Loneliness

Silence reigned over the vast field where the battle was to take place. He loved this silence. Every elder of the Lord's race loved it. The Roman legion was already ready for battle. Well-trained and armed soldiers awaited only the enemy. He stood alone. The army that was to come needed a worthy herald. He became it. Dusk was slowly falling. And he knew the time had come; the Romans wouldn't wait forever. He pulled his army's standard from its sheath. He examined it carefully, then gripped the hilt and held it toward the setting sun, so that the legionaries could examine it. With his other hand, he pulled back the hood of his long brown cloak and removed the scarf from his face. Apart from his black chainmail, he wore no armor. His only weapons were a sword... and a banner. Quickly, he began to mutter the words of a mantra, repeating them louder and louder over and over again. Soon, the whisper became a scream. The sun had already completely set. The Romans had been impatiently awaiting the enemy and listening to the incomprehensible words of the mantra. As the last ray of sunlight disappeared, the words changed. It was no longer a mantra. Now he was reciting an incantation. He shouted the last words and fell silent. The wind blew from the south, fluttering the banner. The Romans began to laugh at the fool the army had abandoned, shouting nonsense like a madman. A few seconds later, 50 enormous creatures emerged from behind the Lord. These creatures were black and at least 2 meters tall. Each one armed with a long sword and shielding itself with a shield. When he pointed the banner at the legion, the creatures moved to slaughter. The legionaries also charged. The battle quickly moved into the hills. Close enough for him to see everything, far enough away to avoid harm. He stood silently, the wind ruffling his long black hair. With a quick glance, he surveyed the empty space to his left.

"So you've arrived, Luciferion," he said coldly into the void. Immediately afterward, the vague shape of a man appeared in the void.

"I am. I need to see you win. After all, I gave you an army, you loner

." "I'm not lonely. I have friends...

" "And do these friends and acquaintances of yours know who you are? Do they know that your entire race was sent here from the depths of the earth to shed their blood?

" "What does that have to do with anything?"

"Until they learn the whole truth, they will abandon you. Every lie you tell will scare them away. Besides, then they too will die, and you will go away to hide in the Carpathians. People will forget about this battle. Tomorrow, they will write in the reports that the legion you defeated is missing. And you will forever be alone." The shape vanished into the void. The creatures that had routed the legion were also gone. Only the remnants of the legion remained before his eyes. And he knew Luciferion was right. Even if he gathered a thousand men to himself, he would always be alone. Alone in his madness. In his bloodlust. Years would pass, powers would change, weapons would change, and he, the last of the lords, would fight to satisfy his thirst for blood. He realized that even if he went away to the Carpathians to hide like his predecessors, he would always be alone. Even among his own kind. He would not be able to die. Living alone was worse than any hell. What to do... He threw the banner to the ground. He pulled the scarf over his face and the hood over his head. He vowed to the moon that even if two thousand years passed, he would find a way out of loneliness. A way that all humanity had sought for millennia and would continue to seek with him, so that in the end the world would realize their mistake: that they weren't the ones who sought companions, but rather, out of fear of betrayal, rejection, and lies, they abandoned them, condemning themselves and them to eternal loneliness.