Isaac P.O.V.
Sitting here gazing over my city, all I could think of was ways of getting to the three who killed my master. No matter how beautiful the sunset over the buildings, no matter how comfortable the silence that surrounded me, the three of them swam through my memories and assaulted my senses. Revenge for my fallen master was all I could think on, and I could tell it was consuming me.
I could have helped him, so why did he send me away? My master seemed to falter when he heard his son was among those who came to end his life, and I could understand a little of his feeling. Not that I shared his sentiments completely, but when the thought of having a member of your own family decide that you need to die for your beliefs comes to mind, even I would have a moment of doubt. And with that so-called war council constantly complaining, not to mention Carmilla making her own plans behind his back while trying to recruit both Hector and myself, I could also understand why my master believed that he had no choice but defend himself. But I still would have been by his side, even in death.
Through everything that's happened, my inner musings still reflected my earlier convictions. I believe that Carmilla's incessant pandering to my master while trying to turn anyone to her way of thinking caused many problems that could have been avoided by simply removing her head from her shoulders. And I would do that as soon as I'm able.
"Isaac," a gravelly voice I recognized as Flyseyes called from behind me, "the rest of the corpses have been buried, as requested."
"Thank you," I responded while overlooking the area where the corpses were buried. A vast graveyard filled with unmarked mass graves of people I didn't need to remember surrounded this kingdom of mine; a kingdom filled with people who would follow my instructions to exact my revenge and find my way back to my master.
"What else would you have us do this day, Isaac?" Flyseyes asked. "We have completed your set tasks and brought you the corpses you asked for. They're ready in the chamber for you."
"It has indeed been an eventful day," I mused. "I will finish the work this evening and make preparations for our departure to Styria."
"I thought you'd go back to Dracula's castle first, Isaac," Flyseyes said.
"I don't believe there's anything to gain there," I said. "His son and those two murderers were attacking when Dracula sent me away. I assume that they were successful because my master hasn't found me." I sighed heavily at the thought of my master's death. His plan would have come to fruition had it not been for his son's interference. I could understand his son's trepidation at the idea of killing off the humans, as his mother was one, but that should have come second to obeying his father's wishes. He could have taken a few of his favorite humans and kept them safe instead of coming between my master and his plans.
"I believe that going to Dracula's castle would be a waste of time...for now. Now, however, I can go to Carmilla's castle and destroy her for trying to usurp power from my master. Her incessant conniving and back stabbing is what caused his downfall. Had she but kept her mouth shut and expressed her concerns in a constructive way instead of trying to turn his generals away from his plan, things would have gone much more smoothly. Instead, she wanted to crown herself as ruler and get the rest of the generals to follow her lead."
"Isn't it the way of the humans to betray one another?" Flyseyes asked. "It was true of those who betrayed me to the Church. Those who had followed my words suddenly becoming faithful to the Church were the ones who helped send me to my grave, of which I am grateful to you for bringing me back from."
I chuckled mirthlessly. "It is indeed the way of humans to betray, but it is even more so for vampires. My master was the lord of all because he was the progenitor of all. He is the one that they come from, which essentially makes them nothing more than half vampires. The generals have lived long enough to gather rumors and legends of their existence, nothing more."
"That would make them a bit covetous, wouldn't it?" Flyseyes uttered, a tiny amount of humor laced through his voice. I'm not sure he can laugh as humans do, but this is yet another stray thought since this one chose to speak.
"Covetous is definitely one thing they would be." We made our way to a room lit only with three candles and sat down. I pulled a cask of water and a cup to my seat and poured a glass. "Those generals, some of which were fiercely loyal, were not only covetous of my master's position, but of the riches his castle held. There were many spell books, gold and jewels he kept hidden, ones even I could never have found, that the others would wish to have. Carmilla was not the only one who would search the castle when my master was closeting himself in his chambers."
"He must have missed his lady wife indeed." I looked to Flyseyes for a moment before turning my eyes back to my cup. I watched the candlelight dance across the water's surface and found myself tapping my finger at the side of the cup just to cause ripples for the reflection to bob and weave over.
"He did. I did not believe that it was possible for a vampire to love, much less give that love to a human. It seemed impossible considering my own experiences, but every day he would confide in me his reasons for the war against humans and his reasons for doing so. He would relate stories of his wife when he was far deeper in his cups than he thought. And, while he seemed most melancholy and grieved over his memories, I could hear the amount of respect, adoration and love of that human woman in his voice."
"Perhaps," Flyseyes said, "you should venture to Dracula's castle instead." I looked up to his face and began to ask why, but he'd beat me to it.
"I think that if what you say is true about Carmilla and her plans, lying in wait there would be the better plan. From the way you've described it, the castle would be large enough to hide all of us night creatures, so she would have no idea of the number waiting for her."
"This is very true," I had to admit. "This idea does have merit. I will think on it and make a decision. Give me time." He simply nodded and left the room.
I sat in the room alone now, picking through the bowl of dates that sat on the table while thinking over every piece of my plan. Yes, going after Carmilla was the main part of my plan, but what of the son? What of the two hunters that were with him? Should I go after them first? Or should I just go for the main enemy and save them for later? Should I try to find out if my master survived? What if he did?I called out to Flyseyes and waited until he stuck his head back through the door.
"Your suggestion does have merit," I admitted. "We will start out in the morning and make our way there. If nothing else, we may find some weapons we can use."
"Very good, master," Flyseyes responded. If I didn't know better, I would swear that he smiled.
"Make sure everyone hunts before we leave. We won't be stopping on the way there."
I decided that I should get some rest, my mind wandering was giving me a headache. One thing did stand out, though: What if my master did survive? He wouldn't have fallen to those humans as easily, so there was a glimmer of hope for his continued existence. And, if that is the case, I could also provide him with another army to protect him from Carmilla.
And perhaps Flyseyes was partially right. She would have had to go somewhere, with Hector in tow, to gather an army in case my master did survive. She would try to takeover Braila, as she repeatedly attempted to get others to insist Dracula do, first to make sure she had plenty of food before she would even try anything else, so that would give me even more time I would need to check for Dracula and build an army of my own.
Hector, that adult child, was a gifted Forgemaster, there was no doubt about that. His problem wasn't in his natural talent, but his convictions. He treated his creatures as pets rather than the warriors they came from. It was the highest level of disrespect to a warrior to be treated as such and often nearly resulted in his death had it not been for me. It was easy to see that Carmilla was trying to turn him against our master, and it didn't surprise me when she managed it. He fell for her lies as I'd expected. Childish little man that he was.
Before I closed my eyes I thought through my decision. I would indeed take Flyseyes counsel to heart and travel to Dracula's castle. It would be a bit difficult to find, I knew, because he would have moved it again after the battle with the humans and his son, but I also knew that his next intended location should be somewhere in Wallachia. My hope would be that my memory serves me well and I would once again be reunited with my master.
"I will see you again and prove to you that I will stand beside you...my friend."