“Halian!” Adrian frowned.
“N-No!” Halian growled, and to Leyon’s utter amazement, Halian promptly slapped himself hard across the face.
He blinked and looked at the prince.
“I’m very sorry… it gets a bit harder to control myself when I haven’t fed for a while.”
Leyon chipped in sarcastically, “You know you’re a vampire, right?”
That elicited a chuckle from Adrian. Strangely, he didn’t particularly feel threatened by Halian, despite learning that he was a vampire.
Halian rolled his eyes, but sighed, “Yes. I do know. It happened a while back—my family doesn’t know about this. For what it’s worth, I’ve only ever taken the blood of animals—and not enough to kill.”
“Do you have the pointed ears that vampires get?” Leyon asked curiously.
Halian brushed back his hair, showing two delicately pointed ears.
“That’s the reason I wear my hair long,” He explained, letting his hair fall back.
Zaiela had been sitting in the corner, listening to the conversation unfold when she looked up to see Halian’s unnatural gaze fixated on her. Awkwardly, she waved her hand back and forth and he appeared to snap out of it, looking surprised.
Halian slapped himself soundly across the face again and ducked his head in apology to Zaiela before asking, “Better?”
“Yes. Do you need one of us to offer you some… food?” Zaiela visibly hesitated to term ‘blood’ as food.
Halian’s eyes widened and he immediately protested.
“NO! I could never- that is… I’m not hungry…” He finished lamely.
As if to expose his lie, his stomach growled loudly.
Zaiela sighed, “Don’t lie. I can give you some of my blood if that’s what it takes to make you stop staring at us all like we’re food.”
“No, Zai. I’m the one he’ll feed off of, if any of us!” Adrian interrupted quickly.
Zaiela shuffled closer to the rest of them, and the scent of more blood made Halian flare his nostrils and had his fangs pop out. His pupils dilated, and his heartbeat quickened. Leyon noticed, and slapped the vampire across the face, none too kindly.
“Ouch! Thanks...”
“It’s not often that I get thanked for hitting someone,” Leyon muttered dryly.
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To stop any further argument, Adrian grabbed his dagger—strangely, their demon captors had not disarmed them—and opened up a small cut on his arm, which he then held out to Halian.
Halian flinched, his body rigid and his eyes conflicted. Then he lurched forward and grasped Adrian’s arm in a bruisingly tight grip, sinking his elongated teeth into Adrian’s arm. Halian’s grip slackened and Adrian felt the strange sensation of his blood leaving his body. A few moments passed and he began to feel faint.
“S-Stop…” He groaned, using his other hand to shove weakly at the vampire.
Halian looked up, his eyes foggy and he released Adrian.
It was really quite unnerving to see Halian with his mouth coloured red with his blood, Adrian thought hazily. He felt no pain, just a mild tingling sensation that faded away quickly and Adrian peered at his arm, only to see that the wound had closed up and all that remained was dried blood against his unscathed skin. Dimly, he registered Halian fervently whispering apologies under his breath.
<--<< >>-->
A few hours passed and Adrian’s stomach made a long, drawn out gurgling sound.
He groaned and turned to Leyon and asked, “Can’t you cast a fireball to break down the cell doors or something?”
Leyon replied sourly, “Only if you have a death wish, stupid. A fireball will kill us all!”
However, he stood up and stretched, then moved closer to the door. Leyon closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Adrian recognized his actions and knew Leyon was about to cast magic—Leyon was proficient in casting simple spells non-verbally.
Sure enough, only a few moments passed before Adrian felt a light gust of wind rustle past him and move towards Leyon’s outstretched palm. Only a faint ripple in the air indicated anything out of the ordinary. Leyon’s lips moved and his whisper was inaudible to Adrian, but the wind in his palm moved to the keyhole in the door. It seemed like a long while passed in relative silence as Leyon manoeuvred the winds through the lock system.
Suddenly he lowered his arms and strode over to the rest of the group and said in a low voice, “Get ready to fight. I’ve unlocked the door now… but there’s a demon guard out there-”
Adrian surged to his feet, wobbled a little as he regained his balance, and unsheathed his sword.
“Wait, Adrian!” Leyon cried, grabbing his leg, “Wait, I said. What about Zai? She can’t fight. You need to stay with the rest of us—you’re the best at wielding a sword. Don’t just rush out like a fool!”
Adrian gritted his teeth, but stopped. He knew that Leyon was right and he didn’t want to lose anyone else dear to him.
<--<< >>-->
Together they carefully opened the cell door, which swung open without resistance, and stepped out of the cell that they’d been confined in for an uncertain stretch of time. Almost immediately, they noticed a demon guard sprawled fast asleep on a chair in a corner by a worn wooden door presumed to be the exit. Adrian moved stealthily forward and slit the demon’s throat without remorse. At the sight of the golden blood spreading over the floor like spilled wine, Adrian felt no sense of satisfaction, but an empty hollowness and frustration welled up within him. He restrained those feelings and grabbed the door handle, first pulling, then pushing. Then, determining that it was locked, he grabbed the keys dangling from the demon’s belt and unlocked the door. Beyond the door was a flight of spiral stairs going upwards.
We must be underground then, Adrian thought.
The stairs seemed to continue eternally and they were all short of breath and gasping for air as they neared the top and Adrian stopped suddenly, beckoning for them to be silent.
He stood, hidden behind the middle pillar of the spiral staircase, and peered out. A long hallway stretched out in front of him, decorated with paintings and other lavish ornaments. However, it was not the splendour of the hallway that caught his eye, but the bustling activity of the servants. Dressed in makeshift uniforms, yet possessing clearly inhuman forms.
Every creature in the castle was a demon.