected by the tiny cut. 'Perhaps, it stings?' he pondered. After mending her tiny wound, he ushered her to the living room before he goes back to clean the remaining pieces of the coffee cup in the kitchen.

"I'll replace that coffee cup," Iafleur softly utters.

Dracyan scoffs. "It's just a cup, Iafleur. It's not a big deal to make."

"You shouldn't be taking the little things so lightly," she muttered.

Since Dracyan had already turned his back to throw away the rubbish in the rubbish bin, he was not able to perceive the pain fleetingly swirling within Iafleur's eyes.

Gladly they passed through their morning with ease when Dracyan finally decided to put on a shirt after taking out his rubbish bin. The two only talked about the plans of the Human Council and begin surmising that maybe they really plan now to eradicate all inhuman creatures from the other side of the Sacred Woods. Their modern day has quite evolved and made things a bit more convenient for humans worldwide. Machines being invented and upgraded over time have played a major role for every human being.

The Sacred Woods have been silent for hundreds of years and the Human Council played their role quite magnificently in protecting and guarding the seal. 'But who knows what those beings on the other side might be planning right now?' Dracyan pondered. Science could easily invent a serum that would enhance a human being's abilities to par with a vampire's speed. If an impossible serum exists, then humanity will finally stand a chance against them.

But the greater question would always dawn on the possibility of the said serum invention. Humans are so easily overpowered by avarice and thirst for power. If such invention did exist, they might just eventually use it for their own evil greed instead of helping the people.

Amidst Dracyan's wandering mind, Iafleur has been silent since the coffee cup incident. Dracyan assured her that it was really nothing to make a big deal about. 'I wonder if I did something wrong? Does her tiny cut hurts?'

Shortly after breakfast, the duo was almost ready to venture towards the bloody road. Dracyan had already called and informed Lariel about their journey lest she ends up worrying about their whereabouts. The latter would've wanted to come with them but Iafleur wanted her to stay and be their eyes and ears within the city.

"The Modern Era might be the greatest era to exist for the Human Council," Dracyan said when they were inside the taxi.

Iafleur somehow managed to snap back into her present thoughts and replied softly, "Why do you think so?" But since Iafleur was fixed on the outside scenery, Dracyan could not get a glimpse of her now emotionless and dead eyes.

"Come to think of it, this generation probably holds all the knowledge that could obliterate an entire enemy."

"'Obliterate'? That's a harsh word."

"You can't sugarcoat a painful upcoming disaster," he reasoned.

"Words can be a shelter for the hopeless, a comfort for the lonely and alone, and a ray of light for those who are in the darkness." A painful smile brushed upon Iafleur's lips. Their driver glances at her through the mirror and felt something off but it seems like the keen cognizance was limited only to him. "You have no idea what it's like to be lurking in the dark your whole life, with nothing to encourage you but words--- words that even you are uncertain of their probability."

"What are you talking about? Your life has always been under the sun," Dracyan innocently uttered.

Iafleur finally turns to face him, her lips stretching into a wide smile. "Don't mind my sayings. I guess this is just my way of averting my mind from the journey I've brought upon ourselves. Truly, I don't know if thanking you would be the best appropriate word to give you. After all, I am asking you to risk your life."

Dracyan also smiled, relieved that Iafleur was back to herself again. "I told you, I won't be able to forgive myself if something bad happens to you. And besides, I know Lariel would kill me. Either way, death is already at my doorstep."

"And by the way, have you thought about a plan already?" he added.

"I thought you were gonna take a lead on this mission. You should be the one to create a plan."

He clicked his tongue. "Only in the events when your life is put at risk."

"Some leader you are."

"I know. Someone you can really rely on on the battlefield." He even winked at the end.

Iafleur could only make an eye-roll and then continued, "The plan is quite very simple since I want to make it that way as much possible as I could. Using this fake throne, I was able to deceive her into taking us to the lost kingdom. But I also have something else in mind."

"What's that?"

She beamed. "Lariel told me about profound information that might help me get rid of her in the end."

"She did?" Dracyan's forehead wrinkled. "When did she tell you this?"

"Two nights ago. After we find the kingdom, I'll get rid of her. You see, the Human Council themselves don't know anything about this throne that she talked about. Obviously, I've struck the bargain and there's no turning back to it. Once she gets us there we'll immediately report back to the Council. As long as we'd stay inside the Welson House, she won't be able to take over my body. The Welson House is holy ground and no creatures of darkness can penetrate through inside. And that's when I'll get rid of her for good."

Dracyan looked reluctant. "Are you sure about that plan? Since she can already enter through your dreams, how can you be so sure that she won't be entering and reading your mind as we speak? She might have already read through you right now."

Iafleur put on her most confident smirk. "It's daylight, my friend. What can a dark soul like her do to sunlight?"

Though her countenance was a bit off, Dracyan paid not much attention to it. He believes in his friend and the knowledge she acquired as a Secretary to the Human Council.

Before heading for Faerionn Town, Dracyan and Iafleur had to make a stop in a small inn, only a few kilometres away from the town. But before their taxi could reach their destination, they had to be stopped by a police officer on the road because of an unfortunate motorcycle man who got caught in an accident.

Curiosity made Iafleur roll down the window and the smell of blood coming from the accident area flowed through the air and into Iafleur's sensitive nose.

'What in the world? Such lovely smell.' she pondered. Her eyes turned blood-red.