After dinner, me and Alexius exited the house. Curious, I asked him exactly how the excuse of there not being another night vision helmet worked. Wouldn't it be possible for her to accompany us using something to illuminate the way for her? He answered that it would be possible, but would defeat the purpose of the night vision helmet.

“This monster that we are looking for was likely able to avoid people due to the fact that when they searched the forest at night, they probably brought illumination, like torches, with them. We shouldn't make the same mistakes.”

I stopped for a moment to consider things. Yes, we wouldn't have anything bright with us, but our weaponry and armor would likely make quite the noise, especially in an otherwise quiet forest. I wonder if he has considered that. Well, if the monster is deaf, then we might be able to surprise it if we find it. I'm sure he is thinking this through.

I wait until we are outside the town to put on my magic-armor-construct, not least because I don't want to draw the attention from the entire town, this is after all supposed to be a stealth mission. Once I am done, we start moving around, searching for anything that might give us some kind of clue as to what is going on in this town, what monster is around.

It doesn't take too long for me to come to the conclusion that maybe this wasn't such a good idea. Each tree looks like the tree I just saw before. Having never been trained in any kind of tracking or wilderness skills, I have no idea if I can find anything by looking around a forest like this. This feels like a waste of time. I look to my side and Alexius seems very frustrated, he has probably also realized that this isn't going to help at all. But I say nothing. Maybe we really should have brought Helena along, she is pretty good at not holding back when she thinks something is stupid and, right now, what we are doing is pretty stupid. Eventually, Alexius turn to me and sighs.

“Well, this was a big waste of timer I guess, sorry.”

We start walking back to the town, but hear a rustling behind us. Did we actually find something? With heart pounding fast, I turn back and see someone standing right behind us with both hands in the air.

“I'm not an enemy, could you listen to me?” The person speaks with a male voice. I think back on how the monster might have mind-altering abilities, but still, we probably should listen for now. Me and Alexius nod to each other. “Considering how armed you both are, I suppose you have some idea of what you're looking for, right?”

Alexius tentatively answers his question.

“Not really, we believe some kind of monster might be behind the recent disappearances of people. We came to this forest in order to investigate this.”

The man before us sounded quite surprised at that answer.

“What? You were trying to look for it somehow? That makes no sense... With how much noise you were making you couldn't stalk a tree. I was completely convinced that you were actually trying to attract it or something.”

I looked at Alexius and he had a most embarrassing expression. So he didn't actually think things through after all... While he recovered his composure, I decided to keep the conversation going.

“We don't really know anything, but you, on the other hand, seems to have some idea of what we are looking for. However, I'm not sure if we can trust someone whose face we can't even see.”

The man in front of us considered for a moment.

“So you two are using something that helps you see in the dark, of course. Well, alone I have no chance of dealing with the thing that is hunting the people of this town, so I guess showing some good will might go a long way. Hopefully you don't regret it.”

He then removed his hood, as well as the cloth he was using to cover his face. Oh, that was quite surprising.

“An elf wandering Meridia alone, not exactly the most common of sights to be sure.”

This made it pretty clear why he was hiding his face. Elves weren't exactly welcome anywhere outside of Imaria after Teldarion.

“What I am is not very important right now. There's a monster around this town and it is dangerous, very dangerous.”

By then, Alexius had finally recovered.

“Do you know what it is?”

The elf shook his head.

“No, but I have seen it. Maybe you know something?”

Alexius started to look excited.

“Can you describe it to me?”

The elf nodded.

“Of course. First, its overall appearance is exactly that of an elf, except for those strange red eyes and nails that looked more like claws. I found it drinking someone's blood, while being watched from a woman from the town. I believe that the woman must be some kind of minion as she attacked me when I tried to attack the thing while it was feeding. Do you have any idea what this monster is? Hmm, judging from your look right now, you do.”

Alexius looked liked someone who can't believe what he had just heard.

“Yes, I have a very good idea, but I never expected to encounter it in my lifetime, this is way more than I have bargained for...”

“Go on...”

“There is no way I don't know what this monster is, because its legends have kept me awake many nights when I was a young child. A bedtime story my father once told me long ago: The legend of the Vampires.”

The elf looked quite doubtful.

“Vampire? That's not a monster I am at all familiar with. I feel that it has some kind of connection with my race, like a fallen or corrupted version of an elf. Tell me, what is a Vampire.”

I was actually quite curious too.

“It's an ancient story, extremely ancient, and I think there's good reason that elves might not want to talk about it. Thousands of years ago, the tengu ruled a vast empire that spanned multiple continents, they were so prosperous and powerful that no city today can compare to the capital of that empire. But that was not enough for the Last Tengu Emperor. Dabbling in things that he should never have, he obtained immortality. Then, he offered immortality to any nobles who wished to become part of his Eternal Court. Many people of many different races answered the call and were given the promised immortality, but with that immortality came a terrible price, every single member of the Eternal Court became monsters and, most prominent among them, were the Vampires, who all had once been elves. Once a month, they must stave off their terrible hunger and thirst by drinking the blood of a person until their death, consuming that person's soul the moment their life fades. They are also able to twist a persons very soul with their bite, transforming anyone into their loyal minion. Although they might retain their memories and personality, the moment that they are bitten, they are no longer the same person.”

What a terrible monster. This is obviously way more than we bargained for.

“I see... Will you help me deal with that monster? I know who one of its minions is. If I observe it long enough, it will take us to it.”

Alexius looked quite conflicted. If he said in that moment that it was better if we just left I wouldn't have blamed him. It sounds like a really problematic opponent. Also, I am sure he doesn't want such a thing anywhere near Helena.

“Of course.”

But he was not one to ignore such a problem is he? I also remembered something else.

“By the way, you haven't told us your name yet.”

“It's Arlendir, I don't know your names either.”

“I am Kardenon, this guy is Alexius. It's a pleasure to meet you.”

“You don't need to be polite to me, it's never a pleasure to meet an elf these days.”

And he's not the most social of people it seems.