Major General and new Master
===Ifan===
Ifan had to wait two days to speak with Major General Deron only because he had Aris's help; otherwise, he would have had to wait a week.
Ifan informed him about the attack, which the Major General knew as all the reports came to the main base. He was monitoring reports from those important bases with the special subjects.
Ifan also told him about Aris and how he seemed to know their code and its meaning, which didn't surprise the General. He was aware, more than anyone, of how capable his son was.
"So, what should we do? It doesn't seem that there are any reports of catching up or finding where the ones who attacked the base went with Subject #3. Should we at least increase the security of the rest?" Ifan asked while still keeping a straight face.
"Increasing the security would pinpoint the bases to them. Their attack was too well-coordinated from the reports, and they seemed to know exactly what we had and where it was. Since few knew of her identity, we have a spy among our ranks. Even if someone recorded our conversations as Aris told you, they shouldn't have that much to go with."
Ifan had thought about it, and he agreed. Everything about those subjects was off the book, and they strictly picked the personnel that experimented on them. Even the people cleaning the space near the lab were specially selected, ensuring a very low chance of a leak.
But they weren't the only ones who knew about the special subjects and their locations.
"Do you have any suspicions of who may be?"
They both started thinking of who could. Both of them had a few ideas.
Eight people, including the two, knew about the capture of those special subjects as they were part of their capture. All of them had advanced in the ranks of the Allied Army, with Deron having the highest rank among them.
"It could be any of them. Or maybe our informant plays double spy," Ifan mentioned.
"He doesn't have access to that much information. He wouldn't know where the subject was. Also, I have some trusted men looking at him 24/7. Without his knowledge, of course, since we can't trust him completely either. He betrayed his people even if they don't know it, but he may betray us too."
Ifan agreed to that, as he never truly trusted that informant of theirs. Even if their information proved genuine and helpful, most of the time, once a traitor, always a traitor. But it was true that it would be impossible for him to gather that information without them noticing.
"Let's make a plan for adjusting the security of the bases for now. Then, we will need to call the rest for a meeting. Maybe that way, we will find more." Deron said after giving it some thought.
"We should adjust it to more than just the bases with the special subjects, or it would be like to draw attention to them if we have a traitor among our ranks. We probably need to draw some of the budgets of the less useful ones, but it should be possible."
They started discussing the details and changed over budgets they would do.
They could personally cover the cost, but why would they do that when they could do it this way? Those bases weren't giving any results anyway and mainly were there to report any changes. They needed little to handle that.
===Skotos===
Skotos came to consciousness after who knew how long. He remembered his time in that tortured place, but vaguely. It was like something prevented him from remembering, but not enough to make him forget that he had spent time there.
That female should be the reason behind it.
He was alone in what seemed to be a prison cell, with no sign of that lady or anyone else. Still, he had these unfamiliar feelings of someone being near him without being near him. It was a strange feeling, but he didn't dislike it; that way, he wouldn't feel alone even if he was the only person in the room.
The figure gave him the name Skotos, and he liked it, so he used it from now on, especially since he couldn't remember his actual name. After all that time in that place, he had forgotten many things about himself, and at the same time, he couldn't forget some.
He checked the door and found it to be unlocked. He opened it fully but then saw a figure who turned towards him.
The figure looked like a human but also unlike one. Skotos noticed that in addition to thick facial hair, this person had unnatural pointy nails, which he used to clear an apple.
"Oh, you are finally awake. Your princess said you should go to her as soon as you are up. Come on, I will get you there," said this mysterious person.
The figure started walking away, but when he noticed Skotos didn't follow him, he turned towards him.
"You remember how to walk, don't you? Come on. I don't have all day."
Skotos slowly approached him, confused about where he was. Then he remembered the lady who had freed him and knew she was the only one who could explain what had happened. The princess the figure mentioned should be the one he was looking for, or so he hoped.
Skotos noticed that his body didn't feel tired but felt stronger than before as they walked. It was strange, and he also had this odd feeling, like something wanting to get out, but it didn't make him feel sick or uncomfortable.
They went up some stairs, reached a vast hall, and turned towards one of the nearby doors.
On the way there, Skotos noticed some more figures, which seemed somewhat strange. Most of the men were hairy, with somewhat pointy ears and claw-like nails, like the one he was following.
The rest of the figures also had pointy ears, pale skin, and different eye colors. Finally, they entered a room that seemed like an office area. In it, there was an older gentleman, one of the few male pale figures, and the figure from his memories that rescued him.
As soon as Skotos saw her, he fell on one knee as a sign of respect and looked toward the floor.
He heard some chuckles from the figures in the room but not from his rescuer.
"What do you think you are doing, Skotos?" he heard her telling him.
He raised his head towards her, and she was right before him. He wasn't sure how she got there that fast without him hearing her. He had noticed that his senses, especially his sense of smell, had improved.
"Rise, Skotos. No reason to kneel unless you are told to."
He followed her command without a second thought. He had decided to follow her and pay the debt of being rescued from that place for the rest of his life.
"I am certain you have many things to ask, and you will learn them all in time. But, as you probably noticed, you aren't a human anymore. You are a vampire, and I am your new Master. We are bonded, but I can end the bond, which will bring your new life to an end at this point, so you better be careful of your next steps. Still, I am not planning to make you do something that goes against your principles, if any, at least not yet."
"I am here to serve. I will do anything my Master asks me to do," he responded.
He didn't care about the comment about her ending his life when she wanted, as he didn't want to disappoint her or go against her.
A smile appeared on the face of his new Master.
"We shall see about that. There are many things to discuss and learn. For now, follow Elder Gareth to start your training. I look forward to seeing your progress. Try not to disappoint me."
Skotos nodded as he turned towards the older man, who seemed to be the one called Gareth.
Gareth stood up, walked before him, and gave him a piece of stone with a strange carving.
"First, let's see what your Element is. You probably know little about that, but it is what humans call magic or mana. You should feel this strange energy inside you that wants to get released. Try to focus on it and insert some in the stone."
He followed the instructions and was curious to learn more about this Element.
He closed his eyes and focused on the source of his strange feeling, trying to control it. As he progressed, Gareth gave him more instructions. After a few minutes, he controlled part of that energy and inserted it into the rock.
He opened his eyes and saw that the rock had turned into black ashes.
He then looked towards Gareth, whose eyes were wide open. Next, Gareth looked towards Skotos and then back to Pyre, who had a wide grin on her face.
"So? What is the result? Did I do something wrong?" Skotos asked, confused about why they acted like that.
Gareth turned towards Skotos once more.
"You got Fire Element, just like Lady Pyre and me."
Skotos was happy to learn that he had something in common with his Master and now knew her name.
"But that isn't the only element you have."
It seemed that Skotos had more than one Element, which should have been the reason for their reaction, but he didn't know how rare that could have been.
"You also have the Dark Element."