Sibiu, Romania, 1457
It was true that The Order of Kryaq had been destroyed over a year ago at the gruesome battle of Porta Ille, which left the vampires and their families with more freedom to venture out into the world. But the lingering concern that Kryaq may have possibly made alliances with other demonic sects was what kept Kayleb and his family out of the public eye. That and the fact that the chosen ones, the Demon Hunters, had risen and were constantly searching for evil to destroy. Kayleb never actually called his race evil, but he knew that to others, killing people was murder and therefore labeled evil. The humans would never understand his need for their blood.
Throughout the Underground certain tribes would take on the goals of another tribe, if the previous one had failed, but only if those goals were to suit their own criteria. The Under Beings were exiles from other evil armies because most of them were not born into darkness, but were once humans who took to the dark side for various reasons. Only with the aids of chanting and potions were their physical characteristics mutated to more beastly expressions; thus they were not genetically malevolent.
The Others, that is the opposing demons, could not see how Kryaq could have considered himself an evil king beside the fact that there already was one. The Lightless One overpowered everyone suffering in Hell, or in the subdivisions thereof, save for Kryaq, who if he had been a threat, would have been extinguished long ago. The true demon king, The Angel of Darkness, or Lucifer, allowed The Order of Kryaq to endure, for any persons turned against good and Heaven meant more power for the entire Underground. But no matter how much strength Kryaq brought in or the extent of the chaos he dealt out, there wasn’t a single group of monster-men that would take up his mission to exterminate the entire gypsy nation after his race was diminished. Kayleb and his family were out of danger in that respect, but it was unbeknownst to them, and they continued to live in fear, always watching their backs wherever they went.
With little over twelve months passed—having only survived on what nourishment they could find within the long winding tunnels of the cave—Kayleb, Jacob, and Chassity decided it was safe to leave and find some other place to live. They went back to the once beautiful Porta Ille only to find it in charred ruins, which in a way is what they expected to find. Although, they had hoped that by some mystical hand the manor would have at least been partially spared, or even been rebuilt in their absences.
In various areas, the grey stonewalls were layered in black soot from the fire’s vicious, oxygen-hungry tongue. The walls were intact for the most part with the exception of a handful of large holes where the seven-foot giants pounded through in a solid effort to weaken the structure and bring it crumbling down. It would have been easy enough to have builders travel to the site and repair the fortress, but The First thought it would be nice to start anew and take his family on a vacation from their usual surroundings to an area that was prayerfully safer and rich with culture.
Through their travels of Europe and Asia, Kayleb discovered many places he was sure were safe for his family, but there was something about Romania that lured him back. Perhaps it was the lingering respect for his hometown he had his heart. He could not be sure.
Their last stop was Sibiu, a frugal, hardworking, and efficient German town that catered to the distinguished tastes of the wealthy upper class. As the midnight clad travelers meandered into the sleeping village, they passed by the closed up shops of butchers, shoemakers, tailors, clock makers, gold smiths, jewelers, metal workers, textile, and silk manufacturers that were bustling businesses in the daylight hours. They continued to walk in search of a place to take up residency that wasn’t too close to the majority of the town’s populace. But with dawn only a few short hours off, they settled on finding a crypt in the local cemetery, or any place that would provide them with complete shelter and leave them undisturbed.
