High up on the mountain of Kiarra lays a sacred temple, resplendent in its glory yet invisible to the human eyes. 

The raw energy shimmering off it was palpable that even the ever-present fogs in the forest that surrounded mountain Kiarra itself peeled back from the temple as if afraid of what it housed. The forest was alive with movements, chirpings and glorious calls of one mate to the other yet the sacred temple had a stillness to it.

The forked entrance beckoned on the bold to approach it as only few would dare venture into it unsummon. The Temple of Awakening.

Kostos, the 10th generation ancestors of all vampires stood deep in the temple that had the ambience of a cave with its still airs and plopping sounds that rumbled throughout the structure even though no dripping could be found.

His bloodred robe, trimmed with the most exquisite gold pattern billowed in the still air as he summoned the one who waited in the temple for ages.

In an ancient language, he called forth “Saum nabrati uni damianus”

The air shifted and settled back, where there had been nothing but emptiness a moment before appeared a young-looking man, who couldn’t be more than a nineteen-year-old. A vampire who had been in existence for almost five centuries.

He opened his eyes and the rarest shade of blue, the shade of lapis lazuli looked reverently at his master from a face sculpted to perfection. A beautiful face for a man framed by the rarest shade of white hair that would have made a regular man look gaunt but fit perfectly with his honey-toned skin.

“Master,” he said and his voice reverberated through the temple.

Kostos turned to him with a hint of a smile on his rugged-looking face.

“You are ready,” he said simply “My time here is done and it is time for me to go back to the World of Origins. To take up my duties over there just as you would be taking over your duties here in the world of humans”

A faint sad line marred the face of the young man and it was evident that he did not want his master to leave.

Three thousand years of living had not dulled Kostos’s senses to feelings. Be it that of humans or the supernaturals so he knew what the boy was feeling but responsibilities couldn’t be avoided after all. And he knew that the boy was ready. He had made sure of it.

“Come, Damianus” he motioned to the young man.

Damianus stepped towards his master with sadness. He knew he shouldn’t feel that way as he was about to undergo what his master had done before him, he was about to fulfil what he had been fated for.

Kosmos put his arms around the boy as he led him forward “This is what you are born for. My time here is up and yours is about to begin. You need to go out there in the world to gain experience to gain more powers that would make you worthy of veneration. That is when you would be able to lead. That is when you would have what it takes to rule”

Damianus nodded as Kosmos left his side to encompass the temple as if the world was contained in it. “Go out there and make a place for yourself and our kind. Make use of what all your learnings and teachings of many years have taught you. You can never really live until you practice them. The Book would not be able to give you all the needed experience. You have to be out there. But…”

He turned back towards Damianus, his voice and expression changing in warning “You are not to destroy the cities with your powers nor are you to use them unfairly. If you do, The Order would simply take up your case and as you have seen, it had never been favourable to the perpetrator”

“Yes, Master,” Damianus said as a slight shiver went through him when he remembered the punishment of The Order. No perpetrator could escape it no matter how old or powerful they were. It was what kept the balance in the World of Origins and its power was supreme to all.

No, Damianus would never wish the wrath of The Order on anyone.

“But again” Kosmos continued “You are not to back down or let yourself be taken advantage of. These humans, as much as they could be good, also have lots of bad among them and if you are not careful, they will railroad you. You are not to give room to that but then you have to be discreet. The world out there is different from what you are used to”

Damianus nodded “Yes, master”

Kosmos looked at the bent head of his mentee and decided that there were some things that the lad needed to learn on his own. He was smart enough to figure out other things by himself. After all, how would he be able to handle things properly if he was told everything? He needed to experience it.

“Stretched forth your hand. Your left hand” Kosmos said and Damianus did as he was told. Kosmos slipped the plain-looking hewn ring that had been etched with dragon fire off his thumb slowly. 

His ringed fingers were filled with different rings, at least three on each finger but this ring was the only one on his thumb. The most important one.

The Ring of the Origins. The symbol of the ancestor of all supernatural beings on earth.

He slipped it carefully onto Damianus’s thumb and thunder clapped in the sky causing a reverberation in the temple and a stir in the World of the Origins.

Damianus felt his eyes widen as warm, blinding light ricocheted behind his lids and his body seemed elevated.

Kosmos explained the power of the ring and what it could do to him. Damianus was amazed by the extent of the powerful influence of the plain-looking ring, the least of it is that the ring could store whatever Damianus wanted in it no matter how large. 

After his final instruction had been given, Kosmos raised his hand towards a section of the temple with his eyes closed and a portal opened up. The pulsing, crackling circle alive with worlds beyond it was the same as what his master had used to summon him to the temple years ago so Damianus knew that it was time for his master’s departure.

Saying his goodbyes to his pets who had listened on silently as he gave his instructions to his mentee, Kosmos gave Damianus a message-filled nod and stepped through the portal. The air crackled and the portal closed behind him. 

The air settled back in the temple again and everything seemed as it was.

Everything apart from Damianus’ status.

Everything but the power coursing through him. The power was incomparable to what he felt when he finally mastered the art of drawing the moon’s essence.

He shook off his melancholy about his master’s departure and excitement filled his heart as he let himself think of the things he had learnt about the world of humans back in the World of Origins and since he got to the temple.

He couldn’t wait to explore what was beyond the temple.

“You would fit right in… maybe with just a little adjustment” Helios, the thousand-year-old bat of Master Kosmos who had been silent since spoke up as he felt the excitement of his master’s protege.

“You think?” Damianus asked excitedly as he turned to the massive bat that seemed sculpted into the walls of the temple. He was the size of a basketball court and Damianus had never seen it move from that spot since he got to the temple years ago. Though he had seen it in action before. Once.

Helios looked at Damianus’ roughhewn full-skirted knee-length coat, knee breeches and long waistcoat and repeated “Like I said, perfectly with just a tiny bit of adjustment”

Damianus could not allow himself to be deterred by the sarcastic note in Helios's voice.

It was time to go.

He bade the pets that his master had collected over the centuries goodbye; the Fennec Fox, the raven, and his favourite of them all, Helios. They all have their powers but Helios was the only one that speaks.

His witty, mischievous nature had kept Damianus entertained most of the time.

Just as he was about to leave, he turned towards Helios with a grin.

“What?” the bat asked with suspicion in his eyes.

Damianus rubbed his thumb ring as his grin widened “On second thought…”