The Immortal | Prequel Story |

Chapter 8 ~ The Story of the First Vampire

In the most ancient of times, there was a master and his servant traveling the land past the Carpathian Mountains. Crato Icertis was the master, and Mallen was the servant. Both were from the country of Romania, during the time when Romania was under the rule of the Roman empire, many centuries before it became subjected to Turkish rule.

Crato was a merchant who sold luxurious cloth and material. He often saw the Roman emperor as he rode on his fine, mighty horse. The Roman emperor was cloaked in purple, gilded with power and might. He ruled at a time when the country was called Dacia; its modern name would later become known as Romania.

The country fared well under Roman rule. The Roman emperor Trajan was one of the Five Good Emperors. He was known as a just emperor and a moral man. The Roman conquest of Dacia supplied the empire with grain and precious metals, improving the economy and making life very livable.

Crato and Mallen lived quite substantially. Crato owned a large home with a fountain and a vineyard. He had a wife who bore him no children and who had long since passed.

Crato had servants to do his bidding; Mallen was one of those servants. Mallen was not only a servant but also a close confidant. Crato trusted Mallen to run his business and affairs, to handle shipments, to process payments, and other important duties. Mallen was given charge of the dye process where other servants processed dyes for the clothing Crato sold.

Most of the clothing was wool, linen, hemp, sometimes leather. Things like cotton and silk were very expensive. Dyes were made from plants, roots, bark, crushed insects, nuts, and mollusks. Snails were used to make purple dye, the most expensive color for clothing. Only powerful people wore purple, the color of royalty. Blue was the color of nobility.

Mallen favored the color green, particularly olive green. Crato liked the color blue best, but he became jealous of the Roman emperor wearing purple clothing. His jealousy grew into a pursuit of power. He cared not for the Roman emperor's goodness; he wanted to become greater than the emperor.

"But you're rich enough," Mallen argued. "Look around you! You're like a mini emperor with your servants and trappings around you. You're the one who makes the dyes for the emperor's clothes, making you the richest merchant of them all. Enjoy life to the fullest! Find yourself another wife, maybe have some children to pass on your business to."

"What power does a merchant convey?" Crato said in response. "The time has long since passed for me to have children. The business will be passed on to you after my time, for you are like a son to me, Mallen. While I still breathe air, I wish to become more powerful than the emperor himself."

"Forget about power. There's lots to enjoy!" said Mallen. "Women, food, clothing, the night sky – "

"I've grown past those indulgences," Crato interrupted, turning on his heel as he faced the vineyard that supplied some of his dyes. "You're young, and my time is nearing its twilight. My time will not end under someone's rule but my own."

Crato was in his sixties; Mallen was in his thirties. Crato longed for power; Mallen longed for nothing more than a good life. But one decision made by Crato would forever change Mallen's life, turning him from a carefree man who lived for pleasure into a fearsome man who lived for blood.

"Pack up and let's go," Crato said one early morning, waking up Mallen by tossing linen clothing at him. "We're going past the Carpathian Mountains."

"Why?" Mallen inquired, rubbing his eyes as he sat up.

He wondered why in the world would Crato want to go beyond there for. It wasn't a city or harbor where they often sold merchandise to traders or people in the marketplace. It would be a long journey going through the mountains even by horse.