"Soon, we shall have control over the entire human race!" screams of approval echoed throughout the church.
"Wife, we best leave before they find us." Galahad said, hoping the screaming vampires wouldn't notice.
"Indeed, husband." Te'ijal nodded and they both left as the crowd continued to cheer on the vampire on the church platform. The couple quickly sneaked through Ghed'r ahre. They were just about to leave the city when they heard a voice calling from behind them.
"Te'ijal!"
"Thomas. What is it?" she hissed at him.
"I just wanted to tell you, if you're looking forward to leaving to the Overworld, you should know the password's been changed."
"Changed to what!?" Galahad exclaimed.
"Slime." Thomas said.
"Don't you people ever use normal words for passwords?" the paladin mumbled with irritability.
"Hush, husband. And Thomas, thank you. I'm glad you stopped us. But don't ever do it in public like that againor I you will be dead, permanently!" she threatened, making the white haired young vampire frighten.
"O-of course, Te'ijal, of course." He quickly replied, stutterring.
"Honestly, wife, why are your people so opposed to average passwords?" Galahad asked once they had left the city.
"Now now, Galahad. They're your people too. Even if you barely look like it, you're a vampire." She smiled at him. "And there is nothing wrong with the words we use as passwords."
"Of course, wife." He extended the first two words, putting emphasis on his sarcastic tone.
"Listen, hus-" she stopped mid-sentence. A few ugly forest slimes had surrounded the vampire couple. "I thought these were rare…oh, well, killing them won't make their species suffer the numbers anyway." She took out an arrow from the bag on her back and with her bow, pointed it right towards one of the silme creatures. The arrow shot through it, pinning it to a nearby tree. Galahad sliced the rest with his sword, covering it with green slime. The fight was over so quickly that Te'ijal regretted even wasting her arrow. "Next time, I'll let you slice them all down. Even if I have an endless amount of arrows I still don't enjoy shooting them pointlessly." Galahad sighed and wiped his sword off with some leaves. They walked a few more minutes and soon they were at the exit of the Underworld.
"Password." Said the guard in front of the cave.
"Slime." Te'ijal replied. The Undead in front of them vanished, letting them pass through. "Let us leave, husband. My rabbit is in Thais and I cannot let Gyendal get to her."
"I'll be heading out, Stella." Lowel said, kissing her forehead. "See you tomorrow, alright, sweetheart?" the girl blushed.
"Bye, Lowel." She said nervously.
"See ya', Mel."
"Yeah, bye, Lowel." The boy left the temple, leaving Mel and Stella alone at the sleeping wing with the rest of the priestesses. Once he left, Mel turned to Stella. "Wow, you two are really going for it, aren't you?"
"What do you mean?"
"You've only known eachother for two days and don't think I didn't notice the way he looked at you when you met. He's really head over heels, isn't he?"
"You think so?" Stella giggled. Mel nodded in response. "What about you and Edward?"
"Me and Edward?"
"Yes, you two seem so in love!"
"Let's not get carried away here, Stell."
"No, but really. I've seen the way he looks at you, too. You're lucky, Mel." Stella took one of the girl's hands into both of hers and giggled again.
"Stell, listen-"
"Mel, come on!" she gave her a look. "Look me in the eyes and tell me that you don't feel for him." Mel stuck her tongue out at Stella, making the girl roll her yes.
"You've known us both for two days as well."
"That doesn't mean that I can't tell when two people are in love."
"Oh, god, stop!" she shaked her head, chasing images out of it. "It's complicated."
"If you say so."
"Look, it's getting dark. I'm going home. I'll see you tomorrow. Elazar Gray said I have another week off before he gives me my next assignment, so we can go out of Thais and explore again.
"With Edward and Lowel?" she raised her eyebrows in expectation.
"Fine, okay. With the Pendragon nitwits, sure."
"Oh, Mel…"
"Bye, Stella." She turned to leave quickly out of the temple.
Mel walked around, trying to find the route to go back to the Lamplight District. 'Half a year spent here and I still get confused. Pssht, this city is barely as big as Harburg.' she thought, climbing some stairs to cross through the centre. It was dark. Not dark enough for the lanterns to be on, but enough for the citizens to be inside their homes, having dinner with their families and friends. Mel had almost reached the second stairwell when she saw them. 'Vampires.'
"Shit" she mumbled as she tried to hide. Unfortunately, one of them had spotted her. He quickly got to her, grabbing her arm. "Let go of me!" she yelled, but his fingers dug deeper into her skin. Mel tried to escape, but the three vampires had surrounded her now, ready to attack her if she were to try anything else. She wanted to let out a scream, hoping for someone to come and help her, but no sound came from her mouth. Instead she stood there, in the clutches of three horrifying creatures, who looked like they would rip her head off, let alone her arm if they had to. Suddenly, water splashed over them. Standing there was Stella, in a sleeping gown, holding a small blue vial. In moments the vampires had turned to dust and Mel was free. She hadn't even felt the tears falling down her cheeks. Tears, completely brought up by fear and helplessness. She tried to lift her right hand to wipe them off, but she couldn't. Her arm hurt really badly. From her elbow to her shoulder, it was coverred in bruises. The vampire that had caught her had squeezed it so tight that it was now swollen, some parts of it even bleeding.
"Mel, are you okay?"
"I… I'm f-fine. Are the priestesses still awake? I need to-"
"Say no more. I'll do it. Right now." Stella cut her off,
"You?"
"I told you I could do magic, didn't I?"
"Yes, but-"
"I'm a healer. Not just a mage. Now, this will hurt, but you have to move your arm up a little." Mel winced. She slowly began to lift her bruised limb, until Stella told her to stop. The healer closer her eyes and slowly began to move her hand around the wounds, slightly touching the skin once in a while, making Mel's eye twitch. Red light started emitting from her hands and Mel could feel it sinking into her arm. Ten minutes passed and the two were still standing at the stairwell, Stella completely focused on her spell. When she was done, she let go and opened her eyes. "Listen. I don't know how hard he squeezed your arm, but I'll need to do this a few more times for it to heal completely. Unfortunately, there will be a scar left. And magic doesn't heal scars, I'm sorry."
"No, thank you. Relieving the pain was enough. I'll do it as many times as you feel comfortable. I owe you, Stell." Mel chuckled. Stella reached out and hugged her, carefully leaving out the hurt arm from her grip.
"I'm going to come with you to your home." She said.
"Oh, no, Stell, don't. Go back to the temple and sleep. I'll be fine."
"No, Mel, I'm putting my foot down. I'll come with you."
"Where will you sleep? I don't have an extra bed."
"I'll sleep on the floor, silly. I want to make sure that you don't bruise your arm more… or run away." She raised her eyebrow.
"Why are you so nice to me? We don't even know eachother that well yet…"
"You found me in the woods. Who knows what might've happened if you hadn't. I owe you, too."
"You don't… And where did you find that water?"
"The Holy Water? Oh, it was in your bag. Speaking of which, here it is." She showed Mel the straps hanging from her shoulder. "I wanted to return it to you. But I'll carry it for the time being."
"I don't remember taking Holy Water with me when I came to visit you. Or ever, actually." Mel mumbled.
"Come on, I'm taking you home." Stella said, taking the girl's left hand in hers.
"Te'ijal!" Mel called out in disbelief and a grin settled in her face.
"Rabbit. You're alive."
"And bruised, by the looks of it." Galahad added.
"I can see, husband. My twenty year-old eyes are still working fine."
"You were twenty when you were turned?" he asked.
"Yes. But that is not important-"
"Erm, so this is your husband?" Mel stepped in before things got out of hand.
"Yes, rabbit. This is Galahad. He was a paladin to the Pendragons over two hundred years ago."
"The Pendragons?"
"Indeed. They were good people. Remember what you said at their wedding, wife?"
"I do, Galahad, but it's not my fault." Te'ijal sighed. "I'll get right to the facts, little one. Gyendal is planning to attack soon. He needs to find you first."
"He already has."
"What?"
"I got attacked by three vampires half an hour ago. That's why my hand is bruised. He's found me."
"He's faster than we thought. I knew we should've been quicker. It took us four days to come here… Listen, rabbit. We heard him speak of another orb. The Orb of Light. It is said that it's in Naylith."
"Naylith?" Stella asked, interrupting their conversation. "I've heard of there."
"I'm sorry, who are you?" Te'ijal acknowledged her existence for the first time since she and Mel had stepped inside the bulding.
"I'm Stella."
"Who is she, Mel?"
"Edward and I found her in the woods two days ago. She'a mage and a healer."
"She's a descendant, too."
"What?" two voices exclaimed together.
"I can smell it on her. I thought it was just you at first, but your smells must've been mixing until now. She's realated to Mordred Darkthrop. You two are practically cousins." Stella and Mel look at eachother. The vampress furrowed her brows. "There is no time for more foolishness. We need to leave for Harburg, and we'll be waiting at Harburg Keep. Take this map. I've made a cross at the Dwarven Kingdom. Naylith is close to it. Good luck." Te'ijal and Galahad hurried out of the estate. "Oh, and if you find sun screen, bring it to us, rabbit." she said as she closed the door.
"We're related." Stella couldn't believe it.
"I guess we are…"
"Hmm, I've never had relatives before. This will be fun." Mel looked at her a bit confused. But she decided to let it go. She had a cousin. Go figure.