"I guess we will have to do this the hard way..." He had said. 

Mithias began to return to consciousness. The words of the elder vampire echoed in his mind as he rolled to his side, his head throbbing. A darkness heavier than night surrounded him, and he realized he was in some kind of an enclosed space... a cave. Ah, that made sense. 

But a lot of other things did not make sense. First and foremost, Mithias was alive. He had gone toe-to-toe with Magnus for longer than even he could have expected, and despite suicidally clinging to his cause to the very end, Magnus didn't kill him. He, on the other hand, would not have hesitated to rend Magnus from this world. 

Finding himself unbound, Mithias moved to sitting as he tried to quiet his pains and focus his mind. Gabriel had wanted Magnus alive. Did that mean they were working together? Would Gabriel truly back Magnus on his plan for world domination? Mithias was horrified at the thought. In thousands of years, even in the many centuries after Mithias' young existence, Gabriel had never attempted such a thing, not to this scale. The idea struck Mithias that perhaps... after all his hatred and defiance toward his sire, the guy hadn't been as evil as he always believed. With his seemingly endless powers, Gabriel certainly wouldn't need anyone to help him. There seemed to be no explanation for their alliance. 

Mithias shook his head... then immediately regretted doing so, lifting a hand to his forehead. Maybe Magnus had spared him as a favor to Gabriel, but of course Magnus was insane. More likely he had some kind of plan to use Mithias, but for what? Questions only spiraled into more questions. There was no point in taking any more action until he had some solid answers. 

Mithias contemplated his own allegiance to SOLDIER. Both Gabriel and Magnus had hinted at corruption within the order. Gabriel had said that SOLDIER would wipe out an entire city of innocents just to kill one oldblood, namely himself. Magnus had said they were oppressive, and implied that they merely feigned equality and liberty while secretly dominating all, with an agenda to destroy all vampires. If this were true, then SOLDIER had strayed far from the noble mission they were created for, and the Blood Contract was a lie. Because Magnus had spared him, Mithias felt compelled to listen to the oldblood's words. If Magnus wasn't insane, then he was more of a hero than anyone. 

Destroying oldbloods, one at a time, was certain to debilitate vampire influence on the world. Their power, our power, came from age and wisdom, and without our elders, we would eventually fall, leaving the world to humans alone. Something deep inside him told him that this was wrong. 

Mithias rose and inspected the entrance of the cave. 

Damn that was a big boulder.