As the sun shone down light from a new day, mist would rise all over the continent of Rampiel to blot it out, protecting the cities.
Ananchel's lord, Afriel Aliatroc, had taken a huge chunk of his own time to investigate the reason behind half of the continent's mysterious behavior.
Rampiel had 2 kings.
That is what he had found, that half of the continent was being led under a king under the name of Nahka Aion.
.....
The Aion family, Rampiel's disgraced family.
After their loss of Xerxes Aion, they blamed the king, Cain Aeternus, for his disappearance.
With the false accusations piling up, it began causing vampires all over the continent to begin to believe it as well, and with Cain being who he is, they were silenced the only way he knew how, with violence, with power.
What took place soon after, was the dismemberment of the Aion family from royalty.
From exiling them, all the way to killing them, whatever had to be done, was done, which in the end, had the Aion family removed completely... so it was thought.
.....
With Cassiel waking from his "training trance", he'd quickly wash up, get dressed, and go out the door.
After Afriel's findings, he had quickly sent an envoy out to all neighboring cities, which included Kotor and Altanisar, which Cassiel was alerted of.
Making his way down the halls of the castle, he found his way to Sebastian's office, finding himself a seat as Sebastian himself walks in shortly after.
"Oh by the gods, you startled me my king." Sebastian says, smiling.
"This isn't the time for jokes, now sit." Cassiel responds, his brows furrowed.
'In my own castle...' Sebastian thinks to himself, taking a seat.
"Then, let's get straight to it, shall we?" Sebastian says, smiling.
"I'm sure you noticed it during the war, so to keep it short, we don't have contact with half of Rampiel, which is why we were heavily outnumbered."
"Yes, I'm aware there was some issue, but why is it?"
"Well... my king..." Sebastian hesitates.
"Damnit Sebastian, spit it out." Cassiel glares, holding back his anger.
"Rampiel... may have two kings..."
This completely shocks Cassiel down to his core, he had never once thought there'd be anyone, other than Thain, dumb enough to challenge the Aeternus bloodline.
'This is absurd... why is all of this happening now...' Cassiel thinks to himself, looking down as he stares at his hands.
Without saying a word, Cassiel stands up and walks out the door, disappearing completely from the castle in a matter of seconds.
.....
Darting across roof tops, Cassiel jumps his way over the city walls, finding his way to the roads that connect across the continent.
"Why is all this damn shit happening to me... I can't even rest for one day..." Cassiel says, sprinting off into the distance on the roads, heading to who knows where.
.....
.....
Minutes had turned to hours, and hours into days, and not one soul knew where Cassiel had run off to, which resulted in Altanisar, Ananchel, and Kotor all bringing up search parties in search of him.
One party had combined the three nobles, Kislev, Elysia, and Ophelia, to come together as one.
Another party had Albus leading Altanisar's four most elite warriors.
Multiple other parties consisting of three to five warriors had formed.
Rampiel's west side had come together in unison all for the sake of Cassiel, who they thoroughly believed should rule over Rampiel.
.....
.....
With days of search ensuing, not one party was able to find any clues to where he may be, however, they all had the same thought in mind.
Every warrior apart of the search knew Cassiel had run off to the East in search of Rampiel's rumored "second king".
The only reason they could think that's where he had gone, was simply because they had searched all over their own territory.
Not only that, all human ships had disembarked off the continent and back to their own, concluding the only place Cassiel could be now is in the east.
.....
.....
With the sun down, and rain pouring down heavily, the captains of each search party, the three nobles, the two city lords, and Daein, had met under the roof of Kotor's castle inside of a briefing room.
"I suppose we shall start now that everyone has arrived." Daein begins.
"As you're all aware from our first meeting, Rampiel has two kings, albeit one of them isn't the rightful heir, it is what's come of the continent."
Whispering ensues among some of the party captains, only to be shushed by Albus as he slams his sheathe into the ground.
"Right... As I was saying, it's believed, whether we like it or not, that Cassiel has ventured to the East in pursuit of the second king." Daein continues.
"We're here today to discuss if we are to go as well to assist our king, in which we would make an entirely new party for, or, if we are going to stay put and-"
Before Daein could finish, the stares amongst the crowd had buried so deep into his eyes that it felt like he was being burned alive.
"Ahem, right, I suppose I don't have to test any of yours' loyalty."
"Then, in the next three days, a new party will be formed where we will only bring the most elite, while the captain will be decided upon a set number of duels."
A couple of whispers shoot back and forth, before Kislev chimes in.
"My lord, I don't believe that'd be necessary..." Kislev says, glancing over at Albus.
"I see, then, there will just be duels for who will participate in the continued search for Cassiel."
"Now, I'll see you all tomorrow at the dueling grounds in Altanisar, you're all expected to be there the moment the mist braziers fire up." Daein says, finishing the talk as the warriors give their salutes.
As Albus looks down at his sword, he can only think to himself of what may have come of his king, Cassiel.
.....
.....
Days have passed, there were just over thirty warriors selected to continue the search for Cassiel, this included the three nobles and Albus, who was acting as the team captain for this search.
Every warrior was given a new uniform, with the exception of Kislev and Ophelia, who profusely refused to put the clothes on till they eventually got their way.
The uniforms were made out of the darkest leather on Rampiel, carved from the skin of Garus, bears that mutated and transformed over years of consuming the flesh of thralls living in The Dead Forest.
The outfits have the durability to endure cuts from the claws of one hundred year old vampires, making it one of the strongest materials to use across both continents.
.....
With the warriors ready, motivated with high morale from their new outfits, they followed behind Albus out the gate of Kotor, heading straight towards the East.
The name of the troop advancing across the continent, The Thirty Sanguine Blades, were on their way to retrieve the rightful king of Rampiel.