Page 86 of Theoden
“The King will only speak privately with Ara,” Tylendel said.
“I agree to those terms,” Ara said, then he followed Tylendel, leaving me still standing in the parlor and a bit miffed because I had wanted to meet the Celestial Dragon King, his full title. I had heard he was very beautiful through Tylendel’s account and I wanted to see for myself. Still, I stayed in place and looked around. The candles burned brightly throughout the palace, illuminating the rooms and halls, giving off a sort of shimmer. The floor looked like a mosaic painting as each stone made a picture of a majestic garden. The furniture and artwork I could see was as exquisite as I had predicted. This was a gorgeous home, even outdoing Ara’s, if I was honest.
***
An hour passed before Tylendel returned to me. The sun was shining in the early morning sky and I was grateful I was unaffected. I wondered about my brothers and other vampires. Were they safe, and just how many had Ara lost to the wolf attack? I had contacted my brothers earlier, and they were all right and still making their way to the dragon territory. But I hadn’t been able to contact them mentally since the sun had risen.
“Where is my Father?” I asked Tylendel when he finally returned to me.
“Safe, but you already knew that. He has been taken to a place where the vampires of your Kingdom will reside for the time being. Apparently, our Kings came to a resolution. I will take you there,” Tylendel said.
The moment we stepped outside, he wrapped his arms around my waist and took to the sky in an easterly direction. We flew for two hours until we landed on the front steps of a large structure made of stone that was obviously abandoned. The weeds had grown up, nearly overtaking the grounds, and the place itself looked unstable.
“What is this?” I asked, looking at it in disgust.
“This is the land your Father bargained for. Your new vampire Kingdom. This doesn’t have to be your new home, just a sanctuary from the sun until you are all settled. As you can see, it is large enough to house you all and has very few windows.”
All of a sudden, the place I was to sleep during the day was not my greatest concern. A sadness struck me and I reached out to my Father even as Tylendel spoke about the building.
We are never to return to our home, Father?I asked Ara. Although, I knew he was asleep by now. As expected, I didn’t receive an answer.
“Do you know what they discussed?” I asked Tylendel.
He shook his head. “I stood guard, the meeting was private.”
Again, I looked around. “Where is this?”
Tylendel followed my gaze and smiled. “Bihar, it’s not as large as your last territory, but it is quite thriving. Plenty of people for you to feed on and lush lands to build on. This place here has been abandoned for the past five hundred years.”
“Bihar… Nepal isn’t too far away,” I stated, thinking about the territory owned by vampire Queen Amara. She owned two territories that I knew of. Having lost ours to werewolves would look bad on Ara and made me wonder if she would take the opportunity to challenge him, seeing as our territories were going to be so close.
“What are you thinking?” Tylendel asked me.
“Wars, both possible and lost,” I said.
Tylendel sighed. “I know it is not easy to admit defeat. Tell me, what happened?”
I felt my rage boiling inside of me and all I wanted to do was lash out, but I wouldn’t strike my friend. Although, I thought he’d understand. I frowned as I thought about what happened only a few hours ago. It all took place so quickly, it literally left me reeling.
“Wolves attacked my Father and brothers’ homes. They attacked the homes of vampires, and vampires on the street, like they did me. There were so many of them, hundreds, probably thousands. I could see them running through the streets, mostly in their human forms unless they had converged on a home, then they took their half-wolf forms.”
Tylendel nodded. “They are stronger that way. The dragons have been put on alert, we strengthened our borders and I have to leave you now to guard the line.”
“I understand, go.”
Tylendel kissed me, then flew away. I took the time to go inside and get the place ready for when my Father and the others arrived. I covered the windows that weren’t covered with pieces of wood in one section large enough to house at least five hundred people. The place was dark, dank, and in complete ruin, neglected by time and civilization. The best thing about this location was that it was also remote. We wouldn’t be disturbed out here while we regrouped.
I sat down in the corner of one of the dark rooms and curled up on the floor to sleep. It took Tylendel two hours to fly us here, I was sure it would be nightfall by the time my Father and the others arrived. Best way to pass the time would be to sleep as they were sleeping.
***
“Théoden, rise.” Ara’s voice pulled me from my slumber and my eyes shot open.
I turned to see him and my brothers and about two hundred other vampires in the room. “Father, are you all right?” I asked as I sat up to better assess him.
Ara was no longer wearing his bloody, torn clothing. I supposed the dragon king gave him new clothing to wear, as it was not entirely Ara’s style. White cotton pants with a matching tunic with a gold trim that draped over one shoulder and was pinned with his crest at the shoulder. Whatever he wore, he always looked beautiful in it.
I rose to my feet and looked at Nolan, Titus, and Karim. They were still wearing what they had on last night, which were bloody, ruined rags, having been shredded by werewolf claws.
