Like countless fireflies dancing in the night sky, millions of burning stars covered the dark, vast canvas of this planet. Illuminating the mortal’s otherwise pitch-black land.
“So beautiful…”
A few succulent pieces of meat cooked just above the beautiful flames of a crackling bonfire, its soft sizzling sound echoing in the ears of the people surrounding it. The fire’s smoke reached high into the sky, and along with so did an exquisite scent that lingered around the area.
Kai and Julie sat on some hard, large, and chilling stones, which were covered in a few animal skins to isolate the cold surface from their bodies. Onyx lay on his belly, impatiently waiting for the bear meat to be fully cooked as Julie seasoned and carefully watched over it.
Scribbling some things in his old and damaged journal, Kai sat some distance away from the fire while occasionally glancing at the map before letting out an annoyed clicking sound.
“So this map is accurate for the most part?” he asked, softly lifting his head to look at Julie’s back while closing the notebook that had a drawing of two trees on its tar cover. The withering of time clearly left its imprint on the thing’s yellow pages. Grandpa said he wrote a lot of useful information on here, I also saw a technique to form a mana core in there, as well as some old magic spells he found who knows where… He must have traveled quite a lot.
Julie nodded with a soft smile while collecting the food, placing it onto three plates of two different sizes, and handing the larger one over to Onyx, who didn’t wait for an invitation to dig in.
“Yes, but most of the locations on yours are long since gone, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of Moleni in my life, this map’s only accuracy is the big cities and landscape.” She said while placing his plate to the side before adding, “One name I do recognize is Lustra, Fifty years ago it was invaded by some creatures called go- gobelins. In any case, nobody visits that place anymore.”
Kai wrote everything Julie said in his notebook, the scribbling of his pen accompanying the calm crackling of the fire. “Fifty years…” he murmured while lifting the pen.
“Yes, sounds like a long time huh? Between then and now, even more cities and towns rose and fell, so the maps always need to be updated anyway. You’ll need a better map, I’m sure they sell them at a shop in the city.”
The sound of the scribbling pen, accompanied by the flames of the campfire continued filling the silence of the night. As Julie ate up her last piece of sizzling meat, Kai put his pen down and placed it along with the notebook back within his backpack.
Onyx had yet to finish his portion, which he seemed to be savoring, or maybe it was too hot. Kai also picked up a small piece from his plate, which seemed to have somewhat cooled down after such a long time out of the fire.
Placing it into his mouth, a shiver ran down his spine as the taste spread throughout his entire body. He quickly picked up another one, then another one, and another one, his eyes almost shining. All I’ve been eating since we left one month ago was burnt horned rabbit meat, I have no idea how she managed to cook this bear meat to taste so good! Not to mention the way she skinned the bear so fast… “You’re really good at this, did someone teach you?”
Julie’s hand stopped mid-way to her mouth once she heard Kai’s question and even Onyx had stopped eating, sensing the heavy atmosphere descending upon the small camp. Lowering her fork, she placed it gently on the plate while letting out a soft sigh.
“Yes, my mother taught me to cook and my father…he taught me how to prepare the meat,” she whispered softly as her unfocused gaze looked toward the ground. A small tear appeared on the corner of her eye, which quickly faded as it slid down her cheeks.
Looking toward Kai, a small smile formed on her face as she parted her trembling lips. “He was a butcher and a hunter, although he didn’t go out often. Hehe~,” she giggled before continuing. “I used to pester him a lot to take me hunting with him, but he always refused, until he taught me a bit of this and that, and let me observe him butcher the animals and before you knew it… I became quite good at skinning and whatnot.”
Reminiscing, her eyes lit up before dimming down, her entire body trembling while she locked her hands tightly together. Onyx approached her, placing his large head on her lap in an attempt to calm down her nerves, and Kai followed suit. Moving closer, he opened his mouth, wanting to say some comforting words but he had no idea how, so instead he just sat there, being present.
Soft sobbing sounds echoed around the campfire as tears dripped down her soft, rosy cheeks. “I’m sorry… I-” Julie said through tears and hiccups. “I shouldn’t bother you with my problems…”
Looking at the girl’s thin figure, Kai felt his heart tighten slightly as her eyes swayed gently with the cold breeze, and an aura of loneliness and despair seeped out of her skin. Gently parting his lips, he asked “Your father… he’s dead, isn't he?”
Julie’s body flinched briefly before nodding her head “They said he died in the forest after meeting a Third Rank beast… however I refuse to believe that!” her voice cracked in pain as she said that through gritted teeth.
He stared at her frail body, unsure of how to react, after a bit of hesitation he held Julie’s arm and asked “What makes you say that?”
Julie’s raised to look at Kai, surprised by his sudden actions. Her teary eyes shone slightly as the two made eye contact and a brief moment of silence prevailed. Her lips were trembling as she struggled to talk, however before she could open her mouth, a low, raspy voice uttered from behind them.
“It’s because my husband was a Third Rank Body Cultivator, and he would have never picked a fight with such a fearsome creature.”
“Mom!” Julie flinched a little upon hearing her mother’s voice, and with a face tinted in a rosy shade of red, she yanked her hand from Kai’s grasp. “How are you feeling?”
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Her mother didn’t say anything, instead placing herself in between Kai and her daughter, she shot him a cold glare. “I know what your kind is up to, I don’t know how I hadn’t realized it before. You came here to bewitch my daughter and take her away, didn’t you?”
Kai was shocked by this statement, he looked at the woman with bewilderment. “Me? Bewitch her?” Julie’s mother looked Kai straight in the eye, her cold eyes penetrating deep into his soul. He gulped, feeling a little awkward.
After another brief silence, the woman’s shoulders started to move up and down uncontrollably, until she let out a burst of laughter.
“I’m just messing with ya. If you wanted to do so you would have done it a long time ago.” She said with a light cough.
Kai looked in confusion at her, but he decided not to comment any further since he found the whole idea of him seducing someone was weird in and of itself.
Julie stared at her with rosy cheeks, and her dark eyes sparkled with a hopeful light as she grabbed her mother’s hand. “Mom, how are you feeling?”
Ruffling Julie’s delicate hair with a light smile on her lips, she looked tenderly at her daughter’s pearly eyes. “Yes, thanks to the potion this young man gave me, I feel like my sickness is starting to go away.”
Her daughter’s body trembled slightly, and tears streamed down her cheeks while a genuine smile formed on her lips. “Mom… that… hic that’s good, mom hic I… I thought you were never going to recover.”
The wrinkles on her face seemed to grow deeper while she looked at her daughter with a pained expression. Raising her skinny, trembling hand, she brought Julie into her embrace, gently running her bony fingers through the ebony hair. “I’m sorry for causing you such worry… and for being such a useless mother…”
“Don’t say that!” Julie immediately got up, her red cheeks still moist with salty tears as she locked eyes with her mother. “Don’t ever say that again! Mom, you hic what would I do without you? You’re not hic useless!”
A weak, apologetic smile manifested on her mother’s face. “You…” she let out a soft sigh, grabbing onto Julie’s hand, softly clutching it. “What am I going to do with you?”
After saying that, her gaze drifted toward Kai, who watched the two with a teary expression. “Why don’t you go inside?” She asked Julie “I’ll have a nice chat with our young friend over here.”
Wiping her tears, Julied nodded gently before kissing her mother on the forehead and left quietly, turning her head toward the two before entering the small house. What would mother want to discuss with him?
Kai seemed to be half asleep, his vision focusing on the crackling fire while the Obborik sat quietly by his feet. The woman let out a soft sigh at the sight, and scratched the back of her head, feeling slightly confused. What’s up with this vampire kid anyway? She asked herself before snapping her fingers in front of Kai, making him regain focus.
“Kid, I have to say, for a vampire, you’re really strange.”
He shook his head, looking slightly confused at the woman before he fully came to. “I’m sorry ma’am, I was just… lost in thought.”
She let out another sigh, looking into Kai’s crimson eyes while straightening her creating back, she let out a light groan. “Just call me Nora.” Her gentle, yet fierce gaze scanned Kai’s face, staring right into his black pupils. “You may fool my daughter, but you can’t fool me.
That look on your face, it’s the same one she had when she lost her father… Kid, what do you plan on doing?”
Kai’s eyes widened in disbelief, and his lips quivered slightly while her words rang in his ears. What? How does she know… Is this a mother’s intuition? Ah… My mom…
His heart pounded against his chest as Haniard’s image appeared in his mind, blood rushing through his head while the memories of his parent’s death flashed in front of his eyes and his thoughts gradually became a mess.
It’s suffocating, what is this? This? Darkness? Surrounding me… Mom… dad… why… me? Is it me? My fault… it’s my fault… all my fault… all of it… all… Breathe… I can’t breathe… Kai’s arms warped around his head, and his irregular breathing startled Onyx, who panicked upon seeing the state of his master. He winced in fear as he pressed his snout against Kai’s leg.
Kai’s nails dug into his flesh as panic overtook his body and mind, which turned messier with every passing second. “It’s alright child, you’re safe now… don’t worry.” A horse yet tender voice rang in Kai’s ears, causing his entire body to tremble as two warm hands wrapped around his chest.
The warm flame of the fireplace greeted his tired pupils as his eyelids parted, and the same warm voice resounded from behind. “Shush, it’s alright child, take your time.” Her embrace tightened around his trembling body, her frail figure completely covering his.
The yellow sun painted the dark sky in a reddish hue as it rose from the ground, illuminating the cold earth as countless animals and insects slowly woke up from their slumber, the sound of the singing birds bouncing off the thick leaves of the trees.
With the crackling fire dying down, the remaining ashes scattered with the morning wind.
“Evicario is quite a distance away from here, you’ll have to make a few stops in the neighboring cities unless you want to camp out every day.” Nora’s voice, accompanied by the scribbling of a pen echoed in the peaceful quiet.
Her hand moved meticulously on the map as she wrote down a few instructions while also chatting with Kai. “I recommend you go to Nivero first, It’s the biggest city in the area besides Limmin, but this here is mostly a trading spot…”
“After that, you can slowly make your way North through the smaller cities, the whole journey should be a month or two, give or take.”
Handing the map over to Kai, her eyes were with warmth as she watched him write down everything in his notebook. “I can’t thank you enough, Miss Nora… but,” the sound of tearing paper resounded in the silence caused by his pause, and he handed a page over to Nora before continuing “Maybe you or Julie will find this helpful.”
Her eyes widened in shock as she took the paper with trembling hands, but she nodded gently before putting it away.
Kai also placed the new-ish map in his ragged backpack, rustling as he stood up and threw it on his back. “I should get going, thank you for all of your and Julie’s help. If you ever need me, send me a letter and I will come in a heartbeat.”
A small smile manifested on Nora’s face while watching Kai’s departing figure, and a small sigh escaped her lips while a raspy voice called out to the boy. “Child, that hatred within you… Let it go before it completely devours you.”
His wide pupils stared at the woman for a second, and, bowing slightly, he turned his head, the sound of his footsteps gradually disappearing in the distance along with his and Onyx’s figure.
Frail child, be safe on your journey…