Finally

Tenebrea sat in the cocoon as she absorbed the fragment. She felt her energy reserves increase dramatically, and her already tough physique actually became tougher. Giant bat wings sprouted from her back, and they were far larger than they were initially. Gaea just stared at this phenomenon unblinkingly. Tenebrea's rank increased from the intermediate red rank, passing through the purple rank, and finally settling on the intermediate gold rank.

The plant cocoon retreated into Gaea, and Tenebrea stood up with her wings spread. She looked different. Her wings lay flat on her back, now looking like a cape; her fangs looked bigger as she smiled; her ears pointed upwards like those of an elf; and her figure looked curvier despite her slim figure.

She looked at Orerlyo and said, "Thank you. You can come to the vampire castle whenever you need assistance."

Orerlyo gave a deep bow, saying, "We are grateful, my queen."

"It is about time I get going. By the way, I will need a few orichalcum and obsidian since you guys are one of the only people with them on the continent."

"Not a problem. They will be delivered to the castle in a few days."

"Okay. Gaea, let's go to the big castle now and wait for your father."

"Yay. How long do you think Father will take before he gets here?" Gaea asked enthusiastically.

"I don't know, but I have a feeling we'll be meeting really, really soon." Tenebrea walked out of the cave hand-in-hand with Gaea. Amphy bent its head, welcoming them on her body.

It started to flap its wings, ascending, and it flew off in the direction of the vampire's castle.

"Ready a vehicle to take half of our stock of obsidian and orichalcum to the vampire castle. We leave in a few hours." Orerlyo commanded.

The dwarves started preparing, revealing a huge ship that was about 200 meters long and 100 meters wide. The dwarves started transporting hills of orichalcum and obsidian into the ship.

After two hours without a break and with all hands on deck, they had finished transporting half the ores.

"Departure in 30 minutes. Ready the ship." The leader then selected those who were going to the vampire castle, including a few merchants and material alchemists. They were going to trade orichalcum and obsidian, so the people going needed to know what would benefit them as a race and as forgers.

Tenebrea and Gaea would need two days before getting to the vampire castle, so they flew leisurely, enjoying the view and talking about their lives.

~A few days after Tenebrea and Gaea left the group~

Julius, Scarlet, Talia, Davina, Maverick, and Anastasia moved in the direction of the castle. Anastasia had found a giant stormhawk and tamed it, so they rode it to the castle.

"Ana, I understand Master wants to get stronger so she can fight the one who created her once again and this time win, but why does it feel like there is also another reason?" Julius asked Anastasia.

Anastasia sighed "Because there is another reason."

Oh, what is it?" Talia asked

"Well, this isn't a secret, as Master has referred to him several times. When Queen Tenebrea woke up, she finally told Vlad and me about her life."

She looked at them all and noticed they were all staring at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Queen Tenebrea said she was the first being, or at least that is what she thought. She felt alone in a place she had never seen before. Her memories were hazy, or she never really had any prior to the time she woke up. To her, life felt familiar yet strange. It was then that she felt a connection, something she could not explain. She wanted to find it and move in the direction of the connection she felt, but as she moved closer, she felt it was also moving away, as if it were not time. Her resolve for this strange life and her strength to fight against destiny began at that moment. She strived to live so she could understand this connection she felt." They were all entranced by the story. The group felt like they could see Tenebrea confused and lonely; they all felt heartache.

Tenebrea continued, "She saw several races being born and thriving; she also witnessed them being destroyed and mass genocides taking place, but that did not even faze her. These events were out of her control, so she chose not to interfere. She had a purpose. Finally, the source of the connection was right there. When the creator ascended to destroy them, he was also there; they fought side by side. She stared at him, and he stared at her. She wanted to talk to him, to tell him all about how she had waited, how she had fought loneliness, and how she had built a race she was proud of as she waited for him, but before they could even exchange a word, it ended." This was a very intriguing story, and the group wished they had popcorn.

'Wait, why am I craving popcorn? What is popcorn?' Julius wondered

"They did not lose, but they did not win either. So yes, the reason the queen is trying to get her fragments is to fight the creator once again, but she also wants to meet him before they fight once more. She wants to talk to him and also understand him because she knows he is probably doing the same." Tenebrea finally finished the story.

"I knew Master was a badass, but I did not expect her to have such an emotional side," Talia exhaled.

"But Ana, you make it sound like this guy is Master's soulmate, but they have never even spoken, so she could be wrong," Julius said logically.

"That is one thing I am sure about. The queen is never wrong, and yes, she makes it sound that he is her second half." Ana shook her head.

She then looked forward. They have been flying for a few days now.

"Finally, we are home." Scarlet sighed in relief.

The group looked forward, and there was a big wall spanning across the land. On the walls stood artillery and defensive weapons to keep out invaders. Several patrolling vampires stopped and pointed bows at the incoming bird. This was not just a palace. It was a kingdom.

"Welcome to the home of vampires; Welcome to Wallachia."