Hours later, Ushar walked through a dim pathway which had some classic paintings and sculptures all around.
In front of him was a gigantic door in front of which two purple eyed vampires stood dutifully. Their eyes dimmed a little on seeing him, but Ushar ignored them pushing against the closed doors which opened in ward and sitting on a gigantic black throne in the distance, King Axim could be seen, his eyes closed.
"Close the doors." King Axim spoke without opening his eyes and Ushar stared at him for a moment before turning back and closing the large doors behind and then he turned back to the King.
"I greet the Blood Lord." He said with a brief bow.
"You did a good job, son, you made a great decision today and I am proud of you." The King spoke while Ushar stared towards the ground where several patterns were inscribed.
"It's just the deal, I get to know my mother now, right?" He asked and the King sighed.
"Indeed, it was a deal but still, you have the power to claim the crown. You could have shown what you are really capable of right there and shut the mouth of absolutely everyone but you chose not to. I am proud, grateful and, I am guilty, I hope you forgive me son." The King spoke sighing again.
Anger flashed on Ushar face but he quickly shut his eyes. Yes, he could claim the crown but then what? The Vampires never liked him, they never accepted him as theirs and were likely to support any revolt against him. Other royal Vampires would definitely not accept a strange ruler and the Kingdom his father had worked so hard to build would be fractured, maybe even shattered.
The enemies of the Vampires race would then swiftly hijack the opportunity and destroy the race, even though they all hated him, Ushar could still not risk a move that could lead to the annihilation of the Vampire race, he would rather back down and not give the enemies any opportunity.
Ushar however did not need his father's thanks and pleas. The king was after all the cause of this all, he was the one would had forged the alleged forbidden union and gave birth to him, a bastard. Ushar did not care in the least about what any other vampire thought of him and he wasn't even angry at them, instead, all his anger was directed against his father.
"We should cut to the chase father, take me to her now." He said, trying his best to remain as polite as possible.
The King sighed again before standing, "Very well then, follow me." The King said before moving towards a side of the throne room.
With solemn gaze, Ushar watched the King pushed a portion of the wall and it moved back revealing a space in the ground from which smokes rose up and Ushar could not help take an uncertain step back.
Glancing back, the king's face was reflecting the bright light from below as he spoke through the smoke, "I thought you were quite eager to see your mother."
Ushar face stiffened on hearing that before he leapt forwards landing beside the King in a moment and staring into the ground into which the King was staring as well.
It was indeed a smoking hole and below the hole, Ushar eyes almost bulged out of their sockets as he stared at what was underneath flaming torches exuding vibrantly burning flames - the most fatal weapon that could possibly be used against a vampire.
Ushar could not help stare incredulously into the flames while the King spoke, "At your age, I was quite a rebellious young vampire; I learnt all the rules just so I could break them and watch in glee as my father and all the other Vampires grinded their teeth together in anger. I was never made to suffer any serious punishment since I was the only son of my father-the previous king so they all had no choice, I had to be crowned." The man said before looking towards Ushar.
"What is the worst rule you think should not be broken?" He asked Ushar who eventually raised his head turning towards his father with raised brows.
"I don't know." He replied.
The King chuckled for a moment before replying, "I know, because I broke a rule and that rule, it was the last I broke." King Axim said giving a few wary smile and Ushar raised a brow.
"Why, why didn't you break any other?" He asked.
"Well, after the last one, I got a punishment that reshaped me. I was banished to the human lands, hunted by humans who knew exactly what my weakness was. I was scorched by the light of the sun, burned by human flames, had silver blades driven through my heart and many other damnations no Vampire deserved to be subjected to." The King spoke chuckling while Ushar face had morphed into one of absolute horror, "however, we golden eyed Vampire are known as the royals for a reason, I survived albeit with a great deal of my life force already sapped off, I killed off every single human that tried to kill me and then I returned to the Blood Kingdom and took my crown. Isn't that a beautiful story?" The King said staring into the distance with reminiscent face.
"What did you do, what could a Vampire do to deserve all that suffering?" Ushar said, not in the least sharing the King's humor.
"Well, I mated a human but against all rumors that union between a Vampire and a human would only lead to the death of both, I and Eleanor actually had a child, you." The King said looking at the frozen Ushar for a moment before looking back into the ground.
"Follow me to see your mother, Ushar." The King said before Ushar watched her jumped into the hole.
Subconsciously, he had expected the Vampire King to go up in flames on landing in the midst of the torches but no such thing had happened.
Instead the King had deftly landed in between the torches, the flames of the torches licking at his figure but a thick blood red aura had materialized around the King's pushing the flames away.
Ushar eyes lit up in surprise before he jumped down as well. The flames licked at his face, scalding him and his body shivered as he flinched back but there was another torch behind.
"Fuck!" Ushar cursed as the flame caught his coat from behind and he went aflame. Frozen in place, Ushar could only watch as the flames slowly burned away at his garment, covering his whole body but soon, the flames wane off and in Ushar place now stood a bony figure.
His whole body was covered in a white bony carapace which soon began to recede revealing his half naked figure. Sighing, he looked down at the pants on his body and muttered, "I managed to save the pants." Then he stare up looking at the King who gave a smile.
"You are a fast learner." The King said walking on, "after a year of consistent hunting by humans, I eventually found the sun was actually the only thing a Royal Vampire needs to fear, not even the flame is dangerous to us." The King said before red aura swirled in his hand and he grabbed into a torch by the side quenching it with bare hands.