The moonlight shined through the windows to a manor within the city of Drakis--the capital of The Kingdom of Draconia. The palace built into the mountainside could be seen clear as day off in the distance through the windows. To the west of the castle rose the Draconian Magical Academy, a center of magical learning since the fall of the Exalted Empire ages ago.

Tenebrae scoffed at it all. The Draconian stared out the window. Her eyes narrowed in a glare. Her golden eyes sliding between the structures, and her darkened wings quivered in annoyance. She turned and walked off, making her way deeper into her home. It was almost time for the meeting, and she didn’t have time to dwell on her personal grudges.

Reaching over, Tenebrae grasped her staff, the soft glassy surface calming her demeanor, and at her touch, the staff lit up. A purple light emanated from the staff’s body, revealing that center contained some liquid. Several black stones floated inside the liquid encased in the glassy surface and eliminated purple light.

After enjoying the rush of once again wielding the staff, Tenebrae turned and threw a cloak over her form, disguising her features before she walked forward into the dining room of her home. The table was large enough to seat well over a dozen people comfortably. Engraved on the table were two dragons circling one another and blowing breaths of flames.

Tenebrae raised a single hand, forming a tether of mana between her raised hand and the staff’s liquid core. Several purple beams shot out from her hand, striking the various chairs that surrounded the table. After hitting their targets, a glowing purple silhouette formed around each of the seats. The spell in itself was a summoning and projection spell. However, the downside was the amount of power needed to cast--and sustain the magic was high. It latched onto the target individuals’ essence, pulling their consciences and a silhouette of their body to the marked place, allowing the caster to meet with others despite them being across the continent. The Draconian glanced over at the staff and watched as one of the black gems within disappeared. Tenebrae felt a pang of pity at the loss--they were difficult to find en masse, though in due time, she’d have all the resources she desired to make more.

The first to arrive was the individual on the opposite end of the table--Lograin, leader of the cult of Cezara and their little group’s originator. The Cult of Cezara was a dangerous lot, obsessed with war, as massive conflict brought droves of new followers to their goddess, her domain being War and Conflict. Their cult had grown weak over the years, but with the recent formation of Sanguinium, they planned to drive the Empire of Nimastar and the vampires to war.

The next to arrive was Sunlight--at least that was the name he gave. From what Tenebrae knew, he was a noble of the Empire, and he wished to bring forth the war so they could route the Kingdom of Sanguinium and slaughter the vampires. While he was not the only member of the empire involved in their plot o start a war between the nations, he was the leader of those directly plotting to start the war. A few moments later, Moonlight arrived. She was Sunlight’s counterpart, not only in name but also in the fact that she was from Sanguinium. From what Tenebrae knew of her, she had a deep hatred of humans--and the empire specifically. She believed the only way to show the world that vampires had a rightful place in it would be to topple the empire in open conflict. Of course, like Tenebrae, their features were all covered and hidden behind cloaks. While they were allies, for the time being, they were far from friends.

“Lograin, Sunlight, Moonlight, greetings.” Tenebrae began as she gazed out from underneath her cloak at the others.

“Shadow, it’s a pleasure to meet your acquaintance as always. Though I’ve heard you’ve been having some difficulties in regards to our plot in Draconia, haven’t we?” Lograin began.

While Sunlight and Moonlight didn’t get along, Tenebrae did not get along with Lograin--he hated how much they had to rely on her and her magic to keep their plot a secret.

“So your little followers were able to relay to you some more useless information? Yes, the First Princess of Draconia, Rinora, and Second Prince, Vortax, raided another one of our little warehouses. This was not a surprise; I let you all know last time. The Draconian royal family was catching on to our activities. Out of all the kingdoms, Draconia is the least important to our plots yet has caught on. Still, they’re furiously searching for more evidence to learn the full breadth of our plans, so we need to act more cautiously in the land of dragons. I left a few duds for them to check up on, but I imagine they’ll sniff out another real location soon.”

Tenebrae turned her attention away from the cultist, her attention shifting towards the man from the Empire. “Sunlight, tell me, are the rumors true? Did the Sanguinium diplomat go missing as planned?” Tenebrae inquired about her attention, focusing on the Nimistarian. When the fate of the Sanguinium diplomat was confirmed, Tenebrae noticed that Moonlight shifted uncomfortably.

“Of course, the diplomat was right where Moonlight told me. Honestly, I was a little surprised that a bloodsucker would tell the truth.” He commented, his attention shifted over towards Moonlight.

Moonlight let out a guttural growl as their attention focused on Sunlight. “I dislike hurting my kind, especially one I’ve known for years, but he was a peace-loving fool. The only way bastards like yourself will accept us if we make you understand your place.”

“Your place is in the ground dead, burned to a crisp, or crucified and left to rot.” Sunlight retorted, a small scoff escaping his lips as he spoke.

This was the issue they had since Tenebrae joined their ranks--Lograin enjoyed their conflict and did little to impede their arguments. Tenebrae, however, would not stand for it.

“Silence. I don’t care if you hate each other. I don’t care how much you want to tear the others' entrails out and parade them through the streets. We have business to discuss, and we don’t have time to deal with your petty jabs at one another. Save it for when you’re at war, then you two can kill one another all you like.” Tenebrae stated before her attention shifted to the side.

After Tenebrae called the two out, there was a moment of silence, and they glared at one another before Lograin spoke. “Well, while that was lovely, I think Shadow has a point. We should get back on topic. Moonlight, we’re running low on vampire blood. Do you think you could round us up some more? We’ll need to replenish the stock that was lost in Draconia.”

“You go through more blood than even we vampires do, Lograin. I’ll get you more, but it won’t be as much as last time. If I gather too much, the other lords might suspect I’m making more vampires than the blood economy can handle.”

“Well, they wouldn’t be wrong, would they?” Sunlight commented. This time it seemed he made an effort to keep his snarkiness to a minimum.

“They aren’t vampires. They’re just sacrificial pawns for the betterment of the vampiric race.” Moonlight retorted before letting out a small scoff.

“Perfect.” Tenebrae stated before shifting her attention back to Lograin. “If you need more blood, then I presume the next batch is ready on your end then?”

“Of course, we’ll be taking the vampires to several locations within the empire and releasing them. There are few things better at starting a war than causing the peasants to get in an uproar.”

Their plan was relatively simple. The empire was already rife with fear of the vampires. So they planned to exacerbate that fear by letting loose starved vampires across the country. So far, their efforts had been successful, even turning some lords who called for peace into those who called for war. They planned to try something similar within Draconia, but the royal family caught on rather quickly and squashed that plan. While Draconia would never go to war, they hoped to keep the Draconians neutral until the later stages.

“Oh yes, I think I have something else to report--the Emperor, Leanor, according to my sources, has once again fallen ill. I don’t think he’ll live all that much longer.”

This was undoubtedly good news; Leanor was a pacifist and did all he could to soothe relations--and in the end, it would all be for naught. “Well, that is certainly good news. If he keeps recovering, we may need to take matters into our own hands.” Lograin commented, his shoulders rolling in a small shrug. Assassinating the Emperor had been something that had been brought up before, but they dismissed it each time. Still, with every passing meeting, it was becoming a more and more promising option.

“Of course, we mention that every time. If it seems that we need to do that, then we will. However, for now, we should keep our cards close. If our plot gets revealed now, then we will all be strung up and hung.”

With that, their meeting was at an end, and Tenebrae waved her hand, cutting the magic that brought their minds to this place and letting them return to their mortal bodies.

“Fools, all of them.” Tenebrae commented softly once the room was filled with darkness once more, and her attention shifted to the side, and she walked out of the room.

They were all trying to use one another, trying to manipulate the other members to make sure their side had the upper hand. She’d witnessed it before. Sunlight sabotaged their plans when he learned Sanguinium discovered a new mithril vein hidden under lake Savartha’s depths. Moonlight sabotaged their efforts when a massive storm forced its way over the coastline and into the depths of Sanguinium, causing frantic flooding and damages across the land. Even Lograin sabotaged their plans if he felt one side would have an advantage over the other. As such, Tenebrae hated it all--that was because she wanted the war to begin. From there, she’d have all the resources she’d ever need, and no one would ever dare call her a bastard again...

Elsewhere sat a woman on a throne, her hair and a greenish teal color visible in the torchlight room. Visible underneath the teal hair was a pair of pointed ears, and her eyes were a blood-red hue as she looked down at the open space before her. She wore an elegant red dress that accented her womanly figure. Right above her bust, embedded into the red dress, there was a deep red gem, and top of her forehead was a small tiara which also contained a jewel of the same make.

In one of her hands, she held a wine glass with a red liquid. When she raised it to her lips, it flowed slightly slower than a typical liquid would.

Eight pillars went upwards, four on either side that held the ceiling up. There were heavily armored knights that stood silent, unmoving while on duty in front of each pillar. After a few moments of silence, an individual entered the hall. He, much like the woman on the throne, had pointed ears, but his skill was pale, to the point where he was pure white. His eyes were a crystal blue shade, and his hair was also a pristine shade of white.

As he arrived a few meters from the throne, he knelt before the woman and spoke in a low, respectful tone.

“Duchess Bloodmyre, I’ve gotten word that the ambassador to the Empire has disappeared. I imagine foul play is involved.” He stated, his head hanging low.

The woman on the throne let out a low, annoyed growl as she took another sip of the drink. “It seems that someone is doing their best to circumvent our efforts at peace. Our King won’t send another diplomate if this one truly turns out to be dead. We have no choice but to suspect that there is an informant among the high lords--they were the only ones who knew what route the diplomat had been sent along.” The woman said before rolling her shoulders in a small shrug.

“Everything seems a bit too strange--have you heard the tidings from the empire? Vampires have been attacking local villages. From the reports I’ve received, these vampires seemed to have been starved and were almost feral. It’s unlikely that so many of our kin would be able to fast for that long. If I had to guess, they’re being forced into that state.”

“I think you’re correct, Duchess Bloodmyre. I’ve received a report that in Draconia, there was a raid that rescued several vampires who were being kept in cages and starved. Still, I’ve yet to ascertain the validity of this report.”

The woman on the throne let out another growl as she set her glass on the table. “Of course, if our enemies are trying to corner us, they'll want to make sure Draconia is against us as well. However, it seems that the dragon-kin aren’t as clueless as the humans. Regardless, Iceacar, I have a new mission for you.”

“Anything else, my lady, what is your will today?”

“I want you to head to the empire; you’re my best infiltrator. I want you to look into this matter--and see what you can learn. I also want you to help any vampires fleeing to Sanguinium, though don’t help them to the point that your life is endangered.”

The snow elf nodded before his attention focused upwards. “Yes, my lady. May I request a bloodstone--it may help keep my cover while traveling within the empire if I am seen.”

The woman on the throne contemplated for a moment--bloodstones were expensive, excessively so. However, they did allow a vampire to walk in sunlight and ignore the effects of it completely.

“Very well. You may take one of the bloodstones in the armory. We should have a new batch arriving if all goes well with the enchanting.”

“Thank you, my lady. Is there anything else I should be aware of before I head off on my mission?”

“No, there is nothing else. If you do manage to find any flee vampires, tell them to head to me, in Arvanost; if war does break out, we’ll need as many of our kin as we can get.”

With that, the white-haired elf nodded before rising and heading out.

“I was hoping for another decade of peace before we had to fight for our place.” she mused softly to herself before reaching down, grasping the glass and raising it to her lips, draining the entire thing empty.

One thing was for sure--whoever was torturing vampires, she was going to find them and make them pay. Even more so if one of the other High Lords was involved...