A Dark Life – 1×06 – The Excursion

Sinder sat in his office as usual writing a report when he heard a knock on the door. He put down his quill and stared at the door for a moment. He couldn’t feel this boys presence until he was too close, dangerously close. If this boy were just a hundred years older he could have been a real threat to Sinder, not being able to feel him until it was too late. Maybe he had been chosen just because of his ability. Sinder opened the door as an answer to the boys knock and just observed him as he entered the room.

Vilk bowed deeply to him and then froze in a waiting stance for orders. This boy didn’t need re-schooling, he never seemed to forget anything. And he showed his elder just the proper amount of respect and he seemed to be able to know when to cower and when to hold onto strict formality. No, this boy had been sent here to gain something from the prodigies or to spy on him. He suspected the first but didn’t discard the latter.

“You called for me, Master Breeder,” he said suddenly as he knew what he had been thinking of. He had broken the formalities on purpose to make him seem like a defiant vampire, this was the second time he had made that same mistake. Sinder smiled to himself, for some reason he liked this boy. Even though he were here on a ploy he seemed to be just as cunning as he himself once had been. Hopefully he would keep his sanity before anyone tried to crush him.

“Yes, I did do just that. After the Eradication of the East Village The Ancients have pushed even harder to meet their prodigies,” he said in a way to make it seem like he gave the information without realizing it. The boy’s eyes widened and Sinder saw how he swallowed and stored the information as if it were diamonds.

“So before I will accept them as adults and vouch for them I need to know what you think. Are they ready to be tested and released into the world?” He waved to the chair infront of his desk and brought up a bottle of Honmaiden which he poured into two wine glasses. Vilk accepted his offer and sat down in front of him and took a sip from his glass as they both paid their respects to The True.

“Yes and no,” Vilk started, “Loke is too oblivious about what’s going on around him that he will probably use force in most situations. His intellect might evolve later on, but so far he seems to be too slow a thinker to be the Elder in a Sibship, not to mention that he still seem to respect the other too, too much to be an elder to them. I’m afraid that no matter what you do, Loke will always be their junior.”
There it was again, the defiant rebellious tone in his voice. Not to mention the obvious insult on his Master. Sinder smiled to himself, and decided to play along with his game.

“Did you avoid my question only to show your defiance or did you do it just to mask your surprise that The Ancient are their Master?” Sinder asked Vilk calmly as he drank a little from his glass. Vilk blinked and seemed to be confused for a moment, but he recovered quickly with a nervous smile and a prudish look on his face.

“You misunderstand Master. I didn’t mean to insult you. Yes, they might be ready but I fear that if Loke will lead then the other will suffer as a sibship. They might loose credibility in the eyes of other vampires and the fast decision needed won’t be made if Loke must take them. The others will be confused by his…”

“Oh my dear boy how you talk,” Sinder interrupted him. Vilk’s eyes widened as he realized that he had been affected by Sinders abilities. He saw fear in his eyes, did he think that Sinder would kill him? Heh, the boy must be stupid if he thought he would kill two vampires in a row in this short amount of time.

“I will send them on the first Trip. You will have to be friendly with them and act as their guide. I will arrange for transportation and you will take them to your residence and await further directions. The one with the Unique Power will still be in charge if not the other one will awaken on the trip and then he will take the lead. I feel their progress every day that passes by. They need more blood and to test their own abilities to progress now.” Sinder downed the last of his blood and paid his last respects to The True, if only to atone for what he was about to do.

“Drain yourself on blood before you go to sleep, and await my command. You will not be allowed to drink any blood at all without my explicit order. You will obey all of the prodigies and ONLY act as mentor. Are we clear?” as he finished his last sentence Sinder let the swap take place and great fear emerged in Vilk’s eyes. Surely he had heard all the stories of Sinder going mad after his last attempt on the title as The One, and surely he had heard about how strong he had been that he had been able to defeat Two of the ancients, at the same time. Sinder smiled and the little blood that flowed in Vilk’s veins froze to ice…

To Be Continued…