The Fallen Vampire

That universal idea is no more prevalent than it is within the secret realm.

The flora and fauna here are every bit as eyecatching as they are dangerous, and the monsters here grow quite well in such fertile environments.

But oddly enough, the most dangerous aspect around the secret realm is the strangers who come from outside to visit.

Near an old abandoned temple, two women held onto each other for dear life as they fell down a steep cliff.

Before they could hit the jagged ground at the bottom, one of them created a large slide made from icy magic.

Together, the two were able to slide down for a much less jarring landing.

Once the two of them rolled to the ground, one of the women groaned audibly and complained for what felt like the 1,600th time.

"I told you to leave me… I\'m only slowing you down and you won\'t get far like this…"

Her companion seemed to be hearing none of it, and she went back to trying to lift her up against her will.

"I don\'t know what I could have done to make you feel as if I am in the habit of leaving allies behind, but I confess that your misunderstanding of my character is quite annoying."

With a heave, the woman lifted her up over her shoulder like a big duffel bag.

"Stupid elf…"

"Say whatever you want… but I\'m not an elf anymore."

A wizzing sound came from overhead and the woman ducked down just in time to avoid taking a flying spear to the head.

\'So persistent…!\'

Looking up, the woman glared at her group of persuers who were still doggedly chasing after her.

They were a group entirely comprised of human men.

The four of them wore sickly green robes that covered most of their bodies and dark blindfolds to cover their eyes.

They too slid down her fabricated slide and began trying to close the distance between themselves and their prey.

The woman clenched her fist aggressively.

A deluge of spikes formed up along the surface of the slide- killing one but only nicking the rest.

Once they started charging up their own techniques, the woman realized that she could not aptly defend herself and her companion while carrying her like this.

So as much as it stung her pride, she had no choice but to keep running south and hope that her persuers eventually gave up.

She turned tail and started to run when her exit was suddenly cut off by the appearance of yet another green robed human. Your next chapter is on mvl

"It seems my junior brothers are having trouble... I\'ll give you all a hand just this once."

The woman being carried could sense the arrival of the newest addition with the last of her energy.

As her eyelids became heavier and her body hotter, she pleaded with the one carrying her for the final time.

"Listen to me, Aja… I need you to cut your losses and get out of here while you still can… I\'m already out of time here."

The lich queen shook her head stubbornly as she readjusted her grip on her passenger.

"Don\'t tell me what to do, dog. You just focus on conserving your energy and let me think of a way out of this."

Ayame wanted to argue further and insist that the elf was being foolish and wasteful.

But she was out of energy to waste her breath anyway.

Her last bit of energy was used trying to raise her claws to her neck so that she could kill herself.

But as she lost strength in her arm, her consciousness soon faded and her head dropped lifelessly.

The last thing she heard was the sound of a fight breaking out, and somewhere off in the distance, a wolf\'s howling.

-

In her dreams, she heard a song.

It was one so old and beautiful wit would have instantly brought tears to her eyes were she awake.

She struggled to place the voice that felt so undeniably familiar to her.

A soft warmth seemed to fill up her entire body as she rested.

It was an inviting, reassuring feeling that could only be compared to the hug of a long-lost loved one.

Miraculously, it was as if the lightbulb in her brain finally had power.

She opened her eyes slowly to observe her surroundings.

A beautiful face was above her that closely resembled her own.

The only difference was that this one wasn\'t quite so hard and still possessed both of her eyes.

But just by looking at them, it would really be quite easy to mistake them for sisters.

At the sight of her, Ayame felt her good eye well with tears.

"M-My..."

"Easy now, Ma." Keran soothed. "Don\'t try to talk just yet. I haven\'t gotten rid of all of the poison."

Ayame looked at her own body and realized that she was on fire.

Her body was wrapped in bright pink flames that seemed to be healing her instead of turning her into a sexy slab of grilled meat.

\'My daughter with the beast god\'s bloodline… How incredible she has become.\'

Though Keran instructed her mother not to move, Ayame still reached out to take her hand.

She gave her hand a firm squeeze and stared at her tenderly.

"I… searched for you." Her voice was hoarse and dry; coming out as barely a whisper.

"Were you worried about me?" Keran joked.

Ayame nodded without a moment\'s hesitation.

This admittedly caught Keran by surprise.

She was expecting her mother to say something like; \'You are my daughter, so of course you survived\'.

They had developed a kinder relationship over the years, but this was dramatically more sentimental than she was used to.

Keran leaned down and gave her mother a kiss on the forehead as she wiped away her teary cheek.

"Don\'t worry, Mother. I will not leave you alone in this world or any other."

Ayame blamed the poison for making her so damned sensitive.

And since it totally absolutely wasn\'t her fault… she let herself weep silently with joy just this once.

Keran held her mother silently; equally grateful that the two of them were able to reunite like this.

It wasn\'t until almost twenty minutes later that Ayame remembered the situation that she was in before.

"T-The lich..?"

"Aja is fine, don\'t worry. I\'m sure she\'s out there bugging my husband and making up for lost time."

With help from her daughter, Ayame was finally able to sit up on her own and the flames on her body were dispelled.

Keran gave her mother a quick glance over, checking her pulse and the internal condition of her body.

"Can you draw in you qi again?"

Ayame closed her eyes for a moment before nodding. "It is slow as of right now, but I can feel it again. The poison is no longer inhibiting me."

"That\'s good. I\'ve already purged most of that nastiness from your system, but we should still go and see Vermeil and see if she has any detoxifying pills on hand. Can you walk?"

"Hmph, of course I can walk…"

Keran shook her head wryly; pleased to see that her mother\'s sense of pride didn\'t seem to have been damaged at the very least.

Despite her request for independence, Keran was a filial daughter and helped her mother stand up anyway.

"Just consider it the wants of a needy daughter and allow me this, yea? Like when I was little."

"…I suppose that will be fine. Just do not coddle me too much." Ayame grumbled.

"Yes, yes, I understand."

Supporting her mother discreetly, Keran helped her outside of the tent for the first time.

She was surprised when she found four men and women in tribal paint kneeling just outside of the tent.

"This..?"

"These are the members of the hunting party who saved you and Aja." Keran explained.

A woman lifted her head and Ayame received one of the biggest shocks of her lifetime.

"We are pleased to see the mother in law of the Dai-Shi is in good health. My group may rest a bit easier now that we know you are well."

"A-Asanbosam..? Dai-Shi??" Ayame sputtered.

She turned around to her daughter in wonder and a tiny bit of horror.

Keran chuckled cutely at her mother\'s reaction.

"Well? Don\'t be rude, Ma. They specifically requested to wait here for you. They were afraid they\'d gotten to you too late."

"I-Is that so…"

Ayame turned back to the men still kneeling in front of her and she lowered her head curtly.

"You all have my thanks. I owe you my life."

"Please, think nothing of it, my lady. Those of the Black Myth live to protect each other from all that would seek to tear us asunder."

After bowing once again, the four of them vanished into thin air and left Ayame even more confused than before.

"The Black Myth..? What is that?"

Keran scratched her cheek in embarrassment. "Well, Taira and Aveena may have decided to start a sect of their own in the time since we\'ve been here… Is that surprising?"

Ayame\'s jaw fell open.

"I guess so…" Keran muttered.

She led her gobsmacked mother through the village while trying to give her a quick little run down of their time in the secret realm.

At several points in the story, Ayame felt as if she were going to faint from the shock of the news.

And then, they reached Taira and Vermeil\'s location.

The two of them were just south of the village, sitting in an area that appeared to have once been a large lake and waterfall.

But now, the entire thing was frozen solid and turned to black ice.

A feat that should have been utterly impossible, since the weather was firmly in the mid seventies.

Sitting crossleged in the middle of the lake was Taira, and he was somehow much more eyecatching than he was before they\'d entered.

He wore a much finer deep blue kimono that was woven with lustrous gold along the sleeves and hemming.

A white fur collar similar in appearance to his very own tails hung around his shoulders and enhanced his mystical nobility.

His silver hair had developed a shinier white and powdery hue to it, almost perfectly resembling freshly fallen snow.

The usual red mark on his forehead had turned black in color and now had a more intricate pattern.

His ruby red eyes flashed open and a pillar of energy burst forth from his body.

Half a second later, Vermeil, who was at his side, had a similar reaction.

After several years, they were breaking through to the next major realm.