It took me a while before I woke up. My limbs were like lead weights, and my lungs felt strained and choked with the pressure of my own body. I realized I was on my stomach, my cheek pressed to the ground. Leaves stuck to my face as I rose, and I plucked them away with black smudged hands. I groaned, feeling the grime sitting on my face, recalling the events of the past few days.

'Ew. You need to wash your hands before you catch the plague or something.'

The past few days...

I blinked, trying to clear my eyes of the last dregs of sleep, glancing around the small clearing for the sorceress. I was immediately snapped into wakefulness by the sight of her crumpled form slouched in front of a tree. I rushed over, only to have my still lagging legs get tangled up in the mat of gathered leaves I'd been laying on. The wind was knocked out of me as I fell on something incredibly hard and uncomfortable, poking me in the shoulder and jarring my jaw. I began to pick myself up only to realize I was laying over the body of a sarafan soldier.

The one that I had killed.

A still, tense moment passed, the realization gathering in my body as an intense buzzing sensation. A shocked curiosity found my trembling hands pulling at the visor of the helm, streaks of dried, blackened blood trailing from the gaps. The weight of a lifeless human head in your hands is something that never leaves you.

The helmet suddenly slipped away, the head limply falling back in it's place, and I immediately dropped it at the horrible sight, rushing to get off of the corpse and as far away from it as possible. The face was bloated, eyes bulged, the throat torn wide open. All the little bits and pieces were visible, obviously ripped up by a blade - my own knife - still seeping thick viscous fluids. It had a heavy smell which settled deep into my lungs, and I choked on a sob, huddled there against a tree.

I glanced at Adonathiel across from me, my imagination feeding me many upsetting images as to what could be hiding beneath the rumpled cloak and tousled hair.

I buried my face into my dirtied knees, trying to catch my breath, holding back the urge to scream and wail uncontrollably.

This was nothing at all what I had imagined it to be like. Where was my pride? I probably did quite a few citizens a favor if the speculation was to be believed. I recalled that conversation between two of the sarafan in Blood Omen 2, as they made plans to 'thoroughly search' the widow and her three daughters down the street from them. I could have saved dozens of the wrongfully accused just now.

'He probably had a family.'

He was attacking my friend! And he would have gotten me too!

'Rationalizations. You took someone's life.'

But...! Adonathiel...!

I shakily walked over to the unconscious woman and tossed aside the cloak, blinking away the mental images of twisted limbs and open wounds.

Her limbs were still fine. I glanced at her face, comparing it to the gruesome swollen visage in my mind, one that I pointedly kept behind me. It was still mostly the same, pale and slightly flushed, save for a horrible looking bruise peeking out from her hairline.

The anxiety still overpowered any sort of relief I might have felt. Reluctant to touch what might have been another dead body, I cradled her head in my hands and slowly turned it, steeling myself (more like preemptively panicking) for the sight of a gaping head wound and exposed gray matter.

I shook as the tension left me, my hands running over her intact scalp. I winced as I came across the small lump, remembering the previous morning.

'I guess even she isn't immune to starting the day with a concussion.'

I'd dragged her away from the pool of coagulated blood that had crept up to her in the night, and propped her up against a different tree. Her breathing was unbearably slow and quiet. It took me what felt like hours to get her to wake up, constantly shaking and calling to her, even though it was still early morning.

"Are you alright?" I asked, resisting the urge to grab her up into a hug the moment she opened her eyes.

Her bleary vision wandered about the clearing until it settled on the pile of armor and dead meat behind me. Her face fell. "Oh no..." she groaned, moving to hold her head in her hands before making contact with the bruise on her scalp. Wincing, her hand returned to her side.

"Adonathiel...?"

"What? Oh I'll... I'll be fine in a while." She stared at a space on the ground beside her for just a beat too long before something clicked and her brow furrowed in confusion. "Where did my satchel go?"

I glanced behind me nervously. "Oh it's... I'll get it."

I worked up the nerve to pull away from Adonathiel and go back to the campsite. The bag was thankfully clean apart from some ashes that were kicked up in the scuffle. I pointedly kept the corpse behind me and refused to look at it while I collected our things.

When I returned, I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. As she looked through her bag for something, my gaze hesitantly wandered behind me. I was startled when Adonathiel's hand came down on my shoulder, turning me away from the grizzly scene.

"We need to leave." She hoarsely whispered. She looked weary, recognizing what I was going through, what I must have been thinking.

"Shouldn't you be sitting?"

"I said I'll be fine. Come."

She looked as though she was ready to leave, but then paused mid-step, looking back to me.

She swept the cloak off of her shoulders and onto mine. I looked down as she fastened it closed.

"What? I- ...oh." My clothes were still bloodstained I realized, and it wouldn't do to walk into a settlement like that.

"Ziegsturhl isn't too far now. We'll fix that when we get there."

Lightheaded and properly floating on a cloud of miserable exhaustion, I mindlessly ambled alongside her. She sported her own heavy-footed walk, but refused to let me support her. Neither of us were in much of a talking mood. She was still busy trying to collect herself, the restorative she had with her could only do so much. I was still fixated on last night, my mind replaying it over and over. It certainly isn't something that I was proud of.

At some point, I hadn't realized that I had walked ahead of her, and felt her pull me back by the cloak.

"What's the big idea-!"

"-Shh! Listen!" She hissed.

A very distant pounding reverberated though the ground. Recognizing the sound I willingly followed her, the both of us scrambling behind a boulder off the side of the path. She silently gestured for me to stay while she peeked around it.

Not a few moments later, the sound of a group of horses carrying armor clad people thundered down the path, towards where we were coming from.

As the clatter faded, she sighed a breath of relief and glanced toward me. I gave her a worried, pleading look.

"It'll be a long while before they find it." She reassured me, reading my concerns.

o0o0o0o0

I barely remembered what the descriptions of the town were, being that I'd never played Blood Omen, and only read about it.

Ziegesturhl was a mostly quiet little place that smelled of wet, black earth and ashes. It was moments before sunset, most everyone already inside for the night or otherwise closing up shop.

It was also overcast, the grayish, miserable dusk matching my grim mood.

I was painfully aware of the blood all over me, and my usual fear of judgment completely convinced me that everyone could see it. I huddled further into Adonathiel's cloak.

I was already wound up enough when a grizzled man had passed by and grunted in my direction, a sort of passive dislike showing in his aged eyes. I was very glad that I was able to hide myself in the hood of the cloak. That way, nobody could see the distressed faces I was making, along with the obvious streaks in the dirt on my face.

It always puzzled me that I just couldn't deal with even this seemingly small amount of people, when I had grown up in a city that was notorious for it's harsh environment. I always felt like a cornered animal. Truth be told, I felt like hiding behind Adonathiel, covering my eyes, and going to my happy place.

By the time we had reached the northern end of town, night had completely fallen, and with it, the eerie quiet of a tense air, the only sounds coming from the few taverns that dared to stay open past sundown. Quiet was the last thing I needed right now.

I was disturbed from my thoughts by Adonathiel, who had suddenly grabbed my wrist and started picking up the pace. "Stay close," She whispered. I noticed her eyes were not on the paths ahead, but rather darting between the rooftops and shady corners, occasionally stealing a glance over her shoulder.

I assumed the worst, and allowed myself to silently panic.

'Oh god. It's night, we're in the bad part of an already bad town, and last I checked, Adonathiel's magic couldn't work worth a damn. Oh. My. God. I probably still reek of sarafan blood! The vampires would be after me faster than I can shit bricks! Oh jesus, oh god, oh my god...'

I grimaced at the suddenly sickening feeling gathering in my gut. I normally wouldn't be scared in a situation like this. I knew for a fact that panicking now was a sure way to follow down the stereotypical path of the first person to die in a horror movie.

But I just couldn't help it. It was just too much. Confronted and haunted by demons out to get me, carried away by a dragon, ending up in what was supposed to be an imaginary world, meeting what was supposed to be a figment of my own imagination, killing a man, and now I suspected we were being hunted.

I just wasn't cut out for this kind of stuff.

I reached into my pocket and clenched the bloodied knife for reassurance.

Adonathiel suddenly shoved me, where I landed with a faint thud into one of the alleys. Alarmed, I scrambled into a sitting position, whipping my head around in a panic, trying to find her. She had walked on ahead, and was still keeping with her brisk pace.

I was considering getting up and running back to her side, when she had suddenly stopped in her tracks.

I stopped moving altogether when I saw two dark figures jump from the surrounding rooftops. I scuttled back into the shadows, pressing my back against the building.

'OHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGODOHMYGOD'

One of them chuckled, as they both approached Adonathiel. Stepping into the dim light of the streetlamps, were two of my greatest concerns at the moment.

Both of them were tall, intimidating, and their presences immediately prompted the 'fight or flight' response from the weak willed and easily scared. Kind of like me.

I briefly glanced at the muddied road, considering my chances if I were to outright run.

'No, bad idea. Just stay still.'

I didn't dare move. They might have already caught the sound of my heart about to burst out of my chest and make a run for it in sheer terror, or perhaps the reason they were smirking in a mildly amused manner is because they picked up on my brain shriveling up into nothing but primitive responses.

One of them turned her head to the other, nodding in Adonathiel's direction. "Hmph. Whud ka avai kuav, kladhol? I'n kilo dhud avo axol dholo vairk ko u davo doukd." Her short, dark brown hair shadowed her face, some strands falling over her eyes, giving her black-lipped smirk and narrowed eyes a more shady, reckless quality.

I shook my head in surprise. 'They don't...speak english? Then, how did...?'

The other one seemed to look over Adonathiel for a moment. His long hair was pulled back, his sharper features making him look older than his companion. He shrugged. "Ekh, I kikkako. Sho raakk ludhol hourdhav dal u dannavol, kaokv'd kho?"

'Is that...?'

I squinted, attempting to get a better look. Adonathiel stood defensively, calmly staring down the predators as they seemed to size her up.

The short haired one grinned. "Dav'd ko daarakh. Tholo ulo krovdav ad koukuvd vanov av kaak hourdh. Id urr kokovkk av dhaol kladdokkaav." She chuckled.

I saw Adonathiel discreetly clench her hands, before relaxing into a cheeky grin. "Yai khairk rakdov da avail kladhol. Yai kav'd kvav vholo I'xo koov. Fal urr avai kvav, I dairk huxo koov vodk kook av dav kivk urr kuav!" She airily laughed, flicking off pieces of dried grime from her shoulders.

The vampires seemed surprised for a moment.

The long haired vampire looked rather amused, and chuckled. "Worr, ad koonk vo'xo kaddov ailkorxok u raddro kdharul. I kakv'd kvav dhud Stahlberg huk dhako lodalkk."

The other one laughed. "Va, va, kladhol! I kvov Stalhberg'k kdikovdk ulo kvavv dal koavk vakav knuldukkok!"

'I recognize that. Stahlberg was a city here, wasn't it? It was-it had schools and crap there right? ...did they just call her a smartass?!'

Adonathiel sighed and rolled her eyes. "Iv uvav duko, I vuk av nav vuav kanovholo, ka ad avai kav'd navk, I'rr ko kaavk vav...?" She seemed to plead, jerking a thumb behind her.

The long haired one seemed to consider her words. He lifted a claw. "Favo. Ov avo davkadaav. I kod da duko avail raddro dankuvaav axol... dholo." He finished with a grin, pointing his claw in my direction. I jumped, startled. He was looking directly at me, and I could do nothing but shake and mentally flail, glancing between him, his smirking companion, Adonthiel's growing expression of concern, the road, his decidedly evil looking grin, the other vam-

'Where'd she go?'

I lost track of the other one. One minute she was there, and the next she was gone.

I felt a heavy weight land on my back, launching me out of my horribly chosen hiding place and into the light.

Momentarily, I worried I might have broken something. I was actually more worried about Adonathiel's healing abilities. I didn't want to emulate any more acid trips due to faulty magic. I was grabbed by the shoulders, and hauled to my feet. I knew where the other vampire was now.

'Wait...doesn't he look familiar?'

The long haired one was now staring me down. I could feel my innards sinking into themselves in an attempt to escape his intimidating gaze, and I would have done the same, had there not been another vampire behind me, breathing down my neck.

'I really wish she would stop that...'

As soon as he spoke, I could swear I heard my brain shit it's own, cute little lego bricks.

"Well, it seems I've found you again." He smirked.

I knew that voice. Unconsciously, I glanced down to his midriff.

"So you do remember?" He lifted his shirt, exposing a horrible, mangled scar across his left side. "Hmph. That was quite a bit of damage, for just a flimsy little knife."

It was that guy who pulled me into the shed. I'd managed to stab him before getting away, with the very same knife that was settled into my pocket.

"Oh, shit." I whispered under my breath. 'I did that?!'

So he was a vampire. I thought my eyes were playing tricks on me.

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

"If you would have just stayed put, you wouldn't be so far away from home, now would you?" He sneered, giving me this smug little smirk.

I always hated these kinds of vampires. Just because I'm human, and you're probably hundreds of years older, doesn't mean that you can act like a cheeky stepfather slash asshole of an older brother, and talk down to me.

I raised an eyebrow, suppressing the sudden urge to grin like an idiot, like I usually would, or glare at the implied insult. "Well, if I would have stayed put, I would have been dead. I don't think any practical vampire would skip an easy meal like that." I observed, attempting to twist my voice away from the usual biting sarcasm.

He chuckled. "You wouldn't have had to worry about that. I'm sure I could have made short work of your little friend instead." He offered, smirking.

At this, I made a screwy little frown, trying to hide it. I just couldn't help it. I bit my lip and giggled.

Adonathiel was still standing off to the side. She looked even more worried now.

"What's so funny?" The other vampire hissed from behind me. Her breath gusted against the back of my neck, and I nervously chuckled louder.

"Please tell me you killed her...?" I managed to whine out between snickers, that twisted smile still on my face.

The vampires shared confused glances.

"No..." He cautiously answered, eying me like an active explosive.

I'm sure my face was flushed with suppressed laughter.

The vampire behind me shrugged at her companion's questioning look. He turned to me.

"Why is this so amusing?"

"What am I missing here?" The one behind me piped up.

I finally couldn't hold it, and broke out into laughter.

The vampire behind me had tightened her grip, to prevent me from falling to the floor. She lightly shook me to get my attention. "What is it girl! Speak!"

"*gasp* Gimme- *snerk* Gimme a moment-" I cleared my throat, trying not to laugh myself to death. "First of all, that was not my friend." My tone sobered for a moment at the mention of my 'roommate'.

"Second, now I know I'm never going to see her again!" I started giggling again.

Confused looks were passed around like candy.

Not only was I nervous, facing down two vampires (who now thought that I was crazy), but I also had to be reminded of poor little Klarissa. This was the only time I would take pity on her. If she really was alive, and still back home, she'd be the one in a heap of trouble this time, and not me.

"Ah, prouko, nav dlaovk ak kadk av dho houk. Yai vairkv'd vuvd hol." Adonathiel started up in that other language again, pleading. I could only assume it was exclusive to vampires or something.

The vampire in front of me nodded. "Ivkook. Bid avai'xo dlokkkukkok, uvk dholo vookk da ko kuavnovd." He agreed, giving me weird looks as I attempted to smother my laughter. Adonathiel glanced at me then, giving me a look as if to say; 'I'm going to try something, don't do anything else stupid.'

She turned to the vampire. "Polhukk I duv valk kanodhavk aid vadh avail kalo, I'xo vokadaudok vadh han kodalo." She suggested, flustered.

"Just do it, brother." The vampire behind me huffed, as if fed up with something. "Maybe we can end these clashes, before she brings along anything else odd? This one reeks of Sarafan...and blood." She sneered. Whatever she said got the other one's attention, and he suddenly looked at me with an intense gaze. I shut up, my previous mirth completely replaced with a looming fear.

He narrowed his eyes, and I immediately went back to mentally shitting bricks in fear. He reached toward me, and I pressed myself backwards in a meek attempt to escape his hand. He snatched up the edge of the cloak and pulled it aside, revealing my bloodstained clothes.

"I knew I smelled something rotten..." He mumbled. "Been busy, have we?" He sneered.

I looked down at my shirt. It was actually worse than I had originally thought.

"Fine. You have three days. We'll be back." He concluded, giving Adonathiel a hard stare, before turning to leave.

I was finally let go, left to crumble into a heap on the road, while the vampire went to join the other, sneering at me from over her shoulder.

As soon as they were out of sight, Adonathiel let out a massive sigh of relief. "That wasn't too bad!" She praised in my direction.

I was totally lost. Shaking, I finally got a hold of myself. "Holy shit...HOLY. SHIT." I exclaimed with a sense of disbelief. "Did that really just happen?" I asked nobody in particular, staring off into the dark road ahead.

I jumped when Adonathiel clapped a hand on my shoulder. "Yep. Now let's get you inside. I'm sure all of this has left you just as tired as me."

"Inside where?" I was almost afraid to ask. She pulled me up by the hand, and led me to one of the side alleys, knocking on an old wooden door. "You better not have been sleeping, you old fool!" she shouted between the cracks in the wood.

A flushed face answered the door, an older man with short greying hair glanced behind us nervously as we were let in. "Are you two alright?" He asked, concern wrinkling his brow. "They didn't rough you up did they?"

"We're fine, they were just being impatient again." Adonathiel sighed, plopping down on a nearby bench against the wall.

Still collecting myself, the first thing I noticed was how warm the place was. Under normal circumstances, it might have been bordering on uncomfortable, but considering how shaken I was, it helped me feel a little less clammy. The second thing I noticed was the anvil near where the front door was. From the walls hung various hammers and tools, and a furnace in the corner was still smoldering, spending the last of it's heat for the day. This was a blacksmith's shop.

I flinched at the sound of Adonathiel snapping her fingers near my ear.

"What...?"

"-I said, are you hungry? If you're spacing out like this you must be worse off than I thought."

"Oh. Um, sure."

0o0o0o0o0

A/N: Hello all! Long time no update, huh? Well, along with long periods of zero motivation for writing, I've been without a computer for the past couple of years! Now the stars have finally aligned, and Behold! An update! I've also updated a few previous chapters as well, mainly cutting out a lot of junk that I really don't like anymore. We're dropping the whole thing where Adonathiel's only character trait was 'believed to be completely crazy', because that is neither funny nor creative. She's got an actual job now, moonlighting in a network of various flies on various walls, and a lot of groups come to her, seeking information and hiring her as a sort of freelance spy. Her magic is still messed up because of something similar that we both have in common, which will become a thing in just a little while. Apart from that, no significant changes have been made to the plot, so you'll lose nothing by skipping them. Also if you're wondering about that weird language up there, that was made with a language generator a long time ago. In actuality, I have no idea what they're saying! I've forgotten what the original dialog was, but I'm keeping that there because I'm too lazy to change it. We'll find out what the plot says they were saying in the next chapter I think. Yay lazy writing! Also: It's likely never going to show up ever again! Maybe! Probably!

This is still also an extremely casual thing, so don't get any of those expectations up. I haven't written in a long time, and I only have very vague ideas as to where this story is going, so it'll look more like 'this happened, and then oh my god this other thing happened' instead of anything really all that amazing. There's also a nice big backlog of chapters while I attempt to stir up some more motivation to continue it. Sorry for the wall of text, these notes won't be appearing again for quite a long time. Enjoy and stuff!