Gilbert

Prologue

There was a time where vampires had long reigned the earth. It was a long era; the menacing night walkers roam the land as if everything upon it falls under their possession, that humans, which were their prey, had their land, life and freedom taken away from them. As such, the fear which emanated within the hearts of all the humans turned to hate, and in turn, along with their grief, became the fuel for revenge.

The humans started to take up arms, and resisted the vampires' reign and greed. At first, it was a useless fight for freedom; everyone who fought died with their blood plastered on the ground, and their bodies deformed into such gore that they seem to be red flowers blooming in the radiance of the grieving moon.

But humans became more resilient than ever, even after encountering countless of deaths. They persevered, they struggled, placing their hate and murderous intent to the weapons they made. Their works became the object of revenge, and so, they had made themselves monsters as well.

The nights were long, and even more with the battles they had fought. Right at that moment, vampires, who were deemed to be the apex predators, became prey to the weakest race. Nobles were plucked out and died in the same way as their pheasant counterparts that, upon the noble vampires' beliefs was both disgraceful and humiliating. They could not counterattack, for the humans had turned more than monsters so as to retaliate both the unfairness of the world, and the monstrosity of these creatures, by attacking when vampires are weakest, and indulging into methods and crafts that were deadly to the monsters.

The overturn of power was predominantly great that the losing side now struggled for survival. From their castles, nobles ran, hide and fled, and yet, powerful as they are, they could not conceal themselves from the creatures they tormented so much. Vampires died one by one by the hands of the so-called "hunters", and their race started to decline.

After a long raging war against the vampires, humans had finally pinpointed the last stronghold of the vampires. With their decline, the vampires had decided to band themselves to protect the last remaining hope to continue their bloodline — the royal family. As the former highest power in the whole kingdom, the royal family was the strongest purebred. Nobles respect their power and authority, as they are the sole power that can bring peace and prosperity upon the chaotic world of monsters. Through their strength and charisma, they reigned for hundreds of years, and for years, had their blood remained untainted.

But even if they are deemed to be the most powerful, the royal family could not prevent the utter defeat of the vampires. Hunters were coming at them in massive numbers that throughout their ceaseless struggles, only a few remaining survived. Nobles were entirely wiped out along with the scattered human bodies and the lingering putrid smell of blood and defeat.

The last of the royal family hid and disappeared. Yet their scent remained on the noses of those who breathe in hate and violence. Atrocities made in the past, which were all cause by the reign of this family, lingered from the deathbed of those who were oppressed, slaughtered and wronged. It cling to them like the smell of blood upon their fangs, that eventually their long concealment was finally discovered.

The people who located the royal family was a small raiding group composed of the strongest and infamous hunters. The hunters travelled wide and far, only to find the vampires in a secluded, run-down castle that reeks of nothing but the foreboding extinction of the once-strongest race. The place was ghastly; the radiance of the moon and the cold of the midnight air danced upon the marbled tiles of a forgotten hall to the steps of the stage where the chair of the lord was placed. Upon it sat the last male descendant of the king, the second son, Prince Ariston, and by his side, his fourteen year-old son, and his younger sister, Princess Arriana.

Tragedy befell upon these remaining vampires. Extinction of their race was inevitable and that castle was their last hiding place. Yet, for the human hunters gathered in that place, it was one of the most unconventional vampire hunts they participated. Prince Ariston, who was feared for his infallible genius and strength, laid down his arms and greeted death. Not one from the remaining three incurred violence and in response to the Prince's wish, the hunters ended them. And with their deaths, the long, ancient lineage of vampires had ceased to exist.

Human civilization flourished and the reign after the vampires had been obtained by the humans. It was the era of peace for humans, and desperations, violence and vengeance for countless deaths had been long settled and forgotten. Vampire hunters had ceased to exist at the same time vampires were annihilated and the arms and crafts they made all vanished.

For next couple of years, humans drowned with peace and prosperity, believing that the vampires had all been exterminated. Though it was technically true, the meeting of the hunters with Prince Ariston, however, bore the uneventful survival of his dhampir son, Gilbert.