Chapter 20
After the greeting Cassandra led both boys through the corridors and explained a little bit of what she knew.
"From the information we've gathered, the intel leak was a combination of a few things. Most notable was a leak from not just one of the clinics but a few who had friends in other places looking to get their hands on more resources for their own patients.
Next would be the lack of vampire related crime in our county especially over the last decade. That in and of itself is not odd to the general public, but we are very strict about outside vampires coming into our territory and ensuring they do not feed on the locals.
Whoever scrutinized us, realized the lack of blood donors in our camp in contrast to not only how nourished we always are but also with how much power every member of our Kiss gives off.
We do not even offer other vampires our own Were animals, or human servants when they come to visit. We refuse visits from lowly vampires with little experience in self control, and any master vampires are required to bring their own food when staying for any duration.
I've run a very tight ship over the years, but it seems like we've been too clean and now many forces have questions. the more resourceful ones were able to piece together information once they heard about your fathers dealings with the clinics.
It's honestly tough keeping secrets among supernatural beings when there are those with unique abilities to literally listen to the voices on the wind, or read minds across states."
Tristan was use to hearing about the dealings of powered people and kaiju as that was something that was spread all over the media. The amount of detailed reports about the supernatural outside of criminal cases was very small.
He had seen Cassandra in a few articles published over the years seeing as she was always being praised for taking great care to oversee the human vampire relationship in such a clean way.
Now it seems that some of that publicity was coming back to bite them all in the ass.
"When the supernatural took the opportunity to support the mutant uprising, it wasn't a unanimous decision for every member of each group. There are many vampires, humans, therianthropes, and a myriad of other racial individuals that prefered us staying hidden in the dark recesses of society.
Our faction stands on the same side as the King of Vampires here in America. We want healthy relations with all races including humans and we wish to be offered the same rights as humans. For the xenophobic individual these are truly disgusting Ideals.
We still are not certain of who all our enemies are, and now we have to keep a close eye even on our allies.
You made the right decision getting into bed with us. We're already so cozy together there's no way anyone else would be able to hold back when they understand the depth of your value."
When she said this although she was leading the boys through the cavern her head slightly turned towards Tristan. She didn't put her gaze on him but they were all aware that he had crossed her thoughts in one way or another.
"Alexiel, my master has waited a long time to meet you. I know you won't disappoint once you get a chance to see the reality of our situation here, and I am looking forward to any further surprises you bring us in the future."
The group finally stopped in a rounded corridor with a giant millstone blocking their path. Their walk had taken almost an hour, allowing both boys to realize how huge this place really was. Most supernatural beings had enhanced speed and stamina so getting around this place wasn't an issue, but neither boy would consider themselves athletic in the least.
After catching their breath for a moment, they realized the millstone was engraved with runes in different areas. Cassandra, noticing the boy's were finally ready to continue forward, raised her hand and aimed it at the large stone.
A drop of blood left her index finger and whizzed directly onto the surface of the stone. The reaction was immediate, as the runes began to glow fiercely as they outlined the hidden engravings on the stone that only now became visible.
As the energy circulated the originally visible runes glowed in different patterns, soon a sharp click could be heard and the Millstone rolled out of the way revealing a near pitch black stone stairwell.
"Follow me and keep your eyes low, speak only after spoken too, and be sure to give a polite but not servile bow.
Some customs must be adhered to upon initial meetings!"
Both boys looked at each other, when their gazes locked they could feel the burning resolve beheld in the others eyes! Tristan had literally zero idea of what he was walking into, but Cassandra never questioned or stopped him from following them to this meeting.
Alexiel himself had said to follow him today, and that's exactly what Tristan would do until told otherwise. He was 3 parts excited and 5 parts nervous, the last two parts were a mix of nausea and awe.
What kind of top class beings were they about to meet. He was afraid to let his imagination run wild as he felt there was really nothing that could prepare him for all of this except true experience.
potentiality was great but it held nothing to actuality and now he was finally getting to see so much truth in the short span of these last few days. How could he not have so many mixed emotions, his life was literally visibly changing by leaps and bounds every moment lately.
Climbing down the steep stairs took another twenty minutes, the further down they went the more noticeably the moisture in the air became. The walls seemed to be imbued with runes that gave off a very soft light that served almost no use for those with normal human eyesight.
The sounds of splashing could also be lightly heard echoing off the stone walls around them.
As they approached the bottom of the stairwell creeping myrtle could be seen in clumps in different areas, the flowers of this plant actually gave off their own glow as well helping to illuminate a path forward.
The glow from the flowers seemed to enhance the shadows in the cave though giving it a very heavy vibe.
Suddenly the scene in front of them shimmered in a very familiar way to Alexiel. A giant of a man walked out of the shadows right before their eyes. It was something he had seen Angelica do countless times around the house. The only difference was this person's movement through the shadows was like a work of art, it was so smooth and didn't feel unnatural at all.
Unlike before Cassandra had a very respectful tone when she spoke to this acquaintance this time around. She used one hand to cover her heart and bowed her head noticeably.
"Sir Oliver, I've brought the young master as requested by mother."
Mother? Alexiel almost jumped out of his skin when he heard this! Whoa! Okay the plot thickens he couldn't help commenting to himself!
Tristan was still mesmerized by this second showing of someone else being able to use the shadows so adaptly. He didn't have as much first hand experience as Alexiel so he couldn't know how great this individual's control was, but he was impressed nevertheless. The creeping flowers also added a nice aesthetic to the scene.
Oliver glanced over everyone, his gaze lingered on both boys for a while. He was present during the recovery operation so he already had an idea of Tristan, now that they were meeting while everyone was conscious he was feeling the boy up.
Alexiel was always the focus of his attention when he came to visit and Oliver was free from other tasks. Only he always remained in the shadows so Alexiel never had a clue about his existence until today. A smirk found its way onto his face when he finally locked eyes with the boy who would be groomed to be his partner in the future.
Seeing how polite Cassandra was being, Alexiel nudged Tristan and motioned for them to follow suit. Oliver accepted everyone's greeting matter of factly, without any pompous attitude. This was as things should be, etique had its place and people should learn to be flexible in different situations.
"We are all excited for this meeting. All of you follow closely behind me, I will move us there directly."
The boys were excited, they hurried over to Oliver's side like children in a school yard surrounding their favorite adult. They weren't overly rambunctious but their demeanor was vibrant in a very sweet way. This also pleased Oliver very much, as they should be excited for what's to come and all the things that will be expected for them to learn.
When everyone was within 5 feet of Oliver, the darkness below their feet rolled slightly and gilded them further into the shadowed cave.
Riding the shadows gave no feeling of instability, Trsitan noticed that his brain was having a hard time coordinating between the fact that he was standing yet everything around him was moving. He was only slightly disoriented for a moment before his mind settled the processing issues the brain was having.
What would have taken them at least another half hour to walk was covered in only moments as a huge shallow pond was brought into their sight. All around the pond was covered in lush creeping glowing myrtle. What also filled their sight were about two dozen bodies positioned in different locations all around the myrtle and pond area.
In the center of the pond was a wide protruding stone hill with a huge single throne resting at its top. The sight that filled the boy's gaze was actually of half serpent half human looking individuals. The person sitting on the throne was the largest of them all and had a tail that wound around the small hill and slightly rested in the waters below.
A voice called out from the throne.
"Finally, we meet my pomme sacree."