A few months had passed and Alduin had turned eighteen

years of age. Han and him were getting along wonderfully. Han

taught him everything he could about technology and the like.

About different cultures he had come across during his travels.

About his time with Ley. In return, Alduin taught him magic

and helped him train his abilities to perfection. Eventually, both

of them were relieved back to Vanthea. Han returned to his

what used to be his home, in Enceladus. He also released a

book, named ‘The Mystery of Olana’, about his time there and

findings. Alduin returned to his home planet with Hanali by his

side.

The pair continued sharing stories and world views, philoso-

phies et cetera. Only rarely would they agree with each other’s

opinions. Days and weeks passed by as were getting to know

each other deeper and deeper. This time, Alduin took her to his

village, or what’s left of it. It was almost completely destroyed.

Old and dry blood plagued the earth all around it. Nothing re-

sembled what it used to be. He sat down to reminisce about the

past. About his family. He was at peace (up to a certain point, of

course). He prepared a small rather bonfire a sat down in front

of it, observing the relaxing flames.

‘Alduin, I need to talk to you about something...’ Hanali

said.

He heard her voice and turned around.

‘Sure. What is it?’

‘I-I wanted to talk to you about your return from Olana.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I didn’t just give my leg and arm to make Vaonie forgive

you. I also promised them something.’

‘What? Your limbs weren’t enough? What more did you

sacrifice for me?!’

‘Let me finish!’ She kicked the ground.

He nodded. He put on a kettle filled with water and leaves on

the fire, to make tea. He poured himself a cup and offered her

one. She declined.

‘It’s not that I sacrificed something else. Well... Please don’t

be mad when you hear it...’

‘I will not.’

‘Promise me that you wouldn’t. I would never have forced

this on you if it weren’t my last resort. I vow this to you.’

‘Relax... I promise I won’t get mad. Please share.’

‘Well... Uhm... I...’

‘Yes?’

‘I vowed that we would bring forth new divines for Vaonie’s

side. Here, I said it! [Long exhale] Phew. That was so hard to

say.’

‘What do you mean by bring forth new divines? I don’t get

you.’

‘You know...’

‘I really don’t.’

‘Come on...’ She was too embarrassed to say it and gave him

a friendly punch to the shoulder.

‘Ouch! That hurt!’ He shouted playfully and imitated a fake

cry.

‘Pfft.’ she rolled her eyes.

‘Tell me. I am curious,’ he laughed.

‘Pfft... Silly mortal! Right! Okay! It means we are to breed.’

Alduin spit out his drink suddenly and began coughing.

‘We are to WHAT?!’ He asked.

‘Breed...’

‘How? What? Why? When? You [points at her] and me

[points at himself]?’

‘Yes. Are you that against the idea?’ She frowned.

‘No, no! It is not that! I just never knew divines can procre-

ate.’

‘They can’t.’

‘How would that work then?’

‘You are not divine...’

‘Oh. Right... But you are...’

‘Yes.’

‘So?’

‘I am different from my siblings.’

‘How so?’

‘I was the first divine child to ever exist. I was a prototype

for the next children and when Austomia came out with the idea

of mortals, they copied off a few characteristics from the design

they had made for me...’

‘Like which?’

‘Apparently, emotion, insecurity, depression... I never real-

ized I had all of those before I met you, a mortal. You taught me

what they are. How to recognize and identify them. How to deal

with them. Until now I just kept ignoring my feelings, thinking

they are nothing but nuisances. You made me see them in a

completely different light.’

‘Is that a good thing?’

‘It’s a wonderful thing!’

‘Are there any other similarities between the mortals and

you?’

‘The ability to procreate.’

‘You are able to give birth?’

‘Kind of, yes. It’s just not as painful as it is for you. And it

takes way less time, like a day or so before it comes out.’

‘I see.’

‘Well? I’m sorry for only telling you this now. I was just

way too embarrassed to do it before... I am sorry that I put you

in this spot... To force you to do this with me, as you cannot

decline. I vowed it to Vaonie and I simply cannot take it back. I

am sorry,’ she lowered her head to apologize.

Alduin decided he should just go for it. He leaned forwards,

getting his face closer and closer to hers, slowly. He kissed her.

This time it was on the lips, not the cheeks that had turned pink

almost entirely. She was both confused and intrigued.

‘W-What? What did you just do?’

‘There is something that I wanted to tell you as well...’

‘What is it?’ She stared in his eyes.

‘I love you.’

‘You do? Since when?’

‘For a long time already. Almost a year...’

‘Really? Why?’

‘When I am with you I feel like I am getting repaired... I no

longer feel like broken merchandise, too hurt to be of value. You

treat me nicely despite how complicated I am. And I truly am

complicated. You didn’t give up on me. Without you, I would

have surely sunk into the void of my own subconscious. Of my

own trauma...’

‘I-... I don’t know what to say.’

‘It’s okay. You don’t have to say it back.’

‘No, listen! It’s not like that, I swear! I was just never told

how love feels like! I don’t know how to identify it. The only

thing I can say for sure is that when I am near you, or when I

hear you speak, I feel strange things. Things that I had never

felt before. I feel peaceful.’

‘I have an offer for you then...’

‘What is it?’

‘How about we find out together what those strange feelings

of yours mean?’

‘Whatever do you mean by that?’

‘We are to breed, right? How about this... How about we

change the word breed into starting a family?’

‘Like marriage?’

‘No, that would require way too much bureaucracy and a

silly religious ceremony. We could simply start a family together

without it.’

‘I see.’

‘What do you say?’

‘It wouldn’t hurt to try...’

‘It wouldn’t.’

‘So... Do we just do it?’

‘Do what?’

‘Have sex, I mean...’

‘Not yet.’

‘Hmm?’

‘I wish to rebuild my village first. To make a suitable home

for us. One our first child could grow up in.’

‘Alright.’

They hugged. He sipped the last remaining drops of tea from

the kettle and stood up.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

‘How do you wish to start?’ Hanali asked.

‘I want to rebuild everything, back to how it was originally

when I was a child.’

‘I could do that.’

‘How?’

‘I could go back in time, see how it used to look like. Then I

would come back and rebuild accordingly with my magic.’

‘Oh. Alright then! I will be in charge of repopulating the

village.’

‘How?’

‘You will see...’

‘Okay.’

They kissed again and Hanali vanished into thin air. He raced

his mind for the best idea for how to improve the nonexistent

demographic of the village. Then, it finally hit him!

‘I orphaned so many children. Innocent ones. Those of the

Vaermiraiits. I will take them in, create an entirely new clan.

But first, I have another idea...’ He said to himself.

He activated his ability to search for auras. He was looking for

that of Edward, the vampire that he had spared. After about

ten minutes he found him and immediately teleported to his

location. Edward was startled.

‘What? What are you doing here? Have you come to take

me? Did you change your mind? Am I to die? I heard you killed

Ley!’ Edward was utterly frightened.

‘I did not kill Ley. It was an associate of mine. And no I did

not come here to harm you.’

‘You are not here to hurt me?’

‘No.’

‘What are you here for then?’

‘To offer you a chance. A chance for a new life.’

‘But you have already given me that! I am a new man! I am

even looking for a cure!’

‘Don’t. I have a better plan.’

‘Oh? What is it?’

‘Join me.’

‘Join you? What do you mean?’

‘I am rebuilding my village. I will be taking in all of the

orphaned vampire children from the city I massacred. I want

you to be their mentor, their godfather. To train them to fight

for me as their lord.’

‘You wish to become a vampire clan chief?’

‘Not a vampire clan chief. Just a clan chief. A leader of an

army in Vanthea. It just so happens that the entirety of the clan

would be vampires,’ he said and winked.

‘Uh-huh.’

‘What say you?’

‘Sure. I’ll do it. Are we going to live in your village though?

Vaermiraiits are weak to the cold after all.’

‘The cold would restrain the vampires from wreaking havoc.

They are to follow my commands. No longer will vampires raid,

pillage and rape the innocent. I will lead an army of the dead

that would take on a greater mission.’

‘Which is? Sounds fascinating.’

‘Raiding, pillaging and torturing the guilty, of course! Killing,

slaughtering and feeding on mortals that simply shouldn’t exist!

The bad ones. Evil ones. Rapists, thieves, murderers, liars et cetera.’

‘A bit drastic, don’t you think? You are talking about a lot of

mortals.’

‘More than we can count, yes. I deem it necessary. Ridding

Vanthea of evil is necessary.’

‘Fine then. I will pack my things and make way towards my

new home.’

‘Right on. Farewell friend.’

‘See you soon.’

‘Yes.’

Alduin vanished back into thin air, leaving a rather fazed yet

intrigued Edward. He really was excited about the idea of a

vampire clan that fights evil. After all, no evil can be condemned

without another evil. And only evil can recognize evil’s true

danger. "You can’t fight fire with fire", my ass.

Alduin teleported back to the city. He entered each and

every house building to try and talk to the children. He almost

did not recognize them, as they were already feasting on their

own families. Such cannibalism could only be excused by great

starvation. He talked and explained his motives. Most accepted

his offer. With a clan comes food, shelter and hydration after

all... They must survive, it is a creature’s most basic instinct.

Those who declined are probably dead by now.

After he was done talking to the orphans and giving them

the directions to their new homes, he teleported back to the

village.

‘O-Oh. Oh my god! Evis tesferti! ’ He was filled with joy.

What he witnessed, was the completely rebuilt village of Aldu.

Suddenly, he remembered each and every single detail from

his childhood. The smells. The sounds. The tastes. The way

everything looked! A single tear dropped from his eyes into his

chin, and then the earth. To the side of the rebuilt gate stood a

proud Hanali, awaiting his return.

‘Well?’

‘I love it! I love it! Evisi!!!’ His face lit up in excitement.

‘I am glad,’ she smiled broadly.

‘Evisi!’ He kissed her.

‘With love.’

They embraced.

‘What do you think of my beard by the way? I decided to

grow it.’

‘It makes you look maturer, I like it!’

‘Thank you, I always had such a baby-face. Finally I found a

way to look my age,’ he laughed.

‘You were handsome even before though.’

‘Thank you,’ he smiled.

During the following hours more and more of the orphaned

children had arrived to the village. Hanali took them all in and

introduced them to the place. Edward arrived after a week or

so and settled in immediately. He was not only tasked with

teaching the children how to fight, how to survive and how to

protect. He had two more tasks. Protecting the village and

enforcing Alduin’s laws between its walls.

The children quickly turned into teenagers and then to adults.

They were all trained fighters, mages and scholars. There were

cooks, tutors, guards, farmers, shopowners and the like! The

village was blossoming. Its name remained ‘Vel Tissia Ke Aldu’,

but for the clan he had found an entirely new name and a match-

ing clan insignia. It was ‘Vel Vestinde Aqat’.

He was also assigned a nickname, given to him by travelling

locals or sheer rumors, positive and negative. They called him

"Whitefire", for he was a Snow Elf with piercing red eyes. People

took him for a vampire and he preferred it that way. After all,

Hanali told him that his true identity must remain a secret to

the mortals.

The village was full of life, smells, tastes and laughter of

children. It was everything he could have dreamed for, except

for one last thing. It was coming though... Oh, it was coming

alright! That "thing" as I called it, had a name...

And its name was...

‘Cylie’. After the Elvish timer spell, for Alduin was given

back the time he had lost in the cellar. She would be his continu-

ation, protected from the evils of this world.

Cylie Faëli

TO BE CONTINUED

So... What do you think?” - Tal said.

“Hmm... I like it but do you think it is interesting enough

for people to actually read a book about it?” Mordechai said.

“I have absolutely no idea.”

They both laughed.

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