I opened my eyes and coughed. A dark purple mist twirled in the air. When I took a breath, the mist disappeared into my nose. A tingle made its way down my trachea and settled on my visceral pleura. Tiny pebbles seemed to coat the inside wall of my lungs. With each breath these pebbles grew and sent pleasing jolts up my spine. My hair stood on guard and shivers up my skull.

When the euphoria dissipated, the eternal flame had turned a dark purple, the same colour as the mist. But now it didn’t feel as distant. It called me. However, still on the ground with an aching back, I pushed against the stone wall to stand up.

A black spot appeared in my vision. Worms started to crawl out of it, and the sphere started to turn. The thin worms created the arms of the spiral which took over my central vision. I fell back on my ass and slid down the wall. The spirals continued to spin faster and faster until they consumed my entire vision.

I was in space, up was down, and east was west. My lungs took in the still new purple smoke, and my hands could neither feel heat nor cold. I spit to determine up from down; however, my tongue seemed numb, and I couldn’t tell where my skin started, nor where the outside air ended.

That’s when a dim purple light appeared in my core. It lit up the world. I could see the entirety of the round room’s wall. The full 360 degrees of it. The engravings which were once blurred behind the torches’ heat had become legible. However, with this extended sense I didn’t know where to start reading nor how to concentrate on a particular piece of information. I had lost my peripheral vision. I gave up searching for a definite start and started to read the point with the strongest draw.

“You are the new patriarch of the vampires. Hold your head high, for we are now one of the victors.” As I read the words, their engravings disappeared. “I am your predecessor, the patriarch of the vampires of the XXII magical era. Heed my words, for one privilege afforded to the victors is the right to leave a message to one’s descendent.” As I continued to read the message in this ghostly form of mine, I started to understand how this body functioned. And so, I tried to read multiple paragraphs at once.

* “The powers you possess before the end of your trial. They may be singular, or plural, however, although you may think they are of a physical nature, they are in fact magical. Or more accurately remnants of magic.”

* “The torch which lights up this room, our eternal torch is an artifact. It had no name, however, now that we have won, you may impart it one. By doing so, it will let you create a being loyal to the flame its representative. In other words, you and all future patriarchs.”

As it seemed to work with two paragraphs, I tried to simultaneously read the rest of the engravings.

* “The final advantage one gains by being the victor of an era is the ability to store the flame within your body until you find somewhere to plant it for good. However, note that you cannot move it twice and that all torches will settle after a year. In this time find somewhere you deem suitable for a vampire kingdom.”

* “Do not go out hunting for the flames of others. That is what the fairy Queen did in my time. Lest to say she was promptly squashed by a combined force. Life is a careful balance of power.”

* “To you who has seen the world before magic, the magical era may seem like a game. However, destruction, war, and killing is something that occurs naturally, some eras may last but a few centuries, and others may be drawn out for tens of thousands of years. It’s simply the result of their only being one flame that the magical era ends. And in the same manner, it is only because of conflicts that flames are extinguished. After all, progenitors, kings, and queens cannot die unless their fires are snuffed out. Life is long, yet it is our pride and responsibility to live long.

* “Although we are granted many privileges by winning, by being born in the time in between magical eras you won’t have the same instincts as the others. As such, you may lag behind when it comes to magic application, however, as you have known the pre-magical world you will be able to differentiate between it and the physical world. In the process making your magic more systematic, consistent, and powerful.”

* My words are limited to what can be engraved in this half sphere; however, I’d still like to say: take care of yourself.

* Life is long, yet it is our pride and responsibility to live long.

When the walls were blank, the flame wavered once and the stones which made up the room started to disintegrate and lose their opacity. Light started to peer through and soon enough the sun shined on me. However, I did not know the limits of my body. I saw both the flame as if it were in my chest and peered off the edge of the mountain. I started to fall, rise towards the clouds, and seep into rocks. My consciousness grew thin, and my mind grew hazy. Unable to do more I wished to be a physical being once again and within a second, what made up my body snapped back together like a million rubber bands. Weirdly enough the green robe handed to me by the previous interim patriarch had reassembled itself alongside me.

The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

The wind blew with the ferocity of a sea gale, yet the purple flame did not waver on its obsidian torch. I touched the torch’s handle and spoke its new name, “Nostalgia.”

The flame wavered twice and returned to its usual state before it grew to twice its size, consumed the torch, floated up in the air and entered my body through my chest. I took in a few more breaths in hopes of feeling it’s warmth; however, it was as if nothing had changed. It was simply being stored. A great shame.

I walked over to the edge of the now obliterated mountain. I peered down. The top third of this mountain and the surrounding ones lay on the ground. Dust, no doubt created after the impact had reached three quarters of the way up the mountain; it continued to rise. Threatened by this clout of dirt I transformed into a bat and flew off to the nearest mountain which hadn’t been demolished. I returned to my human form. The green robe still draped my body. It was a rather convenient piece of clothing; however, it would also be nice to know how to make it.

Now, however, I didn’t know where to go. My vapid soul and drained heart ached. I took a deep breath, I couldn’t sense mana in the air, however, when I let out a breath whilst thinking of mana, a purple mist appeared and twirled about the air seemingly as I willed. When I rolled my eyes, it formed a circle, when I looked down it shot down. And when I told it to fly up without looking in that direction, it did as much.

I spoke to the mana, “find my father.” The mana in the air rushed towards me and entered my blood stream through my pores. I soon got an answer. No. Nor were anyone who shared a drop of my blood alive. They had all died today. This was a new era. I was the only one permitted to make the jump as the new patriarch. However, what was I to do now? I had no missions, no pursuits, no one to rescue, nor enemies to defeat. Well, other than establishing a kingdom of vampires. But then, how would that be done without another vampire? Had I now become parthenogenic? Perhaps I should just go and explore the world for a bit. I’ve always wanted to see the city of the world’s desire after all.

To Constantinople it is.