Chapter 4
An hour later, Astraea was out of the bathing pool and fully clothed in luscious fabric. She wore a long purple dress with bedazzled pink diamonds embroidery on the bosom, sleeves and hem.
Her hair was pulled up and tied up with an intricate headdress. It was shiny and beautiful but not at all gaudy. Her long nails were painted a rose gold.
She needed no perfume because her natural scent was already very alluring. Even the timid slave behind Michael gravitated towards her unconsciously.
As they walked along the people that once merely glanced at her and then looked away were now looking at her with disgust and mumbling to one another.
She could only crack a smile, lowering her eyes to hide her malic. Back home she was a wandering tyrant; terrorizing her subjects and now she had to hold herself back.
It was truly uncomfortable!
She wished she could kill a lot of them but she knew it wasn't the time yet.
"Ah, I seemed to have forgotten something." Astraea stopped in her tracks and made a dragon gesture of respect. "My name is Astraea."
Michael led her into a high posh restaurant. A big smile on his face; he always enjoyed meeting new people. He was sure this new friend had a good story to tell. The malice in her eyes was not in any way hidden from him. He knew a psycho when he met one.
HEHE!
"Order whatever you want, let's see if you like the food here." Michael handed her a menu. "We only have blood wine, would you like some?"
Astraea waved her hand, a frown on her face. She has never heard of such a thing but if the blood came from humans then she was sure she didn't want any.
"The meat dish? Come from what exactly?" She inquired. Her eyes narrowed at the menu.
"Not to worry, we have large animal birds known as Koahas. They are flightless with long legs and talons. They only eat plants; all our meat dishes come from them. Humans are only good for blood drinking."
Astraea nodded at her, snapped her fingers and waited for a waiter to come over. She had watched many do the same. When in Rome… do what the Romans do. After a brief discussion with Michael, they order a couple of signature dishes.
The restaurant that she was brought to had a red and gold them with black cushioned suede chairs. The chairs hugged her every curve making her sink in deeper. It was extremely comfortable. Vampires certainly knew how to live lavishly and comfortably.
"Shadow Grove is this world hub for buying and selling slaves. However there are only a few cities and towns that have legalized slavery. The rest don't want it in their area, luckily they're names aren't publicized or else we would have a lot of runaway slaves. Michael laughed.
"How much are the slaves here? " Astraea questioned. She looked at the others relishing their meals. But the smell was truly off putting. She should go back to her domain to eat.
This place had at least some spiritual energy making it somewhat comfortable. Just like she thought the meat was horrible and the green vegetables were tasteless. The worst thing was it had NO nutritional value at ALL.
This was clearly not palpable for a dragon. But she ate it anyway, it would be rude if she didn't. Mother raised her to never waste food, no matter how disgusting..
Astraea merely nodded as they spoke. she really didn't have much to say on this new world . Then again she had a lot to learn Shadow Grove was only a small part of the planet.
For the rest of the meal they converse in idle chit chat.
She learned the planet she was on was named Aerox. It was originally a place full of pure blood vampires. Pure blood vampires don't need human blood to substance because from the beginning they had their own food sources.
It was only after humans came on a ship attempting to conquer the land and ending up slaves that things changed. When the pure blood vampires turned humans into sired vampires; it was only then that vampires began to drink human blood. It was the only way they could survive.
The sire vampires were inherently different then the pureblood. They could eat what the pureblood could; hence the way of life for vampires became a lot more vibrant. This was the main reason humans were slaves; they were the spoils of war or rather the descendants of them.
However over the centuries there have been certain small cities, villages and towns that decided that they no longer wanted slaves. They prefer to be harmonies and live together.
Many of those places had growing families of half breed vampires. From time to time there would be new creatures that voyage to the planet and settle making their home away from the vampires i.e....the amazons.
The amazons were large female warriors of darker skin. There were no men in the entire clan; even when they gave birth there was not a single boy. The oddest thing yet is that they were born with two genitalia; having both male and female organs.
Effectively, they could impregnate women as well as become pregnant. It was a strange phenomena that the vampires had wanted to study for the longest time. Unfortunately, the amazon were very closed knit and very secluded; no one really knows where they had settled.
They only come around when it's mating season, which is usually the coldest season on the planet. Although Aerox does not receive snow, only cold winds.
Astraea learned that the capital Nitiny was 50 km from their current location. The vampire was also ruled by Solmus, a sired vampire of the previous king.
Ever since Solmus came into power the other pureblood vampire disappeared. No one knows if they had gone into hiding, extinct or just left the planet. Now everything was run by the sire vampires.
Which Astraea felt wasn't right, why should knock off vampires be the ones to reign. She knew that once she had to have children with the humans that she would pick out; none of them would be able to reign.
They could only be soldiers of the realms. Only the children of my mates will be able to reign, hopefully. Either way I wont treat my children badly.
Well, Ill have to see what other things life will spend my way.
With all that said, Astraea had decided to lurk around for a couple of days before heading out of town. After paying the bill and walking out the door, the two parted ways with Michael sending an invitation to stay at his place.
She merely nodded with a smile agreeing she would if she absolutely needed to. Astraea felt absolutely drained, spending time with a stranger no matter how physically taxing for an introverted dragon like herself.
She was practically begging to be left off the hook. As she turned around the gentle smile that had been plastered on her face dropped and her shoulders relaxed
Astraea walked through the bustling streets, her head held high and back straight. Everything seemed so different then her home. She couldn't get over how small everyone and everything was. Would she break her concubines?
She looked at each woman, both vampire and human but none of them gave her the urge to partake a delicious dessert. Which was really unsettling, she was finally old enough to taste a delicacy but now there wasn't anything to savor. She really felt like crying.
She didn't find anything interesting in town, so she went out of town to see more of the scenery.
"Miss…Miss. How bout a look inside. A gorgeous vampire with golden eyes smiled at her. She waved her over excitedly; chattering as she got closer.
" My name is Raquel Winslow. Welcome to Charming vamp tea and cakes. We serve delicate cakes, flavored tea and also our music selection is exquisite." The vampire had curly golden locks that bounced with her excitement.
The feeling the woman gave home off was an enthusiastic chatter box but still wasn't overbearing in any way. Astraea had a genuine smile on her face; she was always a sucker for beauty. Astraea couldn't help but be awkward whenever a random stranger spoke to her; she was never verbose in her younger years and now after a long slumber she still wasn't good at communication.
With a frown Astraea produced umbra crystal; it was a cloudy grey with a luminous base. It shone brightly and overbearingly under the sun. The feeling it gave off was anything but perspicuous; it actually gave off an ominous aura the moment it was brought out.
For dragons this crystal was nothing but currency but for other races it was an object that could enhance their own powers by sucking the life force from a close relative. Void dragons have such items in abundance but it was clear by the woman sparking eyes that it was very rare in Shadow Grove.
Many such objects are created by void dragons and enhanced by dwarfs as well as being sold by the goblins as great treasure. Only select creatures were aware of the true creators.
"I only have this as currency."
"This… let me bring you to a place." The woman smiled mysteriously. Her golden eyes flickered towards the crystal with greed in her eyes.
The woman vibrated in excitement as she walked away. With raised eyebrows Astraea followed her in silence. The woman led her past the vagrant house into a side alley on the left; it was dimly lit but not at all filthy or dingy looking. It actually looked like an outdoor storage with multiple boxes stacked on top of each against the wall.
"Gina, what are you doing here?" An old man with slick black hair questioned. He was tall with a large potbelly; black rimmed glasses covered his piercing red eyes which was sharply scanned
Astraea from head to toe.
"This Miss has something to sell and she also needs a card to put the money. It is best to have the universal one." Gina spoke in a cheerful voice. A finger tapped on the counter top as she looked at Astraea urging her to show the umbra crystal.
"Hmm. lets see it then." His voice was high pitched. If it wasn't for his face no one would have guessed that he was a man best on his voice alone.
Astraea scanned her eyes around the shop which was brightly lit thanks to the large windows. There wasn't a place to sit but a large counter that stretched from one wall to the other. There was a double door behind the counter that led to a bigger space. Astraea couldn't tell how large it was.
"Since I'm selling, I'll double it." With a smirk she produced two umbra crystals, one was significantly darker then the other. Although only a dragon would be able to perceive it.
"Rare.. a very rare find indeed." The shopkeeper struggled to keep his voice neutral as he touched and examined each crystal with almost revered care.
A dark glint passed by Astraea' s eyes; it was hidden by a gentle smile. Ah.. a glutton has a big appetite. I shall see how many hands this crystal can pass through.
Just like in chaos dragon Astraea was a master trickster and reveled in creating chaos when there was none. Although the crystals were authentic; it also had an abundance of dark energy that could warp the mind of greed.
Little by little it will corrode the mind, make them see things until eventually commit a murder-suicided. And this will happen no matter how many hands the crystal passes through, just as long as the person is a greedy person.
"I want a good price… don't dare short change me." Astraea smirked, folded her arms and stared at the shopkeeper with a cock eyebrow.
"Hmm. One umbra crystal has been auctioned at about 30 billion ctez. Ill give you 100 billion ctez; I'm sure I won't be at a loss." The shopkeeper spoke after some time.
Gina's eyes bulge out, her mouth agape. It was clear that she didn't expect such generosity. She sheepishly turned her head after meeting the shopkeeper's glare.
"Thanks. Now what is this universal card?" Astraea questioned. Her aura flared as she felt something probing her from behind the shopkeeper. Whoever it was that was probing instantly backed off.
Cough " The universal card is a digital currency that is accepted by every planet in our galaxy. Even the different magical realms accept this currency. So no matter where you travel, you wont need money exchange.
"I understand." She nodded her head subtly. " "How long will it take to set it up?"
"Not long, wait a minute." The shopkeeper took out an iridescent card. It resembled the planets in the galaxy. He placed it on a scanner that was hidden on the counter top; with a press of a couple buttons the card was charged with 100 billion ctez. Just a drop of blood will make it ready to be used.
"Thank you both." She smiled as she took her card. "Oh Gina, I'll come to your place later. I have something to do now."
With that Astraea turned and left without another glance at them.