I waited oh so patiently for my prey and soon they were close enough I could almost taste their flesh, but I didn’t pounce just yet, sinful prey tasted better marinated in fear after all. I will wait until night descends once again and test the waters, even though I could tell that the group mostly consisted of amateurs telling from the lack of control within them I couldn’t be too careful. For all, I know they may be using a completely unfamiliar magic or are blessed by a demi-god. It was hard though, along with the peace of my restful slumber the hunger had returned as well.

It was weak but with the smell of sin in the air, it was hard to leave it unnoticed. It was strange though, the hunger had been my companion for a very long time, and I have long learned how to contain and control it, but for some reason, it was very unwieldy lately. Usually, on an empty stomach, I can contain it for about a month before entering a pre-blood hunt state. It's not easy but I do it, and if worse comes to worst I can release the built-up hunger by initiating the blood hunt.

The sound of approaching footsteps woke me from my ponderings, it looks like a brave soul dares to approach. I subtly peered out to watch the individual approach and found that she was different from the rest of the group, there were no threads of curses wrapped around her pleading for her demise, there was no smell of sin originating from her soul, and there was no lack of control of her magic, she was an anomaly. Soon she was close enough to peer into my humble home and when she noticed my gaze, she didn’t show fear or panic and only kneeled to show respect and gently reached out with greenish-white tightly interwoven strands of magic. Intrigued I withdrew my presence and reached out with my own black strands of magic, and with a small pop, they met in the middle.

When our magic met, I recognized the aura immediately, it was the same as the creator of the fairy circle. I had to applaud her for the immaculate disguise and well-hidden aura, but I was confused as to why she was mingling within a group of heavily corrupted humans. Elves dislike normal adult humans much less ones corrupted by sin. Maybe she was on the hunt, which was a disappointing thought, it's rude to steal someone’s prey after all. Suddenly I noticed something interesting within her magic, a feeling of wind and a hint of wolf, she was a wolf spirit, not a true elf. Despite the wealth of new information, I had gained the contact only lasted a fraction of a second before the wolf severed it.

Seeing that I had accepted the brief contact the wolf got up bowed once more and walked closer before placing several gifts down and bowing again before heading back. Well, that’s nice, it’s a nice change of pace to have a pleasant neighbor, my last one forced me to perform a heart incision on him with a broken femur he so generously donated. The annoying rascal tried to build an evil empire in my territory, and I wasn’t going to stand for it. As she was walking away, I snatched the gifts and closely inspected them. The first one to catch my eye was a smooth river stone with a symbol on it, my symbol.

Upon closer inspection of the stone, I could tell it was the exact same as the one that I placed by the fairy circle, but I don’t ever remember marking it with my symbol. How strange, but not really that concerning. The next item was an old wineskin filled with a strong and sweet alcohol that I didn’t recognize. I had to say though, from the small sip I took it was delicious. The final item was a small leather bag filled with roughly ground pine needles and bark. It's been a while since I’ve last seen this type of smoking herb mix, and from what I remember it's one of my favorites.

Nice gifts overall if I do say so myself, but it would be rude to not give something in return. I took another sip from the wineskin and pondered what I could give in return, I didn’t really have anything item-wise. A minute fluctuation of magic coming from the bag of herbs caught my attention, and when I looked, I found a braid of hairs in the bottom. Ha looks like I know what gift to give. I leaned back on the far wall and began to meditate once again until I entered a trance-like state, my gift will have to come later.

……..

I woke once more to a small chirping noise coming from beside me, I opened my eye and looked over only to find my little guest staring up at me with beady red eyes. I gave a smirk and went to pet him with the back of my hand, my claws are really sharp, and found that he let me. Hmm, I was honestly expecting him to bolt without the incentive of food. Once the little petting session was over, I rose and walked out and found that the blizzard had ended and the stary sky was visible. The sky was magnificent with clear stars and swirling galaxies, but the strange thing was that I could only identify the twelve constant constellations and almost nothing else. But that wasn’t the only strange thing, the moon was a deep crimson instead of the silver I’m used to. I had my suspicions since when I first woke up, but I was now certain that I was on a world unknown to me. I gazed into the stary night a little longer, it was truly breathtaking but I needed to start the hunt so I dropped to all fours and set off.