Titus Silverdrake looked at the screen of his glass pad and read the notification. The recent shipment of zero-point energy machines had not made it to their destination, and the human buyers in Michigan were getting angry. He quickly typed out a reply to his buyer, promising to look into the shipment. It should have arrived at its destination at least twenty-four hours ago. But in these times, a shipment over water could be delayed for any number of reasons.
His machines shipped out of St. Louis and took the Illinois River north through the port of Chicago into Lake Michigan. They’d been sending these machines along the same route for the last six months and hadn’t had any problems yet. But now, with another winter coming, and the recent stabilization of many human cities, the demand for his machines was higher than ever.
Titus typed out a message to the foreman of his factory who oversaw the shipments, asking if he knew anything about the delay. He received a message back just several moments later, informing him that his human foreman knew nothing.
Then he attempted to call the captain of the barge that had carried the shipment up the Illinois River, expecting him to answer his glass pad hail immediately, but it just continued to ring and ring. He then checked the GPS tracking on the barge and was unable to pinpoint its location.
Titus rubbed his temples and rested his folded hands on the large oak desk in his office facing the penthouse window that overlooked the Mississippi River.
In the last year, he had worked tirelessly to re-establish civilization in his city since the Dark Sun had destroyed so much of the world’s civilization. The Surge, a group of depraved and evil immortals, had built the Dark Sun Machine over one year ago. The machine had caused a solar flare that had fried every human electric grid on the planet. Some electronic devices were still operational, but most of the infrastructure had been damaged beyond repair.
Within the city of St. Louis itself, he had focused on rebuilding an entirely new city from the foundation that had been there for almost two hundred years.
His town now boasted one of the most technologically advanced civilizations in America, with hovercraft public transportation, zero-point energy-powered buildings, and pure, fresh running water that was filtered with the most advanced techniques. He’d had floating gardens and pools built on the rooftops of the city. With the climate in Missouri, he had been able to create a lush and beautiful garden city, freed from the confines of societal and financial constraints.
It was more peaceful and prosperous than it had been before the Dark Sun, but unfortunately he had not been able to do the same thing for the outlying areas. Most of the people who lived in suburban St. Louis had moved into the new city or out into the surrounding countryside. They had not been able to rewire the buildings and electric infrastructure quickly enough to provide for the people, so the redeveloped downtown had been the bastion of hope for most of the population.
Once he had reestablished the city’s infrastructure, he had built a warehouse where he’d used ancient immortal technologies to create portable generators that ran on the unlimited energy source available within the very fabric of reality.
The immortals had known about this kind of energy source for hundreds of thousands of years. Titus himself was only five thousand, but had watched for a millennia as humans scraped and scrounged for their resources.
After the veil had been cast over magic two thousand years ago, every immortal still on Earth had decided to take their technology and hide it for fear of the reprisal from the Gods.
The humans left on Earth quickly forgot the technologies and fell into superstition and poverty. Over the last two thousand years, the human society had built itself up again, but the Dark Sun Machine had wiped it all out again.
The immortals had anti-gravity technology, zero-point energy and many other types of technologies that the mortal humans had never seen before. After he had become the new alpha of the Silverdrake clan, he had taken on the responsibility of reestablishing his city and providing for the humans who still lived there. Even though he had been asking his brother Orion to pass the mantle of alpha to him for the last thousand years, the fact that Orion had stepped away from the responsibility at the very worst possible moment still irritated Titus to no end.
His brother thought that he was doing good for the world by abandoning his city and clan to protect the newly awakened female immortals known by most as witches. But Titus was still irritated by his brother’s lack of responsibility for his city and his clan.
Even after the Dark Sun had destroyed the world, Orion had been more concerned about his wife then he had been about anyone else. Orion definitely had his own peculiarities. He never let Titus forget that he would feel the same if he had a woman of his own.
Titus had never had a mate. It was a fact that he refused to let bother him. After all of the witches had sacrificed themselves two thousand years ago, the prospect of having an immortal mate to bear his young had faded from possibility.
The door of his office opened and his nephew Ajax walked through and sat in the chair across from Titus.
“Do you know anything about this missing generator shipment?” Titus asked. “I’m not even picking up a GPS signal from the barge.”
“I just received a text message from the buyers in Michigan. They’re angry that it’s late and are asking for a discount,” Ajax said.
“We have to find the shipments before we start talking about discounts. For all we know they already received the shipment and are trying to scam us out of payment,” Titus said.
“I doubt the humans of northern Michigan would attempt to scam an immortal alpha dragon. They just want their machines. The weather is turning cold and many want to power their homes through the winter,” Ajax said.
“All of our shipments into Lake Michigan go through Chicago. We need to consult the Blackrose coven. I’m sure Jerith or Kyran will have some information,” Titus said.
“I already contacted Kyran,” Ajax said. “He told me he knows nothing.”
“Have you spoken with Jerith?” Titus asked.
“Jerith is gone. He left for Paris a week ago and won’t be returning for the foreseeable future. The Blackrose coven has holdings in Paris and they’re trying to fight back the Surge.”
“And he’s left Kyran in charge?”
“That’s what Kyran told me,” Ajax said.
“We need to get to the bottom of this. If we can’t trust our shipping routes, then we can no longer do business in the North. For now, the barges are the best means of transportation we have. We lack the resources to transport that much equipment with antigravity technology.”
“I was unable to get anywhere with Kyran when I spoke with him earlier,” Ajax said.
“Then I’m leaving for Chicago in an hour,” Titus said. “I will get to the bottom of the situation no matter what. The Silverdrake clan and the Blackrose coven have been allies for thousands of years. Kyran will not want to jeopardize that alliance by blowing off the alpha of the Silverdrake clan. No matter our past differences.”
“If you think you can get more information than I was able to,” Ajax said.
The younger immortal shrugged and stood from his chair. He had dark hair like his father, but instead of the silver-blue eyes that both Titus and Orion had, Ajax had green eyes like his witch mother.
Titus nodded at his nephew and watched him walk out the door. Ajax had been an invaluable help in the last year after his father Orion had abandoned the clan to stay in California at the new temple for the witches.
Titus knew that it was necessary for the witches to maintain their organization and have protection in these times. With the female genetic line of all immortals absent for two thousand years, the birthrate had collapsed to zero long ago, and the population of immortals was dwindling by the year. Since the Dark Sun and the reemergence of the witches and to the world, immortal males were all clamoring for mates.
Titus left his office in the penthouse of Silverdrake Ent
erprises and took the elevator to the roof where his anti-gravity jet was located. The immortals had long possessed advanced technology not available to humans and most of them still had their own anti-gravity aircraft. Unfortunately, the world currently lacked the resources to produce transport vessels on a large scale. Titus had put most of his anti-gravity resources into creating public transportation for the humans of his city.
He relied on barges re-outfitted with zero-point energy motors to transport his devices. In the last six months, there hadn’t been a single problem until today. He emerged on the rooftop of the building, the frigid air blowing up from the river blasting his face.
The weather was turning cold. Even a year after the Dark Sun, the humans of Earth were struggling to survive. Another winter would see more starvation and death from accidents and disease. Not to mention the bands of virus-infected zombie vampires who still roamed the world at night.
The state of the planet was all thanks to Xander Valdis, the oldest immortal still alive on Earth. Since the allied immortal forces had taken out the Black Sun Machine eighteen months ago, Xander and his forces had pulled back.
In the days of the Dark Sun, the Surge had taken several cities, including New York, Los Angeles, and Paris. They had been largely contained in those cities without spreading out. Now Jerith Blackrose had traveled to Paris to take on the Surge forces there. Titus wished him luck but had his doubts as to whether or not it would have any effect.
The Surge was made up of many powerful immortals: vampires and dragons alike. They also had many more creatures at their disposal, such as the zombie-like forces they’d created with a virus during the Dark Sun.
Xander and his forces kept the humans in their cities as slaves. No, it was worse than slavery. They kept the human population there like livestock, feeding on them whenever they pleased. It was beyond disgusting, and Titus’ heart ached every time he thought of it. But his current responsibility was to the people of his own city, not to the people of Paris. Jerith had gone to Paris to protect his holdings and left Chicago to his younger brother, Kyran. Kyran was a competent enough vampire but clearly he did not speak well for the coven if he had blown off Ajax so quickly regarding their device shipment.
Titus flicked his glass pad and the hatch of his cigar-shaped jet opened, revealing the two-person cockpit underneath. Titus leapt with supernatural grace into the pilot seat and the hatch slid back over his head. He woke up the holographic glass pad dashboard with the flick of a finger and began inputting the coordinates to his destination.
In his jet, he would arrive in Chicago in under twenty minutes. The jet slowly rose into the sky and then began to pick up speed as it propelled through the air over his city. The jet flew faster and faster until he was going at speeds beyond anything human technology had achieved.
When he finally arrived in Chicago, he set his jet down in front of the Blackrose headquarters in downtown Chicago. Much like St. Louis, the Blackrose coven had re-established downtown Chicago with the most advanced immortal technology possible.
The entire city was revitalized, but it was Titus and the Silverdrake clan who were providing humans with zero-point generators for their individual homes. Unlike many immortals, Titus had no desire to dominate or control human beings. He had no feelings of superiority over mortals, and still held a sense of resentment for the goddess Gama who’d required the witches to sacrifice themselves thousands of years ago to bring about the veil over magic.
In Titus’s opinion, it was the responsibility of the Gods to rein in immortals like Xander, rather than making it everyone else’s responsibility. The Goddess Gama had punished everyone for the actions of a few. And Titus still did not agree with her decision. And he’d tell her that, if anyone had seen anything of the Gods in two thousand years.
He jumped out of his jet and started toward the front entrance of the Blackrose coven headquarters. He was greeted by vampire guards, wearing long black coats with the crest of the Blackrose on their chest. It was a red shield with a black rose embroidered on it.
“Titus Silverdrake,” said one of the guards, recognizing Titus immediately.
“What brings you to Chicago?”
“I need to speak with Kyran,” Titus said. “It’s urgent.”
“I will ask if Kyran can see you,” the guard said, pulling out his glass pad.
Titus frowned at the guard’s rude behavior. As an alpha of one of the allied clans, Titus should have been let through immediately. Kyran was only the second in command and Titus outranked him. But the guard looked back up at him and nodded a moment later.
“Kyran will see you now.”
Titus followed the guard down the walkway and into the front entrance of the Blackrose headquarters. It was in one of the grandest high rises in Chicago. They walked over the marble tiled floor of the lobby, which had a seven-pointed star with the crest of the Blackrose coven tiled across the floor. The guard led Titus into an elevator that they took to the fourth floor. They walked down the hall and then the guard opened a doorway leading into what had once been a ballroom.
He found Kyran sitting on a chair on a small platform. It was raised above the audience as if he were some kind of king. Titus cringed inwardly, hating such displays of dominance. He himself refused to act as king of his city. He had merely revitalized the infrastructure and the economy, and helped the human population enjoy their own sovereignty and freedom. So far, it had worked well.
After providing the humans of the city with the true histories of the human race, there had been a revolution in consciousness that had proved exceedingly good for civilization and peace. There was very little crime in St. Louis now and what crime there was rarely happened within the downtown area.
“Titus Silverdrake,” Kyran started. “What brings you to Chicago?”
“I know Ajax contacted you earlier about a missing shipment of our zero-point energy generators. I came here myself to ask you if you had any further information.”
“I’m afraid I know nothing about your shipment,” Kyran said.
His lips were pink and his skin was rosy as if he had just fed. Titus knew that the allied clans and covens had long held similar beliefs about the rights of mankind but sometimes he wondered if vampires were genetically capable of respecting the sovereignty of other beings when their life depended on feeding upon others.
“There are records indicating that the shipment made it through the docks in the port in Chicago but it has not arrived at its destination in Michigan,” Titus said.
“Are you suggesting that the Blackrose coven is responsible for your missing devices?” Kyran asked.
“I’m not suggesting any such thing,” Titus said. “But I am looking for information. My buyers are frantic and are asking for a discount. The cold weather is coming and providing these devices to the humans is part of my work as the alpha of the Silverdrake clan.”
“That is commendable,” Kyran said. “You’ve always been such an egalitarian immortal.”
“I require no praise.”
“But you have done well,” Kyran said. “Almost as well as we have done in Chicago. Our own coven leader is even now fighting the Surge in Paris. We still seek to eradicate Xander and his kind from the face of the Earth. We consider that our great work.”
“Each of us can only do what we can do. But I do need to find my missing shipment.”
“You’re welcome to visit the port. But rest assured, the Blackrose coven has no need for your devices. We could easily produce them on our own.”
“You could, but you don’t.”
“Like I said, we all put our energy and resources where we feel it is best.”
“Understood. If you’ll excuse me, I will visit the port now.”
Titus left the extravagant king’s chambers, more irritated than ever. After his interaction with Kyran, he was convinced the Blackrose coven had something to do with the disappearance of his devices. With Jerith gone and Kyran acting as the reigning empero
r of Chicago, there was little Titus could do but continue to investigate on his own. He would not be getting any help from the Blackrose coven until Jerith returned.
Unlike his younger brother, Jerith had a cooler head and a stronger sense of right and wrong. Titus did not relish his responsibility to humanity, but he accepted it as part of the natural order of things. When one was so much more powerful than another there were two choices.
You could either dominate and control the weaker individual or you could help and protect them. The Silverdrake clan had always chosen the latter. Titus was no exception, even though he still believed it was the responsibility of the Gods to punish their errant children, rather than punish every single being living on Earth for the actions of a few.
He made his way down to the port and walked into the shipment recording room. He asked the port master numerous questions and checked his logs. The barge had in fact crossed through the port and there was record of it moving on into Lake Michigan. But no one could give him any indication of where it had gone from there.
3
Desdemona finished washing the eggs and then cracked them onto the griddle next to the frying bacon. She flipped them once and then stacked them onto a plate with the crispy bacon. She set the plate in the middle of the kitchen table as her mom checked the biscuits.
Sasha trudged out of her bedroom with her eyes still full of sleep and her hair in disarray. She sat down beside Desdemona. Her father Arnold sat at the head of the table and her mother Constance sat at the other side. Desdemona and Sasha had had a brother before the dark times, but he’d been lost in San Francisco, where he went to college.
Desdemona's mother pulled the biscuits out of the oven and set them on the table with a gravy boat. The family started their breakfast, and Desdemona poured another cup of tea from the pot on the table before she filled her plate.
She covered her biscuits with gravy and took her first bite, feeling the warm food fill her belly. Her family was lucky enough to have been prepared for the dark times. So many people had not been so lucky. Several million had died in California alone.