Chapter 10

"A unicorn ?" Cosmina 

Yes. A unicorn. The mythical magical creature people always wondered about. Its existence hasn't been really proven but the things yet known to man are said to only be the tip of an iceberg. 

Renfield also seemed surprised. Supposedly being the oldest amongst them, he ought to have seen a lot by now but that didn't seem to be the case. For a matter of fact it was quite clear that in terms of superiority by age, he was still inferior to the man on the throne. 

"yes My Lady ! So if you need any magician to cheer you up every once in a while, please feel free to contact me" she winked. A sight humans can only dream about seeing. 

"Oh please ! Magic is simply an excuse humans give themselves to escape reality" Akher said waving his hand at the idea while Cosmina stared at him baffled. 

"My Lord, even Vampires want to see a little magic every once in a while" she muttered quietly. Akher chuckled. 

"My Lord, may I not remind you that it's especially for that reason that people use magic". Karin smirked. A soft and wild expression written on her face. 

Akher smirked. "I see..." He turned towards the lady in the brown cloak. Her hair was a magnificent white color and she had a metal rim over her eyes. Please note that her hair was moving and if you listen closely you can hear the silent hissing of snakes. 

"And this lady over here is Gorgonna," he introduced her with a heart-warming smile. 

"It brings me great joy to meet you, Lady Cosmina" she bowed. 

"Gorgonna ?" Renfield repeated. 

Indeed, the legendary Greek monster known as Gorgon. The Lady with the snakes as her hair and the eyes of petrification.  A truly noteworthy foe. It was said that Gorgon ate her two sisters in the legends and turned into a mess of a monster from a simple curse that had been laid upon her. Not even the god's could stop her eyes of petrification but yet she stood before him. The mysterious and yet powerful Akher.  

"wow...." Renfield found himself amazed at this sight. A Centaur, a dark elf, a unicorn and the legendary Gorgon. All under his control. What terrifying abilities could he possess. 'But still, can we win ? 11 races vs 4 ? Isn't that too much ?' he couldn't help but ponder.

What he thought was true. The council had made an oath not to partake in the war but that didn't mean that the other species were going to stand idly by as well. They all served under one queen and under her command they will partake in the war. Though only combatants were allowed on the Warfield. 

"Now....these four make up my generals" Akher said with a smile of satisfaction.  

Cosmina stared at the four, who were on their knees and then at Akher who seemed complacent with what he had. "My Lord, if I may...."

".....go on.." 

"They have eleven races my Lord, and at least 200 warriors from ten of the combatant races and 50 from the non combatant races. They will be over a thousand". 

"....just a thousand ?" Akher replied. 

"not just a thousand my lord !" Renfield stepped up. "they could have tens of thousands of fighters just waiting for the fight to calm down and attack so they can secure a thorough win. It is absurd to think 4 races can go against 11 !". 

Renfields suddenly felt a pressure beyond any other pressure. Well it was nothing like Akher's but it was very similar. The pain and force. He was swept to the ground in no time and foam forced its way through his mouth. 

In a struggle to find who did this, he found four angry creatures glaring at him. Their eyes filled with anger, hatred and power. He had never felt something like this and this was coming from someone that had been sent to hades and back to earth in a couple of minutes. How could he escape their anger? How ?

"Enough !" Cosmina yelled and immediately Renfield felt the pressures disappear. He sighed in relief as he slowly got up, his body auto regenerating his injured parts. 

"we...we're sorry, My Lady," Karin said as they all bowed. 

"No.....You were not in the wrong.....Renfield please watch your tongue in front of our Lord. He could send you to Hades again". She rubbed her temples with her left hand while she hid her black burnt right hand behind her back. 'Thank goodness I stopped Akher....' she took a glance at him. He was still expressionless. She sighed. 

Akher sighed as well. "Enough...." silence filled the hall. 

"The centaurs have a total of 500 combatable....."

"My Lord...surely you jest ! Our tribe is only 700 since the younger generations can not fight but they are a total of 7 tribes !". Chiphon said. His head bowed. 

".....I don't want to involve the other tribes yet....I have to give an example of my abilities first before I can take the rest of your kind". Akher said with a rather frustrated expression. 

Chiphon laughed. "I am truly sorry for my misconduct at the time !". 

"Balderdash ! Your kind knows no sincerity when apologizing". 

Chiphon laughed out loud again. "That is true'' while Akher sighed. 

"while....the Dark Elves have a total of 600 combatants". 

"My Lord....we also have five other sister tribes" Elven said. 

"I know you all have sister tribes.....well.....except for Gorgonna...who is extremely rare and precious...but I choose you three for a reason". Akher said, a worried and tired expression on his face. They never seemed to give him peace of mind. Well, all except Gorgonna. 

"Does that mean you won't need any help from my sister tribes as well ?" Karin asked. 

"No !" Akher sighed, rubbing his temples. 

"un...understood...." they chorused. 

"...anyways.....Chiphon will lead 500 while Elven will lead 500 and then Karin will lead 70" 

"70?" Cosmina muttered. 

"yeah...Unicorns are rather rare, so you see at least 100 in every tribe". 

'on the contrary....' Cosmina held up her chin. 'I didn't realize there were so many' 

"As for Gorgonna....though she might seem alone....Her abilities should be able to take care of a thousand at once....." Akher calculated the numbers in his head. "My people will be coming as well....so we have at least 2000+ members already". 

Silence filled the hall. They all pondered on pretty much the same thing. 

"Is something wrong ?" Akher asked, noticing their solemn look. 

"well....is...is Gorgonna that powerful ?" Karin asked as they all turned towards her. 

She could feel their heated gaze and she turned away shyly. 

Akher chuckled. "No one defies her curse.....not even you, Cosmina" he replied turning towards cosmina at the last part. 

"then....what about you, My Lord?" 

"Chiphon !" Gorgonna yelled in annoyance as she turned towards the person that dared to ask such a ridiculous question while Chiphon looked away apologetically. 

Akher laughed out loud. "Do not worry, because not even the eyes of petrification can stop me" He said with an amused expression. His blue moon eyes always seemed to captivate the people he's surrounded by and that's what it was doing right now. 

"as expected of My Lord". Gorgonna smiled. 

"wait....then let me ask you this...do you think I'm incapable of ending this war myself ?" Akher asked after a series of thoughts. 

As expected, he got the result he thought he would. 

"Of course, My Lord ! I have complete faith that you can achieve it". Gorgonna nodded profusely to his question. Her mind had been made up from who knows when. 

"I second the notion". Cosmina agreed as well.

Just as expected. Akher thought as he stared at his doubting generals and head butler. "Chiphon, Karin, Elven and Renfield....are you telling me that with all that I've shown you, you still doubt my powers ?" Akher asked. They remained silent, not even evening the guts to look up at him in the eyes. 

"in that case. I want you four to ponder on my greatness and return to me tomorrow morning to tell me the results you had come up with". He stated calmly and coldly. His gaze exuded annoyance and anger. Just from the gaze alone, they could feel what seemed like tiny needles piercing through their skin and an unpleasant feeling of fear grooming in their tummy. 

"yes...yes Master" they replied quietly. 

"Master ! I also wish to ponder on your greatness ! Please allow me to join them in this great task". 

Akher turned towards Gorgonna. A bit surprised by her statement. He had shown each of them a different ability when he was recruiting them and out of all of them, Gorgonna seemed to be the one to have complete faith and trust in him. 

"As you wish, My dear Gorgonna" a warm smile exuded from his lips and she felt drawn to it. If you wonder how she can see when a metal rim is covering her eyes, you should remember that her hair are snakes and each of them are living, breathing and seeing. "You are dismissed". He announced and his generals slowly walked out of the room, Renfield still standing  in his position.

"Oho....I guess it's time I met the humans," Akher said as he slowly got up from his throne. He turned towards Cosmina with a smile. "Wait for me in your chambers. We have a lot to talk about this night". He winked and slowly walked down the stairs, following Renfield as he led the way. 

Cosmina felt a shiver down her spine and Goosebumps on her skin as her breathing picked up slowly in excitement. "ye...yes My Lord !" she quickly walked down as well. 

***

Akher silently walked after Renfield in the halls. He couldn't help but admire the new painted and re-equipped halls. He noted the number of men in armours. All stood in different positions like statues but they were actually Cosmina's familiars. He noticed the different art portraits. Some famous paintings by extraordinary artists while some pictures of the forefathers of the Unseen Forces.  Which included, Ruthven and the Tepez brothers. As well as the portrait of The Beast of  Arcadia. The renowned King Lycaon. 

Akher smirked. "Renfield". 

"ye....yes My Lord". Renfield replied, a little nervous as a result of all the drama that occurred in the throne room. 

"Do you know about the history of King Lycaon ?" 

"yes.....I was with King Ruthven at the time". 

"Oh.....it's such a sad tale don't you think ? To be cursed by the god's...." 

"...yes...indeed". 

Akher smirked as he continued walking. "sooner or later, I might have to deal with him, that darn Zeus. He's such a bother that even Hades has a headache whenever we talk about him". 

"....have you truly seen him ? Hades ?" 

".....well...that's for another time don't you think ?'' Akher said as Renfield stopped in front of the door leading to the dinning hall. A large door but not as large as the door leading to the throne room. 

Leading the way, he opened it up and led him inside. 

The humans were all gathered in groups and were in different costumes as well. All according to their profession. On hearing the sound of the door and seeing their King walk into the room, the once noisy room was filled with silence. 

"I see....we have quite the remarkable humans here....they all seemed top notch..." Akher said amused as he held his chin smiling at them. "I must welcome you all ! I have no way of expressing my gratitude but I assure you that you shall not regret your stay in my kingdom". 

They all remained silent waiting for his next order or command. 

"I want to meet each of you....starting with the butlers". 

In response, four men in butler outfits similar to Renfield stepped out. One had gray hair. His features made him seem older than Renfield while the other three were young men. One with green hair, the other blonde and the other with long dark hair. Their expressions exuded diligence and hard work. The right trait for butlers. 

"hm...." holding up his chin Akher inspected them. "I see you each have learnt talents". Talents were what we could refer to as a gift which were basically elemental abilities that a person is born with. In order for humans to learn one, they need to first know how to use mana. It takes years for a human to feel mana and even longer for them to exhibit their talents but they seemed to have learnt it rather quickly. 

"You have done well.....what are your names?" he asked, nodding his head in satisfaction. 

"I am known as Alex and I shall serve as the assistant head chef" the old man bowed. "These two by my left are known as Emil and Lucius" he referred to the green haired and blonde respectively "while the one at my left is called, Carrol" . Referring to the one with the long black hair. 

Akher nodded in satisfaction.  "You all seem to have mastered your talents and I must say, some of them seem extraordinary. I hope you serve us Well" 

"yes master!" They chorused. 

"you may leave". In response they walked out quietly. 

"next would be...the cooks". In response eleven people stood out, ten women and a single familiar looking man. "a man ?" Akher smirked, his attention going almost immediately to him. 

"Hah. I must insist that it is not what My Lord thinks" the man smiled as he bowed. 

"Oho ! Amusing !....what's your name?" Akher asked curious to know the name of the human that didn't seem scared of him. 

"I am known as Christopher, My lord". 

"...Christopher....I wonder if you had come to apply as my jokester and not my cook". 

Christopher chuckled. "do not worry my Lord, My cooking is sure to be to your taste".

"I will remember that". He nodded as he turned towards the rest of them. Two old women stood out. They were the head and assistant cook each. 

"....I'm sure you wonder what kind of creature would want to feast on human food....especially vampires since their only source of meal is rumored to be blood..." he said. His voice captivating the ladies that stared at him. He had noticed it since he got there but he had been gaining a lot of unwanted attention. Especially from the ladies. 

"the Mistress has explained it to us….she says it is possible for you to make them eat whatever you please". 

Akher nodded in response. She was right. His ability to alter reality came handy in all sorts of situations including one of these. "It would be a shame if I could no longer eat human cuisine just because I live with vampires and other creatures". The head chef/cook bowed at his reply.  She seemed like a strong woman. Her expressions and features said so. Especially her bony masculine face that could have easily mistaken her for a male. She was known as Rosaline and her reason for working at such a age was such a wonder.

"hm.....are you here In place of your daughters" Akher asked ignoring their gazes as he did since he got here. He couldn't count the number of times his face had got him into trouble just because he looked too beautiful for a man. 

"ye...yes My Lord" the other woman beside her said. She was also in the same condition as Rosaline though she was a lot more feminine and her boobs were definitely not that of an old woman. She was known as Beatrix.

"hm...do as you wish" he whisked their mentality away. They must have thought of coming here in place of their daughters to check if it was safe enough for them to work. It was a brilliant idea since it could grow the number of workers he eventually has. 

"in any case.....it's a pleasure to meet you all.....your names...." 

They all introduced themselves. Apart from Rosaline, Beatrix and Christopher there was also Claudia, Demeter, Antonia, Dacia, Nadia, Gabriela, Nichole and the youngest of about 14 years was Patricia. A name sake of the head maid.  She had golden lux tied into pigtails and beautiful emerald green eyes to match with it. Though he hadn't noted her presence until now, her talent seemed to marvel above the rest. Maybe because she was still a growing child compared to the rest. 

"I didn't notice we had a child in our midst until now" he smiled at her. 

"....it is an honour to serve you, My Lord" she bowed. 

"hmm....." he seemed pleased with her greeting but what surprised him was her composure. He nodded in satisfaction. "you may leave". 

They all bowed and walked out of the room while Akher took some steps forward to continue their introductions.

"Now....who's next ?"