The Uprising

The State Building of Cresian Empire was burning, reeking of death and destruction all around. A woman was crawling, wounded, towards a dead security personnel, trying to reach for his gun. Suddenly a sharp weapon pierced her leg perpendicularly. She let out a scream of pain and looked towards her attacker. He gave out a wicked smile revealing the fangs; his red pupils were glowing, pouring evilness. He then whistled and a few snarling humanoid monsters appeared. Their skins were covered with blister like growths, their fingers had sharp nails, their eyes were dirty yellow in colour and they had sharp fangs. Blood was dripping from their mouths.

“Take her away. She will be a fine addition to the army” the vampire ordered.

The woman was dragged away by the monsters, screaming for her life.

Elsewhere, in the Kingdom of Vladmor, the vampire king Zachaeus of the House of the Phoenix called an emergency conclave with the kings from the human kingdom of Cresian Empire, werewolf kingdom Lunavaria, the magic kingdom of Illusontis.

The four kingdoms were under a heavy pact of non-intervention and involvement where no one was allowed to harm, interfere with each other. They can visit the other kingdoms strictly for business and administrative affairs. Their visits were tightly monitored by the Vigilante groups. The groups consisted of highly trained fighters from each kingdom who are too bound by the pact. This was to safeguard their respective kinds in the foreign kingdom while on visit.

The Pact was integrated within the law of each kingdom where the law breaker will receive capital punishment by death. Also marriage, romantic relationships were strictly forbidden.

The emergency session of the Conclave of the Monarchs was held virtually over high-tech video-conferencing.

“I believe I owe a serious explanation on this unexplained attack on my people King Zachaeus” the Cresian King Xavier indignantly asked.

“You have my sincere apologies Your Majesty. I can assure you that I have never ordered such attack, not when I myself proposed and pioneered the Pact” King Zachaeus humbly said.

“Then how do you explain that your son was caught on the security cameras near the State Building of the northeastern province of Cresia, stabbing a woman while these unknown demons drag her away?”  

King Xavier played the footage on the 3D screen. The bloody scene played to everyone’s horror.

“This is a serious breach in the Pact, Your Majesty” Queen Niamh of Illusontis said worriedly.

“And how do you intend to prove that Vladmor is not involved in this?” King Treznor of Lunavaria said with a tinge of sarcasm in his voice given that werewolves are a natural enemy to the vampires.

King Zachaeus looked at King Treznor and confidently replied,

“I launch an immediate investigation on the matter and to refresh your memory Treznor you do remember that I banished Rhain years ago after he killed one of your people and turning at least five humans and not to mention the coup he and Queen Raelinn staged. Now what if I allege that to get back at me you are trying to manipulate my estranged son, how are you going to prove that?”

King Treznor clenched his teeth keeping quiet without being able to answer. King Zachaeus proposed an investigation team which he already had prepared as soon as the news of the attack reached him. The team will involve a few best of warriors of Vladmor and the other monarchs agreed to grant them aid with the investigation by giving them free pass into their kingdoms. With that King Zachaeus called upon the team they entered in a few minutes kneeling down to bow before the monarchs.

The three monarchs exclaimed with surprise, “The Princess? She will lead the team?”

“Yes she will. She is the most capable and the only one who can day walk”, King Zachaeus said with a proud expression on his face.

The princess gradually stood up lifting her face. They have only heard about this princess of Vladmor, but this was the first time they saw her in person, virtually though. She was a sight to behold. Her face was round, with a pale wheat-ish complexion, a striking contrast to the pale white vampire skin. Her hair was jet back reaching her waist which was tied in mid-high ponytail. Her eyes were almond shaped, a little tapering at the corners which gives them a super well defined and captivating shape, but what makes it unique and one of its kinds was that they were light electric blue in color. Vampires have red eyes and they can’t walk in sunlight which prompted their Vigilante group to operate during the night. Apart from the color, vampires eyes glows when they are under any stimulation like stress or excitement. But she was different from others who took solo hunts and assignments given she could operate both during day and night. She has an extremely cold exterior and was a strict follower of the laws and rules. She hardly talks to people except her father. She is a ruthless killer when it comes to evil beings irrespective of vampires, werewolves or wizards. She is 433 years old having turned under mysterious circumstances when she was a 33 years old human. She can consume vampire blood along with human blood which is also one of its kinds. Vampires cannot consume vampire blood because it will create a negative reaction within their cellular build. They have to consume human or animal blood for survival. For human blood they have a special pact with the Cresian Empire for the supply of blood bags.   

“Nezeira, my daughter! I hope you already know your mission” Zachaeus asked

“Yes father I do.” she said.

With that she led the group away in the weapons gallery where she held a small meeting before they will be dispatched.

“I have received information about the attacked area from our Nightshaders (vampire Vigilante group). The area is sealed as of now. As you can see the footage we need to track down the monsters as soon as possible and as for the deposed Prince we will find him once we track the monsters. Everyone be well prepared with your weapons and don’t forget to take the Fire Ivy potions. We need it to incapacitate the Prince. Remember our orders are to capture him and kill the monsters. We leave after sunset” Nezeira instructed the group. 

The palace of Vladmor remains under the cover of a high tech canopy which prevents the sunlight during the day and it is removed during the night. The night time is the working time for the vampires of Vladmor so the kingdom becomes alive during the night. Nezeira was the only vampire to walk freely whenever she liked. She was also a skilled blade fighter having learned the art of sword from a Samurai vampire master. Apart from that she spends hours reading books about other kingdoms. She has visited Illusontis and Lunaveria before but never the Cresian Empire as deep down she harbors a deep hated for the humans, as she was one, a long time ago. After she became a vampire the King adopted her into his family and she and Prince Rhain were like blood siblings, unbeknownst to her he secretly was envious of her uniqueness and not before he finally betrayed the Phoenix Clan by involving in evil experimentation on vampires which involved killing of werewolves. His obsession was how Nezeira could walk in the sunlight or for that her eyes are blue instead of red and she has the ability to survive on human food, vampire and human blood alike.

Nezeira’s past life is a topic of hot discussion, speculations mostly. It is still a mystery how she became the favorite of the vampire king. There are also whispers about her being an illegitimate child of the King with a human he loved. But her extraordinary powers do not add up to the logic of that claim. There have not been a half breed human-vampire since the Pact has been signed. Before that there were a few instances when vampires and human fell for each other. Their half-breed children became a problem for the humans because they need to be on pure human blood until the age of five. They have fangs and all the powers of their vampire parent except their life span are a little over hundred and they become old as their age progresses with a natural death like mortal humans. The reasons half-breeds were a nuisance because of their extreme thirst for human blood. There have been countless times when a half vampire child attacked a human and fed on their blood draining them dead. As such the Pact strictly forbids any relationship between a vampire, human, warlock/witch and werewolves. There were also other half breeds similar to the vampire-human ones. They too have the same pattern of life and powers; a mix of their parent’s. All of them were offered a choice to stay with whichever kingdom they wanted but once they chose they were forbidden under any circumstances to visit the other kingdoms ever again. But everywhere they went they were treated either as inferior or were scared of. Turning of humans into vampire or werewolves, by force is forbidden with a death penalty. However volunteered transformations were accepted for humans who were terminally ill if they consent, provided they will never set foot in Cresia after the transformations.

Prince Rhain, was born a pureblood, to King Zachaeus and the late Queen Raelinn. He was the crown prince being the only child, heir to the throne of Valdmor. 400 years ago his father brought a strange looking girl into the palace. King Zachaeus introduced her as his long lost daughter with another vampire much to the Queen’s horror. She developed a pathological hatred towards Nezeira. On top of that he started to train her like the prince and showered affection like a true biological father, which made Rhain envy her. Their hate and envy went beyond the tolerance level when the King announced her to be the official Princess of Vladmore and his daughter. Nezeira being a person of very less words, was more into action. She was often pitted against Rhain, who always lost to her. Her reflexes and powers were unmatched to anyone in  existence. Rhain grew more and more hostile with every defeat and his father’s preference of this strange girl as his own blood. The Queen and Rhain couldn’t take it anymore and thus hatched a conspiracy to topple the King and capture the power over Vladmore. They secretly met the werewolf minister under King Treznor and the cousin brother of Queen Niamh of Illusontis who were into the plan of overthrowing their respective monarchs due to the Pact.

Queen Raelinn started to gather followers within the palace and when time was ripe she and the Prince struck. They targeted to assassinate the King and take Nezeira hostage. Prince Rhain has specifically asked to capture Nezeira alive because by that time he secretly has established his network through all the kingdoms in the bid to create the perfect hybrid impervious to any weakness. And since Nezeira was one of her kind Rhain was obsessed with her. The night of the coup; everything was prepared according to the plan and the Queen’s followers struck. It was day time when the whole kingdom was asleep. With magical balls of explosives from Illusontis the plan was to blow holes in the palace to burn it down. Every vampire carries with them the Fire Ivy Potion which when taken gives them a temporary shield from the sunlight. As soon as the attack began the King Zachaeus was alerted and so was Nezeira. King Zachaeus put up a fight but was captured and brought in the execution dungeon, where there is a an opening on the roof with a sliding cover. Due to the commotion he forgot his fire ivy potion. The King looked at his wife in horror and asked,

“Why?”

Queen Raelinn, “Why? You still ask why? You brought that abomination in our lives and made her a princess, an equal to our son, the rightful heir. That bad blooded girl, your illegitimate daughter became a Princess and your ‘apple of the eye’. You refuse to speak of her mother. How should I suppose to stay calm and do nothing. That is it,  no more.”

The King, calmly said, “Raelinn, you are making a mistake.”

Raelinn gritted her teeth and ordered, “Open it.”

The followers held King Zachaeus and the sliding door on the roof opened slowly, letting beams of sunlight inside, gradually approaching the King. The first beam of sunlight hit the King on his hand and sizzling sound was heard as his skin started to burn. At that moment a loud bang was heard. And in the darkness of the dungeon two glowing blue eyes were seen. The figure stepped into the arena. She looked calm and deadly. With her fangs slightly visible, her jet black waist length hair was unkempt and a stare which can send down a chill on the beholder. The sword glistened on her right hand and had blood smeared on them. She spoke in an icy tone,

“Unhand Father, right now.”

The vampires holding the King became restless and confused as to what to do. They were scared by the Princess yet were pledged loyalty to the Queen. The Queen then snared at her,

“You filthy blood! How dare you.”

The next moment she felt a chocking grip of a hand around her neck. Nezeira, being a vampire, an exceptional one at that, has supersonic speed and, before even the Queen could finish her sentence she came and held her by the throat choking her. Then she spun the Queen around and held up her sword and in a cold threatening voice spoke to the soldiers,

“Release him or she dies.”

No matter how ferocious the Queen acts, with her life being threatened like this, she was definitely scared out of her wits. In that moment Rhain entered the scene drenched in blood. Nezeira, became more vigilant and gripped the Queen tighter. Rhain, drew up his sword and spoke in a taunting yet alarming tone.

“Nez, put down your sword. We can sort this in a civilized way.”

Nezeira, flashed a sarcastic smile, “Don’t kid yourself Rhain. What you and the Queen just did doesn’t count as something ‘civilized’.”

Soon one of the Queen’s vampire came running. The coup was nipped and the royal guards are on their way. Rhain looked around and saw that he and his mother were sure to be captured soon, so he ordered the vampires to release the King. He then spoke to Nezeira,

“Nez, I have let Father go, please release Mother now.”

Nezeira, skillfully approached the King, while still holding on to the Queen with her sword. After a pause she pushed her towards Rhain and took hold of the King, while still pointing her sword towards them. The royal guards reached the dungeon and a fight broke out between them and the remaining of the Queen’s vampires. Taking chance of the commotion, Rhain held his mother and jumped up along the dungeon walls, escaping through the opening on the ceiling, with Nezeira following them. Before that she instructed the Commander to take care of the King. She then leaped from one wall to the other following them.

The Prince and the Queen ran and almost reached the walls of the royal palace when they noticed that the canopy cover for the day is being restored. By that time it was decreed that the Queen and the Prince be captured and brought to trial for treason, so when the guards saw them running towards the exit gate they swung into action to close it. The Queen suddenly shrieked in pain. Her skin started to burn out. They both realized that her potion has ran out of its effects. She slowed down and took out another vile of the potion and was about to drink it when she saw that Nezeira was catching up on them. She realized that it was impossible to escape. So she did the unexpected, much to Rhain’s horror. She closed the vile of the potion and thrusted it into Rhain’s hand and said,

“Go son.”

Rhain eyes welled up in tears and exasperation when he realized what his mother was about to do. He screamed and said,

“I am not leaving you behind mother. I will save you”

Queen Raelinn, placing her hand on his cheek lovingly, “I am very proud of you. Some battles are better fought with time. Go, preserve yourself and come back to take what’s yours and to right all the wrongs you have suffered. I am sorry, I could not defend you.”

Rhain, kept begging her but she pushed him away. With great reluctance Rhain jumped up the walls, stood there and took one last look at his mother who was burning down. They bid each other a teary farewell before Rhain jumped down the other side and as he kept running he could hear the scream of his mother getting burned out by the sunlight. He reached the edge of Vladmore, near the Cresian border and took one sip of the fire ivy potion. He covered his face with a mask, vengeance danced in his eyes, as he started walking towards Cresia.