**Ch 338: Black Sand

"Remember, I'll be with you the whole time," Kai's voice resounded as I mentally traveled through the darkness. A desert landscape submerged before my sight. Crimson moonlight lit the hazy horizon. Sunset lighting, had peaked its last shine for today as another moon moved into its place. Sea blue rays beamed luminously from the second moon as I heard what sounded like howling wolves bellowing at it from higher cliffs.

"Kai?" I called, turning in a circle to spot anything, but all I saw was rocky ground, black sand, and higher steeps, which are farther out in the distance with the mountains.

"I'm still here," Kai answered as if he was right there.

I verified, "I'm just making sure."

"Look on the ground," he directed, so I searched the sandy and rocky ground.

Everywhere I peered, however, I still saw nothing happening, but then I heard a disturbance towards my right. I peeked over as two hands popped up from underneath the sturdy rock. Another two hands broke the surface, and the rocky black sand lifted and crumbled as two heads broke free. Two fully grown vampires crawled out of the grave like zombies. They were naked as can be like a newborn as they arose. Their red eyes peered upward at the sky, where they gazed at the strange brightness of the moons. For the first time, their nostrils sniffed the scent of their new world. Morbius and Vlad gazed upon this new world that bestowed itself before them from the low cliff.

Compared to being the pot-belly grandpa I remembered him to be, Morbius was youthful like a man in his twenties, and his body was toned into pristine muscles. His face was oval and oblong-like in appearance, but his chin had a defined shape to it. As he narrowed his gaze around for the first time, I noticed instead of looking droopy and old, his eyes were deep set with an ocean-blue color like Orlando's. His nose was narrow and sharp at the tip, while his lips were thin. Lastly, his hair was ultra-light blonde.

Beside him was Vlad. He had a more diamond-square facial appearance, and his jaw was defined, like his higher cheekbones. Perfectly chiseled on his tan skin, Vlad's body was rippled in toned muscles. His nose was straight and ideal. Then his eyes are a hooded shape with a hazelnut color like Mr. Collin's, but his lips are natural. Lastly, his hair was raven black like the night. Despite the fact they came from the same body, they looked nothing alike.

After they were the first to rise from the ground, multiple hands punched through the rocky black sand before more bodies from different vampire species crawled out to stand on their bare feet for the first time. I could easily spot the eight Headmaster Chameleons because their faces and hair color kept erratically switching characteristics until they got it under control. The Wing Headmasters each unfurled their angel-like wings toward the night sky while these strange birds from this planet started to circle above their heads like pet vultures. Then the Headmaster Slithers had creepy unusual snakes curling up their bodies like tattoos. Between the Shapeshifter Headmasters, each one shifted into a different predator animal. There was a lion, a tiger, a wolf, a black panther, a mountain lion, a cougar, a brown bear, and a black bear. Aside from the Lights and Hunters, the rest of the Headmaster species I couldn't identify since I haven't had a chance to study them, for that matter. Another species could turn into this weird-looking creature. It had the face of a hairy beast and grew horns on its head, but it wasn't considered a Shapeshifter since they were animals, not monstrous beasts such as them.

"You could have warned me about them being naked!" I complained to Kai as I heard his laughter echoing across the sky.

"Like a newborn baby. It's basically the same concept." Kai seemingly teased me.

"Except they have adult bodies," I pointed out.

"No peeking. You'll make me jealous!" He warned, yet his voice sounded mischievous.

"That's the last thing I'm doing!" I blushed redder from my words as Kai could only laugh.

"Your blush is beaming on the outside of your cheeks." Kai teasingly told me.

"Just leave me alone!" I grumbled, feeling rather chagrined as he chuckled.

Thankfully they each took the acknowledgment to dress themselves in whatever fabric they could scavenge from the dead. Sticking out from the ground were a lot of crossed sticks that were decorated in fabrics which told me this area was marked as a grave site. Most of them made themselves loincloths to cover up. Usually, I'd protest to take things from graves, but in this case, I won't argue.

"Can you hear that?" a Headmaster who could turn into a brown bear spoke up as he gazed his eyes through the darkness.

"It's time to make our Covens before time runs out," replied another predatory species, and a Light nodded his head in agreement.

"How would they know to make their Covens?" I voiced out to Kai.

And he replied. "Remember, they're the first of their Kind. There is no one else older or wiser to guide them. They're solely driven by instincts."

"Instinct?" I repeated to allow the word to sink into my brain core.

Kai clarified from above. "Yes, it's a little annoying voice that speaks to us inside our heads. Hunger-wise or experiencing negative emotions, it can sometimes be a pain to control, but often times, it helps guide you to make wiser decisions. You'll better understand after I turn you."

"I'll take your word for it," I chuckled as I watched everyone else.

One by one, they each took off in a different direction until only two remained. Morbius and Vlad stared at one another as they were mentally saying goodbye.

Vlad walked toward the edge until he stopped and faced Morbius behind him. "We can make our Covens together?" he suggested.

Morbius agreed. "Two Covens thriving together will be stronger than one."

"T-together?" Vlad uttered like he was still getting his vocals to work.

"T-together..." Morbius stammered in the same manner as he touched his throat.

From their hand movements to their speech, they were really trying to gather it all. Even though they weren't blood-related, it's like coming from a deceased Siamese twin had somehow mysteriously connected them. Together they vanished off the edge of this low cliff.

"They left!" I called out to inform Kai.

"The next item will jump you to them, so don't be scared," he gently uttered to me.

On the outside of my body, I felt a heavy object get placed into my hand and it was very cold like ice. "What is it?"

"It's the chain link," Kai replied. "Sorry. I should've warmed it in my hands first."

Before I could say anything, my mind began to speed forward.