Vampire Nightlife

"We haven't agreed on anything." Lukas said. "You just had your family, the sky changing wyvern to abduct me and so here I am. I never said anything about my friends coming here to find me. If anything, you should be the one who expected such a thing and made sure to prevent this from happening in the first place."

"That's…" Cerise narrowed her eyes, but then let out a huff. "Very well. That is all that can be done—let us focus on things of prime importance like the Unknown."

"Yeah, anyhow, I doubt your form can help us that much. Or if you want to keep your heritage a secret, then it's best to stay in that form." Lukas said. "But let's go now."

When Anthony, Matthew and Philip knocked against the stone walls—they found themselves getting knocked back as it opened again.

Once again it revealed Lukas, but this time, the woman beside him donned a cape that actually didn't look that different from Lukas'.

"You… how did you know that someone like her existed in the Ilstad Mountains?" Philip pointed out to Lukas with a frown.

"Not enough time. She's a… Wyvern Rider Mage. We'll get her to help us save the others, okay, so let's go."

Cerisedel's glare was all-consuming, but Lukas was perfect at playing pretend and so all five of them stepped towards the mouth of the cave.

"Come here." Cerisedel let out a whistle into the air and five wyverns arrived mid-air.

"Is this safe? Shouldn't we ride just one?" Philip said.

"If you're a coward, then remain in this cave. But you do not know what awaits you or how you shall return on your own." Cerisedel said.

She was the perfect counter to Philip and promptly shut him up.

***

All of them took flight into the air, each one almost clinging for dear life. Anthony let out a panicked laugh, Philip clung to the wyvern's neck and Matthew took a sharp inhale of breath.

Lukas himself didn't seem all at ease with his own wyvern as they were a perilous drop.

Vampires or not, they'd go splat all the same and that was that.

"Are you sure this is safe?" Lukas repeated Philip's question.

"To the Dark Forest and the heart of the beast!" Cerisedel shouted and the wyverns swooped down without a care in the world.

Some screams echoed into the air, but it didn't take too long before Lukas relished the cold drop of wind in his face and the sensation of being free and above it all.

'I haven't figured out how to fly on my own yet, but this is the closest experience I'll ever get while I still haven't learned the ropes.' Lukas thought as he clung to the creature and stared at Cerisedel.

For some reason, she looked quite uncomfortable, but it was probably because she was in her human form and couldn't personally fly herself.

'To be trapped under such a spell and to hide who you truly are. I can imagine that it truly is suffocating.' Lukas thought. 'But that's for her own safety. Powerful or not, gaining the attention of the entire Vampire world isn't going to be doing her any favors.'

And so they flew, headed down towards the Dark Forest.

"Drop us all!" Cerisedel shouted.

"What—?!" Lukas' eyes widened.

Anthony and the others who couldn't hear her weren't even given the chance to react before the wyverns twisted and did a somersault in the air, and those with the loose amount of grip fell easily.

Philip who clung a little tighter had a harder time getting off, but after the wyvern roared and bucked in the air, he followed soon after.

"What's the meaning of this?!" Lukas shouted at Cerisedel who free-falled without a care in the world. She extended her arms as if she were nothing but a bird that was dropping—crashing gracefully into the ground.

"Matthew!!! Get me too!" Anthony shouted for dear life.

Matthew who was dropping had a concentrated look on his face and his descent was far slower than others—slowing himself down with telekineses alone.

"[Feather Fall]" Cerisedel spoke to Lukas, and somehow that was enough to cast a spell.

Beneath Lukas' body, the sensation of soft plumes and feathers grazed against his body and his body also slowed down from dropping.

Soon enough, they reached the Dark Forest. Philip threw up some on the ground and gave Lukas and Cerise both a terrible look.

"Not my fault." Lukas said. "Why'd you ask the wyverns to just drop us when we weren't even in the forest yet."

"Safety." Cerisedel said with a stare. It made Lukas feel as if this was a very basic question and he felt slightly dumb for it, but now they were here and it was time to save the others.

'The entire set of Vampires. I hope we're not too late… and then there's Rhea too.' Lukas thought. 'I wonder where she is and how she's doing now.'

Lukas reached out to the connection between him and Rhea, and to his relief and also surprise, she still remained alive and breathing.

'So she's still here even without all of that Corruption nonsense. I hope she's alright… and haven't killed more people, even though that's probably my fault regardless.' Lukas winced.

"Wait, where's the wand?" Lukas asked.

"It's here." Cerisedel pulled it out of thin air, the magic sparkling wand casting its own beautiful glow among the darkness of the forest.

"Ugh, what's that." Anthony stepped away from them, covering his eyes. "It's too…."

"Powerful?" Cerisedel supplemented hopefully.

"Ugly." Philip winced and stepped behind Matthew, after wiping his mouth.

Lukas glanced at the wand and felt no compulsion whatsoever to hide away from it. He thought it was strange yes, but that was based on his own experience with magical wands depicted in media.

"It's…. Not exactly that bad to look at guys, but what does it do?" Matthew asked, before shaking his head and glancing at Cerisedel. "But who is this, Lukas?"