VLADIMIR: The Last Blood Mage

I Am A Demon

Chelsea looked at me with shock in her eyes trying to catch her breath. I could not tell if she was blushing or still trying to catch her breath because her face was beet red.

"Vladimir...".

The ride was a long one. Longer than it was when we were heading to the academic bureau's land. Chelsea was quiet; sometimes she glanced at me but she would look away if I caught her staring then she would blush every time harder than the last.

The carriage was silent and peaceful, too peaceful. ' where was the killing intent I felt the time we were going?'. I asked myself.

AFTER SOME TIME...

We got to the mansion, and immediately she was helped down by Gilbert whose eye contact with me was somewhat dreadful with a trace of shock. She disappeared into her chambers.

Before I could enter the mansion a servant ran up to me and informed me. "My lord Marshall sends for you".

"Now?".

"Yes".

"All alright then". I left the servant and walked into the mansion towards the study of which majestic engraving still marvelled me at that time. I stopped in front of the big brown hardwood door.

"Come in". a familiar deep melancholy voice sounded within me.

I entered the room after the door opened itself, it was as though I was experiencing Deja Vu. Lord Marshall was standing in front of the window behind his desk, facing the mansion's big black gate. "Please have a sit, Vladimir".

"Yes. Thank you, milord". I walked forward and sat down on the chair in front of me.

Lord Marshall turned around walked towards his chair and sat down. "I have a message for you from the academic bureau". Pulling out a sealed scroll he handed it over to me.

"Open it it's for you". He leaned back into his chair and took a more relaxed pose as I proceeded to open the sealed scroll.

**** The scroll read that I, as a result of my unusual score on the test, would be admitted to the central continent's academy for further investigations ****

After reading the letter I closed it and handed it back to lord Marshall. "No keep it, you will need it to enter the Central Continents School of Magic".

"Thank you, milord". I withdrew my hand with the scroll in it.

"Vladimir boy, what did you say happened to your parents again?". Lord Marshall asked in a calm collected royal voice. Something was up.

"Milord, I never met my parents I don't remember them. I lived with my grandmother until she died a year ago". I told him the truth about what I had grown up with.

His face became solemn as he asked me. " Let me see... apart from your parents dying before you had matured, nothing else happened to you that is out of the natural?".

"No, nothing at all". I reassured him.

"It's alright. You may leave and keep that scroll safe. It's the only one, if it gets lost you will have to wait for next year".

"Thank you for the heads up, milord". I bowed and left the room.

"Is he telling me the truth? Or does he not remember? Is he hiding the truth from me?".

When I got outside of the study, I walked briskly to my chamber to take a cool bath. After I had taken my bath and worn my sleeping clothes.

I was already seated on my bed about to lay down and sleep, but something kept me thinking.

"Hey, freeloader! Are you awake?".

"Did you just call me, a deity, a freeloader?".

"So? that's what you are, but enough of that I have something to ask you".

"You sure are a crazy young man, but be free to ask your questions".

"Did you enter into a pact with someone else before me?".

"Jealous are we? No, I didn't enter a pact with anyone before you. your predecessor was a poor and hungry man who came to me by chance. And as a deity, I gracefully granted him power and wealth". The voice in my head explained.

"I am not jealous, you crazy being. Another thing what am I? I mean what did you do to me?". I was so curious at that time, that I just had to ask.

"How do I put it... you are me and I am you. We share the same soul now. That's how I brought you to life". The voice in my head boasted.

"Alright, so if we are one what are you?".

"I am a god. The god of death. To put it simply I control people's death and I take them to the afterlife".

"All alright, answer this question... if you are a deity of death? does it mean I am also a deity of death?". I asked.

"No, it means you are an angel of death... A more fun name though THE BLOOD DEMON". The voice in my head stated the fact with so much intensity that my insides began to churn from discomfort. Thank goodness I was the only one hearing this.

"I am a demon?". This was big news.

"Well technically... but not yet you still need to learn the basics, don't worry I will guide you".

"OK, so the crystal ball glowed because I have blood magic?".

"Yes, but that ball was so crude... when you advance I'll help you know what your capabilities are. And forget what that man had told you, I mean the floating man that gave you my heart".

"You know him!?". I wondered what else this deity was not telling me.

"Yes, he is your predecessor. I gave him second-rate knowledge he did not have enough potential to use my heart to its highest threshold. But you do because we share souls".

"I don't know what to say now". At this point I was flabbergasted.

"You don't need to say anything, just allow me to lead you".

"Alright I don't have any choice, do I?".

"NO, and good night".

After my conversation with the deity in my head I was about to lay down and sleep when I heard a knock on the door to my room.

"Come in". The door opened and the first thing I saw was blue locks of hair then a familiar face.

"Are you busy?". Asked Chelsea in an unintentional but extremely coquettish manner.

"Not at all, please do come in". Chelsea entered the room with utmost caution as though she were entering a dangerous place. She walked slowly and stood in front of me. This was a feast of my eyes and a stimulant for my dragon.

' if only you would let my dragon enter your den '.

Chelsea stood in front of me. " I have something to tell you". she said.

Still, on my sitting on my bed, I looked up to face Chelsea. "I am all ears, my lady. Would you not sit down?". I asked.

"No let's go out There is something want to show you as well". She extended her hand for me to take.

I took her hand and she led me to her chamber. At this point I was already imagining the positions we would be in, my dragon was already on the verge of bursting out of my sleeping clothes.

We kept walking deeper into her bedroom. This was the point I was waiting for, if she was the one that would initiate it why would I not accept her?

We kept walking and she opened a door leading into her tiny library. 'What the...?' I thought we were about to... What was I even thinking? She was the daughter of a lord.

She stopped abruptly. "What is it?". I asked as I was very curious to know why she had stopped.

"I am about to show you something... Something you would have to take to your grave, Give me your word that you would keep this a secret". Chelsea was solemn.

I had to think this through, but I knew Chelsea would never tell me something like that if it was not important to her. "I Vladimir give you my word to never let what you are about to show me, be known to another".

"All alright, my mother before she died was a terramancer, a Baron level mage. And this was her chamber. My father gave it to me as I reminded him of my mother whom he loved so much... ". she paused.

"Go on I am listening". I urged her, She had already piqued my interest

"Alright, so my mother was a high-level mage. From what I heard about her from my father, she had an obsession with hidden history". Chelsea moved towards the shelf closest to her and pulled a book out of place, pulled another one, and pulled the third book from different levels of the shelf. Then she put them back in ways different than how they were when we came.

-- crackkkk, whizz, whizz, --

The shelf made some weird noises and the ground in front of the shelf opened up. Leading through a flight of stairs into a dark place... underground.

"Don't tell me you are scared; Come on let's go". Chelsea took a torch hanging from the wall and lit it up with a pair of flint stones. And started walking deeper into the darkness.

We walked for a long time, and the stairs still did not end. The fire torch couldn't even help, and the flight of stairs was still dark, I looked behind and all I could see was gloaming darkness.

"Are we not there yet?". I had to ask. It seemed we were walking for what seemed like hours on these spiral flights of stairs.

"We are almost there, Don't tell me you are already tired?".

"No, but I need to sleep. If I had known this was what you called me out for I would have declined".

"Here it is!". Chelsea exclaimed.

"Finally". we had gotten to the end of the stairs and entered what seemed to be a large underground meeting room... No, it was too big to be a simple meeting room. It looked colossal, not in height though, but I covered a wide expanse of land.

"How come no one knows about this place?". I had to ask Chelsea because this was almost as big as the whole manor.

"My father knows about it, but he doesn't know how I usually get in here, let's hurry before he notices that we are here". Chelsea walked faster to the huge door that was its entrance. And pushed it, it was surprisingly light for its size and Chelsea opened it without as much as breaking a sweat.

---swoosh--

"Come on we don't have all day!". Chelsea urged me on.

"Alright am coming".

We walked into the stone structure and the whole place was empty, left for a stone altar on which was a large book.

It looked familiar, I knew I had seen this book before... At least something that looked like it." This is the book your father's statue is holding in to center of the villa.

"Yes that is correct, this is the book in the hands of the statue in front of the mansion. My best guess is that my mother found this place by mistake ".

"Have you tried opening the book?". I asked.

"Yes once or twice but could only open the first few pages, it spoke of a man. A great man, a king. His name is Kozak, he was a saguimancer. He lived a thousand years ago. That's the only thing I could get from the book".

"That's all?.".

"Well no, that's why I brought you here, at the last accessible page I stated that only a saguimancer could gain its knowledge and wield its power".

"So you want me to open it?".

"Yes, that's why I brought you here".

"I mean what's the worst that could happen?". I walked towards the book and began to open its pages and it confirmed what Chelsea had told me, I began flipping through the pages, and the whole place was silent the only sound reverberating throughout the hall. At a point I think Chelsea forgot to breathe I was getting closer and closer...

"Ahh!".

I obtained a cut from flipping the pages. it was not a small cut as expected, it was deep as though I was cut by a knife. Within a short time, my blood had stopped flowing and the cut had healed but something else happened.

The blood that had dripped from the cut had fallen on the altar and was now tracing a weird pattern.

I turned to Chelsea who also had a confused facial expression. "Is this normal? Is it supposed to happen?".

"I don't know...".

Before she could complete her words, she was cut short by the altar's glow of a luminous red light. Sounds... weird sounds coming out of the altar filled the whole hall.

---Shrrriiii, wooiiii---

"We should run!". Chelsea screamed at me in panic.

"No, I feel this would lead to something".

"Let's go!!".

"YOU WON'T LEAVE THIS PLACE". The unfamiliar, gruff but loud voice that sounded like thunder came out of my mouth, I was no longer in control of my body, the deity inside me had possessed me.

The big book on the altar glowed an ever more luminous light and floated into the air.