Chapter 3 World of monsters

forest was charged with his magic, and it could drain any Atman energy from her companion. A little away.

Videric observed that meeting cautiously, always silent, but the words even seemed buried that night. There

was a strange tension between vampires and witches because of Merik's position, or lack thereof, and this

tension grew as time passed and they were unable to come to an agreement. Lymena, the witch who held the

Red Crown, wanted the Southern Rift closed and sought to discover Igrik's next move. Domenico, the vampire master, preferred to be more diplomatic and understand the Black Prince, but he was also concerned about.

the direction of his own race: vampires felt the energy of the underworld in the corporeal world. They ended

the meeting after a while without being able to reach a consensus, Videric watched Lymena's expression clear

up as the witch got up from the sofa, and noticed Krida walking away to get the horses. Gavin went with the

old woman, Domenico's right-hand man had taken over as her assistant, even though Videric knew it was just

to stop the old woman from running out of the Fortress. Videric stayed where he was, surprised to see the

queen walk towards her with the calmest expression. Apparently, Domenico had already gone away to write

letters and send them that night. When Lymena stopped, Videric had to take a deep breath. The power

emanating from that witch was unique. Although Gwendolyn had it too, Lymena seemed to have inherited and

polished it. She smiled at the vampire as a way to calm him down. -Videric. - Her voice was light. - Arsene told me you prowl the White Forests. Videric did not deny it, but he also did not respond to the Red Crown. He

contented himself with looking at his brother angrily, as if Arsene were a ten-year-old boy who had exposed.

some trick of his. Lymena's smile grew wider. - It's her, isn't it? - He questioned. Videric swallowed in

embarrassment, Lymena softened her voice even more as if she was trying to calm him down. - Do you think

I think he's prowling our borders to harm us? - Well, to see Arsene isn't it - he fnally replied and got a

grimace from the redhead. - She won't leave, Videric... Nyana is an oracle and she usually isolates herself in

their village. He spends hours meditating and talking to Atman... - Lymena observed Videric's reaction when

she said that. The vampire just shrugged and noticed the queen's eyes follow his hand as he placed it on the red handle of the dagger instinctively and unconsciously. - I will always be close to the borders. After all, the

rift is still open, right? Lymena's face became serious. That wasn't an insult. Videric knew that the queen was

capable of guarding her own borders and defeating any demon that decided to enter the White Forests again.

No, this was care, a duty Videric had felt towards Nyana since he had rescued her from the attack months

ago. However, he knew that Lymena would need time to understand that care. - I need to go back to the

White Forests, Krida must be waiting for me impatiently and putting the blame on the horses... - she said with

a smile and Videric nodded. He bowed in respect to the Red Crown. - We'll talk soon. Videric knew that he

wouldn't be able to hide from Lymena, nor even escape that conversation, the smile on Arsene's face only

made him sure of that. He wanted to take Domenico's candlestick and hit the redhead on the head, but that

was his childish side speaking. The adult side wanted to stick the dagger in his brother's eye. Arsene blinked

at Videric as if he could read his thoughts. - See you later. Chapter 3 His feet didn't make any noise, even

though his boots sank deeper and deeper into the mud. It had been raining all night and the entire forest feld had turned into a quagmire, a mixture of wet earth, leaves, mushrooms and crushed twigs. Videric sniffed the

air and his instinct told him something was wrong. Normally, after the rain, the forest seemed like a combination of olfactory and sensory experiences that could make any supernatural being dizzy with so

much information, but Videric was an excellent tracker and could separate every peculiarity around him. The

place had a faint scent of death. He just needed to fnd out if it was because an animal had been killed by a

predator, or because it was too close to the crack opened by Igrik. His boots now made noise as his footsteps

became more objective, his eyes roamed the paths left by the dense trees. The whispering started soon after.

Videric closed his eyes and, contrary to his instincts, moved away from any desire to follow him. The sound

was very reminiscent of what he had heard alongside Arsene, when they were moving away from the villages

and looking for the gray dust that the vampires' bodies left across the kingdom of Fhár. After a while, silence.

Videric looked for a rock to sit on and did so. His breathing was difcult, he didn't know if it was due to the

effort of ignoring the primitive call of the place his species should be, the underworld, or if it was due to the

anxiety of hearing that whisper after so long. Igrik was in the South, but demons still spread throughout the

corporeal world, even if in smaller numbers. Lymena's bruciare had driven most of them away, but they were

hungry creatures and the promise of fresh fesh and blood made them slip out of the crevasse and risk

wandering through the forests. In his mind came memories of the battle against the creatures, of how Lymena

lost consciousness and how the witches returned to the White Forests with great casualties and broken souls. Videric remembered the brothers who fell to the demons' prey and how the mixture Nyana had given.

him had saved the lives of some just as it had done for him. Nyana... It wasn't fair to meddle in the witch's life

after long months, not when she was fnally safe within the borders of the White Forests with the power of the

Red Crown protecting her from any threat. Videric was a spawn of the underworld, he belonged to the world of monsters that were on the other side of the rift more than to the world of Nyana, who didn't even know the

bad side of a human being, let alone the dark side of a vampire. He got up and started walking, his thoughts

still confused. The fear of the course of their species, the uncertainty of Igrik's next steps and even Merik's

silence. All the brushstrokes formed a picture that he didn't like to see and, as he was Domenico's frst commander, he needed to keep the master alert for every abnormality he observed. And everything was.

strange. Videric stopped, his breath came out of his thick lips in small clouds due to the cold weather and the rain that would soon begin to fall again. He broadened his instincts, a little more assured of being back in the

North and close to the border of the White Forests. And he listened. Whispers. But not the kind that made him cringe or clamor for him as a deadly bargain. They felt lighter, like a timid touch on her spine. Videric didn't

know those whispers, which called him gently, without him feeling threatened by looking for them. A sweet

scent reached his nose and Videric sniffed the air instinctively, like an animal searching for a good smell. He

frowned as he smelled the unfamiliar aroma. He didn't think twice before following him. She had been trying

to sleep for many hours, but not even the sound of the rain, which had already stopped, made her tired body relax in the time that had passed. Anyway, he gave up and kicked the wool blanket off the bed. He walked

around the hut and didn't bother trying to revive the fre in the freplace. Nyana opened the door and breathed in the cold air of the village, the smell of wet earth and green leaves touched every sense of her and made her

shiver. Without thinking much about what she was doing, she walked calmly through the village with the intention of going to the nearby lake and meditating, but her bare feet took her deeper into the forest to the east. She felt the wet earth beneath her feet, the gras