,,Vlaaad ! Vlad ! We need to...!" Mathias' shouting suddenly broke as the man ran onto the clearing and fell into the snow. Vlad, who had been sitting in silence in front of a small bonfire, now jumped up slightly, turning to see what had happened.

,,Oh, gods, Mathias, you almost scared the soul out of me." he said, grasping his chest in mock dismay. Mathias grinned at him sheepishly from where he was still lying in the snow. He stood up quickly, used both hands to brush off the snow from his clothes and looked up.

,,Sorry, I tripped." he explained, a bit winded from running here all the way from huldras' ravine. Huldras ! he reminded himself immediately and hurried over to Vlad.

,,Where's Lukas ?" the red-eyed boy asked. ,,He went to look for you, you know, if you two missed each other just now..."

,,No !" Mathias interrupted, raising one hand and shaking his head. ,,Listen...The huldras, they got me, but then Lukas came and they still wouldn't let me go away so Lukas agreed to stay with them instead, why would he do that, and he told me to go away, but I can't leave him there, can I ? But I don't know what to do, I mean, how do you even fight or kill huldras ?"

Vlad's eyes went wide as he was listening to that slightly chaotic summary of the unlucky events. He shook his head once.

,,Knowing Lukas, I'd say he's in no danger, I mean it's some huldras against...well, him." he said hesitantly. ,,But we can't let him deal with them by himself alone."

,,There were so many of them, 20 at least and they had those crazy mind controlling powers, I mean, what the hell ? How's Lukas supposed to get out of it, I really don't see how."

,,You're right, let's go and see if we can come in helpful." Vlad stood up abruptly, a determined look on his face. Mathias was already by the horses, unfastening his sword from the saddle. Vlad did the same.

,,Ah, shit, wait. Lukas would kill me if I left the camp and horses unprotected." said Vlad, biting his lip. ,,No ! I know, I'll cast that protecting spell around it." he lit up as the solution popped into his mind. ,,Hold it." he said, handing his sword to Mathias and running over to their bags again. He pulled something out, some necklace ? Mathias couldn't really see clearly, it was too dark.

,,Stand outside." Vlad ordered him a little impatiently. ,,Oh, I mean, stay back, there, under the trees."

As Mathias obeyed, Vlad started a single round of walking around the entire camp, his hand clenched around the necklace, his lips moving, forming mysterious words in his language. It wasn't exactly singing but it wasn't talking either. It sounded just as casting a spell should sound. Or at least Mathias could easily imagine that this way.

,,It's done." said Vlad as his last steps closed a very uneven circle around the tent and horses. ,,I think. Protecting spells aren't really my thing but I guess it'll do for now."

,,Good, so let's go." Mathias already started walking into the woods, his hand raised up with a small torch he had lit from the bonfire before. Vlad caught up to him and took his own sword back from him.

,,I didn't know you could do some real magic like this." Mathias said with an obvious admiration as they were marching along his old tracks.

Vlad smiled in both content and embarrassment. ,,Yeah, that's nothing really, just a simple spell, I don't even know if this will work properly."

,,I'm sure it will. How does it work anyway ? And what's that necklace ?"

,,It's a turquoise, a stone that's believed to have protecting properties, amongst many others. It's especially recommended for travellers and riders. I used it only to focus my spell on what it was supposed to do. And that would be not letting anyone or anything inside the circle, I think it should be like this, they can pass two steps from it and they still won't notice it's here."

,,That's amazing !" Mathias decided and from the Vlad's face he could read it wasn't the reaction the boy was used to.

They were deep inside the forest when suddenly Vlad came to a halt, Mathias doing so too, giving him quite a puzzled look.

,,I heard something." said Vlad and they exchanged quick glances. For a moment they stood like this, unmoving and in silence but no other sound followed the previous one. Not up until they clearly heard someone's footsteps, audible because of the snow. It was hard to tell if it was one person or more though.

,,Are those huldras ?" asked Mathias, his hand clenching around his sword, fastened to his belt.

Vlad shook his head hesitantly, his gaze now straight ahead, pointed into the darkness.

,,Noo, I don't think so...but the light from our torch blinds me too much to really see through that darkness." he tilted his head a little.

,,No way..." he whispered, his eyes widening.

,,What ? Who is it ?"

,,It's...Lukas."

,,No way !" it was Mathias' turn to use the phrase as he squinted his eyes, trying to see anything regardless of the darkness.

,,No, really, I'm telling you it's him." Vlad turned to him, his lips stretched in a wide, fangs-showing smile.

Before Mathias managed to add any more doubts, the person approaching them was already close enough for the wobbly torch's light to show his face.

,,Lukas !" Mathias shouted out in excitement. He quickly passed the torch to Vlad and, acting on impuls, ran over to the Northerner. He was only about to give him a strong hug but somehow they ended up landing in the snow, Mathias on top of Lukas with both arms wrapped around the smaller man. Lukas groaned and tried to push him away but failed since Mathias apparently had no intent of letting him go.

,,Oh, gods. You're heavy, you know, I can't breathe." Lukas said, only making Mathias chuckle. ,,Get off me, seriously."

,,Yeah, just a moment more..." Mathias asked, hugging him even tighter, his eyes closed and face buried in Lukas' hair. He felt so relieved to see the Northerner safe and free, why wouldn't he show that ?

,Oh, that's why.' he realised, letting out a pained moan as Lukas' fingers clenched around a handfull of his hair and lifted his head forcefully to meet the other's dark, cold eyes. But didn't those slightly parted lips just beg to be roughly kissed and bitten ? Probably not but Mathias' couldn't restrain himself from wanting this anyway, since he already was in such convienient position to do so.

,,Get off me. Now." Lukas said in dangerously calm voice and Mathias sighed resignedly, his train of thoughts broken right on time before he would do something that might cost him being beaten up by Lukas, not to mention Vlad's reaction. He lifted himself with both arms and stood up, reaching down to help Lukas stand up as well. To his honest surprise, Lukas took his hand and let himself be pulled up.

,,Now, how did you manage to escape ?" Mathias asked, Lukas stepping away from him the moment he stood firmly.

,,Yeah, from what Mathias said it was one serious situation down there." Vlad added, walking over to them and smiling at Lukas. ,,I'm so glad you're all right."

,,First of all, I didn't escape. I just walked away after I showed them why they shouldn't even try to stop me." Lukas rolled his eyes as he noticed both his companions staring at him in awe. ,,It was nothing, really."

,,Oh, come on, not nothing, I saw them, it's not like it was just a bunch of human girls, they were powerful, magical and those murderous glances could really tell something about their natures." Mathias opposed, followed by Vlad's nodding earnestly.

,,Whatever. Why are we still standing here ? They might be still angry after I drove my sword through one of them, we better get out of here now." Lukas smirked, leaving them behind as he went off towards the camp. ,,Vlad." he said suddenly.

,,Ce ?"

,,The camp is now somehow protected, isn't it ?"

,,Well, of course it is."

Lukas turned to him with a smallest of smiles. ,,You can practice your spells more often, you know ? Nobody will scold you for that here."

Vlad smiled back somewhat uncertainly but also with undeniable happiness. ,,Yeah, I know."

,,You've been scolded for doing magic ?" Mathias asked curiously. He didn't really know much about Vlad's past, even though they were now sort of friends. Vlad just never talked about it and always looked as if he didn't even want to remember. Apart from the moments when he seemed to miss something important for him. Or someone, who knows.

,,Da, indeed, I was." he replied. ,,People used to really freak out when they caught me performing some spells or just playing with my magic. Not everyone but...most of them."

He shaked his head with a wide grin. ,,It's not like I never gave them any reason to be afraid of me. I mean, if you're a little kid with powers like this and someone gets on your nerves...then yeah, weird things happen to them."

Mathias couldn't help but chuckle, picturing a child, cute version of Vlad running around and pulling mean but harmless magical pranks on people who tried to make him eat all the dinner vegetables or told him to go to bed already.

Vlad pressed himself between Lukas and Mathias and, as they were marching ahead, wrapped his arms around each of them, smiling sincerely.

,,But now I have you, guys and that's just awesome, I couldn't wish for better friends."

,,Aw, that's so sweet." Mathias laughed, grinning. Even Lukas smiled, even if a little absent-mindedly.

They were not so far from the camp, almost able to see fire's light between the trees, when Lukas stopped with no warning and casted a meaningful glance at Vlad. The latter only looked around, giving an impression he was trying not only to see or hear something but somehow sense it in not strictly human meaning.

,,Dracu !" he murmured, stiffing his arms and reaching for a sword. ,,It's them, nu ?"

Lukas nodded, his own sword already in hand, its shiny blade stained with fresh blood. Mathias pulled out the weapon he had been carrying all the time.

,,Huldras ?" he asked in composed, quiet voice, standing motionlessly arm in arm with both other men.

,,Yes. The question is how many..." Vlad bitten his lower lip. Mathias couldn't disagree. If there were all of them then he wouldn't count on an easy win. Or any win to be honest.

,Nah, can't be this bad. Lukas seems to handle them at least.' he thought. As if alarmed by his thoughts, Lukas turned to him, his face serious with a faint glint of some wild restlessness in dark eyes.

,,It's best to chop their heads off if you mean to kill, not only hurt them." he adviced and smiled wickedly for a mere second before turning away. Right in time to see a small group of unnaturally beautiful girls, emerging silenly from between the trees, out of the darkness.

There weren't all of them. Not even half in fact. Six huldras were now standing in front of them, their hair braided tightly, faces stern with warning stares set on three friends. Each of them was equiped with some kind of weapon, from swords and spears to axes. The one with a tremendous axe, higher then herself, was that sweet looking one who had captured Mathias before and then made a deal with Lukas. She grimaced slightly, catching his sight and Mathias sent her a crooked smile. Oh, she won't have it easy with him, not this time.

The fight began spontaneously, the huldras attacked all together, a bit chaotically but fiercely. In a few moments Mathias found himself using his sword to the extent he had only experienced in a real battle before. Oh, the huldras were clumsy with weapons but their unhuman agility and really fast moves made it hard to go with. But Mathias kept their pace and even managed to drive a few swings that ended up in enemies' not armoured bodies. Not that it stopped them for long.

From what he could see, both Lukas and Vlad had no troubles fighting, Vlad even still holding a torch in one hand while the other one was handling a sword. His arm was covered with blood but it didn't seem seriously, more like a scratch.

Mathias swiftly drove a sword through a tall brunette's chest, making her fall to his feet. She wasn't dead though, only uncounscious. He turned around just in time to block an axe, aimed at his head. The force of it echoed as a shudder running up his arm. That was her, his capturer. And now he could notice already dried blood on her stomach, her shirt soaked with it. So that was also her that Lukas had wounded before. Well, that was only to be expected.

,,Aren't you too tiny for such weapon ?" Mathias asked her as they clenched in another attempt to hurt each other. She pouted childishly and from that close Mathias saw how pale she was. Probably too weak to beat him now, no matter what he was.

And indeed, it wasn't long untill she fell, her eyes filled with both pain and anger, a sword sticking out of where her heart should be. But probably Mathias had missed because she was still breathing.

He kneeled down and took the axe from her hands. It was one fine weapon, with its surprisingly small weight and sharp, thin blade.

,,Don't you mind ?" he asked in ironical courtesy, standing up and pulling the sword out of the huldra's body. She groaned and passed out finally. Mathias snorted, turning back to the others.

They already beat their huldras and were standing few steps away, appparently watching him fight. Vlad was grinning at him, sheer excitement dancing merrily in those crimson eyes. Mathias grinned back.

,,And that's all they have ?" he asked, feeling as if he could take on a rest of huldras' bunch by himself.

,,Well, they're not fighters after all...and having their magic almost blocked by someone stronger, they can't really do much." Vlad explained. In the meanwhile, Lukas was strolling among huldras, looking down at them with unreadable expression.

,,We should probably kill them." he said blankly. ,,At least this one." he stopped right next to Mathias, his gaze focused on the huldras' leader. ,,I bet the others wouldn't go fighting if it wasn't for her."

He hesitated and then shaked his head once. ,,But we can't. Unless we want the rest of them to go after us, this time for real."

,,Whatever, let's leave them like this, I think they've learnt their lesson." Mathias said, fastening the sword back to his belt and grasping the axe firmly. ,,Now let's get back to the camp."

,,Are you taking it with you ? For real ?" Lukas gave him a weird look as the three of them started walking again.

,,Yeah, why ? It's a hell of a good weapon."

,,It's huge. Not really convienient in transportation, don't you think ?"

Mathias chuckled, making use of an useful function he had noticed earlier. In half of the axe's lenght, there was a ring of iron but if it was moved away, the whole weapon could be easily bent in two, shortening it to a decent size.

Lukas rolled his eyes, seeing this and said nothing more. Vlad however laughed. ,,That's just brilliant."

,,I know, right ?" Mathias' grin went wider.

As they stepped out of the forest on an empty clearing, Mathias frowned a bit.

,,Shouldn't we be already at the camp by now ?" he asked, confused. Lukas looked up a him in disbelief.

,,Are you stupid or what ? No, don't answer that. Vlad, you told him how the spell works, right ?"

Before Vlad managed to react, Mathias burst out laughing.

,,Oh shit, I forgot." he admitted. Lukas' expressionless gaze was the only answer for that.

Vlad smirked, walking over to Lukas and standing behind him, his arms wrapped around the Northerner's neck. He leant chin on his shoulder.

,,Luk, can you see through that spell ?" he asked. Lukas grabbed his hands calmly and untied them from around himself, turning to face Vlad and lightly push him away.

,,Of course."

,,Ah." Vlad bit his lip, looking troubled. ,,So it was bad after all."

,,Not really. Though you yourself know best that protecting magic is not exactly your strong point."

,,Yeah, I guess." Vlad agreeded, smiling slightly. ,,I'm not even sure how to properly take it off now."

,,You better figure it out quickly, we have to pack our things and get out of this forest as soon as we can."

Mathias' head lifted right away and turned towards them as the words registered his sleepy mind.

,,What ?!" was all he managed to say.

,,Please, stay silent for today, would you ?" Lukas regarded him, his voice resigned.

,,Is it realy necessary ?" Vlad asked after sighing heavily.

,,Oh gods, help us." Mathias murmured, yawning.

,,Get to work, you two." Lukas ordered coldly, though something gleefull, a pixie sparkle, was once again surfacing in those dark blue eyes.

As Vlad hummed something quietly and stepped further into the clearing, Mathias was finally able to see their camp, with bonfire already dead and cold. He headed straight to their tent with an intention of taking it down and collecting the stuff they had placed inside.

,,Oi, Luke, sometimes I hate you." Mathias said as he passed Lukas by. He reached up to ruffle his platinum hair and ignored the glare he gained for this. At least he could have some fun, teasing the one who had come up with a mad idea like this. How were they even going to ride in a pitch darkness of the forest ?

Mathias sat stiffly in his saddle, yawning uncontrollably every now and then. He leant down to caress Negma's shiny neck. The mare snorted quietly. Even she seemed a little tired. Not a big surprise, considering how they had been riding all night until finally, at dawn, they'd reached the forest's edge.

Truth to be told, Mathias sighed with relief once they left those woods. He felt too sleepy and tired for fighting again. All he wanted was a long, peaceful sleep. But here he was, still in the way, even though it was already morning.

,,Luke, are we going to ride as usual now, all day ?" he asked, catching up to Lukas, who also didn't look too fresh. His eyes were dull as he looked up at Mathias.

,,No." he replied blankly, for once completely ignoring being called like this by Mathias.

,,Great, I don't think I can go on like this any longer." Vlad cut into their little conversation. ,,So where are we stopping ?"

,,Remember that small village nearby ? We've been there two years ago." Lukas smirked slightly as Vlad's eyes went wider.

,,The one where people wanted to capture me and burn alive, thinking I was some sort of a demon ?"

,,The one and only. Such a lovely place." Lukas seemed to enjoy Vlad's panicking.

,,I'm not staying there, you must be kidding me !" Vlad stopped his horse and Lukas turned away to hide a malicious smile. Mathias frowned, watching them.

,,What kind of place is that ?" he asked, not sure whether he should take Lukas seriously now, since his eyes had gone all pixie-like and playful. Nonetheless, he looked up and and answered.

,,The only village in this area, it's so isolated that people out there are...well, weird. And afraid of anything magical, abnormal. They can't even look in the huldras' forest's direction without flinching and murmuring the prayers. And once they saw Vlad...you can imagine how they reacted."

Vlad groaned loudly. ,,You should have warned me back then, you know ?" he said accusingly.

,,I did. I told you not to go down there when we were staying up in the hills." Lukas shrugged, not sounding guilty in the slightest.

,,Yeah, but you never told me why, and you know it was like encouraging me to check it by myself."

Mathias could understand this perfectly well since he had been just the same way his entire life. How many times had he eneded up in troubles because of doing things like this ? But, from a different point of view...how many amazing adventures had he found as well.

,,Well, at least you've learnt to trust me when I tell you not to go somewhere, haven't you ?"

,,As if !" murmured Vlad, a smile blossoming slowly on his lips.

,,Rebellious brat, aren't you ?" Lukas asked laughily. ,,Both of you, in fact."

Mathias and Vlad exchanged amused glance and started laughing.

,,Yeah, sorry about that, grandpa, you're getting too old for this." Vlad grinned.

,,Ohh, you, ungrateful..." Lukas' eyes narrowed in mock warning. ,,Just wait..."

Mathias was smiling widely, satisfied with such playful atmosphere between them. Now it felt as if they were just three close friends travelling together and having some fun in the way. He wished they really were. But the reality was that he didn't even know where they were going and how long would it take until they'd leave him alone again. And that was unless Lukas really didn't plan on imprisoning him somewhere forever as Mathias had been afraid of not so long ago. Now he was even no longer sure how he wanted things to end.

Tossing away all the complicated reflections, he grinned cheekily and joined the others in that not too serious fight on words and teasing.

,,Okay. So who will stay on guard ?"

Everyone stayed quiet after Vlad's question. Lukas, looking bored and reluctant, Mathias, pretending to be too busy with feeding the horses with last amount of oat they had and Vlad, waiting for someone else to volounteer.

After few silent moments, Lukas sighed.

,,Just cast one of your spells on the camp and let's all go to sleep." he said, standing up.

,,Ha, now you're going to make me do that all the time, aren't you ?"

,,Of course. Now that I know for sure you can do that again." Lukas said as if it was something obvious.

,,Nu fi atât de viclean." Vlad replied, showing both fangs in odd smile.

,,Eu vă va ajuta."

Mathias looked up in surprise. He had no idea Lukas could speak Vlad's language. His words were accented differently but he seemed to be pretty fluent in it.

,,Yeah, you better help." Vlad tried to sound grumpy but his crimson eyes were already bright with excitement.

As soon as they pitched a small camp, not even bothering with collecting firewood for later, Vlad grabbed Lukas' hand and pulled him slightly, standing right next to the tent.

,,You don't really have to hold my hand." Lukas said.

,,I know." Vlad nodded quickly. ,,But it's easier for me like this."

Mathias sat down on a snow covered rock on the hillside, watching them attentively. It was always fascinating to see someone doing magic. And since it was Lukas...He bit his lip in attempt not to smile excitedely.

,,You can start now." Lukas said quietly to Vlad and the boy nodded once, his expression concentrated. This time there was no walking around the camp nor holding the necklace. It was nothing more but this half-spoken, half-sung, long spell, oddly rhytmicall and mesmerising.

Vlad's eyes were closed, his lips forming foreign words. He seemed to have it somewhat easier than the last time Mathias had seen him doing so. But his hands were clenched tightly around Lukas' ones.

Lukas did nothing spectacular, nor even noticeable for Mathias. He just stood there unmoving, his eyes darkened and much more alive than usual. As if his own magical powers were flowing impatiently through his body and he was holding them back.

Suddenly Vlad went quiet, his eyes opening, bright, wild and strangely hungry.

,,That was..." he bit his lip and shaked his head. ,,Is the spell good enough ? I couldn't really focus on its technical side."

Lukas smirked slightly. ,,Yeah. It's good."

He slipped his hands out of Vlad's grasp and ran his fingers through the boy's sleek, reddish hair protectively. Vlad smiled at him.

,,Now we can go to sleep." Lukas decided, walking over to the tent and lifting up its front part to get inside. ,,Are you two going ?"

Mathias snapped back to reality, stood up and raising both hands to stretch with a yawn, before he followed Lukas.

,,Sure." he said. ,,Does using magic really feel that great ?"

,,Mhm, sometimes." Vlad replied, crawling into the tent and curling up inside the large fur. Mathias laid next to him, in the middle, with Lukas on his another side.

,,You two can talk later, really." Lukas mumbled, sounding as if he was already half asleep. Mathias turned over to face him and met his unguarded, tired gaze. Lukas was wrapped tightly in the fur, even lower half of his face was covered, with only his eyes visible above it. And those eyes were looking into his own in an unexpectedly conscious way, so full of something thick and dark. And tempting, to the extend where Mathias couldn't help his heart beating faster and more chaotically. But this time it wasn't only because of fascination or something. It was pure, tingling need to touch him.

And he would do so much more than just touching him once, if it wasn't for Vlad of course.

Apparently following his train of thoughts, Lukas raised one hand and soundlessly reached out to him, running his cold fingers against Mathias' cheek, lips and then his neck, making the other man get small shiver.

Mathias couldn't see Lukas' lips, but those eyes told him the Northerner must have been smirking.

,So you want to play like this...' he thought, abruptly grabbing Lukas' hand and pulling it up to his lips. He cought the sensitive skin of an inner wrist between his teeth and bit it quite hard, leaving red marks on the pale background. As Lukas flinched slightly, Mathias sneered and licked that very same place slowly, his eyes narrowed and set on Lukas' ones. Then he let go of his hand as he felt himself wanting the man too much for comfort.

Lukas hid his hand back under the fur, their eyes still glued together. And then Lukas closed his, just like this, breaking that wordless, hot connection between them. Mathias almost sighed, finding himself somewhere between disappointment and relief. It didn't take him too long to fall asleep though.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter :) And for those interested - I published Vlad's separate story. It's called ,In search of summer' (yeah, lame, I know, but my creativity always suck with titles)

I can't believe it took me so damn long to update this time. If anyone's been waiting for this, than I'm sorry. I'll definitely do it quicker next time. It's just that I've finally gotten back to work and I was pretty busy after I returned from the winter holiday trip. It was rather like spring trip though. But I'm so happy, because I can ride horses again. All the doctors were like ,oh, you're gonna wait 3 months for this.' So I waited...3 weeks xD Well, then I had to wait one more week because of the pain, but now it's all right and it feels amazing to be back in a saddle ^^

Translations:

Dracu - fuck

Nu fi atât de viclean. - don't be so sly

Eu vă va ajuta. - I'll help