This year’s convention was being held in Europe, somewhere in Germany. The trip to another country and the fact I would be in a company of numerous hunters allowed me to take off the collar. It would have been weird for a hunter to have a beast collar on, wouldn’t it?

Besides the participating team, there was Vertig together with Michail and Vince as part of the executive staff of the convention. Vertig with Michail was in the position of technical judges, but it made it suspicious. I kept thinking a judge should be someone who is impartial to all sides of the competition.

Vince explained to me later that other teams are sending their own representatives and professors for the judging so it all comes down to the effort and excellence of the team, if they appoint their points by technical proportions and not based on favor of being from the same place and the same school.

Vince had the position of the supervising instructor which basically meant he would be the one to observe the given tasks and their completion, also give out directions, make us follow the rules, in some cases they would be appointed as team leaders for the final task, or so happened at the last convention.

We were traveling by bus, because they couldn’t risk getting me aboard a plane – too much risk, as Vertig said. I didn’t really mind either way of travel, as long as the inside was warm and I didn’t need to suffer from frostbite.

This year the convention was being held in Germany because they were last year’s champions. I got to know that Huntig had held the competition once, when Michail, Vince’s parents, and Wann’s father were still young and at full potential of their strength.

So it meant that happened like thirty or so years ago. At that time I was probably somewhere in Mexico, traveling south. I might have visited Machu Picchu, enjoying the architecture and nature, trying not to get caught by unwanted attention. I had just accidentally busted a nest of Vendigos, so the stay wasn’t the best experience, but it had its charms.

On the road, Vertig kept talking about how we could work in the most efficient way, what would be the best course of action in one or the other situation. He kept on his ramble as if we were completely unprepared to get out there and bust some asses. At one point I wanted to jump out the bus and get there on the roof of the vehicle, no matter if it was a freezing hell outside.

“Professor, you don’t need to give them a pep talk, they already know everything they need to,” Vince spoke up. “Now, we still have a good couple of hours, so why don’t we get some rest? Please?”

The older man spluttered for a moment before he regained his composure and sat down properly. Michail chuckled and earned an elbow to his side, but other than that the two men stopped behaving like fretting parents on the big day of their children graduating. In some case, it would be considered a big day, but we weren’t graduating nor their children, so he should have better left us at the ‘go get ‘em’ speech.

I had no expectations when we were going to the venue, I had no idea what would happen or where we would be lodging or other details as such. I did know we had some camping equipment in the trunk of the bus, but other than that, I had nothing to base this whole thing on. Vince told me every convention differs by the venue, the theme or the tasks given, but the overall goal and evaluation remained somewhat unchanged.

“I just hope we won’t need to bust our asses outside like some merry go campers...” I mumbled and Vince just teased me for hating cold.

The bus pulled up in a parking lot full of other similar buses and cars. One glance through the window and I was so ready to refuse stepping out that I thought I’d pull a muscle. The lot was cleared from snow so that the huge piles of it were encircling the space by a thick wall of coldness.

“I don’t want to get out...”

“Fey, that won’t do. Let’s go.”

Vince practically dragged me out of the vehicle by my jacket collar. Surprisingly enough, the air wasn’t as cold as I was expecting, the snow was sticky and I saw a couple of people play with it. Vince must have noticed me observing the game, because unknowingly to me, he scooped up some of the white coldness, made a ball out of it and released it to my back. The smile and the laugh he gave me afterward was so precious I couldn’t muster any anger. That smile was such a rare sight recently I didn’t want it to go away.

“Fucking children. We’re here to work, not to play. Get a grip, Fagg-”

“Wann,” I was right on him the instant he started the word, “I would love it if you stopped degrading Vince. Forget that word even exists, or I swear to gods, I’ll castrate you.”

“Fey, hey, it’s fine. Leave it.”

“It is not fine,” I ground out.

“Gentlemen, please,” Vertig stepped between me and Wann, “let’s not act like children. We are all adults here, so let’s behave like so.”

“I really hope you’re talking about Wann and not Vince, because that’d be totally fucked up.”

“I meant you two, Miss Knights, Mister Bloomer.”

“Oh yeah? So what, does that mean you’re also a homophobe? And you would allow this foulmouthed asshole insult Vince, but if we do something silly and completely harmless, we’re the kids?”

“Miss Knights-”

“Just stop!” I couldn’t take it anymore. What was wrong with these people? They had no qualms whatsoever to denounce the value of a person just because of the people they loved. “Think well before speaking your other words. I will not tolerate any discrimination towards Vince just because he likes boys. Why aren’t you criticizing Wann for banging anyone who fits his standards? Why the hell are you so selective about who to support and who to damn?”

“Fey...”

“No. I don’t care where we are, or what the time is, it’s just plain stupid. Well, professor?”

The man looked at me as if I just kicked his teeth in. Wann was fuming behind the older man but said nothing. Both of them disgusted me. I had all the intention of grabbing Vince and just bolting, I had no desire to stay with these kinds of people, no matter what leverage they held against me.

Vince slumped to the ground, clutching at his chest, face scrunched up in pain. Vertig had a small remote control which now was pointing at Vince. I had a thought of attacking the man but changed my mind easily when Vince gasped out.

“Okay! I got it. I’m sorry. Stop it!”

“I thought so,” Vertig’s smug tone and pompous expression told me to try and argue with him again. “Now, everyone. Gather at the main stage and let’s begin the event. May the most advanced win this year.”

The man stopped torturing Vince and walked away to get ready for the opening ceremony. Wann lingered for a moment, staring intensely at the other boy, then turned and followed Vertig. The others were busy minding their own business.

Vince was panting, a couple of tears betrayed how painful it was for him. Dark brought some water and apologized for the whole situation, even though it had nothing to do with her. She felt guilty over Wann’s foolishness and stubbornness. Vince reassured her he was fine and thanked her with a smile. He could have fooled her, but I had a keener sense of hearing and could hear his heart beating out of his rib cage.

“I should have left. Should have never come here...”

“Hey. Stop.” He lightly touched my fingers with his own. “There will always be people who wouldn’t understand those different than they are.”

“But Wann-”

“Argent is another matter. He can do it with women too, thus he can reproduce, bear children. I can’t really do that, not without forcing myself, or surrogacy.”

“Isn’t that illegal in Huntig?”

His silence was all the answer I needed. He wasn’t regarded as a proper man just because he couldn’t reproduce and it drove me mad. The injustice and discrimination just because one is a bit different than the other. The imbalance of the world made me hate it so, this kind of mistreatment was one of the reasons why I wanted to cease to exist.

“Let’s go. It’s starting,” he tried to smile, but his eyes betrayed his sorrow. He grasped my fingers tighter and lead the way to the stage where the opening event would take place.

The stage wasn’t that big, it was like a little platform with a table and ten chairs behind it. At the front, there was a microphone, and some screens showing the crowd standing before it. The crowd wasn’t too big, I counted around a hundred individuals, plus-minus some who were moving.

There was supposed to be eighty participants since there were sixteen teams of five people each. The rest must have been other instructors and lecturers who came to root for their teams.

As Vince had told me before, the convention would last up to a week, each day having different tasks to complete. Each and every convention had been somewhat varied but had the same essence, so it was fair game to expect the unexpected also to not be surprised if it repeats to the last or previous years.

A man walked up to the mic and tapped it a few times, checking for the sound. I could hear a blast of low frequencies pierce my head, but it passed quickly.

The man smelled familiar, which was weird because I was at the far edge of the crowd and it was my first time seeing the guy.

“Willkommen,” the loud and prominent voice boomed, he didn’t really need that mic. “Velcome hunters from all ofer zee vorld. My name ist Albrecht and I vill be your host and zee chairman of zee judges for zis year’s confention.” I had some trouble understanding him, but the accent and his voice made me shudder.

Loud applause filled the field near a mixed forest. In all the excitement and commotion I felt panic – raw, sheer, deep-rooted panic. I knew that name, I recognized that smell, it was so painfully engraved into my memories and everything I had experienced, I felt nauseous. I wanted to run, to never look back, to disappear. That man was more horrifying than life itself and I wanted nothing to do with him again.

“Fey? What’s wrong?”

“I gotta- I need to-” I tried backing off, but Vince held me closer to him.

“What’s wrong? Do you see something? Are we in danger?”

“I- He-”

“Fey-”

I struggled out of his grasp, but he held firmer and wouldn’t let go.

“Fang, calm down.”

His voice calling out my name washed over me with a calming tide and I stopped struggling. I looked at his pale blue eyes, meeting mine head-on. He had a firm resolution to not let go of me and to protect me from all harm if need be.

“He knows… He- I ran. Vince, I ran.”

“Everyone is afraid of something, it’s fine.” He was only saying it because he didn’t know. How could he know?

“It’s not fine. He tried to breed me...”

My words seemingly confused him, but I had no strength to try and explain the whole situation properly. I really needed to get out of there before the man noticed me. I couldn't let myself be captured again by someone like him. As a human being, he gave the true name for all the monsters lurking in the darkness of night and the shadows of dawn.

Vince had his brow furrowed and lips in a pursed up pout, but he didn’t want to let go of me. He might have not wanted to draw too much attention to us since I was freaking out. I honestly thought I wouldn’t be seeing the man again.

“Hey, hey, don’t cry. If you do, they’ll know… Fey, please, try to calm down. We will figure something out, but right now you need to calm down or they will notice, and then you won’t be able to avoid it.”

His words made sense and I knew it in my mind, but my heart wouldn’t calm down. I was far too gone than I thought I would be.

I never feared death or pain. I was able to overcome the sorrow of losing the ones I held dear, but what that man has done to me was unimaginable. One thought brought back all those months of pain and torture and the inevitable. In the end, I managed to escape, but the damage had already been done and those were the memories I could never forget, however long it might take.

“Fang,” Vince got my attention once more. “Concentrate on my voice. Look at me.” He wiped my swelling tears in efficient movements, collecting the blood droplets on his fingers and wiping them on his own coat. “You are strong. You are safe. No one can hurt you. Repeat after me – strong, safe, invincible. Come on.”

“I’m strong… I- Vince...”

He kept that mantra of his for a long while, making me repeat it after him over and over. While I was distracted, the German man had ended his opening speech and some other man was giving his introductions and continuing with welcoming and explaining.

I tried to concentrate on the boy in front of me. His hands had become cold and rigid, but he kept on catching the traitorous tears from falling down my cheeks. His eyes were warm and welcoming, so deep and bright, even though they were still hiding their own demons behind a light veil of lies. He hugged me tight to his chest, basically burying me by his tall stature. I didn’t try to run away this time, I just snuggled closer and begged for some higher power to stop whatever madness was to come forth.

Vince rubbed gentle circles on my back, still repeating the mantra which, unexpectedly, soothed me enough to stop me from crying or reverting back to my panicked state. I loosened my arms from his tight hold and returned the hug, squeezing the boy firmly, without actually making him sustain any damage to his ribs. He chuckled lightly and kept petting my back, quietly mumbling words of reassurance.

“What the fuck?” Wann interrupted the perfect moment with his boldness.

“Not now, Argent.” The firmness and confidence in Vince’s voice was so clear, Wann lost his next words.

The boy made a facial expression prompting Wann to get lost and it made me smile. He was growing stronger by the day and I was so insanely proud of him for that. He might have been strong before, his will was unbending, but now he stood firm on his words, did not stutter or talk lightly, to barely make a sound, this right now had a strong resonance to his beliefs and anyone who dared to ignore his commands would suffer from severe consequences.

“Now, would he be able to recognize you?” He pulled me back, to look me in the eyes.

“Probably. I mean I don’t change.”

“So we need to hide your face until we figure things out, okay? Keep the mask on and try to avoid close contact with the man. If he gets close for some reason, don’t panic. You are stronger than him, hell, you are stronger than any of us. Remember that, okay?”

“I know. But I fear what I fear, it has no logical explanation.”

“I would have never thought a supernatural being would be able to suffer from a trauma, but I guess everyone has their own demons, don’t they?” A bitter smile tainted his lips, eyes withholding the truth.

“Vell zen,” the voice from the mic sounded, getting my attention, “let us beginen zee kompetition. Your first task for today ist to find a suitable kamp and settle in. You kan use zee singz you brought or any supplies you kan find lying around zee surrounded area. Time limit – dinner time. Don’t vorry, vee vill profide you wiz varm meals,” he laughed, “vee’re not beasts. Vell zen, good luck and may zee fittest prefail!”

Thus started the official part of this convention. We received our first task which wasn’t as difficult as I had expected it to be. Vince had to go prepare for the evening and take care of other details, his job as a supervising instructor required him to do. I let him go reluctantly, still unable to calm down properly, but he had to go, so I had to deal with it.

Our team assembled near the stage while everyone else had scurried off to their buses to retrieve the supplies and materials for the encampment. I realized why we loaded a waterproof tarp into the trunk beside other strange materials like rope, cloth and metal barbs.

“We need to get to a higher ground. Defense and observation is what matters,” Wann started to plan out.

“For what? Are we playing war with others?”

“In some sense, we are,” Castor Miller supplied. “In a word, we are fighting against others. The camp is supposed to serve as a base of operations.”

“It’s like a game of capture a flag,” added Sebastian Rodd. “Like, if they take our base, we automatically lose some points, which makes us fall all the way back to the bottom of the winners’ list.”

“Then, it’s not a camp,” I started, trying to calm down, the previous tension wasn’t dispelled yet. “But a fort. We need to make it so they wouldn’t be able to locate it easily, so high ground would work to our disadvantage.”

“No, it wouldn’t”

“Wann, the higher you are, the easier it is to see you. Unless you were hiding in the lay of the trees, but they are all naked and you can’t possibly make a fort in a spruce.”

“She’s right, Argent,” quipped Dark. “We should better hide our main base somewhere under, and have a surveillance tower to serve for high ground.”

“However much I hate to say it, but we could hide the base under the snow. From outside it would look like a regular hill,” saying that made me shiver from the thought alone. “We could take shifts to observe the surroundings.”

“Why would we listen to you?”

“Because our moron of a team leader doesn’t know how to set up a proper base.”

“You-”

“Look, you want to go basic or the proper way about this? You want to conquer or follow the textbook of ‘how to’?”

He gave me that dirty ‘I’m pissed, but you’re right, so I’m just gonna pout at you’ look and I took it as permission to proceed with the plan of a base under the snow.

We soon located a great spot near the edge of the forest, near the fence restricting the whole area of action. It was a bit further than necessary, but it wasn’t too far away from the main stage.

To be honest, the further from the main stage, the better, but the others wouldn’t agree to my suggestion. They complained about the time needed to get to the facilities for food. It didn’t matter to me since I was pretty much the fastest being out here. Sure enough, humans were not as fast as I would have liked, but the group wasn’t the sloppiest either. So we made a compromise and set up somewhere in the middle.

While the others were digging snow and dirt to make a big enough plot for the base, I checked out the surrounding trees. The birches, lindens and rare oaks were stark naked, so the fort would be useless of the position in plain sight.

I set my sights on surrounding pines. They were sturdy, had enough cover and provided good enough base for staying put for longer times. I climbed the one closest to the main base, but it was too lean, so it wouldn’t hold heavy bodies, and we did have one heavyweight on our team. I hopped to the next one from the top of the tree I was climbing, and the one held firmly, only swaying a little to the sides upon impact. I searched for a good footing, but this one had little to no branches good enough to even sit on. I opted to get to another one and nearly fell off due to a high volume of the array of branches. I got a better hold on it and settled for it since it had good enough hold and a lay of branches suitable for setting up a fort.

Miller helped me set up the fort from planks so we took less than fifteen minutes. The rest of the time we spent on digging up enough space and forming the cave-like structure of our base of operations. We finished by covering the ground with the tarp, after strengthening the whole construction with metal barbs we had brought. We also had sleeping bags and other necessities.

Going back to the main encampment was a chore since we had to cover our footprints by sweeping it with branches, also we walked in circles to drop anyone who tried to find us from the right path.

When we got to the dining facility, which was a square wooden construction, I presumed made just for the occasion, I noticed only the other two teams had returned. Considering we had to dig a cold hard ground and make our base look natural enough, we were pretty fast. Though, I still thought having me on the team was kind of cheating, but I wasn’t complaining, I didn’t really care.

While the others chose to sit down at our designated table and get some hot tea or coffee, I chose to lounge my ass in front of an open fire in a makeshift fireplace near the back of the building.

I still had my mask on, in case the man I did not want to see happened to see me, but also because it still was pretty cold. I looked around to see if Vince was anywhere close, but by the lingering smell, I guessed he was somewhere outside. So I figured he was still working on his tasks.

“Pretty nice idea, to set up a baze under snov,” the voice jolted me out of my daze. Why would he show up just when I really did not want him to show.

“T- thanks,” I answered, clearing my throat.

“You seem fery young to be attending zee convention. Vat could it be to allow you to participate, Little One?”

I tried not to panic. The same tone, the same manner of speech, the same name he used to call me. I took in a shaking breath and tried to reign in the rising bile and panic.

“My- My fighting skills are good,” I supplied.

He barked out a loud laugh, just like before. It made my heart shudder.

“Fighting skills, huh. Vell, it ist definitely not your communications skills.”

“Not- Not a people person,” I stuttered out.

“Is zat vyy you’re not with your team members, but here? Alone.”

“Ye-Yes.”

“Mind if I keep you kompany?”

I couldn’t tell him no, but I couldn’t bear to be so close to him and not get a panic fit. It started dawning on me, he might have already figured it out and now he was just playing with me. I started to regret every choice I made that took me where I was today. I really wanted to turn back to the point where I decided to board that bus and come to Huntig.

“Fey, want some tea?” Came the salvation. I felt how my whole being relaxed at the sound of his voice, but not enough from the panic to stop.

Vince brought two cups of warm tea and handed me one. He smiled at the person behind me and distracted him with praises of the venue while I got away and back to the table.

Wann was giving me strange looks but didn’t comment. I tried to stay as low as I possibly could, making myself look smaller than I already was. With the day nearing the appointed dinner time more and more teams filled the dining hall and I finally could smell food being cooked.

Vince joined our table for dinner despite having been ordered to stay at the instructors’ table. He focused his eyes on me, trying to gouge out more than I was willing to say, but the stares were not helping. I focused on the table.

“Can we talk about it?” he eventually asked, nearly a whisper.

“You want to talk about it in a room full of people?”

“I need to know what’s happening with you. Did he hurt you? What did you mean by what you said?”

“I meant what I said.”

“Yeah, but how can anyone breed you?”

“In your terms, it would be more like a rape,” I threw out.

“What is going on?” Wann butted in.

“None of your fucking business,” I clenched my jaw so I wouldn’t shout at him. Vince was being inconsiderate and it drove me crazy.

“Fey. If there are going to be any problems with your performance, I’d rather they know, too. Just tell us what the deal is.”

“I just told you,” I hissed again, “they caught me, chained me up to a table and made all kinds of people-” I took a deep breath. I did not like thinking about it. “I do not have a womb. But he still-”

“What?” Dark was horrified. “Who? I thought-”

“Please, don’t ask questions. Just- Just let me say what I can… That Albrecht man, he got me like fifty years ago. He was fascinated by the fact I couldn't stay dead.”

The statement earned a lot of confused stares from other team members. They didn’t know what was happening with me, but if they wanted to know about this, they had to know about me first.

“So he tried to make me reproduce-” I took another deep breath, pushing the air out in shuddering breaths. “But I can’t. I have no organs necessary for carrying a life in me. So then he bled me out and did other sick stuff to try and recreate something like me.”

“Fifty years ago? But isn’t he like forty?” Wann inquired.

“You’re right. It couldn’t be him,” Vince agreed.

“It’s him. He smells the same, no son or any relative can smell the same.”

“Then- How?” it was Rodd trying to comprehend the pieces of information given.

“My bet is on blood. He bled me dry. And my blood isn’t exactly normal-”

I stopped talking when I felt someone nearing our table. Vertig pulled out a chair and sat down at the end of the table. He stared us all down and hummed in appreciation. He had a weird smirk on his face and it unnerved me. I wondered if he knew what was going on since he seemed to know more than he let on.

“Why are all of you sitting here all huddled up and whispering?”

No one dared to talk. Wann looked at me studying my expression, which was panicked and pleading not to open his mouth. I did not need Vertig to have another one of my weaknesses.

“Our host,” he started against better judgment, “Albrecht, what kind of person is he?”

“Oh, he’s a legend even among legends.” The man smiled fondly. “It’s mostly thanks to him, Germany has held this convention for more than ten times. He is an exceptional strategist, fighter and tracker. Though I have to admit, he has unusual ideas on advancing our hunting methods.”

“Like what?” asked Miller.

“He thought of enabling supernaturals to our advantage. That is how we started using them for training purposes.”

“That’s sick,” I spat out.

“It might be so, but if it’s efficient, anything goes.”

The silence spread longer than needed, I felt an urge to run again, but Vince’s hand on my own made me stay. His presence calmed and gave me strength. And he was right, I could take any human in here.

“Even raping someone who doesn’t deserve it?” Dark was precise and too bold.

Vertig’s eyes went wide and he looked at her in surprise. After a moment he scanned all of our faces and stopped on me. He observed me while I couldn’t bring myself to meet his eyes.

“So it was you,” he grinned.

I felt like puking my guts out, Vince, on the other hand, was ready to attack the man with his own set of daggers. Wann, in answer to Vince’s actions, drew his sword and pointed it at the other boy, barely touching his neck. I stood up to force Vince to sit back down, I didn’t need more attention to us.

“I was merely a child when my father introduced me to the man. He talked fondly of a creature far more bizarre than any other he had met. The creature looked like a child, but behaved like someone ancient. He admitted to being obsessed with the creature, and he felt sorrow when it escaped his grasp.”

“And you condone his actions?” Vince was outraged. “Just because she’s not entirely human?”

“Well-”

“Then, what about Albrecht. He used so-something to stop aging. Isn’t that the same be-behavior as the s-supernatural?” Wann inquired, confusion evident in his voice.

“How so? He is still very much a human.”

“No human looks the same as they looked fifty years ago,” Dark supplied. “How can anyone tolerate this?”

“It’s for the greater good, so why not?”

“You do realize, if you stopped hunting, there would be no need for your ‘greater good’?” I declared glaring him straight in the eyes. Every word of his was pissing me off more and more.

“But they’re not supposed to exist.”

“If they were not supposed to be, then why are they? I get my situation, I was a mistake, but I was made. Supernaturals evolved, just like humans did. You’re supposed to share this world, not hog it to yourself.”

“And who would stop them from hogging it to themselves?”

“They tried, believe me. But every time the world itself evens it out. Last time Cold Walkers tried to change the status quo I was there to ruin it for them. Something always gets in their way, they can never reach the world domination. Unlike you. You killed so many of them, you’re colonizing the world by sheer numbers. There are only so many of them, they do not come on equal terms in numbers compared to humanity.”

“They? Are you not including yourself in the fray?” Vertig ignored every word in favor of his own stupid beliefs.

“I do not fit neither to that side, nor to this one. I am me, and it should stay that way. Why do you think Frederic wants me dead? Why hasn’t he tried to make another one? Because he knows it would destroy the already shifted balance of the world. I was not supposed to be.”

“And he tried to re-reproduce her,” Wann said. “Which is stupid. Why would anyone want to create another monster? For what reasons?”

“To fight fire with fire,” was Vertig’s answer.

“It doesn’t work that way,” I hissed. “I do not serve humanity, nor supernaturals. I am on the neutral grounds. I only move when I know the balance would suffer.”

“What balance, Miss Knights?” Vertig mocked me. “You think they care about it? You think they wouldn’t just slaughter us all in spite of their own enjoyment?”

“If they wanted to do that, they would have already done it. They do not want a war. They only want peace. They resigned to the life of secrecy, they do not move just for sport. There are some exceptions, but only when they are provoked.”

“Then what provoked the attacks recently?”

“It was my mistake,” my voice faltered and I couldn’t look any of them in the eye. “I admit, I am not the best when it comes to covering my own tracks. And I shouldn’t have gone to hunt in the middle of the city, but I was provoked.”

Wann and Vertig had the same expression of contempt on, the others were slightly confused by the whole revelation, and Vince just tried to reign in his emotions.

“Look, I did what I did, because at that point all I wanted was to get back on track of either dying or getting the desire to live back. And I always hunted to kill, leaving witnesses was always a bad idea.”

“Then, what about the recent incident? The Moon Walker?” Dark asked, uncertainty lacing her soft voice.

“It was a full moon. They were probably just crossing the city over when they caught a whiff of Bloomer’s blood. Judging by the howls, they were one of the lesser branches of the Lupin’s clan. And Moon Walkers are all about family. An eye for an eye, so to say.”

“So, if it wasn’t for Vince, they would have just left quietly?” asked Rodd.

“Yes.”

“You don’t know that,” Vertig laughed at me.

“The legend that Moon Walkers need to eat human hearts are just that, a legend. The most they hunt are bears, maybe. Anyways, Moon Walkers do no harm to humans, unless, like I already said, they are provoked. Lupin was hunted because he had weird tendencies of going after the cattle. Farmers didn’t like it, so they fought back, that’s how the Moon Walker-human war started. A human killed one of Lupin’s sons, they retaliated. That’s all.”

“Vell, how interesting,” came from right behind me. “You know a lot of amusing stories, Little One.”

I froze in place, clenching my fists and gritting my teeth as to not jump and run out the room. Vince put his warm palm on my shoulder, rubbing light circles with his fingers. Wann seemingly tensed, and Dark obviously panicked.

“I nefer expected to meet you again, not to mention in a kompany of hunters. How vonderful.”

Saying I wanted to vanish would have been an understatement. I forgot how to breathe, my heart was beating in overdrive and I felt my own nerves tensing, some blood vessels popping. Eventually, I felt my own heart give out and stop beating completely. After that, I could only react to my head hitting the table and I was out.