Day turned to night, and night to day.
The vampires of Armatia were escorted back to Kotor by Esk, Yuon, and Pam.
They numbered near the thousands, which was great news for Kotor as it was nearly a ghost city with only a couple hundred vampires remaining that lived there.
While they were set back off to Kotor, Thern, Albus, Kislev, Elysia, and Ophelia, would be following Cassiel to the city of smithery, Anvilius, which takes first place in the quality of any forged items.
Although it was an important Eastern city, it wasn't run by a lord, instead, a council consisting of nine of the best blacksmiths the city held.
.....
.....
As the party of six set off, their journey to the city would consist of a week's worth of walking, giving them all time to conceive a plan, while also allowing time for Ophelia to meet her king, as she never had the chance prior.
.....
Cassiel took the lead, walking in front of the group by a couple of meters.
Thern and Albus both walked in the back, taking time to know each other better after all that had happened.
Kislev, Elysia, and Ophelia, stuck in the middle, all three were silent.
As a couple more minutes of walking pass, Ophelia scoffs, before speeding up to meet up with Cassiel in the front, which shocks both Kislev and Elysia.
Glancing over, Cassiel's gaze connects with Ophelia's, although his eyes aren't friendly.
A drop of sweat rides down Ophelia's face, but she continues.
"Ahem... My king."
"Go on with it, your name is Ophelia, correct?" Cassiel responds hastily, putting his eyes back on the road, which catches her by surprise.
"Oh... yes, I am Ophelia, from the royal family, Umbriel."
"I see, an archer, that's great news. Now, what was it you wanted?" Cassiel asks again, his voice lightening up.
"Of course..."
Her eyes shift around for a moment before she starts up again.
"What all do you know of Albus Apolis?"
Opening his mouth to speak, he pauses.
What does he know of Albus Apolis?
He thought deeply for a couple moments, before finally realizing he knows nothing of the boy.
They had only met a month ago, however, Cassiel had never taken even a moment of time to learn anything but his name.
Looking back at Ophelia with a grave look in his eyes, he mumbles something.
"I'm sorry, my king, I didn't hear you... what did you say?" Ophelia questions, concerned.
"Can you... get Albus for me." Cassiel asks, his lips suddenly dry.
All his life Cassiel had never considered anyone his friend, only companions or servants, they were the only options for him.
However, he has always seen Albus differently since their excursion to Bagnion.
This frightened him, not knowing anything about the only man he'd ever call his friend.
Stunned, Ophelia stops in her tracks for a moment, before turning around to give Albus his order.
.....
After about a minute, Albus walks up beside Cassiel.
"You called for me, my king?" He asks, confused.
"Again." Cassiel orders, his eyes never greeting Albus.
As a bullet of sweat rushes down his face, Albus glances back at everyone for a moment.
Seeing no one watching the two, Albus opens his mouth to speak again.
"...Cassiel, you called for me?" Albus says meekly.
However, he didn't say it quietly enough.
Turning around again, he winces as he sees everyone staring at him, stunned and shocked.
"That's much better Albus!" Cassiel cheers, now looking at him.
"So-"
"Right, Albus, what is your purpose?" Cassiel asks blatantly.
Albus stares at him for a moment.
"What?" Albus questions, confused.
.....
After a while of walking, Cassiel learns a lot about Albus.
About his family, his goals, his reasoning as a warrior, and more.
They talked for a while, it made Cassiel seem more brought down in the world, as if he was normal like the rest of the vampires, despite being their ruler.
.....
Albus' parents were deceased, and yet, he had a younger brother out there somewhere, one who was lost after Cain's siege on Seraphim. No one knows where he went, all they knew was that he was gone.
Albus' motivation to become a warrior was because of this tragedy.
With his parents being gone, and having no family to take care of him, he had to fight for his survival alone.
He wasn't a good guy in the past. He had to fight others for food. He taught himself how to do so in order to survive, because his one, true goal, was to find his missing brother, dead or alive.
After he met Cassiel, he felt it in his heart that the only way he could make his goal true, was to follow him to the bitter end, no matter how good or evil he was.
Albus never disclosed what kind of training he had endured under Jenk's mentorship, however, it was clear that the training was intense and almost agonizing to the point of death.
.....
Before Albus could talk about anything else, there was something spotted farther along the road.
Up the road, about forty meters away, was a group of vampires all masked in black clothing from head to toe, were heading towards Armatia.
"Everyone, be on your guard." Cassiel warns, staring at the other group as they both walk closer to each other.
Only ten meters away, Cassiel notices something off.
There were about twenty vampires in the group when they were further away, and although Cassiel never took his eyes off them, there appeared now only fourteen.
The vampire in the front of the group begins walking just a bit faster, before stopping.
"Move."
That is all that he said, which stunned Cassiel.
Thinking for a moment as both groups stand still, Cassiel shocks everyone with what he says.
"Who are you to tell your king to move?"
Staring in shock, neither group moves a muscle, until the vampire in front of Cassiel begins to draw his blade.
"There is only one king, Nahka Aion."
"Why must today be like this..." Cassiel groans.
Looking back for a moment, taking his eyes off the enemy, Cassiel notices the dire state his warriors are still in.
Sighing, Cassiel puts his arm out to stop Albus from drawing his sword.
"Albus, I'll take care of them, just watch out for the six that are hiding."
Stunned for a moment, Albus backs up to the rest of his group, alerting them of the six awaiting an ambush as Cassiel steps forward towards the enemies in front.
"I must say, this is impeccable timing." Cassiel says, grinning ear to ear. "I was meaning to show off my new magic in front of my companions here."
As both of his hands begin glowing red, the soldier taking the lead begins to move forward.
"To be a king while associating yourself with commoners, you must've lost yourself."
"And whom are you supposed to be?" Cassiel sneers, raising his left hand as two red flowing arrows appear above his left side.
"Nathan Nykos, I am the king's messenger." The man says, his dark clothing seemingly transforming into a black shroud.
A chill is sent down the spine of every vampire in the vicinity.
.....
The Nykos family.
A royal family locked behind a wall of mystery.
No one, not even the previous king, Cain Aeternus, was ever able to look much into Nykos.
Although they weren't the strongest family by any means, they were almost impossible to kill, deeming them one of the most dangerous of families amongst the entire realm.
Their family never ruled much, and they were never a huge threat to anyone, and the reason was simple. The family head, Belial Nykos, never permitted their power to be used for fighting.
Not one soul knew the reasoning behind his will, but the entire family followed this rule, even if it was to shackle them to nothing more than messengers.
.....
"A member of the Nykos family using his magic to fight? This is almost unheard of..." Cassiel says, stunned.
"I have no knowledge of what you mean, no one has told me not to." Nathan says back, his voice cold as he swings his sword down in an arc.
Moments before slashing Cassiel, Nathan's blade is bounced away, almost flying out of his hand.
"What..?"
"Come on, boy, you couldn't possibly believe you'd kill a king, did you?"
Keeping composure, Nathan suddenly appears behind Cassiel as a black mist follows him.
Stabbing straight forward, Nathan's sword shatters as it's once again moments from reaching Cassiel.
Laughing, Cassiel begins mocking Nathan.
"Seriously? You can't even penetrate third tier magic?"
As he says this, a bunch of small, blood red shields are suddenly visible floating around Cassiel.
"Come on Nykos, show me what you can do."