Chapter 83: The Voltaris Empire[1](Bonus)
The sun was barely out for the last few days, the weather was nice and cool as their ship drifted aimlessly on the sea.
Xior sat on the deck deep in thought as Acheron continued to tease him. He wanted to tell them about Acheron as quickly as possible but he couldn’t find the right time to do so.
’I am going to tell them about you.’ He said to her in his mind.
’You’ve been saying that for three days now, you’re really indecisive.’ She chuckled and her voice echoed in his mind.
He got up from where he sat and walked towards the women who were as bored as him.
"Guys, I want to tell you all something." He said and studied their faces.
"What is it, dear?" Alice replied with a smile.
Xior channeled mana into the ring on his hand, it glowed red and a red light erupted from it, which was blinding everyone.
Then a figure formed among the light, as as the light disappeared a short woman with a petite body, long white hair, red eyes which felt like rubies and two small fangs in her mouth.
She was breath taking, her skin smooth without any blemishes, "meet Acheron, our newest group member." Xior said.
Meeka’s eyes widened, her face, her fangs and her appearance matched the appearance of the vampires her father talked about.
Alice took a step back, she was from the Rabbit Tribe. Her instincts kicked in as she saw Acheron as a predator worse than any predator she had seen.
Beatrice felt pulled towards her, maybe it was because Acheron too lived for a long time in the Abyss and knew of the Nameless.
Becca on the other hand was enraged, the moment Acheron materialized Becca put a hand on the hilt of her sword.
Just the mere presence of her was enough to make Becca tremble and resort to cut her down.
But she didn’t do anything, unlike what they had anticipated. She waved her hand in the air with a smile.
It was a happy smile, an exaggerated smile and a ridiculous smile because she too was nervous meeting so many people.
"So...you really are a vampire." Meeka said. "My father told me a bed time story about them, always claiming they were myths."
"My name is Acheron Sanguis Tenebris, just call me Acheron. Vampires have been around for over two millennia now." Acheron replied with a smile.
She looked younger than all of the women but in fact she was the oldest one, having spent two millennia.
"I’m Meeka, a princess of the Voltaris Empire and the next in line." She replied.
"Voltaris Empire, huh? I’m surprised to see it hasn’t fallen down yet." Acheron muttered.
"Huh? What do you mean by that Acheron?"
"Nothing, let’s not dwell on the past."
Becca kept quiet as Acheron talked to the others, her gaze followed her everywhere. She was on edge because of her and she didn’t want others to get hurt.
Acheron was done with the others and walked towards Becca, seeing that Becca’s body tensed. She thought that Acheron had seen through what she was going to do but Acheron only smiled and extended her hand for a hand shake.
Becca hesitated but eventually gave in, the others trusted her and so she would too give her a chance.
*****’
A few more days go by and they finally see land in the distance, it’s not an island this time but a huge coastal line stretching beyond what they could see.
"There, that village has a small dock." Meeka said.
"Finally, I am not getting on a boat again anytime soon." Alice muttered while she leaned on the side of the boat and looked at the waves that crashed against the hull.
After a month of aimless journey on the sea, they finally were near land. After some time they docked the ship at the dock.
Two knights who wore silver armor stopped them from leaving their ships.
"Identify yourselves and state your reason to visit." One of the knights said as he held his sword in hand.
Meeka stepped forward while she fished for something in her pocket, then she pulled out a circular crest with the symbol of the Volatris’s ruling family.
They quickly recognized the crest and bowed down, "my apologies your Highness, I greet the princess Meeka of Voltaris Empire."
"Get up, tell me what part of the Empire we are in currently, as you can see I was on a sea expedition but ended up being stranded before these people came to help me." She said while she pointed towards the rest of the group.
"Your Highness, we’re on the western most side of the Empire." The knight replied, still bowing down.
"Alright, thank you." Meeka smiled and started walking towards the village as the others followed.
As she walked the people who had heard the knight’s declaration bowed before her, one of the old fishermen walked towards her and bowed slightly before he gave her a map which pointed towards the capital—their destination.
After resting at the village they are given horses to ride as walking would be arduous of a task.
Not far from the village they saw ruined farmlands, as if nothing had ever been planted on them.
The surroundings were barren, no grass—only pollution caused by something. Day changed into night as the moon hung on the sky, they stopped and started setting up a camp to spend the night.
Travelling at night was a dangerous thing already but with them surrounded by nothing but a barren plain, they would’ve been easy targets for bandits.
"You guys rest, I’ll keep watch for the night. I’m in no mood to sleep tonight." Xior declared.
Everyone nodded their heads as they trusted him enough to leave it to him. He sat down on the cold hard ground and looked at the night sky above as the stars shone brightly.
Acheron materialized beside him and leaned her head on his shoulder, as she too looked up at the night sky and admired the beauty of the stars.