Name: Tanyth
Race: High Elf
Class: Exotic Sequencer
Level: 82
Tier 5
Profession: Rune-Enchanter
Level: 73
Tanyth balefully glared at the Horde that threatened his city. The mass of pale and various states of decayed bodies with milky eyes stared back. All except for one that had brown curly hair and olive skin that made him stand out amongst the Zombies.
“YOU!” He bellowed loud enough there was a visible shift in the air.
Vampiric instincts assailed Aldrin’s mind, forcing him to challenge the threat to his existence. The Vampires were meant to be the predator of predators and no golden skinned High Elf, or anyone else for that matter, would tell him otherwise any longer.
“ME!” Aldrin shouted back.
The Zombies around stood a little straighter at Aldrin’s rise to the challenge. He couldn’t help but feel a sense of pride at the display. Hyde floated back towards Aldrin, carefully watching Tanyth float there, mumbling something to himself. With enhanced hearing, Aldrin picked up the incantation for a spell.
“Ki’Saed said to stomp on the ground when ya ready fer ‘im to intervene,” Hyde whispered.
“Good, because that’s a spell he is about to unleash,” Aldrin frowned.
The Ecilith charged from all directions towards Tanyth. Golden glyphs appeared and began to rotate around Tanyth, slowly glowing bigger as they accumulated the magical energy from the caster. Aldrin waited for the right moment to signal Ki’Saed to appear. The brightness of the golden glyphs reached the climax, bathing the night sky in warm, white light. The air screamed next, ripping away the revere that came with the enchanting light.
The golden light enveloped Tanyth in a sphere of light, then sent a shockwave of light in all directions, incinerating the Ecilith that were closer and burning the ones further away into partial crisps. Aldrin stomped on the ground after seeing the power of it. The shaking he first felt when the Horde attack happened again, rumbling the ground beneath him, and knocking him off his feet as well as the surrounding Zombies. The ground began to crack around one of the factories, making it slowly sink into the ground before completely submerging. Chittering and screeches reverberated from the giant hole. Aldrin looked over slowly, as did Tanyth, his eyes no longer crazed as he focused on a potential new threat.
Four massive centipede tentacles lashed out from the hole, each head screeching with a multitude of voices from victims. They found their grips after flattening the nearby buildings. To Aldrin’s awe, they lifted a huge pale blob of flesh that connected each of them at the center. Different colored eyes of various sizes and mouths of jagged teeth sprouted randomly along the pale mass. Human fear washed through Aldrin, reminding him of his insignificance in the face of the monstrosity before him.
Name: Ki’Saed
Race: Death Gorger
Class: Corpse Accumulator
Level: 85
Tier 5
“They are gaining Classes. . .” Aldrin stared at the Status screen next to Ki’Saed when he looked at the monster.
Ki’Saed roared once, shattering the windows of the buildings. If the city didn’t know they were under attack, just from the front gates and walls being broken, Ki’Saed ensured everyone knew now. Tanyth didn’t move an inch, refusing to lose the staring contest with the monster that unearthed itself. Ki’Saed was the first to break contact, swiveling his many eyes to observe Aldrin. Ki’Saed’s mind reaching out to Aldrin, “Greetings Sir Vampire, may the night bless your kin’s return to its embrace,” a smooth and elegant said.
Ki’Saed whipped one of its centipede arms at Tanyth, striking him from the sky before he could react. Aldrin barely had time to register where Tanyth crashed before Death Gorgers of different sizes spewed forth from the hole underneath Ki’Saed when it lifted itself. The scene in front of him would be forever burned into his mind when the nightmarish Death Gorgers stampeded in all directions and through the buildings. Some of the Zombies followed behind them, adding more to the destruction. Aldrin could hear the shouts of people rallying to defend the oncoming Horde.
An Ecilith dropped down next to Aldrin, finally allowing him to see what they looked like up close. True to their first appearance, they were winged centaur ghouls. Tall ones at that, as Aldrin only came up to its waist where the humanoid and horse part met. Their top half was storm gray, while their bottom part, that of a horse, was black. A dark glossy full helmet with a black feathered plume designed to resemble a horse’s mane trailed down the back of the helmet. It also had a slit that allowed for its orange eyes to peer at Aldrin.
Each part of the Ecilith was rippled with sleek and chiseled muscle, perfected for hunting down its prey through the air or ground. It kept its chest bare and only wore dark metal arm guards and pauldrons. He had a securely strapped dark metal lance along its flank and covered it with its raven black wings, almost similar to how a person would strap a sword to their waist and hide it with a cloak.
“Thortix,” the helmet it wore distorted its deep rugged voice when it placed its fist towards Aldrin.
“A fist bump?” Aldrin asked.
“Is it not customary to greet other Humans that way?” Thortix pulled his fist back slowly.
“It’s. . .” Aldrin thought for a moment, “No, you are not wrong,” he held out his fist now.
Thortix gave him a fist bump, his cold and clammy skin leaving a distinct impression on Aldrin.
“I am to be your support from the air while you converge on our objective,” Thortix informed, sliding back into a militant style of speaking.
More questions took root in Aldrin’s head, questions that pertained to everything that fell under the Undead. He thought they were nothing but mindless monsters, but just from the past few nights, he has come to see them in a new light. It worried him a little to know that there were other Vampires out there somewhere, Vampires that weren’t Feral, let alone having the time to fully explore their new nature and abilities. The thoughts of remaining a Vampire surfaced again, making him wonder if finding a teacher wouldn’t be so bad for the time being until he was cured.
The remaining Zombies that encircled him had finished picking themselves up after Ki’Saed’s appearance. The hive of Death Gorgers that spilled forth had cleaned out the resistance, clearing a path straight to the gate. Luck was finally on his side. He and his group ran, well shambled, their way towards the gate that was destroyed. Bodies of chewed up High Guards littered the ground, saturating the soil with blood. Magical Earth and Ice spikes were embedded in some of the Death Gorgers that also lay amongst the chewed bodies. Broken vials crunched beneath his feet, making him look closely at Zombies that were melted partially from an acid or poison.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Thortix swooped down, trotting up to Aldrin, surveying the surroundings as he went. “The buildings have been destroyed,” Aldrin commented once Thortix came to a stop next to him.
“The Zombies will start digging,” Thortix said, sending out a mental command to the Zombies making them start to shamble towards the ruined library.
“Kiinnn. . .” Aldrin felt the familiar twinge of the Feral Vampire he encountered the first time he came here, only there were 25 that whispered in elation into his mind.
“Oh my gods. . .” Aldrin flinched back as sudden overwhelming hunger leaked over from the 25 Feral Vampires. He felt them underground, beginning to surge toward the surface, to freedom, and to greet their Lord.
The Zombies that started moving the stones of the destroyed building stopped, dropping the pieces they had on the ground and stared at the biggest pile. They swayed slightly, feeling their impending victory when the Feral Vampires broke through the gaps. Their sprawling arms reached around to find purchase. Some pushed their way through small openings and widened them to allow for the others to come through.
Name: Feral Vampire
Level: 5
Name: Feral Vampire
Level: 13
Name: Feral Vampire Level: 9
Name: Feral Vampire Level: 22
Aldrin identified each one that crawled out of the holes, their features no longer human as pale skin, and bat-like faces with fangs jutting from their mouths took over. Their long, pointed ribbed ears twitched at the slightest sounds off in the distance. Their noses sniffed the air, the wind that carried the food scented blood along with it. Aldrin felt their hunger become tenfold when they stood before him after adjusting to their surroundings.
“Thirsty. . .” They said, looking at Aldrin expectantly.
Their hunger and his desire for blood drowned any rational thought. His focus to fight off the tantalizing smell wavered when their desire mixed with his. Before him, however, innocent people who were turned into monsters because of twisted experiments stood in front of him. This wasn’t his first time nor his fifth time encountering things of this nature since he has been on Grenora. The difference this time was because he was in a position to stop it, unlike the other times.
He looked out into the burning city that was being destroyed and swallowed up by the fires. They had now reached the beginning of the Residential District. Nobody was prepared to face a siege by coordinated Undead and nobody was prepared for what Aldrin would do next. The first steps into the foray of justice and vengeance would begin.
“Feed,” Aldrin commanded the Feral Vampires.
The twisted sense of vengeance had pleased his Vampiric side when they all roared in unison, their unearthly, animalistic roars foretelling their coming. He firmly instilled to only let those that run to be spared while those that stayed and fought were fair to eat. He then instilled the command to the entire Horde under his command, he realized accidents were bound to happen.
He hoped that the smart ones that were still alive in the town trying to escape would realize that attacking a Zombie would only make them attack back. The Horde acquiesced to the command, as did the Feral Vampires.
Aldrin ran with the Feral Vampires, keeping pace with them as they vaulted over the wall and onto the nearby rooftops that were still left slightly intact. There was a sense of thrill and camaraderie as Aldrin hunted with the other Feral Vampires. The tantalizing food scented blood grew thicker, making Aldrin give in more to being a Vampire. They landed on a building near the front lines, slightly obscured by the shadows created by the fires. They watched the carnage and the brave valiant defenders that slowly dwindled down. Aldrin’s hope turned out to be true when he watched a family of four Dwarves snake their way past remnant packs of the Horde that ignored them. He wasn’t the only one watching either when he saw a small tribe of Goblins march their way past the Horde as well.
“COWARDS!”
“TRAITORS!”
“I KNEW YOU WERE NO GOOD!”
Aldrin heard various insults thrown around as more caught onto not fighting the Undead, which of course left the stupid and stubborn ones putting up a futile fight. Aldrin inhaled, activating Roar of the Apex.
Notice!
For 3 seconds, your enemies’ spells and weapon enchantments are locked!
There was a lull in the battle as spells petered out or stopped casting halfway. The melee fighters lost their glows around their weapons. “ABOVE!” someone shouted, noticing the 26 Vampires staring down at them.
They hissed and roared. Their clawed hands gripped areas of the building so hard they cracked from holding themselves back. They waited for Aldrin to give them the signal to attack as he watched the remaining defenders gaze up in horror. The Zombies, Death Gorgers, and Ecilith ignored them when they stopped attacking and continued to destroy the surrounding buildings instead.
A part of Aldrin relished in the fear that exuded from them. He knew that it would make their blood taste all the more delicious when he finally sank his fangs into one of them. The Human part of him was quiet now, the incessant need to hold himself back and not draw attention to himself went down the drain when someone tried to blow him up. Not only did the person attempt to assassinate him, but succeeded in murdering other innocents.
Tonight, he would feed without restraint. Those who mattered already escaped the city, and those who didn’t were now going to be bones he stepped on to ascend to greater heights. He would be a Paladin one way or another. This city had sealed its fate when it dealt with experiments on the living and Undead. The Queen had also sealed her fate by allowing her Queendom to fall into disarray on purpose. If Aldrin was a feared Progenitor then it was time for him to start acting like it.
WORLD NOTICE!
The last Progenitor has finally accepted responsibility!
The Battle for the domain of Grenora has begun!
New Era Entered!
The Era of Retribution has begun!
The time for long-lost secrets and revenge has come!
Aldrin read those prompts before another popped up in front of him.
Congratulations Progenitor of Vampires!
You have come to terms with what you must do!
You are among the 11 other Progenitors that now stir their banners for war to battle for the ownership of Grenora.
Will you win through Conquest, Diplomacy, or Trade?
New Quest!
Find your Kin: You have been given hints that you may not be the only one of your kind that controls their nature! Seek them out and you will gain what you desire the most!
Aldrin would have to sit down later and thoroughly go through the notifications as more continued to sprout in his vision. For now, he was thirsty, as were the others of his brood that hunted with him. The mental hold he had on the Feral Vampires went slack when Aldrin mentally let go of the leash. They shot forward, hurtling towards their prey with hunger driven movements. They were malnourished and angry, which Aldrin could understand. Those that wanted to run no longer had the chance as the Vampires descended upon them, feasting on their companions. Two Ferals had taken upon themselves to split their meal by tearing one of the defenders in half and began eating their entrails.
Turning into a swarm of bats, Aldrin flew down, appearing in front of an Adventurer that forgot he had the ability to defend himself as the sudden chaos of the Vampires fractured his will. He gripped the Adventurer by his throat, letting him get a full view of Aldrin. Trying to scream, he only was able to wheeze when Aldrin sank his fangs into the Adventurer's neck, draining him.
He threw the body down and looked for another meal. He zeroed on one that was trying to run away. Grinning to himself, he gave chase, easily tackling his prey from behind and wrestling him to the ground. He instantly snapped the neck of the Ranger and drank from him. All around, his Vampires fed themselves into a blood drunk frenzy that attacked anything that had a heartbeat. Aldrin joined in, uncaring when the blood was beginning to smear across his face and body. He lost himself in the sea of fresh blood that filled him up.
Off in the distance, Ki’Saed faced off with Tanyth, who shot elemental beams from his glyphs that formed in the surrounding air. Lor-Vold was falling and soon, it would be brought to its knees without any chance of recovery once the defenders were dealt with. This night would be the first significant moment in the new era since it would mark the return of the Vampires and would be deemed the official declaration of the war for Grenora.