TRACK 17

Don't look ahead, there's stormy weather

Another roadblock in our way

But if we go, we go together

Our hands are tied here if we stay

Oh, we said our dreams will carry us

(Disparate Youth - Santigold)

********

He felt both Archie and Steve stiffen at the sentence. He did too, willy-nilly.

'That's it. I was right,' he thought, tightening his lips. 'Blast me.'

"You won't?" He asked anyway, managing to avoid a voice crack by a whisker. The reasons for that answer were a bloody mystery to his brain for the moment.

"I admire your determination, Hisirdoux. But as you have said yourself before, you are not a Leader," said Tai-Yang. "You don't know what it means to have an entire population expecting protection, order, and respect from you," a pause in which his red eyes stared back at him with the same silent study shown earlier in the red door room. "When Haoyu chose me as his successor, just before he died, I promised myself not to allow any of my people to end up like that. To suffer in the same way."

"... You are right." Douxie found himself replying, taking a small step forward in the direction of the Vampire.

"I can't understand what it means what you find yourself facing right now. I can't understand what it means to receive such a burden. And I'll probably never understand it," he tightened his lips, a slight desperation going to cling inside his chest. "But as much as I'm not a Leader, I know what it's like to be terrified to see all the people I care about dead around me." He took in oxygen, then threw it out. "If it were up to me, I'd do it all myself. If I had the skills, I swear I would. But with them ? With their mentality and skills? With how many there are going to be of them?"

'Don't raise your voice. Don't raise your voice. Don't you dare raise your voice...'

"I am not a Leader, but my group and Nari of the Eternal Forest, although we are few in number, we are already in a fight against the remaining deities of the Arcane Order," he said. "There are only a few of us. Fewer than it would probably be best for us to be, but there was no time to ask for more people."

There hadn't been any at all. Merlin had given him a short time limit, and even just finding Steve, Toby, and Aaarrrgh had been a war. He was more than sure that if he had had more minutes, he would have been able to find someone else, whoever it was. Maybe Simon if he wasn't working, even though he hadn't been seen as a Guardian of Arcadia by Merlin.

"They are kids. They've barely started living. But they're not backing down. We're not backing down," a small pause. "And if we manage to defeat them, or make sure that they are exhausted enough so that they have no energy to fight back some more for a while, we would be left with them. They are many because they are trying to enlarge their ranks day by day. They have no qualms about finding the most painful methods to assassinate anyone who gets in their way, as you said. That would be a real suicide."

"I think you're underestimating yourself..." he replied calmly.

"No. I think you're overestimating me, Tai-Yang." Douxie rebutted. "I don't make miracles, sadly, even though Magic could be seen as one. One of the many, but most important reasons I'm still alive is that your kind helped me. Or else, I would not be here right now."

"Because you, in turn, had saved someone from the Vienna's Nest before. Saving you back was the least they could have done. The Vampire Codex would have not allowed it otherwise," a moment of silence. "I'm sorry, but my answer remains the same. I will not let any of my Nest get into this situation."

Douxie mentally cursed, frowning.

"But who says they'll let you live in peace?" He jumped back up after a bit. Raising his voice a little. "Who's to say that, in case they win , they will wipe out every single human being from the face of the earth, they won't decide to skim the next creatures they don't like? How long will it be before the contempt and hatred will spread to other fronts?"

He clenched his fists slightly, feeling his arms tremble. A flick of Archie's tail hit his back, almost to tell him to calm down. He breathed in and out. "The reason why Bastian is seen as a legend is because he did not let the risks hold him back. He saw that the problem would get bigger and asked for my help of his own free will. If he had not done that, how many more magical creatures would have been captured and killed? How much longer would they have continued with what they were doing?"

"My answer remains a no..." said Tai-Yang, paralyzing him on the spot.

Archie's tail gave him another tap on the shoulder. Then another. And another. Douxie was very close to blurting out something else, but with the blows he received, he forced himself to take another big breath of air and try to put himself in the Vampire's shoes, even though a good part of him wanted to let go of the reasoning and insist more, no matter the consequences. At least he would have done everything he could for it instead of surrendering.

'He is new as a Vampire. He is new as Leader. He wants to see danger as far away from himself and his people as possible.'

Douxie swallowed hard, pushing down his anger and staring at his feet. The feeling of weariness and exasperation, of defeat took possession of him.

'We're back to square one. Enemies rising and zero allies.' He thought. 'Bloody hell.'

"...I say no for my Nest, though," Tai-Yang added suddenly. "This doesn't mean I won't try to warn the other Clans of what is happening. There will be a meeting next month, but I will ask if it can be anticipated," he said, causing him to look up in surprise. "If I had something for you to be contacted on or to be found, I could act as a liaison..."

"Oh," he blinked several times, the hope jumping back in while his heart speeded up a little. "Yes," a small pause. "Is the phone number okay or would you prefer a locator potions?"

It was Alice's work. She was the best of the two at making location potions.

If he had been part of the Arcadia Coven, or any other Coven, he probably would have had a Soul Symbol for Summonings, too.

"Both would be convenient," Tai-Yang observed after thinking about it briefly. And yes, he was right. Both would have been better.

He hurriedly ran his fingers over the runes on the bracelet. He made a small cruet appear in his hands with an agitated and quick sound.

"Pouring the contents onto a garment or object, even a few drops, thinking about me while doing so, will bring it to me. If you pour it into a basin, you can directly see me, albeit in a limited way," he said, going to extend it to him, cautious not to touch him in the whole process. "For the cell phone, on the other hand..."

Tai-Yang pulled out a phone so new that it looked as if it had just been taken out of the box. It looked as if it had never been used, especially counting that it was still inside a small plastic bag, a bag that the Vampire himself gently opened. The never-used thesis, however, was thrown out the window at the same moment he unlocked the screen with his fingerprint.

Once he did that, he handed it to him, leading him to type the number into the address book. And inexorably to pull out his own, noting several unread messages that he promised himself to answer to once outside the Nest. This before giving it to him and waiting for him to do the same.

"I apologize for the rude attitude I had." he ended by saying, though a little with difficulty, blushing in embarrassment.

He had been for every kind of standard. Had been another Vampire, the response could have been very different.

"It was, a little." Tai-Yang agreed with him, still looking calm, while saving his number in his phone and giving it back. "But I understand that fear and anger can... cloud the brain sometimes. That's another reason why I can't let it sway me or get involved... or the desire for revenge would take possession of me. And I don't want to be bent by it."

'Yeah. The amplified emotions... Bastian had said it was hard to escape the route. And that the most dangerous one of all is wanting to kill someone because it approaches bloodlust.'

"I see. That makes a lot of sense..." he found himself murmuring, doing an instinctive bow. "My apologies again. I am very grateful."

Tai-Yang gave no immediate reply. He peered at him again and again, his brow furrowed, as if he wanted to say something but was unable to find the right words. "...Forgiven. I hope you can forgive me in return."

"Yes. Of course," Douxie replied. "Couldn't do otherwise. It is already a lot."

He was still helping, in his own way. Hell, even though Douxie had been desperate for help, the Vampire had all the right to refuse him without giving him any explanation.

"I have a gift for you. As thanks for visiting," Tai-Yang said, pulling him out of his thoughts and causing him to arch his eyebrow in mild surprise.

Douxie gulped back a 'there is no need' before it could slip from his mouth. It was a friendship offering. And it meant a lot too.

'Both of the Guarantees are a blessing right now, then.'

The Vampire, shortly after saying this, turned around. With his back to him, he went to approach one of the many pieces of furniture. After moving several books and letting his index finger run over the surface of the material of various objects, he seemed to find what he was looking for.

"If it weren't for the probably unsuitable time of day for you, I would invite you to dinner with us," he asserted, going back to look at him and flanking him, extending a wooden box to him.

Hisirdoux slowly opened the box, finding himself looking at pendants composed of large canines, some particularly sharp and all ivory white, attached to brown rubber cords.

'Paralysis, poisoning, exsanguination, and cure, all in four canines. A wish for good luck, if given as a gift. And especially strong in potions with teeth as ingredients .' Douxie could even mentally hear Bastian's voice telling him the first part of the thought.

"I... Thank you, again. I'm honored." He said, still surprised. He closed the box with yet another bow, hinting at another small smile. He paused a little, unsure if he should say what he actually felt the need to say.

He ended up speaking anyway.

"I would like to give something back, but I don't know what you would enjoy... If there is something, you can ask for it."

********

Jim let out a sigh of relief when the trio was in the direction of the exit from the building.

They did not seem to have even a scratch on them. Three Vampires were escorting them, two who were the Guards, behind them and one with rather bizarre hair -and with a small smile plastered on his face, which was shocking- wearing kind of normal clothes, next to them.

He was talking about something -unclear, as he spoke softly and rather quickly- to Douxie as they moved in the direction of the door.

The raven-haired boy was reciprocating with a seemingly peaceful and contented expression while clutching a small box in his arms, just as Steve was doing with another one, a little bigger.

Once they were outside, however, they both stopped speaking. And all the citizens and Guards bowed or knelt, prostrating themselves forward, as if they were before a deity. A fact that made it quite clear who the Vampire was.

Jim forced himself to bow in turn, and Toby did the same, his cloak shifting dramatically forward, showing a hint of the tip of one of the wooden stakes, but which the Trollhunter covered with a hasty gesture made on instinct, taking advantage of the fact that no one was looking at him at that precise moment. Fortunately .

'Not to do number ten. Remember not to do number ten.'

"Get up, all of you," simply asserted the Vampire Leader. Everyone did so. "Atsushi, Lijun. Take the Nian and accompany the Son of the Dragons and the others to the exit."

"Yes, sir," they both replied in chorus, Lijun's feminine voice rising over Atsushi's cooler, lower one, immediately beginning to set off at a rapid pace, disappearing into the crowd with inhuman ease, even as they opened a gap with their passage, putting them all in such order that they looked like members of the army.

A few seconds later, Jim and Toby ended up getting closer to the group. Jim sensed Cold Fury's gaze settle on him with curiosity, then it returned after several seconds to Douxie, without asking any questions. The Wizard had already made both the small boxes disappear, leaving him and Steve empty-handed.

"They'll be here in a little while," he said. "I suggest holding on tightly... And keep your hands on the saddle, she doesn't like to have her fur pulled."

'Holding on tightly?... She? Who?' He could not help but wonder, looking first at the Wizard and then at Archie in search of an answer. Neither of them gave any, but in front of his puzzled and confused gaze, Douxie was still smiling. And more energetically than before.

So the question remained firmly planted in Jim's head until the duo returned, all the Vampires shifting even more to let them pass, forming two parallel lines.

Jim gasped in shock when he saw what they had behind them, with two reins urging it forward, not even if it were a horse.

The Nian was a kind of huge red lion with scales, a single large blue horn in the center of its forehead, a very thick black mane, razor-sharp teeth -rather than seemingly lethal- and a tail from which a living flame came out. The kind Jim had seen in Charmander's design from Pokémon. On its back was a cloth saddle with a large wooden stirrup and three horns, two on the extreme sides and one in the middle.

The creature was quite menacing to see. Especially because of its size and the claws, always blue, on its paws and just those long teeth.

'Oh boy...' he thought, unable to keep his eyes from widening. The expression was also very similar on Toby and Steve's faces.

The two Vampires pulled her -it was she, the Leader had said before- by the reins until they brought her in front of them. Arriving, the beast sat down with a thud that made the ground shake a little.

"There you are, Mingxia." The Vampire approached the Nian, going to lay a hand on its forehead, leading the creature to stick out its tongue -long enough to be scary, too- and lick the back of it. A few seconds later, Cold Fury stared back at the crowd that was still around them, murmuring things.

"My citizens," he announced, loud and clear. " I ask you to go back to the Feast. I will join you later."

The crowd took little to no time to obey, starting to disperse immediately, leaving only the Guards with them.

"You can pet her if you want, she is not aggressive." Cold Fury said after a bit of silence. "As I said before, the only thing is to not pull her fur. She doesn't like it and it might annoy her. The Guards will help you as much as they can, later."

Jim was not one hundred percent sure he wanted to do this, quite the contrary. Part of him would have liked to answer 'No, look, we'll just walk, really.' and then duck out, do just that -trying to survive the full amount of stairs in the opposite direction- and get back to Camelot. Tired or not.

He was half surprised and half not -his smile said a lot- to see Douxie already move in the creature's direction to give her a little scratch under the neck after having his hands nuzzled by her, wrenching the Nian into a hoarse growl of appreciation, so deep that it seemed to Jim that it went through his bowels and that it touched something in his eardrums that had never been touched before.

"Such a good girl," he cooed under his breath -as if he was talking to a dog, not to a massive Lion beast- then going to turn his head in Cold Fury's direction, continuing to caress her. Archie meanwhile came down from his Mage's shoulder to sniff Mingxia and be sniffed back by her. "She is so beautiful."

"Isn't she? Haoyu had found her when she was just a cub," replied the Leader, smiling in turn to him. "You have good taste. She's part Dragon even though the Lion line is prominent, so I'm not surprised."

Hisirdoux smiled even more, almost childishly. Then he went to look at them as well.

"Have no fear," he said softly. "Legends describe the Nian pretty badly, but they're basically like big cats."

'That's a very, very big cat...' Jim thought. 'And yours feel like an understatement.'

"If trained, at least," added Archie.

"And she is," concluded Tai-Yang, "She never attacked anyone unless the past Chief asked for it. And she won't, as I have no desire to hurt any of you."

'Well, that's... good.'

Toby did so almost immediately, walking up to Mingxia with his hand extended in the direction of her muzzle, his gaze somewhat intrigued, and a smile that went to paint his lips a little more as he did so. Especially after petting her.

"She's so... Soft..." he asserted admiringly, going to look first at Jim and then at Steve. "Try it! It's amazing!"

At this, the Trollhunter decided -albeit still a bit cautiously- to try to do the same, feeling stared down by the creature's large emerald green eyes as soon as he took the first step.

He did exactly as he had seen both boys do before him. He let her nuzzle him, feeling her hot breath collide against the center of his palm, then leaned it against her mane and -against all his anticipation- Mingxia allowed herself to be petted by him, too, even going so far as to rub herself repeatedly against his fingers. Kind of like Jim had seen Toby's grandmother's cats do with the legs of furniture. And like Archie did with Douxie.

As Toby had said, her fur was so soft and smooth! It was nothing short of a delight under his fingertips. It looked as if she had recently been washed, because of the flowery scent she gave off.

After Steve in turn attempted -soon after Jim had taken to stroking the Nian in turn- he caught a glimpse of the Leader casting a glance at Lijun. The female Vampire Guard nodded and jumped nimbly onto Mingxia's saddle, going to grab the first of the horns.

"Go ahead and climb up," said Lijun, extending a hand as an aid in Hisirdoux's direction.

"Thank you, m'lady." he responded, making the Vampire stare at him with a weird look on her face before biting her own lower lip, showing the teeth just barely.

Douxie grabbed her hand and mounted, albeit in a slightly slower and more calculated manner. As if he wanted to make sure he would not slip immediately after trying.

He imitated Lijun shortly after. Jim grabbed his hand and climbed right up, the wood of the stirrup pressing hard against the sole of his shoes and feeling all the powerful muscles of the creature beneath him once he sat down.

In turn, Jim helped Toby, who ended up behind the second horn. And Toby helped Steve. Then, closing the line, up went Atsushi.

"Hope to see you all again," Cold Fury said. "Please remember the promise you made."

'What?'

"I will." Douxie immediately responded, lowering his head just a little. "Thank you again for your hospitality."

Lijun gave the Nian a gentle tap on the hip with her hand, grabbing the reins in unison with the other one, then stroking her head.

Mingxia began to move soon after. With every movement she made, the muscles tensing and relaxing could be fully felt by Jim.

She started with a slow advance, but soon Jim found himself having to hold on to the saddle, as she became so fast and agile that he seemed to risk falling at every turn.

The Nian reached the stairs in no time. Once there, she even jumped several steps in unison, whether they were upward or downward.

Jim heard Steve make a high-pitched sound during a jump downward. He turned slightly to be sure he was okay, but he almost risked slipping to another abrupt move of the creature.

He was held back by both Toby's arms and Archie, who bit the edge of his shirt while flapping his wings and staying just upon Douxie's shoulder. The Wizard, on the other hand, turned as a result and held out his wrist to help him regain a more stable position.

In doing so, he in turn risked slipping down due to yet another sudden up and down. He managed to avoid it by a whisker, grabbing the fabric under them.

"Bloody hell," he commented, still surprised.

After a small moment of shared shock, they all chuckled out loud. And started laughing more with another brisque movement.

And in the blink of an eye, they were at the bottom of the bridge, in front of the gatehouse.

Douxie carefully climbed down from the saddle. He left a few more caresses for Mingxia as Jim cautiously dismounted in turn, feeling both the gaze of the two Guards on him and the impact of the journey build up more than he would have expected. It had been rather fun, but it had left him with a sour body, a feeling similar to getting off a plane after a long journey. This one had been pretty short, so it was kind of surprising.

Toby, while he was doing that, moved forward, clutching the middle horn of the saddle, and Steve waited for him to dismount so he could do the same.

Jim reached the ground safely, moving backward a few steps, and staring back at the male Vampire guard.

Tobes, on the other hand, risked dangerously slipping while trying to place his second foot on the stirrup, leading them all to become alarmed and both the Female Vampire and Jim to react promptly.

This prevented him from taking a tumble but still caused him to make several hurried and agitated movements, in which he had clung to the saddle as best he could until he was able to dismount altogether.

In the process, however, the cloak he was wearing had opened and slipped mostly behind his back, still on him thanks to the small string connected to the neck of the pelt and that was around his shoulders... leaving though in perfect view the belt with the thirteen stakes and the vervain bomb dangling from the chain.

'Oh no...'

********

The reaction was instantaneous and explosive. Both Lijun and Atsushi came down from the Nian with fury flashing in their eyes, both of them in an attack stance and showing their teeth. Mingxia, on the other hand, thankfully just stood still where she was, beginning to lick her paw, though she continued to study the whole thing with her big emerald eyes.

Douxie, Archie, Jim, and Steve instinctively stood around Toby, as close and defensively as possible, ready to be attacked at any moment.

Hisirdoux held his hands out in front of him as if trying to offer a white flag to the two, feeling a slight cold sweat run down his back and his pulse quicken.

"Now, now..." he said, barely swallowing. "We should try to calm down, shouldn't we?"

"You came in here armed," asserted Atsushi dryly, with venom that seemed to drip from every single letter he uttered, starting to advance as if he were the one part lion and not the Nian. "Anti-vampire weapons in a Nest is like asking to be beheaded on the spot."

"Not having them would have brought as much risk," he found himself saying, trying to sound accommodating, leading the Vampire to hiss. He heard everyone except Archie stiffen on the spot. Douxie tried in every way possible not to imitate them and at the same time not to take a step backward, also forcing himself not to immediately create a barrier.

If they had seen him tinkering with the runes, they would have thought he wanted to attack them back, and that would have only made the whole situation worse.

"You have a vervain bomb," blurted out Lijun, equally venomous, thinning her gaze with something extremely dangerous inscribed on her face. And advancing in turn.

"Yes, we have it," he admitted, trying not to mentally curse, because, yes, as much as it was the best for getting enemies off his back, it might have been better to avoid it. "But it wasn't meant as a voluntary offense, just as a means of communal self-defense." He retorted, continuing to try to sound calm and not with the tension that was flooding him everywhere.

'It was obvious that something had to go wrong, sooner or later. With Tai-Yang everything went all too smoothly, despite my way of acting... And nothing ever goes right, so maybe I should have expected that.'

His tension joined the faint perception that he felt from Archie.

"None of us wanted to use weapons against you, and none of us still do," he cast a glance at the others, hoping they would understand that this was not the time to draw an ash stake, even if it looked like one.

He took a small pause in which he then went to shift his gaze from the first to the second Guard, seeing them stop advancing in their direction, though they appeared no less threatening. "Regarding the vervain, it was extremely unlikely that we would make use of it in any kind of situation."

This time it was Atsushi who hissed. "You have a lot of nerve," he commented. "You come in uninvited. Moreover, you do it with weapons, hiding them and announcing that you don't want to use them. Just to save your skin."

"For the lack of invitation, I have already apologized and explained myself to Cold Fury," Douxie said, raising his head. "For hiding the presence of the weapons... it was because we knew there would be no positive reaction to the sight of them."

"You Mages are bastards. All of you." The male Vampire spat out acidly, resuming moving forward again. If he had moved faster, well, that would have been a real problem, but fortunately, his gait was still within normal range. "Double Faces, always pretending to be in the right, only to strike back at the most opportune moment."

"No, I don't claim to be right," Douxie said in complete honesty. "If I were also a Vampire, I would probably understand your point of view fully instead of only partially. But I also know insecurity and a basic instinct of preservation, mine's and those of who's around me..."

'...Although Archie claims that my own is quite scarce,' he thought and stopped himself from saying.

"I am sorry to have shown such rudeness, but the prospect in the worst-case scenario was not pleasant. For any of us."

"We have rules," said Lijun sourly, even though she stopped Atsushi, going to gently grab his wrist. "And a code of honor."

"I am aware of it. My Familiar and I have lived with the Phantom of Vienna long enough to know it," he replied, taking a big deep breath. "But not knowing anyone among you, starting with your Leader, did not help to improve my initial point of view. I repeat. We did not want to offend in any way, only to feel more protected. Both in the case where your Leader did not have enough control over some of your members and in the case where, unintentionally, I ended up annoying him."

'Which fortunately did not happen, and, hell, that was a true stroke of luck...'

"Are you accusing Cold Fury of leadership weakness?" Atsushi snapped.

"No." Douxie quipped, firm, and collected. "Quite the opposite. Especially for being in his early years, he's doing very well," a small pause. They seemed less upset at this. "But precisely, not having known him beforehand and not having known the last Cold Fury, I had no definite judgment to base myself on." Another small pause, feeling the need to breathe properly. It was so fuzzin' warm in there!

"We are extremely desolated," he then concluded, immediately bowing in a curtsy, his arms entirely attached to his sides.

So did all the Guardians, at which he ended up holding all the air inside his lungs and waiting ten seconds, feeling each of them proceed with frightening slowness. That was before he pulled himself up, anxiety making him feel a lump in his throat and an insane desire to bring his hand to Archibald's fur. Or to his own neck.

The female Vampire seemed to narrow her gaze again, looking partly suspicious, but already more in a cold and not furious way as before.

Atsushi, on the other hand, squared first him and then Jim and Toby, at length, his expression betraying several hasty emotions and his lips parting only to close and tighten hard. The Guard seemed to want to say various things, but he was using every little hint of resistance he possessed to avoid spitting them out one after another.

"They deserve to be killed," said Lijun in the other's direction, noting his silence, leading Hisirdoux to feel yet another shiver run down his spine. "Or put in court to decide the most appropriate end." A small second of silence, in which the second Guard fully reciprocated the attention given to him, before the first, in turn, laid eyes on Douxie -specifically on the Nari's Guarantee- Jim and Toby. "But because of the attitude that Sir. Zhu has shown towards them earlier... I think we should get over it." She said the last part through clenched teeth, as if it was costing her years and years of life. Still, she said it anyway.

He cast a very quick glance at Jim and Toby in silent questioning, before returning -hopeful but without opening his mouth- to the two Guards, awaiting the final verdict. Archie did the same just over his shoulder, his fur still partly raised and his ears pulled back, though his tail no longer showed all the previous nervousness. Little perceptions of his tension continued to run through Douxie.

"Get over it?" Repeated Atsushi, his tone somewhere between shocked and annoyed. "We gave them the benefit of the doubt and there was a possibility that they might have decided to kill someone among us for no reason!"

"They didn't," Lijun's voice came out flat as her light pink eyes settled on Douxie, serious and calculating. "They were going to leave, now. Isn't that true, Son of the Dragons?"

"Yes, m'lady." Hisirdoux immediately replied.

"Cold Fury should be the judge of their exit," insisted Atsushi, piqued, casting a generic glare at everything and everyone.

"Cold Fury should not be bothered yet again. He already has enough to shoulder," the female Vampire let go of the other Guard's wrist, answering him with a soft look.

Then she started to advance until she was at a minimum distance from Douxie, just as Tai-Yang had done before.

It was almost as if they did not know what personal space was, even though the whole concept of 'no touching' clearly existed. Perhaps it was an attitude to put them in fear of the Nest itself. Vienna's Vampires did not do that.

Douxie made an effort not to move on this occasion as well. Archie instead leaned against his shoulder, resuming his tail wagging, while the other three continued not to be particularly distant from him, as they were not from each other.

"Do not mistake this gesture for approval, Wizard. The Leader may like you, but in case you re-enter our Nest armed a second time, we will not mind skinning you alive, bleeding you out, dividing your corpse into pieces, and feeding your flesh to the Nian. Same thing for your friends. For this time and this time only you are excused. Is that clear?"

"Yes, m'lady," he had answered immediately once again, forcing himself not to grimace or respond badly. That she was picking on him, fine, he probably deserved it. That she was picking on others, he was not fine with it.

The image had been quite detailed and had not been appreciated at all. And Archie had been all too close to snarling, something clear especially from the tension inscribed in his body and the hints of irritation that flowed out. But this -like the possible angry expletives Douxie had avoided exposing, really with difficulty- would only have risked making the situation worse again, just in their being almost free. He didn't want it. None of them wanted it.

The female Vampire nodded, then turned sharply. The movement almost brought Douxie to receive Lijun's hair in his face.

She returned to Atsushi at a brisk pace, then went to point at Mingxia with her head.

They both climbed onto the Nian's back in the blink of an eye and stood staring at all of them in silence for a few moments.

Atsushi, after the silent examination, huffed. "Go away... before we end up changing our minds." Having said that, he showed all his teeth again and glared at them.

They all jumped at the chance, setting off in a hurry without being told twice. Toby adjusted his cloak on himself as best he could, returning to cover everything.

They thus returned in complete silence to the bar room, with Toshi still there, intent on serving a Citizen -definitely drunk- who was humming a melody between hicks, with most of the notes out of tune.

They greeted the bartender with yet another small bow, receiving it in return. And after a series of moments in which they could not help but cast glances over their shoulders, they were finally out.

They all took a big breath of air as soon as the magic door -a blatant symbol of the past connection with the Mages- closed behind them. The big inhale and exhale, however, brought yet another gust of stench into their nostrils, to which they all found themselves amidst disgusted expressions, plugging their noses and having coughing fits.

"Well..." he said in a whisper, more to himself than to others, trying to ignore the pestilential smell again and the shiver that ran on his own body. "It's done."

"That was sooo terrifying, oh my gosh," asserted Toby, visibly pale in the face, bending over his legs and trembling a little. "Oh my gosh," he repeated.

"Everything okay, Tobes?" asked Jim. Both Douxie and Steve got near to him, too.

He nodded, pulling himself up slowly and wiping the sweat from his brow. "Sorry for... You know."

"Not your fault," Douxie said, frowning a little. "Told you, they get offended easily if you involuntarily strike a nerve. And, yeah, perhaps we should have avoided the vervain bomb, so that's on me."

Toby stared at him, frowning back at him. "Are they all like this?" he questioned in a low voice.

"Count that they were checking themselves out," said Archie. "They were offended. But not so much that they didn't allow us to give explanations. They could have been a hundred times worse. We've been lucky."

Douxie winced a little, agreeing with him.

They had come out alive, whole, and without being totally hated, even though the male Vampire Guard's disdain had been blatant.

"We should get back," he said instead, raising his head to the sky and staring deeply until he could see the very blurry shape of the Castle barrier. It made his eyes burn a little.

"Yeah. We really should. I want to sleep so bad, now." Toby said, yawning shortly after.

Returning to cover their heads with their hoods, they started to walk away, looking for a part of town from where they could take flight and thus return to Camelot without giving too much away.

Hisirdoux could not help but cast glances at the others as they proceeded.

'Perhaps there would have been less risk if I had asked for a carriage instead of exalting myself when Tai-Yang had offered us to ride the Nian,' he thought. 'It would certainly have lessened the chances of...'

"By the way, getting on the Lion-Dragon thingy was crazy cool!" jumped up Steve, breaking his thought entirely. "Although I didn't like the guy that was behind me."

"You would have fallen if he hadn't been there, Steve," Jim observed, smirking in the blond boy's direction.

"Hey! Don't look at me like that! Look, you were falling too! And same thing with him!" the blond gesticulated, moving from pointing first at Jim and then at Douxie repeatedly.

"It wasn't hard to do so, counting how the Nian was running... But it was your yelling that almost brought me down..."

"I don't think this is the right place and time to get into a playful banter," jumped up Archie, looking around him as Hisirdoux remembered the messages on his cell phone, going to hunt for it in his pocket. "Let's go back to Camelot first."

The screen of the phone shined under his nose and showed various messages. There was even a missed call.

When he opened one of the chats, Ashildr's, he couldn't help but arch his eyebrow, stopping moving and staring at the phone with surprise.

'Zoe, 03:08: New arrival in town. Text you ASAP.'

'Zoe, 03:22: She said her name is Badb. Creepy as hell and doesn't convince me, but oh, well. No random judgments at first meetings, okay.'

'Zoe, 03:23: I don't know whether to take her to the Lair or not. Still, she eats fucking tons of food! Like, seriously. You should have seen her!'

'Zoe, 03:25: I just wanted to warn you, though. I hope everything is going well there. And that the bird of ill omen is not enslaving you too much.'

'Missed call from Zoe, 03:40'

'Zoe, 03:41: Sorry. Clicked by mistake.'

'Zoe, This message has been deleted, 04:20.'

********

"We shouldn't have let them go," said Atsushi dryly, leaping off Mingxia once they were back in the West Wing Cave, then letting himself scan the water with a highly annoyed expression inscribed on his face.

"Maybe," admitted Lijun, still riding the Nian, going to stroke her between the ears. "But I'm beginning to think that if the Son of the Dragons wanted to see us dead, we would be dead already. Both of us. And not just us."

Atsushi barely huffed. "I'm starting to think we should add a Guard at the entrance to better control strangers. Your former suitor didn't do his job properly."

"That Wizard is a symbol. And in some ways a legend. Toshi must have gotten caught up in the excitement and stopped thinking..." a pause, in which she made an odd expression. "Then you try checking for weapons on a Mage. He made two boxes disappear inside his strange bracelet in the blink of an eye, I wouldn't be surprised if there was an armory in there. It's weird enough that we found the human with the stakes and the vervain on him."

"Exactly. All the more reason why we should have taken him out." He gritted his teeth, anger, and contempt churning in the center of his chest. "We should have gotten the anti-magic collars. Stop him from doing as he pleased."

Lijun let slip a sigh, partly exasperated. Atsushi looked at her with an unconvinced expression, and she immediately replied with a smile, albeit one devoid of mirth.

"You're still angry." She said. It was an obvious statement, but it meant something else entirely.

"And you're not?" He found himself retorting acidly, stiffening on the spot.

"Yes, but I don't shift my anger to every single individual I don't like," her gaze settled on the Nian. "It doesn't benefit anyone."

New anger exploded in Atsushi's chest, such that a series of quivers of fury shook him from head to toe, almost suffocating him from within. He wanted to start screaming. To break objects. Even break the neck of the female Vampire beside him, whether she was his sister or not.

He forced himself to turn around and take a big deep breath, albeit still shaking.

The mental image of blood splashing on the ground still flashed behind his eyelids. He could smell it -the only smell they perceived in a way that was above the norm, due to the extreme predator instincts that led them to easily distinguish one individual from another- and its sickening sound on impact, accompanied by the heartrending screams that had followed.

He remembered his breathing, gasping, as fear had coursed through his veins and atrophied his muscles. Fear that had gradually turned to shame at the realization of his actions. Or, more to the lack of them. Shame that had then, inexorably, turned in turn into a sharp, irrepressible hatred. Partly dedicated to himself, partly to Wizards in general... But it was mostly in the direction of that damned bastard and his comrades.

"It doesn't benefit anyone..." he repeated, savoring the sentence and turning partly toward his sister, continuing to try to keep control over himself, even though his blood had risen entirely to his head. A good part of himself also wished he had resumed hissing. "Benefit?"

"Cold Fury said that we will not take revenge," Lijun said in a flat voice. "And although I do want revenge, I think he's right. We are in a fragile situation, the Codex can be ignored for this time... so no, it doesn't benefit anyone. Especially not to you, brother."

"Your mouth is spewing nonsense, sister," he growled.

"No, not at all," she retorted, maybe a little upset. "I'm not blind. I can see it's eating you alive. And I'll tell you again..." She purposely sought eye contact with him. "It wasn't your fault."

Atsushi decided -at that precise moment, at those precise words, with yet another wave of anger and bloodlust that quickened his breathing- to get as far away from her as possible.

He did not want to hear her say another word. Not even the smallest, quickest one. He could not bear it.

He, therefore, started to move away from her, first at a slow pace, then gradually speeding up more and more. His sister's voice murmured his name in a disgruntled and pained tone as if she did not want him to leave yet again, but Atsushi ignored her.

He didn't even know where he wanted to go exactly, but he didn't care about that, either.

Part of him was asking him to look for the Leader and try to push him to seek revenge, but Lijun was right about that: they were in a fragile moment. Throwing themselves into a bloody confrontation against Mages-against fake Deities, according to some -would only decimate them, worsening their status as a Clan. And Atsushi did not doubt that another Vampire Clan- maybe one of those closest but inferior to theirs, with whom they had a strained relationship -would have tried to encompass theirs to gain influence at that point.

Another part of him would have wanted to go in search of the Son of the Dragons to kill him by his hand, to throw off a hint of his frustration, hoping for the relief and breeze due to the adrenaline rush he felt after a hunt... Or to spy on him.

Yes, perhaps the second would have been more useful, if less satisfying. It would also have been less harmful if it had been discovered.

Instead, the latter part of himself wanted to run until he ran out of energy, headed for his rooms, break something, and then throw himself into his bed, ignoring whether the impact would break the bed boards or not. It was not bedtime, but he had previously refused to participate in the Feast. It seemed to him nothing short of insulting and useless even at that moment.

Atsushi ended up, after a couple of seconds, choosing the third option. So, he started running.