Chapter 203: The Lost Vampire

Ezra strolled down to the park, the late morning sun filtering through the leaves and casting dappled shadows on the pavement.The meeting at the old museum had only firmed his resolve to leave First City as soon as possible.

His steps were unhurried as he looked around idly, searching for the man he was looking for.

A minute later, he found him.

Ezra made his way to the bench which was in the shade casted by the trees. The shade was dark with not a single ray of sunlight able to penetrate the thick canopy.

Ezra sighed as he sat, watching the scenery.

The trees stood like soldiers, their leaves shimmering in the sunlight, each one a shade of green and gold.

In the middle of the park was a large pond, its surface a mirror of blue and white, broken only by the occasional as a duck glided across or a fish surfaced briefly.

Ezra breathed deeply, letting the peace of the moment settle in his bones.

"Beautiful, isn't it?" X spoke from beside him.

The vampire had ditched his previous blue jeans and red hoodie. He now wore a bright blue, short-sleeved flower printed shirt, thick tan shorts and sandals. On his head was a wide-brimmed straw hat.

The most prominent change was the absence of the mask. X sat, relaxed, like a man on a vacation.

For Ezra, it was strange seeing such a peaceful expression on a face that his brain still told him was Griffin's.

"I never knew a day such as this would come." X chuckled softly. "A day where I can go where I want and do what I want at any time and any day."

He turned to look at Ezra.

"However, now that I'm this free, now that Griffin is dead," he paused, "I have no idea what to do anymore."

He turned back to watch the calm surface of the pond, sighing. "Funny, isn't it?"

Ezra sat there, not saying anything. This didn't seem like the time to talk.

"Do you know how Griffin became a prince? How I was created?" A leaf fell slowly from the canopy above to land on Griffin's outstretched palm. He turned the leaf over idly, playing with it.

"Just like Olivia, Griffin was one of the vampires who lived through the Death Wave. During those times before the death wave, vampires were plentiful and had more freedom."

"Griffin belonged to a very large coven. Not the ones we have today but the old ones. The covens in which several harems come together to create."

Ezra's brows rose. He hadn't even known that there were older kinds of covens.

You learn something new everyday.

"Griffin was the weakest leader but it didn't matter. One of his great grand uncles was the strongest. Having two male vampires so close in generations is rare among vampires so as you can imagine, they were close."

X began tearing parts of the leaf in his hand, trying to create a stick figure.

"His great uncle acquired clues to a relic and took him along. After braving a lot of dangers, his grand uncle claimed the ninth of the fourteen. Imago."

X gave up on his image, ripped the leaf to shreds and picked up another leaf.

"On their way back, they were attacked by another prince. That's when they learnt that when a relic is claimed, the other princes can sense it and if they're close enough, identify the new prince." S~eaʀᴄh the ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

He turned to look at Ezra.

"Luckily for you, none of the princes was close enough to First City to be able to identify you. Or else, they would've come for you. The only thing better than a relic is two relics. With two relics, they'll have a higher claim on the progenitor's throne and a bigger chance of finding it."

"Griffin and his uncle learnt that the hard way."

Ezra watched X calmly, taking in that bit of information. He had been so close to being killed by another prince. That was then and this is now. Now, he could at least put up a fight or retreat with his teleportation.

"Do you remember the day you were shot in the head at that warehouse?" X asked abruptly.

Ezra's mind immediately went back to that incident. How could he forget? He had been delirious and had attacked everyone indiscriminately.

"Do you remember how Malachi almost ripped Valaren from inside of you?" X asked and Ezra nodded. "There are a few vampire artifacts that can separate a prince from his relic if the integration process isn't complete. All you need to do first, is to remove their will to resist. Hence, the headshot."

"The same thing was done to Griffin's grand uncle. Half of Imago was stolen by the prince and Griffin held on to the other half."

"Imago was made to be a counter to Speculum, the second relic but with half, Griffin couldn't realize its full potential."

"Imago was similar to the eight ring ability Avatar. Instead of creating a perfect copy of you with the same everything, Imago allows you to create copies of yourself that can wield different abilities. You could have hundreds of you running around, each with a unique ability and all with the same purpose. They were all you."

"But with only half, Griffin's Imago created avatars that start as him but as time goes on, diverge to become their own person. They wanted things for themselves and not for him. When he realized that, he began chaining the souls of his avatars to himself."

"After becoming a fourth ring vampire and beginning his search for the Ascension well, he realized how large the gulf of power was between himself and the powerful princes. He began to create tattoos that will mimic the higher ringed abilities."

"Like the red chains. The minotaur tattoo was created to mimic the sixth ring ability, Dominion. His voice tattoo was created to mimic the ninth ring ability, Authority. Coupled with Imago, he now possessed weak sixth, eighth and ninth ring abilities as a fifth ring vampire."

"The only reason we could kill him was because he was already weak due to wanting to ascend to the sixth ring."

"Griffin created me sorely to guard him during his ascension. After his ascension, I would have been discarded like a rag."

"Now that I've averted my fate, I find myself at a loss."

He stood from the bench, Ezra following suit.

"So, tell me, Ezra Matten." X turned to Ezra. "What do I do now?"