His claws sunk into the tree trunk, and they allowed him to climb easily. He pulled himself up, with no hesitation. Soon, he stood on a branch, from which he scouted his surroundings. His sharp eyes glinted as he contemplated the distance, which only the moonlight revealed. The night was dark, like many others before it. He had lost count of how many had passed.

After a deep breath, he closed his eyes. He could sense, discern scents. There was nothing he could not see in the darkness. Gone were the days in which he still tried to understand the disease. She taught him everything, guided him through his struggles wholeheartedly. In return, he gave his all, aiding her efforts and initiatives.

Bastian observed calmly a village that stood ahead. Although it was safe tonight, it had been sieged some days ago. They had shielded it and made the insurgents retreat, but they struggled to do so. More soldiers were needed to counter them.

He did not know how many skirmishes he had seen as a vampire. It was pointless to count them, for they were common, and they would not stop happening around him.

Their diplomats were having the worst time of their vampiric lives, he knew. No matter how many missives he wrote, the other clans would not bother to patrol the routes that led to her land. Rebels were free to come and go, sneaking constantly into her domain. They needed to fight many times… but they always managed to establish order, somehow.

He smiled, for he spotted her in a distant street, conversing with the chief of the town. Like many other times, she was promising to establish more patrols to secure the area. She always fulfilled those pledges, for she wished to protect all who lived under her rule, vampire or not.

After a while, he looked away. He glanced at the horizon, where their territory was delimited by forests. The notion of those borders was ominous. It was a cage that they could not escape… but others could venture into it.

He wondered if they would be able to stop witnessing death one day. If such a thing was possible, he hoped to live long enough to see it, with her.

———-

The fire rose high, all around. She stepped onto the ashes it left behind, coldly. Her ochre eyes observed the remains of the battlefield with interest. She was shielded from the heat of the flames by her torn red veil, which was always painted with blood

Sergius stood by her, silent as always, attentive. They both looked away from the dead vampires at their feet, hearing a scout approach them. She greeted the man indifferently, but her ire was always there.

“So… I’ve been told a vulnerable point has been found.”

The messenger nodded firmly, standing tall in front of the ardent general.

“The reports are true.” Lyssa listened intently, for she and her troops were finally leaving behind the territories they claimed, to venture deeper into vampiric domain. “Many of our squads have set forth into that domain, yet no other lords have ever offered reinforcements to that clan. It is clear those vampires are undergoing a political dispute. We have secured a route; there is no opposition to our march. However…”

All ever slowly, the scout presented her the banner of that clan, which had been procured in a failed raid.

“Our allies have been fighting valiantly, but that warlord is quite… fierce. All attacks are answered with strong retaliation. All who come across that beast are found dead.”

The man grew nervous, for she did not answer his words. She was eerily silent. Her eyes had glinted, to then narrow, aflame. She was staring intensely at the banner he showcased, with recognition.

The red flag was torn, but there was no way she could mistake the emblem on it, which displayed the flaming maws of a dragon. Her eyes had seen it before. Long ago, Rein gave her a banner like this one, retrieved from the area where Bastian disappeared.

This insignia did not represent the domain in which he went missing. She had not known where his attackers hid and lurked. There was no way for her to find the clan that brought him down unless she ventured like him. It seemed that her search was finally coming to an end… Now she knew where they prowled, and she could make them pay, for everything.

“Call all other officials; tell them to lay in wait in the forests. Their squads shall merge with mine. We will run a stake through every single vampire in that land.”

The scout stammered, disturbed by how her eyes glared at the horizon.

“U-understood.”

Sergius said nothing as the messenger set off, intending on following her fierce command. He felt pity for her, for she was holding the banner tightly, and he could see that her hands were trembling subtly.

Her expression showed no emotion, but she was torn inside. The moment she had been waiting for was finally upon her. At last, she would be able to reach the one who had caused his loss. The notion haunted her.

There were many doubts in her mind, because he could have been killed… or taken. Perhaps he had survived, but only to suffer. All this time, he could have been in danger. While she rose as a general and searched blindly, they could have tortured or slaughtered him.

She could not know what had been of him, but there was one thing that was clear. It was time for her to face the monster that took him away from her life, the one who forced her to fill another void in her soul.

If what she had been told was true, that beast seemed to resist fire. It was something that she needed to confront, for it supposed a threat for all. She would have revenge… and aid humanity in their memory.