The battle was done in a few short moments--it showed how much of a difference between a well-trained knight and a couple of half-trained bandits. But Leanna didn’t mind--she didn’t want to fight. She didn’t like how her brother had to fight. She’d rather just go home and live a normal life, but that wasn’t possible, at least not now.

Over the past couple of days, Leanna had slowly started to notice how her body began to change. The first thing was that it took long for her to regain her energy--especially when it came to mana exhaustion. In truth, as she held the reins, Leanna was barely holding herself up. She knew the feeling of mana exhaustion, and it was not a comfortable one.

She’d felt since they fled the bandit village--since she used her wind magic to keep a clear eye on her brother when he covered for her, as well as watched where the bandits were. While Tyrius was able to recover a moderate amount during the night, to Leanna, it felt like barely an improvement. She knew what was going on--it was vampirism. She didn’t know what the effects of it were, but this was the only explanation.

She let out a small sigh, her shoulders rolling in a slight shrug as she watched the pair of knights. They didn’t leave the bandit’s corpses on the side of the road, Sir Bravor slammed his large hammer into the ground and caused several holes to open up, and they began to bury the corpses inside. It was an unceremonious burial, but it was better than being left out to rot. When they had finished, Bravor brought his hammer down once more and caused the holes to close up one by one before repairing the small crevice up that he created when the bandits arrived.

“Tyrius...can you take the reins? I didn’t get much sleep last night before we were attacked.” Leanna asked, giving her brother a slight lie as she offered him a smile.

“Of course, you did great letting us know they were coming. When we find a place to make camp make sure to get some rest.”

Leanna nodded as they switched positions, her attention shifting over towards the knights who were sharing a few quick words before mounting their horses.

Leanna felt there was something strange about them--but she couldn’t put her finger on what. She could feel their tenseness, their uneasiness through the wind. It was disconcerting, to say the least--but perhaps it was because they were wary of more bandits arriving, but Leanna was aware of how she couldn’t let her guard down--even if her brother seemed to feel comfortable around this pair.

For now, she kept her thoughts to herself as they mounted their horses, and the three riders began to make their way, and Leanna wrapped her arms around her body before leaning against his back, resting.

After a short while, Andor spoke up. “Your sister doesn’t look all that well, is there something wrong with her?”

Tyrius’ head turned, his body shifting slightly, and Leanna, through the air, could feel his uneasiness at the question.

“Aye, she’s tired from the bandits attacking as we tried to camp for the knight, had a small encounter with them before, though we managed to getaway. I guess they were able to follow our tracks, but she has an illness--some kind of a thing that fatigues her, makes her weaker. We’re heading east towards Steelwallow because we’re hoping to find a priest or a healer who can help her.”

Tyrius said before letting out a small sigh. It was a lie--a blatant one, but Tyrius did a good enough job covering it up.

“Ah, well, that’s some bad luck in both cases. It’s good you’re a doting brother. I’ve seen many who’ve tossed their kin to the side once they became an inconvenience.”

Leanna couldn’t help but crack a smile at that--she was lucky to have such a caring brother.

“Thank you--she’s the only family I have left, so I have to protect her, and to that...I need to get stronger. The bandits helped me realize how weak I am. “ Tyrius continued, his hands clenching as he held the reins, the metal of his gloves grinding together as he did so. “So...I was wondering if you’d been willing to tell me how you did those explosions--I can use fire magic too, I’m a smith by trade, but my knowledge of actual fire combat is limited.”

Andor chuckled softly before nodding. “Sure, a basic one is pretty simple, but making sure you only burn your target is where the tricky part is at. So, I imagine you know the basics of using magic. You will your mana to do something, like as fuel for a fire, right?”

“Of course, and you can use it to get the perfect temperature while smithing--that was what my dad taught me.”

“That is a helpful trick, of course, great for beginners or when you need to do simple things. When you need to do something more complex that can’t simply be willed, that technique becomes less useful, though it always has its place. Higher tier spell casting is what is called formula casting. Rather than doing something as willing it, you imbue direct commands into the mana. The raw mana will be able to do more complex things. Think of it as leaving a set of commands imprinted on the mana itself. Like being able to curve its trajectory, create a fireball, and many other things. So for a basic fireball, you need to create a layer of fire, and inside of it a condensed ball of mana--and you’re command is that when it collides with something to suddenly turn the remaining mana into fuel for the fire--which causes the ball of fire that you saw earlier.”

This was news to Leanna. Her mother, when she was taught the basics of wind magic, was not told about this. Though it is more advanced than what a farm girl needed--so it was possible her mother didn’t know. But if imprinting commands onto the mana that was imbued, that’d make the spell far more versatile--and her brother was probably thinking the same thing. Unfortunately, Leanna didn’t have the excess reserves even to attempt such a thing--she was utterly exhausted and even decided to stop using her magic to survey her surroundings. Something she was reluctant to do at this point.

“I….never knew you could do that. Does it have a higher mana cost associated with it, though?”

“Of course, since, in a sense, it requires some mana to be used to trigger the events, if that makes sense. Though the increase in power and versatility make it far superior to just willing it.”

“Then...when we make camp, would you mind helping me practice?”

Sir Andor paused for a moment before glancing over at Sir Bravor, who seemed to contemplate it for a moment, before nodding his approval.

“I don’t see why not. It’ll be better than accidentally setting the forest on fire or blowing yourself up while practicing. Also, those are flint gloves, right?”

Tyrius glanced down at his hands which held the reins, before nodding. “Yes, I don’t know how to create fire out of thin air yet, but from what my father told me, it’s complicated to do it.”

“That’s correct. Flint gloves are better for learning how to imbue basic commands, though, since creating fire out of nothing is an application of imbuing commands into your spells.”

“I can see why that would be difficult. It seems like you’d have to command the magic to create a spark before using the mana as fuel to create fire without a source. Is it easy to make mistakes while imbuing commands?”

“Very, which is why learning through flint gloves is always better--because you can start making your commands something simple, like causing a ball of fire to move to the side or something along those lines. When we set up camp, I can show you a few tricks that’ll help you on your way.”

Tyrius berated Andor with questions for the next while, hoping to glean more information from the fire-wielding knight, and Leanna just leaned against her brother, slowly drifting off to sleep. When Leanna was roused, Sir Bravor and Andor were dismounting their horses in a small clearing off the side of the road.

It seemed this was the place they were going to make camp--Tyrius had already hoped down, dragging their tent from the horse’s pouch, before getting the work setting it up. While Leanna wanted to help, she knew her brother would turn her help down in an instant--she was far too exhausted to be of any real aid at this point anyways. So in the meantime, Leanna glanced around at the others.

Bravor used his earth magic to create a few stone seats in the ground, as well as a small fire pit--which Sir Andor dumped some wood he’d grabbed from nearby trees inside and then used his magic to light it on fire. After that was done, they proceeded to get their tent set up, set up differently. While Tyrius was embedded spikes in the ground, Bravor used his earth magic to create stone stones to easily loop through the holes on the tents, making their method a little bit faster.

Once Tyrius finished setting up the tent, he returned to Leanna’s side, offering her a hand before helping carry her to the tent where she could lie down and get some much-needed rest--which Leanna happily agreed to. She was better off out of sight for now anyway...At least that's what Leanna felt.

Once Leanna was inside the tent and resting, Tyrius returned outside, taking a seat at once of the stone seats that Bravor had created.

“Andor I’m going to see what I can find in the woods--fresh meat is better than rations, and any local lord doesn’t claim these lands. You keep watch on the camp.”

Andor nodded his head before Bravor walked off, heading out into the woods proper.

Meanwhile, Tyrius’ attention turned towards Andor, his eyes focusing on the knight. “So, what’s the best tip to start with?”

Andor cocked an eyebrow for a moment before nodding. “Oh, right. I nearly forgot I’d give you some lessons,” he said with a small sigh before glancing at the fire and raising a hand, and a small flame lept from the fire and into his palm.

“Something like this is simple enough for now. I focused some of my mana into the fire, and, commanding the bit of fire, it latched onto to come to my hand. Now you need to be careful not to burn yourself, but since you worked in a forge, I imagine your father taught you how to resist flames, right?”

“Yeah, it was one of the first lessons he taught me.”

“That’s good. It’s a valuable skill when learning how to control fire more directly. It’s very easy to burn yourself if you’re not careful. Though I’ll be here to make sure it doesn’t get out of control.”

Tyrius turned his attention to the fire pit and the glowing orangish-red flames that flicked, and slowly he focused, willing his mana forward into the fire.

While he usually would’ve converted it as fuel for the fire, he didn’t. Instead, he tried to force a command into his mana--a command to tell the fire to come to him.

Of course, his first attempt didn’t go well at all.

Issuing the command was not the hard part--instead, giving the correct command was. As Tyrius imbued his command into the mana, sent the mana forward into the fire pit, the fire jumped out towards him and nearly engulfed him--but Andor had risen and acted quickly. He used his mana to override Tyrius’ command and ordered the fire to return to the pit.

“I figured something like this would happen--it’s a common mistake for beginners. I take you told the fire to come to your hand, right?”

“Yah--I didn’t expect to work, to be honest, but instead, all the fire in the pit tried to come.”

“That’s because you didn’t limit or set constraints on your command. I’m sure you felt the fire before you gave the command. When you gave the command, the mana you used flowed to every bit of the fire before it leaped forward, grabbing all that it could. That shows you that you reached out with too much mana. If you used too little, you wouldn’t have grabbed anything. Now, there are two ways to get around this; better mana control--only sending the amount you need or putting constraints on your command. Both methods are something you need to master--one so you’re not wasting your mana, and two so you can form more complex commands without unneeded side effects. As if you fail to consider a single, you could unintentionally hurt many people when casting your spell. For now, try working on commands--since I can tell you already have a good bit of magical stamina, so over-taxing your spells aren’t your biggest concern. Now, again.”

“Before that, how did you stop the fire from finishing the leap? It felt like...my mana was suddenly consumed by something else when you jumped in?”

“Ah, you don’t know about interrupting mana? Well, that’s hardly a surprise. While it is costly, you can use your mana to disrupt another’s. It’s not that useful in most cases since it requires more mana to stop the action in most cases. The only case where it doesn’t is when someone injects mana into your own body for their spell. Since it’s your own body, it’s almost effortless to interrupt it, so it’s a risky move that typically only works on the untrained.”

Andor said as he sat back down on his stone stool, once again watching Tyrius, who began to attempt it again, and again.

Tyrius noticed while experimenting with commands that giving exact measurements did not work--the mana, once released from his direct control, did not understand what those measurements were. Every time Tyrius made a mistake that caused the flame to leap in a large uncontrollable amount, Andor was there to stop the flame from scorching the surrounding area and keep it contained. While Tyrius would’ve been unharmed, anything flammable might have been set afire without Andor.

Of course, eventually, Tyrius realized what he was doing wrong--giving commands to the fire wasn’t the only thing to do--even before Andor gave his initial explanation, he mentioned that there are just some things that mana couldn’t be commanded to do. So instead, Tyrius imbued his desire--his will to take less of the fire into his mana alongside a command to leap into his hand.

It worked somewhat--this time, rather than the entire fire leaping from the fire pit--only a portion did. About half, to be specific, and it was far too much for Tyrius to hold in his grasp. Though, once again, Andor returned the fire into the pit before any damage was caused. “That was an improvement--I take it you discovered the trick then?”

“Yah...both commanding and willing the mana at the same time. This is harder than I thought it would be.”

“Yeah, I understand that. Using mana properly is difficult--and I’m not the best teacher. In truth, I learned in the same way you are, given light directions and nudged to do it correctly. I hear a school in Draconia teaches the use of magic in a standardized way, but, well, only nobles can easily afford to go to a place like that, so we’re just stuck learning it the hard way. But I can tell you’ve got a good head on your shoulders. If you keep practicing, I can certainly see you becoming a good mage someday.”

That was quite the compliment for Tyrius, as they resumed the training for a while longer--and only stopped when Bravor returned carrying a buck he’d caught while out in the woods. It seemed he’d struck it with a stone slab from under the ground while it was grazing.

“I see you’ve run the boy ragged, Andor. Has he learned much?”

“A bit, he’s getting the hang of doing simple commands, though he’s still liable to burn down the forest if he’s not careful.”

“Understandable. Why don’t you take a break and help me skin this buck. I think we’ll have plenty of food for a couple of days worth of travel with this. Once that’s done, I’ll create a stone smoker so we can get a few more days out of it than if we just did it normally.”

Sir Zendor and Sir Carn were currently heading back east after being informed by Sevantis about what had happened--they were days away from the others, so the pair were hurriedly riding forward in hopes of catching up to their fellow knights.

Zendor was a slender follow, with a sharp face and teal blue hair--signifying his devotion to Idris, the god of water, storms, and healing. However, he did not practice healing magic. While Lady Lera represented Idris’ compassion and healing capabilities, Zendor represented the wrath of the storm.

“Zendor, my waterskin is out of the water. Could you refill it?” Carn asked, giving his fellow knight a cheeky grin.

Zendor hated doing this, but they didn’t have time to stop and find a stream to refill it. There was water everywhere--he could pull it from the air, out of the plants, and out of living creatures if he put enough mana into it--though that was disallowed by the teaching of Idris, as it is excruciatingly painful. If he did it to a living being, he’d likely be cut off from the god’s power in an instant.

Zendor raised his hand and made a small motion with it, and water began to collect and form seemingly out of thin air--though Zendor was simply pulling the water out of the air itself. Thankfully today was a little muggy, so getting enough water to refill Carn’s waterskin was a simple task--and he didn’t need to reach over a wide area to collect enough. The water, once collected, streamed forward and flowed into Carn’s waterskin.

“Thank you, that’ll keep me good until we need to rest for the night.”

Carn was also another follower of the gods, Cezara, the Goddess of War and Conflict. The common folk had many misconceptions about the goddess, something Carn hoped to clear up as a knight’s duties.

The main reason for the misconceptions is her domain--as war and conflict typically are viewed negatively. Though, everything from petty squabbling among children to the political games between lords and the very survival of oneself all falls under her purview. Her existence is as essential to life as any of the other gods--and if you asked Carn, it is more important since conflict in itself drives innovation and pushes oneself forward.

Carn was a bulkier fellow, his hair a jet black hue, as well as a small, unkempt beard. Cezara was one of the few gods who did not change some physical aspect of her followers. While Idris’ follower’s hair turned blue from their connection to their god, Etuna’s followers had their hair turn a crimson red, Vudea’s follower’s hair turned an earthy brown--and always seemed to carry the scent of earth and freshly cut grass along with them. Followers of Silses had their hair turn a silvery hue. Cezara and Xirius did not change their followers’ appearances--something Carn enjoyed since he preferred his jet black hair.

The magic he gained from Cezara was different from followers of other gods. While they wielded elemental magic, followers of Cezara gained a different boon. He could feel hostile intentions from others and the conflict within themselves and towards those around them. Through this sensation, he could almost gain precognition of what they were going to do--making him an expert combatant.

Of course, this made Carn brash and arrogant. In pure swordplay, he was the best out of all six knights, even better than Sevantis. Of course, Carn couldn’t turn off his precognition, so this was likely the reason why. Though when magic was involved, he was still near the top. In a one-on-one fight, the only person he couldn’t beat when they wielded their magic was Sevantis. This didn’t stop Carn from being cocky, though.

“So, Zendor, what do you think of this Tyrius follow? He’s just a kid, but he managed to take down a vampire. Do you think he'd do any good with a weapon or was it just dumb luck?”

“I don’t know, but I hope for his sake he doesn’t know his sister is a vampire--since I’d hate to wipe a family out. All I can say is that when we find him, we’ll be able to reason with him.”

“Mmmm, well, I can’t say I share your optimism. I’m looking forward to fighting the kid--of course, I doubt he’ll be able to put up a real fight, but it might be good for a few laughs, yah know?”

“I always hate the sadistic tendencies of yours--you know that’s why Cezara is looked disfavorably on by the majority of people in the world.”

“Bah, they just don’t understand how important she is. You can see the earth Vudea presides over, you can see storms called by Idris’ wrath, you can see the flames of rebirth when fires break out, and people give Silses respect in hopes he’ll carry their soul well. Cezara’s impact is as intangible as Silses’ is, but people don’t like to admit that they need to fight to survive.”

“And it’s not because all of Cezara’s followers are combat junkies?”

“It’s just a part of life. I’m not as bad as some of the others I’ve met; some glorify war above all else--aren’t you glad I’m not like those nut jobs?”

“I suppose it can always be worse.”

“You’re certainly right it ca--”

As Carn spoke, he was suddenly cut off by a rhythmic ringing from their amulets--it seemed one of the knights had something to report…

Sevantis and Evenwood followed the tracks left by Leanna and Tyrius when they fled the villages of Idlesworth--they weren’t moving particularly fast through the woods, judging from their tracks. While they did have a week-long head start, Sevantis and Evenwood were not taking their time. They pushed their mounts where they could to quickly cover the ground. Unlike the one gifted to Tyrius, their horses were bred for long-distance travel and pursuits, so they could manage to go longer and faster than the average mount.

“They don’t seem particularly keen on moving quickly, Sevantis--they might not know what Leanna is afflicted with.”

“That is a fair point...though they are avoiding the roads, though that could have been under that priestess’s recommendation.”

“That’s true. I hope we can catch up to them before the vampire does anything--especially if she doesn’t know what she is.”

“Don’t worry, Evenwood--we’ll make sure to put the monster down before it can harm anyone.”

Evenwood grimaced at Sevantis' use of words--while he was a knight and his goal, for now, was hunting down vampires, he knew they were not mindless creatures. They’d encountered enough of the bloodsuckers to know that, when they weren’t starved, they were as sane as any individual. Of course, that didn’t stop Sevantis’ hate for the creatures.

During the following few days, they didn’t encounter much out of the ordinary—the remnants of a few small camps, discarded foodstuffs, and other such minor items. For now, it was certainly hard to tell that they were chasing after a vampire--there were no bloodstains on the campgrounds or any of typical identifiers. However, vampirism took a while to take effect.

By the time they reached the edge of the woods, the sun was beginning to set. They debated the merits of traveling further before deciding to let their horses rest--so they could ride full tilt after the tracks.

After getting a fire started and the rabbit Evenwood spotted roasting over the fire, the knight finally decided to ask a question that had been on his mind since she joined up with Sevantis.

“Sevantis--mind if I ask you a question?”

The younger knight glanced upwards at his companion before nodding.

“I was wondering...what happened to you that made you hate vampires so much? I’ve never met a man who has hated them more than you.”

Sevantis let out a small sigh before he grimaced and leaned back in his seat.

“I suppose you have the right since it’s indirectly related to why we’ve been hunting vampires. You know who I serve, right?”

“Lady Sinora, though princess is the more apt term, even if vampires occupy her homeland…”

“Yes--I may have only been five years of age at the time, but I remember the coup clearly as if it were my first real memories. Fifteen years ago, I was at court visiting the King and Queen of Livnar--and of course, their daughter Lady Sinora. My family was a group of minor nobles who’d always been indentured to the royal family--going so far as to give their firstborn to become the bodyguard of the heir to the throne. While Lady Sinora was not the heir--her elder brother, Escadar was, they introduced me to her first as Escardar was nearly fifteen years of age and out on a training expedition. It was supposed to be a short stay in the capital, Linara, a week at most. Escardar was supposed to return by then.”

With that, Sevantis paused for a moment before he let out a small sigh, his shoulders rolling in a small shrug before he continued.

“Then that fateful day happened--and the vampires attacked. It was sudden, brutal, and in the dead of night. On the keep’s wall, the watchmen didn’t let out a sound as their throats were cut and blood left dripping on the stone floor. While the vampires praise their coup as flawless, it wasn’t a complete success. The creatures were caught in the castle, and a battle ensued. From what I understand about the attack, they were ordered to kill everyone in the castle, the women, the children, the men, anyone who could tell a tale of what happened. The fighting started near the guest chambers, where my parents and I were sleeping. My parents knew something was wrong--I didn’t fully grasp what was going on. Quickly my mother urged me out of bed while my father dawned his sword, and we started to flee from the bedrooms. I now know what a skilled fighter looks like, and from what I’ve been told of friends of my father, he was an exquisite swordsman, though full-grown vampires, with their inhumane strength and agility, were a match for the best swordsmen. A vampire who was skilled at the blade as well is extremely difficult to defeat without preparation. I remember being attacked by a pair--and my father moved to defend us while my mother dragged me along--trying to get away from the creatures. I didn’t see my father die, but I heard him scream of terror and pain before he did. The echo of his voice going through the halls is something I’ll never forget--It was crystal clear among even the sounds of echoes of combat. ”

With that, Sevantis paused again, taking a moment to check the rabbit--though he was likely preparing himself for the rest of his story.

“As we moved forward, we stepped over countless bodies. The bodies of servants. The bodies of the guards. The bodies of visiting nobles. The bodies of vampires. The acrid scent of fresh blood filled the halls--and I still feel like I can smell it to this day. Luckily we were able to meet up with lady Sinora and her guards--if we hadn’t, I don’t think we’d have made it out of there alive. They were heading towards a secret exit out of the castle--and hopefully to safety, and once again, we started to flee. However, when we reached the exit, we were attacked again. It was the same vampire who attacked father--so I could only assume he also killed him. His face was covered in blood, which glistened in the torchlight of the stone halls. Lady Sinora and her guard were already through--and my mother pushed me through. The last sight of her I saw was a vampire grabbing and sinking their teeth into her neck and the blood that spurted out as her throat was crushed. Moments later, the guard who was with Lady Sinora cast magic and collapsed the entryway. From there, we fled the country, having learned that the other powerful nobles either were in league with the vampires--or were attacked and exterminated. That’s the reason I hate vampires--because only such creatures could be so cruel in the way they kill people. Only animals could take pleasure in such pain and suffering, and it is our duty to rid the world of them--and to make sure those cursed with vampirism still retain their humanity when they die.”

Evenwood was silent after Sevantis’ tale-- he had expected something similar when he asked since he knew she hailed from Livnar, but he wasn't expecting him to be in the middle of the attack on the capitol.

“Well. Thank you for telling me that. I understand...your disdain for the vampires.”

“Good, and do not ask me to retell the tale. It’s not one I like telling.”

Of course--Evenwood didn’t plan to ask him again. As he got ready to respond, their amulets let out a rhythmic ringing noise--someone was hailing them.

Clasping their amulets, they were telepathically connected with the caller--Sir Bravor.

“Sevantis, the pair we’re searching for are named Tyrius and Leanna, correct?”

“Yes--did you find them?”

“We did--right now, Andor is keeping an eye on them. Leanna is likely in the early stages of vampirism--she is slow to regain her mana and energy but is harmless. We’re in the process of determining whether Tyrius knows what she is...as no one wants to kill an innocent child protecting his sister. Since I’ve--” Bravor paused for a moment, cutting himself off.

“Did something happen?”

After a moment or two, Bravor responded. “There was a strange wind I felt, though I sent out an earth pulse and felt nothing. It must have been my senses...anyways, since Leanna isn’t a threat, we’re observing right now to see if Tyrius would willingly give her up. Of course, we’re building up a rapport with this boy as we speak. Meet us at Steelwallow as fast as you can--it’s where we’re all heading. With luck, we’ll be able to end this without bloodshed.”

“Very well, Bravor...I’ll trust your judgment on this one. But if you feel she’ll become a threat, kill her that very moment. Even if the boy comes after us, the danger she poses if she manages to escape--or even infect others--is too great.”

“Of course, our job is to protect the people of the empire--don’t worry, I’ve not forgotten.”