Prologue
Leander sat in the head chair at the meeting table when a gust of cold wind swept into the council room; the glasses above the table trembled slightly at the unwelcome nudge. His tulip glass wasn’t spared. He watched as the surface tension of the blood broke, sending tiny, smooth ripples crawling towards the curved shiny glass walls.
Air currents above the sea were tempestuous. For a moment it would be deceptively peaceful, followed by treacherous warring winds that invaded his castle floating above the sea.
Those hidden behind the veil were never bothered. It was just a tickle to their skin that barely registered in their consciousness.
He looked out of the council room window; his eyes, which kept alternating between its reddish hue and roasted hazel notes, studied the sea waves as they crashed into each other, then faded into the oblivion of a calmer sea many miles away.
His hand reached out for the blood-filled glass and swirled it a bit. The deer blood was barely quenching his thirst. He gulped it at once while the three Patricians stayed silent in their chairs.
He knew that two of them had already succumbed to the need for human blood after the mutation, and he couldn’t really tell them otherwise.
He, who was the strongest of them all, was having dire difficulty quenching his own thirst.
The deer blood trickled down his throat, soothing the burning sensation, and as the blood reached his stomach, the flames of need started to extinguish. He was about to commence the meeting when his stomach started to blaze again.
He signaled for a servant, who immediately served another glass to his lord.
He thought he should drink slowly this time, or this meeting would take forever to start.
“Start.” He finally ordered.
“Your Majesty, humans have breached the ancient contract between us.” Nickolai, the oldest patrician, started. “The ancient contract specifies that humans should never harm the ecosystem to the extent where ours is affected.”
Leander nodded. He knew that this meeting was inevitable. These were the hard-earned consequences of the biological war the humans started ten years ago. They were about to reap the harvest of their ignorance, greed, and disrespect for the ecosystem given to them.
Leander picked up the contract and stared at it.
The papyrus contract had aged beautifully, like fine wine. Infused with delicate care and the ancient witch’s magic, it stayed invincible against the decay of time.
He knew the contract by heart. Most humans might have forgotten it after vampires retreated behind the veil.
Yet, those who should know remember it well. The human families who kept contact with them gained protection and wealth enough to remember vampires long after they chose to stay behind the veil.
Leander knew what they were about to say next.
“Your Majesty, the veil has to be raised.”
“I can still hold it,” Leander stated.
“Your Majesty, I know you can hold the veil perfectly well. But the veil has long been maintained by the noble vampire families. If you take that toll on your body, other supernatural creatures might exploit that against us.”
“Let them dare,” Leander growled at Nickolai.
Leander’s fangs started to appear, sending dread down every servant and knight who stood inside and outside the room.
The council room remained eerily silent after the king’s threat to those far and beyond.
“The current grand witch has declared that to overcome the mutation, we need to find compatible humans. This is the only way the next generation will overcome the mutation. If we are going to find them, the veil needs to be raised.” Cassian, the second Patrician, explained.
Cassian knew which buttons to press. This had to do with the vampires’ livelihood after all. Leander couldn’t push against that.
“What if humans don’t want compatibility?” Michelan, the third Patrician and the only Patrician who hadn’t yet succumbed to human blood, asked.
“Nothing. We won’t beg humans for cooperation, but at least some will cooperate; that is all we need from the compatible humans.” Cassian said arrogantly. “They also need vampire venom since the biological war had produced some nasty mutant pathogens that were slowly dismantling their bodies. Interestingly enough, our venom could help them.”
“Humans’ agency is to be preserved,” Leander reminded them. “The ancient laws had long prohibited forcing humans; that is our utmost rule and law.”
Leander grabbed the glass one last time before he drank the last bit of the deer blood.
He heard a killer whale not far away yawn below the sea. He started wondering if he should try the killer whale blood for the next while.
He shook his head as he looked at the Patricians.
It had been thousands of years since vampires built their cultures, civilization, and cities behind the veil.
He glanced at the floating castles. He remembered the cities in the deserts swarming with vampires, yet long unseen and forgotten by humans. He closed his eyes, envisioning the mountain tops where more of his people lived hidden from radar and all sorts of human detection.
The age of change is about to descend on everyone.
He finally gave his command.
“Unveil the supernatural territory.”
