The vampire stood in the shattered foyer now dressed in better attire than what he woke in. Rathburn had fetched him a blazer and a pair of pants tailored frighteningly perfect to his body. The midnight-black blazer was buttoned up to his sternum, remaining open at the top so the pale of his chest could reflect the silver moonlight.

“I thank you, Rathburn. I may have been asleep for the past few centuries, but I can tell you’ve given me something of value,” the vampire said.

Rathburn bowed slightly. “It is only what you deserve, master. But even these can not do your grandeur its proper justice.”

The old man stood and walked to meet the vampire beside the pulsating red core in the center of the room. “Does your blood tell you what this is?” he asked. The vampire looked long and hard. He observed it. Touched it. Understood it. And then he shook his head. “I seem to know of it but not what it is. There are gaps in my knowledge, Rathburn. Many things are known to me but others that you’d think I’d know of are not.”

“Hm. a mysterious thing, the blood of a Lord. I’m but a lowly thrall. I cannot speak for someone such as yourself, but perhaps the knowledge within you is splintered after centuries of rest? It may take time for you to remember everything stored inside your blood. There is no hurry, my Lord. We’ve rested for centuries awaiting your arrival, we can wait a few more for you to find yourself first.”

The vampire nodded. He felt distressed at the thought of forcing his brethren to wait for him to figure himself out, but the old man was right. There was little to be gained in a world that was out for your neck when you couldn’t even understand the head atop it. “The Heart,” Rathburn said. “That is what this is called. What they are called. Lord Seevin told me of them before the night of the Conquest; he told me it would rise here when your blood begins to churn within the pale casket. And last night, after five centuries of wait, it did exactly that. The Heart is meant for your taking. It will fill you with the power of your lost kin. I’m sure you have heard the voices in your head once so far?”

“I have. They pounded against my skull as if to tear it apart. As if they wished to be free from it.”

“Their souls reside within you. The previous Lords, as well as the lesser and greater vampires all rest inside you. But their blood does not. It is scattered across the land where the Conquest had buried them, waiting for you to show yourself so The Hearts can form from their blood. You must consume them before they are discovered; this is the first step in your purpose, my Lord,” Rathburn said.

The Hearts are the blood of my brethren, the vampire thought. Slain across the land, their blood has soaked into the soil, waiting for the day it can find purpose again in the shape of a Heart. Waiting for me to give it that purpose.

“How will I know where to find them?” the vampire asked.

“You’ll know. Whether it be subconscious or you find your blood guiding you in certain directions, you will happen upon the hearts. It is your duty as the Last. Lord Seevin said you must become one with The Hearts. Draw it into your blood. He did not explain how you would go about doing that, so do forgive me.”

But the Last Vampire knew what to do. It was as clear to him as breathing.

He placed his hand on The Heart and felt his blood squirm again. He could hear the blood rush inside it; the screams of an unjust death falling from the mouths of the slain resonated from within. Come to me, you lost children, he thought. The Heart burst with light, the crimson glow growing harsh and filling the entire room and the snow outside the open door with a red hue. The screams from within broke free and attacked the vampire; like verbal whips they sliced him from head to toe, leaving tears in his new clothes.

TOO LONG! WE WAITED FOR TOO LONG! the voices screamed.

“Stand back, Rathburn! Do not come to my aid,” the vampire shouted. He stood resolute and shed the blazer, revealing his pale skin and the remarkable speed of his healing wounds. “This is it. I know what this is, my blood tells me its truth. This is a trial for me and me alone. The Trial of Blood!”

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The blood leaked from the broken flesh, pooling on the floor and churning. The flesh joined the blood, soaking it up like a cloth and clumping together to form a mismatched abomination of flesh and blood. Bones splintered from the now broken Heart, mixing with the amalgamation of flesh. It took a humanoid shape, morphing its body to have arms and legs and a head with hollow sockets where eyes should have rested. Veins ran on the outside of its skinless body, glowing a vibrant crimson. The splintered bones jutted from its flesh and filled its mouth in an awkward row of teeth.

TOO LONG! It roared.

As the vampire was about to act, words appeared in front of his face. They were written in the air as if drawn in blood, pulsating and glowing the same red as the light that filled the room.

[Trial of Blood Accepted]

[Defeat the Vampiric Abomination to clear the Trial]

The vampire understood this, too. His blood knew it the instant he laid eyes on it. The power of Lords. It was not something vampires seldom had access to. All the creatures of darkness had those specific few within their ranks that held this same power. The power of growth. The power of evolution. In each of them, the power took a different shape, but even in their differences it was undeniable they served the same purpose. To slaughter the human race.

The vampire struck fast. He was at the abomination's throat before it could even react. His claws sunk deep into its flesh, tearing a chunk from its neck and splattering its blood across the floor. The creature let out an ear-shattering shriek and went stumbling away from him.

MURDERER! MURDERER! it shouted. The clump of flesh that had been ripped from its neck gathered itself on the floor, the blood that leaked from it returning like a backwards flowing river. The clump then flew through the air, returning to where it had been stolen from but not in the same shape it had been in before.

“You won’t make it easy for me, huh?”

WE WILL KILL!

Blood poured from the abomination's body but did not pool on the ground, instead, forming a rotating stream around its body that spun faster and faster with each passing moment. The creature leapt at the vampire, the rotating blood tearing up bits of the foyer floor as it charged. There were no openings for a counterattack; the blood that circulated the abomination spun at such a rate that it could cut rock from its resting place. This was no time to attack at random.

The vampire dodged a swinging arm and the follow-up kick that came next. The creature dove at him, the spiraling blood like a drill at its head aiming for his stomach. Leaping to the air, the vampire felt a sharp pain as he jumped over the abomination. He came down to land but fell to the ground immediately. Confusion filled him, but he got his answer as he looked to his left leg and saw an empty spot where his foot once was. The foot that now rested in the mouth of his attacker.

“Master!” Rathburn shouted. The old man’s desire to tear this beast to shreds permeated his words. “Stand your ground!” the Last Vampire replied. “This is not something to fret over.”

His blood pooled beneath his missing foot as he struggled to stand on his right alone. If I can’t get rid of that spiraling blood, I don’t stand a chance against this thing, he thought. The abomination swallowed his foot, adding the flesh to its body. With hollow eyes and a jagged row of teeth, it stared at the vampire with a taunting smile. WE KILL! it shouted.

I need to disrupt the blood around it. I need something to make an opening so I can rip it to shreds, but what? the vampire thought. He gazed around the room trying to find something he could use. There was nothing. Nothing but rock, shattered glass, and blood.

And then it hit him.

Blood!

He looked down at the blood that pooled from his missing foot and then up to the abomination that crept slowly towards him. “I am a Lord. Your blood pales like the moon in face of mine. Whatever tricks you’re capable of can be done by me ten times over! Come, my blood! Let us strike this creature and free my brethren from its clutches!”

The vampire stuck out his hand and the blood from his foot gathered in front of it, stretching out and growing sharp in the shape of a crescent moon. Those words appeared in front of his face again.

[Blood Art Acquired | Crescent Slash I]

A smile crept onto the vampire's face. “It is time I put you to rest.”