I began helping him move debris off the graves of his ancestors, and while we did so, we noticed something. It was the symbol of the evil warlord. He was the one who desecrated the Rathegalia Mausoleum. Astor grew visibly enraged, and understandably so. Yet, as he always did, he composed himself, then filled me in on who everyone was.

His family history was incredible. The Rathegalias dated back as far as 5000 BC, according to Earth’s calendar. It is said their house existed before then, too, but historical documents were only able to be found back to the latter date. They were a nomad tribe of vampires which moved all over Friki with the seasons, settling in areas that others deemed too harsh or unfit for living. There, they would learn how to survive and become one with the environment, before moving on to the next territory. Over time, each settlement they established grew, as they welcomed in more vampires to join their communities. That is how the Rathegalias gained such fame amongst their kind. They started the settlements that eventually grew into the modern day civilizations.

Back then, vampires only fed on the blood of beasts. It was not until 4000 BC that the portals to Earth were discovered, and vampires began using them to hunt and bring back mankind to Friki. And once they started consuming human blood, their entire species evolved. They began growing stronger, faster, and unlocking certain powers within themselves. They also matured intellectually, having unlocked additional brain capacity. It was because of this, that vampires harvested humans and drank from them for millennia. It was also the reason the first vampire wars broke out.

Control of the portals became an issue. Some purists believed they should not be used, and the old ways should be adhered to. They were quickly silenced, though, as the times demanded a vampire evolve to stay alive. So, the purists eventually all began drinking human blood. The rest of the houses and tribes all desired to control the portals, for those who ruled the passages to Earth ruled the blood trade, and that gave them ultimate power. An innumerable amount of vampires lost their lives in those wars, and it was not until an ancient ancestor of Astor’s named Belmont Rathegalia came of age around 3200 BC, that things changed.

Belmont was a powerful vampire, a great warrior, and an exceptional leader. He had succeeded in uniting the formerly autonomous Rathegalia settlements into a united group, making the family and all of their fellow vampire constituents one entity. From there, they were able to seize control of multiple portals – more than any other family – and that made the Rathegalia House incredibly powerful, and their settlements the same. However, Belmont saw what the division amongst their kind was doing to everyone, and had the foresight to know that in the long run, it would be more beneficial for everyone to work together. So, he established the Vampire Order of Friki, or VOF. This brought all the houses together, which encompassed almost all vampires in existence, and gave each an equal amount of access to the portals. It also helped form universal laws, governing all aspects of vampire life. Although this meant the Rathegalias opening many of their own portals to be shared, it was what needed to be done to unite the houses. In the end, everyone thrived from the VOF, and the entire vampire race as a whole flourished tremendously.

Alas, over time not all houses stuck to the laws. Some sought to gain more power by abusing their access to the portals, or by strong-arming other houses to give them their human farms or blood supplies. This, naturally, led to more wars. Thus, Belmont formed the VOF Warriors. Their sole purpose was to protect vampires from criminal activity, and to bring to justice those who sought to break the laws set forth by the VOF. Once again, order was restored. Until a change occurred, which shifted everything.

Throughout the years, Belmont had formed a relationship with human leaders. The partnership was denied by humans to other members of their species as to not cause mass hysteria, but all vampires knew of it. The leaders would allow vampires to take humans for blood consumption and breeding purposes, and in return, the vampires would make them rich by providing precious stones and minerals that our two planets share in common. However, Belmont began feeling bad for the humans, as their leaders were growing avaricious, and using immoral methods to obtain more humans for trade. Other vampire leaders in the VOF did not care, but Belmont could not continue doing business with them in good conscience. Thus, he sought for an alternative to human blood.

In many ancient vampire scriptures, there were writings about a source of life that was used in conjunction with drinking the blood of beasts. The substance was called aima, and it was made naturally by the planet. When water mixed with the aima substance, that makes up virtually the entire planet’s many layers, it extracted all the necessary nutrients and essentials vampires need to live. It was even said to revitalize them more than blood. The scriptures spoke of a naturally occurring well that provided an endless amount, too. Therefore, Belmont set out to prove aima was not just myth, but a real substance. It took over 4,000 years to discover, as he had to travel all over the entire planet of Friki to find it, but he found the well hidden within what had become a valley of waterfalls. Then, he began having all the Rathegalia settlements dig their own wells, and sure enough, they were able to get aima. It did not take long for other vampires to do the same, and soon the need for blood was no more, and vampires did not have to keep paying the human leaders. Consequently, the human trade was ended.

However, the portals were still secretly being used by some vampires to hunt humans and drink their blood. Also, the rise of the werewolf population also saw them using the portals once the vampires stopped, and they began hunting humans, too. Mankind was easier game than Friki beasts. So, Belmont and the VOF outlawed the usage of the portals. This did not stop the rogue vampires, though. Then one day, all but one portal disappeared, as a cataclysmic cosmic event transpired in their star system. And the last remaining portal just happened to be in Castle Rathegalia. With that problem solved, the modern day, aima-centric vampire society started to flourish.

Astor beamed with pride while telling me of his family history, and it was clear Belmont was his favorite ancestor. He also was the one who spearheaded the truce between vampires and werewolves around 500 BC, bringing about almost 2,500 years of peace, before the evil warlord rose to power. This also saw Belmont become the first king of the vampires. It was only fitting he was the last Rathegalia to be proven to have the family’s blood power. Then, just as he finished telling me this, I came across Belmont’s tomb. It was a massive monument dedicated to him, and it had been greatly damaged. Astor and I cleared the rubble, and when we did, we saw some magnificent pieces of armory and weaponry.

Belmont wore a very streamlined, lightweight set of knight’s armor. It was made from an all-black metallic substance, and was adorned with gold trimming and golden regal designs and patterns. The torso, arms, gloves, boots, and pants were all separate pieces, but fit together seamlessly. He also wore a long, flowing black cape, with the same gold trim and golden regal designs and patterns on it. There was no helmet, however. Then, placed on top of him was a beautiful sword with a black hilt, and subtle curves on the blade. His shield was tall, and appeared to be made of the same metal as the armor and sword. It was also black like the armor, and had a golden design around the edges that stretched across part of the middle, too. Besides the beauty of the equipment, what really caught my eye was none of it had the slightest bit of damage. There were no signs of wear, rust, withering, aging, and not a scratch or dent from the massive stones collapsing on it. The equipment looked as if it had never even been used or worn.

Astor stared at what was before us in awe. He heard the legends of Belmont Rathegalia’s armor and weapons, but never saw them, for they were buried with his ancestor. But as fate would have it, there it all was. Astor looked at me next, and I nodded to him, saying destiny had brought us there for a reason. Then, he dropped his old, generic sword and shield. Finally, he put on Belmont’s armor, cape, and took his sword and shield. As if the prince was not powerful enough, adding this unique equipment only made him even more so. And once he was settled into it, he looked at the evil warlord’s symbol, and vowed on Belmont’s grave to avenge their house and family. I placed my hand on his shoulder, and after saying one last goodbye, Astor left the mausoleum and I followed.

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