Fire Breath
The Vampire

Aiden passed through dozens of long, winding, bright passageways. The walls are clad in marble. The red carpet covered almost the entire floor. Crystal lights were also hanging along the passageway. Aiden felt like he was visiting a luxurious palace even though there were no guards inside.

After a few moments down the hallway, Hazel opened a large wooden door with a gold-plated handle. Behind the door was a room that was not very large. A set of neatly lined dark blue sofas filled half the room with a low table in the middle. On the other hand, a pair of large windows faced towards the vast grassland below. The blue curtain that covered the window was blurting out the darkness behind the window.

A beautiful woman with long red hair and curls turned to face them. The woman looked just as young as Sabina and Irish. He then smiled warmly at them and immediately invited them to sit down. Suddenly Sabina rushed towards the woman and they hugged her for a moment.

"Mother.." said Sabina briefly.

"Welcome to Sabina. How are you doing? You look a little thin now," said the woman, looking at Sabina from top to bottom.

"I'm fine, Mom. I miss you."

"Oh, I miss you too, son,"

"This is my mother, Sybilina. Mother, this is Aiden Catbones" Sabina said.

"Oh, hello, Aiden. I've heard Sabina will bring a human friend. Therefore I prepared some dishes," said Sybilina kindly.

"I'm a witch" Errata Aiden.

"Didn't witches eat human food?" sybilina asked with a small smile.

Aiden was embarrassed.

"Alright, I think we should start a serious conversation right now" Hazel said. "Irish, Joshua call the others" Aiden ordered.

Soon the two vampires darted away. Hazel sipped the cup of tea that was served in front of her. Sybilina, Sabina and Aiden continued to look at him while waiting.

"I never thought you were Nigel's grandson" Hazel told Aiden. Suddenly Sybilina gave a startled cry and turned her surprised gaze to Aiden.

"really? Are you really Nigel's grandson?" ask Sybilina later.

"Right," said Aiden nodding in confusion. "You know my grandfather?" tanyanya.

Hazel seemed to be breathing heavily.

"Nigel Catbones is a great wizard. He once saved me and Sybilina who were almost completely slaughtered by werewolves, without even looking at us as vampires" Hazel explained later.

"Right, I was a vampire and was certainly an easy target for werewolves. But Nigel wanted to help us when half the people in his village were already victims" Sybilina said.

"So that's why dad forbade us to prey on humans? Because mom and dad were saved by humans?" asked Sabina later.

Hazel nodded slowly.

"I owe him. He wanted to save me even though I had done evil. Therefore I gave him the Ephestus stone as an apology" Hazel said.

"Ephestus' Rock? That magic stone came from a vampire?" chirped Aiden half in shock.

"of course. The stone came from the vampire heart. Decades ago a vampire was killed by a werewolf. Before dying, he stored all the magic power in his heart until it was petrified and immortal. It was an era when war between werewolves and vampires was still common. Therefore, the vampires gave Ephestus the stone to improve their magic. After the war died down, the stone began to move hands, until I managed to get it. But I think Nigel deserves it because he saved me" Hazel told me at length.

"Yes, then grandfather used the stone to improve the ability of witches in the village. He put the stone in the middle of the village and made it a center of magic power" Aiden said later.

"He used that stone for the whole village? And if he uses the Ephestus stone for himself he can live eternally like us vampires" Hazel said later.

"So the Ephestus stone came from my father?" asked Sabina later.

"really. But for humans, the magic stone could indeed not be carelessly used. Not all witches have enough power to hold the stone in their bodies and make them immortal" Hazel replied.

"It can even be said that the stone chooses its users" Sybilina said.

Suddenly the door of the room opened violently and the sound of footsteps immediately made them turn towards the door. From the outside, Irish and Joshua are followed by four other vampires behind. The vampires then walked up to the sofa and sat down with them.

"So this is the human witch?" asked one of the vampire men whose hair was golden and glittering under the light.

"Or a witch?" ask the other vampire guy whose hair is dark brown.

"His name is Aiden Catbones. He's the grandson of the man I respect. You better be polite to her, too" said Hazel loudly.

"Pardon their insolence Hazel. They are young indeed" replied the male vampire whose face was very similar to Joshua's, despite appearing older and weary.

"Mrs. Catbones, forgive our disrespectful children. My name is Misa Rickle, and this is my husband Savio," continued the golden-haired and extremely beautiful vampire woman, her body even glittering as her long golden hair covered almost her entire shoulder. Misa pointed to the man who looked like Joshua.

"I'm Leo, witch," said the dark brown-haired vampire while chuckling.

"Leo, Dion, you're going too far. It's not appropriate for you to treat guests like that" Joshua said later.

"Ah, Jo, you're too stiff. We are trying to get along. Don't you think, witch?" leo answered with Dion's laughter.

"Enough! Shut your fucking mouth!" savio finally. Dion and Leo immediately stopped laughing and just raised an eyebrow and muttered softly. "No need to care about them Mr. Catbones," continued Savio kalem.

"We are just nine. We already know how those lycan have started to move. In my mind, they want to start another war with the vampires. Though we vampires are divided and no longer live in colonies anymore. While they've been living together for a long time in large numbers" Hazel said. He took a breath, then sipped his tea. His eyes looked tired even though his face looked young and handsome.

"We can't win against Lycan if we're this miserable. Moreover, I suspect that the lycans are cooperating with witches who are making them undergo lasting change" Hazel continued.

"Are you sure the Lycan are working with witches? They don't like people other than their own kind" asked Savio.

"You're right. But the other thing is if they are controlled. A powerful magician can affect lycan considering the magic power of the lycan is weak. And under the influence of a magician, the lycan horde could become much more powerful and could even change into their own form." Hazel.

"Direful. Whereas one colony of lycan alone can consist of a hundred tails. How can we defeat them if they can change their form as they please" said Dion, who is increasingly interested in the topic.

"What's more they're hard to kill" Leo said.

"It wouldn't be hard to kill them if they were in human form" Sabina said later.

"But they can change shape at will. Even during the day" Dion said.

"Therefore we must kill the witch who gave them power" Aiden replied.

"really. We need to find a way to find the witch. I don't know what the purpose of controlling the lycan is. But he certainly has quite a lot of power" Hazel said.

"But how to beat those lycan? True said Dion, lycan that has changed form is very difficult to kill. The witch must have been heavily guarded by the lycan," asked Savio.

"The only weapon that can eradicate lycan is Silver Bullet-Silver Bullet. The bullets were not made haphazardly. I know a weapons expert who made that silver bullet. Name's Zomace. He lives at the end of a mermaid island in the south" Hazel said.

"Then we should see him as soon as possible" Savio said.

"Wait, Savio. We have to make a plan. That's why I gathered you all here. We need silver bullets. But it will take a long time to find him. That lycan-lycan won't stay put. And so, we need help also to hold on as long as possible until we get the silver bullet" Hazel explained.

Everyone was silent to Hazel's explanation. Each of them realized just how dangerous the situation this time was indeed.

"Then what's your plan, Hazel?" ask Savio then.

"We are for duty. Savio, go north and meet Lovany's family. They're still our relatives and you've met them before. I don't think they'll hesitate to help us" Hazel said with a nod. "Irish and Joshua, you're looking for information about the witch who controls the lycan. Ask the nymphs . They have a lot of information because they are everywhere and hate lycan very much." Hazel continued. Irish and Joshua nodded in agreement.

"What's the job for us?" tanya Dion embraces Leo.

"You guys just sort out the lycan-lycan that's temporarily bothering us. With your abilities, make as many weapons as possible to hold the lycan against our territory" Hazel replied.

Dion and Leo gave their thumbs a sign of agreement.

"And to find the silver bullet" continued Hazel who then looked at Sabina and Aiden. "I want you to look for him."

Aiden and Sabina mangangguk agreed immediately.

"alright. I myself will stay in this house and prevent any bad possibilities." continued Hazel.

The conversation on that night was finally over. Aiden was feeling very tired and sleepy. After the vampires left the room, he and Sabina left.

"Sabina, Aiden," called Hazel as Sabina and Aiden were about to reach the door.

"What's wrong?" answer Sabina.

"Hurry back as soon as you get the silver bullet. You bear a heavy responsibility" Hazel said.

Aiden and Sabina nodded in unison. Hazel took them out of the room. They walked through the same hallways as before. Aiden follows Sabina without knowing the girl's purpose. After a while of walking, Sabina grabbed the gold-plated door handle on the right side of the passageway they were walking through. The room behind the door was similar to the room where they were talking earlier. The difference is, there is only one sofa in the room and the rest is filled with transparent purple bed. The bed looked so comfortable that it made Aiden even more sleepy.

"Rest first. Tomorrow we leave, "Sabina said briefly.

Without needing to answer, Aiden obeyed Sabina's orders and immediately fell asleep in bed. Sabina darted towards the sofa beside the bed and looked at Aiden.

"Truly a person who has no sense of alert," he muttered as he continued to stare at the man.

***