Sous hadn't been to Conaska in years; the last time she went was about almost thirty years ago when she attented the wedding between Petun and Aticus. In fact, she was around fifteen then, when her and Tany had started having sex. That was when everything hit the fan.
For majority of the trip Sous flew, a process that took a couple of days. Tany had given Sous a couple of weeks to find a medium. It would be then that she would let Shadow go.
Once Sous entered into the border of Conaska, she landed at the teleportation center and opted to take a train to the royal kingdom.
"Would you like anything to drink, madam?" Sous looked up at the vampire waiter and smiled at him.
"Yes, I'd like some warm blood, please," she said to him.
"Ooo, what a delight. I figured you spoke Atin," he said, pouring Sous a warm glass of the red liquid. He handed it to her and continued to roll his cart down the aisle.
Sous needed a trainer. This whole situation could be finished if she would just fight Tany. And even though she didn't want to fight her friend, if the fight was strong and intimidating enough, Tany may let up.
The Alpha look down at her hands. It was just another thing added to the list of things that hadn't been done in years. But who could she train with if she herself was one of the most powerful beings on the planet. She was weak compared to the witches but compared to wolves, vampires, fairies, humans, and others, they had nothing against her. She would...she would have to train under a witch, maybe.
The train rattled through a tunnel, plunging the carriage into darkness. Sous traced the water driplets on her glass with a fingertip, the warmth seeping into her skin. Outside, the blurred landscape of Conaska whipped past, dense forests giving way to jagged mountains dusted with snow.
Thirty years. Enough time for kingdoms to fall and legends to fade. Enough time for friendships to curdle into something sharp and dangerous. Tany wasn't just asking for Shadow's release; this was a test, a gauntlet thrown down with venomous precision.
The tunnel swallowed the train whole, the sudden darkness thick enough to choke on. Sous didn't flinch. Her reflection swam ghostly in the blood-warmed glass, eyes too old for the face they inhabited, a flicker of predatory gold buried deep within the brown.
The word felt like ash in her mind. Not against wolves or vampires, their strength laughable against hers. Against witches, gainst the raw, untamed weave of magic that could unravel mountains or stitch souls back together.
Sous didn't like how the blood made the taste of Kara wash away. Prior to heading out, they had made love. It was a way for them to bond, relieve stress for a moment, and hold onto one another for as long as they could. Sous had to also say bye to her children, hating many missions were causing her to miss interacting with them. Work luckily had a mission cause that many of the warriors of the university had in their contract.
She took another sip of her juice until she eventually gulped it down once the train came to a screeching halt. She picked up her belongings which was just trash since she came with the clothes on her back.
The humans had done a lot for Conaska for the last thirty years. Technology was everywhere.
"Wow," Sous said, not knowing what majority of the technology she was looking at. She knew about phones and computers, gaming consoles but this was a whole other level.
She took a tour bus to the royal palace and would get off there; in the meantime, she participated in the sightseeing, her antennas moving frequently due to her excitement.
"Whats that?" She pointed out on the side of the red double decker bus.
"Its a hologram," the tour guide said.
"Ooooo aweeeee," Sous responded with her eyes big like a child.
The hologram shimmered above the bustling Conaskan street, a towering advertisement for synth-blood wine, its crimson glow casting long shadows across the cobblestones. Sous leaned against the cool plexiglass barrier of the tour bus's upper deck, her antennas twitching with involuntary curiosity.
Thirty years ago, this plaza held only market stalls and the scent of roasting meat. Now, chrome-and-neon storefronts pulsed with digital displays, sleek mag-lev pods skimmed silently overhead, and humans mingled freely with vampires sporting chrome fang caps.
That was another thing. There were so many vampires here when there was a time when it was just humans and wolves, but of course, the wolves wanted to conquer and were obliterated.
Sous walked up the royal steps stopped by the guards. She introduced herself, personal friend to Petun and Aticus. A guard went inside to inquire of this news and soon came back. Sous was allowed to enter.
They guided her to the throne room where a woman set, a woman who looked to be about fifteen to even seventeen years younger than Sous.
Sous stepped closer to this woman, not knowing who she was.
"You were a friend of my mothers?" She asked.
Sous bowed her head. "Yes, Aticus and Petun. It had been years since I've seen them so much has happened, I wanted to say hi-"
"They're dead," the daughter said with transparency. "They died a decade or more ago."
"I didn't know...how?"
"Cancer."
"Who is that?" Sous asked.
The woman chuckled a bit. "Its a condition in which cells overgrow and accumulate over time in the body, often leading to other cells doing the same throughout the entire body, disrupting organs, blood flow," she explained. "Humans get it. I don't know of any other species who gets it besides humans."
"So...that's how Petun died. How did Aticus?"
"Suicide." The daughter answered.
Sous could only just stand there. She had no idea, instantly regretting not keeping up with the princess'. She never even got the chance to introduce her children to the royal family.
The Alpha shook her head.
"Tell me why you're here!" The woman demanded. Sous cleared her throat, ready to speak.