Arthur’s words plunged the room into silence. Iris and Alyssia tensed beside him, and Gaia took a firmer grip of his hair. Arthur prepared to deploy his house at a moment's notice, even as he flooded Gaia with the entire boost Source of Draconic Vitality granted him, which amounted to 10% of his total stat after he’d funnelled half of it into Wovan during her creation.

  As the Avatar of Earth and someone created from his blood, Gaia was probably the second most durable thing in the room. Arthur wouldn't be taking any chances, though. His final preparation was a simple one. A single spider crawled out from beneath his sleeve and up Gaia’s back, hidden beneath her t-shirt. The young Avatar had the brains not to let her surprise show on her face. The second anyone throws magic around, I want you to teleport Gaia away. Take her to wherever Kazi Alukai is.

  All Arthur’s preparations had taken place in the time it took someone to blink, and he’d made no overt display of magic. So far as the vampires knew, nothing had changed. Lestor smiled at him, though it was strained now. His fellow elders did a poorer job of hiding their emotions; one of them openly snarled at him, fangs exposed.

  “And what would these conditions of yours be?” Lestor asked, spreading his arms wide. The movement looked strange when made by a vampire with the proportions of a child. “My proposal is a sound one. You leave us alone and give us our Territory, and we grant you our undivided support and resources that would bankrupt a nation. I’m sure everyone will agree with me when I say these negotiations are very one-sided. So pray tell, Originator ward, what is it that displeases you?”

  Arthur leaned forward, resting his hands on the wooden table. “You forgot one thing, vampire,” Arthur growled. “How was this Territory of yours created?

  Lestor's strained smile cracked. “If Ishaya were still alive, I’d kill the damn fool with my own hands. He was tasked with establishing our presence on this planet. What he did with those orders was his own doing alone.”

  Arthur frowned. “And yet you sit before me today seeking to benefit from his crime. It reeks of hypocrisy, a general throwing his soldier under the bus as soon as convenience calls for it. Tell me, Lestor. If you were in my shoes, what would you do?”

  The vampire remained silent, seemingly at a loss for words. It was the old crone who answered. “I would consolidate my power,” she said, her voice hoarse and cracked. “I would do whatever was needed to buy myself time and grow my forces until the vampires were no longer needed. Then I would kill them down to the very last child.”

  Lestor glared at her. “What do you think you’re-”

  “Hush, Lestor Risendawn. You may be the strongest of us, but you are still new to our ways. Let me do the negotiating now.”

  Arthur stared at the old vampire incredulously. “Really,” he marvelled. “Because I think the boy was doing a better job.”

  The woman, Claudia, his eyes told him smiled, revealing that one of her fangs was missing. “I have done this dance many times, boy. I get tired of all the different moves. We claim we played no part in Ishaya’s crimes, though it wouldn’t take a genius to realise the violent bastard would resort to such brutal tactics. An observant mind might suggest we selected him for the role because of those exact proclivities he possessed.”

  The wooden table creaked ominously beneath Arthur's hands, on the verge of snapping. “I think you’ve gone senile, Grandma. “Arthur sneered. “Your negotiations have all the grace of a dumpster fire.”

  Claudia chucked. “Yes, an apt analogy. I burn away all the useless trash and get to the meat of things. No matter how much we might deny our involvement in Ishaya's crimes. You would never wholly believe us. Though I will say, for the record's sake, I was always against sending the fool. Now we stand at an impasse.”

  “The vampires seek to gain much from this Territory, ill-begotten though it may be. And for all your power, Mr Ward, you will require our assistance to save this planet. Even if the Lich Queen were killed today, the damage she’s done to this world will require our fine touch to heal. After all, if you could outsource this problem to others, I doubt the Seer would have brought you here."

  Arthur looked at Iris questioningly. The fae sighed. "She's not lying, Art. The lich has damaged vast swathes of Earth already. Her demesne will need to be cleansed when she's gone. It's reached a size where it's self-propagating, and Earth's core nature has been tainted. For the universe at large, this isn't even a problem. Death-attuned planets are rare and infinitely more desirable than Earth's current state. The Council would prefer it if we fail. Only the laws in place and your presence here prevent them from tipping the balance in their favour."

  Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  "And what of Earth's population?" he asked.

  "There are thousands of planets eager for more citizens. With the benefit packages they offer, it makes more sense for most humans to leave rather than stay."

  Arthur turned back to the vampires. "What about you guys? Wouldn't you prefer it if Earth became death-attuned?"

  Lestor smiled, some of his old confidence coming back. "That's a common misconception, Mr Ward. While vampires may be creatures of undeath, we cannot survive off death-attuned ether. Quite the opposite, we thrive on life and the living."

  Arthur nodded. "I almost forgot. You guys need to drink blood to survive."

  "That's great then," Lestor said, clapping his hands together. "You need us, we need you. It's a win-win situation."

  "Hold your horses, vampire," Arthur said. "I only voiced my complaints. My conditions are threefold. Number one. Any human wishing for vampirism will first be screened by a group we create to ensure no funny business."

  "That is... agreeable."

  "My next conditions you won't like so much. The Territory of Blood will halt all expansion from this moment forth. It will not grow a centimetre beyond its current size."

  There were gasps of outrage, and he could tell the vampires were about to protest. Arthur continued on.

  "To ensure you stick to this rule and to prevent you from ever thinking of betrayal, I will be planting my new house in my old home's location. I'm sure you've received reports of it from Haadran."

  "This is unacceptable," Claudia spluttered. "You seek to muzzle us."

  Arthur smiled. "It's a good thing I'm not negotiating right now, then. I am simply telling you how things will happen and the order they will proceed in." Arthur wasn't sure how the next few seconds would proceed, so he had Wovan teleport Gaia away. "I was there when this Territory was made. I watched my neighbours die, people I've known since my childhood. Intent means very little when your actions are so violent. There are always consequences. Poison drunk in ignorance will kill you all the same."

  Arthur glared at Claudia. "You're right. I do seek to muzzle you. The same way I would any beast that shows it has no place in civil society."

  The elder vampire's auras raged, all of them collectively overpowering his own. "You go too far, boy," Claudia snarled. "I should take your tongue for that."

  Iris looked at him uncertainly. She'd known about the demands he would make, but probably hadn't thought he'd go about making them like this. If a brawl were to break out now, he wasn't sure he could win. In fact, he was almost positive he would lose. But they wouldn't be able to kill him, he was certain of that.

  "Give me a reason, leech," Arthur taunted, spreading his arms wide. It was a much better look on him than the boy vampire. "Attack me like the dog you are, and I'll put you down." He looked at the remaining elder vampires one by one. "I'll put you all down. You might best me today, but I will return. I will steal this Territory from under your feet. The land you call your home will become hostile to you, and I will hunt you down, one by one, until not a single one of your kind remains on this world. My genocide will be marked on my soul, until all of vampire kind knows what I did here. This I swear upon the System."

  Arthur's ultimatum hung in the air, and he felt the new System oath inscribe itself on his status page. If Arthur was being perfectly honest, he wasn't sure what choice he wanted the vampires to make. An alliance or war? Iris' expression was unreadable. Alyssia, at least, was nodding approvingly, a proud smile on her face.

  Lestor sighed and rubbed his temples wearily, a remarkably human mannerism. He cursed. "You shouldn't have killed Ishaya so quickly, Originator. I would have had him tortured for the rest of his miserable life. I do not think you are bluffing, Mr Ward. Threats made upon the System are foolish unless you're willing to follow through. Still, you've put us in a very difficult position."

  Arthur shrugged. "Next time, don't try first contact by killing a thousand people."

  Lestor smiled. "I'll keep that in mind for the future."

  "Lestor," Claudia exploded, jumping to her feet. "You can't be thinking of agreeing to this. Let us fight. Rumours are always exaggerated. We can kill that upstart."

  "Silence!" Lestor declared, and suddenly, the elder vampire lost her ability to speak. She collapsed back onto her chair. "You have spoken out of turn enough today. Speak no more." The vampire sighed. "We came here fleeing a war, and you would have us start another so quickly. I have seen the footage taken on Haadran. I have read the reports." He looked at all his fellow vampires in turn before turning back to Arthur Ward. "This is not a war we can win."

  Arthur smiled. "I'm glad we're on the same page."

  "You are a vicious man, Originator. Now I know why Iris insisted on waiting for you before striking an accord."

  "I am a kind person to my allies," Arthur said. "We may have gotten off on the wrong foot, but who knows what the future holds."

  "I have one condition of my own to add before we agree to anything. A century from now, or following a particularly meritorious service done by our kind, these conditions will be amended."

  "That's agreeable," Arthur said, nodding.

  Lestor smiled. "Then, upon the authority vested in me as head of this council, I declare upon my blood and the blood of my kin to agree and conduct ourselves as we have outlined today, following both the letter and the spirit of the law." Lestor flinched as his veins flashed a dark crimson. "This I swear upon the System."

  Following his declaration, all the fight seemed to leave Claudia, and she slumped into her seat. Lestor reached his hand across the table. "This is how they do it amongst humans, isn't it?"

  Arthur took the vampire's hand in his own. It was surprisingly warm to touch. "To a profitable partnership," Lestor grinned, flashing his fangs.

  Arthur nodded. "To comrades who don't stab you in the back."

  Links to the audiobooks.

  Etherious: Originator

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