A Noble's Fall

Eastward, below the ever cloud-capped peaks, a vast forest full of towering trees blanketed the ground, covering it in both pine and fallen leaves. A strong gust of wind coursed downward and fluttered the beautiful blades of grass, forming an almost ethereal picture. The glittering sun, piercing through the thick and murky clouds, illuminated this picturesque scene for all of those present to enjoy. Alas, only the sight of a dainty carriage being pulled by a few underwhelming steeds showcased itself. The horses bitterly neighed as they dragged the wooden cart along the dirt road, stomping their hooves in anger whilst glancing back in indignation.

Inside the carriage, a tall and slender man sat on top of a cushion with crossed legs and closed eyes. His neck-length black hair gently caressed his face, accentuating his smooth cheeks and pale skin. His sword-like eyebrows, grand eye-lashes, thin lips, and slightly pointy chin made out for a perfectly sculpted man. More notably, he possessed black finger-nails and an elegant tophat that rested atop his head. He adorned black trousers, a six-buttoned double-breasted tailcoat, and a grey vest. Additionally, he sported a pocket watch which streaked across his lower abdomen and a pair of small, silver hoop earrings.

It didn't matter who or what laid their eyes upon this man; they would surely gasp for breath in shock. Not only was he deathly handsome, but his entire aura also emanated "superiority." A small smile played on his lips as he cocked his head to the left, patiently waiting for his arrival. His right index finger rhythmically tapped on his thigh as he hummed a playful tune, causing the horses in front to shiver.

In this day and age, riding inside of a carriage was considered both primitive and pointless. Usually, the humans decided to ride inside of their luxurious steam-powered vehicles, or blimps. Unfortunately for things like the man inside of the carriage, the smell of such abominations was atrocious. Thus, a journey inside of a wooden wagon was much more appreciated, especially since it was both peaceful and quiet.

Gradually, the sun went down, and the stars came out, shedding some of their luminescence upon the earth. It wasn't until the moon was out in full bloom that the carriage finally stopped. Dimly lit lanterns hung on along a wall that was around fifteen meters north of the carriage, outlining it. Well-equipped sentinels wielded their steam-powered rifles and pistols atop the wall and aimed downward, placing the barrels through the grooves. The trained soldiers were tasked with defending their small city, so it was only natural that they treated unwelcome visitors as such.

Suddenly, one of the carriage doors creaked open. The guards gulped down a few mouthfuls of saliva as beads of sweat trailed down the sides of their faces. They itched their fingers closer to the trigger as they squinted their eyes. In this day and age, war and death were considered standard. First, pull the trigger, deal with the consequences later—that was the motto of this small city.

Slowly, the handsome man inside stretched his legs out of the carriage, pressing against the tall blades of grass with his shoes. While the humans on the wall were still left in a stupor, the man closed the carriage door and pulled out a small piece of parchment from his breast pocket. He opened his piercing and slitted red eyes, peering at both the city and the document, back and forth.

"This…" the man opened up with his deep and seductive voice, nearly tearing the souls out of the nearby men. "This is the city of Rahvin, yes?"

Silence pervaded throughout the surroundings as the graceful man's words ended. Both dread and fear filled the eyes of the dozen or so guards as their fingers irrationally shook. An older man, dressed from head to toe in black, was the first to regain control of himself. He quickly aimed and fired a shot at the elegant man, causing the others to break out of their lethargy in the process.

Soon, dozens of highly compressed bullets were fired at the ground, where the unreasonably attractive man stood. The horses neighed in confusion as they stood on their hind legs and kicked off of the land, unsure of how to proceed. The entire situation was erratic, not even half of the guards really understood why they were shooting; they just pulled the trigger and kept their mouths shut. That's how things worked nowadays, fire first, talk later.

Seconds turned into minutes; until finally, the weaponry ran out of ammunition. The rifles began making a clanking sound as the humans continuously pulled onto the triggers, signifying the state of the guns. It wasn't until the older man, who was dressed in all black, raised one of his hands and motioned the other guardians to be at ease, that they finally settled down. Only a massive plumb of smoke remained in the dirt road, the faint silhouette of a broken-down carriage being the only thing in sight.

Sweat dripped onto the stone walls as the human men inspected the smoke with squinted eyes. A few of the younger boys even managed to take this moment to glance at their direct superior—the man in black. Their eyes contained traces of confusion as if they were asking, "why did we shoot the well-dressed man?"

Naturally, after a short grunt, the older man begrudgingly complied with the young recruits pleading gaze. "To give a concise explanation, do you young snappers know what our city is called?" he asked, scanning the young soldiers.

One of the more juvenile boys, a blonde man with blue eyes, responded immediately. "O-of course, Seargent Florence. Our city is referred to as the land of the free—Elucidal.

Florence nodded his head, creasing his brows. "This is correct, young boy," he paused, an emanation of malice permeating out of his body. "However, three hundred years ago, this place was ruled by those damnable blood-suckers… the vampires. They used to call this place Rahvin, the city of the damned.

Realization donned upon all of those present as shivers were sent down their spines. They immediately glanced back toward the dissipating dust; even more, despair could be seen within their small pupils. Vampires were a target of terror among all of the races, alike, even though most of them had gone extinct in the last great war. Alas, some of the lesser Vampires, the Thralls, had successfully hidden their life-force and went into a deep slumber, resulting in some of them waking up now and then. They were rare, but not entirely uncommon. Since Vampires, especially Thralls, could multiply at such a fearsome rate, it was considered a "law" to eradicate them immediately.

Abruptly, the sound of casual footsteps resounded throughout the area. An unfazed and beautiful man, still adorning his fashionable top hat, walked out of the dust. His suit didn't possess a single speck of dirt, let alone a cut or injury. "Well, well, the humans are just as impulsive as they were in the past…" the man paused, curling his lips, "I suppose some things just never change."

He extended his slender tongue out of his mouth and licked the edges of his thin lips, lifting his right index finger in the process. A small congelation of wind congregated toward the tip of his finger, producing a winding ball of air. The gust of wind caused the tail-ends of his coat to flutter as he leisurely pointing at the huge wall in front of him. Not a single hint of emotion remained in his ruthless eyes as the small ball of energy streaked across the land.

Time seemed to slow down as the human guards rushed off of the wall, jumping and hurling. Roars, screams, and even cries echoed out. Though, all of it was for naught. Florence dropped his gun onto the ground as a silly smile formed on his lips. "To think… a noble would appear," he muttered, just moments before a loud explosion occurred.

Shrapnel and debris flung all over the place, including severed limbs. The lovely effulgence of the moon irradiated this scene wonderfully. The noble appeared to be emotionless as he sauntered through the hole in the wall, which he had created. He finished off the squirming humans who were calling out for help as if he was swatting flies. Soon, his footsteps reached Florence, who was impaled in the abdomen by a large stick.

Florence reached out with his bloody hands, "why? For revenge? To continue The Cryptic Lord's wishes? Why are you massacring humans, still?" he asked in a tone filled with both sadness and hatred.

The noble tilted his head in confusion. "Revenge, for what?" He paused, chuckling ever so slightly. "As for this 'Cryptic Lord,' I don't seem to have any recollection of him."

Florence stared at the gorgeous man, tongue-tied. In the past, all of the noble vampires had moved under one banner—The Cryptic Lord's. His brain was kicked into overdrive as he concluded two things. Either the vampire in front of him had not been aligned with the overlord, or he was still asleep during the warring era. Both choices rendered the man speechless.

"Anyhow, human, your time is running out," the noble gestured with his hand, pointing toward the large stick. "Since you regained control over yourself so quickly, quite the feat for a human, I shall bestow you with my name before you die."

Florence nodded.

A strong blast of wind fluttered the vampire's black hair as he lifted his chin and smiled, "refer to me as… Orpheus"

Suddenly, just as Orpheus had been enjoying the feeling of finally stating his name again, after so long, the sound of a basket hitting the ground entered into his ears. He raised his eyes, observing the pair of humans in front of him. One was a female, a strong jaw, big and round eyes, curled eyebrows, and beautiful brunette hair. Her figure was both curvaceous and alluring, only held back by the cheap clothes she adorned. To her side, a tall but slightly unattractive man stood. His legs were shaking, and his posture was all over the place. Furthermore, the man kept glancing at the woman, as if he were awaiting her orders… like a little boy and his mother.

On the other hand, although fearful, the woman slowly picked up her basket and bowed toward Orpheus. "Don't mind us, please go ahead and continue… we'll be heading in another direction, anyhow," she said with an awkward chuckle and skurried away, pulling the tall man by the ends of his coat.

Orpheus stood there alone, a silly smile forming on his lips. He utterly forgot about the dying human to his side and the others who he had just ruthlessly massacred. His attention was solely focused on the dumb woman who was capable of both hiding her fear in front of him and even managing to utter an excuse to escape. Amusement entered into his eyes as he crossed the distance between them in a matter of seconds, appearing directly in front of the couple.

Ignoring the houses which were lighting up, and the amassing citizens who were investigating the cause of the noise, Orpheus peered into the woman's yellowish-brown eyes. He could see the fear and apprehension that filled them, but she still kept her back straight instead of cowering. The man and woman clasped their hands together and inched backward; they had seen the dozens of mangled bodies on the ground. It didn't take a genius to understand that the man in front of them was extraordinarily dangerous—something that they couldn't handle by themselves.

As they stepped back, Orpheus leaned forward. He pressed his foot against the ground and produced a wall made out of the turbulent wind to block the couple's path of retreat. Once again, the tall man began to shake, while the curvy woman attempted to coax him. They held the hands of each other even tighter as they glanced back at Orpheus.

Submitting to her fate, the woman bit her lower lip and opened her mouth first. "We have nothing for you, not a single coin. If you'd like, I can give you one of our apple-"

Before the woman could finish her sentence, Orpheus squinted his eyes and pressured the woman with his intimidating presence. "Enough of your games, dumb girl." He said, while glancing at the tallish man, "this is your husband, I presume?" he asked.

The woman curtly nodded her head.

Orpheus clapped, "very well, then. I have a proposition," he said with strange eyes as he scrutinized the pair in front of him. "I will allow one of you to live, and one of you will stay with me. I'll let you two decide on who goes where."

Immediately, the man's eyes lit up, while the woman's eyes dimmed. For the first time, he turned toward the woman and opened his mouth, releasing a somewhat deep voice. "You stay, I'll go. With my connections, I'll be able to rescue you in no-time," he said hurriedly, not wasting a single breath.

Pain appeared within the Woman's eyes for a brief moment but was soon replaced with a smile. The human was unable to notice, but Orpheus was clearly able to discern the few droplets of tears the gal had held back. He could even see her nearly choking from grief. "Y-you're right… go tell your father and mother, surely they'll help us," she said without much enthusiasm, but the human male was far too focused on his own survival to notice. He nodded his head with a broad grin and ran away as quickly as possible, not even in the direction of which his family resided.

"Oh?" Orpheus muttered in an amused tone, "you are disappointed, but not surprised. How strange, why would you choose such a man, who you knew wouldn't care, nor love you?"

The woman, who finally had enough, ultimately let go of her tears. Both the fear of death and the pain of betrayal was far too arduous to control for a mere girl. "S-Safe choice…" she finally managed to murmur, amidst her tears.

Orpheus squinted his eyes and raised his index finger, beheading the departing man in a mere instant. His head flew off and fell along the road, while his body spurted out blood like a water fountain. Afterward, he took another step forward and placed his arm around the crying woman, a smirk resting on his face.

"A selfless woman," he grumbled, "no, a woman who finds relief in being kind to others… my polar opposite."

As he spoke to here, he could feel the girl struggle within his embrace, albeit, unsuccessfully. He wiped the tears streaking down her beautiful features with his hands and brought his face closer to hers, "what is your name?" he asked, gently.

Confusion filled her eyes as she instinctively opened her mouth, "Rachael."

Orpheus bit his lower lip and leaned in even closer to her as if the noisy surroundings didn't even exist. "Well, Rachael, how about the dangerous choice, this time?" he asked in a deep, seductive voice. He was arrogant, good looking, rich, and most of all, quite alluring. In his mind, there was absolutely no way a woman, let alone a human gal, could deny him.

"No thank you, I think I'd rather die," Rachael said without a hint of emotion, opting to use her head to strike the arrogant man in front of her.

Before her head could reach him, he took a single step back and wrapped his slender fingers around her narrow neck, pinning her against a nearby house. "How cute, I happen to prefer feisty women anyway."

While Orpheus was busying wrapping his hands around the neck of Rachael, the residents of Elucidal gathered at the front gates. Both men and woman were dressed in their sleep-wear, holding pitchforks and torches. A few of the richer commoners even wielded their pistols as they scanned through the debris. This attack was unprecedented, but, no one was quite clear as to what had happened—utter chaos ran amok Elucidal.