11 Luke

A distance from the valley of raining flames, a group of five, with a tall, lean man in the lead rushed towards a creek. The men were above six feet with pale complexion and blue-pupil-less eyes. They cautiously swept their eyes over the terrain, their tall frames seemingly frail in the red background.

Evading the raining flames and crumbling boulders, they hid their presence by glamour and slowly entered the valley. It was there, that they detected a disturbance in the sky. Spreading out, they searched the area where the golden light appeared from.

A long while later, the group gathered together outside the creek. Finding nothing worthy of notice, they turned and left.

A few breaths of time passed and silence filled the region, returning it to its original tranquility. Just when the place fell in peaceful harmony, a few dark shadows materialized.

They stealthily moved about the raining flames region and thoroughly inspected it. A short while later, they converged together. These shadows were the same group of individuals that were present earlier. Their motive was to fish out the suspects behind the abnormality in the area.

However, the result of their investigation ended up the same way as their first search, with nothing to be found in the barren, bleak region. Disappointed sighs left their mouths as their sights shifted onto the man in the lead.

"Luke, there is nothing here. Maybe it was the raining flames reacting to a magical element in the air." One of the five-men, on Luke's left speculated out loud.

"Yes. But for that to happen, there should be an influx of new magic in the air. One that was not present before. One we are unable to trace right now. And for that new magic to appear, there should have been a cause, whether natural or supernatural." Luke's pensive pale blue eyes roamed over the raining flames valley.

There was a strange feeling in his gut, an instinct telling him, that there was something or someone here.

But what?

"I see. The cause of the new magic in the air, that caused the golden reaction, is unknown. So, we cannot conclude there is nothing here." Another one of the men said.

"Yes, but we are not able to find or trace the unknown element. Let us go for now. Whatever the cause is, sooner or later, it will be in the open." Saying so, Luke turned and disappeared. Confused, the men exchanged brief glances, and followed after him.

Whatever Luke was planning, they did not need to know. Their only task, was to follow and carry out his every order to the smallest detail.

With the departure of the men, complete silence filled the valley. The splattering and bubbling of rain flames and lava was the only activity in the zone.

Two-quarters of an hour later, across the spot from where the golden light appeared and the men stood, the red wall shifted and twisted. Golden, scale-like patterns appeared and glimmered under the radiance of the molten lavas and rain flames.

The scales separated from the wall, like a snake shedding its skin, before materializing into a golden tailed, snake figure.

The instant the figure detected itself from the wall, it moved to the center of the valley and looked towards the direction the group left in, before slowly transforming into a human.

This figure was Versailles, who had camouflaged and sank herself into the valley wall, hiding her presence from the sudden arrivals.

As a shapeshifter and a fire-wielder snake, camouflaging herself into any fire attributed object and taking on its aura, was one of her strongest abilities. In the most dangerous situations, this camouflage skill allowed her to completely conceal and erase her presence from the realm, saving her life.

When Versailles was suddenly teleported to the Nar realm, she listlessly laid writhing in pain on the flaming ground. Oblivious to her surroundings, the desolate and corroding image of the stalking shadow and the Snowy Plains replayed in her head.

Her mind in chaos and heart in pain, she was barely able to sense the approaching danger and respond in time.

Still confused and weak from lose of too much power, she instinctively blended into the flaming creek wall, a skill she picked up and mastered as a fiery serpentine in her previous life.

The instant she sunk into the embrace of the flaming valley wall, her aura and presence were automatically wiped out.

Now, as she stood in the center of the raining flames, her brows furrowed in confusions as she felt a vague sense of deja vu.

"Have I met one of those men before?" She wondered out loud.

It was possible.

Because in the Nar realm, aside from the Flying Eagle and Snake clan, the Werewolf and Bloodsucking, Devil and Demon clans were also among the six supreme clans. In her previous life, as a member of the Snake clan, she might have encountered a member from one of the six supreme clans.

The group that just left, were vampires of the Bloodsucking clan, one of the six supreme clans. In the Nar realm, the six supreme clans ruled, while the other species either served, slaved, or were exterminated.

Not wanting to encounter or get involved with the departed vampires, Versailles quickly transformed and slithered out the valley, heading directly towards the serpent abode.

Because even among the six supreme clans, there were behind-the-scenes struggles to dominate and reign over the rest. If the two met, a strife or scuffle immediately arising would not be out of the question.

***

The Vampire City was one of the bleakest and coldest of the six clans. As members of the dark forces committee, the Bloodsucking clan received botches of the subjugated species to keep themselves fed and strong.

However, as the committee was created only to maintain the balance of power among the six clans and oversee that the distribution of resources in the realm was based on merits, the Bloodsucking clan never consumed the allocated resources to guard themselves against possible schemes.

Hence, to make up for the deficiency, they forged their own resources. For the past century, they got along quite well finding their own feeding methods and resources, but recently things became a little difficult.

They have been experiencing issues securing feeding sources and potential feeders, something that should have never been a problem, considering the many species dwelling in the realm.

This was obviously targeting them. But the question remained.

'Who was the shadow behind the scenes?'

As Luke walked through the black, gray, and dull red streets of Vampire City, he thought about the many captives they brought back this time.

The number was very little, too few to feed the large Bloodsucking clan that had only been growing during the past few years.

With the direction things were headed, it wouldn't be long before they started discarding the weak and old, in favor of the young and strong, to prevent the clan from growing weak.

'Even then, such methods will not be enough to stop the clan's strength from decreasing. We need to find the master behind the scenes. The one obstructing and getting in the way of the Bloodsucking clan's livelihood.'

Luke grimly thought as he approached the elder's hall.

The moment he entered, the shouts and arguments of the elders reached his ears before his sight adjusted to the darkroom.

"We have to prioritize the mainline of the clan for the next feeding, until a new feeding source is secured." An old white-haired vampire with pale blue eyes, passionately shouted at a tall, thin vampire across from him.

"If we do that, we will have a revolt on our hands. The majority of the scouting and hunting groups of blood seekers come from the second or third line. Prioritizing the mainline would be equal to sacrificing them. They won't take such a major affair laying down." The tall, thin vampire, a relative of Luke's scouting team, frowned in disapproval as he replied.

"We just need to keep that information hidden from them. We will distribute the new sources publicly while setting some aside secretly for the mainline. This way, even if there isn't enough to go around, the mainline will not be affected and the other branches will not be offended." The old Vampire passionately insisted.

Before the thin man could continue his argument, he spotted Luke and looked at him with pleading eyes.

It was obvious why.

Once such a movement as prioritizing the main branch accidently spread out, it could lead to the end of the Bloodsucking clan. By then, the mastermind behind the shadows would not even have to move a finger before his goal would be accomplished.

Approaching the silent elders, Luke gazed at the two arguing members, and in an emotionless voice, he declared.

"We are going to prey on the Werewolf clan. They are the weakest of the six clans and their weakness is our greatest strength. Moreover, it is not like this is the first time we preyed on them."