The human resistance was far stronger than Kain or his lieutenants had anticipated...even though none of them had the stomach to admit it. The vampire legions constantly haunted the twilight, terrorising every human soul in Nosgoth. But the losses within the vampiric ranks where unacceptable. Especially the major human cities where holding their own against their attacks quite well. So far, only the scarcely inhabitated regions of Nosgoth where under solid control of the vampires. And still, the downfall of the human reign was obviously inevitable. And yet those confounded humans somehow found the will to fight! Melchiah had fought in the front rows alongside his children, and he had seen the determined hateful looks in the humans eyes. It seemed like they didn’t know that they were doomed. They stubbornly refused to accept that there would be no chance for victory in the long run. Melchiah had to admit how he was impressed by that. He had to smile. It would be an interesting war indeed! 

Kain kept largely out of any warfare-business. He simply gave the order to conquer, but it was upon the clan-leaders to organise and coordinate the proceedings. So, each of his sons had a different way of aquiring new territories. And the task was a difficult one. The creation of new fledgelings strained the lieutenants strenght. Raziel, Dumah and Turel could handle that with relative ease. Especially given the fact that their first and second born children were already strong enough to create children themselves. Rahab and Zephon didn’t progress as quickly, but they too had some strong descendants. As for Melchiah, he was forced to build his clan all by himself, and the result was not always satisfying. Even though a single human was no match for him, his children were already having difficulties, their only advantage over humans being a small degree of enhanced physical strenght and the power to communicate without words. But the effectiveness of the army, he knew,  lay in its leadership. 
His brother Turel for instance simply gave the order to advance, and his children attacked, relying solely on their enormous strenght and speed. It was with brute force that he brought his opponents to their knees. 
Dumah was a proud but also arrogand warrior. He took pride in being outnumbered, attacked only in small groups, always lacking a handful of soliders. He also enjoyed participating in the battles, so he never had any idea how many of his troops where nearby. Maybe, Melchiah concluded, that would be his undoing one day. 

Rahab, so far, only fought when forced to do so. His troops simply settled down  in an area, waiting for the attackers and defending themselves. Rahab himself was always busy exploring the potential of his vampiric gifts, marvelling the beauty of his race. 
Zephon made up for his lack of overwhelming strenght by his utter cruelty. He had lines of captured humans brought to his stronghold and brutally tortured. His sick mind constantly produced new ways to humiliate and massacre human prisoners. They would be torn apart, limb by limb, burnt, skinned, crushed, beat to death or slowly starved while he revelled in their screams. Every now and then, he would make other prisoners watch and then release them (thoroughly wounded and deformed of course) to spread the tale of his brutality. His scheme actually worked quite well - the human settlers were fleeing into Rahabs territory. 

But all of them suffered heavy losses in battle, due to their utter lack of knowledge of warfare. The human commanders on the other hand had managed to turn those weaknesses against the clans more and more often. They would lure the vampires into ambushes, were pretending to retreat, and, when some of the fledgelings stormed after them in their euphoria, suddenly turn around and slaughter the diffused troops. Also, if the chronicals Melchiah had studied where to be believed, humans had had centuries of experiance in fighting vampires, while the vampire-armies where fighting like a pack of wild beasts.
The only lieutenant to respect the humans as a considerable enemy and the rules of warfare in general was Raziel. He always made his soliders proceed with extreme caution. Whenever he had taken a village or an area, he left behind some troops to secure and defend it. That way, he had created a ring around his territory, in which his clan established itself. He kept humans as slaves, divided his troops into effective task-forces and constructed an undeniable hierarchy with himself on top of it. His clan-territory grew slowly but steadily. A smile crept over Melchiahs face. Poor Raziel, how he struggled to cultivate his brothers, to no avail at all! How he could never be angry at one of them for more than a day! He was the link between Kain and his sons, was the one who motivated the idle and soothed the enraged. He was the balance of their circle. 

Melchiahs smile vanished; Raziel was also the only one who refferded to him as ´little brother‘. The others were too taken in by their own beauty, regarding Melchiah and his clan as the lowest form of vampires. But he didn’t need them, none of them! Melchiahs hands curled into fists. He would contribute his bit to this war all right! 
Looking down at the courtyard below, where his army, his children, were training themselves, he felt his back stiffened slightly with pride. Ah yes, marvellous they were, their bald heads as a sign of loyalty, the unison with which they operated, the skill they had aquired on their arms. This was not the rag-tag-force of a self-loving vampire-leader, this was a legion of precision!. Yes, Melchiah could be proud of them! Youngest, weakest lieutenant or not, his power was in his mind! And one day, they would have to admit it!

Somebody cleared his throat nearby and tore Melchiah out of his musings. It was Rolar, one of his five division-commanders, standing at the door of the passage that joined the grand chamber with the balcony.  The lieutenant instantly recognized his guest without having to look at him.

More than any other vampires, the Melchahim were able to communicate over long distances. Not that they could ‘whisper‘, like the vampires in the old days. But Melchiah could receive pictures and sentiments from any of them. That was his way of gaining knowledge, and in warfare, knowledge is everything. Having been aware of the lack of fighting-force his soliders had, Melchiah had started to organise his troops thorougly.
He had split his army into five divisions, each as a small version of a full-scale army. Each division had infantry, archers, pioneers and scout-troops for investigation that could also be used as supplementary archers. Rolar’s division was a special one though. It’s purpose was mainly high level intelligence, but every now and then they would be assigned to special tasks, such as infiltration of defensive bastions or hit-and-fade-attacks on important targets.

‘You sent for me, master,‘ Rolar spoke into the silence. ‘I have indeed. Step closer commander!‘ Finally, Melchiah turned around, welcoming his first born child with a warm look. Rolar was rather strongly built for a Melchahim, but his features where those of a thoughtful youth. It always filled Melchiah with joy to look into the eyes of this silent vampire. Rolar received the warm welcome, but then seemed to blush and quickly drew himself together and turned to duty. 
‘I have returned from our eastern border‘, he commenced his report,‘you were right, there is activity.‘ 
Melchiah narrowed his eyes just a little. ‘What kind of activity?‘ Rolar semed to brace himself. ‘A human force has crossed the border-line about 20 miles into our territory, supplies have established a base about 50 miles behind them.‘- ‘Have they then.‘ Melchiah said thoughtfully. He had expected that for some time. ‘At last, they have decided to pin us down.‘ Rolar seemed taken aback. ‘Sire?‘ Melchiah gestured towards the entrance. ‘I’ll show it to you. Come along.‘
They walked into the chamber, up to a large stone table with a huge map on it. On the map where wooden blocks, coloured in black and white. There were several lines drawn onto the landscape – the clan-territory’s border lines and the expanditions. Frankly, it was not all that clear to Rolar what all those sings and marks denoted. Melchiah waited for a handful of heartbeats, then answered his commander’s unanswered questions. ‘The black blocks represent the current positions of our divisions, the white ones that of the enemy.‘ He pointed to one of the lines,‘this is the border to our territory in the east.‘ He positioned a white block slightly to the left of it, then turned to Rolar. ‘And these are our human visitors. What do you reckon is their number?‘ Rolar let out a sigh, ‘about 20‘000, Sire, horsemen, archers, ballistas – the whole lot. This attack must have been planned for a long time!‘ Melchiahs tone turned grim, ‘it has indeed! This confirms what i had feared for a long time: they’ve picked us!‘
Before Rolar could ask, Melchiah started to explain: ‘In the past few years, the humans have learned that this is more than just an upheaval of some undead tribes, but a full-scale attempt to take over Nosgoth.‘ As he spoke, he started shifting the white blocks around, taking away and adding them as he continued. ‘I have studied this war from its beginning, and this is the major flow of human movements over these years.‘ Rolar concentrated sharply, in order not to lose track of either the movements or his masters words. 
‘Observe‘ Melchiah continued, ‚how their assaults cease in the territories of Dumah, Turel and Raziel. They are in constant retreat there.‘ He walked around the table. ‘Rahab seems to be fighting stationarily, never retreating and never advancing, but the human presence there has increased.. Zephon can’t be pinpointed, so the human presence in his territory has concentrated in the large cities to avoid his occasional sweeps.‘ He looked up, right at Rolar. ‘Since our army has taken far longer to establish, they have never really considered us a major threat and turned their attention to the other clans. But since our attack on Harvenväärd, that has changed.‘ He paused, gazing at Rolar questioningly. Rolar held his gaze, but to his amusement, Melchiah could feel how hard the commander was trying to bring those facts into relation with the force that was about to wipe them out. Especially given that it could have been launched after the destruction of that backwater settlement Harvenväärd. After a moment, Rolar decided to give it a shot. ‘So, this human army is sent to revenge the attack on Harvenväärd?‘ he prompted.  Melchiah chuckled. ‘You seem surprised, Commander! But you must know that this settlement was far more than it seemed to be.‘ – ‘Namely?‘, Rolar demanded, his patience getting just a little strained. ‘Namely‘ Melchiah informed him coldly, ‚the place from which the humans could peer into our territories, from where they got their information, from where they had observed the dawn of our empire.‘ He paused, letting the words echo in the room. Rolars forehead creased in thought. ‘How much do you think they know, master?‘ he finally asked cautiously. ‘Dear child,‘ Melchiah whispered ‘they know everything.‘ Rolar’s face suddenly had a blank expression on it. He started to feel very vulnerable. If  their whereabouts had been exposed, then so would their number. If the humans really considered them so weak, they would try to wipe them out at all costs. Given the time new musterings usually took, they would not be able to keep up with the losses! And it would not matter if the humans would be stopped by the other clans or even by Kain himself. The Melchahim would be gone before anybody would react. Everything they had achieved so far, their victories, their marvellous army, it would have been for nothing. ‘Exactly‘, Melchiah said into his thoughts, his voice sounding almost sympathetic. But to Rolars surprise, his master didn’t seem troubled by all this. ‘You see, commander‘ his voice had changed suddenly into a firm and determined tone, ‘that is our chance to rattle the current balance of power considerably.‘
The chain of emotional changes that Rolar went through was rather impressive, Melchiah thought. At last, he seemed to settle on bewilderment. ‘This’, he went on, ‘is the mistake I hoped the humans would make. At last, they decided that of all the vampiric gatherings, we would be the weakest, easyest to overrun.‘ 
He paused, the thought of this humiliating conclusion bringing back the memories of the night he had been made. 

More than eight decades had passed since  his awakening, the memory of which still vivid, making him feel uneasy. He remembered that marvel-like face of Kain, remembered the fear that had struck him when he saw his relentless eyes looming over him. Those eyes however bore compassion and love, but also a sort of pity. That was also the first sentiment he received from his five brethren. It had had a profound effect on him. He had felt insignificant and weak ever since. Yes, it had indeed been an arduous birth! 
With a shiver Melchiah shrugged off that irritating memory. 

‘But sire,‘ Rolar spoke up, ‘they are right in a way. Our forces won’t be able to repel a force of that magnitude!‘ He walked over to the table and started shifting the black blocks. ‘Our divisions are spread apart. Cherim is on a mission in the north-west, Alaras in the south, Ragna and his division left only a couple of days ago towards the northern border, which leaves only Varods division and mine to hold off the attackers!‘ He glared at his maker, suddenly aware of how excited he had gotten. Normally, his master didn’t tolerate such a tone, but to his astonishment, Melchiah was actually smiling at him. ‘I thank you for the briefing, commander‘, he chuckled, ‘but  i think you’ve underestimated my foresight.‘ He took Rolars hands off the blocks the other wasn’t aware of still holding, and shoved him gently aside. ‘I reassigned Ragnas division towards your position and have given new orders to Varod.‘ Rolar stared at him in disbelief. He was at the brink of getting loud again, when his master eyed him sharply. He swallowed and lowered his voice. ‘With all due respect, Sire, but even if  Ragna would arrive on schedule, he would be too late. The human force could attack at any given moment. I suggest that Varod and I flank them. That would probably keep them occupied until Ragna arrives.‘ Melchia cocked an eyebrow at him. ‘Do you think? I think it’s more likely that they would simply withdraw, after having assessed the strenght of your forces, and then retreat into their territory, forcing you to follow them, lest they alert  the rest of Nosgoth that there’s a clan they can beat? You would be hopelessly lost with merely two divisions, and everyone of you would eventually get hunt down before you could make it back to safety!‘ There was a moment of eerie silence before Melchiah continued. ‘No, you see, this strike is not merely another harrassement of human forces, but a push to make the entire human defense collapse. This force will be destroyed, yet the rest of the resistance will conclude on account of their absence that they are still advancing towards the very core of our empire. They will then launch their further campaigns, relying on a back-up force that doesn’t even exist!’ His voice turned deadly cold. ‘Before they will realise what happened, we will be knocking gently on their bedroom doors. That is why we have to wipe them out completely, with no-one to be alive to run back and tell the tale!‘
...as disappointing as that might be, he added silently to himself. He hated the thought of turning this whole war against the humans and nowbody ever knowing it. But since his brothers were too limited to come up with a sensible plan, he had to take matters into his own hands. Whenever there was a clan meeting on the issue, he had had to remain silent. Nobody would have listened to him anyway. And so he had been forced to listen to his brethren brooding over how to make their progress more efficient. He had not believed his ears at the nonsense that had been proposed. Even Zephon, in all his so-called genius, had not one solid idea when it came down to batteling humans instead of  peeling and mashing them up like turnips.
‘Listen now, Rolar‘, he turned his attention back to the figure staring dumbfoundedly at the map, ‘I will now give you the full briefing.‘

‘My plan is this: You will launch an attack on their supply-stations. That way, they will be forced to send contingents towards your position in order, not to be cut off. As soon as victory is yours, you will burn up everything. Varod’s scouts will be observing your assault, and the fire will be their signal to deliver the order to attack to Varod, who will then intercept whatever the human commanders will send against you.‘ Rolar seemed to consider for a moment, but he couldn’t keep his doubts back. ‘But what if there are other armies coming in behind this one?‘ – ‘There won’t be‘, Melchiah assured him, ‘because I hardly think the humans would risk to send an insignificant force into the heart of our empire. Any other army will be assigned to somehow use this distraction to come down on us from a different angle. If this strike failed‘ he shrugged ‘their whole plan would be uncovered.‘
-‘I understand‘ Rolar conceeded. ‘But will we then have to attack the rest of them as well?‘ Melchiah would have liked to comment the determination that had all of a sudden come over Rolar. ‘On no account!‘ he replied sharply instead, ‘you are to hold your position until I personally command you otherwise! This is where Ragna joins the battle. Simultaneously with Varods interference, Ragna will appear on the scene, and believe me‘, he added with an evil grin, ‘he will make himself noticed. It shall then be interesting to see just how many men the humans will be willing to send against him.‘ 
Melchiah drew himself close to Rolar. ‘I know the odds still seem bad, but believe me, it’s just the timing that is vital. The human commanders won’t be able to efficiently put their primary arms to practise, still less to coordinate the mess we are going to drive them into.‘ He released his grip of Rolars shoulders and took a few steps back, still looking straight into Rolars eyes. ‘After all, these are humans we’re fighting, commander. If the want to believe that we are monsters then we shall deliver to them what they so desire: an bloodthirsty fiend!‘ 

After the briefing, Melchiah could feel the excitement in his fledgeling. Yes, he would perform beautifully! 
‘Right, commander, I believe you have been given your orders. Any questions?‘ - ‘Yes, Sire‘, the other replied. ‘It will require a certain amount of time to fully organise and arm my troops. It thought it would be advisable to hit our supply-point at Grunnwälden.‘ Melchiah considered for a moment. ‘You will be the initiator of this campaign, commander, I leave it to your judgement. But remember that time is a critical factor.‘ -‘Understood‘, Rolar nodded. ‘Right then, commander Rolar, carry on. In honore fortis!‘ ...and good luck, he whispered inaudibly, as the other turned and strode towards the exit with a new determination in his step.

Melchiah stood again on the balcony of his stronghold, a freshly motivated division-commander passing underneath him through the gate. In short, the battle would commence, and the Melchahim would eventually get their share of glory. He shivered with excitement. Those humans would never know what had hit them when it was all over. Their blood would feed his children, refresh and strenghten them. 
And Alaras and Chemin where already on their way to the regions west of the pillars. They would cleanse as much of the area as possible, and claim it Melchiahs territory before the Razielim could push that far.

For in the depth of his heart, Melchiah felt his time running out.  Now, at the dawn of their empire, when all clans were relativly equal, now was his chance to achieve a certain degree of power and respect. The further Kain and his sons would go though, the further he would limp back, reduced to merely a weak and insignificant clan-leader. 
This war was all Melchiah had to ease the constant nagging sadness he had been born with. It was his time of glory! And glorious it would be!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Hope you enjoyed it!
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