1 A Fateful meeting

A strictly organized city stood upon a large, flat plain. Each of its districts were cleanly divided into blocks. Perfectly efficient is how anyone would describe the capital city of the Maledus Vampiric Empire which held over 250, 000 vampires. However, it was only like this in recent history.

A series of massive reforms caused an Empire on the verge of annexation to transform into the superpower it is today, its influence dwarfing every other vampire-led nation. The identity of the person that caused such changes is only known to a small number of people. To the masses that benefitted from these reforms, this person is someone who rules from the shadow. The aptly named Shadow King is how he is referred to as.

However where there is light, there must be shadow. Many suffered as a result of the reforms, and that person is also known as the Devil of Maledus.

- - x - -

In one corner of the otherwise organized city, were the slums. It was gray and decrepit and from above seemed to be a cancer that ate away at the thriving capital, Coraxas. Nevertheless, the trade of 'unsavory' goods is a necessary evil. So, the city patrol doesn't tread too heavily in its vicinity.

Two men were walking in on the bustling, paved streets. Pickpockets and beggars were almost omnipresent here but seemed to unconsciously avoid these two. One of the men was tall and well-built with neatly cut black hair. His body seemed to be emitting an ethereal black glow, but it was quite faint. His face, which many have complimented to be chiseled by God himself, was devoid of any blemished and faced their destination. Yet his piercing, purple eyes continued to warily scan their surroundings.

"Honestly Thegis. Your magic sure is amazing, not a single kid has started crying when you pass by. With magic like yours, why do you still bother to be so on guard. You're so stiff, that's why you don't get any women." The second man teased, wryly shaking his head.

"And you're too loose, Mais. That's why women slip through your fingers." Thegis retorted. His voice was monotone and quite smooth. There was no change in intonation as if he were reading from a script and could not be bothered with the happenings around him.

The second man chortled. Even beside the former, the latter was not put to shame. His muscular body, kind face and slightly scarred limbs marched through the same path while talking. Both of these men clearly had extensive combat experience and could dominate any room with their mere presence.

Thegis and Mais continued chatting even after reaching their destination, an old wooden tavern, quite a lot of which had become rotten. Even though these men clearly looked very upper-class they did not hesitate to sit on the dirty and stained bar stools.

"Two of yer' strongest stuff!" Mais shouted at the bartender smoothly transitioning into a commoner dialect so as to not stick out – not that it would matter with Thegis' magic.

The men continued downing the strong alcohol as if it were water while discussing whatever topics came to mind. Starting from how their weeks have been to some idle banter and then finally business.

"The humans have been making some suspicious moves, Mais." Thegis stated, still in monotone.

"Alas I don't know why you insist on pulling me into this heavy shit."

"It's your job to be pulled into this." Thegis said, a hint of irritation could be heard.

"Fine. Fine. What's goin' on?" Mais asked.

"I do not know." Thegis replied perfunctorily.

"…Excuse me?" Mais tilted his head incredulously.

"A bad premonition. A great change is coming. But I don't know what. The only explanation I can give is that the blood from the frontier villagers is being collected. The corpses that remain are dry. Dirrum and Lain are investigating."

"A premonition?" Mais crushed his cup, immediately sobering up, "Damn, this is serious."

"Obviously, why else would I be talking to you? I do not hate myself that much."

"Is that how you ask for help?"

"Oh, Your Highness, please grace this humble soul with your imperial aid."

"Ugh could you not say it in monotone?"

"Are you going to help or not?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"No."

Mais chuckled, "I swore that you would have my unconditional assistance. How can I be of assistance to the - Hey where're you goin?!"

Halfway through the Mais's sentence, Thegis abruptly stood up and started walking outside. His usually dead eyes were set ablaze. "Do not worry about me. Something came up. You can go home."

"I'm not worried about you." Mais muttered bitterly. The other patrons began to pointedly gaze at his expensive attire as he left the effective range of Thegis's magic.

- - x - -

A frail girl that looked to be on the cusp of adulthood staggered through dark and damp alleyways as fast as she could. The moonlight occasionally lit her rags.

"She's this way!" One of the men chasing after her shouted while cackling.

Her beautiful face hidden by dirt and grime contorted in fear and she sped up ignoring the screams of her weak muscles. She weaved through the path as fast as her broken body would allow. The savage laughs and leering faces still seemed to be getting closer.

"Ya think ya can escape ya magic-less trash?"

As she turned another corner, one of the men cut her off and she fell down. Pain shot through her battered body as she looked up to see the men there, looking down with sickening expressions. The man closest to her approached and reached out with his hand. She tightly shut her eyes as tears sprung up, and thought of her long-gone family. As the images of her smiling father, exasperated mother and carefree sister passed by, she thought two words.

I'm Sorry

Her family were practitioners of peace and avoided violence at all times, even at the time of their deaths. As icy fear clutched her heart, she searched for one way out when she saw something at the edge of her vision. A man that could only be described as stunning stood there. His clothes were quite cheap except for the black jacket that reached his ankles. The bloodlust that his purple eyes emitted was palpable.

The men recoiled and looked around, "Who's there?!"

For some reason, their eyes didn't focus on the man standing there. The man blinked his eyes and black light began erupting from him. The men froze, true fear etched into their faces. One of the weaker ones at the back fell down as if a puppet whose strings were cut.

Another eruption of light and the rest followed. She shrank back from the collapsed forms of her pursuers and swung her head towards their killer. His baleful gaze was now empty. Her mind couldn't catch up with the situation and she believed that she was next. But the man just turned around and started walking away. When she realized that the man was her savior she shouted earnestly towards his shrinking form and kowtowed, "Th-Thank you, sir!"

The man jumped and looked back towards her. His expression that hadn't changed all this time was warped in shock. He locked gazes with her. His body erupted in black light again and she flinched, believing that she would follow the men beside her. But nothing happened.

She locked gazes with the man again, the black light was extinguished. He seemed to be doing something, but she couldn't figure what it was exactly.

The man nodded to himself, seemingly assured of something. He began walking towards her. His movements reeked of combat experience, as they were minimal and well-calculated with no extraneous aspects.

Weirdly, she did not feel fear as he approached but instead a sense of belonging.

"What is your name?" The man asked as he took off his black trench coat. Underneath were well muscled arms, but they did not have any scars of blemishes on them.

"Ashlyn" She answered, her throat hoarse.

"Ashlyn," The man repeated, as if testing the name, "My name is Thegis Cruen Tenebrae. Ashlyn do you want a job?"