Mallen's castle looked exactly like a castle out of a fairytale book. Vivid, beautiful, gorgeous, elegant beauty in the midst of a breathtaking picturesque landscape, with cliffs on opposite sides in the foreground and a faraway stream in the background, the white castle with its majestic blue roofs was a sight to behold. It pleased all who looked upon it, filling the viewer with a sense of wonder and awe. It was a magical place in the land and Mallen's favorite place to be.

castle looked exactly like a castle out of a vampire horror story. The exact opposite of Mallen's dreamy castle vibe, it portrayed the dark side of Iérti, emphasizing his new power and might.

It was located faraway in the forest near where the East fortress used to be, his family's grave resting behind the castle. A long road cut through the forest, providing the route to the vampire leader's castle. The road led to a tower, the tower connecting to the drawbridge that allowed passage to the castle.

Mallen looked up at the doors, noticing the two slanted walls on either side of the drawbridge. The tower had four corners and acted as a lookout tower, deciding whom to allow entry into the castle. Mallen was at the door, having taken the road on foot rather than horseback.

Iérti's castle was much smaller than Mallen's in size, with much less windows but more towers, especially near the corners. It was a dark red castle with black and tan roofs. There were maroon flags at every tower with Iérti's garlic knot emblem, the garlic knots beige in color. It had a firm, militaristic vibe with an edge of danger.

My castle is so much more welcoming, Mallen thought as he studied Iérti's castle, seeing it for the first time. His gaze dropped from the castle heights when Mallen heard the doors open, allowing him to enter. Mallen stepped inside, the heavy doors closing behind him.

Like most vampire castles, it was dark with all the windows and shutters closed to keep out the sun. There were gas lamps for lighting, though vampires had perfect vision and were able to see in the dark as clearly as humans can see in the daylight. Like Mallen, Iérti liked to have lighting in his castle rather than total darkness.

Iérti approached Mallen, dressed in a maroon and dark red military outfit as befitting his position. He still tied his long black hair with a dark red ribbon, his hair glistening and shiny. In addition to his outfit, Iérti wore a dark red cape with a black interior. Mallen made it himself, designing and creating all of Iérti's clothes.

Mallen's excellent, fine work was evident in every detail in the clothing Iérti wore. The maroon outfit had dark red detailing symbolic of the dark red ribbons he wore. His breeches and boots were black, his belt and boots embellished in bronze. The cape had a bronze chain embellishment at the place where it fastened around his shoulders.

He had a long sword in its sheath at his side, though it had no traces of garlic, of course. Instead of silver, Iérti's sword was entirely made of steel with a black lacquer finish. The top part of the sword was gold plated, since gold was a metal entirely harmless to vampires.

Iérti and Mallen faced each other, the silence broken by the quiet flicker of the flames in the gas lamps. A fireplace was lit, providing warmth in the cold winter.

"Like my castle?" Iérti spoke first, spreading his arms wide.

Mallen gave it one more studious look before saying, "It certainly is the most impressive vampire castle, though I prefer mine over yours."

Iérti regarded Mallen, taking note of his appearance. "You look happier. More peaceful."

"I certainly am," said Mallen, wondering of Iérti's interest in his wellbeing.

Iérti came closer, dropping all friendliness and good-natured demeanor into seriousness. "You don't mind that I took your position, ruling over vampires and humans alike?"

Ah, there it is. Mallen straightened, deciding to be completely honest with Iérti. "Frankly, I was a little fearful by the uncertainty of what was to become of your rule, but in the end, I'm glad you took over.

"You accomplished the very thing you wanted, and that was to bring peace to both vampires and humans. You rule with a firm, steady hand and your leadership is precedented with your military expertise. I am very proud of what you've accomplished and am glad to see you fully embraced your new life." The life I gave you.

Iérti's eyes narrowed. "I only embraced it because I had no other choice. I didn't want to spend the rest of eternity hating what I've become, so I decided to embrace it. That's why I chose to let go of my hate and pursue peace. I wish for peace among both kinds, just as I wish for peace between you and me."

Mallen extended a hand. "Peace, then? As friends?"

Iérti shook his hand firmly. "As comrades." He turned, walking towards another room. "Follow me."

He thinks of me as a brother in arms, as an ally. I think of him as a friend. Mallen was relieved to learn Iérti no longer hated him. Mallen followed Iérti, recalling how he bid Iérti to follow him not so long ago. Now he was following Iérti.

Mallen stopped in surprise when he saw Iérti standing at a table, pouring himself a drink. "Would you like a drink?" Iérti asked Mallen, retrieving another glass. He was pouring from looked like a wine bottle, only it wasn't wine in its contents.

Mallen felt his eyes start to turn red at the sight of blood, felt his satisfied thirst caving as his body began to crave the available source of nourishment. He forced himself to hold back the sudden need, shaking his head and saying, "No, thank you."

Iérti raised his eyebrows, remembering when Mallen offered him his own goblet of blood many times, and how Iérti refused him each time. He shrugged now, saying, "More for me, then" and drank the entire glass.

Mallen carefully stood at the door, a distance from Iérti. He felt Iérti's eyes on him as the vampire leader surveyed him thoughtfully.

"You're thirsty, aren't you? You're drinking just enough to keep yourself satisfied. In my castle, you can have as much as you want. Like you, I too have a blood cellar. You taught me it's important to keep extra in reserve, for when you're not around a fresh supply."

"For a peaceful ruler, I'm starting to see the vampire beneath the human appearance. You would never have called humans 'a fresh supply' and here you are, talking of them as such."

"Is that not what they are to our kind? A supply for nourishment?" Iérti poured into another glass and went over to Mallen, handing it to him. "At least I'm not mistreating them like your vampires did in the past. I'm making sure we both get what we need. Humans need security and assurance, so we provide them that in exchange for what we need, doing so in a humane way. Not by fear, but by mutual understanding."

Mallen took the glass but made no move to drink from it. "I admit, it's pretty clever what you did, but humans are unhappy with the arrangement. You said vampires are plotting a rebellion. What's to say humans aren't plotting a rebellion of their own?"

"Regarding the rebellion, I strongly think Tavaly has become our enemy." Iérti looked imploringly into Mallen's eyes. "I asked you to come to my castle for advice on what we are to do with him."

Mallen locked eyes with him, finally understanding why Iérti called him over. He's asking for my help.

Mallen thought it over, seeing how Iérti may be right. Tavaly disagreed with Mallen's current behavior, preferring him the way he was without humanity. Now that Mallen was almost a completely different person, Tavaly saw him as someone who lost great power, someone who became sympathetic to those he regarded as lifeforms of lesser standing.

Iérti was a fine, powerful vampire leader, but even Mallen could see he didn't entirely lose his humanity in that he was able to maintain peace among vampires and humans. That was something no vampire or human had ever done.

"I've known Tavaly since the day I bade him into my service," said Mallen, setting the glass on a nearby barrel. "He watched as I killed those I saw as threats. He quickly became loyal to me after I became the cruelest vampire in the land and began to rule over the people, both vampirekind and humankind. Though I killed more than anyone else ever did, I think Tavaly is more dangerous than I am. I have no reason to doubt he's become our enemy."

"I studied your tactics," said Iérti. "You kill with cunning ease, seducing people to their deaths. You compelled and manipulated those you wished to exploit. Up until after the night I turned into a vampire, you have always been calculating and orderly in the way you conducted things. I was told you started to slack off, that you lost your manipulative edge. None of the vampires saw you feeding while they were in the East fortress. The night my...." Iérti could speak no more, but Mallen knew what he was going to say: The night my family died.

Mallen stiffened, feeling tears well up in his eyes. He dared not speak, not wishing to recall that horrible night. He desperately wanted to steer the conversation elsewhere, away from the secrets he wished never to uncover. He forced himself to hold back his tears, keeping his emotions inside.

Iérti looked at him curiously. "Did you feed that night?"

"Barely. All of them had garlic in their bloodstream. It wasn't a good night at all." It was a terrible night.

Iérti wasn't done. "Did you or anyone see me while I was...." He trailed off, too ashamed to say what state he was in at the time.

Mallen shook his head. "No," he said truthfully. "No one saw."

Iérti's shoulders lifted slightly in relief. He looked away from Mallen, satisfied with the answer. "The mental link is broken," Iérti said, changing subject. "We can still communicate telepathically, but I can't control the vampires any longer. Can you still control them?"

"No, unfortunately. The mental link is truly broken."

"How did it break?"

"I think it formed at the start of our coming to this land, when one rose above the pack. Now another has risen, therefore it cannot be contained any longer. I shared my power with you, so the mental link only held out for a while longer before it gave out under the threat of rebellion."

"So what are we to do of the rebellion? Pursue our own with garlic and stakes?"

Mallen smiled at the thought of Iérti running with wooden stakes, holding a basket of garlic at arm's length, red-eyed and fangs out, his cape flying out behind him. He picked up the glass and drank deeply, setting it back down. "I say we fight with a rebellion of our own."