| Elvin |

The morning came fast. Elvin woke in his tiny shack house. The moment he opened his eyes, his first thought was Alucard. Where was he today, what was he doing, and what new material would present itself for his book?

He sat up, pushing away his soft bed covers as he looked around his sunlit room. A single window clung to the left wooden wall with a black blanket for a curtain, but the sunlight broke through it. To the room's right was a small kitchen area, where several pots and pans were stacked on top of each other beside the basin. Next to it was his beloved desk with piles of paper all over it, and the walls were all but bare apart from the many cobwebs that clung too high for the bard to reach.

Then, a quiet meow caught his attention. He leaned over the side of his bed and stared down at the small black tortoiseshell kitten. The feline's back left paw was the only ginger of its feet, and most of its coat was black with spots of brown and orange. She gawped up at him, meowing again as he sighed tiredly.

"All right, kitty," he said, climbing out of bed, "I hear you."

Elvin made his way to the small kitchen and pulled one of the cupboards open. Once he located a jar of dried fish, he opened it and handed one to the kitten, who savagely tore at it, purring crazily.

"I think I stayed up a little too late writing last night," Elvin mumbled to himself, watching the kitten eat.

When the sound of horses filled the morning air, Elvin turned around and opened his door. His home existed on the outskirts of a large farm area; in the distance, four men were ploughing a field, and two others were patrolling the grounds.

The bard watched, waiting to see if the patrol would find anything. Usually, they'd discover livestock slaughtered by the werewolves that haunted the land, but it didn't look like they were going to find anything this morning. And why was that? Elvin smirked, aware that Alucard, his best friend, had slain the beast last night.

Smiling, he closed his door and looked down at the kitten, who stared up at him, licking its lips. He frowned. "You ate that already?"

The kitten meowed at him.

He shook his head and handed her another fish. "That's all you're getting. I need to go and get more. I'll pick some up in the city...the city!" he cried. "I'm gonna be late!"

Elvin rushed around, grabbing his clothes and pulling them on as swiftly as he could. He then hastily brushed his hair and tied it the same way Alucard did. He stopped in front of the mirror, making sure he got it right, and then grabbed his feather hat and put it on. Then, he snatched his notebook and a pencil and then raced out of his house, slamming the door behind him.

The bard ran along the dirt path. "Gonna be late, gonna be late—he's gonna kill me," he mumbled, panting as he hurried towards the cobblestone path that would take him to the city.

He set his eyes on the city as he sprinted towards it. Alucard told him to meet him outside the House of Commons, the meeting place of the city council, and if he was going to make it on time, he needed to move faster. If only he had a horse.

But he ran and ran and ran. He wasn't going to let Alucard down.

When he reached the city entrance, he passed two silver-armoured guards and succumbed to his fatigue. He had to stop for a moment, trying to remember which way the House of Commons was. Dargamoore was a forest of concrete with castle-like buildings so high that it hurt his eyes to gaze up at them. Everything looked so dark and gloomy; the buildings were made of black brick, foggy cobblestones, and dull woods.

As a horse-drawn carriage passed the road he was standing in front of, Elvin shook his head and hurried up the bustling street. He jogged for at least ten minutes, making his way through streets and allies, along roads, and past crowds of hustling people, ignoring the world around him until he came onto a street that led up to the white castle tower squished between two black buildings. But as he made his way closer, there was no sign of Alucard. Was the vampire late...or was he?

Panic filled his heart as he reached the front of the building. He looked around for Alucard, but he was nowhere to be seen. Was he already inside? Elvin approached the door, preparing to knock, but when several horrified gasps came from behind him, he lowered his hand and turned around—and there was Alucard. The vampire walked up the street while people gawped at him with looks of fear and uncertainty on their faces. But Alucard didn't care; he ignored them just as he ignored anything that he found no interest in.

"Usually I'm the late one," Elvin said with a smirk once Alucard reached him.

The vampire sighed irritably and looked down at him; his eyes were no longer hauntingly fiery but ice blue, and his pupils were rounded like those of a human. In the sunlight, his eyes appeared this way, and in any kind of shadow or darkness, they returned to their usual hellfire appearance. Why, Elvin wasn't sure, but he had to know—for his novel. He asked before but Alucard hadn't explained, so he had to wait and ask when he thought the vampire had forgotten he asked before.

Alucard took a moment, leaning against the wall beside the white tower's door. "I got caught up," he said tiredly.

"Doing what?"

"Telling the vampires who already live in my castle that there will be new ones joining them tonight. I warned them about the wolf, too—and no, I don't yet know what it was doing in the town."

"That took you all morning? I thought you were gonna do that last night."

He rolled his eyes. "I may...or may not...have fallen asleep."

Elvin grinned in amusement. "Did you get sweepy?" he mocked, pouting.

Glaring at him, Alucard stood up straight and knocked on the tower's door. "Keep your mouth shut in here," he ordered.

The bard nodded.

Then, the door creaked open. A smartly dressed blonde-haired man stood there, and as he set his hazel eyes on Alucard, he frowned strangely. "What are you doing here? There was no meeting arranged. The next one takes place next month."

"I need to talk to them now," Alucard insisted, stepping forward.

The man held out his hand. "I say! You can't come in here!"

"Move," Alucard snarled, barging his way into the tower.

Gasping in shock, the man stumbled aside, and as Alucard and Elvin walked in, he shut the door. "This is improper! In violation of agreements!"

Alucard stopped walking and looked at him with an irritated scowl on his pale, exhausted face. "Where are they?" he demanded.

"I will not tell you," the man denied, but as Alucard stepped towards him, he shuddered in cowardice. "Uh...second floor—they're in a meeting."

The vampire turned around and made his way over to the spiralling staircase. Elvin followed him as he made his way up to the second floor and walked down the short corridor towards the black door that sat at the end.

"Are you actually gonna be able to sort something out now?" Elvin asked worriedly.

"I have to try," Alucard mumbled. "We've already spoken about vampires and humans coexisting in this city multiple times; we have been discussing the when, how, and why—I need to make the when now."

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"When was the when originally going to be?"

"That is yet to be determined."

"Do you...think it'll ever happen, though? I mean...vampires and humans in the same city, it's not really...well...realistic, is it?"

"I have been dealing with the werewolves as the humans asked, so it's time they lived up to their end of the deal."

Elvin pulled out his notebook and started scribbling while Alucard raised his hand and knocked on the door.

No one answered. The voices inside were hushed and rushed, and the fact that they ignored his knock seemed to aggravate Alucard more. Elvin glanced up at him, watching as he gripped the doorknob and twisted it, breaking its lock. The people sitting around the table inside gasped and mumbled to one another as Alucard invited himself in, and Elvin stumbled in after him.

"Who let you in?!" one of the men detested as he stood up, glaring at Alucard, who made his way to the end of the long, rectangular table.

"Our next meeting is not set until next month," another man called calmly.

The standing man looked at Elvin. "And who is this bumbling idiot?!"

Elvin quickly looked around the room, eyeing the eight people sitting at the table. Every wall, the floor, the ceiling, and all the furniture was white—so white that Elvin's eyes ached terribly. But as he set his sights on the standing man, he frowned. Alucard had once given him rough descriptions of each of the council members, and this green-eyed, dirty-brown-haired man could be none other than Clyde, the council's lead speaker.

Clyde took his eyes off the bard and looked back at Alucard. "This is a private meeting; you simply cannot walk in here!"

"Well, I just did, didn't I?" the vampire snarled.

The man beside Clyde held up his hand, keeping him from yelling any further. That was Dirk, who Alucard once mentioned was always trying to keep everyone calm. He set his blue eyes on the vampire and said, "Whatever your business, I assume it must be important for you to waltz in here both during the daytime and uninvited."

Alucard glared at him while the rest of the council awaited his response. "This regards the treaty," he confirmed as Elvin slowly closed the door.

With a stubborn glare, Clyde glanced down at Dirk and returned to his seat. "There's nothing left to currently discuss. You have presented your terms, and we have presented ours; you should be out there ridding us of the wolf pests."

"I have killed countless werewolves for you, and you are yet to give me any sort of confirmation that these relations will work."

Once again, Dirk raised his hand. "The terms have been looked over and discussed, and frankly, it is going to take a while for us to get the citizens of the city on board."

"Vampires are monsters," the bald man across the table from Dirk called. "Humans are afraid. They are still trying to come to terms with seeing you walking around their city, but to get them to accept seeing vampires daily? This sort of thing takes time."

Alucard scowled. "Then hurry up. There has not been a human death here since my return. I have done my part and more; the least you can do is speed this up."

The bald man looked at Dirk. "Dirk?"

Dirk nodded and said to Alucard, "We are working on things, Aleksei, but the next meeting to discuss this was set for next month, and during the time in between, we planned to address the people. Might I ask why you seem so desperate for this to go ahead? Before, you seemed a lot more...well, relaxed."

"My vampires deserve to live in this city as much as your people do. You might have forgotten, but this entire country is mine. If I were any less kind, I would have chased you all out—you know I'm more than capable of doing so."

The council glanced at each other, mumbling quietly.

Elvin then leaned into Alucard's ear. "I think they didn't like that little threat."

"That wasn't a threat," Alucard announced. "It was simply a reminder."

Dirk sighed and leaned his arms onto the table. "We are trying, I assure you."

"Assurance is no longer enough," Alucard said.

Dirk shifted his attention to the bald man and said, "Get the terms, Lars."

Lars stood up and walked over to a white cabinet at the end of the room. He pulled its top drawer open and started searching through it.

"We have constructed an agreement combining both sides' terms. You should look it over," Dirk called.

With a scroll of parchment in his hand, Lars approached the vampire and handed it to him.

Alucard pulled the red ribbon keeping the parchment rolled and dropped it on the table. He unwrapped the paper and stared at it for a few moments while an aggravated look appeared on his face.

Clyde frowned. "Is it...not to your liking?"

The vampire sighed and gave the parchment to Elvin.

Elvin knew that Alucard couldn't read their language, Deiganish. He may be able to speak it, despite his accent, but reading it was a different struggle...and Elvin was more than happy to help.

He read aloud, "The terms are as follows regarding human and vampire cohabitation in the city of Dargamoore: no vampire shall feed on any human without consent. No vampire shall kill or injure a human in any way. No vampire will turn a human under any circumstances. Vampires will be given access to housing and other facilities under the agreement of the protection-from-sunlight program. All facilities will be made safe for vampires to use during the daytime, and a means of daytime travel will also be set into place."

Alucard nodded, letting him know he should continue.

The bard kept reading, "Humans shan't treat vampires as outsiders. Humans shan't request any vampire to turn them—turning will be treated as an offence, and both participants will be apprehended as the law states. Humans will abide by the protection-from-sunlight rules and do their best to ensure facilities are safe for vampires. Humans will receive priority regarding facilities such as restaurants or bars because vampires do not need such sustenance. Human and vampire relationships are also to be treated as normal. Discrimination will not be tolerated."

Alucard grunted in response.

"Under the decree of the Dargamoore City High Council, signed by members Clyde Del, Dirk Benign, Lars Richle, Silas Mear, Sebastian Mear, Hargot Mann, Reece Jackmoore, and Timoth Pal, and by The Vampire Lord, Aleksei Emeritus, this treaty is the law. So long as not one term is broken, humans and vampires may live together in the city."

The vampire looked at Clyde. "This is the treaty, and it's signed. Why is it not yet in effect?" he questioned, taking the paper back from Elvin.

Dirk answered, "As we said, we need time to inform the people. It will be done by this time next month. We can promise no sooner."

Irritated, Alucard placed the parchment on the table and rolled his eyes.

"How is the werewolf situation, Aleksei?" Reece, the small, short brown-haired man asked, gawping at the vampire.

"One found its way into Wrodiff last night, and as always, I was there to kill it, and my vampires will be everywhere to kill them for you once you get that treaty in place."

Lars nodded. "We understand that. But as Dirk has said, we need time to inform the people. Next month."

Elvin then leaned over to Alucard. "I mean...it's better than nothing, right?"

"Next month," Alucard repeated, pointing at Clyde. "No later."

Then, as the council stared in astonishment, Alucard stormed out...and Elvin hastily followed.

⤝❖⤞

| Alucard |

When they left the tower, Alucard glanced at the bard and watched him excitedly scribble into his book. "What are you writing?"

The bard looked up at him as he tried to glance into his notebook. "The treaty. So many interesting terms. After seeing that, this cohabitation might work out."

Alucard rolled his eyes and glared ahead. "I'll have to keep these new vampires away from the city until next month."

"Can't you just...bring them next month instead?" Elvin asked, closing his notebook and stuffing it into his pocket.

"No. I told both Damien and that Zalith guy I'll start tomorrow."

"I assume that's the demon you met last night?" Elvin asked, reaching for his notebook again.

"Yes," he answered as Elvin wrote it into his book.

"Am I coming with you tonight?" he asked, following Alucard to the city's exit.

"If you want to become food for a hundred and fifteen vampires, sure."

Elvin frowned uncomfortably. "Yeah...no thanks. How do you plan to get them back here?"

"I had one of my people prepare a ship; we'll use that. I'm going to inspect it later, and you can come if you want, but after that, I won't see you until tomorrow."

The bard clapped his hands excitedly. "I haven't seen a ship since we got back here six months ago. How much later?"

"An hour or so. I need to go and see Tobias."

"Do you think he'll know about the wolf that got into Wrodiff?"

"I hope so," he mumbled.

"Okay, well...I'll see you in a little bit then, right?"

He nodded and sent Elvin on his way. Once he was alone, he let out a tired sigh and headed for the city gates. Soon, he'd have to make his way to Zalith's world and begin transferring vampires. He wasn't at all looking forward to it, but it wasn't like he could bail, was it?

When he left the city, he dematerialized into vermillion smoke and raced towards the forest. At this time of day, he knew he'd find Tobias down by the river, so that was where he landed.

The moment Alucard rematerialized, the blonde-haired, stubbly-faced man standing in the water with a makeshift fishing pole turned to face him and called, "Oh, hey Aleksei!"

Alucard walked closer to the river and watched Tobias reel in an old boot. "I have a job for you."

"The huntin' kind or the information kind?"

"Both. A wolf got into Wrodiff last night and almost killed Elvin. The thing was much stronger than any wolf I've faced, even Alphas. I need you to find out which pack that wolf belonged to."

Tobias nodded as he climbed out of the river. "Yeah, news travels fast around these woods. I heard about the attack, but I don't have any info right now. I'll look into it for you, though," he said, making his way to Alucard.

"Is there anything else I should be aware of before I leave?" he questioned.

"Nothing new. The packs have been kinda quiet lately...which is weird. Hey, you think it's connected to this wolf attack?" he asked, wide-eyed.

"That's what you're going to find out."

Tobias nodded. "No worries, boss. Give me 'til tomorrow."

"I will meet you back here tomorrow night." Then, he dematerialized and flew off.

Hopefully, he'd have answers by tomorrow. If the werewolves were planning something, he'd have to try and stop them before they caused any damage. He couldn't afford another war; he had fewer vampires than before and even less time, and he wouldn't risk allowing something to interfere with Damien's mission.