The Counsel of Vampires:

The Counsel of Vampires:

    Iron landed at the front door of a mansion. And rather then politely knocking, he kicked in the door. There were vampires on the other side. And they prepared themselves to fight at first sight of him. For the longest time, no one said a word or moved.

“Where’s Vincent?” Iron finally started, “I’m looking for some information.”

“On what?” One of the Vampires asked.

“Soul-eaters.” He replied.

            They all reeled back and hissed at the word.

“Is there a problem?” Iron asked.

“Soul-eaters are foul creatures; that is the problem!” An older voice called out. 

The other vampires began to move aside for the eldest vampire of the house, Vincent.

“Tell me dragon, why have you returned to our house and speak of such foul things. We have followed our end of our treaty.”

“Sir, I need information on Soul-eaters. One has taken the soul of my lover and their must be something I can do? I’ve come here to seek your help for I know you have this information.”

“Yes dragon, I do have the information you seek. Please, come with me.”

            And so Iron followed Vincent though several hallways to his office.

“Please sit down.” Vincent said to him.

Iron sat down in a chair in front of Vincent’s desk. Vincent went into a small frig and got himself a bag of blood.

“I hope you don’t mind if I have some blood, I’m starving.” He said as he sat down at his desk across from Iron.

“So long as you don’t mind if I take off my boots. My feet are very uncomfortable at the moment.”

“I so pose that’s a fair trade. Can I get you anything?”

“No. I’m fine. Thank you.”

            Vincent drank some of his blood, while Iron took the opportunity to take his boots off and then slouched a bit in his chair.  It was silent for another moment, and then Vincent said,

“I am very interested in your story of how you came across a Soul-eater. I would love to hear it. What do you say, dragon? You tell me your story in exchange for my information.”

“With all due respect sir, I don’t have enough time to tell you the whole story.”

“How much time do you have?”

“About a day, more or less.”

“Give me a brief recap of what happened.”

            So Iron began telling him about his fight with Crystal and how he had been asleep the last two weeks. Soon his story came to an end.”

“Interesting.” Vincent said, “But may I ask why you seem very relaxed at this very moment?”

“I’m not. I just need my information and then I’m gonna bolt out of here like a ‘bat out of hell’ as they say.”

“Very well, you’ve upheld your end of the bargain, and now I will uphold mine. The Soul-eaters are a nasty breed. Their species are cousins to ours such as humans are to chimps and Apes.  But unlike us vamps, Soul-eaters drain you of your soul rather then your blood. We thought that they were extinct, but apparently not. They have three forms; a human form, a vampire-like form, and a terrible beastly form similar to your ancestors.”

“Are they like a cross-breed of a sort?”

“No. They are a deadly breed all their own. Most don’t survive encountering one.”

“But they can be killed. You said so yourself.”  

“Yes they can. But it is very hard to do. Only a skilled warrior such as you might stand a chance against it.”

“Tell me; is there a way to save Crystal?”

            Vincent took a sip of blood.

“There is, but it won’t be easy. You must kill this Soul-eater and return her soul to her body before it dies. Should her body die before her soul is returned….she will be lost forever and trapped.”

“Trapped?”

“If a soul does not die with its body, the soul is trapped to wander this world until it is sent to a heaven. How do you think ghosts appeared?”

“I see. So how do I find this Soul-eater?”

“You leave that to me. I am going to call fourth a meeting of the ‘Council of Vampires’ to find this creature.”

“Sir you have my thanks and gratitude. How can I repay you?”