The streets of Ethernalia Leonis took on whole different turn than was expected, it was crowded, filled to the brim by both its residents and visitors. And it was not just limited to vampires, though I noticed there was quite the tension between members of other races and the vampires, especially the humans, elves and werewolves. This group of people did not live in or had any connection with the guard tower, and many of them had good relationships with vampires. But there were a lot them around, to many of them. And it made me a bit worried.
We placed Varsessa's remains into the obelisk of the seventy, and the dust that remained of Nisi was given to Nefisat at her insistence. And because of that, there was a statue of a gnome placed right in the center of a garden located at the eastern part of the maze. Varsessa's would also be added there, but Nefisat needed something of hers to do it, like a hair or something. And with that she would be able to create a life like statue, that had the presence of both Nisi and Varsessa. It wasn't them, but at least we would feel a little bit close to them like this.
After the funeral everyone was gathered around the entrance of the tower, waiting, and probably expecting me to say something. The leaders of the other bloodline covens were here, including Maze's replacement and the new leader of the Bediako coven. Ethernalia Leonis had spear headed the eradication of the council of light's presence in the pit. And by extension, it meant that it belonged to us now, every square inch of it.
I was sitting on the throne in the grand hall, alone and with my thoughts when I heard footsteps heading towards me. I raised my head, and saw someone I didn't expect to be here.
"Lukas? I expected you would be long gone by now. It's a surprise to see you still in the pit." I said to the red skinned devil as he drew closer to me.
"I'm not too keen on leaving the pit Master Kael. I've made my fortunes here, and besides this place and it's people have been good to me. It would be stupid to leave all those behind for a world that's so blind even though they live under the sun."
I smiled, I guess those words would have elicited a lot of touching reactions from other vampires. But I was not the same person I once was, the only reason Lukas was still here was none other than the fact that leaving! does not profit him, and that he had no choice. He was without a doubt, Baeki's hell spawn errand boy. He wouldn't leave his master behind, because she's the one who has been so good to him, not the pit.
"What do you want Lukas?" I asked with a tired sigh.
"To give you purpose master Kael. Or at the very least, strengthen your resolve."
What the hell was this guy talking about. If there was going to be anybody strengthening my resolve, it would be the people closest to me. And my resolve was plenty strong as it is, I was just having a very, very bad week.
"Your fight is far from over, not even here in the pit. Shamir and his group of radical vampires, who I might add have extremely radical views about vampire bloodlines are preparing for a war of their own, as the person who leads them is about to become a Dracula. Do you know what that means, that's a vampire with the power of a god! You would have to lace up your boots. Two; the Serpentis prison has been in cahoots and under total control of the council of light for generations. I just recently found out, that they were not placed there as prisoners, but rather as a form of relocation for the entire race.
If you think members of the Bediako coven are bloodthirsty, brash, and warmongering, then you've not met the Serpentis yet. They're going to be knocking down our doors soon enough, and if you're not ready, everything we've built here will fall helplessly to the ground. And finally the idea that the council of light would be coming for us now. This is a full blown war Master Kael. You have to be ready, and make sure you have the allies needed to win that war. There's no time to grief, or next time it won't be your friends you're burying, but your wives. And then soon enough it would be you."
This was not a pep talk, it was report about the facts and the challenge we were still facing. I think the only reason I was listening was because the words were coming for an acquaintance rather than a friend or family member. And he was right, it didn't make my pain any less, but it sharpened my focus. This was probably the only thing I could do to ignore my pain, I had to pour all my attention in making Ethernalia Leonis and the pit as a whole stronger and ready for whatever comes next. If not, we're all going to be massively screwed.
It sucked that for some reason, the responsibility to stop all of this had fallen to me, because honestly it was too much work. But then again this was my chosen path, any man who can't see his choices to the end is not worthy of being called a man at all. Some drastic measures have to be taken, and it has to be immediately too.
I got up from the throne, and walked down, going past Lukas, who followed behind me like some sort of advisor. He was right, there was still work to be done, and a bigger war of a cosmic and universal scale to fight. Every second counts, it's not really a matter of resolve, but the fact that it had to be done. For me there was no choice in being strong, I had to be strong, or the people who would die would be in the millions if not billions.
I made my way outside the palace and came to a stop at the beginning of the stairs. There were a lot of people here, some even pitched tents on the palace grounds. If I didn't know better I would say they were refugees, but what were they doing here? I'm sure this battle with the guard tower did not displace anybody, but why were they here. But that's when it hit me. The people here, the so called refugees were not vampires, and even though the guard tower was destroyed on my orders, not too long ago I was human, and whether I liked it or not, I was still a noble of Shearath. They could only rely on me for protection before every vampire in the pit turned them to cattle and have them for food. I opened my mouth and started speaking, making my voice loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Our work Is not done, our fight has just truly began. To those of us grieving about the losses of our friends, our family and our loved ones, I'm sorry for being such an incompetent leader. I should have seen things a lot more clearer and moved faster, that way no one would have had to suffer such heavy losses. It's my fault and I take responsibility for it. When this is all over if you want to mete out punishment to me, I would not deny you closure or revenge.
But death has always been on our doorstep and it still is. This is not the last we're going to be hearing of the council of light. Their soldiers and their war machines will come back here, they'll come for our children, our wives, our husbands, our homes and our lives. We have to be prepared and united not just against them, but against the enemies that might still remain in the pit or the dancing caves itself. Every vampire here has to stand united, but apart from that we also have to change! Our enemies is not any race or person, it's not the humans, the elves, dwarves, werewolves or any other race that's a part of the council of light, our enemies are what they believe in, and ultimately ourselves.
We've proven time and time again that we're monsters and a plague on Shearath that spreads blood and death everywhere we go. It's our fault for it being true, the sins of the fathers have become the sins of the sons. But it's also their fault for not letting us prove them differently. We're going to carve our own place in this world, but it's not going to be a place that proves the council of light right about what kind of people we are.
We love, we hate, and we die. So now we're going to fight to live, and to that we have to be together. And I'm not just talking about the vampires, but every other race in the pit or the dancing caves who believe in our cause. We're at war, we can not afford to think and act like our enemies, because we don't just want to win on the battlefield, we have to win off the field. It's the only way to truly win.
So I ask you all, for those of you willing to fight. All of your hate, all of your anger, throw it away. And replace it with faith, focus and belief. I ask you not to believe in your anger and your pain, but rather a future of a better world, a better Shearath. If we're going to fight, we can't fight for revenge, or we'll loose, miserably. So all we can do is fight for freedom, freedom not just for the vampires, but for every person that has fallen or lives under the oppression of the council of light, we fight for a better Shearath and our place in it. And everyone and anyone is welcome to join in this cause and believe in it. Help me, please, so that no one dies in vain anymore."
"YEAAHHHHHHHHHHH!"