Merrick and I exchanged glances, I think that it was the first time since knowing him that I'd seen a hint of doubt. We'd known each other for less than an hour but he was the kind of guy that was easy to read. He lived his life by the rule book. Hardened by the life that he's lived, he avoids emotions because it's better to shut off than to suffer. Emotions were beaten into a punching bag or through a relentless pace at the gym.

Too much death, too much fighting. He didn't know how to stop and it was likely that he didn't want to either. He doesn't make friends, he'd make acquaintances that might be useful in later days but there was little chance of seeing them again.

We crossed the bridge as a group. The captain led with a few of the soldiers by his side. Merrick and I were in the center, pretending that we were just soldiers like the ones that circled us. They were the ones that would take whatever was sent our way while Merrick did his duty to his king and protected his niece. It was a dangerous situation to send anyone into and the only reason that my status wouldn't affect the mission was that no one on this side of the gorge knew me.

At least until I told them that I was there to negotiate with them and that I was a representative of the leader of the vampires. Alaric had a list that he'd formed over the years, it wasn't overly long but it was filled with a lot of wishful thinking.

The foremost item was that he wanted a peaceful agreement of friendship between them and us. Then he wanted them to help us fight the war against the humans and in return, he'd offer them things that they probably didn't have. Like infrastructure, amenities. He'd send them food and blankets if they asked for it, he'd send vampires in to build homes for them if that's what they wanted. If they said yes to the big ticket request, dear old uncle Alaric would probably kiss the ground they walked on. Well, probably not. He'd probably make someone else do it.

The end of the bridge was the newest part, they'd put as much of the structure together in the base and then the rest of it was done here. To get it done without being attacked, they had to lure the creatures away by shooting the food in other locations. They'd stopped sending it over at this base to make them go elsewhere. For the past month or so, they've started the food again, associating us with something good. I was hopeful that this would work to our favor.

The creature that had walked up to the gate kept urging us along the path, the other creatures looked at us with a lot of fear on their faces. This was where we either turned and run or tried to say hello.

He began talking to another male, they looked at us and slowly other creatures approached. Curiosity filled their features as they shifted to look around the soldiers. They were looking for me.

The male stepped forward again, still smiling like he was the happiest creature ever. As he approached, he titled and looked for me. The soldiers stepped aside.

"Kaf-la," He said, pressing his hand to his chest.

Then he turned to the other male and flicked his hand, urging him to come over.

"To-ness."

Kafla curved his hand in a circle over his stomach, then gestured to Toness again.

"Rahya, Toness." His hand turned to me. "Otanawa."

"Did he just tell you that this creature is your father?" Merrick murmured.

My lips pressed tight as I nodded, tears welling. Pulling out the photo book, I opened it to the picture of my mother and showed it to him. He looked at the picture and I could see the sadness creep into his face. Slowly the glistening eyes looked up at me.

"My mother. Do you understand?"

"Captain Beaumont, I don't think they do." Captain Petersen said softly. "Here, use this."

He gave me a picture from his pocket, it was a family photo.

I showed it to them, pointing to the captain while saying father. Then to his wife while saying mother. In the picture with them were two young children.

"See, children. Mother, father, children."

Returning to the grainy picture of my mother, I said it again.

"Mother, child."

The photo was underneath my hand as I pressed it to my chest, the little booklet still out, trying to make them understand. When I saw no changes to his features, I felt dejected. Giving the captain his photo back, I pocketed the book of memories and turned back to the creature that might just be my father.

"Rahya," He whispered.

More words followed, softly spoken. The tone conveyed a lot of hurt.

We'd let our guard down, each and every one of us. Toness pulled me in to the sound of guns clicking. He sighed ruefully as he hugged me.

"At ease," Petersen grumbled.

I was a little startled. To the side of us was Kafla, smiling as if his heart was about to burst with joy.

Toness let me go, a smile hid the pain. A solitary hand reached out, curving over my jaw as he said something, my mother's name mentioned several times.

"I can't speak your language," I said sadly.

He looked at me and nodded. As he turned, his hand slipped away. When I thought that it was done and there was nothing more that we could do, Toness nodded to the path to our side. Kafla smiled eagerly, gesturing for us to follow.

"Well, I think we're about to meet the rest of your family," Merrick muttered.

The soldiers and Petersen began to move, following the two creatures. I watched for a moment, feeling rather lost.

"It's going to be okay."

I looked up at Merrick and wondered when the lumbering oaf decided to get insightful.

"All you need to do is take that first step."

A vague smile curled into the corner of his mouth and Merrick took a step. He'd reached the dirt and gestured for me to follow. I huffed a soft laugh and stepped forward.

Today was high on the weird meter. I didn't expect to meet a creature that might be my father, I didn't expect to be given a guardian that was insanely gorgeous and a total pest and I didn't expect to be feeling like I do right now. Sad yet happy. It was confusing, to say the least.