*Chapter 130 - An Emotional Shift

Chapter 130 – An Emotional Shift

Trey was slowly becoming accustomed to daily life here in the vampire city of Zekul.  Every day he would wake up, have sex with each of the three slave girls: Osi, Rusoe, and Nothel, eat chicken and tarts, and then would go about his daily exploring.  He had spent the last 6 days walking about the city with the three girls to guide him, and many times Nami, Furdom or Tenke would come along as well.  The lava streams at the bottom of the city were by far the coolest part of the city in Trey’s opinion - whatever magic the vampires had cast to contain the heat did a fine job of dispersing it evenly without it becoming too hot unless you were to actually touch the magma.  The fighting pits were fun to watch as well, if you could get past the idea that they were actually murdering each other in cold blood.  He tried not to think about it too much and enjoyed the shows to the best of his ability with Nami at least every other day.  He had also decided that, since his last encounter with the Ithisel vampires, it would be wise to carry his large flanged mace with him in case of another run in.  He often got a couple stares throughout the day but nothing major occured.  After exploring he would come back to the Okt manor and have dinner with the coven vampires who happened to be present upon that given day - all the while miserably failing at gleaning any information on the amulet he’d been sent to get.  Ezdeath… was also becoming increasingly frustrated, per her reports in the instances she’d meet him in his chambers.

Surprisingly enough he was actually starting to like some of the vampires and had made friends quite fast.  Tonight he was joined by Nami, Tenke, Furdom and a new man he had just met by the name of Kagdor.  Kagdor was apparently one of their best hunters and known throughout the coven as the guy to call upon if they needed to put out a hit on anyone.

“Nice view, isn’t it?” commented Kagdor while he stroked his long black beard and looked out over the rest of the city.  He had quite a thin nose and it was a continual bother for Trey as he couldn’t shake the feeling that it just didn’t look normal.  The five of them sat out on a balcony located on the fourth floor of the manor and were being served refreshments of various sorts by Nothel - who had taken it upon herself to go the extra mile in accompanying Trey when Osi and Rusoe were gone - and various other breeder servants.

“Yeah, definitely remarkable,” replied Trey as he sipped at a goblet of blood-wine.  Far below the streets bustled with life and activity, making his own world seem so small.  “You guys have quite the setup here.”

“Ha!  You should see the view from my room up on the 5th floor!  Maybe pay me a visit tonight during sleeping hours and I can do a little more than just show you the view.”  Nami scooted in to push her breasts up against Trey and nuzzled her nose against his ear.  Her orange hair was quite exotic and she was a looker, so Trey was enjoying the extra attention from her.  She had upped her game recently and had been extra flirty as time went on.

Furdom rolled his eyes and picked up a chicken bone to strip it of the meat.  “Nami here is the coven whore, I’m sure she’s quite experienced in pleasuring men.  You would have a fun time if you were to take her up on her offer.”  Furdom sneered slightly and Nami gave him a deathglare.  He continued.  “I must admit though Trey, since dining with you more frequently I have come to like spiced chicken much more than I had previously thought possible.  My parents are beginning to make fun at my expense.”

Trey, Tenke and Kagdor all laughed while Nami continued to frown.  Turning his attention back out to the city, Trey pointed to the enormous black domed building that he knew to be the temple to their vampire numen Aktovan.  The high priest supposedly lived there, and throughout his time here he had been unable to come up with any ideas of how to get inside without being noticed.  There was only one way in and one way out, with multiple guards around the perimeter.  And if the priest was as strong as Alkir had made him out to be, he wanted to be extra careful in how to approach this.  He had thought that he may shapeshift his face again to get inside after impersonating a priest, but not knowing what exactly WAS inside made him hesitate - and Ezdeath had already tried that, nearly dying in the process according to her when a sea of elite vampiric blood paladins tried to run her down.

“That’s a temple, right?”

Nami nodded, pushing her nimble fingers through his locks of hair.  “Yes it is.”

“Any chance one of you could take me to see what’s inside?” asked Trey hopefully, giving the lot of them an innocent smile.

Nami immediately frowned.  “Not likely to happen.  You have to get a personal invitation from the high priest to enter if you aren’t one of the lesser priests or priestesses, or you have to be the head of one of the great houses that help run the city.  Lord Okt could go there without invitation, but the rest of his household could not.  Including us.”

Tenke rolled his eyes and gingerly stroked his dark beard.  “It’s such a stupid rule.  I’ve been wanting to see it for myself, but never have gotten the opportunity.”

“Haven’t you been a vampire for years now?  And you’ve NEVER seen the inside?” stated Trey - obviously a bit vexed.  But at the very least he was finally getting some information on his goal.

Tenke, one of the two original vampires Micahel had met, nodded sullenly with a loud belch.  “You are correct.”

Furdom then snorted in disdain, giving the temple an irritated scowl.  “Neither have I for that matter.”

“Wow.  Must be a pretty big deal then…” said Trey absentmindedly, thoughtfully tapping his finger along his thigh.  “That sucks.  How do you get an invitation?”

Both Furdom and Tenke shrugged.

“That would be a question better asked to Lord or Lady Okt.  They would definitely know,” replied Kagdor.  “Lady Okt isn’t the head of a great house but she has been there on more than one occasion.”

Trey’s hopes brightened up just a little bit after hearing it, and he let out a long exhale that drew curious glances from the others.  “Good to know, thank you Kagdor.  I’ll be sure to ask one of them the next time I see them.”

He continued to look out over the underground volcanic city and finished his drink.  The sound of glass breaking behind him startled him momentarily, and as he turned he saw that Nothel had dropped one of the intricate glass pitchers that was carrying new refreshments out to her masters.  Liquid covered the ground in front of her and little pieces of the pitcher had scattered.  She looked absolutely terrified and tried not to make eye contact as she quickly began to pick up the pieces.

“SLAVE!” screamed Nami, fangs baredi as a look of rage overcame her features.  Furdom gave a loud sigh and the other two men didn’t seem to care.

“Do you realize that pitcher you just broke is worth THREE TIMES as much as your life?”  Nami picked herself up off the bench to stand.  “How long have you been a breeder in this house, Nothel?”

“Many years, master Nami…” whispered Nothel as she quivered.  Trey didn’t have a good feeling about what was going on and tensed up.  He really liked Nothel, and other than Ezdeath she’d been the primary source of pleasant conversation since getting here.

Nami sneered down at the slave with unusually obvious hate in her eyes - especially concerning how minimal the offense had been.  “Many years… and you still haven’t learned how to carry a pitcher properly.  Do you know how many slaves would want to trade for your position here?  How many slaves have we eaten because we didn’t need another breeder?”  Nami walked closer to the girl, stopped, and kicked Nothel hard in the stomach.  A loud wheeze escaped Nothel’s mouth as she fell, where she was repeatedly kicked violently all over as Nami unleashed her hatred upon the poor girl.  He foot rammed into Nothel again, and again, and again.  It lasted quite a while until Trey decided to break the silence and say something.

“Nami, please…” protested Trey from his chair.

The vampiress turned to him with a look of irritation.

“You really do like this slave don’t you Trey?”  Nami had stopped kicking human woman, but the damage was apparent.  She turned back to look down at the slave girl and spat.  “I was GOING to have you transferred to the pit, where you were to join the other cattle as one of our upcoming meals.”  Nami bent down and pulled Nothel up by her long brown hair, pinching the woman’s pale cheeks and bringing the slave’s eyes up to meet her own.  “But because Trey here likes you so much, I’ll give you a pass.  This time.  NEXT time, you turn into food.  Is that understood?”

Nothel wasn’t able to answer and was still trying to catch her breath.  A single tear rolled down her face.  Nami threw Nothel’s head back down to the ground and kicked her a final time before walked back over to Trey.  She gave him a shrewd look.  “I really was going to send her to the pit.”

Trey didn’t know what to say as the smaller vampiress stared daggers into him.

“You owe me Trey.  That piece of meat doesn’t deserve the kindness you show her.  If she has somehow seduced you, there are many other slaves out there.  Better yet there’s many women of your own kind that I know would fancy you, including me.”  She tugged on Trey’s shirt and bid him rise, groping one of his biceps ni the process.  “Now that I’ve done you a favor, I want one in return from you.  Do we have a deal?”

Furdom let out yet another exaggerated sigh and Tenke shook his head hopelessly while fidgeting with a small knife.

“Uh...what’s the favor?” asked Trey with a concerned look.  The stare Nami gave him seemed to straight up say he was an idiot.

“You’re going to bed me you moron.  Right now.  I’m tired of hearing that these slaves get to have it and I don’t, it even makes me a little mad.  I haven’t had GOOD sex in quite some time, the male breeders here are lacking and are too timid.  Come.”  Nami began to pull on Trey’s arm and lead him inside.  She was only briefly stopped as Kagdor held up a hand.

“When you get back from pleasuring each other, I need to talk to you about something Trey.  So come find me, I’ll probably still be here but if not I’ll be in my chambers.”

“Will do Kagdor!  I’ll see you soon!” replied Trey with an awkward smile.

Nami shook her head and stepped over the injured slave girl beneath her.  “Oh no Trey, we’re going to be gone for quite a long time.  We’re making the best out of this situation and you’re going to do every single thing I like until I am satisfied.  Otherwise I really will send her to the pit.”

“You don’t have to threaten me you know, you could have just asked.” insisted Trey before being pulled headlong into the hallway and up the flight of stairs towards Nami’s chambers.

***

Nami hadn’t lied, and kept him there for nearly two hours.  She was an absolute dominatrix and Trey was not a fan.  He had thought he would enjoy it, but she took full advantage of the fact that he ‘owed’ her and it was very much a one sided event.  At the end of it all though, after causing her to loudly orgasm three separate times, she finally let him leave.  He left her panting on the bed and pulled the door shut behind him as he tried to simultaneously put on his shirt.  The door clicked, and he gave out a low moan of displeasure as he saw all the scratches along his body.

He really enjoyed being the one with the power.  Having power exerted over him was the exact opposite of his kinks.  Damn it, if only Ezdeath was around so he could shake off the icky feeling he got from the recent experience…

“I trust you enjoyed yourself master Trey,” stated Nothel from Trey’s left - causing him to start.  He hadn’t noticed her standing there, but apparently she was still waiting on him.  Bruises covered her face and body, and one eyelid was very swollen.

“Nothel you should have gone to rest,” protested Trey as he walked over to inspect her wounds.  He pulled out a small healing potion he’d gotten the day before from a passing vendor, and eventually - after rubbing it into her injuries - she looked like her normal pale self with no signs of the beating that had just occurred.  “Did it miss anywhere?”

Nothel briefly glanced up to make eye contact with the Earthborn man before lowering her eyes again.  She shook her head no slowly.

“Alright.  Good.”  Trey sighed and laid a hand on her shoulder.  “If they do give you to me as my personal slave upon joining the coven, if they let me in, I’ll be sure nothing like that ever happens again.”

Nothel nodded quickly but did not return the smile, nor did she look up from the ground.

“Are you ok?” asked Trey hesitantly after looking at her for a long time.

Nothel repeated the motion and stayed still.  Her bottom lip began to quiver slightly, and then she began to lose her composure as her features became pained and she tried to suppress a flow of tears that were unleashed onto her face.  Silently she stood as the tears fell uncontrollably, but she made no move to wipe them away.  She turned to look down the hallway both ways and managed to stutter between muffled sobs: “The others… can... can’t see me like… like this.”

Behind Trey, Nami’s door began to unlatch and he hurriedly pushed Nothel up against the wall.  One arm leaned forward to support himself and cover Nothel’s face, while he pushed her brunette hair over her eyes to expose her scarred pale neck with the other hand and pretended he was feeding.

The door opened completely, and Trey heard Nami scoff in disgust before her footsteps traveled down the hallway and through another door to close behind her.

Trey pulled himself off the slave girl and took her by the hand.  “Let’s go to my room.  You should get some sleep.”  She nodded and followed his lead.  He gently guided her through the estate and to his chambers where he shut the door firmly behind him and blew out the candles.

He had told Nothel to lay down to rest, wiping her tears away with a dry cloth and asking her if he could get her anything to eat or drink.  She had said she didn’t need anything, but after being tucked into bed - just as Trey was about to walk over to his dresser where Maltetious’ communication amulet was stored - Nothel lightly grabbed at his hand and pulled him back.  He then smiled down at her.

“Where are Osi and Rusoe?” Trey questioned the woman.  “I haven’t seen them since this morning.”

Nothel gently pulled him closer until he had nestled up next to her.  She hesitated before wrapping one arm around him, and seeing that he was ok with her forward behavior she settled her head against his chest and closed her eyes.  “Furdom has sent them on errands today.  So I’ll be the only one accompanying you until they are done.  Though if that displeases you, I may retrieve other breeder women…”

She let out a sniffle and wiped another tear away.

“That won’t be necessary.” said Trey softly.  He reciprocated her emotions, hugging her back against him and making sure she was comfortable.  Before long Nothel had fallen asleep in his embrace.

He took a very long time staring at her as she slept in his arms - rather confused at how different Nothel was compared to any of the other girls he’d been with.  Why’d he become so attached to her in such a short amount of time?  She was even rather plain when compared to the others he’d obtained for a harem, yet the emotional connection he was developing with Nothel was growing at a rather fast pace.

Suddenly he remembered that Kagdor had requested he come find the vampire after heading to Nami’s chamber, and his brows furrowed.  Trey eventually shrugged it off though, being here with Nothel right now was much more important.  He felt strange.  He didn’t really know what it was, but something about Nothel intrigued him.  For a time he thought about how to describe it, but couldn’t really put a finger on it.  After a while he gave up and decided to decipher the meaning behind these thoughts of his later.

He inhaled deeply, and let it out even more slowly - but not loud enough to wake up Nothel.  Reaching his free hand up, he directed the magic of his shadowform over to the dresser and began to levitate Maltetious’ amulet over to him.  He needed to see how the others were doing, to check on Carol and Taen - and to make sure that their two opposing ideologies wouldn’t cause any trouble for him or his friends.

Knowing Carol, she’d likely already kicked up a ruckus.

***

They were in the ghost realm between amulets, with Taen, Sithis and Maltetious all waiting for him upon the initial call. Chris was there too, but remained sullenly passive as he pondered his own problems – stating he was just there to listen in on the conversation.

Trey didn’t know Chris at all, beyond what Taen had told him. He’d met him a couple times through this very same system they were using – he had long blonde hair a lot like Maltetious, only he kept his in a ponytail and looked somewhat like a paladin crossed with a hippie. He had thick steel plate armor on, wielded a spearsword from what Taen had said, and apparently smoked a lot of herbs.

Trey couldn’t blame him for that last bit, and was curious to eventually meet the guy in person. However, current problems revolving around his cousin were the topic of conversation today – putting his questions concerning what drugs Chris had found bets in this world at the back of his mind.

“Is it really that bad?” Trey asked while pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to contain his irritation. “Really?”

Sithis nodded with all four of his massive arms crossed over his chest.  “It is.”

Trey shook his head and began pacing back and forth, only for Maltetious to let out a long sigh of her own.

“It figures that the prophet of Agnude would be such a stuck up bitch.” Maltetious muttered under her breath. “Who exactly does she think she is?”

Trey shot Maltetious a glare. “That’s my cousin your talking about.”

Yet Maltetious did not balk or back down under the ire of Trey’s gaze. Instead she pointed to Sithis to emphasize her point. “Even your first in command thinks she’s gone overboard. Being needy is one thing, but ordering your minions to raid nearby towns to acquire her luxury items? She is threatening to blow the entire operation!!!”

The beautiful golden-haired numen wasn’t wrong. Carol was way out of control according to the information Sithis had given him. Apparently, the people of Neirtho and the surrounding villages were what Agnude considered ‘infidels.’ They weren’t aligned to Maltetious either, though Maltetious’ followers had once numbered in the millions – and after a genocide amidst a great war two centuries ago, she was reduced to only a few thousand.

The idea of Carol, who was now a mouthpiece or prophet of Agnude, ordering his minions to cleanse the surrounding land to take hold of their possessions was exactly what he’d expect of one of his family members. However, Trey couldn’t allow such brazen actions when he was fucking undercover! It could draw attention to their small party after sightings of the various demons were reported, and could potentially lead people right to him. Not many summoners had such powerful minions, and the entire world of Nagochus had seen him fight the bone lord to save her.

Apparently Carol had said that Agnude had used this to her advantage, claiming via his priests and clergy that the Vatosis Inferna and even Alkir herself had sided with his prophet – and therefore him. It’d scared many previously unyielding cities or countries to bow in submission to his will, allowing his religion to reach once untouched areas or populations… however it’d also drawn a target on his back from the more pious entities around the globe – leading to an outbreak of holy wars along his vast territories. Trey didn’t know what to think of all that, and Alkir hadn’t contacted him since initially giving him this stupid quest to find the vampiric amulet, but Eleknar found it hilarious. So hilarious in fact, that he’d quickly vanished to ask Alkir to send him live video feeds of the wars taking place across various places along the western continent. Eleknar truly reveled in the acts of carnage and death, so Trey didn’t bother recalling the symbiote back and instead focused in on his cousin’s actions here.

“I’ll have a talk with her…” He eventually said with a sigh, ending his pacing and sitting down along the ghostly hill of this nether realm Maltetious had created. “She and I came from a crime family a while ago, and she’s used to the finer things in life… but I’m going to really need to put a stop this kind of behavior. Sithis, send her my way after you’re done using the amulet so I can put things into perspective. Also, don’t raid any more settlements for her. That’s ridiculous.”

Sithis snorted in amusement, flexing his large wings out to either side. “She not only has us, but also some of the Vetteresies doing the raiding or her.”

“Vetteresies?” repeated Trey with a raised eyebrow as Maltetious, Taen and Chris all simultaneously rolled their eyes or scoffed.

Maltetious was the one to remind him of what they were though. “The vetteresies are Agnude’s elite fighting force. Usually they wield holy magics, and could be considered paladins – though their morals are far from what you would call saintly.”

Trey nodded in understanding, slowly rubbing his chin. Not that he had any problem with them having poor morals – he was a god damned demon lord in the making after all and his own morals were far from brightly colored. “They serve Carol then?”

Taen cocked his head to the side, then shrugged. “I suppose you could say that… but only through Agnude’s authority.”

“And how many of them are there exactly?”

“Here at the camp in the mountains? Or in general?”

“Both.”

Taen hesitated, looking to Maltetious. “Here in the camp we have a couple dozen that just arrived… how many does Agnude have in total, Maltetious?”

The gorgeous numen frowned slightly, and she humphed. “Unfortunately, there are nearly 80,000 of them total.”