A dark figure emerged from Blaise's castle, making a run for it through the forest. As soon as they were in the clear, the figure revealed itself to be .

I have to tell Mallen and Iérti what Tavaly's up to, Írásom thought frantically, chilled at the thought of what he planned to do with the settlements.

Despite seeing Trésora's shock in hearing Tavaly's plans, Írásom considered her an enemy. Though Trésora was starting to border away from supporting Tavaly, she would never be an ally, always seeking what was best for herself.

Turning into doves, Írásom hurried towards Mallen's castle, but he wasn't home yet. She flew back out and went to Iérti's castle, but he wasn't in his castle either. Írásom searched around until she found Iérti not far from his castle.

Iérti was knelt in front of his family's gravesite, his eyes staring intently at the names carved on the boulder that served as their gravestone. He heard turn back into her vampire form and stand behind him as Iérti remained knelt on one knee, his face lowered slightly.

was silent, knowing it was his family's grave since it had the surname Keresi on it. She was about to leave in privacy when Iérti suddenly stood up, straightening his shoulders. He turned to Írásom, knowing what it was she wanted to ask him.

"Mallen will be back shortly," Iérti told Írásom. "He went to get something that will help us defeat Tavaly and the traditionalist vampires."

Relief appeared in Írásom's eyes. "Thank you, Iérti, for letting me know."

There was silence between them for a moment. quietly studied Mallen's wife, seeing how much she changed since becoming a vampire. Her eyes reminded him of Katlyn for some reason. Katlyn's eyes were strong and determined like Írásom's eyes. He was unaware Mallen thought the same whenever he looked into Írásom's eyes.

"I'm glad Mallen has a good, loving wife. You are a strong, dependable woman."

"I'm thankful you brought me into Mallen's life. Mallen showed me vampires can be human. That not all vampires are monsters. That there are good vampires, not just the bad ones."

"Now we have to deal with the bad ones. There haven't been any further attacks, but I fear there might be another one coming. I just don't want any more people to die. I'm tired of seeing the increased number of gravesites around the settlements. I want people to live as they should, without fear of anything. It's our job as vampires to stop these attacks so people can live peacefully."

Írásom's eyes widened in alarm when she suddenly remembered her prior urgency. "Iérti, there's something worse than an attack. I followed Tavaly to Blaise's castle. He spoke with a vampire named Trésora. Tavaly told her he plans to annihilate half the human population and enslave the other half. He wants to weaken us and then kill us when we're starving from thirst."

felt sick to his stomach. He felt like he couldn't breathe, stunned by the news. "We've got to get the people out of the settlements before it's too late. We've got to evacuate them to Mallen's castle."

"Mallen's castle?" asked, surprised.

"There are secret passageways and underground caverns hidden in the castle. There are only fourteen finished rooms, but we can allow as many people as we can in both the finished and unfinished rooms. We'll have to put peppermint leaves all over the castle so it would be harder for enemy vampires to track humans. We gotta tell the others first."

Írásom immediately turned into doves, flying out towards the settlements. closed his eyes, attempting to telepathically communicate with the vampire overlords/allies. He found he was able to. He felt happy for a brief second before alerting them of the news.

The vampire overlords and allies were stricken but propelled to action. They spread out, gathering peppermint leaves to press into oils, arming themselves with weapons, and urging people to evacuate to the vampire castles, allowing their own castles to be used for their protection.

Those with families and children were guided to Mallen's castle, the biggest one of them all. Its square footage enabled an entire two settlements to seek shelter not only within its many rooms, but within its secret underground caverns big enough to house more than a hundred people.

People also took shelter in Iérti's castle and other vampire castles. They didn't shelter at Blaise's castle since Trésora was unable to leave and she was not a friendly vampire. Iérti's vampire allies were happy to provide assistance in moving humans to shelter.

There were many humans who refused to move, not comfortable with living inside a vampire castle, no matter how elegant and fancy they were. Some children were excited to be living inside "a real fairytale castle" while others were as cautious as their parents.

For those who refused to move, and his vampire overlords and allies had no choice but to respect their wishes, not wanting to force them to move since it was their own choice whether or not they wanted to move. For those who sought their advice to move, they helped them move by nightfall, since they were unable to help them during daytime.

Tavaly's spies watched them from a distance, being careful not to get detected. Tavaly went to see for himself, confused when he saw Mallen wasn't there. His sharp eyes located Iérti and all the vampire overlords and allies, but Mallen was nowhere to be seen. It's as if he simply vanished into thin air, Tavaly thought, scanning the perimeter.

"Find out where Mallen is," Tavaly ordered his spies. Rohese and Arthur glanced at each other before taking off. Tavaly unrolled a map of the land. He placed it on the dented chestnut table, placing gemstone paperweights at the corners to keep them in place. He looked it over, trying to figure out where Mallen might've gone to.

A certain spot on the map brought up interest, causing Tavaly to get a closer look. Dragon Valley, where supposedly the last of the dragons still remain.

It was on the north side of the land, close to where the secret library was hidden. Nobody knew about the secret library except for Mallen and Iérti, but they did know where the mystical water source once flourished.

Tavaly decided to go there himself, if not to find Mallen, but to perhaps seek out a source of help in defeating Mallen. Perhaps we neglected our own history for too long, Tavaly thought, rolling up the map. Time to rediscover it.

Tavaly donned a long reddish brown fur coat with a hood, brown gloves, a bloodred scarf, and fur-lined brown winter boots with a luxuriously soft interior. Even vampires weren't immune to extreme weather and dressed as warmly as humans did.

Tavaly tucked the map inside his coat. He put the hood up as he headed out, intending to go alone without informing anyone of his own intentions.

As he left his castle, Tavaly was startled to see a flock of crows flying high in the sky, just outside his castle. He was about to dismiss the unusual sight when he noticed the crows had red eyes. Remembering Iérti was able to shapeshift into vampire horses, Tavaly realized this must be Mallen shapeshifting into vampire crows.

The vampire crows were flying with urgency, heading towards Iérti's castle. This confirms it is Mallen, Tavaly thought. He must've found something important. Looks like he finally chose to showcase his own powers.

Tavaly took note of the direction Mallen's crows were flying from and began heading there at once, feeling jealous of Mallen's power. He held back a growl, using his vampire speed while following Mallen's scent.

Like humans, each vampire had their own unique scent. Tavaly smelled like spiced oranges and black tea. Iérti had a rich bold expensive wine scent. Mallen smelled like black cherry merlot. Írásom smelled like pomegranate. Blaise smelled like a cold winter morning with hints of spearmint and vanilla.

Mallen's scent led Tavaly to the northern part of the land. He stared in astonishment, pushing his hood back as he stared at snow-covered spaceships on the frozen ground. He had no idea what they were, for he had never seen a ship before, not even a pirate ship. He was afraid to touch it, unsure what it was. He heard a dragon roar behind him and jumped at the sound, his terrified eyes turning to face Vostok.

Vostok's eyes were threatening. He breathed fire at Tavaly, who quickly moved to hide behind a ship. He peered out, trying to see if there was a way around the dragon. He saw Vostok was guarding a library, the sight astonishing Tavaly.

I had no idea there was a library, Tavaly thought, staring in amazement at the large building. Mallen must've compelled the dragon to guard it. Whatever is in the library must be of great importance, more so than the books that brought us to life.

Tavaly moved back behind the ship, thinking for a moment. There was only one dragon guarding the library, but one dragon was enough. Seeing one for the first time in his life made Tavaly realize dragons were indeed the most powerful, deadly creatures in the land.

There must be more dragons out there, ones Mallen hadn't compelled, Tavaly thought, glancing at the faraway mountains. According to the map, Dragon Valley is not far from this place.

Tavaly ran in direction of the mountain range, avoiding Vostok's fire blasts while doing so. He didn't dare look back, knowing it could cost him his life. Vostok didn't chase him, staying within range of the library.

Sheep and livestock were brought to Vostok once a month to ensure he was well fed, and water was provided inside the library. Mallen had compelled some people living near Dragon Valley to bring food for the dragon once a month while ensuring no vampire ventured in their territory by compelling humans to place a blackthorn forest around their dwelling.

This was done centuries ago, back when Mallen first hid the library. Back in the day, blackthorn was known as one of the most powerful protections against vampires. Blackthorn repelled vampires more than garlic did, though garlic was grown more than blackthorn, given blackthorn was only available in certain areas of the land.

Though it was said that the scent of roses kept vampires at bay, roses were as harmless as any other flower and didn't hurt vampires; it was lavender that hurt them. Silver and garlic weakened them. Mirrors distracted them. And sunlight and wooden stakes killed them.

Tavaly had no such knowledge of the mountain people nor anything else in this part of the land. Mallen was one of the only few people who knew much about the land and its history. Tavaly had much to learn, much to uncover, but he was unyielding in his pursuit to take down the most powerful vampire in the land, believing if Mallen were to be brought down somehow, the others would fall too.

Determined to reach dragons he was sure Mallen hadn't compelled, Tavaly traveled until he reached the mountains where Dragon Valley lay. He looked around, sensing for lifeforms and found a vast heat signature further north. Tavaly took a deep breath, secretly fearing these creatures. He trudged on, proceeding with caution.

He stopped as soon as he saw a trio of dragons nestled together. One of them was blue, the second one was red, and the third one was black. Their scales shimmered in the moonless night. Smoke arose from the valley, the land around them flattened.

The mountains were tall and tremendous on both sides, creating a rocky landscape for the dragons' dwelling. The night sky was dotted with stars. Far into the depths was a crater-shaped lake. Tavaly thought he could faintly hear a sheep pasture beyond the mountain range.

Every instinct told Tavaly to run, yet he stood still, a plan forming as he studied the massive creatures capable of mass destruction. He gathered all his courage and came closer, waiting until the dragons sensed his presence before he halted.

The dragons looked up, roaring when they saw a vampire standing in their mountain valley dwelling. Having gotten their attention, Tavaly foolishly picked up and threw rocks at them to antagonize them. The dragons started to flare up, their wings rising in anger as they prepared to blow fire at Tavaly.

Time to run, Tavaly thought as he turned and fled the mountain valley, running as fast as his vampire speed allowed him.

The three dragons instantly followed Tavaly, flying high in the sky, their enormous wings casting giant shadows on the land below. Grass flattened underneath their wind current, the dragons blowing fire at Tavaly as he ran.

They set fire to the forest as they missed in trying to incinerate Tavaly, who used his vampire speed and senses to dodge the dragon trio. He felt the heat of the fire on his back as he ran for his life, knowing exactly where to lead them.

Let Mallen be defeated by the most powerful creature in the land, Tavaly thought, envisioning the dragons killing the most powerful vampire in the land.