Fire Breath
Bad News

Aiden woke up early. He was busy waving his wand in Sabina's courtyard. Any kind of protective spell he knew was cast to make the house safer from the surprise attack by the werewolves.

His mind was still very troubled to imagine all the possibilities that made the werewolf change in the morning. Even though he talked to Sabina all night, still they did not find an answer regarding the phenomenon. And that of course has caused fear for both him and Sabina. He could not rely on other witches considering the events in his village had killed almost all the witches he knew.

The witch who might still be alive had been hiding in places she didn't know about. While Sabina constantly refuses to ask this question to her vampire family.

Aiden felt so guilty for involving Sabina in his affairs that it made the girl almost wretched. Although he himself did not understand the relationship between the werewolf and the magic stone Ephestus he sought. But he still felt responsible for it and it was impossible to leave the girl alone.

"When do you want to dance with your wooden stick?" a voice distracts Aiden. He turned his head and saw Nora sitting on the porch while licking her body.

"I did it to prevent danger from coming" Aiden replied again casting protective spells. "Why do you think the werewolf was trying to attack Sabina?" aiden asked.

"Of course, since the first werewolves really hate vampires. They were hostile for almost thousands of years" Nora replied.

"Why are they hostile?"

"Wolf people hate vampires, I don't know why. Maybe because vampires have eternal lives while werewolves can die inedible. Vampire powers can also appear at any time without waiting for the moonlight. It could be said that the werewolf was envious of all the advantages of the vampires," explained Nora at length.

"A very simple matter," Aiden commented after finishing all of his spells. He then sat down beside Nora who was still busy licking her tail.

"Not all vampires are evil, actually. Some vampires still prey on humans. But there are also those who are quite satisfied with drinking animal blood" Nora said.

Aiden nodded. Her memory returns the moment she sees Sabina turning into a vampire. I don't know why he wasn't scared or scared. The sight had even fascinated him.

"Why didn't Sabina bite me?" tanyanya.

Nora stopped licking her tail. He looked at Aiden with both of his eyes glittering and — according to Aiden's vision — snorted softly.

"She said the blood of witches is no tastier than the blood of frogs," replied Nora as — Aiden grew more certain — laughed at her.

Aiden sneering.

"A witch is not a human? We do live longer than humans" Aiden said.

"really? I heard that witches can live for hundreds of years" Nora said.

"Some witches are like that. We don't have eternal lives like vampires. But powerful witches can live for hundreds of years. My great-grandfather died at the age of 197" Aiden said proudly.

"How old are you now?"

"I? Maybe 23 years old" Aiden replied unsure. "Let's know I forgot. But it was about that long that I lived," he continued.

Nora was just amused. Aiden is still trying to remember his age.

***

Sabina looked at the large scratches on the wall of her living room. From the smell alone he knew that the nicks came from the claws of a werewolf. Over night he was engulfed in endless curiosity. How werewolves can change when the sun shines brightly. They could even pass through the city quietly. That means they just changed when they got to this house. All those questions and conclusions were wrestled in Sabina's head and she grew even more confused.

"These scratches contain magic, because not even Aiden can remove them," he thought to himself.

Sabina then moved to the reading room on the left side of the living room. In the room, shelves of cabinets lined up to meet the wall while in the middle of the room there is a short table and a large carpet as a base. At the table he usually sits and reads books, although the activity is rarely done. The books that were there were ancient books that he got from his father. Most of them are books written by witches and humans. But there are also some books written by the vampire nation.

Sabina went shelf by shelf looking for books that might help answer all the questions she had in mind. He then picked up a thick book with a very dusty leather cover. The book was titled Wolves' Human Magic by Scovalerie Poriskova. Sabina knew the name as one of her father's distant vampire relatives. The vampire had been to his home long before he decided to live alone.

He brought the book to the table and he opened it page by page. But all he found were stories of the war between vampires and werewolves that vampires always won. Bored, he kept turning the pages of the book. All the sentences in the book stated that werewolves can only change when exposed to moonlight.

He begins to despair when he finally finds a chapter that tells the story of a werewolf invasion into the ancient vampire kingdom. The story is the only story where the werewolves get victory over the vampire nation. Excitedly, Sabina continues reading the chapter explaining how a pack of wolves attacked an outcast vampire castle, a long-extinct vampire breed.

"In 823, the lycans attack the outcast vampire castle (the most evil vampire to prey on humans) in the Mogul, Courtmess occurs for three consecutive days. During the attack, the lycan continued to use their ferocious form without even turning into humans. Although they are exposed to sunlight even though the lycan remain strong with their wolf form. Therefore the war ended with the slaughter of the outcasts until it was not left. The mystery of the power of the lycan can finally be solved by the vampires of today. It turned out that they obtained magic power that made their shape change immortal. Even so, these immortal lycans were defeated by the Salvationists using silver bullet."

Sabina was very excited to read the article. He immediately ran to call Aiden while carrying the ledger.

"Look! Read this section!" he said to Aiden while propping up the book he was carrying.

Aiden read it for a moment. Several times he was confused but he was excited when he learned the reason the werewolves could maintain their form as wolves.

"What is Salvation?" ask Aiden later.

"Salvation is a kind of vampire like me, like my family. Vampires don't usually turn humans into vampires if they don't have to. It means we can still drink blood from humans but humans can be vampires or not it depends on the vampires themselves. This vampire who drinks enough human blood but can also drink animal blood." Sabina explained.

"Then, where can we get this silver bullet?" ask Nora suddenly.

Sabina and Aiden turned to him, unable to give an answer.

"I don't know Nora," Sabina replied sadly.

Aiden read the writing again. He was still trying to understand the magic used to make the werewolf shape change into an immortal. As far as his knowledge was concerned, there was no magic that could be used to change the shape of other magical beings and give him power. Suddenly his mind fell on something.

"Ephestus' magic stone" he said. "It must be the magic power of the stone that makes the werewolves can maintain their form,"

***

Aiden and Sabina are still struggling in Sabina's 'small library. Accompanied by Nora, who had a sweet nose on the pillow, sat in the middle of the room. Until nightfall, they had not found a single book explaining the silver bullet. After being quite desperate, Sabina finally decided to return to the kitchen and make some human cooking. Nora snorted softly as Aiden, who looked extremely frustrated, opened the book, titled The Vampire War.

"Why are you always laughing at me, Nora?" ask Aiden annoyed.

"When do I always laugh at you?" asked Nora licking her front leg.

"Since the beginning of our meeting, you've always snorted!"

"That's because you're so silly. I've never found a man as innocent as you are" Nora said later.

"What am I doing?"

"That's it. You look tired. Eat with Sabina," replied Nora waltzing away. Aiden closed the book violently. Then he went into the kitchen.

"Why? You look upset?" tanya Sabina looked at Aiden's disheveled face.

"I feel very dissatisfied with myself. What the hell am I doing here? I have absolutely no clue to find the magic stone. Even after finding it, I don't know what to do. And I always trouble you with all my obscure business. We don't know each other at all" Aiden said at length. He cupped his hands to his face and bowed sadly.

Sabina stretched out a cup of tea before her and hesitantly sat down in front of Aiden while facing her own teacup.

"I also don't understand why we can both be here. We don't know each other at all. We also have different and unrelated affairs. There is no reason for us to continue together" Sabina said later.

Aiden nodded slowly and let out a long sigh.

"But even if we have no reason to stay together or we're not friends, I want you to stay. I never felt you were bothering me. And I was greatly helped by your spells over those werewolves. Therefore, stay here. Forget all your frustrations and we'll solve this problem together. I'm sure our meeting wasn't a coincidence" Sabina continued.

Aiden raised his face looking at Sabina who was smiling at him. Finally his smile expanded. And he was more and more convinced, he would soon find the magic stone and would soon know what he would do to it. Finally with a lighter feeling, Aiden sipped on his tea which smelled very seductive. One sip of it had already brought his spirit back.

"What is this tea made of? I always wondered why after drinking this tea I felt such an amazing sensation" Aiden said later.

Sabina sniggered small.

"In the tea there were actually a few drops of my mother's blood" he replied giggling.

Aiden was shocked to the point of being speechless.

Aiden breathed a sigh of relief. It was not that he refused to be a vampire, it was just that he could not imagine having to drink fresh blood. His mind was enough to make him enjoy human food.

"Sabina, I've made some spells to protect your house. At least those werewolves couldn't get close to here" Aiden said later.

"I don't think they're coming anytime soon. They could indeed be wolves during the day, but in the book it was also explained that it would require a huge amount of magic and impact on their bodies. If they continuously force their bodies with the form of a wolf, without getting moonlight, they can lose control of themselves" Sabina explained.

"So they need time to hibernate too" Aiden said.

Sabina nodded confidently. He then tasted his arbei cake and seemed to enjoy it very much.

"Can you eat human food?" ask Aiden later.

"Hm?" tanya Sabina looked up. "For us, eating and nourishing are two different things. If we are hungry, it is enough to eat bread, meat or anything like what is eaten by humans. But even though we eat, we cannot digest the nutrients from those foods. We can only take nutrients from human or animal blood" Sabina explained.

"I don't think you're any different from ordinary people. You can even take a walk during the day,"

"could. But as a consequence, my power has declined drastically,"

"How does it feel to live without thinking about death?"

"Dull. You won't have any hopes or ambitions considering you don't have a time limit to achieve them,"

Aiden half imagined Sabina's words. He agreed with Sabina's opinion that eternal life must be very boring. Aiden was still wondering when suddenly Sabina stood before him. The girl then rushed towards the front door.

***

Sabina ran to the door. He felt someone coming to his house and was very surprised because the person came suddenly. Sabina found Nora standing in the doorway and turned her back.

"It seems that your sister is coming, Sabina," said Nora, aware of Sabina's arrival.

Sabina ignored him and immediately grabbed the doorknob to open it. As soon as it opened, a pair of men and women stood at his door. The girl with short curls was red. While the brown-haired man was smack. Both of them were black-eyed and pale-skinned just like Sabina.

"Well, I haven't even knocked on the door yet" chirped the girl with an exaggerated look of surprise. The man behind her only smiled faintly looking at Sabina.

"Hi, long time no see" said the man short.

"What are you doing here, Irish, Joshua?" ask Sabina.

"At least let us in first," replied the spoiled Irish.

Sabina seemed to hesitate for a moment. But then he stepped back and let his two guests in. Suddenly Irish eyes rounded and her smile spread wide. It turned out that Aiden was already standing at the end of the room and was caught by Irish eyes.

"We should have trouble getting into this house, so you keep a witch in your house, huh, Sabina?" irish said with a big smile.

Sabina turned to Aiden who was standing looking at her as if asking who the two people were.

"That's Aiden, she is indeed a witch as you say," Sabina said.

Irish ignored him and darted towards Aiden while extending his hand.

"My name is Irish Rickle. I'm Sabina's younger sister" Irish said.

"Aiden Catbones," Aiden answered, welcoming Irish support. The coldness instantly thrust into his bony breech. Aiden shuddered a little.

"If she is," continued Irish pointing at the man who came with her. "Joshua Rickle, he's our relative" he explained.

Joshua nodded lightly and was replied with the same nod by Aiden.

"So, Bella, what brought you here?" sabina asked Irish who was sitting sweetly on her living room couch. Irish then gave a loud shriek when she saw the traces of a werewolf on Sabina's wall.

"So those werewolves attacked you too, Sabina?" tanyanya.

"What do you mean 'also'? Who else did they attack?" sabina asked back. He sat down next to Irish and told Aiden and Joshua to sit down.

"Look," said the Irish looking back at Sabina. "Actually I came here because Dad told you to come home. A few days ago werewolves who came out of nowhere attacked our home. Luckily the forest Nymphs who hate the werewolves are helping us with their magic" Irish explains.

"But strangely enough, the werewolves attacked during the day" Joshua added.

Irish agreed. Sabina only looked at Aiden and recalled the same event that happened at her home the other day.

"Wolf people also attack this house during the day" Sabina said.

"What makes them so strong?" ask Aiden later.

"We don't understand either. There must be a certain cause they could be like that" Joshua replied.

"When the Ephestus magic stone was stolen, werewolves also attacked our village" Aiden said.

"Is it possible that they're working with witches?" ask Irish then.

"We'd better negotiate all this with Rickle's other family. Sabina, you have to go home" said Irish.

Sabina shook her head hard.

"No. I'm not going home. I've made a big mistake. I've killed a human. You will never forgive me" said Sabina.

"One two humans won't make us hate you. Go home. We need you, Sabina, "persuade Irish again.

Sabina thought for a moment. Then he remembered Aiden.

"What about Aiden?" asked Sabina later.

"Don't mind me. I have been wandering alone all this time. It will make no difference" Aiden replied later.

Sabina looked at him sadly even though Aiden kept trying to convince Sabina.

"Take this witch home. I think the weirdness of those wolves also has to do with magic. Maybe he can help" suggested Irish.

"How's it?" sabina asked Aiden.

Aiden seemed a bit doubtful. He could not imagine visiting the vampire family home. But the vampires he had known all along were indeed quite good. She recalled Nora saying that witch blood is no better than frog blood. But what exactly is the blood of the frog itself? Doubts clouded Aiden. But then he began to think that his wand had been reacting since he lived with Sabina. So he decided to go to the Rickle family home.

"Sorry to trouble you guys" Aiden said later.

"Happy," answered the cheerful Irish.

***

Another name is werewolf. Also called lychantrops.

Outcasts are humans who become vampires without drinking vampire blood or without being bitten by vampires. They become vampires through magic, curses, or things like that. They can't be perfect vampires. They cannot live in the sun, they are always hungry, and their bodies can be damaged if they do not drink fresh blood.

***