He took me by the hand and led me through another doorway. Out of the corner of my eye, I caught a glimpse of a woman walking down the hallway as we entered the library. I was sure the woman scowled at me, but it was fairly dim, and I wasn't positive. Shaking it off, I tried to ignore it as we rounded the corner.
"Your magic here seems set up so different than at home. My powers are varied. Similar in nature but not focused on one aspect. People like me are born with it. It’s not learned. We can work to grow our abilities and gain more control, but the gifts we have at birth are it. Humans in my world are not naturally connected to the elements.” I dropped his hand and let my fingers graze over a stack of books, letting the words from the top one seep into my mind. It was a beautiful story of two lovers finding each other after years apart, their souls calling them together. The beauty of their story causing me to smile.
I pulled from the tome and turned to him. “I believe they once were, the humans… connected to the earth that is. Or at least, it’s a theory of mine. But they’ve strayed so far that they struggle to even believe there’s a connection between each other anymore, let alone true powers. Many don’t believe at all. I mean, there’s people that believe, but they can’t cast. But as for my kind? What few of us are left? Some of us shy away from that side of ourselves. It’s too dangerous.”
“Here, people like you are revered. It is rare that someone is born with any abilities. Those that are either rise in the ranks of their station or are taken into sects to keep the balance of the element they naturally link with.” His eyes roamed over me. This time, not with lust but rather as if studying my character. “But it’s almost unheard of for someone to be born with gifts in more than one element.”
I leaned into his arm while standing there as he spoke. “Wow. Yeah. People like me are taken and experimented on where I come from. Everyone fears us, so we keep that part of us hidden. But you are not only open about your abilities and that you’re a vampire with magic, but you also are a king and ruler of an entire world? All this and you’re only a little over 200 years old? I mean, I guess that’s even a longer time for me. But still. I’ve known vampires 1000 years old that have done nothing. Well, nothing other than feed on humans quietly and maybe boss around a couple hundred of their kind.”
He looked confused. “Well, I am not sure if our years are longer or not. I know I’m older than some races that exist here now. Technically I am nearly three hundred years old in Naelyra. And by our standards, that is ancient.”
“Okay. But now I’m curious if your years similar as Earth’s at all.” I was genuinely curious. “I mean, if not, then maybe I’m not 28 in your years. Maybe I’m 98 or… 2!” I started laughing.
"Like I said, I don't know how much of a difference there is,” he replied stoically.
I ran his hand down his arm. “Maybe there’s a book in here that can tell us.”
“Perhaps, but I do not believe so. There’s been very little study on the matter if any at all. On anything earth related. I’m one of the few people that’s actually visited there.” He smiled at me with an almost youthful excitement.
I stepped away and leaned against the table, looking up at him, crossing my arms over my chest. “You don’t have anything in this vast library about the comparison of years?”
"Trips between worlds, are not common, little one. It is not a frequent mode of transportation, and there’s so much tension between the worlds that it is unsafe. Travel to some worlds, such as when I went to yours quite a while back, are accidents. So, on those trips I can only carry so much back. When I went to your world, I had not meant to. I do know that my time there was what your planet considers a week,” he explained.
“So basically, we can just say that you’re over 10,000 and I’m 5 months old. It would be cool to have some sort of person or council or something that documented all of this, no? The time span differences and stuff. That way, other people can learn about it.”
“You are adorable. I love your enthusiasm for learning.” He kissed my cheek then walked over to a locked cabinet. "But you asked where I was from."
He pulled a map from a stack of others. It was wrapped up with care. Unrolling it on a huge, marble desk, he pointed to an area nearby, north of Everwinter. The scrolling print said The Ruins of Saainborg. The colorful and detailed topography that was printed on the paper gave great detail to the lands.
I leaned on the table’s edge, looking over to where he pointed. “So, that’s where you’re from. Where are we now?”
He moved his hand a bit to the west. "We are here."
“I
