Kings of Awakening Vampires and Purebloods (50 page)

A warrior walked inside the throne room. He was about the same age as Albedo, same height as Axil, with deep black eyes and black hair. He walked over to the queen and she introduced him, “This is Drake, he will assist you in the pursuit of finding Aleister.” 

There was something about Drake that disturbed Albedo, so he decided to use his Elder, when he did he could feel evil within him.
That guy has an evil aura.
He tried to sense the Queen but I couldn’t
.
He
though
, she is the queen maybe she has the Elder also.

“What happened to this land? What happened to the noble family?” Axil avoided telling her his last name. 

The queen looked at him and started to laugh, “Look around you! Don’t you see the fog outside of my castle? With it came its curse. Our land has been dried out, no longer able to produce food. And as far as the noble family, what did you expect was going to happen to them. They all got up and left this land, they sucked this land dry and made their gold, but the minute this land could no longer produce they all vanished.”

Axil didn’t really care what happened to his old family really, he was just curious.
Why am I not surprised they got up and left. They only know gold and power.

“My servants will show you to your room, anything you need, don’t be shy to ask.” The queen had no love for the
noble family; they had left her to rot by herself. She watched as the five were being escorted to their room. Albedo caught her attention, she stared at him. There was something about Albedo that was… unexplainable, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “Drake, keep your eye on the one they call Albedo. There’s just something different about him.”

                                                                            ***

Dmitr
i
followed Aleister inside an old house, just outside of the queen’s castle. He could see Aleister was moving forward with his plan. He had sent for Albedo and the King foolishly had delivered him to him. Albedo, how much he hated Albedo. He could remember Albedo using his Elder to kill his clones; the Xs. Aleister had sent him there just like he had sent Vincent to fight against Albedo to make him stronger. Dmitri however, had ordered his clones to kill Albedo instead, not wanting another Kings of Awakening to become too powerful. That day Albedo had made a fool out of him, showing him how feeble he was compared to an Excitaret Quad’s power. His loyalty for Aleister was slowly ebbing away. Aleister would probably kill him when he’s done using him. The thought was on his mind every second.
I can’t allow him to become too powerful, not him nor Albedo. Albedo has yet to learn the true power of the Reawakening. Even Aleister himself hasn’t mastered its full potential. If this is so, then I have a chance of killing him.

“Master Aleister, he’s here, they arrived not too long ago,” said Dmitri.

Aleister looked back at him, but of course he had already known they had arrived.
The time has come. I can feel the others; the seal is slowly breaking away piece by piece. Soon, just soon we will rise once again.
Aleister had a smile on his face. 
Can you feel it Albedo? The power calling out to us, our brothers are anxious to awaken!”

              Dmitri was running out of time, he had planned to kill Aleister before the others could awaken. Waiting for the right opportunity; waiting for Aleister to let his guard down. When Aleister dies, Albedo will be easy to deal with; he could go after him next. And then wait for the others; at that point they won’t put up much of a fight against him. Dmitri had noticed over the years that Aleister was having a hard time controlling the Reawakening. He may have been able to control it in the pass life, but somehow Aleister wasn’t utilizing it properly. Was this some kind of an effect? Could the seal have somehow locked away his true strength? He had decided to go through with this plan, prowling in the shadows, and waiting for Aleister to make a mistake so he could take his chance and strike him. This was a plan he had been making for many years. He had wanted to include Vincent to help him do it, but that buffoon was so loyal to Aleister that the very thought would had insulted him.

                                                                  ***

Albed
o
could hear the voice calling out to him, for Dawson to awaken. The closer he was to Aleister, the more frequently he could hear it. The nightmares had continued, he knew this was Aleister calling out to him. He woke up quickly. “I need some air,” he said and went outside. He wanted to go up on the top of the castle, but decided it wasn’t such a good idea since this wasn’t Victor’s castle. Sonia and the other’s rooms were a couple doors down from his. He stepped outside of the castle and headed for the bridge, a night of walking was what he needed. The guards guarding the castle paid no attention to him; he was a grown man after all. If he needed to go outside at nighttime then that was his damn business. The bridge was foggy, but vividly he could still see the moon.  Staring at the moon always eased him whenever he had those dreams. He closed his eyes to feel the wind pass through his hands, his hair, on his face… and then the mood changed. He could feel Aleister’s presence; his heart began to beat again, a burning feeling inside of his stomach. This was not the Elder’s sensing; it was the Reawakening.

He’s here, and he’s looking for me. You want me, Aleister? Then fine, I’m coming
.  This was his chance to find Aleister. To find the answers he’d been looking for, the answers that taunted him.

              He leaped from roof to roof. Tonight he was going to have to be cautious as not to trip and fall. This thick fog made it hard to see, but Albedo was determined in finding Aleister. Aleister’s presence kept shifting, one moment it was here, the next there.
What kind of game are you playing Aleister? Stop shifting your presence.
Aleister’s presence slowly faded away now. Albedo stopped in bewilderment, wondering why Aleister was calling for him and then all of a sudden disappeared.  He stood on top of the roof alone. The houses in the kingdom were old and brittle. The roof he was standing on had holes in them, he had tried his very best not to make any noises. Aleister was gone now and there was no need for him to be outside anymore. He turned around and out of the fog he could see a figure. He quickly activated the Elder’s sensing, his hands to his chin, and ready for whoever was coming out. How could he have been so foolish? So focused on Aleister that he failed to notice someone was following him. Was it Sonia? Or was it Angelione? He could feel someone approaching him out of the fog. “Who’s there?”

He heard a voice, “Most people are not brave enough to come out this late. You’re either very brave or very stupid.” A man came out of the fog, looking defiant.

It’s Drake
, thought Albedo unpleasantly. He looked malevolent as ever. The evil aura around him was malicious.

“I can’t fall asleep,” Albedo lied. He did not want Drake to know the truth. There was something about Drake that made him uneasy.

Drake walked closer to him.  “Can’t fall asleep huh, same
here.” He gave Albedo a distrustful look.  “A clever one isn’t he? The one they call Aleister.”

Albedo said nothing. How could Drake know he was looking for Aleister this late by myself? He could only feel his senses. “Yes he is, catching him will not be easy,” said Albedo with a faint smile.

“Have you heard?” asked Drake.

Albedo shook his head, wondering what Drake was talking about.

“They say he has the ability to transformed, to increase his strength even more. Imagine if one of us had that power, think of all the people we could kill.” As Drake was talking, he slowly put his hand on Albedo shoulder.

Albedo could feel his heart beating faster; it’s as if death itself had touched his shoulder. This heartbeat felt different somehow, different from Aleister’s presence calling him, or when he sees Sonia.
I can feel my heart hurting
me
.

Drake smiled, “Well don’t give me that look; you know I was only joking.” The smile on his face was vile.

Albedo now wanted to get away from him. “It’s pretty late, so I think I’m going to get some sleep,” said Albedo. As he walked away, he could feel him staring at him. Sensing Drake’s presence gave him a cold and chilling feeling.

Pain

Albed
o
walked back to the castle, getting away from the bloodthirsty monster. He walked in the hallway and turned the doorknob to his door. At that moment he could hear Sonia’s door next to him being opened. She stepped outside and Albedo noticed the bag of sweets in her hand.

“Hey Albedo, why you up so late, is everything all right?” asked Sonia. She could see him shaking a
little.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” not wanting to tell her what happened.

“Did you have another one of those dreams and couldn’t sleep?”

“Something like that.”

“Go inside your room, I’ll go see one of the maids and bring you something warm to drink.”

Albedo walked into his dark room and lit a candle. He wished this king
dom had electricity like Atnius. He had become as spoiled as Dante. He got on his bed and sat there.
What’s going on, why I am shaking so much? Was I afraid of Drake? No, that’s not it, and it wasn’t Aleister either. For a second there, I felt like killing Drake. It was that killer-lust master Jarvis warned me about, that desire to seek battles.
His killer-lust was getting stronger as Jarvis predicted, the Excitaret Quad was changing him. Like that time he wanted to kill the bear, and Michael. Was he becoming like Aleister? Albedo was afraid of himself, afraid he was changing.

Sonia walked in the room and offered him some of her sweets. He ate and drank warm tea she had brought for him. The tea and the sweets made him feel better now.

“Hey Sonia, I heard Axil mention something about the noble families.”

She looked at him and put down her sweets, “Oh, you don’t know do you. Even though there are kingdoms with their own noble families, there’re five noble families in Nacune that are very powerful and very
influential. They’re known as the five Great Noble Families. They’re richer than the six High Kings themselves. I don’t know if Axil told you,” she stopped, “Well he doesn’t really like to talk about it. Axil’s family name is one of the five Great Nobles.”

“He never mentioned that before.” Dante had explained to him about Axil’s past, but he failed to mention about his family’s name, nor the nobles’ name. “What makes them so powerful?”

“Axil’s full name is, Axil Lucan Lancaster. The Five Great Noble Families own factories that manufacture metals for this world.”

Albedo had no idea how powerful his friend was. He knew Axil’s family had thrown him out after his mother had died and they had blamed him for it. She wanted to explain more to him but he looked extremely tired. Sonia waited there until he fell asleep.

                                                                            ***

“It’
s
time, today our search for Aleister begins again,” said Angelione.

Angelione and Sonia had now become experts in chasing Aleister; this was the first time for the others. They stood outside of the castle waiting for Drake to join them. A few minutes passed by and he finally showed up.

Drake walked up to Albedo and said, “Albedo, it’s nice seeing you again.”

“Likewise,” said Albedo with a distasteful look on his face.

Axil and Dante could feel the tension between the two, and wondered what was going on. At that moment Albedo looked to see three guards with a woman that seemed to have been apprehended. Along side of her were her children, three of them. Her hands were tied. She looked dirty, puffy eyes, dirty clothes. Her face was hollow, her children the same. The guards walked up to Drake.

              “What crime has she committed against the queen?” asked Drake with a chilling voice.

One of the guards answered, “Sir, she had broken the queen’s law, stealing from her majesty.”

“That’s unfortunate. Tell me, why you have committed these crimes against a perfect ruler?” said Drake.

The queen was known for harsh punishment, anyone who dared rebel against her paid with their lives.

The woman was a widow. Her husband had died long ago, leaving her behind with three children, she was poor and had no skill. “Forgive me your Excellency, the children were hungry, I had no other way of feeding them,” said the woman.  She began to sob.

Albedo felt sympathy for her; it must be hard raising her children all alone. Maybe the queen will understand and forgive her? Maybe she had a heart like Victor. Albedo watched as Drake walked closer to her, he placed his hand on her shoulder, just like he did against Albedo.

“As you’re aware, I have been given absolute power by your majesty, to punish the wicked for their crimes.  What should your punishment be? Should I let you go free? If I do then others will start thinking it’s all right to steal. Should I strip you from your children? Should I imprison you for years?”