Chapter 8 – The Scavenger's Hut

Mioko woke in unfamiliar warmth. She opened her eyes, slowly, realizing that she was certainly not in the desert anymore. She looked around. She was lying in a bad. She took a moment to realize she wasn't dreaming. She had slept, warmly and comfortably in a bed. She studied her surroundings. The bed she was lying in was pushed against the rear wall. The room was large, though it appeared small with all the clutter that filled it. Papers were piled in mounds around the room, clothes were strewn, untidily across the floor and in the centre of the room; Azrael was draining a human past the point of death.

He didn't realize she had awoken until she muttered his name. He spun around to face her, dropping the body he had been holding. Blood was still staining his face from his meal. He wiped his mouth and sat on the bed beside her. "Are you alright?" he asked. Mioko nodded, her neck was throbbing, faintly where he had bitten her, but apart from that and the blood hunger that was welling up inside of her, she was fine, "Hungry," she murmured. Azrael glanced over at the body of the human who had led him here. He had been completely drained and Azrael felt a pang of guilt that he had not spared Mioko a drop. He looked down at the bag, there were still bottles of cold blood, though he felt bad that she should drink cold, when he had had two fresh meals within the space of a few hours.

He looked down at her. He could see the hunger behind her eyes, she was desperate after allowing Azrael to partake of so much of her own precious blood. Azrael sighed and pulled his sleeve back, revealing his wrist. He held it out to her and she looked up at him eagerly, "Are you sure?" she asked. Azrael nodded,

"I always repay my debts," he told her, moving his wrist to her face. She pushed herself up in the bed and looked down at the wrist, turning it over in her claws. When she was satisfied, she gently pierced the skin, to ensure Azrael felt as little pain as possible. Something he noted, he had not bothered doing for her. Soon she was drawing a healthy flow into her mouth, though after a few mouthfuls she stopped and freed his wrist.

Azrael frowned on her, she hadn't drunk much, he still felt relatively full after his own meal. Mioko, however refused to drink any more than she needed to survive from him. She thanked him and sat up in the bed. "Where are we?" she asked. Azrael smiled and moved to a table at the side of the room, different papers were littered across it.

"This was the first city of the human slaves," he told her. He collected some of the documents off the table and moved back to her. He put them in front of her on the bed. There were amps, journals and letters amongst them, all documenting the history of the human slaves. Mioko looked over them, eagerly as Azrael explained what he had learned.

"When Kain established his empire, many humans tried to escape servitude. They all came here, across the water where no vampire would dare to follow. The idea that there were some humans free was supposed inspire hope into the slaves and throughout the time of the empire slaves would try to make their way here."

Mioko was examining a map, on it was displayed the location of a number of underground villages. "We are here," he said, pointing at a city marked as abandoned, "this was the first city created by the runaways, it was hollowed into the ground to protect them from view of anything that may do them harm. They abandoned it when they found tunnels in the mountains and tunnelled their cities deep underground."

"How do you know all this?" Mioko asked him. Azrael pointed to a thick diary she had yet to study, "It was written by one of the founders of this place. The empire is considered forbidden lands and to openly wonder about vampires is a crime."
"Charming lot," Mioko smirked.

They studied the histories and journals, learning more about the lands they had found their way into. "Who's he?" Mioko asked, gesturing to the body that Azrael had yet to dispose of. Azrael shrugged, "Scavenger/outcast/vampire sympathiser, take your pick," he told her, yawning. Mioko looked up at him, "Tired?" she asked. He nodded, he hadn't slept for a long time, carrying her through the desert and now feeding her had taken it's toll. She slipped out of the bed and allowed him to take her place. He lay down, amazed at how a simple scavenger had managed to obtain such luxury and comfort. She smiled and stroked his hair, lulling him to sleep. His eyes became heavy and eventually closed, firmly, shutting out the world. Mioko watched him sleep, still stroking his hair, "I'll watch over you," she whispered.

TBC