They arrived in the city of Thais shortly after night had fallen, transforming back to their human forms in front of the city gates. The guards, along with most everyone in the city, had already retired to bed for the night, allowing them to walk about as they pleased.
The city had changed greatly since last they had been there. What had once been a ruined city surrounded by a desolate wasteland, was now a flourishing kingdom with lush green forest. It pleased them to see that Rhen's efforts to repair the city had lasted thus far.
"It's nice to be back," Te'ijal remarked. "So many good memories."
For once, Galahad agreed with her, glancing around at buildings as they passed. "Indeed, we had many pleasant visits with Rhen and Dameon."
The two of them had been frequent visitors to the Royal Palace over the years that followed after their adventures together. Rhen and Dameon were always willing to put aside a few hours in the evening for them, despite all of their many responsibilities.
Alas, they hadn't stayed in touch with the Pendragons since their friends passing, and the royal family had all but forgotten about them. They were mentioned in history books by their names alone. The fact that they were vampires had been long forgotten.
Oh well… that was simply the way things worked. Humans often tried to hide that which they could not accept.
"That, and our wedding.
Galahad cast a glare in her direction, but made no response.
Of course, it wasn't that fond of a memory to him, what with the screaming and the immense pain of vampire transformation, but to her it was the happiest day of her life.
She still remembered it as if it had been only yesterday. They had been stationed in Thais for a few days, gathering supplies before heading into the wastelands. Eliminate and Pirate John had decided to get married the day prior, thus inspiring Te'ijal to marry Galahad as well.
Glancing down at her hand, she stared dreamily at the ring he had bought for her that day. She hadn't expected him to buy her a ring, as she didn't really think it necessary, but he had regardless of everything. It wasn't anything elaborate, consisting of little more than a band of silver, but still she had worn it ever since, only removing it once to have it enchanted so that it would never deteriorate.
"Have you any idea where the girl might be?"
Shifting from her previous train of thought, she considered the question, closing her eyes as she focused her senses on finding Mel. After a few moments, she shook her head. Alas, she couldn't pick up on her scent, as there were two many others mingling in the air. This was often the case in cities.
"Perhaps we had best try the School of War and Magic," she suggested. "I instructed the headmaster to keep her safe."
Galahad raised a questioning brow. "The headmaster? You know him?"
She had known Ulaf for many years. She had never told Galahad this, and probably never would, but they had actually met when he was a child. Te'ijal had been roaming Brightwood Forest one night, when she happened upon a young boy being chased by wolves. At first she had intended to leave him to fend for himself, but something took hold of her, filling her with guilt about leaving a mere child to surely be eaten alive.
The boy was frightened of her at first, having witnessed her tear the wolves throats apart with her bare teeth, but he soon overcame it. After that, he was never afraid of her again, much to her annoyance.
She ushered him back safely into the city, and left, thinking that she would never see him again... That assumption was very long. Ulaf never forgot about her, and one night, when he had matured into a young man, they met again. They stumbled upon each other once more and with little else to do at the time, Te'ijal decided to stay and humor him by engaging in conversation. Thus, their long-time friendship was born.
"I like to keep a few human connections, just in case I should ever need something from them," was all she said.
The journey through the city to the School of War and Magic did not take them long, as they were both quite familiar with the path. Though the building itself had changed greatly since it's initial reopening, the location had remained the same, save for a brief transfer to the castle basement while it was undergoing major refurnishing.
It wasn't too difficult to get inside either, as the door was almost always unlocked. This was done primarily because of Professor Gray, as he often conducted class assignments at night. This suited Te'ijal just fine, as it allowed her to pay Ulaf visits as she pleased.
They found the elderly headmaster in his office, sorting the books on the shelves behind his desk when they stepped in.
"For the last time, Ely, I will not give you permission to take the students to the ruins in the middle of the night!" Ulaf exclaimed, clearly believing them to be someone else.
Te'ijal giggled. "Well, I would hope not, considering your own past."
Ulaf stood frozen in place for a while before slowly turning to face them.
"I was wondering if I might see you again soon," he said, giving her a hard look. "Especially after you dumped that orphan girl on my doorstep. Thanks for that, by the way."
Pushing herself from the doorframe, she strode forward into his office. "I assure you, I would not have sent her here if it wasn't urgent. That girl is in desperate need of protection, and I could think of no one better for the task."
Softening under her praise, he let out a sigh and sat down at his desk. He motioned towards the seats across from him, but they shook their heads, preferring to stand. As much as she would like to stay and chat, they didn't have the time.
"To what do I owe the pleasure, Te'ijal?" Ulaf asked, folding his hands on the desk in front of him. "I presume this is the husband you told me about. Galahad, was it?"
The fact that Te'ijal had mentioned him to the human seemed to surprise Galahad, for his eyes widened for a moment before returning to normal.
Te'ijal nodded. "We're looking for Mel. Would you happen to know where she is?"
Digging into his desk, Ulaf pulled out a stack of parchment, rifling through them until he found what he was looking for. Tracing his finger down the parchment, he stopped when he found Mel's name on the list.
"I'm afraid to say that I do not. She did not have any classes today," he explained. "However, I can give you her address. She lives in Apartment 2B in the Lamplight District."
Te'ijal nodded her head in acknowledgement. They had passed through the Lamplight District on their way to the school. She hadn't sensed Mel's presence, but none the matter.
"Thank you, Ulaf," she said, turning back to Galahad. "We shall leave you to enjoy the rest of your evening now."
The two of them started out of the school, but were soon stopped as Ulaf came chasing, or rather hobbling after them.
"What is going on, Te'ijal? And don't you dare tell me that it's nothing, because I can tell that there is something you aren't telling me."
Ulaf had always been remarkably perceptive for a human. He could always sense when something was amiss with her. While she knew she could tell him the truth of the situation, she didn't want to worry him too much. She had placed more than enough burden on him already.
"Let's just say that the world as you know it is at risk."
Then, before he had the chance to ask anymore questions, they swept out of the building, breaking out into a sprint back through the city and into the Lamplight District.
The particular apartment they were looking for was located at the very edge of the city, alongside a strip of identical looking apartments. It was nothing spectacular, but Te'ijal imagined that it must seem like quite the luxury to someone like Mel. No doubt she had used the money Gyendal gave her for stealing the orb to pay for it.
Sensing that it was still vacant, they let themselves inside to wait. Sooner or later Mel would have to return home… providing Gyendal didn't get to her first. Te'ijal was half tempted to back out and search the entire area until she found her, but she forced herself to stay put, reassuring herself that the girl would be fine. She had clearly made it to Thais in one piece, so she could surely make it home just the same.
While Galahad sat down on one of the wobbly dining chairs, Te'ijal decided to amuse herself by investigating the apartment more in depth. The bed was messy, showing obvious signs of being slept in. Needless to say, Mel wasn't the cleanest person in the world.
From what she could tell, the girl didn't have many personal belongings, and understandably so, but Te'ijal did manage to find one such belonging that caught her attention. Shoved hastily beneath her pillow was a small leather bound book. Curious as to what it might be, she flipped it open, immediately recognizing the sloppy uneven handwriting as Mel's. The page she opened to was dated from only the day previous.
'Professor Gray sent me to the royal ball disguised as a noble tonight. Ugh! I didn't really want to go, but he didn't give me much of a choice. The dress was tacky and weighed a ton, but it seemed to do the trick, as no one recognized me… Well, no one except for Lydia. Ugh, I hate her.
Anyway, I snuck off into the royal chambers to do some investigating and found out that Edward has been hiding the fact that he's actually the prince! I can still hardly believe it. I actually befriended a prince! At first, I was horrified, but then I stopped to think for a moment. Prince or not, Edward's still a pretty great guy. And I guess he's cute too… for a prince.
He made me promise to go explore the ruins with him in the morning. It should be fun. I haven't been out of the city since I arrived. In a way, I'm kind of nervous, but I'm sure I'll be fine. We should be back way before nightfall, so I shouldn't have to worry about Gyendal."
It would seem that Te'ijal had discovered the girl's journal. How interesting it was to read her innermost thoughts. It was a relief to know that she hadn't forgotten her warning about going out at night. And even more interesting was the fact that she had developed a few feelings for Edward Pendragon.
She had just returned it to it's previous hiding spot and stepped back into the main room when she heard hurried footsteps approaching along with a frantic heartbeat to match. The familiar scent of rabbit reached her nostrils.
Soon after, the apartment door swung open and in rushed Mel. Quickly shutting the door behind her, she leaned back against it. She didn't notice them at first, as she was too busy trying to calm her breathing, but eventually she glanced up. Her dark blue eyes widening as a grin split across her face.
"Te'ijal!" she exclaimed as she pushed away from the door and headed straight towards her. She didn't even seem to notice Galahad sitting not even two feet away at her dining table.
Te'ijal smiled at the girl. Never had a human been so overjoyed to see her. "It is good to see you are still alive."
The joy at reuniting with the vampress soon faded as her previous sense of panic overtook her once more.
She explained all that had happened; how she had met with a group of Gyendal's thugs on her way home, and how she had used the holy water on them, just as she instructed. The whole situation had clearly rattled her, as she was trembling from head to toe.
Reaching out a hand, she gave Mel's shoulder a firm squeeze. "Calm down," Te'ijal prompted her. "You must remain in your home until dawn. The night is too dangerous for you to be travelling."
Mel nodded her head, taking a moment to calm down fully. It was only then that she turned and saw Galahad there, having risen from his chair to join them. She must have realized that this was the husband that Te'ijal had mentioned, as she didn't ask who he was.
"So, have you found out why Gyendal is looking for me? He has what he wants, doesn't he? Why am I so important?"
"It appears, my lamb, that you are the only one who can activate my dear brother's orb. Or so he thinks, at least."
Mel blinked.
"Um… I'm not a mage… You know that, right?"
Te'ijal laughed. "We all know that, truffle."
It was so painstakingly obvious that only someone who was truly blind would be unable to see that she wasn't. She was fairly sure that Gyendal was not so blind as that, meaning that there had to be something more behind it. They just had to find out what it was he had in store for her.
"Remind me what this orb does again," she said. "Why is it so important to Gyendal?"
And so they did. The Orb of Darkness was a powerful relic with the power to destroy all forms of natural light, thus blanketing the overworld in eternal darkness. That meant, no moon, no stars, and definitely no sun. With those hindrances out of the way, the vampires would be free to rise up out of the Underworld as they pleased and enslave humanity.
"And I am the key because I'm a descendant of Mordred Darkthrop?" she asked.
They both nodded. Te'ijal noticed that she seemed to have come to better terms with the fact since last they met. A part of her was disappointed by this, as she had thoroughly enjoyed teasing the girl about it.
Mel groaned. "Why not just kill me now?"
Te'ijal contemplated this suggestion. "Hmm… Perhaps I should kill you. It might be better than the alternative."
Galahad's hand instinctively moved towards his sword as he stepped in between the two to block her from the girl. "I shall not allow you to harm the maiden!"
From over Galahad's broad shoulder, she could see Mel's face scrunch up in disgust at being called a 'maiden'. Ever the amusing rabbit she was.
"Very well, Galahad. We shall ignore the easy option."
Galahad seemed to be content with this, as he stepped aside, dropping his hand back down to his side. He could be so protective over humans, it was almost endearing. If only he would be that protective of her. Hah! She had to stop herself from snorting. As if he would ever find the need to feel protective over her.
"I suppose it wouldn't do much good to kill me. Gyendal would probably just go off and find another descendant and then we'd be right back where we started."
The rabbit made an excellent point. She didn't know terribly much about Darkthrop and his descendants. For all she knew, he could have dozens of descendants scattered across all of Aia. She supposed that Mel, having been located right in Harburg, not too far from the entrance to the Underworld, would have been all too convenient for Gyendal not to take advantage of.
"So, what's next?"
"Tonight we discovered that there is another orb; the Orb of Light, and that it exists in a place called Naylith," Galahad began to explain.
"You must travel to Naylith and find this second orb. Once you have retrieved it, you must bring it back to me, and together we will find a way to use it against my brother."
Mel nodded her head in agreement. "Where will you be?"
As usual, the girl seemed concerned with where they were going. However, this time she thought it best to share their exact whereabouts, as they would need to meet up at some point.
"We plan to head back to Harburg to investigate Darkthrop Keep in search of answers on how to activate the orb, hopefully before Gyendal finds them."
Mel had a few more questions after that. Te'ijal gave her some basic directions to reach Naylith, handing her a map that she had grabbed from home before she left. It was a bit outdated, but the basic locations of the isles and the major cities were still accurate for the most part. It should lend her some aid in finding her way.
"Dawn is approaching," Galahad stated, glancing out the kitchen window.
Sure enough, it was. The sun would be rising soon and they needed to reach Harburg before that happened. From what she recalled, the windows of the old tower were all boarded up. Hopefully they would grant them some shelter from the sun while they worked.
"We must go. I wish you good luck with your task," she said as she started towards the door, turning back briefly as she recalled one last thing. "Oh, and if you should find some sunscreen, please do bring it to us."
Mel seemed confused by the request at first, but she soon figured it out on her own. "Sunscreen. Right."
Te'ijal wasn't sure how easy it was to come by sunscreen nowadays, as it had been rather difficult to find during her adventure with Rhen's party. She sincerely hoped that Mel would be able to find some. It would make things much easier for them, as well as giving them an advantage that Gyendal didn't have.
"Good night then."