While asleep, I dreamt the same dream, the one where I was drowning again. This time I found myself at the bottom of the body of water breathless, cold, alone. I could see myself from a third-person view looking down on myself while I lay still before drowning. Waking up, my eyes were still shut. I could feel the sweat run down my head as the nightmare haunted me once again for another night. But I could feel the hands of someone's soft hands stroking my hair behind my ear. Whoever was stroking me, I could feel, did it with care with each stroke. Opening my eyes, I was met with the sight of Aurora laying her head across my chest. I could see she was awake by the stare she gave me when I leaned forward. She shot up quickly, dropping my head down in the process back on the forests floor. Next to her was a young lady who I had never seen in my life. I could notice the woman must have been roughly the same age and height as Aurora as they almost looked like sisters, as when they sat beside each other, their heads were roughly the same height, and they shared similar features. While the woman I was looking at now was not the tallest, she did have a charm to her. I was unable to resist a slender hourglass figure that was very alluring. Her hair was a light teal green colour with blonde streaks and was kept behind her back. I could see the blonde streaks running through her hair in various spots, and when I looked into her eyes, I could see they were the same teal in colour. The woman sat there not speaking, and I could see she was wearing the ripped clothing, unsure why. That was when I saw through her ripped clothes the young lady had exposed her breasts. I tried to continue to look at the woman’s face as I stared, but it was too tempting to sneak another peek. Whoever this woman was sitting beside Aurora, looking at them, I could see she had small perky boobs even when wearing her clothing and bra were torn. I could not help but look at the woman who did little to cover herself in my presence. Attached to her perfect boobs were tiny nipples, and as the cool cold air kissed her skin, they got hard. Though I could tell her boobs were not the biggest, I imagined they would fit nicely in one's hands or while playing with them. I was unable to take my eyes off her beauty. She sat across from me elegantly.

I continued to look at her trying to figure her out. It was not until she smiled towards me with a soft expression of warmth did I even realize she was a Human. I could instantly tell by her teeth. Pearly white they were, and her smile was friendly, which caused me to smile back, but I could tell immediately she did not have fangs or canines as all demons did. I tried to remove those dirty thoughts from my head now learning this, but the lady did the damage, and I was intrigued. But I could tell Aurora was angry with my actions and was watching me this whole time. I slowly turned; I could see she was staring at me. Now pulsating with mana, I saw the glow of magical energy start to radiate from her. Trying to calm her down a little, I spoke to her in our language. I said,” Come over here, beautiful I’ve missed your touch in the mornings,” Aurora’s face went red, and I could see the mana she was radiating fizzle out as she smiled and then crawled over beside me before laying her head on my shoulder. I was, after all, beside Aurora, and if she only knew what I thought, I would have most likely died on the spot; I could tell she was catching on, and I had to act fast. When I remembered what the hell we were doing here, I suddenly pushed aside Aurora, who fell over, which I apologized for. I could see her bent over on her hands, staring back at me angrily. I could see my sudden response caused everyone to jump to alert as they all drew their weapons and started to look around frantically; remembering we all may be still in danger, I told everyone, “Wait did we win? Where is the enemy?” I could tell everyone's faces dropping in disbelief after I said that as they put away their weapons. When everyone returned to what they were doing, I noticed I felt lighter than earlier, and I quickly noticed when I looked down at myself that I was missing my shoulder and chest armour. Turning my head, I also saw my cape was also missing. I was in my white shirt with my bandages running up my arms, and I still had on my bracers. I patted my lower back and felt someone also removed my gun from its holster. While I still had my gauntlets on me with my blades tucked into them, I was without my mother's handgun that I always kept on my back; I couldn't for the life of me remember why I was even here in the forest. It took a few minutes, but the harder I thought about it, slowly, I started to remember what happened and how this woman came to be with us. I began looking around, now trying to find my armour. I was worried that it was destroyed because I could not find it anywhere. Giving up, I faced everyone and asked the group of people seated around the fire, unable to remember a thing, “What happened? I don't remember a thing...Besides shielding Aurora with my cape, then everything else is blank. Edgur where is my armour?” I could tell Edgur was upset with me, and he turned his head away, not answering the question I asked and continued to look into the fire; I started to notice our group was smaller than when we left this morning. I could hear someone getting up behind me, and when I faced them, I could see it was Aurora, and quickly after I faced her, she ran over towards me and hugged me tightly in her arms. I did not know how to respond; lifting my arms, I wrapped them around her waist, pulling her in accepting the gesture. I could tell a lot was on her mind as she did not say anything for a moment and held me as I felt her heartbeat. Letting go of me, she now began looking up into my eyes. I could see the reflection of myself in her red eyes as the moonlight shined through the ceiling of the forest. I could see my arm had been scarred when I saw myself, and there was also blood all over my face and neck. I could see the water form in the corner of her eyes as she said to me, “Calm down, Silvar and breath. The trespassers we encountered are all dead but this woman. Edgur lost no one else after we suffered the 4 causalities.”

I could hear the sadness in her voice when she went on to say, “I am sorry, I am so useless. It is all my fault you got so hurt, and the enemy damaged your armour; it was destroyed. I’m so sorry. I know how much you loved it.” After Aurora finished speaking, she now brought her hands to her eyes and began crying. Aurora was always sobbing or scared as of late. I could tell she was going outside her comfort zone joining us to see me as much as she claimed from earlier she,’: Hated me,:’ I knew none of this was her fault, but Aurora always was the person to blame herself when things went wrong between us even in the past. While I said nothing and thought for a moment, I gripped her hands tightly in my own before I said,” I would never blame you. Let’s go home.” Slowly Aurora stopped crying as Edgur gave the signal, and our forces began to pack up. That was when I saw the young lady continue to sit there with a sad look on her face. I forgot she did not speak our language. I forgot to ask her for her name.

‘: Troubled with all the events that happened but unable to speak up as she did not want to be rude, Mela sat there waiting, hoping that one of them spoke her language and would address her when she was looking at the vampire with silver hair she thought he was going to say something, but perhaps he was looking at her she was after all naked.:’ I could tell she was troubled by the way her body language was suggesting as she looked confused and terrified; looking down now at Aurora, who looked like she was at peace, I let her go and asked her, “You did not get hurt at all right?” Aurora, still looking like she was complete with a smile on her face, and while her eyes were shut, she said, “I am fine,” next, I could hear as she softly whispered, “I love you. Don’t ever leave me again.” I did not know if she meant to say that out loud or to herself, but I was stunned by how to open Aurora was being; pressing my head against hers, I whispered back, “I’ll always love you too, But is this the right time?” Aurora, red in the face, looked down, now avoiding eye contact with me as I think she meant to say that to herself, but That is when Locust and Edgur and the remaining Red-Dawn-Special forces came over to begin their final report and hand it in. Edgur began to speak, handing me back my gun and cape. “Lord Silvar, Our report is here and ready for you in this folder. Everything you need to know and will have to hand into the senate has already been filled out. The proper paperwork needs your signature. Today we suffered a loss of four Red-Dawn. I request that we properly compensate their family's and maybe that you could find some funds in the trust to cover the burial fees.” Remembering the actions, I took in the beginning probably resulted later in their deaths, as a proper first strike using their sneak advantage would have taken more of their forces out, which could have titled the odds more in their favour. I felt ashamed. This single sneak attack with all their forces could have made the difference in taking more of the enemy forces out than the one person I dispatched with my offensive magical Implosion spell. Head down, ashamed with himself, and I began to talk to Edgur. “Edgur, I am sorry. I know a first strike would have taken more of their forces out...But I couldn't stand there and watch that garbage go on any longer. Something inside me snapped. I will take full responsibility when asked by the Senate. And we will cover their costs and provide some aid to their family's that is my word as Lord.”

Edgur still was not happy, and I saw him as he walked over; he had a blank look on his face. The closer he was until he then punched me in the stomach. This devastating blow was more than I had received or could handle, and without his armour, I cried out as all the oxygen left his body, and I fell backwards and was left breathless on the floor. I swore all the ribs broke in my chest as I laid still, unable to breathe, gasping for air. While I frantically grabbed my stomach, I saw Aurora run over and begin to use recovery magic on me. I was left recovering, trying to catch my breath as Edgur began to speak down towards me standing above, “What the fuck, Silvar? Are you serious back there? Not only did you attack me, Your stunt earlier caused us to lose our advantage. That is some serious bull shit. These were some of the units I personally trained; I understand people die but what you did was selfish. What do you have to say to the other people here as well, as you put all their lives in danger when you decided to stray of from our plan.” Coughing, barely able to catch my breath, I was unable to deny what he said was the truth as what I did was selfish. Just as Edgur went to raise his voice again, the human woman stepped in between us. I could tell Edgur was getting angry with her intervening stepping in between our argument, and he had a certain look on him. I knew all too well. I saw him raise his hand, but before he struck her, I shouted, “Enough, will talk more later.” Lowering his hand, he faced the forces and walked away. The woman I could tell was shaking as she stood still facing the direction Edgur walked off in before coming over and sitting beside Aurora. She began activating her own kind of spell, and as she did, I saw Aurora bare her fangs at her. I quickly told Aurora, “Stop it.” the woman I noticed crawled a little away when Aurora did that and held her knees and sat there beside us. Edgur broke some ribs with that hit. When I moved again, I rolled over to my cape and gun and put them back on. Stumbling to my feet, I looked up and saw Locust grabbing Edgur by the collar and the Red-Dawn Special Forces trying to stop her. I could not help but think to myself, ‘: What a fucking mess.:’ Now Aurora got up after seeing Locust ran over to help her friend.

Turning my attention to the Human, I took a seat beside her and said,” What a mess huh,” Surprised, she wiped the tears from her eyes looking at me, leaning over towards her now I wiped the tear off her cheek, and asked her next, “Do you have a name? My name is Silvar.” I could tell the expression on her face go from one of sadness to hope as her eyes sparkled. I was not expecting the sweet soft tone in her voice as she spoke and told me, “My name is Mela; I need to speak to the lord of your province.” Listening to her speak, I waited to respond. Thinking of what to say, I decided to see if I could learn more before revealing I was the lord, and I responded now, telling her, “Well, I am sure he could see an audience with you. I am one of his aides. What was it you wanted with our lord?” I could tell the woman to sit there and think whether or not to answer my question, but to my surprise, she did, and she answered it as I heard her respond,” There is a problem within my country the grand witch sent me to speak on her behalf. There is a war coming to our province, and if we, lose it will come here next.” I had remembered what the spy who returned had told us, so when she said that, I took it with a grain of salt. I did not know whether to trust this woman who called herself Mela. Still, she lost a lot getting here. I could tell what she said she meant as she leaned over, holding her hands together in prayer. It made me uncomfortable. Was she praying to me for help? A Demon, what the hell? Taking her by the hands, lowering them, I said, “Well, I will tell him what you said. I am sure he will want to talk to you.” I could see her smile as she thanked me. What was with this woman? Why was she so kind we just killed humans earlier. I could not understand anything but standing up now I faced my friends and screamed at them,

“STOP FIGHTING NOW.” Locust letting go of Edgur, who she had in a reverse full nelson. She also had two Red dawn between her thighs, choking them out as they fell to the floor. Next, I said my team was falling apart in a worried tone of voice, “Locust, Red-Dawn, I apologize for taking direct actions earlier. You will all be rewarded for your hard work and loyalty to my stupidity. I ask you for forgiveness.” Locust picked herself up. I saw she clearly looked worried for me and was not happy Edgur hit me and just said, “Hey Silvar, It's fine. I also disobeyed an order or two, so don't so feel bad, okay, things happen, but we are all okay, and that's all that matters.” My head hung low when I lifted it back up. I caught a glance at Mela, who I imagined felt out of place just standing beside me there, watching this whole situation unfold before her eyes and play out also. Unable to be quiet any longer, she spoke. I could hear her soft, gentle voice interrupt everyone saying, “Please don’t hurt each other anymore. It is my fault I should have just taken my personal mages.” Everyone turned and looked at her and then to me for a translation. After I told them, they just turned in the other direction. Mela did not earn any respect from my soldiers, but she did manage to calm them down and distract them. Walking over to her, I said, “ Thank you for saying that, but you did not have to.” Still with small tears in her eyes, barely able to make out the words, “Now my long-time friend is dead. I am all alone.” Hearing that I could relate, I began walking over to her. I could see Mela began to tremble in fear as he did not sure what fate awaited her. After all, I had a dark aura to me, which generally caused the air around me to become cold as ice from my unique skill. That was why I loved Aurora. She ignored the chill and burn and always kept me close as my mother did. When I reached her, Mela began to step back the closer I would get until she stopped herself, still very scared, standing her ground now; she awaited what was next to come. As I spoke, my fangs were shown,“ Here.” in front of her, and within arms reach, I threw my cloak at her. Mela, I could tell, was surprised catching my cloak with her face as she missed it with her hands. Now I watched as the cloak hung off her face for a moment as she grabbed it with her hands, gripping it tightly. I could tell she smelled it before I heard her say,” Your cloak smells nice.”

I thought it also smelt very good the sniff I had smelt was like roses. Aurora, after all, was wearing it, and she always smelt so wonderful as she put it down from her face. Mela looked up at me and then said next, “Why are you doing this? This is your cloak?” Responding to her question, now trying to be a gentleman saying to the kind little lady, “Your clothes looked like they need to be replaced until we get back to the castle. You can cover yourself up with this. We can’t have you seeing the lord like this.” I could tell this was the first time Mela actually realized her situation and looked down immediately, noticing she was half-naked. The young lady ripped her shirt in several spots, her skirt was cut up, and I bet she could notice as I also did that her thong was cut, and the string was hanging loosely. With every bit of gust of wind, she was flashing everyone subtly around her. With the next soft breeze of wind that blew, her face became bloodshot red as what followed next was a huge gust of wind that picked up, Mela unable to do anything, flashed me. Her skirt lifted as her thong in the force of the wind blew away. I could see every inch of her body delicate body. Her white skin reflecting in the moonlight as it glowed highlighted both of her pink fruit-shaped breasts like two pears and her tiny nipples like cherries. I could see her curvy thighs. She turned, crossing her legs, trying to cover her privates, but she turned the wrong way and faced me with her back turned now. I could see her body had bruises around her lower back and legs from being struck. In the moonlight, her figure glowed, my cape covering her face as she fought to free herself. I noticed her begin jumping around, waving her arms frantically. I tried to help her, and I moved the cape away from her face silencing the wind with magic next, wrapping her body in it as everyone I noticed who was male was bleeding from the nose. Mela dropped to the floor, covering every inch of herself with my cape before yelling out and screaming a giant “Eek.” I could not help but begin to laugh while blushing at the Human girl who was, ‘: So beautiful,:’ I thought.

She slowly began standing back up now with my cloak on like a dress. Once she was standing back up and dressed, I turned to the team before we headed back to the capital and told them all, “You will all be needing to remain quiet on who this woman is when we get back to our capital. I will also need a guard present at all times in the castle of a minimum of 45 units on each exit until we find out why it is she is here and to ensure her safety while visiting.” After I finished speaking, we all started to head out as a group. We made sure to get the 4 fallen comrades from our fight, and we left. Edgur activated his ‘Full Dispense’ spell again, which began clearing the mist and fog ahead of us as we retraced our path back. Now, as our team slowly made our way out, we could see the exit to this nightmare of a day. We all began to walk with Mela now in the group. I asked Vince on the way back when we travelled, “Please do your best to avoid the bodies of the humans as not to upset Mela.” Once they got back onto the dirt trail, the Nightmare almost seemed over as I could see the fluorescent plants again with the other various flowers and plant life on the trail. It seemed like we were finally out of the mist and out of danger. I closely watched the young lady who was small and frail and badly hurt; no one had helped her. I could tell she had just as much magical power as I did as it was invisible in my vision once I activated my other magical skill,’: Magical Eyes of Detection.:’ Unlike others who were born with awesome fighting skills, I was born with magical skills. When I activated my magical eyes, I could see the magic resonating off her like a raging fire, a fountain of mana erupting, flowing into the air surrounding her. If the others thought she was weak, they would think twice if they only saw what I saw. Mela, I could deduce, may have been just like he was in a fistfight, not useful, but at a further range, she would devastate them all. Though she was not as powerful as I was, I could tell, Mela clearly was not someone to be taken lightly. If left unchecked, she could do some serious damage. I could not help but look at Mela now and then while we walked on the dirt trail as we retraced our steps. Now and again, I would see she would smile and wave towards me. At times when I wasn’t looking, I would catch a glance of her casually glancing over towards me and staring, with our eyes casually meeting sometimes with her blushing and looking quickly away. I could see Aurora slowed down a bit, and I saw her as she began to walk beside the human woman. Speeding up now, Locust began to walk beside Edgur, who was laughing a little bit but still clearly looked sad. He was trying his best not to show it that much. Still, I could see Locust had a way of getting people to cheer up, and I bet she could tell Edgur was in pain over the loss of 4 of his students. Locust being who she was and always trying to cheer people up, I could hear ask him while they walked beside me, “How are you holding up Edgur, I know the loss of your students must be weighing heavily on your mind, but remember they did not die for nothing we have found out who these people were and have now apparently had some confirmation to what the spy learned. I know it will be hard to explain what is going on to their family, but they served our Province well, and I am more than positive Silvar will see to all the expenses personally and see their families are well looked after, being they were your students.”

Edgur I could see wipe his eyes a little then for a first I heard him begin to cry a little; Locust had never seen Edgur cry before either, I imagined as he did not do this much, and as a single tear ran down his scarred eye, then he looked at her and said, “I know it still bothers me they were good kids. We are almost out of the Forest of Lost now, and when we get into the city's range, hopefully, it won't be a super busy day today; otherwise, we will go to the guards building and then travel through the sewer system to get in front of the castle. To avoid this girl being seen by the public, we don't need any rumours to spread our lords involved with a human woman. Understood, Red-Dawn, you all will accompany Silvar to the castle while I go and grab some more of the unit, and I will rendezvous with you once that's done, and I have the forces with me.” The Red-Dawn Special Forces understood their commander loud and clear and replied in a serious tone, “Understood.” When we finally exited the Forest of Lost, it was early daytime now, and I imagined it would take a few hours of walking at the speed we were travelling to get to the castle. I turned and looked at everyone, especially at the young lady who looked exhausted mentally and physically. Feeling bad for everything she had been through, I turned to Mela and asked her a question, “Are you going to be alright to walk the rest of the way? It's going to probably take us an hour or two to get back to the castle. There we will arrange a meeting with you and the lord. Do you think you could manage the distance you look exhausted?” Mela, I could see, looked a little stunned; replying to me, Mela told me, “I think ill be fine to walk though I am still shaken. I think I can manage this distance.” Within a few moment's notice, she fell; I walked over and picked Mela up from the dirt, brushing it off her legs. She was extremely light; I was surprised I could actually carry her. Now holding the extremely fragile little lady in my arms. I began to notice she was as light as a feather, and for once, I could freely pick her up. She resisted at first, but I was stronger until finally, she accepted my offer to carry her. Mela began to blush and look up at me, But when I looked over to Aurora, I could see she literally looked like she was going to kill someone. I was afraid even to ask her, “Aurora, are you okay, Don’t be so jealous. I will make it up to you.” Aurora, with a crazy person tone in her voice, responded,” Why would I not be fine, not like I always wanted you to do that for me or anything.” It took half the walk home, but Aurora calmed down. I narrowly avoided a bullet. Everyone now began to walk in silence for the duration of the trip. Hours passed, and now, as we were finally getting insight into the walls, it was not long until we reached the gate again. The guard let us in once Edgur screamed at him, waving around like a dumb-ass and pointing to the bodies. The gates slowly began to rise, making that same screeching noise it did before and the sounds of chains clashing together as it did so. The streets were packed, and I could see Edgur urging us all to the building. We all quickly returned to the guard's building. This time thankfully, it was opened, and we entered the same area we met the Red Dawn Special forces.