59 Flower Picking

"Hmmmm… Who would have guessed that poisoned blood tasted so much different…" Alucard inwardly smirked, licking excess blood off his lips as he deepened into the woods, Luck not too far behind.

The forest itself may be dying, yet, even still, all that one could see was greenery in all directions, only slightly lessening the further he went.

Although they were there primarily hunting for the ever-elusive Reduvia Flower, they also decided to gather as many Rowa Flowers as possible, at least the ones of good quality. Although vampires were immune to nearly all illness and status effects, a good supply may still be of use in the future, and not only that, he did not doubt that such plants would be well worth their value on the market.

Indeed, what the elder said was true, the forest was dark and far too dangerous to safely navigate, at least that was the case to the normal villager. To the vampiric Alucard who thrived in the night, things could not have been easier.

The forest creatures varied from beasts like wolves and bears to the very same goblins he had faced earlier, yet, even the best of them only possessed slight night vision that could not hope to compare to his own.

From high vantage points, he would scout onward assessing the best way to go, a path with the least resistance and most flowers, Luck aiding him along the way using his race's sixth sense.

Farries were creatures well in tune with life, nearly the exact opposite of vampires. Their vision allowed them to accurately appraise the quality and the remaining life a plant possessed, and using this, Luck would be able to not only navigate through the darkness, but also guide Alucard to the pockets brimming with most life for the highest quality flowers.

For hours, they searched far and wide, and in that time, they noticed many things. There were still no signs of a Reduvia Flower. The only thing that Alucard knew was that Reduvia's always emerged near water, yet there had not been a single hint of a water source ever since they entered. This gave him enough reasoning to assume that all the water had disappeared somehow, and now all they looked for were the remnants of where they thought water once ran.

At the very least, they managed to collect Rowa Flowers. Still, even after going back to the more dangerous areas, they only managed to gather but a few of pristine quality, most that they found had at least some sign of decay, which was well to be expected.

It was only a few hours later did issues finally begin to arise…

"Luck, how many did you get this time?" Alucard looked over towards Luck's approaching dim light in the distance.

"Three my lord. Ahead of us, the life that I'm sensing is beginning to fade,"

"Yes, even I can tell…" Alucard took a steady glance to his front.

The two had already swathed the forest horizontally all the way through, and all there was left was the way ahead which bore even more death and decay.

"But, that's not entirely a bad thing, the deeper we go in the forest, the more dangerous it is and the higher chance for the Reduvia that grows once a year to not have been picked up by one of the villagers by coincidence. Besides, it might be easier for you to spot also." Alucard scratched his chin, before his attention was once again redirected to Luck still holding onto those three Rowa Flowers.

"My lord, there is also one thing I would like to tell you," Luck's face seemed worried.

"Hm? What is it?"

"Well, as I was searching, I noticed a lot of fresh corpses on the ground leading deeper into the forest, and they didn't look like they were killed by any kind of beast or demi-human I could think of, and I'm confident it was not your doing either, my lord."

"Did you inspect the corpses?" He asked, only for Luck to shake his head.

"Sorry, but, I couldn't get near them due to several beasts coming close towards that direction probably smelling the fresh meat."

"Interesting… And what direction was this? I want to go personally inspect."

"Yes, my lord!" Luck nodded and turned his head with his hands pointing. "It was all in that dir—" That was when abruptly, his stretched-out arm began trembling, and his eyes twinkled narrowing intensely through foliage until he saw a light.

"AHHH! THIS WAY MY LORD!! FOLLOW ME!! THAT'S IT! IT HAS TO BE!!" His wings trembled and his breathing grew heavy as he zoomed ahead.

Luck's sudden yelling even caught Alucard off guard, after all, they had both agreed to remain quiet to not attract any attention.

He did not know what had suddenly came over him, but considering all the possibilities, Alucard could not help but have high hopes as he tarried not too far behind Luck's dim light.

******

The sombre wind of the night brushed a breeze through the scruffy red-haired man, his legs stretched out and his back upon the tough grass, his bloodied face illuminated, staring at the light of the moon with his ocean blue gaze.

The land around him was drab, almost lifeless, a deathly mismatched green and gray deep inside the forest, on a hill within a damp clearing filled with small puddles scattered all around.

"Should I go back?" He mumbled to himself, grasping the rapier to his side.

All through the night, Vernon sat in that exact same position. No matter how hard he tried, he could not seem able to shut his eyes let-alone sleep, thinking to himself, but more importantly, he was worried…

"I already said I wouldn't return, but… I need to see if Taylor's okay… I'd never forgive myself if they died while I'm not around…" He grunted, furrowing his brows up in the sky as though imagining Taylor's face.

Shaking his head and steadying his beating heart, he twitched his lips thinking of an answer. However, that was when seemingly out of nowhere, he heard a loud, gurgling sound enter his ears within this seemingly dead and secluded area of the woods.

*GRRRRRR*

"Huh?"

Initially, it sounded like a growling beast, but upon closer inspection, it was none other than the grumbling of his empty belly that he instinctively held from the slight pain.

It was only now that he noticed that he had entered the forest with no sustenance, he and the Hollow Slayers had abandoned their food source along with their broken carriage.

However, rather than be in a bad mood about his hunger, he could not help but smile. He finally had another excuse to return and see Taylor.

However, that was not the only reason, for he had noticed something in the corner of his eyes along with a delectable smell that grabbed him by the stomach.

It was a single flower, living oddly among the dead all around it. He had seen it all too many times on the way to where he sat, yet this one, unlike all the dead, gray ones he came across, was filled, brimming with glowing life.

Its rosy petals were soft and moist, streaks of what almost seemed like embroidered red etched upon it like a work of art. The aroma it gave off was heavenly, as though it was drawing him near to have a bite.

And it was then, that for the first time since entering the clearing, he forced himself to move his fatigued, injured body crawling gradually towards that flower, picking it up and bringing it steadily near his sniffing nose and the heavy saliva in his mouth…