My name is Nikolai Drozdov. I am a vampire. A strigoi to be exact. We are undead vampires who hunt the living vampires known as moroi. The moroi call us evil. I used to call strigoi evil. You see, Drozdov is a royal name among moroi. I used to be a moroi. I was turned strigoi 256 years ago. When I was moroi, I was the prince of the Drozdovs. I was the eldest of my family (which is what made me the prince). I was eligible to become king of the moroi world. Its interesting I remember this stuff. It was so long ago. anyway, there are some things you should know about Strigoi.

The first thing is this. Strigoi aren't born. They are made. There are only two ways to become a strigoi. The first is to kill a moroi, dhampir (I will get to them later), or a human by drinking all of the blood from their bodies. this way is exclusively for moroi who want to become strigoi. The second is for a strigoi to drain a moroi, dhampir, or human of all their blood then, proceed to feed that Strigois blood back into the body. I was one of the latter. The "forced" method as the moroi call it.

It doesn't really hurt to be bitten or drained. Actually it feels blissful and sweet. You see when a vampire, moroi or strigoi, bites someone, it releases endorphines into the bitten persons bloodstream, giving them, what humans call a high. The difference between moroi and strigoi bites however, is that our bites are much more potent and addictive (if they survive long enough). Humans in particular crave the bite of moroi just so they can get that impossible high renewed. It is interesting what humans will do for something they think they need. Even strigoi will hunt for these humans we all call "feeders". They are pitiful beings who only live for the bite. We take them with us back to wherever we may be staying at the time and feed from them when its daylight outside (once again i will get to that). We will also occasionally pick up a human or two who wish to become strigoi like us. We make them a deal. We will turn them so long as they pledge their loyalty to us and become what is known to most humans "indentured servants". we occasionally fulfill our end of the bargain but... what fun is there in that?

The next thing about us you should know is this. Strigoi are immortal to time. We age but do not grow old and frail like humans do. We stay the same forever only growing more powerful as the years go by. Think about it like this. Take the strongest being on Earth that you can think of and multiply that strength times ten. That is roughly what a newly turned strigois strength is like. That strength only grows as we age. Take me for example. I have been a strigoi for 256 years. All that strength I must have. Strigoi are also extremely quick and light-footed. We can move miles silently in a fraction of the time a speeding car can when we want to. Putting that speed and power together makes us deadly to almost any foe.

Now then, we enter the downsides to strigoi. We are unable to walk in the sunlight. If we ever enter sunlight for more than a second we will turn to dust. The reason for this is that we are undead beings. The sun is full of life and destroys us when we touch it. Its sad really how a being like me has this kind of weakness but no matter. Our eyes are designed for the dark. We have extremely heightened senses, so it is rather difficult to go to certain places. Take a flower garden for instance. All the smells of the flowers would impair our physical capability. Along with sunlight there are only three possible ways to kill a strigoi. Each is harder than the last. Those three ways are these; Burning, decapitation, or a silver stake to the heart.

Burning and decapitation are rather self explanatory. In burning, all it takes is to light the strigoi on fire and turn the full body to ash. Its tough to keep the fire burning most of the time but with us being dead its easily re-lit... unless the strigoi is quick enough to stop it. For decapitation, it takes alot more skill to pull off. The first thing is that you need to be able to get close enough to make an attempt. Another is that you need to be able to attempt. Strigoi are extremely fast beings so it is rather hard to get us. Its a tough one but.... the last is hardest to do. Staking.

Now this is the hardest thing to do, despite it being the most common way. First, not any stake will do. It must be silver. Along with that it must be enchanted. The silver stake can only kill a strigoi if it is enchanted with the four elements; earth, wind, fire, and water. The reason for this is because those elements are full of life, just as the sun is. What makes it hard is that the staker must be able to get close and shove that stake into a strigoi, pass all the muscle and bypass the ribs, and still strike the heart. The only being I have heard of that has done so are the half- vampire race known as the dhampir.

Now then, the dhampirs. A strigoi's worst enemy. The dhampirs were born when moroi started to have children with humans. It resulted in a half- vampire half-human hybrid. The dhampirs have the good parts of each side of their blood. They are quick and graceful as the moroi, as well as having the moroi night vision. They also have the strength and resilience of a human making them able to take heavy damage before they lose it. They can also walk in the sun as often as they want for as long as they want. Even moroi can't stay out. It won't kill them but they get drained of energy the longer they are out. That is why they have dhampirs. They are guards. Guardians are their title. They spend their entire school career learning to fight the strigoi. there are few who are truly good enough to take on a group of us by themselves ,however, they almost always travel in groups of three or more unless guarding a certain moroi. That isn't very important though.

Well, you now know all you need to know about us strigoi. Now it is time for me to tell you about a different world. A world I didn't think was possible. Well I guess it is possible now.

It all started one night when I fed. When I found the bloody remains of a pony at my feet. And it was delicious.

Author's Note

Well this was actually really fun to write. Of course I left out a few details to tell in the story. This first chapter was not meant to be part of the actual story. This talks about the lore and only opens up the start of the story as shown by the end. I hope you all like it. I have worked really hard on this.