Arrogance

  I heard them coming long before they came anywhere near me. Of course, I had known they were coming even before that. One of Saia’s drones had followed them in as they came down the road, flying high above them and whispering in my ear through the small piece of her wedged next to my eardrum.

  They came in a car, or something like it at least, which surprised me. I had seen a few vehicles from my observation of their town, but I didn’t think that they would use it outside of it. From my experience skills that made the old technology usable again were short lasting.

  They obviously underestimated a vampire’s hearing. I could listen in to their conversation as they made their way through the forest. Obviously, they had something planned, which I had expected, it was smart. I just didn’t think it would help them any. I could even hear the response that crackled over a speaker, an earpiece as Saia informed me from her observation. Though, they didn’t speak long enough to reveal anything that I could really use. I figured that they had some forces stationed somewhere else, though since Saia hadn’t found them they would have to be a fair distance away. Her drones were circling, but there was a lot of ground to cover and she hadn’t found anything yet.

  The next thing I noticed was their scent as it was carried ahead of them to me by the wind. I smelled their sweat, the touch of fear on the few of them. All of them smelled like humans, which made me even more confident. Cazimir had said that they didn’t have any shifters or vampires, but I couldn’t trust that.

  Though, I couldn’t be certain that there wasn’t a vampire around. I wouldn’t be able to smell them, nor would they be making much noise. That’s one of the reasons why Saia had split into her drones and was watching our surroundings. I didn’t want a shifter or a vampire coming at me unexpectedly.

  My nostrils flared as a strange scent reached me, one of the humans smelled differently. I couldn’t quite place the scent, but it wasn’t hard to assume that this was Proximus. It was most likely the result of a skill or his Mask. There was also something else, a chemical kind of smell that clung to them.

  Part of it was familiar, something I had encountered before—Dusk. I had expected that they would have the stuff with them. That was something I had to watch for, the drug would make them stronger. They carried more than just it, though I couldn’t discern what anything else was, the chemical scent mingled with their natural musk and confused things too much.

  Soon enough, the sound of their feet trodding over the forest floor became louder as they got closer. I kept my eyes closed, focusing on my other senses. A vampire’s brain worked differently than that of a human. It took no conscious effort for me to parse through the information I received, their weight was higher than average human, weighed down by their equipment—I could hear it jiggle. It wasn’t strapped in properly.

  Cazimir had told me that they had encountered a few military groups in the early days, and that while most hadn’t joined them, a few had.

  So, why didn’t Proximus bring real soldiers? I could tell from the way these people walked that their training was rudimentary at best. I didn’t dwell on that puzzle too long, Masks had changed a lot. These people might have skills that Proximus believed would be of use against a vampire.

  They split as Proximus ordered a couple of them to circle around the clearing and scout. The rest moved down into the grassy bowl, heading towards my perch on top of the boulder at the center.

  I didn’t react to their arrival, instead I kept my eyes closed and my expression serene. I wasn’t too versed in politics, mortal or vampire, but I knew enough of this dance to know that the one to speak first was often the supplicant.

  Besides, this entire meeting was a big complicated issue for me. I had invited them, and therefore I was bound by the oath I made to Heart of Azure and Scarlet. There was a debt from my side to theirs. I had attacked and captured their territory. I had a reason for it, they had kidnapped Aurora, but… Even after questioning, it was clear that they had acted on an understanding and orders that Proximus wanted to meet any Exemplar encountered. The orders didn’t actually say that they should kidnap them. Intent mattered, of course, but I had still taken more than what was probably owed. I could’ve just roughed them up and freed Aurora.

  So, I had to be careful in how I interacted with Proximus now. The Way was always watching.

  The silence stretched for little while, until finally one of Proximus’s men spoke in a loud voice.

  “Announcing, King Proximus!”

  I nearly broke my serene mask and laughed. I could hear the shaking in his throat, the uncertainty in his words. Obviously, in this day and age we didn’t have kings and queens, to speak in such a manner felt more like a game than anything else. It was weird and funny to me, but… the world had changed, social norms would be changing too, so I guess I shouldn’t be too hard on the weirdness.

  I opened my eyes and turned my head to glance at Proximus. I shifted around so that I was sitting with my legs crossed and body facing the “king”.

  I took them all in with a glance. Their equipment was an assortment of medieval and modern pieces. Rewards from rifts most likely. Most of them had some type of armor on, swords or spears in hands. Each had a handgun holstered at their waist too, one had an assault rifle slung over his shoulder. I had to admit, he did look like a king, long blond hair swayed gently in the wind behind him. His eyes were pale brown, almost yellow—gold maybe. Unnatural for a human, without a question a change from his Investment. He didn’t have any weapons that I could see aside from the holstered gun on his hip.

  He certainly played the part of a king. Proximus stood slightly ahead of his men, taller than the rest, clad in armor that looked like it had been pulled straight from a museum. His image tarnished only by the random pieces of modern clothing peeking out and the black boots on his feet.

  There was something about him that unnerved me, and light around him was… It almost looked like it was brighter near him.

  He didn’t speak immediately, letting the silence hang after his subordinate, his herald’s I guess, announcement. Perhaps he expected me to offer some greeting, some deference to his title. I offered none, simply watched him, my expression as neutral as I could make it. My senses reached out, tasting the air around him, listening to the steady beat of his heart, the faint hum of whatever skill he was using, and he was using one. I could feel its impression in the Way.

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  Fear wasn’t absent in him, but it was a low thing, overshadowed by confidence. Finally, he broke the silence, his voice deep and resonant, carrying easily across the clearing without needing to shout. “Estrella. I presume?”

  I had not given my real name, too many would know it from the ranking list the Grand Spell displayed to everyone. Estrella didn’t feel like a lie though, it was still my name, the Spanish word for the first word of my true name.

  I inclined my head slightly. “King Proximus.” My tone was level, acknowledging his presence but offering no obeisance. I was still unsure just how exactly to get what I want. There were things that had to happen if I was to act in a way that I wanted to. I didn’t want to incur a debt. I was already aware just how difficult acting in such a manner would be, but I hoped that the Way would reward my commitment.

  His eyes narrowed fractionally. “You requested this meeting. After launching an unprovoked assault upon my territory, Castle Bled, and taking my subjects captive.” His voice remained even, but the anger beneath it was palpable, like heat rising from pavement.

  I felt something give inside of me, a subtle pressure that had been present since they arrived but that I hadn’t even noticed. It didn’t take me long to realize what it was. He brought up and claimed my attack was unprovoked. It was a lie, a mistake on his part, which meant I was freer to act. That hadn’t happened before, it was as if a weight lessened within me, a balancing of a debt.

  I kept my posture relaxed, leaning forward slightly as I placed my hands on my knees, projecting ease but also subtly looming over him. The complexities of the Way and my Oath warred within me, and I didn’t have the time to contemplate on the hidden meanings. “You call yourself King? That means that those who serve you act in your name. You say I acted unprovoked,” I raised an eyebrow and let a hint of challenge enter my voice. “Perhaps your definition differs from mine. Did your people neglect to mention the actions of your people that precipitated my response?”

  I noticed the flash of his brow furrowing, the shifting of his eyes. He hadn’t known everything, or he might not have made the connection.

  “What do you mean?” He asked.

  “Your men kidnapped my friend, Aurora.”

  His eyes narrowed. “The Exemplar?”

  “Yes.”

  He tilted his head, studying me. “Your… friend, killed one and injured several of my people. She was imprisoned justly.”

  I smelled his lie and grinned, the scales of debt shifted in my favor. He reacted, his eyes shifting in confusion, his heartbeat skipped a beat in fear. Did my smile throw him off balance, vampires didn’t show emotion. Or could he feel the effects of the Way? Did he understand that he made a mistake with that lie?

  “She defended herself from your people’s aggression, as you well know.”

  He didn’t answer immediately, instead took a few seconds to compose himself. Our eyes remained focused on each other, staring and searching for things in each other that the other didn’t know.

  “A disagreement that unfortunately turned violent,” he said slowly, as if testing the words. He did believe them, at least. “You seized my land, imprisoned my people.”

  “Actions have consequences, King Proximus. Your people kidnapped someone important to me. I took measures to prevent a recurrence. Kidnapping is a significant trespass.” I watched him closely, gauging his reaction, listening for subtle shifts in his breathing, the flicker in his pulse. He was angry, deeply so, but also calculating. He hadn’t flown into a rage, hadn’t ordered his men to attack. Which was… unfortunate for me.

  “Your reaction is disproportionate to the action you reacted to. I’m told that you forced the people of Bled to serve you.”

  “They didn’t seem to care particularly who they had to serve, one tyrant isn’t that much different than another,” I said. “Besides, I was simply freeing my friend, when your pet vampires decided to stand in my way.”

  “And now they follow you,” Proximus added.

  “My kind understands strength above all else,” I said slowly.

  “What do you want, why ask for this meeting?” Proximus said.

  I suppressed a grimace. If I was being honest with myself, I had expected this to turn violent by now. Based on what I’ve heard from Cazimir, Proximus was not someone who enjoyed talking and coming to a peaceful resolution. I had been betting that he would try something, then I could plaster him over the forest and be about my day. This had already dragged out more than I had planned for.

  “You already have an Exemplar, an Alchemist, yes?” I shifted the conversation to another topic. Perhaps I could provoke a reaction that would incur a debt large enough to allow me to respond with violence.

  “I see that loyalty means little to your kind, Cazimir told you.”

  I waved my hand. “Loyalty is a tricky thing. He was loyal to you because you were stronger, because you intimidated him. Why would he stay loyal when faced with someone stronger still?” I shook my head. “But I didn’t call you here to discuss loyalty. You’ve spoken with your Exemplar, I hope, so you know what has happened to our world, what is coming.”

  Proximus’ expression changed, and he nodded. “I do.”

  “Then you know that no matter what you call yourself, how many people you bring to your banner, it won’t be enough.”

  “We are stronger than other races were when the Grand Spell came for them. That won’t happen to us,” Proximus said with a confidence that I found surprising.

  “You underestimate what is coming. There are people on other continents of Kirios that are older than our entire written history, who hold power unlike anything you can imagine. We will lose most of our lands, but we together we could at least keep a small piece. Grow strong enough that we could be a real player on the world scale.”

  Proximus narrowed his eyes. “So that is what you want? You think that you should be the one to make that happen? You want me to… what? Bend my knee and let you rule.”

  “Well, it is the new reality, strength is all that matters. At least until we can carve a place of safety for ourselves.”

  Proximus calmed suddenly, as if he no longer needed to be afraid. I frowned, confused by the change in his expression.

  “You vampires always think that you’re the best choice,” he shook his head. “The fact that you can walk in daylight has only made you more arrogant.”

  “I take it that you don’t want to work together?” I asked.

  “If by working together you mean you taking over, then no.”

  “It’s unfortunate that we can’t see eye to eye,” I sighed. “I have a goal, a desire to help as many people from our world survive as possible. Even if they don’t want that help.”

  “So, force it is then?” Proximus asked.

  My response was a resigned look. I had already expected this outcome.

  One moment Proximus was looking at me with a hard expression, and then the world turned white for a split moment before everything went dark. It happened so fast that my mind barely followed. The imprint in the Way, then the Sunlight traveling at the speed of light. It hit my face before I even realized it.

  After darkness, came the pain, complete and utter agony. I threw myself off the boulder, falling behind it and putting it between me and Proximus. I hit the ground hard, confused, I struggled to get up to my feet as I felt something flow over my skin. I took me a second to realize that Saia had engulfed my head, closing me up completely in her biomass.

  I opened my mouth, but she spoke in my ear before I could even form the question.

  “Input: Your eyes are burned out.”

  That would be the darkness. That shouldn’t have been possible. I was a fully mature vampire, an Ancient Vampire. They could walk in sunlight without being burned even before the Grand Spell. But then again, this wasn’t really the Sun, it was augmented by Proxumus’ Mask, I had no idea what this skill even was. What I knew was that it could hurt me.

  I heard yelling though I couldn’t grasp the words as they were muffled by Saia—and all I could hear was the sizzling of my own skin as it healed. My nose was clogged with the stench of burning flesh.

  I felt the vibration of running feet, going away from me, Proximus and his people were running.

  I growled, the thirst burned within me, eyes were complicated organs, but they would heal quickly enough. A few seconds, and I’ll be able to go after them.

  Then, a loud noise pierced through Saia’s helmet over my head, a whistle that filled the world.

  “Input: Run.”

  I hesitated, confused. There was no time anyway. The noise reached a crescendo.

  The world around me exploded.