"Izuna, you must live; run. We don't have much time before they find us."
Those were the last words my father spoke to me before I was shoved into the hidden passage. The only things I had on me were the clothes on my back, a spear, and a small pouch of money. The hidden passage closed, and a few moments later, silence reigned. I reached up to press my palms to my temples in a desperate attempt to fight the throbbing sensation, a migraine, as I tried to process what had happened. The next moment, muffled screams sent a chill down my back. I was still in danger.
As I trudged forward through the dark passage, the screams rose into a bone-chilling crescendo, and then, as if snuffed out by the grim reaper, there was silence. My tears fell like a glittering waterfall as the memories of my family and my precious attendants flashed before my scarlet, green eyes. As I stumbled along, I reached a fork in the tunnel. Without even thinking about it, I chose the left path. I trusted my gut. The right path made my skin crawl.
As I paced through the path, I took note of the lack of light, which made it especially difficult for humans to move through. The musty stench that filled the escape route from start to finish will mask my scent from even the best sniffers around. Not even the beastmen or their human-like counterparts, the beastkin, will be able to follow my path. I could only tell where I was going due to one small factor. I was born a vampire, but not just any vampire—a vampire progenitor. I was a creature of the night.
That said, vampires are often thought of as monsters by short-lived races. We were seen as nightmare beasts to be hunted down and exterminated. This is what I assumed was the spark of the war. We founded a small kingdom and ruled over their people with gentle care and equality. Or at least, that was what I was taught in my short 16 years of life. Maybe it was all a lie, spoon-fed on a silver platter. I can understand that news of a progenitor being born would create all kinds of fear among the mortal races. After all, my kind were historically known for their brutality and were treated as legends to scare misbehaving children. I, however, want to live a relatively relaxed life.
I finally reached the end, which opened into a beautiful crystal cavern that was hidden behind a waterfall. It felt like it took me half a day or more just to get this far. I decided to camp around the lake outside for a bit and wait for dawn. The path from behind the waterfall was frighteningly treacherous. A single missed step would have been my end. I gazed up at the countless stars in the clear, ebony sky. A full moon rested just above a distant mountain, letting me know that dawn wasn't far off. I went up to the crystalline pool of water that served as the basin for the ravine and gazed into it. My pallid complexion gazed back; sleek, long ivory hair tumbled over my shoulder like a brilliant ray of moonlight. My heterochromatic ruby and emerald eyes flickered in the pool's gentle current. In the water, there was a naiad who waved at me.
I turned my gaze back to the sky, a muted prayer in my heart. May my family and everyone who cared for me rest in peace. I lost everything but my life in a few short hours. Our small country never stood a chance. All I could do was keep my chin up and push forward. Live on, as was asked of me. I must live on, or I will never be able to look my father in the eye when I die, far into the future. So, I swear to live, no matter what hell befalls me. With that, I grasped my newfound resolve and pushed through the bracken and trees towards what seemed like a camp of some type.
The camp was much further away than I had anticipated; the scrumptious scent of meat must have blown on the wind. A wild boar monster attacked me on the way, but, thanks to my training from the knight order, I was able to protect myself and vanquish the beast without too much of a struggle. An impressive feat, if I were an ordinary human, that is. If I remember correctly, humans needed to group together just to take one down. I began draining its blood with my fangs for sustenance. This way, I could have a delicious peace offering that I prepared for when I found the camp. As I drained the boar, a gaggle of dryads watched me from their trees. A few younger ones were playing off in the distance. I turned my focus back on locating the camp I smelled and restarted my journey.
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After what felt like half an hour, I finally spotted the flickering light of the flames from the campfire. A group of people clad in what seemed like monster armor, signifying that they were likely mid-ranking adventurers. One of them, a tall, slender man with a bow, noticed my approach and immediately drew it back. An arrow of magic formed on the string. "Halt, if you come any closer, I will deem you hostile and shoot." I stopped, set the boar's corpse down, and raised my hands. "I mean no harm; take this boar as a gift. I came-" The archer fired his bow, and the arrow whistled through the air right beside my ear, thus cutting me off. I flinched back and rested my hand on my spear's shaft. I prepared for a tough fight. I was outnumbered 3 to 1, so things were looking bad for me.
The shield guy gave me a quick once-over: "I don't think she's hostile, and even if she was, she would be easily suppressed. She was clearly only trained to the bare minimum. Lower your bow." He then looked me in the eyes and noticed their color. "So, you're a vampire then, or a demon? No other race has natural red eyes." I nod in affirmation, "I-indeed, I am a vampire. I swear on my life that I am not here to hunt you." My voice was a high-pitched, squeaky stutter of nerves.
The reason he only noted my red eye and assumed both were red was thanks to my hair naturally covering my verdant eye. You may wonder why I wouldn't hide my vampire heritage and have my hair hide the red one. That is because, as a vampire, I need to drink blood at least once a week to live. I had no choice and needed an excuse for why I must run off now and then to hunt.
"There is no need to be so nervous; we are experienced enough to know that not all vampires are beasts. We met a few good ones back in the day." The shield guy said, upon catching my stutter, then added, "Come sit down, take a breather, and let's talk things out." I nodded and quickly bowed to show my gratitude. Next, I hastily took my seat, nearly bumping into the fire in my rush. The shield guy smiled at my clumsiness. "I'm Cassius, the archer guy slouching over there is Jude, and our healer is Emmett. We are the C-rank adventurer party known as the Slumbering Wolves. What brought a damsel like you into such dangerous woods?"
I looked around at everyone in the Slumbering Wolves, then gave my answer: "My name is Iz; I am the sole survivor of a merchant caravan that was attacked by bandits. The reputation of the vampires gave them pause to take me as a slave, and so they left me alone. Now I am trying to reach the nearest town to join the adventurer's guild." Yeah, lying was probably not the best move, but it's not like I could just admit that I was the sole surviving member of the royal family. Sue me, the guilt of lying was already making me feel sick.
Fortunately, it seems my lies passed muster. "Sheesh, that does happen a lot more often these days since the war started. I'm sorry; that must have been tough on you. We were just on our way back now. If you want to come with us, Cassius stated with a somber tone. Jude jerks forward. "Cass, you know full well we shouldn't take on dead weight! She looks like she would die from a single bee sting!" Emmett rolled his eyes at Jude's exaggerated complaints.
"Oh, shut up, Jude; better to help someone than needlessly tarnish our reputation and let an innocent die. Besides. Judging by her catch, I'd wager she can hold her own against a few beasts with no problem." Cass laughed at that as Jude lunged forward to wrestle Emmett. Jude and Emmett's bickering brought a small smile of amusement to my face as I giggled.
The next morning, we cleared camp and began the trek to the town of Eden. Eden is located to the northeast of the ex-capital. In the morning, it was clear from the smoke in the southwestern sky that the capital was still burning. I did my best not to look and keep pushing forward. The Slumbering Wolves taught me the basics of adventuring as well as helped me learn to fight better. So, thanks to them, I should be able to make it as a low-ranking adventurer for a good while. I'll have to meet up with them in the future and pay them back once I can stand on my own two feet. What will happen to me from here on out? Only time would tell, I supposed.