| Elvin |

Elvin scribbled in his notebook, glancing at the ship every so often while he waited for the vampire to return. But as each moment passed, he grew more and more impatient.

He slammed his notebook shut and tucked it and his quill into his pocket. What could be taking Alucard so long? Why did he have to fly over to some ship? Who was he talking to? The bard rolled his eyes and pouted, resting his chin on his knees as he wrapped his arms around his legs. It was cold, damp, and miserable. He wanted to go home; he wanted to hear about what Alucard had been up to tonight.

But he couldn't stop thinking about that werewolf. If one came out of the woods, would more follow? If that happened, they'd mess up the treaty Alucard was finalizing with the city. He'd worked so hard for it, and Elvin had no idea what might happen if it didn't go through. Would Alucard have to leave Dor-Sanguis? What would happen to all the vampires?

Alucard suddenly emerged on the beach with an aggravated look on his face.

Elvin pounced to his feet. "So?" he asked eagerly. "How did it go?"

The vampire glanced at him and rolled his eyes. "Fantastic."

He frowned at Alucard's answer and followed him along the beach. "Are you going to tell me about your night? What happened?"

"Stuff," he muttered, following the stone path.

Elvin pouted and followed in silence. He knew he wasn't going to get answers just yet; Alucard evidently needed time to cool down.

They approached Alucard's home. The towering black-brick manor's sharp, pointed roofs cast sinister shadows across the grass, shrouding the majority of the grounds in darkness, and the tall walls stretched a mile around the estate, cutting it off from the rest of the land.

Dargamoore sat a few miles in the distance; the city's glow emanated through the grassy hills. Huge, werewolf-infested forests surrounded the grassland, and black, nightmarish mountains graced the sky.

Elvin and Alucard reached the black steel gates which sat between the walls of his manor, and when they opened, the vampire led the way through the grounds.

Perhaps enough time had passed. Elvin looked up at Alucard and asked, "Okay, what stuff?"

Alucard rolled his eyes and snarled irritably. "I met a demon."

Elvin held back a victorious grin. "A demon? But...demons and vampires are enemies; that's like getting you to meet a werewolf—well, one that isn't Tobias. He's cool."

"Well, I'm supposed to be helping him move some vampires from his world to this one."

"You're bringing vampires from some other world...to this one?"

He nodded, reaching the manor's black front door.

"Is...it really a good idea to bring more vampires here? It's only been six months since you outran the Diabolus; what if they find you again? What will you do with all these new vampires? Especially if more werewolves are gonna come out of the forest."

Alucard sighed. "The Diabolus won't find me here. The last place they would expect to find me is living among humans. As for the wolves, I'll deal with them."

Elvin pulled out his notebook. "True...." He shuffled around excitedly. "A whole new world?!" he squealed, scribbling on the paper as he followed the vampire into his house. "What was it like? Was it like Alvenguard? Was it magical?"

"One moon," Alucard said with a shrug, taking off his cloak, and then he hung it on the coat rack. "Some...eroded castle, not much to see."

Nodding, Elvin went with him through the dark entrance hall and into a lounge. "And these vampires: why do you have to bring them here?"

Alucard clicked his fingers, and in response, the lanterns lined around the room lit up with small flickering flames. He then slumped onto the black leather couch and put one of the red cushions behind his head. As he rested his right leg over the arm and looked at Elvin, the bard sat in the armchair across from him.

Elvin took a moment to rest, looking around the gloomy room. All the furniture was dark and looked antique. The walls were black with oak-brown panelling lined around them, and the front wall possessed three tall, arched windows.

The vampire said, "Damien wants to undermine his brother, Letholdus."

"The...god?" Elvin asked with a frown.

He nodded and looked at the fireplace. "The first step in doing so would be to fill this world with ethos that's not of his origin, therefore not of his control. So, we are starting with these vampires. He has me helping some demon that apparently wants to help the vampires of his world because they were loyal to him throughout a war. Now, I have this night and half of tomorrow to find somewhere to put them and to try and hurry up this treaty I have been working on with the city."

Elvin scribbled in his notebook as Alucard spoke. "The human-vampire cohabitation treaty?"

The vampire nodded. "Da."

"I don't know if they'll hurry that up," Elvin said sadly. "But maybe you can convince them."

"That's the plan."

"Why does Damien call Letholdus his brother?" he asked curiously. "Why do all the Numen call themselves brother and sister? They're not related."

"I don't know. It must be a God thing," the vampire muttered.

"Hmm. Well, why does Damien wanna overthrow Letholdus?"

Alucard shrugged and flicked his hand, lighting the fireplace with red fire. "Damien hates his siblings; he wants to be on top. There's nothing more to it, really."

"What's he doing once he has other ethos in this world?"

As he glanced at Elvin, Alucard shrugged again. "Outside ethos will corrupt the ethos here. The more there is, the more damage is done. I gather that Damien wants to weaken Letholdus and then kill him."

Elvin wrote it down. "Kinda barbaric."

"Eh, not my problem. Gods will do what gods want to do," he grumbled, staring into the fire.

"So, are you gonna do it? Help the demon?"

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

"What choice do I have? Damien asked me to do it; I can't exactly say no."

Scribbling, Elvin nodded and looked back at him. "What about this demon?" he asked with a smirk. "He? She? What was it like?"

The vampire scowled. "Must you know?"

"Well, yeah. I need all the details. How else am I supposed to write this book? Could this book...possibly become a story of romance?" he teased, fishing for a reaction. "A love triangle!"

Rolling his eyes, he glared back into the fire. "Insufferable, stuck-up businessman type; suit, blazer thing...I think he had a tie. I actually met him first outside a tavern; it seems like Damien sent him to meet me on his own. I don't know why he thought that would work."

"What happened?"

"I told him to fuck off."

Elvin sighed, but there was amusement in his voice when he said, "Oh, Aleksei. Perfect description, though. Love that." He wrote it down.

"Seems like Damien loves him," the vampire grumbled.

Elvin then stopped writing and frowned at Alucard. "From what I've heard, I really don't think that creature of a man could ever love anyone; he probably loves the fact that this demon guy does what he's told," he assumed.

"Da," Alucard mumbled.

"Okay, do you have a plan?"

The vampire looked at him. "For what?"

"The whole...moving vampires from there to here thing."

"What is there to plan? Go there, bring them here. Simple."

"Okay, but where will they live? You haven't got the treaty sorted yet with the humans in the city, so they can't exactly live there, can they?"

"My castle, I guess."

Writing it down, Elvin nodded. "And the treaty?"

"I'll try and sort that tomorrow; humans sleep the night away like babies."

"So, you'll use tonight to prepare the castle, I assume?"

"Da," he confirmed.

Elvin smiled. "See, why can't you be like this all the time? You only seem to answer me when I'm asking for the book. You really do believe in me, don't you?" He grinned from ear to ear.

Alucard didn't answer.

The bard sighed and closed his notebook. "Well, are you okay?" he then asked with concern in his voice.

Alucard frowned, glancing over at him. "Why would I not be?"

"I worry about you. You never really talk about how you feel, and you always look miserable when you get back from seeing Damien."

"Don't you have a home to get to?" Alucard dismissed.

Elvin pouted. "Well...yeah, but don't you want me to help you tonight? I don't have anything else to do."

"No," Alucard denied. "Go home."

The bard stood up and huffed. "Will you let me get chased by wolves? Attacked by pirates? Walk me home...please?"

Alucard glanced at him. "No, no, and no," he grumbled, scowling. "Sergiu is outside with the carriage. Tell him I told him to take you home."

"Mean," Elvin mumbled as he turned around, heading for the door. "Where should I find you tomorrow?" he asked, looking back over his shoulder at the vampire.

"The city, outside the House of Commons," he instructed.

Elvin made his way to the door. As he left, he glanced back at Alucard, watching him as he made himself comfortable on the couch. He was worried about him; he knew how much Alucard despised Damien. But as much as he wanted to try and be there for him, he knew that Alucard didn't want his company right now. He knew him well enough to know that he wanted to be left alone for the rest of the night.

With a pout on his face, Elvin pulled the door shut behind him and started searching the courtyard for Sergiu.

⤝❖⤞

| Alucard |

When the bard left, Alucard looked back into the fire. Tonight hadn't been what he expected. This was the first time Damien sent an associate to find him on their own, and the first time he'd forced Alucard to work side-by-side with someone. At least all working together involved was meeting to drop off and pick up the vampires, though.

Alucard was glad, however, that he didn't have to see Damien alone. The last thing he wanted was to be in that creature's presence by himself. But the meeting had been somewhat humiliating; this new demon—Zalith—clearly thought that Alucard was incompetent and that he couldn't do what Damien asked of him. But Alucard was going to prove them both wrong. There had never been a time where he failed at a task—not since...then. But he didn't want to think about that.

Then, he scowled. Zalith had mentioned 'the cause'—what was the cause? He hadn't been made aware of any cause. Clearly, Alucard had been left out of something once again. Did he care, though? Yes, he did. Damien made sure to always involve him in some way or another. So, why hadn't he been told what this cause was?

Not only did he have that to worry about, but it also looked like the werewolves were testing the waters. They hadn't set foot in any of Dor-Sanguis' towns or villages since he'd scared them off, so why had one been brave enough to hunt in Wrodiff tonight? He hoped it was just a stray desperate for food, but part of him knew that things could never be that simple. The wolves were up to something, and he needed to find out before someone was killed; that would ruin everything he'd been working so hard for.

"Don't you have a job to do?" came Damien's harrowing voice.

Startled by his appearance, Alucard sat up straight and looked over his shoulder.

"Vampires need moving," Damien said as he made his way over and slumped down in the chair Elvin had been sitting in. "And yet you sit around here like some useless fool. Not a surprise, though." He sighed, tapping his claws on the arm of the chair.

Staring at him, Alucard frowned cautiously. "I will be starting tomorrow. I need time to prepare a place for them to stay."

Nodding slowly, Damien glared at him. "You still keep that human around—why?"

"He's...my familiar," Alucard answered.

"Hmm...you tell him an awful lot, don't you?"

"He's writing a novel."

Damien scoffed. "Pointless frivolity. To sit somewhere for hours looking at written words when you can simply speak from memory. Human minds don't have such a capacity, though. Do you, Aleksei?" he asked as a smirk crept across his face.

Keeping his eyes on the Daegelus, Alucard frowned slightly, unsure whether he was meant to answer or not.

But Damien then huffed. "I suppose I should tell you about my new cause since I'll be needing you for it."

Alucard tensed up. He wasn't wearing his cape, so he didn't have the dragon fur to shield his mind. Damien had evidently poked around inside his head; why else would he have suddenly mentioned exactly what he'd been thinking about? He tried to stay calm. "What is the cause?"

The Daegelus grinned and abruptly leaned forward. He grabbed Alucard's shirt, and the vampire did his best not to panic, staring into Damien's eyes.

"If you speak a word of this to anyone...." Damien's eyes wandered down to Alucard's chest. "It's a fascinating organ, the proselytes. It gives you mortal creatures the ability to harness the energy you were graced to have been born with. I've heard it's such a painful existence to have had one...and then to have lost it."

Alucard understood his threat. "I won't tell anyone."

Damien scowled and let go of him. Then, he looked at the fireplace. "I want everything my siblings have. I want access to their bloodlines; I want dominion over what they have come to make, build, and own. To get it, I need to possess their blood and ethos, and I've found a way to do so."

The vampire frowned, waiting.

"I will need to create another creature quite like myself—another Daegelus. But when I do, I will carefully craft everything I need into it. I will make sure it possesses the blood of each of my siblings, and the ethos of everything and everyone that I require. And then, when it has grown, I will absorb it, thus gaining everything it possesses, granting myself what I need."

"Why do you need me?"

"I need four fathers."

"What?"

"Four males of each bloodline: Lucifer's, Lilith's, Ephriel's, and Erich's. You so happen to be Lucifer's son, so what better choice for Lucifer's bloodline? Yes, you are incompetent and insufferable, but I have no other choice. Zalith is of Lilith's bloodline. I am in search of an angel from Ephriel's, and I have one in mind. Then one of Erich's. Once I have found them, we will all meet to discuss preparations."

"And...I gather you need a mother, too?"

"Yes," Damien answered, scowling at him. "Whilst you assist Zalith, I will be searching for a suitable matriarch. Do you have any more stupid questions?"

"No," he said, looking away from Damien's evil stare.

Damien then smirked. "I have heard of an angel sent by my sister to keep an eye on Letholdus. I have thought about asking him—I will steal him from Ephriel, as I have stolen you from my brother."

Alucard glanced at him.

"Now, get to work. If you falter, you'll suffer."

As Damien stood up, a look of angst appeared on Alucard's face. "I won't fail."

"Good." The Daegelus smiled, placing his hand on Alucard's shoulder and digging his claws into it.

The vampire grimaced, keeping his eyes focused on the fire.

"Remember what I have taught you, Aleksei, and don't let me down again," he warned, letting go of his shoulder.

Then, as Damien left as silently as he had arrived, Alucard stared sullenly, watching the flames in the fireplace. At least now he knew what the cause was.

What was Damien going to do once he had access to the other Numen bloodlines? Alucard knew that Damien wanted to kill Letholdus; that had to be why he didn't want someone possessing that Numen's blood. But what were his plans for his other siblings? Did he want to kill them, too? Or did he really just want access to their lineage? It wasn't Alucard's problem or his business. He had to do what he was told, and that was all he knew.

He stood up and waved his hand, and all of the flames in the fireplace withered. He made his way to the door, irritably snatched his cape, and left, setting out to begin preparations for his new task. He couldn't risk wasting a single moment.