Immortal gates

Chapter 8: Oberon

Alcyone, the leader of the seven, was undecided whether to participate or not in the massacre that was about to take place.

Looking at Titania and Callisto, she immediately recognized them as humans, no match for even a single lesser vampire. Against the combined forces of six elite vampires, they would be dead in seconds. She had full confidence in the combat ability of her sisters, but her heightened vampire instinct was on high alert because of the menacing mystery holding the largest weapon she had ever seen. A human could never lift such a sword, and that was the only reason she had not yet given the attack command. Instead, she chose a more tactful approach.

"It has been a long time since humans tried to sneak into Tyre." Alcyone opened conversation, thus signaling the others to hold back the attack. "It seems that high-caliber fools are still being bred out there. Lucky us."

Titania looked around and weighed her options. Judging by how things played out, she was almost certain that Akmon was in league with the others. He could have intentionally led them into this trap, out in the middle of nowhere, in order to feed his fanged friends.

"We're not sneaking." Titania replied, holding firmly to her daggers. "We're here to talk with your leaders."

Before Alcyone could reply, Akmon raised a hand high into the air for all to see. It was holding a piece of gold, shaped like a terron coin.

Electra, one of the vampires, started snickering. "Fools indeed. The large one thinks he can pay his way through here." Some of the others laughed as well. "I think we've seen enough," Electra instigated. "Let's drink our fill!"

"Stop!" Alcyone shouted, causing a wave of bewilderment to spread out. She had just noticed the details on the coin. Embossed in it were two circles, one large, one small, connected by a line; a symbol she instantly recognized.

"Why?" Electra voiced everyone's thought. "They are trespassers. We're not breaking any rules. It's free for all blood."

"Look closer at the coin!"

All eyes turned to Akmon's hand again. Callisto and Titania were the most confused of all, but it was at least becoming clear that he was not in cohort with the vampires.

Merope, the youngest of the vampires, was positioned closest to Akmon and confirmed Alcyone's observation. "That's the symbol of Lord Oberon!"

Even more disconcerted stares were exchanged until Maia, the eldest, clarified the situation. "It's a passage token. I haven't seen one in centuries."

"Everyone, holster your weapons!" Alcyone commanded. "These are honored guests."

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As lead of the unit, it was Alcyone's duty to escort the token bearers while her sisters had to resume their perimeter patrol until nightfall, when another unit could take their place.

Tyre was basically a mountain cave with a large stone fortress built around the entrance, plus a few small outposts strategically placed within the surrounding forest. The cave itself was used as living quarters for the top generation vampires, while the fortress was used by the other generations. A group of armed guards were always posted at the gates, but Alcyone was among the highest ranking and most trusted citizens, so she easily gained entrance despite having three outsiders in her company. She asked them, however, to leave their weapons at the door as a security measure.

The nest's defense system, as well as every other management system, were based on shifts aimed at optimizing the capacity of the small population. There were slightly over four hundred vampires in total and there was no distinction between a soldier and a citizen. This was because any vampire, even the lowest generation ones, had enough power to kill any human, so instead of specializing a warrior class, everyone had to take weekly patrol shifts of twelve consecutive hours. This ensured that there were always plenty of them spread out around the nest, ready to raise alarms and fight in case humans ever got any bad ideas.