The Five Realms

Chapter 3 - Vampires Bite...

Inside the double doors was a room I never would have suspected in a million years. For one thing it was enormous! As big as probably two football stadiums and as tall as the sky. And I mean that literally. Low clouds were drifting across the ceiling. A ceiling made entirely of colored stained glass. It was soo beautiful I couldn't stop looking at the way the sunlight danced in the different colors, turning the clouds different shades.

For some reason the moment I stepped into the room, all the blurriness that had assailed me was no more. I could see everything clearly and sharply. And it was fantastic. The floor was earthen. Thick green grass padded the ground and trees as thick and as tall as the Redwoods lined the circumference of the circular chamber. I felt like I was outdoors, but I could see and feel the protection of walls and a ceiling.

Directly in front of me, across the enormous chamber, sitting in front of seven of the tallest and thickest trees were a collection of people that would have been hilarious if their appearances didn't make me worry about peeing my pants. Oren took my arm and began to lead me forward, speaking in my mind as he did so. The people you see before you are a collection of Leaders from our Realm. Then he spoke out loud. More for the counsels benefit than for mine I think. We kept walking closer, and the closer we got, the more I felt sharp eyes scrutinizing every inch of me.

"These are Isador, leader of all animals, you might consider mythical..." He pointed to the thing to the farthest left. It was a Griffin. The head and half its body was an Eagle, and the rest was a Lion. Isador was huge! And absolutely terrifying looking. The Griffin nodded its head towards me and I nodded back; its enormous golden eyes felt like they were piercing me with their heat. I felt like I should cover up my chest, because I knew those eyes could see through my clothes if they wanted to. His feathers were a deeper gold than the rest of his Lion body, but he was beautiful.

Standing on either side of the Griffin was a Unicorn and a Centaur. I couldn't help smiling at them. It was just so darn cool! The Unicorn had an unearthly glow, and when I met his almost human eyes I couldn't help but feel calm and happy. The Centaur stood proud and strong, his eyes narrowed, like he didn't trust me, or he thought I would bring bad luck or something. I decided to keep my eyes on the glowing happy horse instead.

"Samael, Vampire and leader of our glorious dead." My head whipped to the tall figure sitting next to Isador. His skin was ghostly pale, his eyes were cold and his demeanor was like mystery personified. I couldn't help my eyes from going wide and a small smile from creeping on my lips. Samael smiled a little to me and I beamed brightly back at him which caused his lips to turn up in a real smile and I gasped as I saw his pointed teeth causing him to chuckle.

Standing on either side of the giant tree behind Samael was another Vampire, this one also male and tough looking, and an incorporeal substance that didn't look very happy at all. I laid my hand on Oren's forearm. (Who is that behind Sameal, the one who looks like

a ghost?)

Oren looked to where I was looking and I saw his face drop ever so slightly.

(That is Thanatos. He is a gate keeper in the fourth Realm. All the Realms must have one gate keeper to help usher through their dead. We in the second Realm cannot be killed but by war, thus we have Thanatos as our gate keeper.)

I nodded. With everything that happened with Sariel's father I could imagine why Oren wouldn't like him. And even though I knew Thanatos wasn't the gate keeper of the Earth Realm I couldn't help but imagine him forcing Harper's soul away from me while he was holding me while we were sleeping; that he was the one standing over him and taking him away forever.

I cringed as I remembered that day. That had been a terrible day, one of the worst; and that's saying a lot for me. I had sat up gasping from my dream, instantly I knew something was wrong because otherwise Harper would have been there comforting me. I looked down; Harper looked so peaceful I thought he was just sleeping. He had this adorable habit of grinning in his sleep. I smiled at him and placed a finger to his cheek, stroking it, and that's when I knew he was dead. Harper had the most vibrant life force of any one around; I could recognize him from a mile away. I didn't feel his life force when I touched his cheek.