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Three hundred years later

"He doesn&039;t laugh"

"He never yells"

"When Grayley accidentally stabbed Darius&039;s thigh with a six-pronged razor, our leader didn&039;t even blink"

"I&039;d say all he needs is a few good hours of bed sport, but I&039;m not even sure he knohat his cock is for"

The latter was in stepped inside the spacious dining hall, his gaze leaon-carved ivory walls Along the s, gauzy drapes whisped delicately Crystal ceilings towered above, reflecting the tranquility of sea-water that enclosed their great city

Hearoma of sweetmeats and fruit should have wafted to his nostrils, but over the years his sense of smell, taste and color had deteriorated He s more than air, and saw only black-and-white

One warrior caught sight of hiers around the chamber Every male present whipped his focus to his food, as if roasted fowl had suddenly becoods had ever created The jovial air visibly darkened

True to his men&039;s words, Darius claimed his seat at the head of the table without a soblet of wine did his h they wisely chose a different subject This time they spoke of the woerated tales, all One warrior even went so far as to clairatified four wo his eneate

Darius had heard the same stories a thousand times before He sed a mouthful of tasteless meat and asked the warrior beside hiriht hair hung around his face in thick war braids, and he hooked several behind his ears "The va the Outer City and asse here in the Inner City"

"They rarely coiven no indication of why?"

"It cannot be good for us, whatever the reason," Madox said, ju into the conversation "I say we kill those that venture too close to our hoon in residence and always ready for combat He perched at the end of the table, his elbows flat on the surface, both hands filled with er and more skilled than they are"

"We need to obliterate the entire race," the warrior on his left supplied Renard was the kind of ht with a determination matched by feas fiercely loyal and had studied the anatomy of every species in Atlantis so he knew exactly where to strike each to create the o, Renard and his wife had been captured by a group of vampires He&039;d been chained to a wall, forced to watch as his as raped and drained When he escaped, he brutally destroyed every creature responsible, but that had not lessened his heartache He was a different iveness

"Perhaps we can petition Zeus for their extinction," Brand replied

"The gods have long since forgotten us," Renard said with a shrug "Besides, Zeus is like Cronus in so ree, but do we really want him to? We are all creations of the Titans, even those we loathe If Zeus annihilates one race, what is to stop hiulped back the last of his wine, his eyes fierce "Then ill not ask him We will simply strike"

"The tireement

The word "war" elicited sree that the vampires need to be eliminated They create chaos and for that alone they deserve to die" Dariusit until the other man looked away "But there is a tiy Now is the tiy I will send a patrol into the Inner City and learn the vampires&039; purpose Soon ill know the best course of action"

"But-" one warrior began

He cut hied the last ith the vareat Families were torn asunder and blood bathed the land We will have patience in this situation My men will not jump hastily into any skirmish"

A disappointed silence slithered fro up the walls He wasn&039;t sure if they were considering his words, or revolt

"What do you care, Darius, if families are destroyed? I&039;d think a heartless bastard like you would welcome the violence" The dry stateart reclined in his seat "Aren&039;t you eager to spill more blood? No matter that the blood is varew in volu at him with expectation, as if they waited for him to coldly slay the warrior who had voiced what they had all been thinking Tagart ainst him

Did they truly consider hih to execute his own kind for so so trivial as a verbal insult? He was a killer, yes, but not heartless

A heartless h they were He simply kne to control what he felt, kne to bury it deep inside himself That was the way he preferred his life Intense e pain Soul-wrenching pain birthed htened around his fork, and he forced hi than relive the agony of his past-the saony that could very well become his present if he allowed a simple memory to take root and sprout its poisonous branches

"My faly calm "I will do what Iwar and angering every one ofDarius could not be provoked, Tagart shrugged and returned his attention to hisbroadly, Brand slapped his shoulder "War is only fun if we ee the victor We heed your advice to wait art muttered, "and your lips will becoing frolow "What did you say?" he demanded quietly

"Are your ears as feeble as the rest of you?" Tagart pushed to his feet, leaving his pallared at each other fro between them "I said, kiss his ass any harder, and your lips will becorowl, Brand launched hiround in his haste to attack Tagart In rew upon his skin and narrow, incandescent wings sprouted fro hi the surface of everything in its path

The sarappled to the ebony floor in a dangerous tangle of claws, teeth and fury

Dragon warriors were able to change into true dragons whenever they desired, though the transforripped thee, ihtered over three hundred years ago To be honest, Darius suspected his dragon forart snarled when Brand threw hi the priceless ivory He quickly recovered by whipping Brand&039;s face with his serrated tail, leaving a jagged and bleeding wound Their infuriated snarls echoed as deep and sharp as any blade A torrent of flame erupted, followed quickly by an infuriated hiss Over and over they bit and lashed out at each other, separated, circled, then clashed together again

Every warrior save Darius leapt to his feet in a frenzy of exciteold drachart," Brittan shouted

"Twenty if they both kill each other," Zaeven called excitedly

"Enough," Darius said, his tone even, controlled

The two combatants ju and facing each other like penned aniain at any moment

"Sit," Darius said in that sautturally at each other to hear him, but only a second passed before the others obeyed While theybets, Darius was their leader, their king, and they knew better than to defy hiart and Brand, adding only slightly to his volume "You will calazes on hiesture that clearly said "Coet me Just don&039;t expect to live afterward"

Minutes passed in suspended silence until finally, the panting warriors assuhtly into the slits on their backs; their scales faded, leaving naked skin Because Darius kept spare clothing in each roorab a pair of pants frohted their chairs and eased down

"I will not have discord in my palace," Darius told theart a narrowed glare In return, Tagart bared his sharp teeth and released a cutting growl