“After more than 500 years, nothing could have prepared me for this strange and scary world”

Arnaud de la Roche, a young nobleman from the Gascony region of 15th century France, slowly opened his eyes, feeling a mix of confusion, fear, and a deep sense of loss. How had he ended up in this strange place?

He tried to sit up, but the dead weight of an animal on his chest prevented him from doing so. Growling in frustration, Arnaud realized he was trapped in a kind of underground hollow, with barely enough space to move.

As he struggled to control the panic threatening to consume him, as he tried to survive, slowly a painful truth began to dawn on him: he had awakened in a world he no longer recognized, centuries away from everything that had once been his home.

♢♢♢♢

But let me start from the beginning and tell you how our protagonist arrived here...

The story of Arnaud de la Roche's coffin, the slumbering vampire of Gascony, is an odyssey worthy of being told in its own right.

It happened at the end of the 15th century, shortly after Arnaud had entered his long slumber following the Battle of Castillon, which had marked the end of the Hundred Years' War between France and England. At the time, the body of the young and handsome man was found in his bed, seemingly transformed into an incorrupt mummy.

Of course, our vampire had not participated directly in the fight... But it was in fact one of the reasons why he had "starved to death." You see, Arnaud is not a vampire like the ones in horror stories, he is a "vampire by birth" - the only true vampire in the world, and not a person afflicted with rabies or one of the innocent accused of witchcraft in those times.

You see, the body of our vampire emits a fog when it's exposed to the sun.

Those who found him, amazed by such a phenomenon, decided to preserve the body in a wooden coffin reinforced with metal. Perhaps, in some distant future, Arnaud would manage to awaken from his eternal sleep. In the meantime, the mysterious sarcophagus was guarded in the vaults of a castle in the Gascony region.

However, the story did not end there. In the early 16th century, with the rise of the Spanish Empire and the increasingly frequent expeditions to the New World, the Spanish crown showed great interest in acquiring strange relics and antiquities that could be proudly displayed.

This is how a Spanish agent managed to infiltrate the castle in Gascony and convince the residents to sell the mysterious coffin. Intrigued by the promise of a generous reward, the nobles accepted the offer, unaware of the true identity of the "mummy."

The coffin was then loaded onto one of the galleons departing from the port of Bordeaux, bound for the Caribbean. During the crossing, the crew soon noticed that the casket seemed to emit small, sporadic sounds, causing unease among the superstitious sailors.

The captains, fearful that it might be a demon or a cursed spell, tried to keep the secret and hide the cargo from the passengers.

Finally, after several weeks of voyaging, the galleon docked at the port of Veracruz, in the newly conquered New Spain. There, the coffin was transferred to a carriage and taken towards the capital of the viceroyalty, the imposing city of Mexico-Tenochtitlán.

By then, the legend of the "mummified demon" had already acquired almost mythical proportions among the ship's crew. Some swore they had seen the coffin move on its own in the middle of the night, while others claimed to have heard strange whispers coming from its interior.

When the carriage arrived at the viceregal palace in Mexico City, the coffin was received with great pomp and ceremony. The viceroy of the time, a Spanish nobleman named Antonio de Mendoza, was fascinated by the ancient relic and ordered that it be placed in a place of honor, within one of the most sumptuous halls of the palace.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Over the following years, the mysterious coffin became a true attraction for the New Spanish aristocracy. Nobles, scholars, and even members of the clergy would come to contemplate with awe and fear the mummy that, it was said, had been brought from the distant lands of France.

But for some reason, no one dared to desecrate the coffin. Perhaps it was due to the fear of the unknown, or perhaps out of a superstitious respect for what seemed to be a relic of great power.

And so, time passed, and the viceregal palace of Mexico-Tenochtitlán transformed as New Spain advanced towards its independence. The coffin, however, remained intact, zealously guarded within the walls of that imposing building.

It was during the era of the War of Reform, in the second half of the 19th century, when the coffin once again became the center of attention. The liberal forces, led by President Benito Juárez, stormed the viceregal palace, now converted into the National Palace, with the intention of confiscating all the treasures that were kept there.

One of the soldiers, impressed by the antiquity and appearance of the mysterious casket, decided to preserve it and take it to his home as one of his prizes. Unfortunately, during the journey through a mountain range, the transport was buried by a landslide, and the coffin was left hidden.

No one could have imagined that, in reality, the supposed "mummified demon" lying within was not just a relic, but a true vampire, Arnaud de la Roche, who still remained in a deep slumber, unaware of the changes that had completely transformed the world he once knew...

Until, one day, something unexpected happened. A deer passing over the site of the incident happened to fall into the pit. It's unfortunate demise in the uncomfortable fall disrupted Arnaud's resting place. And with that, the story of the young noble vampire was about to take an unexpected turn.

For while the modern world continued its course, oblivious to the existence of that ancient being, Arnaud de la Roche, the last vestige of a forgotten era, finally awoke from his long sleep. And he would find himself facing a future that he could not have imagined in his wildest dreams.

Chapter 1: Awakening

Arnaud slowly opened his eyes, feeling disoriented and weak. He had remained in a deep sleep, hibernating as he did when he could not find enough sustenance.

But now, something had changed. He looked around, confused. Instead of the familiar walls of his abode, he found himself in a suffocating darkness.

As he tried to control his labored breathing, he realized that the space around him was very confined. He seemed to be trapped in a kind of underground hollow or cave. How had he ended up here? The last thing he remembered was being in his bed, ready to enter the long restorative sleep after being damaged in the Battle of Castillon, which had marked the end of the Hundred Years' War.

Frustrated, Arnaud tried to sit up, but the dead weight on his chest stopped him. He looked down, his enhanced vision having adapted to the darkness, and saw the lifeless body of an animal, some kind of deer, that seemed to have died on top of him.

For a moment, Arnaud remained motionless, processing the situation. Then, an idea crossed his mind. Perhaps, in some way, the blood of this creature had revived him, awakening him from his slumber. It was a remote possibility, but he could not dismiss it.

Slowly, he leaned forward and sank his fangs into the animal's skin, savoring the delicious blood that flowed. As he ingested it, he felt his strength and vitality gradually returning. His body regained volume, and the extreme hunger pushed him to also tear into the animal's flesh. Arnaud, you see, is a vampire who can only feed on living tissues and does not have a conventional digestive system.

Once he had fed, Arnaud lay back down, sighing with relief. At least he had managed to solve his sustenance problem, for the moment. But he still had the great unknown of how he had ended up in this strange place and how much time had passed.

Until a small ray of light filtered down from the ceiling, following the fall of a small pebble.

Arnaud felt panic wash over him. The sun! As a vampire, he was unable to tolerate daylight without suffering the feeling of severe burns. Quickly, he crawled back into the small hollow where he had awakened, seeking refuge in the shadows.

He looked up, observing the faint light filtering through the roots and earth that imprisoned him. It seemed he would not be able to leave until nightfall. He would have to wait to discover where he was.

As he made himself as comfortable as possible, Arnaud wondered what the future held. How long had he slept? What had become of his home during his absence? And most importantly, how was he going to find out where he was?

Sighing, he closed his eyes, preparing for a long and agonizing wait. Whatever awaited him, he would have to face it with caution and cunning. For now, his only priority was to stay alive and get out of this hole.