After Drake mentioned part of his past, I let out a sigh and thought, "What an irresponsible mother… but at least it's useful now."
I then asked Drake to stay with me in the improvised hideout, and he agreed. When we got there, he asked:
"But Mikael, when we met, you were walking in the sunlight, and as far as I know, vampires usually can't do that without weakening."
Laughing at his curiosity, I explained:
"I never said I was a regular vampire… or just any vampire. I'm a progenitor vampire. I'm immune to sunlight."
When he heard that, Drake asked what exactly a progenitor vampire was, making me frown— I didn't even know that information was supposed to be confidential. So I explained:
"A progenitor vampire is the father and leader of our race, the highest-ranking one, the one with absolute control over thousands of vampires."
Drake looked at me with awe; he definitely didn't expect the first vampire he'd ever meet to be so powerful and important. Setting that aside, we finally reached the hideout.
As soon as we walked in, Drake saw only one bed and couldn't understand where I would sleep. Later, he found out I'd be keeping watch—after all, a vampire doesn't need to sleep; sleeping was just a habit from my previous life.
Drake went to rest. When dawn arrived, we got ready and headed to the market he had mentioned.
After walking down several streets, we reached a dark, narrow alley. Drake went through a door, and I followed him. That's when we came across countless stalls selling exotic plants, drugs, poisons, animals, and— in some of them— slaves of different species, both adults and children.
Drake seemed familiar with the place, but seeing children locked in cages irritated me deeply. Still, I couldn't do anything; even if I freed those kids, others would take their place and nothing would change. Unfortunately, I couldn't worry about anyone but us at that moment.
After following Drake for quite a while, we reached a store far from the illegal trade. We walked in and noticed it was filled with books and trinkets.
We approached the counter, where an old goblin was watching us. When he noticed our presence, he smiled, revealing yellow, sharp teeth, and said in an elegant yet mischievous tone:
"Welcome, dear guests. How may I help you?"
Drake immediately said a strange phrase that confused me, but as soon as the goblin heard it, his smile widened. He led us to the back of the store and down a staircase that took us to the basement.
When he opened a large wooden door, we saw a huge pearl inside, black as a moonless night, giving the place an air of mystery and dread.
The goblin then asked for the twenty copper coins—which, coincidentally, were exactly what was left in the pouch I had given Drake.
After receiving them, the goblin, satisfied, handed us two contracts with the rules Drake had mentioned—one for me and one for him. They were about entering the Underworld and included details about the oath.
We signed the contracts, and the goblin ordered us to place our hands on the black pearl. He chanted a spell and declared:
"By this oath, you are forbidden from revealing the meeting place or the existence of the Underworld to anyone with harmful intentions. The punishment for breaking the oath shall be death."
Then I felt something tighten around my heart, as if a chain had wrapped itself around it. But I couldn't understand why it affected only my heart—after all, a vampire can only die if the heart and head are destroyed simultaneously. Neither Drake nor I knew the spell was ineffective on vampires.
Since I behaved normally in sunlight, the goblin didn't suspect anything and didn't bother with a race test. From what I understood, we could break the contract if we wanted to.
And with that, the oath was sealed… and the consequences would come later.