Draugs

Chapter 5 : Playing with Fire

The silence stretched. None of the men sitting at the table had any idea on how to begin the conversation. "We never stopped looking for you!" Pete suddenly blurted out. "I am sorry. I know it may seem like we stopped looking for you. But we didn't. We scoured the earth. Finally, we concluded that you all must have..," Tinn trailed off. No one misunderstood the implications of the statements. "We stayed away almost 200 years, looking for you. Whenever we decided to come back here, something sent us in another direction. We finally came back to settle here around 25 years ago, when we found that our friends planned to do the same," Porche said. "Something sent you in another direction? What do you mean?" Dean asked, sounding perplexed. "We don't know son. It was not something we really bothered to find out about. Mainly because we didn't see any point coming home," Kinn said. "But if we had known..," Charn trailed off.

No one said anything. "We are sorry," Porche said. "Why?" Pai asked. "Because we didn't come sooner," Tan said. "Who sent you on these missions?" Phayu asked. "Vegas looked at his son. "The Vampire High Council," he said. "Oh!" Phayu said. Just that. He did not elaborate or utter a word. "What does that mean Phayu?" Charn asked. "If P'Pakin and P'Chai knew who we were, and knew who you were, then the Council knew as well," Win said. "So there is no way they sent you off for all those missions without an agenda in their mind," Dean said. "Are you saying they deliberately kept us away from you?" Bun asked quietly, his red eyes the only indication of the anger bubbling beneath the surface.

"I think it was more the other way around," Phayu said, deep in thought. "What do you mean?" Tinn asked. "Do you know why we retired?" Pai asked. The older men shook their heads. "It is true that we were taken in by P'Pakin and P'Chai. But the fact that we got training was on the behest of the Council," Win said. "They weaponised us, probably knowing very well who our fathers were and that we would make excellent warriors," Dean said. "However, what they didn't quite count on, was the fact that we refused to become mindless puppets. We had brains, and we used them," Pai said. "We were sent for mission after mission, with no breaks. We were sent with instructions, but we did things our way. And that the council noticed. They wanted us to listen to what they were saying, do things the way they wanted. But that was not going to happen. So, they made a mistake," Phayu said, sneering.

"What did they do?" Kinn asked. "Outside of the four of us, no one knows this, so..," Dean trailed off. "Rest assured, it will not be us who tell," Vegas said. "They sent in assassins. But they forgot who they were dealing with," Pai said. "The way we sent back the bodies was warning enough," Phayu said. "All of you get the violent, sadistic streaks from your Dads," Pete said, snickering. "Hey! Not fair!" Kinn said. "I agree with Kinn. True, but not fair!" Vegas said. All the men laughed a little, breaking the tension. "I know it's going to take us time to get to know each other, but I was hoping we can do it, one step at a time," Tan said. "Actually, I know the perfect activity that help with all this bonding," Pai said. The older men looked confused. "Help us take down the Council," Phayu said, not mincing words.

Gasps went around the table. "Do you know what you are saying?" Pete asked, shocked. "Yes, we know. And we also know that if anyone has suffered as much as we have at the hands of the Council, it's you!" Dean said. "Khun..," Phayu started speaking when Vegas raised a hand. "I know that it may be very hard for you, for all of you, to call us Dad and Pa, but we would like it if you could call us at least Phi. Khun is so formal," he said. The four younger men looked at each other, then at the older men in front of them and nodded. "Phi, we know this may sound harsh, but the vampires on the Council are too set in their ways. They do not want to adapt with the times. They do not have respect for newer or younger vampires. They don't accord respect to 'born' vampires, forget the ones that are 'made'. Mates are not given common courtesies. Forced matings have become common. And if the children of four of the strongest and oldest vampire couples were kept in the dark about their family's existence, then how much worse could it be? Most important. The fledgelings, our mates. You already know how precious and valuable they are. Can you imagine what would happen if they were taken with no second thought?" Phayu said.