https://youtu.be/EDfnrQYxILQ

We soon reached the forest and Zaphira kept her gaze on me as I tried to take my mind off of things by talking to her.

"Zaph, do you think there are still vampires in this forest?"

She got lost in thoughts for a while before tilting her head and shaking it sideways.

"Well, a few Elves had come to this forest in the past months. It is said that they got killed by vampires and the scariest part is that there wasn't a drop of blood left on their bodies when they were found. " I said and held her close to me.

It was pitch dark then and the forest seemed to go on forever. My feet dragged so I stopped walking and sat on a nearby rock while Zaphira sat close to me with her head between her paws. I put my bow aside and sighed deeply.

As an Elven Ranger, I had a gift for understanding animals, like my mother, The Queen of Valeria. Zaphira was my closest and trustworthy companion as she understood me more than anyone else. Shandris, mother, and I along with Zaphira used to live in our homeland Valeria until our mother was wrongly accused of siding with the vampires, our natural enemy. So mother was forced to throw away the position of High Queen and was exiled. My father Mediveh, the most powerful wizard of Valeria and the King, couldn't come with us as he had sworn an oath to protect and serve Valeria until death. I hope he's fine.

I opened my eyes when Zaphira leaned her head on my lap. I patted her and smiled at her, "You know Zaph...a long time ago, many demons were roaming in these dark woods and they used to attack the Elves. It is said that there was a castle where vampires lived, at the end of the forest. Those vile creatures manipulated the other good vampires to attack us Elves, resulting in our people fearing them." I sighed slowly and took a deep breath before continuing.

"One day, the Elves decided to storm the castle but mother stopped them and headed to the castle all by herself. And she didn't return from there for a very long time but a letter arrived saying, 'There will be peace from now on. The demons and Elves have made a pact to not enter each other's territories.' Despite the letter being strange, our people believed it and stopped everything and so did the vampires. That was 300 years ago though."

I stopped to take a sip of water when Zaphira growled real loud all of a sudden. I stood up, took my bow, and prepared for an attack. 

The leaves in the trees above us rustled and I followed the rustling deeper into the forest only to be met with a tall man appearing from a nearby tree.

"What are you doing here?" He was utterly white and was dressed in a long black velvet coat that gave him a grim appearance, not to mention his nails that went longer than his small finger.

 I stood still, staring at the strange man as he looked back at me with inquisitive eyes and outstretched his arm. His bony fingers grabbed my chin and pushed it upwards.

"I thought so, an elf."

His eyes brimmed with an intense light that got me answering, unknowingly.

"Umm...yes."

"You should know then, that this is no place for an elf. Go back, ''The man said which made me confused.

"Huh? What are you then?" I asked and he stared at me for a few moments before his eyes started to glow red.

"A...a vampire..." I said in slow stutters and started taking a few steps back from him.

"Took you long enough," he said with a smirk as his sharp fangs peeked out from his slightly parted lips.

"Zaphira, run!" I shouted back at her and ran away from there with her following alongside me.

I knew I wouldn't last a minute, fighting him. So I thought running would be the better option. We ran for a couple of miles and looked back, panting only to see that the man wasn't anywhere to be seen.

From where we stood, I could hear the sound of gushing water and as we walked further toward the source of the sound, I was suddenly pinned onto a boulder by strong hands.

The man seized my arm, his eyes dark red. I tried to jerk away from him, but I couldn't. " Stay still, woman. Let me suck on your sweet blood," the man said with an eager tone. 

"Let me go!!" I screamed as Zaphira ran towards him but he swiftly kicked her away and she rolled down the hill that I couldn't see her anymore. 

"Zaph?! You Bastard!!"

The man wrapped his hands around my arms tighter and the madness that brimmed in his eyes made me shudder. 

"Stop It!" I let out a piercing shriek.

 "Is that all you got? It's the end of the road for you." He opened his mouth wide to bite into my neck with his sharp fangs. But before he could, all of a sudden, a person wearing a cloak came from behind him and knocked him out to the ground making him lose his consciousness.

"He'll wake up soon, you better run away," the man who helped me spoke hurriedly. 

"I..."

"Go!" He yelled again.

Then I quickly bowed my head thankfully and ran without even glancing back at either of the men. Soon, as I dropped my pace and looked around, I saw someone I knew.

"You! You're still here? I see that you have a death wish." It was the man dressed in black whom I had met first. 

But as he came closer to me with a grim expression, a lazy voice echoed around us and the man in front of me glared in the direction of the voice.

"Hey, Zephyr! I was looking all over for you." A tall and short-haired man appeared in front of us with Zaphira beside him. When she saw me, she came to me happily and I hugged her close in relief.

I turned towards the man to notice that he wore something more casual, exactly opposite to what the other man was wearing. Also, he had this friendly aura around him that gave out a bright atmosphere.

"Oh, so the wolf had an owner?", the man asked in slight disappointment and I pretended not to notice that before nodding.

"Yes, thank you for bringing her back. We had gotten separated in the forest. May I know who you are?"

"I'm Dylan", He glanced towards the other man, "We are guards in the mansion nearby." He paused for a moment and then continued, "You're a werewolf aren't you?" he asked. 

"Yes, that's right.", I replied while the other man stared at me silently but said nothing back.

I guessed Zaphira's scent had made Dylan think of me as a werewolf, which I was thankful for. Because I thought they would kill me if they find out who I am. So, I figured it was best to be thought of as a werewolf then.

 Without lowering my guard toward the man, I looked at Dylan and introduced myself and Zaphira. " I am Irina and this is Zaphira," I glanced toward her and continued, " Thanks again for her," I said with a small smile.

"You are welcome, Irina but I didn't know you were friends with Zephyr." He said in confusion and I shook my head in disagreement.

"We aren't. I just met him."

"She was roaming in the forest so I asked what she was doing," Zephyr remarked and I slightly rolled my eyes.

'More like threatened me to leave' I added in my head and Zephyr glared at me.

"Zephyr, don't look so scary. She may have gotten lost and ended up here." Dylan told him and then turned towards me with a smile, "Zephyr is not that friendly with everyone but he's not a bad guy, I assure you."

"Got it," I said slowly and winced all of a sudden as I was too tired to walk any further.

"You're weak, Irina. Come with us", Dylan said with concern visible in his eyes.

"Thank you but I think I'll pass on." I smiled wryly as I tried to take a few more steps. 

But after taking two slow steps, I stumbled onto the ground and was about to fall hard to the forest floor when Zephyr caught me in his arms.

"Umm..." I stared at him hard but he just rolled his eyes at me in return.

"Get over it," he replied and quickly put me down.

Dylan looked at Zephyr and said, "We should take her with us."

Dylan offered his hand and I raised my eyes in question at first before shrugging and taking it. Zephyr walked alongside us, keeping a sharp gaze on me that I pretended not to notice and let Dylan drag me to wherever he was taking me.

 Soon we reached the mansion, but I wouldn't have honestly referred to it as a mansion because it had such a beautiful garden around it and the sweet scent of roses and violets caught me. It was a heavenly feeling and I forgot how to be afraid. 

Inside the mansion, a man was there standing on the stairs and when he saw me, he came down, raising his eyebrows. The man had shaggy hair and wore a tight suit which covered most of his neck and a red lining that went from his shoulders to the bottom of it. 

"Now, who might this lady be?" The man asked with his eyes on me.

Dylan stepped forward and said, "Lucas, this is Irina. We found her in the woods and well, she seemed to be lost and tired out. I thought maybe if you would allow, she could stay for a night."

"Don't. You'll just end up getting in trouble." Zephyr said with a frown.

The man namely Lucas paused for a moment, lost in thoughts, and then began slowly, "The mansion was built to protect the good from the evil and I sense good in her. Let her stay for tonight." He said with a small smile.

"But this puts us all in grave danger. If the enemy sees her with us, we'll be as good as dead, "Zephyr said angrily.

 Lucas glanced toward him and said in a firm tone, "I don't see why she cannot stay. She appears to be quite harmless."

"So you'll let a girl, whom you know nothing about, stay here?" Zephyr asked. 

Then Lucas looked at me as he spoke, "You may rest easy in our finest room and I'll have someone bring you dinner. We'll see how everything turns out."

"Thank you for your kindness." I managed to blurt out and nod.

After that, Dylan placed my hand on his shoulder and took me to my room, climbing up the stairs one foot after the other with Zaphira walking beside me with her head down. To my surprise, Zephyr had come with us and kept looking at me without saying a word.

The room was heavenly and exactly like the garden, the room smelled of roses. There was a big white bed in a corner with an enormous bed lamp next to it and a painting of a familiar symbol hung above the bed which made me stare at it in wonder.

"Get well soon," Dylan said at the doorstep with a smile and then left with Zephyr. I nodded slightly as they left and turned around to face the symbol again. I moved closer to it and traced the symbols with my fingertips.

"Strange", I whispered to myself.

"Why do you think so?" a voice called from behind.

"Huh?" I turned and saw Zephyr standing at the doorstep.

"I thought you left.", I said in a slightly annoyed tone.

"And I thought you were tired. Anyway, dinner," he said and threw the plate gracefully which landed on the table right next to me.

"Oh well, thank you. Actually, I was looking at the Elven symbol." I pointed toward the symbol and looked at him.

"Hm, that has been there for the last 300 years. It's a symbol to show our gratitude toward a woman named Zahara. She was the one who settled matters when the elves tried to attack." He explained with a small grin.

"Oh." That was all I could say at that moment.

"Take rest, it'll be a long day tomorrow," Zephyr said.

He turned to go but I wanted to talk to him.

"Zephyr?" I called out and he raised his eyebrows at me.

"It's too late, you should go to bed now," He said and I shook my head firmly.

"I won't, I must stay awake for any kind of danger."

"Whatever, do what you wish," he said and dashed out of the room before I could say anything more.

"Oh well, I'll talk to him later."

 I sat near the window, eating the food Zephyr gave me and stared outside into the night. I sighed to myself as I got lost in my own thoughts.

'What made me come here? Why do I trust these people? They are vampires for goodness sake.' I asked myself. ' Should I stay here for a while rather than one night?'

I sighed again and nodded to myself slowly, 'I'll ask Lucas,' I thought as Zaphira came and sat close to me. I patted her with a small smile and whispered, "Tomorrow".