Chapter 10 10. Forever a Chained Vampire

Triana.

Vlador's arm that encircled Triana's waist loosened, and finally, both of her feet touched the ground.

As Vlador released his grip, Triana fell to her knees, her body trembling. Just moments ago, she had so much joy in flying through the sky, but now she was truly grateful to be able to touch the ground again.

The heavy footsteps passing by caught Triana's attention. She found Vlador walking towards the witch's hut, located a few meters ahead of them.

Triana's eyes widened, her jaw unconsciously dropping. It was the first time she had seen the complete form of a vampire's wings.

In her teenage years, she had seen vampire wings at the Rotherez Kingdom palace. It was a pair of vampire wings displayed on the wall of the palace's grand dining room. At that time, King Rotherez proudly said that the vampire wings were severed directly by his grandfather before killing the vampire they had captured in a hunt a hundred and fifty years ago.

Triana never expected that the fresh vampire wings that were still attached to their owner would look even more amazing and terrifying. They resembled bat wings, but were of giant size and appeared very thick and strong.

When not extended, the wings fold until their tips almost touch the ground. Triana gasped in awe as she watched the giant wings shrink in just a few seconds to their base and enter Vlador's upper back as if it were done by magic. She had read countless books of human and animal anatomy, but she had never come across a book that explained vampire anatomy.

"How does his back store such huge wings inside?" Triana murmured. But she quickly shut her mouth as Vlador turned around and stared at her with his cold eyes.

"How long do you plan on lying there? Are you hoping for wolves to come and pounce on you?" he sneered.

Blinking, Triana stood up as fast as possible. Then she patted her dress to shake off the leaves and wiped off the stubborn soil stains that remained. This was the first time in her life that she had worn such dirty clothes.

"I... I'm coming,"

"Tsk! You keep wasting my time," Vlador muttered, eyeing Triana, who was half-running to catch up with him.

Biting her lower lip, Triana glanced at Vlador when she had reached his side. But she didn't dare to hold her gaze there for more than a second. She returned her gaze and swallowed nervously.

"I'm sorry, but you landed so heavily from the sky. My body couldn't handle it, plus, I'm still weak after losing so much blood." Triana tried to explain.

"You'll feel weak if you think you're weak. You didn't help me at all in finding this place, but instead hindered my progress," Vlador hissed.

"Well.. about that," Triana dared to lift her chin. "If you feel that way, then I apologize. But you shall know that I tried my best."

Vlador didn't say anything. He just threw his sidelong gaze away from her while deep-inhaling. Then he reached out his palm forward, aiming at the door in front of them. In a second, a strong wind blew out from there, slamming the door off its hinges.

Triana flinched, clutching her chest with both hands. They could have knocked on the door, but Vlador chose to destroy it instead. He was truly a rough and uncivilized man.

Stepping into the witch's hut, Vlador surveyed the room. Half of his upper lip curled upward, revealing one of his fangs.

"Even my abandoned castle, which was left for more than a hundred years, is still cleaner than this lair. Disgusting," Vlador sneered.

"You've destroyed my door, and now you insult my lair. It seems you still haven't learned your manners, Dracount."

The high-pitched voice of the witch made Vlador and Triana turn. Since earlier, they hadn't found the presence of the witch in the roomless hut. But miraculously, she appeared to sit on her rocking chair.

"The only thing I need to learn is how to torture you a hundred times more than the torture you've inflicted on me," Vlador hissed.

"Khe khe ke..." The witch's shoulders shook. "Your arrogance will lead you to deeper doom."

"Ma'am, I beg you. Please lift this curse from me. How could you deceive me when I have fulfilled all the conditions, just as you said? Aren't you ashamed of your actions?" Triana's voice trembled.

The witch's rocking chair spun to face Triana and Vlador, who were standing side by side. Both corners of her lips pulled across her face, almost meeting at the edges of her jaw.

"I don't need to uphold my honor for people like you. I only keep my promises to those who deserve them. But for both of you, I'll deceive you hundreds of times just to see you suffer," the witch said, followed by a laugh that sounded like the cawing of crows flying over corpses.

"Oh, ma'am... I truly beg you! I can't live like this. You've destroyed my life. Please release this curse from me. I'll give you anything you desire. I can't go back with this state... I am the daughter of a Duke!" Triana pleaded, tears flooding her eyes.

Still smirking, the witch spoke, "Look at that face. I saw arrogance there last time. But even with what's happening to you now, you still speak as if you hold the world in your hands."

"Shut your poisonous mouth, you damn hag!" Vlador strode roughly towards the witch. "How can you speak like an angel of truth when you're a lowly deceitful witch? Do you think those words are worthy of coming out of your mouth?"

Seeing Vlador approach the witch, Triana followed him and stood a step behind his back, not daring to get too close to the frightening-faced witch.

Vlador's fingernails lengthened to five centimeters. He raised his hand in front of his chest to display all those black nails to the witch before him.

"Remove your curse from me, or I will take your life right now," Vlador hissed.

"Khe khe khe... Do you dare? If I die, that curse will forever grin within you." The witch leaned forward, bringing her face close to Vlador's.

Chuckling, Vlador sharpened his gaze. "I will kill you like I killed your sisters."

Vlador's words made the witch leap from her seat, causing Triana to step back.

Widening her eyes, the witch stared back at Vlador with a wide grin, revealing her row of rotten teeth. "Even if you burn me alive, I will never let you be free from my curse! Forever, you will be a vampire with chains binding your neck! Hahahaha-"

SLASH!!

"No!" Triana's eyes widened. She covered her mouth with both hands.

The skinny, hunched witch fell back into her rocking chair. Then her head hung back against the chair's backrest with three deep and large gashes on her neck that nearly severed.