Sanguinis...
Despite their humanoid appearance, it was clear to anyone who had met one that there wasn't a shred of human in them. The way they behaved, the way the ruled, the way they spoke, all of it was soo alien that it made one wonder whether or not these slender humanoids were real or just a figmet of the collective imagination.
That's why Sylace, who had faced the creatures of the Fortresses and the creatures that escaped from them, couldn't help but marvel at the sight before him.
They didn't arrive in the normal sense, instead materializing in a cloud of red and black sparks.
Each one of them was tall, the tallest easily surpassing two meters, with deathly white skin. Their nails were sharpened into claws as sharp as razor blades and ebony bat wings perfectly framed their frightingly crimson eyes, in which dansed a flicker of madness.
Their clothes were extravagant, almost gaudy. Black silk pants paired well with a similarly colored bodice over which was draped a onyx and vermilion vest. The attire was perfected by a fancy cloak and completed with bronze and red accents.
"Can you really fly in that?" Sylace asked, eyeing the Sanguinis with a mix of fear, awe, and suspicion. They had done nothing to merit this but Sylace Archibold was a paranoid man.
"Yes..." The shortest one among them said in Common, his thick accent barely masking what would usually be a charming voice. Had he been speaking his native tongue, there was a chance even Sylace would've been swooned.
The Sanguinis tapped his chest, as if to say refer to himself.
"Dracula..."
He pointed at his comrades while naming them.
"Tepes, Von, Vlad...
"Protect..."
"Your life, my life." He used the Old Tongue word for "my", sick of having to tap his chest to refer to himself.
"There's no need to force yourself, we can converse like this if it's easier." Sylace spoke in fluent Old Tongue.
"You speak the Mother Tongue?" The accent had seemingly evaporated from Dracula's speech, leaving behind only a seductive and charming tone.
"Of course! It's something thought to almost everyone when we are children." Sylace said with a smile, half sincere and half for show.
"Wow, really?! We do not have many interactions with the human world so I was unaware.
"It brings me much joy to know that the Mother Tongue is being spread. It is a powerful tongue, use it well and the Mother will never leave your side."
Sanguinis, unlike humans, didn't worship the First. Though they believed in his existence they chose to worship the Mother, the Manifestation of The Stars, Dominatrix of the Night, and Progenitor of the Sanguinis.
She was one of the "dieties" responsible for the start of civilization alongside Lunae the Half Crimson Moon, the late Solgalia the Sun, Comos the Omnipresent, Lady Terra and her sisters, as well as the First.
"Shall we set off?" Sylace asked, infected by Dracula's contagious enthusiasm. Dracula and company nodded, grabbing the knights in their claws before flying off. Their claws pinched slightly but it was nothing the Knights weren't accustomed to.