The Offer

In a dark basement, where the only source of light was a candle place on a table, a coffin stood upright in its center, the atmosphere of the room eerie.

The lid of the coffin fell off and landed on the floor with a crash and a naked man could be seen standing in it, the glow of the candle spreading all over his physique. The light was barely enough to make his features clear, the only discernible part of him was the red glint in his eyes.

The man stepped out of the coffin, cracked his knuckles and stretched himself. He approached the table in the room and picked up the clothes that were folded and placed on it, a white linen shirt and a pair of khaki trousers.

The man put the clothes on and left a few of the top buttons open, then he went up the steps and out the basement.

He arrived in a living room with a fire burning in the fireplace, the light from the fire lit up the room adequately. There was man sitting in an armchair reading a book, and a woman stood at the corner while staring into the fire.

The presence of the newcomer attracted their attention, causing them to look up at him.

"Hey Kal, why are you in your body? What happened to your clone?" The man asked while closing his book.

Kal walked across the living room and plopped himself onto a chair.

"Destroyed."

"That's a surprise. Was the castle really that dangerous, or did you encounter something else on your way there." The man asked.

"The journey to the castle was fine, with a few light excitement on the way. The castle itself had a few challenges, but those were also easily handled. I even got to engage in a thrilling battle, although I couldn't enjoy it fully because of the stakes."

The man was surprised by Kal's reply. All the time he had known Kal, nothing had ever stopped him from enjoying a good fight, not even when his life was on the line.

He was about to ask for more details, when Kal sat up in his chair, a serious look on his face.

"Jack, Audrey, I think I might have found it."

This made the smile Jack always had on his face disappear, even Audrey who always had a serious look on her face couldn't help but show a surprised expression.

"Do you mean The Source? Was that castle really hiding The Source?" Jack asked, his voice shaking a little.

"I can't say for certain, but the chances are high. There's a well in the castle that contains blood more potent than anything I've ever tasted, it has at least ten times the amount of radix contained in regular blood.

"Just the effect of my clone drinking from it was incredible, I could feel myself advancing. Sadly, my clone was destroyed."

Kal's words made Jack visibly agitated.

"Destroyed how? Can we still secure it?" Jack asked.

"Relax Jack, you're supposed to be the calm one. Once I figured out that what we found could've been the source, I decide to eliminate the rest of the group. The usual members were easy, some of them were already dead from a previous confrontation.

"It was Silax and Elara that gave me some problem. Although I didn't finish them off, I doubt Elara would be able to survive for much longer."

Jack relaxed back into his chair. He spent some time getting is thoughts together, after about ten minutes he spoke.

"In a few more hours it's going to be morning, so we can't leave now. We'll spend the day preparing and gathering the others, then we'll leave immediately night falls. If what you discovered is as important as it seems, we'll need to do more investigating into the castle."

Audrey spoke up for the first time, she was in charge of handling all the personnel involved in their operation.

"Are we going to share what's in the castle with them?"

"No. Their job will be securing the area around the castle, only the three of us will go into the castle. Once we're done investigating and collating our result, then we'll decide what we're going to tell them. Perhaps we'll make it into our new base, if that's what we decide, then we'll need everyone working to make the place habitable." Jack said in response.

- - -

Back in the hall with the swirling well of blood, Silax was crouching next to Elara. She was still unconscious, and she had several injuries that required immediate attention. Silax patched her up as best as he could with what he had on hand.

He got up and approached the dais where he had gotten the chalice and the leather-bound book from. On his way to the front of the hall, he noticed that the pieces of Kal's flesh that were spread around had already dissolved into blood.

'This is the same thing that happened to the ghouls. Is this how all vampyres end up when they die?' Kal thought to himself as he found it all peculiar.

'I need to hurry and get out of this place. I don't know if Jack sent another group to this ruin. I can't leave while the sun is out, so I have to wait till it's night again. That's less than fifteen hours.'

Silax stood on the dais above the spot where the symbol had flashed earlier. He bit his finger, drawing blood, then he let the blood drip on the spot.

The symbol appeared again and the next moment Silax found himself in a brightly lit chamber.

He felt disoriented and had to blink a few times to get the spots in his vision away. When his vision cleared, he looked around and took in his surroundings.

The chamber was white allover, the walls, the ceiling, and even the floors were white. The room wasn't large, it was a square room about five meters from one end to another.

In the center of the room stood a figure, not a person, not truly. More of a pillar of featureless black, its form was a void, a swirling vortex of darkness, its edges shimmered with an unsettling, inky luminescence.

A voice that was deep and resonant echoed from everywhere and nowhere at once, devoid of direction, as if it originated from within his own skull.

"The chosen arrives. Welcome."

Silax instinctively reached for his blade but his hand found nothing, he had left it behind.

"Who are you?" Silax asked cautiously.

The figure remained still, its formless presence somehow radiating amusement.

"A benefactor, a friend who offers you a gift. A gift beyond compare." the voice replied, amusement lacing its tone.

"I've been known by many names, but you can call me Maecenas."

Its voice was a disembodied whisper that echoed in Silax's mind. Silax found it very unsettling.

"A gift? What kind of gift?" Silax asked with narrowed eyes.

Maecenas chuckled, the sound like dry leaves rustling in a dead wind.

"Power." the figure hissed, the word slithering into Elias' mind like a venomous snake.

"A force that will make you a god amongst men. Limitless power. The ability to reshape the world to your will."