Tilrigen, the vampire homeworld, 700 years ago.
"Mathias! Stop wasting my time and show yourself." Thirteen-year-old Lannetta Bloodreign stomped around the castle gardens, searching desperately for the eight-year-old brother who should have been in their father's study half an hour ago. Father's anger was snowballing, and she was forced into hunting down a little brat.
"Mathias, please do not do this to me. Have I not been a good sister to you all these years? Have you forgotten all the times I gave you blood candies after lunch or sang you sweet lullabies to sleep?" The youngster tried and failed unsuccessfully to lure out her brother by guilt-tripping him. With a groan of defeat, the teenager stomped off to a different section of the vast gardens to further her search.
From a narrow gap between two hedges, a small head peeped out, wary sky-blue eyes roaming left and right, confirming that the coast was clear and it was safe to come out of hiding. Quickly, the young boy crawled out from the little hole in the ground he had made in between the neatly trimmed hedges. Half-heartedly he dusted off the dirt on his expensive clothes before running both hands through his messy hair in a useless attempt at removing the twigs caught in those shoulder-length chestnut brown strands.
Like a little mouse, he scurried along as fast as his little legs would go, the intended destination a disused side gate that led to a shed that the gardeners no longer used. From there, he could follow the outer perimeter garden wall until reaching the front of the castle. While everyone fixated on looking for him in the gardens, he would simply waltz up the front door, all the way to his bedroom unnoticed. But first, he had to get to the side gate discreetly.
Carefully peeking around a tall hedge, he could see the gate directly ahead. All he needed to do was get to it before anyone noticed, and it would all be good. It was now or never, he thought to himself, taking a deep breath before hurtling forward with all the speed he could muster. The carpet grass under his soft leather boots was springy, muffling the faint thuds of his footsteps and making him feel feather-light. The gate was now almost within reach. Mathias reached out to grab the latch, ready to celebrate the success of his plan, when all of a sudden, he was yanked backwards and away from freedom.
"Just where do you think you are going?" A deep voice, rumbling with barely contained anger, made Mathias fall limp in terror.
"Father—" his subsequent words were cut off when his father spun him around, leaving him dizzy and unbalanced. He leaned against the solid form of the angry man, knowing escape was futile, "Father, I am sorry." He looked up at the imposing figure before him, sky blue eyes wide and apologetic.
King Gaius Bloodreign looked into the pitiful face of his only son and sighed. This little one, who resembled him greatly in looks, could not be more contrasting in character. While Gaius, even as a child, had been keen to study the art of war and politics from his elders, Mathias abhorred it more than stale blood.
Training him as the heir to the throne was turning out to be an uphill task, but ancient laws dictated that a male heir would always be first in line to the throne, ahead of all other female siblings. Gaius thought it a backward rule, but there was strong opposition to change of any kind in vampire society, even amongst those who thought of women as equals. It was frustrating for Gaius, especially since Lannetta would have been his preferred choice to ascend the throne.
"Mathias, you are the future ruler of our people. Therefore, it is imperative that you take your lessons seriously. There is much knowledge to be learned, without which you cannot hope to achieve success, especially in battle, against our enemies," Gaius chided the boy, reigning in his anger to his best ability while leading the way back to the study room. "You have a duty to uphold, and I cannot let you shirk your responsibilities for some unnecessary playtime."
"But I am a child," Mathias whined softly, "and children are allowed to play!"
"Such childish endeavours are for civilian folk, who have nothing better to do. You are a future king. You must live up to different expectations, which you will successfully meet, even if I have to spend every free moment of my time with you to achieve it." Gaius was not swayed by his son's pathetic begging. He led the boy into his private study, sat him down by the table and began the lecture on Earth Geography.
Time awaits no one, especially not brooding child vampires, and Mathias was forced to spend most of his waking hours learning theoretical and practical study classes. The eight-year-old was personally tutored by his father, and his chances of sneaking away to the gardens were dramatically reduced to zero.
On a typical gloomy morning, Mathias sat in his father's study, reciting the previous day's lesson. His father questioned, "Do you remember what I told you about self-sacrificial Talent use?"
"Yes, Father," the boy parroted. "Self-sacrificing one's life force when performing a necessary task with one's Talent will produce an overpowering result that is almost impossible to undo even by another powerful Talent user. The effect is long-lasting or even permanent."
Gaius nodded, "But what is the greatest drawback of doing so for the Talent user?"
The child prince repeated the lesson word for word, "One's very soul faces the risk of utter destruction and might never have a chance at entering the reincarnation cycle. No one knows the true outcomes, not even the witches. It is a taboo practice even in witch culture. This uncertainty is why it must only be done as a last resort."
Gaius patted his head. "Correct. Good work, my boy. Now, on to the next lesson."
As the days wore on, so did the war effort. Gaius was increasingly forced to travel from Riogven, the ancestral city of the Bloodreigns, through the portal to Earth, leaving Mathias and his siblings in the care of their tutor Mr Orlov for days on end. Days turned to weeks and then months before the king would return, yet the war seemed never-ending.
Under the sharp eyes of Lex Orlov, Mathias, Lannetta and their youngest sister Thilda were taught academics and physical education such as swordsmanship and archery.
To his utter frustration, Mathias found that he was good at neither. Lannetta always bested him with a sword, while Thilda was by far the most intellectual of the three. Because of this, he was forced to attend remedial practical classes on weekends while his sisters could enjoy their free time. His tutor's son and Lannetta's closest friend, Maxim, was tasked with the training.
"Watch your posture. Your sword angle is all wrong," the pale blond teen grumbled for the third time in an hour.
"We've been at this for hours, Maxim. I'm tired!" Mathias moaned, arm muscles cramping from swinging the heavy sword for so long.
"If you stop now, we will need to make up for it tomorrow, and I am certain you would not want to have classes on your birthday, would you?" Maxim gave his ultimatum.
The little prince paused. His twelfth birthday. Mathias looked up at the cloud-covered sky, perennially cutting off direct sunlight, thanks to his aunt's Talent at weather manipulation. Because of her, vampires could go about during the day so long as the sun's rays did not directly touch exposed skin. Sadly, he never had the chance to meet his aunt. She had made the ultimate self-sacrifice to safeguard her people by exchanging her life in return for permanently shrouding parts of the land in dense clouds. Mathias hoped her soul was able to survive and reincarnate.
Most of Riogven's population now resided under this cloudy protection, only venturing out to uncovered fields after dusk to begin farming livestock for blood. Mathias had only been outside the cloud protection once, and it had been his lucky day since it was a double full moon. The view of twin globes hanging in the purple sky had been mind-blowing. He yearned to see it again.
Sighing, he answered Maxim, "What is the importance of turning a year older anyhow? It only adds length to my father's expectation list, of which I will ultimately disappoint no matter what I do."
Maxim sternly said, "You must not say such ungrateful words, Mathias. Another birthday is another year spent with the ones you love. Many a vampire would give away all the worldly treasures they owned if it meant spending a day with loved ones lost." Hearing such words, Mathias looked down at his booted feet in guilt as he thought about his deceased mother. What would it be like to have her back, just for a day?
Maxim, in turn, felt he was being too hard on the young prince. He looked at the solemn child before him with sympathy and decided to cheer him up. "How about we practise for another hour, and then I shall teach you a new game I have learnt from Earth called chess."
Before Mathias could reply, hurried footsteps sounded behind him, and he turned to find Thilda running towards him. "Father has returned! He wishes to see you."
"Where is he?" Mathias had not seen Gaius in over three months and missed him terribly. "In the situation room, with the generals," she replied hesitantly. Mathias's heart dropped. 'Not good. Father only goes there if things have not gone well.'
He slowly made his way to the situation room. Inside, his father stood before a large table, a tactical map of the vampire territories on Earth rolled open. He looked exhausted. The Duke of Havar, one of the King's most trusted generals, was saying, "Sire, we have yet to uncover a way to transport non-living things through the portal. We have tried coating our weapons with blood, even fur. Nothing has proven successful. We can only rely on the items made on Earth from the materials we find there."
Gaius muttered, "Those weapons are so much weaker than what we make here on our homeworld, the metals hardly capable of withstanding werewolf attacks. Those bloody witches can produce enchanted weapons that enhance their strengths, a Talent that unfortunately no one in the royal family received."
Another general spoke, "We are lucky that the population of witches on Earth has remained small, only a few thousand at most."
The duke replied to the general, "Too bad the same cannot be said of the werewolves. According to my spies, twenty thousand inhabit Hiraeth city alone, with more crossing through their portal daily."
"We are lucky those mutts do not breed like actual dogs or have the ability to turn humans into wolves," someone muttered, garnering nods of agreement from around the table.
Gaius ran a hand through his short chestnut brown hair. "They attack our borders without end. There is only so long before it fails." Just then, the king noticed Mathias standing near the door. "Son, come here," he motioned, and Mathias came to stand beside his father.
The king pointed to a place on the map. "Do you know what this is?" Mathias nodded, "The border designating the start of our territories on Earth." Gaius was pleased, "And what of this area?" He pointed to an area not far from the border. "It is the city of Hjem, the largest human-vampire settlement to be built as yet," his son replied.
"And what about the spot marked with an 'X'? What lies there?"
Mathias peered at the big red mark at the heart of the settlement on the map. "That is where the portal between our worlds is found, in the heart of Hjem city. It connects our city of Riogven to Hjem."
"That is right, my boy. Without the portal, there would be no link between Earth and Tilrigen." Gaius knelt beside his son to be at eye level with the boy. "Do you know why I work you so hard, son?"
Mathias could only blink in confusion, so his father said, "All those lands and everyone in it is ours to protect." Gaius gazed deeply into eyes that were replicas of his own, irises matching in sky blue intensity, although lacking in wisdom. "When I die, this will be your job. Do you understand me?" Mathias nodded again mutely.
"Good child." The king patted the boy's shoulder before standing up. "The Earth territory is a gift to our people. Its fertile lands give us more agriculture and farming produce than our entire homeworld combined. It is our sustenance, and the survival of our species depends on safeguarding it. Remember this, Mathias."
"Yes, Father."
Gaius was pleased with the young prince, dismissing him, "You may go now."
Mathias walked back to his room in a daze. All those people were his people. He did not know them. They did not know him either. He had never even gone through the portal before. But for some reason, he had to protect them. Because he was the future king.
Even if he did not want to.
The moment he thought it, shame and despair took hold of him. Shame because he was nowhere near the greatness of his father, a true king who cared for his subjects. Despair because he did not wish to be burdened with the weight of the crown his father wore with ease.
The room suddenly felt smaller, as if its walls were slowly moving in. Even the air in the room felt heavier, forcing Mathias to take short, shallow breaths. 'Is this my life herein?' He could not help but think wretchedly. 'Oh, how I wish to be anywhere but here, where no one would find me!'
Without warning, a glowing ring of light encircled the smooth stone floor beneath his booted feet. The area within the ring began to emit a faint glow, the light tinged with blue. Mathias stared at his feet, stupefied and then the floor turned into emptiness, sending him falling.