#i was hoping that once the witch is revealed they'd turn into that one eyed harpy looking thing from the opening

[lesiasmadness]

I KNOW IT'S JUST A STORYBOOK BUT DAMN

[casspurrjoybell-22]

Master - Chapter 41a

*Warning Adult Content*

- Lincoln -

"I'm not one for speeches or extensive, unnecessary conversation but Malcolm has made the case that some form of a speech or explanation, is quite necessary here."

The group of near forty blinks up at me.

Wide-eyed and as stiff as a board, they all had that slightly terrified look the previous Anouk Clan clan members had in their first few days at the castle.

I assumed that like them, our newer clanmates would lose that look soon enough and stop looking so stereotypically pale around me. Besides attempting to relax a newborn... me?

That would just be a waste of time.

"Firstly, you should know and eventually accept, that as vampires, what we are or rather, who we are, goes beyond our individual selves," I explain as I walk the length of the training room.

"In simple terms, that means that there are more pieces to each of us that link us to our species, than there are things that make us our own people."

A glance around revealed that the majority understood what I was trying to get across.

For the ones who didn't, I add...

"We were established for group work."

That gets a few quick nods as shame fills a few eyes.

It was an unnecessary embarrassment but I don't comment on it since it would only make them feel worst in this situation. 

In time, they'd come to know that I didn't expect any more from them that what they were capable of and knowing all about the foundations of our species was nothing any newborn was expected to know.

I keep my eyes off them to provide a moment of relief instead.

"You are here today for me to show you how to fight properly but also to expose you to how it feels to have my control overcome you," I continue in time with my slow steps.

"But both require the same level of understanding of our kind before we can attempt either."

Tightening my hands behind my back, I take in a needed breath before continuing.

"When the witches crafted me, they added something to my genetical makeup. Over the course of decades, I've studied every bit of witch magic that I could in the hope of understanding exactly what that something was in more detail than just something that I felt in my blood. Millenniums later and I've come to accept that that is all there is to it, something that lives in my blood. Something they put in my blood," I clarify as I raise my hand to look over the flesh.

"That 'something' is made of magic and when a vampire is turned, that magic is passed on. It's the same thing that keeps you alive, even in death and what also allows our lifespans to carry on unnaturally."

I take a moment to listen to the blood that rushed through us all, moving in a rush beneath our skin in a manner that would kill any other being.

Whatever it was, it kept us alive and strong, without our hearts pumping, the magic kept our bodies always moving like an eternal machine.

It was magic, years of study didn't change that simple fact.

It was just... magic.

"As I'm not fond of magic and disorder, I've taken to naming that 'something' Lyrra."

Was it petty and incredibly childish to name the greatest of living show of witch magic an Elven name?

Yes. 

But I didn't think about that when it brought me pleasure each time to know that beyond the grave, in some magical afterlife, the witches probably screeched every time I demeaned their power in that way.

The fact that I was spreading my childish revenge was acceptable in my eyes.

Finding where I'd ended in my makeshift speech, I carry on with a dutiful mask of calm.

"Whether or not the witches intended us to carry on this long or for this connection to me to remain, I am not sure. But it has and there is a piece of me in every vampire that followed, in all of you." 

I look to the newborns once more, struggling not to laugh at the terrified expressions they wore now. 

It was rare that I spent so much time with the young of our kind.

They usually avoided me, unable to cope with the underlining traces of my power for too long and I understood that.

But I wouldn't have the foundations of our clan be something sloppy or poorly constructed. 

So even if it was a little painful now, if my educating them now strengthened their futures and the clan's, then it was worth it.

I keep my laughter in and swallow my guilt as well to keep my outside appearance to them something neutral and calm.

Sudden laughter would more than likely look insane and I didn't need them thinking the Pylen they just agreed to follow was crazy.

Not that it mattered, one conversation with my love and they'd think I belonged in an asylum.

"When I make your bodies move," I say pointing to a man at the front who's arm immediately shot up the way I wanted it to. "It's simply me connecting with that magic between the two of us, the Lyrra and sending out a silent command through it."

"But it only goes one way?" the man asks while he visibly strains to lower his hand but despite his grinding teeth and greatest efforts, his arm remained where I wished it to be.

"Yes," I confirm before releasing him. "Before, that chain of command went from the witches to me and then to you. Now that they're dead, it's from me to all of you."

"And the witches are dead?" a young girl I could scent was recently turned asks.

She had to be only a few months old, her bloodshot slightly rabid eyes made her look feral but by the end of her first two years as a vampire, that would ease away.

"They're all dead, right?"

"Yes," I assure her as gently as I can, adding an honest smile to it. "I killed them all in turn, cremated them and then cemented their ashes into the foundations of this castle."

The girl's arms tighten around herself just a little.

Perhaps my words weren't as reassuring as I'd hoped they would be.

As a newborn, she more than likely knew very little about our history but if she was correctly following the programme Malcolm set the newborns on, soon enough she'd learn all she needed to know about our species and our history and then she'd fight even harder for our future.

The Anouk youngest grew fiercer by the day, their resolve strengthened by the time they spent in the libraries and in the safety of a protected, growing clan.

At first, I'd been against enforcing such a rule onto them but Malcolm had been unwavering in his plans to ensure that those under the age of one hundred spent the necessary time to learn their history properly. 

It seemed a little trivial to me but even more than that, I'd wanted to avoid a number of pitiful looks in the halls or worse yet, ones forged from fear cast our way once they knew what we'd been through.

But like always, Malcolm had been right so it wasn't very long before I agreed... albeit very reluctantly.

In the last two weeks, those worries had been put to bed soundly and I'd been quietly reminded to stop assuming the worst of every situation.

The newborns didn't look at me with pity or fear, there was only respect to be found as they nodded or bowed to me in passing.

 And in all honesty, it felt good.

"I raised this point about magic and our origins so you'd understand that there is a type of… network that runs between us all because of Lyrra," I explain while I try to find the simplest words to articulate myself well. "And in it, like any other network, data is stored somewhere within it."

"Data?" another questions and I nod.

If I thought hard enough, I would remember what her name was but it wasn't important now so I didn't bother trying.

"When we were still under their rule and another was made or a human was turned, there was no time to teach them the things the witches deemed important," I explain, my voice growing a little tighter with each word. "Since our primary purpose was to be weapons, fighting was something that was instilled through that network rather than developed from scratch."

That makes understanding visibly wash over them all before they all perk up a bit, looking to me with an excitement I'd come to expect at this stage.

Everyone liked shortcuts.

"From the moment you became a vampire, that 'data' was stored inside of you. So I'm not here to teach you how to fight today, I'm here to teach you how to access that part of you. To access Lyrra."

A familiar calm rolls over me as I encompass this subset of my role as Pylen.

It was such a simple thing, teaching the young ones... and yet, it made me feel that much closer to the clan as a whole.

Electrifying was the best word I could think of to describe the feeling.

"The stronger our clan grows, the more of this 'data' you'll be able to access and the stronger each of you will become."

As I run my calloused hands together, one by one, they all stand to their feet, determination taking away any lingering doubts or fears.

Moving in their lanes like a building wave, they each dip their heads in a formal bow, their arms crossed behind their backs in a gesture of goodwill and trust.

"We follow you Pylen and from you, we learn."

The words didn't fail to warm me from the inside out as they had the first time I'd heard them from one of my followers.

It'd started as a passing statement whenever I helped or advised someone and now, it was a sort of motto in the clan. 

They were simple words and yet there was so much to them that I couldn't help the smile that took my lips hostage.

"Then, let's get started."