Chapter 27: Reunion

In the halls of Volmiir, a keen eye might see a shadowy figure dashing through the castle at great speeds. The figure, with short, black hair, crimson eyes and black clothing runs as sweat pours down his face. Eventually the man stops to take a breather.

[Man] "He was going to kill me..."

The man recalls the image of Seyird exiting Lord Verren's study and the immense pressure the servant exuded when he felt the man's presence. It was as if he were facing death itself.

[Man] "That...I almost died...That's no servant...I need to get out of here. Now."

The man takes a moment to calm down, breathing in and out slowly. Wiping the beads of sweat from his brow, the frightened man begins his trek out of the castle. Attempting to seem as normal as possible, the man appears almost robotic as he moves. He gains a few strange and curious looks from the various other vampires that call Volmiir their home.

[Man] "Just a little further..."

The spark of hope in his heart is quickly extinguished when he bumps into a tall woman with black hair and red eyes. Her lackadaisical attitude is contradicted by the fearsome aura of an alpha.

[Man] "V-Valentina..."

[Valentina] "Hm? What are you doing down there?"

Barely managing to notice the frightened man sitting on the floor, she offers him her hand. The man's entire body tenses for a moment before he cautiously takes her hand. He lets out a short yelp as he is pulled to his feet, leaving the ground for a moment due to Valentina's strength.

[Valentina] "Hmm..."

The man notices that Valentina's eyes have been scanning him for the last few seconds, causing his nerves to skyrocket.

[Man] "I-is something wrong, Ma'am?"

[Valentina] "Who are you? I don't think I've ever seen you around here before."

An audible gulp echoes from the man as he tries to remember his cover story.

[Man] "I-I'm new here. I was placed as Dorian's assistant."

[Valentina] "Hm? Oh! The librarian! That explains why I haven't seen you before."

The false assistant lets out a sigh of relief, thankful that the one he quite literally bumped into was the castle battle addict and not someone that's ever opened a book in their life.

[Valentina] "Hm? But then...shouldn't you be helping out in the library?"

The raven-haired woman gives the man a deadpan stare, prompting the spy to chuckle nervously.

[Man] "W-well, I asked if I could get some fresh air."

[Valentina] "Ohhhh. I guess that makes sense."

The cheery woman plants her hand on his shoulder without gauging her own strength, resulting in a sharp pain creaking through the bones in his shoulder.

[Valentina] "Well, I should be going. Can't keep Lord Verren waiting."

[Man] "R-right..."

Valentina begins humming a soft tune as she walks past the spy, leaving the man shaking and barely able to walk from fear.

[Man] "I swear...If I see one more monster in this place...I might just keel over..."

Eventually, the spy manages to find the exit, nonchalantly sauntering out the door and into the bright light of day. Checking his surroundings quickly, the man hurries away from the castle full of monsters.

[Man] "The forrest...if I make it there, I'll be safe."

He tries to keep his spirits as high as he can, almost leaping into the apparent safety of the nearby forest. Bursting through the bushes, his clothing quickly accumulating twigs and leaves, he eventually comes to a small clearing. Grass that barely sways in the warm wind and dark wood trees that seem to sing with an eerie, hollow noise. A rustling catches his attention, bringing his hands to the pair of simple daggers at his waist.

[Man] "A beast?"

A few more moments pass before his suspicions are confirmed. A large wolf, approximately the size of a bear, with a mix of dark grey, grey and brown fur rushes out of the brush. The spy tenses up as the wolf charges, though he manages to notice something off with it's behaviour. Its panting face and bloodshot eyes along with the blood running down its side. This beast wasn't hunting him, it was being hunted. The beast grows closer to the spy before leaping, either in a blind fury or simply trying to get past him. A whistling sound carves through the wind as the wolf lets out a high pitched whine, falling atop the spy and toppling them both.

[???] "Ah! Are you alright!?"

A feminine voice calls out to the spy, with worry lacing their words. The spy manages to remove the bloody carcass off of him with only slight difficulty before looking up at the person whom had spoken to him. A young looking woman with the raven hair and red eyes indicative of a vampire. Placing her longbow over her shoulder as her cloak sways in the wind, the woman offers him a hand to stand up, to which the man eagerly accepts, clearly taken in by her looks.

[Woman] "Aren't you Demetri?"

[Spy] "What? Why-"

[Woman] "Oh, my apologies. I'm a huntress from Folkin."

Demetri's eyes widen at the words coming from the young woman.

[Demetri] "S-So...Dreyus sent you?"

[Woman] "Indeed. I was sent to get you out of there."

The spy's eyes widen in surprise once again, though this time, a sense of relief overflows within him.

[Woman] "Poor boy. You look like you've been through a lot."

The woman takes a few steps towards Demetri before pulling him into a hug.

[Demetri] "What's happening?"

A wicked smile appears on the woman's face.

[Woman] "Nothing personal."

The woman sticks out her tongue, revealing a strange, runic circle tattooed onto it. A sense of dread floods through Demetri's whole body, stimulating the fight or flight reaction. He leans his entire upper body backwards, pulling his daggers up and slicing through the dangerous woman's upper arms, prompting her to let him go as the magic circle on her tongue lights up with an ominous, purple glow. A second later, a loud boom can be heard throughout the forest as Demetri is sent flying backwards.

Gripping his bare, burnt chest as he stands up a few metres back, he looks towards his attacker, seeing her standing there with a vaporous, black smoke emanating from where her face should be.

[Demetri] "C-Crazy..."

The huntress' presumably faceless body begins to saunter forward, eventually leaving the smoke behind, cackling as he sees her face slowly regenerating from the charred mess it had become. She slowly raises her hand above her head before pulling it down quickly, signalling her allies hiding in the bushes. Three arrows fire out from the brush. The spy ducks, avoiding the first arrow before the other two find their marks in his shoulders. A moment later, a brown, runic circle appears beneath his feet and shards of earth suddenly shoot upwards, causing him to let out a pained yell as they pierce his feet and shins.

[Demetri] "W-Why..."

[Huntress] "Because, silly~...you're a loose end. An unnecessary risk. Useless."

As his betrayal from his lord finally sinks in, a strange sound alerts the huntress from the surroundings. The sound of silence. The people she had been given to complete this task are not assassins. They are low-class adventurers, farmers, fathers and sons. Not the kind that could ever hope to hide their presence from her senses. Yet, here she was, unable to hear even the smallest rustle of leaves in the branches.

[Huntress] "Show yourselves!"

Her shout is responded to by the sudden appearance of a ragged man with a short brown beard, mid-length brown hair and black rings around his grey eyes slamming into her and sending them both flying to the edge of the clearing. The huntress pushes the large man off of her with annoyance as a figure clad in a grey cloak blurs past the spy and the sound of metal carving it's way through flesh resounds. Moments later, the sight of a tree falling, split clean through the trunk by the stranger's blade followed by the top of the huntresses head sliding away from her open jaw. Before the body can hit the ground, the figure mutters something under his breath and the huntresses body catches alight, burning to a crisp before the spy's terrified eyes. The figure's crimson eyes fall upon the bruised, brown haired human lying on the ground next to the charred corpse.

[Kai] "Hello, Father."