The dark tunnel moved upward.
My foot hit the stone stairs as the three queens followed right behind me in silence.
They did not push past me and let me take the lead.
I reached the top of the stairs and stepped out of the tomb, walking right into Mephilia.
The morning sun hit my face.
It did not burn.
I already knew this in my head.
My bloodline is the oldest one, which predates the weakness that infected the vampires who came after me.
I walked in the daylight all the time before they locked me away.
But knowing a fact is one thing.
Actually feeling morning light on your skin after five hundred years of complete darkness is a totally different experience.
The warmth soaked into my pale skin, which felt real.
It chased away the cold chill that had settled in my bones down in the void.
'I actually forgot what this feels like,' I thought to myself.
I stopped walking and just stood there on the grass.
I did not move a single muscle for three whole seconds.
For a guy like me, standing still for three seconds is a huge reaction.
It is an eternity of showing emotion, just letting the light wash over me and closing my eyes.
Right behind me, one of the queens made a small sound. It was a quick intake of breath.
She was probably shocked.
Most vampires catch fire and turn to ash in seconds.
Seeing me stand in broad daylight without a single blister must have been crazy for her.
I did not turn around to look at her, just opened my eyes and kept walking forward.
We walked through the woods for about an hour.
The trees looked different, and the roads were paved with different stones.
But the world was still here.
The queens had picked this specific spot to wake me up on purpose.
They wanted me to see something right away.
I saw why very soon as we reached a large settlement.
It was not a town but a work camp.
I did not need the First Queen to read me a report to explain this.
The picture painted itself.
Hundreds of vampires were working in massive dirt fields. Some were farming crops.
They were growing food for a nearby city, which probably had humans and elves living very comfortably.
Every single vampire in the field wore a metal collar around their neck.
The collars, which were thick and ugly, were designed to block magic.
They kept my people weak and compliant.
The metal stopped them from using their natural speed and strength. It also stopped them from feeding on real blood.
I saw small stations set up near the fences.
Guards handed out small bags of fake, synthetic blood, just enough to keep the vampires alive and working.
It kept them functional but perpetually starved.
They worked from sunrise until sunset in the dirt, and when the sun finally went down, they were locked inside long wooden sheds.
My people.
The apex predators of this continent, monsters that used to make kings shake in their castles.
They were reduced to tired farmers wearing dog collars.
I looked at their skinny arms and ruined clothes.
'They had turned wolves into sheep,' I thought.
My chest felt tight.
I walked right down the hill, straight into the camp in broad daylight.
I wore a simple black shirt and dark pants, and I did not wear a crown.
I looked like a regular guy going for a morning stroll through a farm.
But the moment my boots hit the dirt path inside the fence, things changed.
A vampire working near the edge of the field stopped swinging his axe and looked up at me.
He blinked against the sun.
Then the woman standing next to him stopped working.
She dropped her basket.
The collars were supposed to suppress their senses.
They were supposed to make them blind to magical power so they could not organize a revolt.
But something got through the metal anyway. Something deep and old in their blood recognized something much older walking right past them.
I kept walking and saw an old man standing near the center of the field.
His collar was cracked and rusted from years of use.
He looked at my face, and his eyes went completely wide.
His instincts told him before his brain did as he fell to one knee and bowed his head deep into his chest.
Then another vampire near him kneeled, and then another one.
It spread like a wave across the entire field, which was completely silent.
Within thirty seconds, every single vampire in that work camp was kneeling in the dirt.
The only sound left was the wind blowing through the tall crops.
In seconds, the overseers noticed the strange behaviour.
There were about twenty of them scattered around the camp, who were a mix of humans and dwarves.
They looked confused at first.
Why had all the slaves just dropped to the ground?
They pulled out their swords and uncoiled their whips, wanting to punish the slaves for stopping their work and show their dominance.
'Not today.'
I moved quickly at a speed their eyes couldn't comprehend.