“Everything around us is simply dreadful Master. Are you sure it’s a good idea to follow the river bank?” Jane said quietly, gripping the handle of her silver blade on her back. The old and scarred white-haired elf warrior turned around, facing the little girl. His gorgeous blue eyes met the girl’s face and for a moment she thought she offended her teacher and she looked down, closing her eyes. “I… I’m sorry Master Tobias…” She whispered quietly a moment later but that just put a smile on the elf’s face. He approached the girl and cupped her cheek, kneeling down and smiling at her. Unable to resist the black-haired girl looked up and when she saw the smile on his face her unusual red eyes started glowing. Tobias just giggled at that, but in less than a minute his whole expression changed. “Look, Jane…” she could not ignore the fact that no matter how hard he was trying despite all the seriousness in his voice there was also a note of fear in his voice which made a shiver run up her spine. “… I’m not going to lie to you. This is NOT your usual monster hunting I’ve always brought you along. It’s something much, MUCH more ominous and evil than just another mindless creature or a ghost.” The hunter made a slight pause here. He turned his attention towards the river and its corrupt black waters, disgusted from all the corruption which managed to spread almost everywhere in his homeland. “This place used to be so beautiful… But that doesn’t matter right now. Jane. That thing is nothing you’ve ever seen. It’s smart and cunning and it’ll try to take you down when you least expect it” The girl tilted her head a little, looking at Tobias slightly confused. “If that thing’s so dangerous why won’t the Order take care of it? Aren’t they supposed to take care of all vampires?” Slightly surprised she managed to guess what the creature actually was by the slight description he’s given her the hunter got back up on his feet and glared at the horizon. “The Order has abandoned those lands ever since the elves refused to collaborate with them. They wanted to take it all for themselves, enslave us and use us as tools of war. We refused… And they brought the corruption here. You know the rest…” With a bitter and sad expression on his face Tobias just sighed quietly, giving the girl a sign to follow him. She nodded and as they continued entering deeper into the cursed forest. Jane looked around herself. Just the very looks of everything black and grey mixed with all the death once again gave Jane the chills, yet the whole scenery gave her some sort of comfort and feeling like she’s home. A couple of minutes passed in complete silence, only the sound of the wind echoing around them and unable to actually take that anymore she just let out the one thing troubling her the most without even thinking. She gave Tobias a single death stare and even with his back turned at her he could still sense it. Without bothering to wait for any reaction from his side Jane just asked him right away “Why the actual hell are we doing this?” The warrior just froze in horror for a moment but did everything to remain calm. He’s never heard that much hatred and anger in Jane’s voice and knew something was way worse than usual. The moment he met her eyes again and saw the burning fury in her eyes he gripped the handles of both his steel and silver swords. He didn’t suspect even for a moment that the girl he’s been training for 14 years was a half demon and when she notices where his hands were a single evil laugh filled the air around them. At that point Tobias just sighed quietly because he knew way too well he was unable to actually strike down Jane no matter what. He let go of the blades and instead decided to just answer her question “We’re doing it for the sake of everyone because that… thing is a threat to everyone.” That just fueled Jane’s rage even more and her crimson red eyes started glowing in a dark red color. “The sake of everyone… Why are we even helping them?! It’s not like they’ve ever done anything for us except treating us like scums, freaks and exiling us as if we’re monsters…” Tobias cautiously took a few steps closer to the girl before replying calmly even though he was afraid of what Jane’s become just now. “That’s true. I can’t deny it… But I’ve told you that before. It’s not their fault. People fear what they don’t understand and most of the time they try to get rid of it. Yes, it doesn’t mean they should treat us like this but you even then you shouldn’t bear a grudge against them or keep the desire for vengeance lurking in your heart. It’ll just lead to your death Jane…” She didn’t want to hear anything anymore and she furiously tackled her master, pinning him against the ground with one simple desire in her mind – to kill him, yet when she pulled the trophy knife from the back of her belt before she could slit his throat and take his head the girl got back to her senses. She got up from Tobias, dropped the knife on the ground and surprisingly to him he saw the Jane he knew and took care of for so long. He got up from the ground, dusted off his clothes and looked at the girl. She was crying and the tears leaking down her cheeks were red. She couldn’t look up at her master. “I’m so sorry…” she whispered very quietly through her sadness and just entered deep into the woods, completely out of sight. “JANE WAIT…!” Tobias shouted as loud as he could but even that was not enough. The hunter looked down and picked the trophy dagger and warped a note around it before putting it in his pocket, looking around to find Jane right afterwards. She was gone and he knew he had to find her before something else happened to her. It wasn’t too hard for Tobias to see where Jane went through because of the bloody drops left on the grey grass but knowing there was also a vampire lurking in the forest just made him shake in fear. He had to find the girl before something’s happened to her. Following the trail as fast as possible the hunter entered in what once used to be a sacred elven temple. Even though the corruption’s spread everywhere that sacred temple managed to keep its beauty and resist the all-consuming darkness. The tree of life in the middle was still whole, still growing up and granting hope to all who enter this forest to fight the dark forces. For one short and precious moment, his lips formed a rather joyful smile on his face but he knew way too well there was no time to enjoy all this. He continued to follow the blood trail until he found her exhausted and unconscious but before he could do anything his fears became reality. The vampire was clearly waiting for him to come before he sank his fangs in the girl’s neck. She screamed in pain and her agony was seemingly pleasing the creature of the night. Holding the silver blade in his hands Tobias quickly and swiftly attacked the monster, aiming for the heart. Unable to avoid the strike completely Tobias instead managed to cut off his hand before standing in front of the girl to protect her, pointing the tip of the sword right between the creature’s eyes.