Chapter 114 - Ashes Of Forgotten Times (1)

Darkness is a funny thing. People's minds are often programmed to be scared of it, constant nightmares of something lurking in it catching up to them while wandering in the darkness. It is often portrayed as a source of displeasure and misfortune as well.

However, the darkness is very different from as it was depicted. Only those who had embraced it with open arms would understand that darkness was nothing to be worried or afraid about. After all, darkness itself was lonely and all it wants is to have someone embrace it just as one would embrace the first light after hours of darkness.

It was just a misunderstood entity that could be someone's greatest ally, if only they began trusting it. Vampires were the first to do so, and now their strength remained unrivalled as they ruled over half of the earth's population.

One would have expected the werewolves to be leading in that regard, but they weren't. They were far too shrewd and consumed in their own thoughts of 'genetic supremacy' that they had forgotten about the most precious and limited resource the planet had to offer long before the 'mutants' rose from the ashes of a forgotten time... the humans.

While the undead were busy feasting on the humans the first chance they got and the werewolves were busy 'enslaving' them and establishing their supremacy over the humans. The Vampires took a very different approach when it came to making changes and establishing a new world order.

They were fully aware that the humans were wary of them and did not trust them at all. Well, it was given they would have felt like that, considering what they as the 'mutants' and enemies of humanity had done to them.

However, to make the humans join them willingly, the Vampires gave them one thing no one else dared to... freedom. You see, freedom was something humans have craved for a long, long time. Once the world began to fall apart, they were stripped away from their freedom and forced to fight for the survival of those who escaped the planet, on the first chance they got.

Leaving the ones who fought for them behind. That betrayal was much worse than anything the soldiers could have felt. For decades, the humans who were left behind were treated worse than animals even by the vampires.

But that all changed when the Vampires recognised the worth of these humans. They were priceless, at least for the vampires. They were walking food sources for them, one, if used correctly, could fill their needs for 60-70 years or even a century.

Thus in exchange for their freedom, the humans were required to give away at least one unit of their blood every month. On top of that, the humans were only allowed to use their blood as a unit of exchange in the empires made by the vampires.

This arrangement might seem harsh, but it was much better than slaying most of their lives away or being eaten alive. Also, they were offered a way to become free from ever giving away their blood. By willingly turning themselves into vampires.

If someone from a family turned into a vampire, they were exempted from all of the troubles humans usually had to go through. And to the surprise of no one, lots of humans accepted this opportunity, which further helped the vampires strengthen themselves.

Their acceptance of humans as 'equals' was one of the reasons why the empires ruled over by vampires were more successful in comparison to those ruled over by the werewolves. But this wasn't the only reason.

Since vampires could literally live for several centuries, they did not have a thirst for progression. A thirst to do more. Instead, they just wanted stability for the rest of their abnormally long lives.

However, the werewolves were different. Since they were usually weak in comparison to the vampires, they often kept searching for ways to defeat vampires. That's where humans turn out to be priceless assets.

Werewolves and humans were very alike. Thus their thinking was more or less the same. Both the species were hungry to achieve more and more in their lives. Also, by studying humans, the vampires were able to know a lot of the werewolves as well. Which in turn helped the vampires, even more, to know about the weaknesses of the werewolves.

That being said, even though the vampires understood humans better than any other dominating race, there were still quite a lot of things they didn't know about humans. Things that even worried them.

Thankfully, they had some of their brightest brains looking into it. They were mostly the people who were once humans but had been recruited from different corners of the world for this purpose only. Humans who had been offered to them as 'peace offerings' from the werewolves and the undead.

They had not been aware of what they were losing, and by the time they realised it, it was already too late. They had been turned into vampires.

One such former human was on her way to the capital city of the biggest Vampire kingdom, the city of Ambrosia. This woman also happened to be the head of the research facility based in the city and although she had only been there for 11 years, she had gained the trust of King Arthur Verdasha.

The sound of her stiletto heels resounded in the corridors of the laboratory which was awfully silent. Even though they had over a thousand alive test subjects being kept there for research purposes.

"Welcome back, Doctor Ava Crane," The woman's assistant and a former human, acknowledged the lady as she passed her, "How was your trip to Lycania?"

Standing at 5'9", doctor Ava turned around and as she did, her short white hair traced her movement. She had brown skin and her face was covered in light freckles. However, that did not hamper her outworldly charm from leaking all around her.

"Leah, how many times do I need to tell you?" Ava said with a smile on her face, "When we are alone in the lab, call me by my real name. His highness has already given me the permission to use my real name and I think it would be better if you start using it too."

"As you wish, Doctor Avalina Fenrir."