But life went on without him, and the city grew bigger, wider, taller and stronger. While the tensions between the races were still quite high, measures had all been taken into easing the people into their roles as neighbors. We've not heard anything from the council of light, though to be honest we've all been living on a knife's edge waiting for them to act, or react to the fact that a new sovereign nation had just entered the picture.
But we heard nothing from them, as they remained as silent as the wind of a very calm day. So we chose to focus on what we could, and grow as a nation. There's hardly been anything for me to ever since the council was formed. At the moment there was only Asare, the Naga king Boakin, and Farina as representatives for the three major races. Asare stood for the humans, even though they were the smallest here, amounting to about two hundred individuals including children.
Because of that, the rest of the miscellaneous races without the proper population to have a councilor fell under Asare's jurisdiction. And so far things have been going well. Using the trans universal market hub, we've been able to trade with other planets, enabling to grow quickly in not just knowledge and technology, but also in culture, language and industrial production.
Under Malek's careful planning and guidance, the city kept growing, so much so that it now had two walls. The inner wall that was made from the roots of the world tree, and then an outer city that was currently still expanding. In other to avoid any sort of segregation, many of the facilities in the inner city, that most of the citizens have started calling the royal district; was moved to the expanding royal city. Which means places like the school, the military base, even the police station were all moved away from the inner city, leaving only the palace, and the Ausolon coven's research facility behind.
But apart from that, two administrative buildings have been built both in the outer city, and the inner city. The one in the inner city was mainly just for show, serving as a meeting place between the king and his councilors. While the one in the outer city served as an office for the councilors, and the place where they can listen to the people and their complaints, dealing with the day to day life of their people.
To be honest I'm not really a fan of the walls we all have on, but they had already been built, and the expansion had to continue. Somewhere down the line, maybe hundreds of fucking years in the future, that wall is going to be problem, its human nature, and that was something every race on this universe had, even though they would claim otherwise. As self centered as it was for me to say this, but at that point it wouldn't be my problem.
Other major development would probably have to be underground railway that Malek had developed as a way to flank our enemies during the war. He took it into proper consideration, and under his direction, had the Nagas build an extensive railway system that stretched from Ethernalia Leonis to the green, red and Black district, there was also a direct line to the small mining town we had built near the mineral mountain.
The mining town did not have any particular concentration of races, but was just open to anyone who wanted to pursue a career in mining. And with Xaseah's grandfather; Dwayne overseeing the entire operation, things had gone off smoothly. After all he was dwarf, mining and blacksmithing and engineering were wired into his very D.N.A.
But even with everything that's been happening, it didn't mean problems didn't arise. After the war, the entirety of the bloodline covens had been moved to Ethernalia Leonis, however in this place, in my city. They had absolutely no power at all, all they had left was their prestige, reputation and respect that they were gradually loosing as everyone came to understand that; here in Ethernalia Leonis, they were all equal. And a position of power and prestige was afforded to everybody on the premise that they were willing to work hard for it.
They could leave and head back to the abandoned green and red district and try to make something of what's left there, to be rulers over a pile of rubble and death. Or they could stay here and learn, and grow and evolve with the rest of the vampire race. There was always a place for anyone here; they just had to be willing to find it.
In other to at least give honor to the major races and the bloodline covens. Nefisat and Malek expanded the city to surround a few origin earth towers, using it to map out districts for the city, and spreading everyone else around it. That was too much space than we knew what to do with, considering how wide and tall those towers were. But at the very least they gave and mapped out the boundaries of the future city, and since I wanted it to be a place where 24 individual races will have power, it had to bigger and larger than what has to be expected. Thankfully Malek was all too willing to complete such a monumental task.
The bloodline covens decided to spread into circles within the societal structure of Ethernalia Leonis. The Warren bloodline clan, which was Farina's, already had a path and purpose. Most if not almost all of them were working within the administrative sector, they were politicians and civil servants at heart, and they made very good leaders and knew how to keep things organized. So that's where they were placed.
Malek's Ausolon bloodline clans were inventors, and scholars. So they mostly worked at the research facility, or taught at the school. Some of them liked the idea of the army so they were combat mechanics and were responsible for building and designing most of the war machines and ships the army needed to function. Of course not everyone followed the norm, as they along with members of the other bloodline covens tried something new and different, like being a baker or a barber.
The hom'rugr, the Bediako, and the inferno bloodline all joined the army. Well most of them anyway, with only a few leaving to search for employment in other circles. However as much as we tried to separate the three bloodline covens across all of the divisions in the army, they ended up congregating in a particular division, due to how talented they were in a particular aspect of combat.
The Bediako with their now small population, after almost being wiped out from the war, were placed in the battle suit division. These guys were wild berserkers and preferred the intensity of the front lines, so they were given just that. Only a very small few could make it into other divisions due to their talents. The Hom'rugr with their terrifying skill in assassinations, espionage, and just good old fashion spying were placed in the shadow division. Their elder Bien was made the commander of the division, with a few generals under her, one of which was Gus. Though the young telepath answered more to me, than he did to her.
The Inferno coven were crazy magicians, but they knew magic. Excelled in it, though I would probably attribute that to their demonic bloodline. Anyway most of them joined the magic division, others tried joining the envoys, but that's easier said than done, as the envoys are one half of two elite divisions. From all three covens, most of their females joined the female only division the hunters. It afforded them a lot of respect, given how specific and dangerous their jobs were, but it worked out in the end and they found themselves exactly where they needed to be.
And finally the Warren coven, their leader had the unique privilege of being the bitch that stabbed my wife in the back and offered her up to the naga king and Shamir in a platter of gold or silver. But she wasn't punished, I've never seen Asha stand up for someone as fiercely as she did for Sousa, but she did, stating that Sousa had a mind for business unlike any other. And that was how the Warren coven became in charge of businesses, overseeing trade both interplanetary and local. Safe to say, Asha was right about her and her abilities.
After we pressured the purist faction into returning her kidnapped children, which if you ask me, I found it really hard to believe she had at all. Sousa had poured all her attention into creating assets for Ethernalia Leonis, and making money from those we already had. She was working very closely with Farina to make all of her plans work, and so far it has been working.
But with Ethernalia Leonis finally becoming peaceful, and developing steadily, it was time to take care of matters from outside our borders. With absolutely no sign of attack from the council of light, we had to deal with the people close to us first, and establish a relationship of sorts with them. And we actually had three neighbors to worry about. First of all is obviously the Nephilim, we've not heard anything from them yet, but that doesn't mean they're not there or not watching. For the past two weeks I've been receiving reports of winged men in the sky, so without a doubt, it was time to go say hi to the neighbors.
The next set of people would be the gnomes. Based on what's known, there should be an entire civilization of them, living underground just on the outskirts of the mineral mountain. Ever since the guard tower fell, they've mostly kept to themselves, and not a word has been heard from them, except for the few gnomes who were living amongst the vampires before, everything else was silent.
And then the final race would be the giants who were trapped and used to protect the sealing array. Of course that's not their true purpose, as they're are guardians of a literal key to the universe, well seven universes. They're the next stop in me and Baeki's journey as dragon kings. And while we feel an urge to find out every possible thing we know about them and that shield, we still had to make sure that anything that would be a threat to our people was completely neutralized.
I think somewhere deep down, both Baeki and I knew that we wouldn't be here for long. That our responsibilities as kings would drag us away from our friends and family, and a prime example of that was my sister Rhea. The thirteen looking eleven year old girl had finally heard the call of the earth dragon, and she was preparing to go answer it. I worried for her, but she wouldn't be alone as her bodyguards would be with her and a surprising hanger on in the form of Teluna.
Slowly and little by little, everyone was splitting up and trying to find their place in a world that no longer wanted to just eliminate them, or discriminate them for who they were, or who they knew. It felt really frustrating for me, but I couldn't deny them this chance, it was something they all desperately needed.
Either way, it was about time I made my preparation too. There's still a lot to do, from finding the Nephilim, the giants, the old city of Idah, which was once the vampires capital, facing the council of light, claiming my inheritance, and finally moving the entirety of Ethernalia Leonis, and the subsequent lands of the vampires into the realm of the dragon kings. It really was a lot of work; it left me almost no time for my family. But I just had to remind myself, that everything I do, I do for them. So after tonight, tomorrow, I'll be leading a delegation along with Asha to the Aviary. It was time to meet my winged neighbors.