Everyone!

Hiyas. Yes, it's another chapter. Maybe things will get a bit more interesting in this one. You know how those books are; always boring in the beginning, and when things start picking up, you can't put the thing down!

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own Eidos or the Legacy of Kain…. Thing. If I do somehow own then, I'll be sure to let everyone know. ;) Lizz/Raevin is still mine, and Ectoplasm the stallion is also mine. (Strange name, I know. Actually, my real horse is a dark brown quarter horse named Honey… but oh well.) So when Ectoplasm is said, don't think of something that has to do with plant cells, m'kay?

~Raevin~

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Raevin woke up to the sun shining in through the window in her room. She squinted against the light, then blinked a few times to get the sleep out of her eyes. She was still feeling weak, but at least she was able to sit up without getting dizzy. She carefully climbed out of bed and tested her legs. They held her, but she was a bit unsteady. Her clothes were dirty, covered in dirt and grass stains from the day before. She changed out of her jeans and solid black t-shirt and into the clothes that Charles and Anna had set out the night before: blue trousers, a black shirt, a black leather belt, and black boots. Anna had removed Raevin's sword before putting her in bed, and now Raevin attached it to her new belt.

After testing her legs a few times, Raevin felt brave enough to venture outside her room. Using the walls as support, she mad her way to the door and quietly opened it, thankful it didn't make any loud squeaking noises. She mad her way down the hall to the main room, where Anna and Charles were seated. They were eating breakfast, and Charles nearly threw his food across the room when he saw Raevin. "Great God, child, you scared us!" Anna exclaimed. "Here, sit down and I'll get you something to eat."

Charles helped Raevin into a chair while Anna went to find something for her to eat. The elderly woman came back a moment later, carrying a large slice of cheese, a loaf of bread, and a piece of jerky. "Try this." She said, putting the food items on a plate for Raevin.

"How are you feeling, Raevin?" Charles asked.

Raevin, almost forgetting that was what her name was and not Lizz, nodded. "Better. I'm still feeling a bit weak, but I'm able to sit up and move without getting dizzy. Walking is a bit of a problem, because I need to lean against something to keep from falling over."

Anna nodded. "You will probably be feeling that way for a day or two. Here, maybe this will help, I don't think you should be leaning on your lance while you walk." She said. She went over to a closet and brought out a tall, straight staff. "It use to be my father's. Now you can use it to help you walk until you're healthy again." Anna said, handing the staff to Raevin.

Raevin stood up and leaned against the staff. It stood about six inches higher than her, and it was made out of what appeared to be rattan. It supported her weight nicely, and it enabled her to move about without needing to lean against a wall or another person. "Thank you." Raevin said, smiling. "This will help." She sat back down to eat breakfast and talk with her caretakers.

Charles and Anna, Raevin learned, use to work in the village's tavern. Before, Charles had worked as a soldier to fight against vampires. The land Raevin was in was Nosgoth, and the name of the village was Durikyn. Durikyn, a small farming and ranching village in the Territory of Dumah, had a small population. Most of its residents were either too old or too young to fight vampires, and those who could were either dead, dying, or already fighting and guarding.

I know all of this. Raevin thought to herself. I mean, I play the games, I do the fan site and fictions, I'm a big vampire fan… this is all too freaky. "One moment. I'll be right back." Raevin said, standing up and using her staff to help her get back to her room. She searched her torn, dirty, and discarded jeans for the glass shard. The once clear glass shard was now pitch black, and it seemed to give off a warmth of some type.

Raevin went back to the main room and asked for a leather cord and a hot iron rod. Charles went to find a rod and Anna went to find the cord. They both came back, both with what they had left to get. Charles gave Raevin the iron rod, which was not hot. She placed the end of the rod in the fireplace, then took the cord from Anna. Anna and Charles waited for Raevin to do something, and Raevin waited for the iron to get hot enough. After a few minutes, Raevin grasped the cool part of the rod and brought out the white-hot tip. She pushed the tip against her glass shard and made a hole in one end of the shard. She put the iron rod on the stone floor in front of the fireplace, and waited for the glass to cool. After it had cooled, Raevin strung the leather cord through the shard, tied the ends together, and hung it around her neck.

"Good luck charm." She said simply, answering Anna and Charles' unasked question. "Is it alright if I went to see the horses? I'd like to see that white stallion."

"Of course. They're being fed, so they're all in the barn." Charles answered, still confused as to why Raevin bothered to string a leather cord through a glass shard.

Raevin thanked her caretakers, then made her way outside with the staff. She stayed to the side and carefully walked towards the barn. She slipped through a side door and watched as a group of girls fed the horses hay and grass. When the girls tried to touch the white stallion he snorted and stepped away, refusing to allow them to touch him.

One of the girls turned and saw Raevin watching. She gasped and dropped her armload of hay. The others looked up and saw her, and became very nervous. They all left the barn, keeping as far away from Raevin as possible.

Raevin frowned, watching them pass. She slowly walked over to the white stallion, using the staff for support. As she scratched the horse behind the ears, she heard a voice.

"They're scared of you, because you were able to touch that stallion." The voice said. It was a girls voice. "They think it's a ghost. No one's been able to prove it, because no one can touch or catch him. He's never wet when it rains, and he's never dirty."

Raevin listened carefully to the voice. "Then why don't you run?" She asked, not turning around.

"Because I have no reason to." The voice replied.

Raevin turned around and saw a girl watching her. She wore a tattered dress, leather leggings, and boots. She had dark brown hair, green eyes, and a very deep scar running across her neck and shoulders. "What makes you think that?" Raevin asked.

"Why should I run from someone I hardly know? Especially if that someone has slain a vampire?" She asked back. She continued on with her work, giving the horses hay and checking their water.

"I can tell you aren't too fond of them." Raevin said, sitting down on a pile of full grain sacks. She leaned her staff against the pile, and the stallion nudged Raevin's arm, asking for more petting.

"What human in their right mind would be fond of a vampire?" The girl snapped.

Raevin took this into consideration. "I see your point." She said. "Where did that scar come from?"

The girl paused, then gave Raevin a strange look. She dropped her hay, then sat down at Raevin's feet. The gesture made Raevin feel uncomfortable.

"It came from a vampire." the girl said. "Well, a group of vampires. They…." she shuddered visibly, but continued talking. "They raped me, and beat me. They did all these terrible things to me, and didn't even bite me."

Raevin frowned. "How long ago was this? How old are you?"

"I'm sixteen years old." the girl replied. "I got my scar about a year and a half ago. Sometimes it still hurts, if I turn my head the wrong way." The stallion had by now moved to Raevin's other side, keeping Raevin between himself and the girl.

"I guess that puts us in the same boat." Raevin said, pointing up at her head.

"The vampire that you killed did that to you?"

"You could say that." Raevin said. Actually, I killed the vampire and never got a scratch, just a bruise in my ribs. I got the hole in my head from a flying, hard, solid something that came out of my TV. Raevin thought to herself.

"My name's Ally. What's yours?" The girl asked.

"I'm Raevin." Raevin replied.

"Raven, as in the bird?" Ally asked.

Raevin shook her head. "It's spelled differently. It's R-a-e-v-i-n."

"You must be from the forest tribe out there." Ally said. "I was told that the village was destroyed."

"I was found in a field full of horses, so I don't think I'll be able to tell you what condition the village is in." Raevin replied.

"True." Ally replied. She looked at the stallion. "You should give him a name."

Raevin blinked, then glanced at the horse. "Why? He isn't mine, I can't name him."

"But you can." Ally replied. "After all, you're the only one who can touch him, so that should make him yours."

Raevin furrowed her brow in thought. "You do have a point." She scratched the stallion under the chin. "So, people think he's a ghost, but no one can prove it." She held the stallion's head with her hands. "How does Ectoplasm sound?"

"Ecto….plasm?" Ally asked. "What's that?"

"It's the substance that makes up a ghost or spirit or wraith." Raevin explained. "It's made up of nothing and everything at the same time. You can't feel it, but when you touch it, you know it's there. It's solid and not, both at the same time, and it can come in any color: black, white, blue, green, red, yellow."

Ally grinned and laughed. "You seem to know a lot about those kinds of things. I didn't think anyone knew what made up a ghost, or how to explain it."

Raevin shrugged. "It's a past time for me. I like all sorts of strange, inhuman things. Like ghosts, or werewolves. Even vampires, but most people frown on that."

"It's because vampires are the enemy of the human race." Ally said. "What do you know about vampires?" she asked after a long silence.

Raevin thought for a moment. "Well, there are many different kinds, at least there are where I come from. There is a type of vampire that takes the form of a firefly, but when it's caught, it turns into a terrible monster. Apparently, though, there is only one kind of vampire here. Unless it is divided into clans."

"They are." Ally said. "Their Lord is the vampire known as Kain. He has six 'sons': Raziel, Dumah, Turel, Rahab, Zephon, and Melchiah. He has taken Nosgoth and divided it between himself and his sons."

"And let me guess, he has the most land?" Raevin asked, raising an eyebrow.

Ally nodded. "Next comes Raziel, but I think it is only because he is first born."

Raevin chuckled. "I guess that's how life works." She said.

Ally stood up. "I need to go. I also work at the tavern and inn, and I need to be there before the sun is high." She waved as she left for the door. "Maybe I'll see you later!"

Raevin nodded to no one. "Maybe. Maybe not." She said. She scratched Ectoplasm under the chin. "So, if you really are a ghost, how come I can touch you?" Ectoplasm just snorted and shook his head. "Can you walk through walls or anything?" Ectoplasm bobbed his head in what looked like a nod. "Well, then. Prove it!"

Ectoplasm slowly walked over to a stall. He whinnied at Raevin, then walked through the stall door. "Unbelievable…" Raevin said as Ectoplasm came back to her. "You really are a ghost. Or a spirit. And yet I can touch you, like I can a solid object." Ectoplasm proceeded to correct her by passing his nose through her chest. "Alright, so maybe you can control your abilities." Raevin chuckled, scratching Ectoplasm behind the ears. "You know, this could be the start of a beautiful friendship."