Cyberserk & Vampiress

Baron's Revealed Secret

Countess Korwin greeted Koreima with a smile.

"You look excited, my girl. Do you have news that would stir my blood? Tell me quickly," the Countess gestured for the vampiress to sit down beside her.

The girl sat down and began her story. She did not miss anything and even admitted that she had behaved too rudely with Count Grograb. The Countess squeezed her eyes shut with pleasure. The story reminded her of the days of her youth when the citizens had behaved more aggressively and freely.

Back in the day, the vampire clan had struggled to gain recognition and power in Grossroads. Vampires were unprepared for the city's treatment of them as lower sort of creatures. Only strict discipline and mastery of ancient Blood magic made vampires respectable citizens of the city. The Countess looked around sadly and saw the dull gray world.

"You say a dragon ate the Count  Grograb? A ghastly death," shuddered the Countess.

She had an excellent memory and remembered the horror of being devoured alive by a dragon in those few seconds. Sometimes the ancient beast wanted to have fun and left a few victims as an appetizer. The Lord of Fear did not use his horrible skill and fought a fair fight. Then the monster devoured its wounded victims.

"I didn't see that," shuddered Koreima. "I woke up when there were no more gnomes in my chamber. But the Lord said he remembered the taste of the count. Ugh! It's disgusting," the vampiress whispered.

"This is life, my girl. Either you drink the blood of the enemy or the enemy desiccates your life," laughed the Countess. "Have you not aroused the young baron's displeasure?"

Koreima furrowed her brow. She did not like the fact that the whole clan was watching her relationship with the human with attention.

"He is pleased with me and happy to be with me. Sometimes I don't like him for his simplicity and naivety," the vampiress admitted.

"A hero of the folk is supposed to be like that. He is universally disliked by the naivety and simplicity with which he performs great feats. Silly girl," Countess Korwin looked sternly at the vampiress. "You hope in vain for my favor. You will not receive the ancient knowledge of our kind from me or Count Korwin. We are willing to exchange this spell for one possessed by a human."

Koreima froze at such sincerity. For the first time, she heard confirmation of her hunch. The vampiress pretended to be an attentive student and silently expressed her desire to hear clever confessions from the wise ancient ancestor.

The Countess looked at the girl and sighed. The girl had received the wrong upbringing. She grew up to be a good steward and sorceress, but Koreima would not be a strong fighter anytime soon.

"What don't you understand? You know a lot and have been able to understand on your own. Are you so stupid and don't trust your mind? I am ashamed of you," sighed Countess Korwin. The great-granddaughter begged for grits of knowledge like a hungry vampire for drops of blood.

"I don't understand why Algrin is so calm," Koreima whispered.

The Countess laughed.

"She is the daughter of Elgolas the head of the Eternal Pine. The children of the Pines are terrible rivals. Treacherous hypocrites and murderers. They were able to learn the secrets of the gnomes and killed their kin. Elves have a special relationship with Death. An elf can afford to kill his kinsman! It would take a thousand years of suffering for the crime to the kin. But after a thousand years, the exile can pass into the Tower of Destiny and leave this world with a consciousness of his power and a concept of honor. Young Algrin will steal this human's heart if you misbehave."

"I won't let that happen. Dan Baron Raven is naive, but he understands a lot. And he has a fine advisor. Nasty scoundrel Tom," resented the vampiress.

"A double is the best advisor, girl. He sees you perfectly from the outside and knows your hidden desires. It is the great magic of the world and the double has a special understanding of the world. I wish I could meet this Tom," the beauty whispered with a seductive smile.

"You all talk about it. It's hard for me to imagine how Tom could be Dan's double. They don't look alike! They don't just have different faces. Tom moves like a different person. I don't talk about his weird blood. I lose my mind when he bleeds next to me. It makes me sick. Nasty and disgusting blood-soaked in Death. It makes me sick even when I think of that freak," the girl confessed.

"Silly girl. Of course, Tom is soaked in Death. He dies every day and he probably dies hundreds of times a day. He dies for a person's interest. I can see how the two of them go through dungeons and kill great monsters," laughed the Countess.

"That's impossible! Summoning a double is a complicated spell and requires a lot of magical energy," the vampiress objected.

"Human race has its magic. And you cannot know how much power Tom's summoning requires. That is why I demand that you get this spell from a human! For centuries, the nations of the world have fought each other for secret knowledge. You're lucky that you have no rivals except the elfess," Countess Korwin said sternly. "Grossroads has turned into a boring place. I am sorry that my husband has chosen to linger here. We must leave for a world where there are more dangers and opportunities to show our strength. Hurry up, girl. You disgust me with your weakness. You have no chance of gaining ancient knowledge from me. You do not deserve it. But I repeat that I can exchange my knowledge for your knowledge."

Koreima's eyes bled with indignation. She had forgotten the feeling of such humiliation.

"I can find you beyond the threshold of the Tower of Destiny," the girl whispered.

"Dream on for a long time, silly girl. Beyond the gates of Grossroads are hundreds of roads to hundreds of dangerous places. Beyond the threshold of the Tower of Destiny are a thousand roads to a thousand dangerous places. If you do not gain the knowledge of a human you will forever remain a common vampire of the Kor bloodline. You are not like me," the Countess gestured to the girl at the door.

Koreima stood up and bowed to her ancient relative. She stepped out and the countess whispered toward one wall with a chuckle.

"You smell indecent. You old lecher. Drooling over that silly babe again?"

The figure of Count Korwin appeared in an empty chair against the wall. The vampire immediately jumped to his feet and ran over to his wife. He dropped to his knees and embraced the beauty's legs.

"My insatiable joy. Only you and your blood will always excite my desires," the count let go of the woman's legs and quickly sat down beside her. "The girl is hopeless. I hate to say it, but I want to leave the city. If you don't mind. My dear."

"I don't mind and am only glad to leave this place. In the eyes of the descendants, I see shame for their weakness. They could not bail us out of trouble. In the eyes of the few friends, I see shame. We are all ashamed that we were unable to defeat the dragon. We need to leave the Grossroads and let the local children of the Night deal with the local problems," grinned the ancient vampiress.

"You want to meet this double. That I understand. But why don't you want to meet this young man?" Korwin looked intently into his wife's eyes.

The Countess did not answer immediately. She looked at the door and confessed.

"I don't want to take away a girl's right to such prey. I believe in the power of Kor's kind. Though Pine's daughter inspires apprehension."

"I spoke to Elgolas. We understand each other. A new generation is fighting for ancient secrets with a new generation. Kornelius and Elgolas are old friends and represent two of the biggest bore and schemer I have seen. Two bastards are stuck in Grossroads and in no hurry to go to the next world. They're not like us," the Count smiled. "They have no ancestral heritage."

"I hate the fact that they don't want it," laughed the vampiress. "It's decided. I will go and talk to this creature. Surely you won't disturb the human?"

"Of course not! I've had enough of the burden of two legacies. We owe it to our ancestors to carry out their will. The descendants have three weeks to prove their worth. I see no worthy children of the Night in this city," the Count kissed his wife's hand and finished his thought. "Grossroads has long ago become a boring old library for young children. We all hated libraries and dreamed of escaping into the dungeons to fight monsters. Some vampires don't grow up and are comfortable living in the library."

"Library. Childhood. What rude hints! Don't insult me with your hints. I know very well that a human double sits in the library, devouring knowledge of the world like a rabid mouse. He is a terrifying creature. And the girl is right. This double reeks of a thousand deaths," the Countess faked her fangs at her husband and cast an ancient spell.

It was one of the legacies of the elves of the Flexible Willow clan. A disguise of the highest level. Accessible to the youngest creature. The ancient vampiress used this skill with special pleasure. At Zangar Castle, her only regret was that she could not pass this skill on to her faithful servants. She could only pass on the legacy to one vampire of the Kor bloodline. Two invisible vampires proved incapable of killing the terrible monster. Countess died several times in the jaws of the dragon. She well remembered the horrible sensation of the terrible monster's teeth crashing into her body and tearing it to pieces.

Sometimes the Countess wanted to tear her young and stupid weak great-granddaughter to piec