For the first time in something like 4 months, Aadela felt warm. Aadela woke up, and saw Cher by her side, as usual when she had blackouts.
"Hey." Aadela mumbled sleepily, and sat up.
"Good morning!" Cher chirped. "Feeling better?"
"Yes!" Aadela grinned. "And hungry too! We've reached Vampire Mountain, haven't we?"
"Yep! And before food maybe you should have a bath; I've already had mine."
"No wonder you're not smelling."
"At least I wasn't smelling as bad as you. Now get up."
Aadela got up, excited and fetched out some clothes. They walked out of the tiny area where she'd been sleeping, and into the various caves. There wasn't much activity, surprisingly, but every once in a while a vampire would appear and greet them. They entered a hall, known as the Hall of Perta vin-Grahl. The waterfalls entranced her and so did the structure of the Hall.
"Well, go ahead. Take a quick shower, and then we'll hurry along to have some food." Cher began walking out when Aadela stopped him.
"Take a bath... here?"
"Yes, where else?" he asked, genuinely surprised.
"But the water's so cold! And... what if someone comes while I'm taking a bath?"
Cher chuckled, "Don't worry about that, you'll be the only one who'll come here everyday."
"What? The only one?" Aadela asked, horrified.
Cher couldn't help but laugh again. "Go on, and there are some rock niches, if someone does come. Enjoy." Saying so, he left the Hall.
Aadela glanced around uncertainly several times, then finally stripped off her clothes and jumped into the waterfall - an unwise thing to do. She shrieked with the cold of the water and the shock of it, but water gurgled into her mouth and she couldn't do anything but spit it out and jump from one spot to another. It didn't take her much time to adjust to the water and enjoy the bath as months of grime and stickiness left her body. She'd hoped for some nice, hot water, but this was still better than anything. The only thing she really wanted was a soap-cake and a scrub. But she knew better than to pine for such luxuries.
She got out, after scrubbing herself throughly with her hands, and put on her fresh, clean clothes - ah! She'd forgotten the feel of tank tops and skirts and sandals; it was warm enough for such clothes in the Mountain. Humming a tune, she opened the doors of the Hall and walked out, still humming.
"I didn't realise you were so pretty!" Cher mock-exclaimed.
"Shut up." Aadela snapped playfully, then added after a moment's pause, "I'm sorry, Cher, that was rude of me, wasn't it? I should have instead explained to you that however clean or dirty you'll ever be, it won't matter and won't change the fact that you just aren't handsome at all!"
Cher punched her and they made their way to the dinning hall - Hall of Khledon Lurt. Cher had taken the liberty to teach Aadela all the common phrases or curses used by vampires and the names of different Halls. They sat down at one of the few long tables and were suddenly smothered by too many smelly vampires. Aadela nearly retched at the intensity of the stench, but no one paid her close attention.
"Cher! My old friend! How've you been?"
"Let's hear about what Cher did to erring vampaneze this time!"
"Whom did you beat up?"
"Do you plan to take the Trials again?"
Cher responded very enthusiastically and naturally to these and many more such questions. Talk was racocious and deafening and fanciful. But Aadela found herself listening enthusiastically to it.
"What would you like?" a female, probably a vampire, appeared and asked her. She was pretty plain looking, and Cher only said, "The usual breakfast, please."
"What's there to eat?" Aadela asked.
"You've your bread, bat broth, fried rats, worm stews, dog brain soups, blood, meads, ales, wild grasses, litchens, seeds, other meats, cheese and all." the female recited off. Aadela's eyes widened until they resembled the shape of two large olives.
"Nothing!" pat came the reply.
"What? Don't be serious! You've got to eat something!"
"No! Nothing!" Aadela gulped.
"Get her bread and cheese, two vials of blood, and some roasted chicken." Cher ordered, and the female went away.
"She wasn't serious when she said 'bat broth' and 'fried rats' and 'worm stews' and 'dog brain soup', especially dog brain soup, was she?" Aadela asked.
"You'll be eating much worse before we might leave the Mountain next." Cher responded, caught between trying to stay serious and the urge to laugh badly.
"Did I inform you that I'm turning a vegetarian?" Aadela mumbled. At this, all the other vampires chortled over. Wiping their eyes, one of them said, "She's a great one! Anyone heard of a vegetarian vampire?"
"Who is she, by the way?" another one asked curiously.
"This is my cousin and assistant, Aadela Felix."
"Greetings to you, Aadela Felix." all the vampires chanted, many smiled.
"Greetings." Aadela replied shyly, with an awkward smile.
"I'm going on a diet, Cher! I can't eat all the stuff they offer here!" Aadela complained. Aadela had taken ages to chew a single morsel of her breakfast, so Cher had to postpone giving her a tour of the Mountain.
"You'll eat, or you'll fall ill." Cher shrugged.
"What a great choice!" Aadela replied sarcastically.
"Sarcasm is your strong point, isn't it?"
"It is just the blood which runs in both of us - the family blood, I mean. Where are we going, by the way?"
"To meet the Vampire Princes. We've to show you to them."
"Why?"
"A vampire is not allowed to blood a child due to the many difficulties, a major of them being emotional ones, which follow. The Princes must accept you."
"And what if they don't?" Aadela looked straight ahead; she knew enough of the vampiric world to know what could be the possible outcomes.
"There are always ways. And I'm ready to fight to death." Cher replied with gritted teeth. Aadela just walked on with Cher, feeling a bit numb. They arrived at what could be called the top of the inhabitable mountain where there was a huge door and several, massive guards barring it.
"I wish to seek the audience of the Princes." Cher commanded. There was a long pause and they were let in, whilst guards stood sinisterly at the side of the tunnel. They were frisked about - too cautiously for Aadela's taste - and they finally entered a vast cavern with a dome. Cher marched along with Aadela looking here and there in awe. They made their way to the benches arranged around the cavern and sat in the front row. Not many were there besides them - most of the Generals would be coming back a week later, as Cher said, to do their regular reportings.
A guard announced their names, and Cher grabbed Aadela and made his way down to the platform where the Princes' sat at their thrones.
"How do you do, Cher? It is a long time since we last saw you." one of the Princes, who looked as the sponsor of a black dye - Mika ver Leth. From what Cher had said, it was a bit unusual of him to talk so freely to anyone who wasn't a Prince.
"I do well, Mika, as the luck of vampires and my own talents both go hand in hand with me. I hope you be patient with me, sires, as I've something grave to tell you."
"What is it that bothers you, Cher? Vampaneze? Mad vampires?" to call the man who asked this question old, would be like calling a blue whale small, Aadela thought to herself, as she took in the appearance of Paris Skyle.
"I wish to inform the Princes about the blooding of my new and young assistant, Aadela Felix."
"She's merely a girl!" Whoa! Incredible Hulk without hair and green skin, with some clothes and tatoos? Aadela almost spoke her thoughts out loud as she surveyed Arrow.
"You know very well as a General about the strict upholding of our rules, don't you, Cher?" Mika asked severely.
"Yes, I do, sire. But I want to explain the reasons to you and I hope that whatever I say is accepted as the truth here - firstly, her home was ravaged by the vampaneze, her family was killed, but I managed to rescue her and get her to safety. She was going to die due to the shocking numbers and degree of wounds she'd and I just couldn't watch her die, which brings me to the second reason why I blooded her - she's my cousin, but I loved her and still love her as my sister. Thirdly, due to the impact of losing all that she cherished, Aadela's -"
"- more than desperate for revenge." Aadela croaked. Her throat had gone dry, but with Cher speaking on, the bitter memories of the past came back to haunt her. "I'm not willing to cause a bloodbath, but if I've to kill an entire horde of vampaneze, to get to those three villains, I'm more than willing to do it. Cher has taught me a lot, but not enough, and I'm willing to cut their hides whilst they still live, layer by layer." As Aadela continued, her voice strenghtened, and each syllable held hatred, power, malice and bloodlust.
Cher nodded. "And I've no doubt about her intelligence, capabilities and determination."
The Princes listened gravely and nodded. "But, Ms. Felix, did you know what Cher was about to do and what it's outcomes would be?"
Aadela gulped, then began speaking confidently, "No, sire. But I'm highly indebted to Cher here." she realised that this would be the only way to get herself and Cher out of the muck, "He saved my life, gave me a new target and has trained me well. I do not object to what he's done. True, it took some time and lots of pain to adjust to such a hard life, and my task isn't yet complete, but I'm not apprehensive of Cher about anything. Cher not only saved me from possible death, but also from a sick life: the vampaneze were vile, and could and would've done anything, even made me one of them."
"But this revenge which you seek... You should know that the vampaneze might be there only to feed." Arrow replied, thoughtfully.
"False. The vampaneze were there only because my brother had, as he told me and the rest of the family, eavesdropped on their conversations out of sheer curiosity which arose from looking at their appearance. Eventually, my brother did get scared, and fled, having never realised that the vampaneze knew of his misadventure. The vampaneze attacked us all out of spite, as they so maliciously told us, and bled my parents and brother out dry even when they weren't hungry!" Aadela shut fast her eyes and spoke with emotion.
"And how come you knew they weren't hungry?" Paris inquired.
"Instincts, gut feeling, intuition - their eyes weren't hungry, only spiteful and malicious." Aadela spoke with disgust.
"Allow me to intervene here, sires. I know Aadela long enough to recognise her sharp sense of intuition. Also, one can simply tell by looking at the other's eyes about the emotion they're feeling."
The Princes nodded. Finally, Mika spoke, "This is a grave matter, Cher. Please leave us while we discuss it amongst ourselves."
They retreated and moved edgily about. "Cher, what will they do if they don't approve?" Aadela asked like a distressed child asked for their missing toy.
"I don't know, Aadela." Cher replied, equally disturbed. "But you should know that I meant everything what I said, especially that I love you."
"Love might not get us through." Aadela sniffed. Aadela looked up in guilt after she said those words, but Cher had turned away from her.
Just as Aadela felt she would burst with the tension building up inside her, the Princes called them forward again.
"This is a subtle matter, Cher and it could be even more subtle as you're a General." Paris began. "But for one, your good work and name and the second thing being that you've provided a perfect and logical reason for blooding so young a child, and the good thing is that your assistant is fairly well satisfied too. However, you must take proper care of her and give her the best of tuition, and I'm emphasizing this for the fact that you love traveling from one place to another."
"Your assistant can either go with you on your travels or stay in the Mountain, but you have to be a proper colleague-in-blood." Arrow continued. "That been said, we will not subject either of you to any form of punishment or duty, but once your assistant is fully blooded, she must pass the Trials of Initiation. Having said that, you're excused."
Aadela simply bowed her head and almost slid to the ground, but managed to get support from her thighs. She had a faint notion of Cher bowing to the Princes and thanking them on both their behalf, and then thumping her a bit on her back.
Okay, so this chapter is a little crap. But I don't know what to write... so here are some 2.4 k painful words. Excuse me please.