Eros had secured the horses around the back of the inn while the other two bartered for a room. Not only that but he had to stay out of sight since he had an arrow in his arm. They would see to the injury once they were inside. He wanted nothing more than to pull it out but Zeph warned that if the pain triggered anything in him it would be best if he weren't around people.

They all agreed it was best for them to share one room for the evening. The last thing they wanted was to be separated, more than that it allowed them to keep an eye on each other. Besides he could see more questions burning beside Elaina's eyes, he doubted she would let them sleep mush tonight. It was likely to be a long night, yet oddly he felt excited about sharing his world's secrets. Well... most of them, some of course he had to keep to himself.

Untieing the saddle bags he heaved them over his good shoulder with tremendous effort. The arrow in his other arm throbbed at the strain from moving it with the foreign object still embedded. Send the injured one to do all the heavy lifting! He thought sarcastically rolling his eyes. But he knew their reasoning, he wasn't exactly the best at dealing with humans yet. Having spent nearly ten years on the earth, he had learnt that though the alarian referred to this world as Earth however the earth was merely what they stood on. The land was named Solise. 

He'd been to this town before, the guild members knew him well. However, that was true in most of the towns across this land. Except for the south, he had not ventured far south yet. Walking around the back of the inn other two were waiting off to the side ready to draw his attention. That was perfect for him, the fewer interactions with humans the better. The fewer people that saw him the less that would recognise him in a few years when he was still here and hadn't aged. His trial was only a quarter done after all. Thirty more years he needed to spend here, living among them. Resisting them, hiding from them. Though he felt he had already failed in some ways. His eyes lingered on the small piece of exposed skin that held the clear evidence of his failure on her skin.

Shaking his head he cleared his mind, pushing the thought aside, right now it wasn't helping anything. They would drop Elaina at the guild in town tomorrow and that would be the end of it. But what of Zeph? Would he stick around? Did he want him to stick around?

The pair lead him inside and up the stairs. Elaina unlocked the wooden door to the small room they had rented for the night. Inside he shimmered off their packs and dumped them by the door. The door was dark, but as Elaina lit a lantern on the table the room flooded with an eerie warm glow. He watched as she slid out a spare mattress from under the bed.

"Someone gets the bed, someone the floor and the lucky last is the armchair." Tossing spare linen to the mattress on the floor and a blanket on the chair she sat herself down on the bed before kicking off her shoes. "Man, I would kill for a bath."

"Bathing in blood does you no good contrary to popular belief," Zeph stated as he took his place on the armchair.

"It's an expression, I would never-." His smirk made her scoff. "Do you think it's the best time to joke like that?"

"When is a good time to joke about death?"

She opened her mouth to protest but couldn't find the words, there were none. "Point taken," she muttered as she scooched back on the mattress.

Zeph fell silent and angled his head down as though settling in, or attempting to pretend to fall asleep in the armchair. Eros lowered himself to the floor and leaned against the bed frame ready for what was to come. But to his surprise, Elaina was fairly gentle as she worked on his shoulder. She worked in silence, first pushing the arrowhead through completely to be able to break it off and then finally removing the wooden arrow from his shoulder. They both watched as his skin appeared to rapidly heal, knitting itself back together to cover the small pouncher wound. His eyes lifted to her wondering what her reaction would be.

Having caught sight of him she raised a brow. "What?"

"I-I thought you would have questions." He posed.

"Many." She shifted retrieving the blanket from under her and processing to slip her legs under. "But it's not really my place to push for information I probably shouldn't know."

He was dumbfounded. "We'll be taking you to the guild tomorrow. You're in this mess now, ask away."

She took the opportunity without hesitation. "Is there a way to protect myself? You said human minds are weak... that's a little concerning."

"In a way. However, I am unsure of the exact details. There is something that the guild has developed called runes. They can be allied to paper or objects, even skin. When imbued with the correct essence they can work like a ward."

"So the guild sounds like the best place to be..." She paused for a moment contemplating her next question. "What does the guild do exactly?"

"They..." He frowned, how did explain it? "I guess the best way is to say that they are bounty hunters for everything non-human."

"What good would I be there then? I'm not a fighter."

"You're a healer right?"

"A what?"

"You use herbs to create tonics and teas, you know how to dress wounds and you have a good understanding of plants and herbs. You're a healer."

"I- I like that a lot more than a witch."

He scoffed. "You're no witch. Wizards, warlocks, mages, witches they are all the same thing at the root, a human hybrid."

"What!" She bolted upright. "They actually exist!?"

 Yes, and no. Somewhere in the lineage, they were bred with something other than human. That is the only way for anyone to use essence- eh, magic as you call it." He cringed at the use of the word. "Humans, for some god-forsaken reason, do not have the ability. A lot more exists than you likely realise. You'll learn more with the guild. In truth, I am also still learning." Shaking his head he looked down at his open palms. "So much was left out in my teachings before I came here. It is rather unsettling."

"Now who's spilling the beans." Zeph met Ero's gaze as he joined the conversation not leaving his slouched position.

"I... I do not understand why we are not allowed to talk about it. It would help so many to know about everything before they come here, to survive." He suddenly blurted out.

Beside him, Elaina let out a small chuckle. "It's rather comforting to know that even you are frustrated with not knowing everything and you're not remotely human."

"If you really want to know more about the curse you're going to have to be okay with breaking a lot of rules." Zeph pointed out.

"Wait." Elaina shimmered her way to the edge of the bed pulling the covers with her, rotating her body so she probed herself up on the mattress with her head beside his. "You're cursed?"

Glancing at her without moving his head he let out a light sigh. "Yes." Turning his head to look at her directly he added. "Where do you think is the origin of Vampirism?"

"From my understanding of the stories, which may not be true, there was a man who raged a war and liked to bathe in the blood of his victims. Not literally I might add. He would impale enemy soldiers on huge stakes and drink their blood. The church got involved much later adding their twist to the myth saying they can't be out in sunlight and fear crucifixes. It was around this time that stories of Vampires started emerging in folklore."

Zeph had moved in his chair, leaning forward and listening intently to her explanation. "Fascinating." His hand rested on his chin and he huffed a laugh. "The man you're talking about, the curse originated from him. He's been called many things over the centuries. A god. A demon. A vampire lord. But our kind knows him as Ashera, our maker's mortal enemy."

Eros felt chills run up his spine. "Ashera is merely a fairy tale told to children-"

Zeph was firming shaking his head. "He's real."

"Is he still alive? The lord from the tale would be centuries old now." Elaina's eyes were wide with wonder and intrigue.

"He's still out there, that's for sure. He gives the fallen a home, a place where they can dwell much like Alarious is for us."

"Why would they hide that from us? Why isn't this taught?" Eros's hands balled into fists. "It can't be true, there's no reason to keep this information secret."

Zeph let out a heavy sigh. "There's still a lot that you don't know. I doubt you will simply take my word for it... it's a hard thing to take a face value." He pauses for a moment. "Why don't you look up and investigate the Phenous project when you go back. Being a royal you should have access. I'm sure it will be eye-opening."

Silence fell over the group until Elaina broke it. "So... what is the curse exactly? Is it being a vampire, or whatever it was you called them?"

"What you call a vampire would typically be the curse, yes. It is in a sense a vampiric curse by nature. Those that fall prey to the curse and lose their souls are called fallen." Eros explained.

"The blood lust, the loss of energy without feeding. The inability to control one's temper." Zeph added. "It's all to do with the curse. Once we lose our souls we are a body filled with only those traits. Ashera wanted the creations of the women he once loved to suffer as much as him, to be as corrupt as him."

"All over a lovers quarrel? Seems childish to me." Elaina rested her head on her hands as she seemed to be more and more intrigued by the information.

"Just because they are all powerful beings with magical abilities doesn't mean they know how to use them correctly," Zeph stated rather harshly, had the subject struck a nerve and how did he know so much? Zelp followed with a yawn. "Dont know bout you guys but I think we should get some rest. The guild is going to be a hassle tomorrow."

Elaina turned to Eros. "How so?" She whispered.

"They don't accept humans normally." he quietly responded.

"Even if you whisper I can still hear you." Zeph pointed out while opening one eye.

Elaina sheepishly returned to the centre of the bed. He felt a little sorry for her but Zeph was right, they needed to recover what little energy they could with what was to come tomorrow. He wasn't looking forward to it in the slightest.