The floor was full of decaying corpses, those of humanoids

and terrifying abominations. It looked like a lab of a failed necro-

mancer.

For some reason the flames were not summoned instantly.

‘I heard the ruckus outside and wondered when you were

going to show up... Did it please you to massacre my people?’

Lysander held a glass of wine and twirled it around with his

wrist.

Alduin was breathing very heavily, like a feral beast.

‘No response huh? Very well then,’ Lysander said and turned

around.

Immediately, Alduin screamed from the top of his lungs and lost

consciousness. It wasn’t Lysander he was facing. It was his uncle,

Ley. It seems that the sheer mental trauma and emotion from

seeing him had nullified his berserk form and he was back to

normal. Before getting back up he used conjuration to summon

back his clothing.

‘Uncle?’

‘Who?’

‘What the fuck are you doing here?! I thought you died!’

‘Who the fuck are you?’

‘A-Alduin. Your nephew!’

‘What in Munesa are you talking about? My nephew died

a long time ago... Don’t play with me! It would only anger me

further!’

‘I speak the truth! Gozo spared me and I was enslaved here!

I took on the trials of Vaonie and became the new Lodus, an

Araqhaiit...’

‘What is this nonsense? Why should I believe you?’

‘Do you remember how you taught me to fish using ice

magic? How you helped me sneak out of my house at night

to meet a few of your human friends in ’The Festival of The Eight

Trees’?’

‘I-Yes I remember. But... But how... I was told you were

dead!’

‘Now, you answer my questions! How are you alive?! I saw

you lying dead in a pool of your own blood back in the village!

And why are you here, in Lysander’s throne room? Answer me!’

Alduin felt he had to cry his lungs out, but couldn’t.

‘I’m a vampire now. Indeed I died In the village but I was

then resurrected a few days later as one of them.’

‘Why are you here?’ He asked while breathing heavily as

thought he was having a panic attack.

‘What do you mean ’why’? I am their leader, couldn’t you

tell? Why else would I be here, in the throne room?!’

‘What?! What happened to Lysander?!’

‘I-[Burp] I killed him.’

‘Why?’

‘You have known me for how long now, Alduin?’

‘About ten years.’

‘Yeah, exactly. Don’t you know how much I despise taking

orders from people?’

‘I guess that’s true.’

‘Mhm.’

‘Well, what now?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I don’t want to fight you, you’re my uncle! Let’s just get out

of here and rebuild our clan.’

‘I am one of them now, so I must stay here and rebuild...

Also, do you really think I’d just let you go after killing everyone?

My task is to protect and lead them!’

‘Since when do you care about vampires?!’

‘Since I joined them seven years ago!’

‘But you were turned! Why would you be on their side?!’

‘You don’t get it, do you? I was turned voluntarily!’

‘What? Why the fuck would you do that?’

‘I sought power. More power than I had before. I reached

my peak at too young an age. What use is there to being an adventurer if I lack the lifespan to see it all?’

‘You are insane! They killed everyone! Your brother! My

mother! The women you slept with! Even your friends!’

‘I’ll let you in on a little secret.’

‘What is it?’

‘I am the reason it happened.’

‘WHAT? WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!’

He shouted and breathed even heavier.

‘I was promised a reward in exchange for information.’

‘A reward? Since when do you care about Samarices?’

‘I wasn’t promised a sum of money... It was a more unique

deal. Royal Vaermiraiit blood in exchange for information.

They told me that mortals who drink it evolve immediately and

skip right into a high-tier rank. Unfortunately I later discovered

that they were bullshitting me, but it was too late anyway. Meh.’

‘What kind of information did you give them?’

‘I don’t remember you being this slow.’

‘I am finding it incredibly hard to process all of this, you

monster.’

‘The information I gave them was the specific date, location

and details of the Hekket trials. Simple. I thought you guessed

it by now... Disappointing...’

‘YOU DID WHAT?!’

‘Exactly what I just said.’

‘I-I-I can’t believe this! You are the reason all of this hap-

pened to me! You are the reason I’m orphaned! Alone! You are

why I was tortured! You ruined my life! And for what? Power?!’

‘What else is there to life, huh?! We all are beasts after all.

There will always be predators and prey. I decided I will never

be preyed upon. Simple.’

‘What happened to your sense of adventure? Your love of

booze, women and the wonders of the world?!’ He began coughing strongly, ‘Was it all a ruse?’ He found it hard to breathe.

‘Do you think there aren’t women here? Or-,’ he burped, ‘Or

booze? I am drunk now after all! My life remains the same. I

still explore the world and I still get drunk daily. Just as a higher

being. That’s all.’

‘Have you no value for family?’

‘What makes you think I had such a peculiar thing?’

‘You... You taught me so much about the world! Was it all a

ruse? Your appreciation of me?’

‘I simply found it fascinating to raise a child.’

‘I-I don’t know how to respond to that.’

‘You don’t need to... You are going to die anyways after all!’

‘You fucking maniac!’ He yelled.

‘Good. Use this anger to make this more entertaining. I

haven’t had a good fight in such a long while!’ He smiled and

shouted.

Alduin lost his cool and began charging towards him with his

sword drawn. He held it in his hand and pointed it at him while

running forward. Ley didn’t even flinch. Alduin reached him

and started unleashing a combo of sword strokes in different

maneuvers. Ley dodged them all with ease. At the fifth strike,

Ley dodged to the right.

‘Didn’t your father teach you how to fight?!’ Ley said.

Ley smacked Alduin towards a wall using the surface side of

his sword with a strike from the left. During Alduin’s flight he

made Vaurcarya levitate and cut up Ley using telekinesis. He

smashed into the wall and lost focus, thus nullifying the effects

of telekinesis on his sword and it fell down before it could reach

its mark. Alduin fell to the ground on his stomach. He pushed

the ground with his hand and launched himself back on his feet,

like a pushup. He called Vaurcarya back to his hand.

‘Pathetic,’ Ley said.

Alduin had decided to charge yet again but this time, while

charging, he cut off his left arm in order to unleash fifteen blood

spikes. They were all launched toward Ley, though in completely different intervals in an attempt to ensure that at least one would

hit. While running, Alduin was letting out a battle cry to increase

his morale.

Ley dodged seven spikes by pivoting his left leg backwards.

Three were targeting his left leg and the other four his stomach.

He noticed that the next one was flying towards his right left so

he proceeded pivoting, thus completing a full pirouette. He was

back to facing Alduin who was still running towards him from

the other side of the room.

The remaining eight were launched altogether and were

very close. When they were approximately ten centimeters away,

Alduin was about a meter away as well. Alduin prepared himself

to change his course immediately were Ley to escape the spikes

to the side. Ley was cornered. Suddenly, he disappeared into

thin air. The spikes hit a wall and splattered, back to their true

form. Alduin was confused but continued charging in case Ley

just turned himself invisible. Without notice Alduin got decapi-

tated and Ley reappeared behind him. Alduin’s head plummeted

to the ground yet his body remained standing still. Ley grabbed

Alduin’s cape and used it to rub off the blood from his blade.

Instantaneously, Alduin’s body turned around. His left hand

grabbed Ley by the neck while the right hand was piercing him

in the stomach with Vaurcarya. Blood was coming out dripping

from Ley’s mouth. Ley smiled. He cut off Alduin’s left hand,

ending his grasp on his neck. While Alduin’s hand was regen-

erating itself, Ley swiftly grabbed Alduin’s right shoulder with

his right hand and Alduin’s left hip with his left hand. He pulled

them both at the same time forcefully. Alduin’s body tilted in a

pivot due to the grasp on Vaurcarya. Ley ceased his spin once

his legs faced the ceiling and his neck the floor.

He grabbed Alduin’s waist with both hands and lifted him

up in the air, releasing the sword from his stomach. Then, he

smashed Alduin onto the ground and levitated a few meters

backwards. Alduin quickly recovered his whole body and levi-

tated back on his feet.

‘Interesting...’ Ley said.

Alduin regained his cool and began floating towards him. Ley

noticed the change in his eyes and put on a rather defensive

stance with his blade, ready for an attack. The battle had just

begun. Alduin reached Ley and immediately unleashed a vertical

strike. Ley dodged to the right and kicked him in the chest with

his left leg at full force. Alduin held his sword with both hands

in order to defend and then immediately followed up with a

push kick. Ley grabbed his leg in the air and floated backwards,

causing him to do a split. Then, Ley swiftly moved to the side of

Alduin’s leg. He held it firmly with his left hand and then hit it

from above with an elbow strike.

The leg’s bones shattered. Alduin didn’t hesitate and seized

Ley by his shoulders and proceeded to headbutt him powerfully,

making him flinch. Alduin repaired his leg and used it to let out

a combo of kicks while Ley was dealing with his brief concussion.

Ley managed to defend against all of them except for the last

three. He coughed out blood and got launched into yet another

wall.

‘I always thought this place could use a bit of renovating!’

Alduin said and smirked.

He commenced walking slowly towards Ley, his blade floating

by his side. Ley coughed up blood and spit some on the ground.

He pushed himself out of the wall using his hands and legs, right

back to his feet. He waited. Alduin stopped in his place, facing

him. They were approximately four and half meters away from

each other.

Ley held his sword in defense. Vaurcarya moved in front

of Alduin to protect him from attacks. Alduin decided that he

should give Cryomancy a whirl. He began chanting in his head,

preventing Ley from figuring out the spells from the incanta-

tions. The temperature was declining rapidly.

‘Really? You wish to use ice magic? Against me? The insolence! I was the one who helped you master it! Don’t you realize

that I am more knowledgeable about magic?!’

Alduin smirked. The temperature continued declining gradually.

Ley rolled his eyes and leapt towards him. Instantaneously, an

enormous ice spike began falling from the ceiling. Ley refused

to change his course, spit out a bit of saliva and turned into a

tiny ball of ice. He launched it at the spike and it shattered in

the air. He proceeded forward but then jumped up. The floor

was covered by thin ice, in an attempt to make him trip and fall.

‘Cheap tricks like these would not be able to take me down,

you Dunbar!’ Ley shouted while in the air.

The moment his feet reached the ground he charged again. Thick

cold mist engulfed the room but he boiled his blood in order to

counter it. Three mini-tornadoes formed around him, trying

to take him down in a blast of frostbite. Instead of dodging, he

lifted the palms of his hands towards them.

‘Yorda u Ut-oblryine!’ Ley shouted.

Humongous flames began sprouting out from his hands, utterly

voiding the attacks.

‘Here’s a trick I learned a few years ago. Bear witness!’ Ley

said.

He commenced chanting with his fingers until suddenly his

sword was enveloped by flames. Every now and then, the blade

glowed in the color of red. Ley leapt towards a chair and pierced

it with his sword.

‘Nor!’ He shouted.

The chair vanished. Ley laughed and turned back towards his

opponent. He pointed his sword at him and started charging.

Alduin stomped the ground that was covered by water and made

it splash in the air. Then, he froze it in place, forming a large

block of ice that he shot towards Ley with a punch. He did so

several times, trying to knock Ley off his feet. Ley refused to change his route and just kept slashing the ice into the void.

He threw flames at him, forcing him to dodge as he did not

know the nature of the spell. Alduin jumped backwards in a

zigzag to avoid them all while Ley was charging towards him.

Despite Alduin’s attempts to slash him, Ley managed to defend

himself skillfully. Ley used the wet floor to slide across using a

spell named "Ice Step".

Whenever Alduin tried to lower the temperature, Ley burst

it up again via Pyromancy. Alduin jumped back again but then

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

reached a dead-end, a wall. Ley smirked and leapt forward for a

vertical slash. Alduin spun to the side and let out a hook punch.

Ley grabbed the punch mid-swing and threw him to the ceiling

forcefully. Alduin jumped from the ceiling back to his feet and

formed an ice cloak around him.

‘So futile... So very futile...’ Ley said.

‘Try me!’

Alduin clashed Vaurcarya at Ley with telekinesis, beginning a

sword fight. While Ley was defending and striking back against

each and every swing, Alduin began shooting large balls of ice.

Ley dodged them all and continued clashing with Vaurcarya un-

til he held his blade with both hands and let out such a powerful

swing that Vaurcarya flew back. He used this opportunity to

shoot out an enormous flame from his mouth.

Alduin jumped aside but was met with an increasing amount

of fire balls being shot towards him. He proceeded dodging

backwards in a zigzag motion until he was suddenly stopped

and grabbed from behind by two hands. Ley stood in front of

him and flashed his blade. Alduin turned his head around and

realized a clone of Ley was holding him down. He tried to escape

its grasp and hitting it with elbow strikes but it was futile.

Ley started walking menacingly, rotating his sword with

his wrist. Alduin realized Ley was simply playing with him. Ley

finally reached him and was placing the sword on his body.

‘Lay this foolish ambition for revenge to rest. You are not

worthy of my time,’ Ley said.

The flaming blade was getting closer and closer. The tip touched

Alduin’s chest. Ley was aiming for the heart. He put his left hand

on his right palm to increase the strength. He began pushing it

inside, to pierce the heart. Suddenly, the sword fell down. Along

with his arm. Ley screamed from agony. He turned his head to

the right and saw another Alduin. He froze in place and wore

a frightened face. Streams of blood splashed and covered the

floor beneath him.

‘You.. W-what? How? I never saw you summoning a clone!’

‘You are not fighting a mere mortal. Do not dare to under-

estimate me.’

Alduin began his assault with a vertical strike, targeting Ley’s

right eye. Ley managed to pick up his sword with his remaining

hand and defend. The clone saw this coming and never intended

to hit in the first place. He grabbed Ley’s hand. He started

freezing it until it turned into ice and then with a swift elbow and

knee strike combo shattered it completely. Ley had no remaining

arms to defend himself and screeched in agony. Alduin tried

again and swung at Ley’s eye successfully. Then, he slashed

Ley’s chest in an X shape. He stabbed Ley in the hips. Tiny stabs

that wouldn’t kill him but would definitely cause him immense

pain. He thrusted his sword in Ley’s stomach and pierced it.

Afterwards, he slashed Ley’s legs in a long line from the waist

to the feet. Blood splashed everywhere and was covering Ley’s

clothes.

Blood was oozing out from Ley’s shoulders and he puked out

blood in a terrifying rate. Finally, Alduin proceeded by cutting

off leg by leg. Ley fell to the ground and screamed for him to stop.

Alduin released his sword in the air and put both of his hands

at the sides of Ley’s head. He began squeezing, thus smashing

his skull. Ley screeched and screamed, moved, twirled, cursed.

It was to no avail. He tried using his breath to try and freeze

Alduin’s hands but that too was to no avail.

Alduin’s hands continued smashing Ley’s skull until his

head exploded from the sheer pressure. Incredibly large splashes

of blood splattered everywhere and Ley’s corpse fell to the ground.

Alduin called the clone back and it returned to its original form,

a pool of blood on the ground. Vaurcarya fell down into the blood

and made a metallic clinking noise. He was waiting for the clone

that was holding him to dematerialize so he could be let go. He

waited. He waited even more. Seconds passed. Seconds turned

into minutes but he was not let go from the grasp of the clone.

He tilted his head and stared at its eyes but then froze in

place. The clone was staring right back at him! It smirked!

Suddenly, Ley’s corpse disappeared into a pool of blood. The

clone began laughing loudly.

‘You absolute fool! Did you really think you could defeat me

that easily?!’

Ley summoned a new clone and made it stand in front of them.

‘Since you don’t feel pain, it would be silly of me to torture

you. What should I do with you? Hmm... Oh yes! Yes!’ Ley said

excitedly.

Ley noticed Alduin was looking at his sword, probably to call

it back and hack through him. He ordered his clone to pierce

his eyes with a knife. Again and again and again after each and

every time they healed due to his regenerative ability.

In the meantime, Ley gathered the blood that was lying

around on the floor into seven big pools. From three of them

rose three more clones of him. But from another trio came out

minions... But not just any minions...

‘What? What are you doing?! Stop!’ Alduin shouted.

The minions took the shape and appearance of Alduin’s fam-

ily : Aeden, Elys, Veridia and even a much younger version of

Ley. They behaved like zombies. They approached Alduin and

stopped two meters in front of him, forming a line. Ley laughed

out loud. Then, each of the three clones took out an Elvish hunt-

ing knife and began stabbing the zombies in different body parts.

Alduin began breathing heavily, as if he was having a panic attack.

‘WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! STOP!!! FATHER! MOTHER!

STOP THIS LEY! STOP!’ Alduin shouted.

‘Not good enough,’ Ley said.

The clone put its hand on Alduin’s chin and forced him to stare

at the sight. Ley summoned another clone to keep his eyes open.

He instructed the minions to shout and scream like a mortal

would do when they get pierced by a knife. He also made sure

their voices would be identical to the person they shared their

appearance with. Alduin began screaming and kicking around.

He twirled in his place but could not leave the grasp of Ley. He

screamed harder and harder, from the top of his lungs.

‘Stop!!!’ He screamed.

He did not stop, however. Ley summoned more and more clones

so the minions would scream harder and louder. Alduin felt

as thought he was going to cry but didn’t succeed in doing so.

Sobbing would be beneficial in this situation. It relieves anger,

frustration, sadness, depression, trauma et cetera. Crying was

not a privilege he possessed unfortunately. This went on going

for several long hours. Alduin, who was sure he could not feel

mental pain anymore after his time with the Vaermiraiits, was

proven wrong. His home, his family and his past were flash-

ing before his eyes. Ley noticed the disappearance of hope in

Alduin’s eyes and began laughing loudly. Alduin started losing

his consciousness but his uncle made sure to wake him up with

a punch to the face every single time he did.

More hours passed by and with them Ley had summoned

more and more clones to torture the living hell out of Alduin’s

soul. He aimed to take his sanity. Throw it to the trash and

stomp on it. Seemingly, it was working wonderfully. Alduin

who couldn’t take it anymore used blood magic to take out his

eyes and with it his ability to see. It did not work however as

his eyes healed immediately. Ley noticed his attempts to avoid the torture and devised an improvement. He gathered some

blood from the vampire city, through the sewers and whatnot

and put it all together in one massive pool. Then, the blood

rose into the shape and appearance of young Alduin, lying in

his cell. Another volume of blood was used to summon forth

Zera and a few others. Those who tortured him, those who

raped him, those who fed on him, those who starved him. The

last remaining litres of blood gained the appearance of mortals

getting fed on and slaughtered by vampires.

Alduin was reliving the entirety of his past trauma. From

neglect to torture. From childhood to manhood. It all came back

to him. Every progress he had made in his path towards inner

peace with Hanali had simply diminished and turned into ash

in his subconscious. He was losing it. Losing it all. His sanity,

his cool, his happiness, his appreciation of life and its wonders.

Instantaneously, his pupils disappeared and his eyes had the

color of solid white. Then, they turned pitch black. Then white

again. They went back and forth, glowing, blinking, flickering in

the colors of white and black. He went into a trance of rage, or is

it despair, misery? Nonetheless, every single piece of furniture

in the room went ablaze with the flames of Tyronah.

Not only the furniture, though... The minions and the clones

too began getting scorched by Vaonie’s blazes until they disap-

peared into sheer nothing. Ley was frightened as he had never

witnessed the sight of the legendary ‘Oblyrine u Tyronah’. In

a desperate attempt to make Alduin stop he looked in his face

and realized he was both conscious and unconscious. It was

nothing but a symptom of PTSD. His legs, hair and stomach

went aflame as well. He gathered all of his strength.

‘ALDUIN!!!! WAKE UP!!!!’ He shouted and gave him an

incredibly powerful slap to the face.

It did not work. He tried again.

‘WAKE UP!!!! WAKE UP! YOU MUST WAKE UP! YOU FUCK-

ING CUNT! PIECE OF SHIT NEPHEW! WAKE UP!’ He shouted

and continued slapping him with his full might.

Alduin regained his consciousness. Much to his disappointment,

he was still held by Ley, who was nothing but a floating torso,

arms and head. He chuckled.

‘At least I got most of your body out of the way! You can’t

heal from these wounds! Forever crippled! Forever scarred!’

Alduin shouted.

‘FUCK YOU!’ Ley shouted back.

He tried to get himself excited, to cheer himself up. He knew he

had to regain his hope if he wanted to defeat him.

‘Enough of this foolishness! I have had enough of this!

Enough of it all!’ Ley yelled out in agony.

All of a sudden, the last remaining pool of blood started spread-

ing across the room. Ley released Alduin and fell on his back.

Some of the blood rose to become replacement legs for him. Al-

duin jumped as far as he could to assess his situation. Ley was

only playing with him up to this point. He must finish this, fast.

He decided to deplete his uncle’s blood source and use it for one

final attack.

He put both of his hands on the ground and chanted for it to

rise. It did not rise however. Suddenly, he felt tingly all around

his body, the blood started glowing in orange and he fell to the

ground.

‘Ha! You fell right into my trap!’

The blood began moving and centered itself around him. Then,

it moved again and formed a triangle. A few candles and torches

nearby started burning more fiercely. He felt like he was losing

his consciousness again.

‘Did you really think I didn’t know what you are, my stupid

nephew?! The first thing I did as the chief was reading up and

hearing everything about ‘that new Lodus’ and his abilities. Did

you honestly think I would try to injure you? To kill you? You

are immortal after all! Who was it that taught you magic? Your father knew nothing of magic! A pathetic excuse of a warrior!

It was me! Only me! The only logical way of dealing with an

immortal being is sealing them away! Banishing them from this

realm! This is my farewell, Alduin! C-,’ he hiccuped, ‘Au revoir,

srynaia!’

Ley turned around and got back to inspecting the painting, rub-

bing off the sweat from his forehead and drinking his glass of

wine. Alduin was losing his consciousness and felt like he was

drifting away. Being torn apart from his body. From his physical

form. And there he was. Lying on the ground, breathless, mo-

tionless. Dead, in technicality. His presence no longer lingered

in Vanthea nor in any place known to man.

Hanali felt the sudden change in atmosphere and lost the

ability to feel his aura. This worried her and she teleported

straight into its last known location. What she saw had en-

raged her. Alduin’s body was lying on the ground above an enor-

mous banishment seal. A few meters to the left was standing a

stranger, observing a painting. He didn’t feel her presence.

‘Are you the one who did this to him?!’ She yelled.

‘Who the fuck are you? What are you doing here?’ He turned

around, wearing a shocked face.

‘Answer me!’

‘Yes, I killed him. Why? Do you know him?’

She growled and shouted. She did not let him lift a finger before

unleashing her wrath.

‘Thank you,’ he said weakly.

He died on the spot, pierced by so many swords made of purple

Talismirit that one couldn’t even begin to count. A small book-

like object fell out from his pocket and laid beside him. Then,

she fell on her knees and felt a bizarre feeling in her chest.

‘What is this? Why am I feeling this way? What is happening

to me?!’ She asked herself.

She covered her face with her hands.

‘Why does it hurt so fucking much?!’ She screamed.

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Author's note - I hope to get reviews and feedback. Thank you :)