Chapter 14 Chapter Thirteen To Love

The vampire examined her from head to toe, and for the first time in all the years he had known Danica, she seemed so vulnerable.Like a delicate flower, a strong wind can blow her away. Zirkan Rufo wanted to come to her, stroke her beautiful neck tenderly, and kiss her, gently at first, until his desire was built, and then he could immediately put his fangs, which were transformed into The concrete extension behind him, thrusting deep into that throat, drinking Danica's blood, feeling the warmth of the woman it had wanted the first time it saw it. But Zirkan Rufo couldn't do that, even though the Chaos Curse was urging, eat... No, biting Danica now would kill her forever.Rufo didn't want Danica dead, not yet, until it gave her enough of herself, a transformed self, for her to join him in this vampiric state.No matter what Hunger, Thirst and the Curse of Chaos commanded it, the vampire would not obey and could not bear Danica's death.

Rufo had decided that she would be its queen.How much more satisfying is the way I have chosen to exist if Danica is by my side. And the prospect of Danica becoming its queen was all the sweeter when Rufo thought about how badly Cadderly would be hurt by doing so. While Zilkhan Rufo wanted Danica badly, he wanted to hurt Cadderly even more.It would show off Danica, its Danica, to that priest, tormenting Cadderly with the realization that Cadderly's life had been a lie in the end. Rufo was dreaming, salivating from the vampire's half-opened mouth.It slid a step forward, its lower lip trembling, almost forgetting its own sanity, and pounced on the unconscious Danica on the spot.

It caught itself just in time, straightened up, and turned, almost embarrassed, to face Histra, who was now standing beside him in the room, a poor scarred bastard. "You guard her," Rufo ordered. "I'm hungry," Histra said, eyeing Danica as she spoke. "No!" Rufo growled, the order so strong that the lesser vampire took a step back. "You are not allowed to suck this man's blood! Moreover, if other guys come into this room with similar thoughts, give me a good warning, and I will completely destroy them!" A hiss of disbelief escaped Histra's pale red lips.She looked frantically back and forth between Rufo and Danica like a hungry animal.

"You're going to tend to her wound," Rufo continued. "If she dies, you'll be tortured forever!" After speaking, the confident ruler swept out of the room and headed for the wine cellar, using the daylight hours to gather strength. In one corner, it noticed the vague silhouette of an invisible imp perched, and nodded slightly.If something went awry here, Druzil would alert it telepathically. ※※※ Danica's return to consciousness was a slow and painful journey.When her mind regained consciousness, she also remembered the massacre at the camp, thought of poor Dorigen, and learned that the Moezhi Library had fallen.The tormenting dream brought Danica to the end of the journey, and she opened her eyes in a start.

The room was dim, but not dark, and Danica remembered after a while that she had been caught in the middle of the night, and she knew that the next day must have dawned.She held her breath, trying to separate reality from nightmare. That's when she realized that reality had become a nightmare. Danica's hand came out suddenly—the movement sent a sharp pain up her leg—and scratched her neck, looking for a puncture wound.When she was sure the skin there was smooth and undamaged, she relaxed a little. but where is sheShe struggled to prop herself up on her elbows, but immediately fell as Histra, still smelling of burnt skin, jumped up beside her, glaring down at her.

The remaining skin on the back of Histra's head split open under the tension supporting the facial expression, so the face drooped as if wearing a loose and soft mask.And those horrible eyes!It looked as if it would fall out of its destroyed eye socket, land on Danica, and roll along the ups and downs of her body. Danica tried not to look relieved as the ghastly monster backed away.Then she found herself in a bedroom in the library, probably the private quarters of Headmaster Thobicus, for the place was elegantly furnished with dark wood furniture.A huge flip-top desk sits on the opposite wall, just below a magnificent tapestry, next to a leather bench.Even the bed exudes luxury, and it feels like it.It was a four-poster bed with an open canopy, and the mattress was so stuffed that it was as soft as pillows.

"You're still alive!" Histra said, her voice venomous.Danica could understand where this anger was coming from. She and Histra had been rivals all their lives, and Histra tried desperately to charm Cadderly, but to no avail.Danica, with her exotic, almond-shaped tawny eyes and unruly golden raspberry hair, was a beautiful woman by all standards.Histra disregarded the tenets of her order, disliked beautiful women, and even less when they were rivals—and they always would be rivals. Today, Histra is an ugly monster, the complete opposite of the beauty she once was, and while she clearly has the upper hand in the confrontation before her against a weak and bruised Danica, this fact puts her in a difficult position. The defensive situation is on the verge of an outbreak.

Danica uses her insight to overcome nausea and fear.She could sense danger in Histra -- if Histra wanted to kill her, Danica couldn't stop her.But Danica believed that Histra would not kill her.Here, Rufo was calling the shots—Danica knew that from their encounter in the foyer—and if Rufo wanted Danica dead, he could have killed her himself in the forest. "You're so sweet," Histra said, more to herself than to Danica.The sudden change in the quality of its voice confirmed Danica's suspicions that the vampire was on the verge of collapse.Histra put a hand on Danica's face, moving it gently along her cheek, down the side of her throat.

Histra's ugly face suddenly poked forward, her mouth opened wide, spraying salivating saliva and hot breath on Danica's face. Danica nearly fainted, thinking at that moment that her life was about to end suddenly.However, she quickly regained control of herself and looked up to see Histra back away. "I can destroy you," the female vampire stated unemotionally. "I can gouge out your heart and eat it. I can poke my finger through your beautiful almond-shaped eyes and dig into your brain." Danica didn't know how to respond to the threats.To feign fear of Histra's promises?Or remain indifferent and declare that the female vampire is bluffing?

She decided to declare that the other party was bluffing, and went one step further. "Zirkan Rufo won't allow it," she replied calmly. Histra pounced forward again with her bloody face, but this time, Danica didn't flinch. "He wants me," Danica said after Histra stepped back. "I am his queen," the vampire protested. "Master doesn't need you at all!" "Master?" Danica whispered breathlessly.She had a hard time linking those words to Zirkan Rufo.The man didn't even have control over his emotions when he was alive. "It loves you?" she asked innocently.

"He loves me!" Histra exclaimed.Danica started giggling, acting like she was trying to swallow it back. "How?" Histra demanded, visibly trembling. Danica knew she was taking a risk, but she couldn't see any other options. "Have you ever looked in the mirror?" Danica asked, but restrained herself as she finished the question, as if she had just thought of something. "Oh, of course," she added softly and condescendingly. "You can't look in the mirror anymore, can you?" Danica starts off by saying, "Rufo loves me." But decides it's going to be a little too exciting for the female vampires. "Rufo loves no one," she corrected Histra. "It doesn't know how to love at all." "You are lying." "You don't know either," Danica continued. "You are eager to please Goddess Suni, and you have never been able to distinguish between desire and love." The mention of Suni caused palpable pain in Histra's distorted features.Its hand was raised high, bone exposed between patches of charred skin, as if to slap Danica hard, but just before the impact, the door of the room slammed open. "Enough," Zirkan Rufo said in a calm voice. Histra looked over her shoulder and gradually lowered her arms. Rufo turned his head to one side vigorously, waved his hand sideways in front of his face, and then Histra obediently moved to the side wall, lowering his head—the loose skin on his face drooped, almost brushing against its big chest. "Even so clearly defeated, you still find the energy to play your tricks," Rufo said to Danica, admiringly.He moved over to the bed, a calm smile on his face. "Hold your strength," he whispered. "Heal the wound, and then..." Danica laughed at him, stealing its fancy, its smug smile and semblance of calm. "And then what?" she asked sharply. "You've loved me forever?" She noticed her snicker hurt the vampire deeply. "I just explained to Histra that you don't know how to love." "You and Cadderly keep that feeling all to yourself," Rufo replied sarcastically. "It seems like it's some kind of limited commodity..." "No," Danica retorted, "Cadly and I learned to share in that relationship. We learned what the word meant." "I loved you..." Rufo began, but was cut off. "Impossible," Danica snapped back, again before Rufo could make his point. "No way, you love Histra too. I know you love her because you put her next to you first." Danica continued, looking at Histra, hoping to catch the female vampire's expression. Find some clues that can help her make use of the problem. "It's not like that," Rufo began to protest, trying to explain that it wasn't even it that brought Histra here.But Danica interrupted again, making the unfinished sentence sound quite different to Histra's ears, as if Rufo was denying any love for her. "Of course it is!" Danica yelled with all her might, and she had to pause to hold back the waves of pain just to catch her breath. "You loved her," she continued, sinking deep into the pillow. "When she was beautiful." The words hit Histra hard, and Danica saw it clearly enough.The female vampire raised her head, and the already frightening facial features were distorted by the increasing anger, making her look even more terrifying. "But now she's an ugly monster," Danica said, careful to sound disappointed in Rufo, not Histra. "And it's no longer attractive." Danica saw Histra take a small step forward. "Banne Taylor Mara." Druzil growled in a low voice, shaking the head of Dogface, which was sitting invisible on the desk in the room. Rufo was also shaking his head, wondering how this conversation had gotten so out of hand.It wasn't easy for him to regain control of the situation and at the same time move beyond the pain of Danica's words. "If I'm disfigured like this," Danica pressed on. "If I turn ugly, like Histra, Cadderly will still love me. He won't find a new queen." Rufo's lips were moving, and words that could not be adequately refuted were on the verge of leaving.It stabilized itself abruptly, straightened its back, and regained some dignity. Then Histra slammed into it in its entirety, and they both flew sideways, spinning and slamming into the wall, biting and scratching, punching and kicking, doing anything that could cause pain. Danica knew her chance was fleeting.She struggled to sit up, moving her injured foot over the side of the bed as carefully but as quickly as she could.She stopped suddenly, completely still, trying to focus on a small movement that caught her attention, trying to block out the constant sounds of Rufo and Histra struggling. Danica's hand shot out to the side like a biting poisonous snake, her fingers tightly clasping something she couldn't see with the naked eye but could clearly feel, just as the barbed tail hit her. moment before. Druzil immediately began to writhe violently, clamped tightly by the woman's strong grip.It returned to its present state, because it seemed silly to use invisibility now, and Danica obviously already knew where it was. "You're still not fast enough," Danica said grimly. Druzil started to fight back, but Danica swung her other hand hard, smacking the center of its protruding black eyes, and suddenly, it seemed to the imp, the whole room was spinning. Druzil slammed into the wall and fell, muttering "Banna Thelemara" over and over again.If the attack it had just attempted on Danica was successful, it knew what Rufo would do to it, or wanted to do to it, and in some eerie sense Danica might have saved it from Yu was expelled back to the original realm of existence.But what Druzil did was for the curse of Chaos, and Zirkan Rufo happens to be its container now, and while Rufo will never see that clearly, keeping this woman alive is a very, very very dangerous thing. Danica was out of bed by then, jumping toward the door on her better leg. "You can't hurt me!" Druzil said harshly to her, and it came like a gust of wind, wings flapping and tail stinging swiftly. Danica, perfectly balanced on her better leg, moved her hands at her beck and call, spinning in blocking circles in the air ahead of her. Druzil's tail jerked out repeatedly and quickly, being parried several times before being grabbed again. The imp roared angrily, wagging his fingers in the air. Green bolts of energy burst from the fingertips, stinging Danica. "You can't hurt me," Druzil sneered. But the imp couldn't keep up with Danica's next move.She tugged at the tail so it turned sharply, then grabbed both wings with one hand while still holding the tail tightly.Danica tugged and twisted hard, tied the wings and tail together into a knot behind Druzil's back, and threw the stunned imp, slamming its face against the nearest wall . "Maybe not," she agreed. Druzil rolled over on the floor, muttering curses, not appreciating the one-liner one bit.Danica turned toward the door. Zirkan Rufo stood before her, seemingly amused by the way she handled the imp.In the far corner, Histra was kneeling on all fours, her skin hanging loose to the floor, her eyes downcast, being utterly beaten by Rufo. "Nice job!" Rufo complimented, his eyes falling on Danica. Then Danica punched it in the face again. Rufo turned back at her deliberately, anticipating the next punch too, and the third, the fourth, and the barrage of blows that followed.Finally, the vampire had had enough, let out a growl that was out of this world, sent a shudder down Danica's back, and then swept a hand across her face, knocking Danica momentarily off balance, and then Grab her arm. Danica knew how to easily defeat such a thin bondage, but this vampire's grip was the strongest she'd ever seen in her entire life!She was held tight, fearing her elbow would shatter whole under the pressure. She raised her free free hand to block Rufo's swift slap in a wide circle, but its force rushed through the barrier and knocked Danica's head violently sideways.Dazed, Danica couldn't resist Rufo throwing her back on the bed, and then it came to her, strong fingers around her throat.Danica grabbed Rufo's upper arm and twisted, but to no avail. And then Danica just stopped struggling, sublimated her fierce survival instincts, stopped trying to get Rufo's hands off her neck, stopped trying to get air back into her lungs.In that moment, Danica wishes the vampire would kill her, thinking death trumps all other options. Then there was only darkness. ※※※ The trail twists and turns, sometimes passing through passable areas between towering stone pillars, turning around and back the same way.Sometimes, a panoramic majestic scene can be seen, and other times, the three companions feel as if they are walking in an extremely narrow underground passage. As fate would have it, Cadderly did not see a wisp of black smoke rising from the south wing of the Moezhi Library, and his sight was first blocked by a high mountain closest to it.If he had seen the smoke, the young priest would have found his god song, his magic, and followed the wind the rest of the way to the library.For, urgent though Cadderly was anyway, he was anxious to lend a helping hand in the battle he thought Dorigen would face, and so he did not listen to the song of Denir, not wanting to drain his energy.He was overworn in the battles against Aballister and the Wall of Trinity. Pikel and Ivan hopped along the path behind Cadderly, unaware of any problems—except that Ivan was tired of the whole trip and wanted so badly to return to the place he knew as home. in the kitchen.Pikel was still elated at being able to wear Cadderly's blue wide-brimmed hat, thinking it would complement his dyed and braided hair and the rich green of his beard. But Evan just thought he looked stupid. For a while they went on in silence, and at a certain point Cadderly stopped, thinking he heard a song.He listened to the wind, which sounded like Brother Chanticleer's daytime hymn.Cadderly looked around, estimating the distance still to be covered on the journey, and realized that even if the wind was perfectly accurate, he couldn't have heard Brother Chantikeri singing, and the library was at least five miles away. As he moved forward to catch up with the bouncing dwarves, Cadderly realized that the music he heard did not come from his ears, but from his heart. Chanticlee was singing—it was definitely Chanticlee's voice—and Cadderly heard it the same way he heard Denir's song. What would this mean? It hadn't occurred to Cadderly that Chantikri's sweet singing might be trying to hold back some terrible evil.The result of his rational deduction is that his mind has been adjusted to be in perfect harmony with the god Denir, and the chant of Chantikri has also reached perfect harmony with this god. For Cadderly, the presence of the song was a good thing.It didn't stay in his thoughts constantly, but it was still frequent enough for the young priest to know that Brother Chantikeri had been singing far longer than usual.Still, the young priest hadn't thought of the ominous connotations, only that the man must be feeling extremely religious today—or maybe Chantikeri wasn't really singing, and Cadderly was just hearing the perfect song. Just echoes of carols. "You're trying to camp again?" Ivan the yellow beard, who was getting more and more irritable, asked after a while, pulling Cadderly back from the music and its incomprehensible meaning. Cadderly looked down the rocky path ahead, trying to remember where he was. "Five miles to go, at least," he replied, "with rough terrain to go." Evan snorted disdainfully.In his opinion, the Snowflake Mountains are not that difficult to walk, even if winter still holds this area firmly between its last fingers.Ivan hails from the far north, in the pristine cutting sands and rugged Galana Mountains, where there are more goblins than cobblestones, and icy winds blowing from great glaciers can freeze humans into blocks of ice in minutes . The dwarf gave Pikel a final roll of the eye, Pikel let out a chuckle in return, and Ivan stomped past Cadderly, leading the way. "Tonight," Ivan stated. "We'll walk in the front door before the stars come out!" Cadderly sighed, watching Ivan lead the way at a brisk pace.Pikel chuckled as he bounced past after him. "Give it to me," snapped Cadderly, realizing the reason for Ivan's displeasure.He tore the hat off Pikel's head, dusted it off, and put it on top of his own.Then he fished out the Crock Pot from his knapsack, the makeshift helmet the green-bearded dwarf had made for himself, and plopped it on Pikel's head. Pikel's chuckle turned into a distressed "whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo" ※※※ A few miles to the northwest from the three, a scratching noise in the branches above Xuelin woke her from trance.The elf was slanting in a recess of thick branches near the main trunk of a broad elm tree, and to an unknowing onlooker it might have been in a strange and dangerous position.But with just a slight twist, the nimble Xuelin turned completely around, her back flat against the branch, her longbow protruding beyond the tangled branches and taking its place above her. The elf's violet eyes narrowed, scanning the bustling canopy of leaves for the source of the noise.She wasn't very worried--the sun was still high far above the western horizon--but she knew the sounds of all the natural movements of animals in the area, and could recognize anything running so loudly up the main branch of this tree. What is it, it must be running away desperately to make this noise. A leaf moved suddenly, not far from her.Her bow is bent back. Then the leaves parted and Xuelin slackened the bowstring, smiling as a familiar white squirrel glared down at her. Percival rushed down frantically, Xuelin's smile faded into a confused expression.She wondered why Percival, whom she had met so long ago, ran so far away from the library?And what was the reason that so obviously stimulated the creature? Unlike Cadderly and the dwarves, Shaylin had seen the plume of smoke and considered going back to investigate at the time.She guessed, however, that it was only the fire of a ceremony, perhaps a mass funeral for priests who had died during the winter months and were now buried.So she decided at the time that it had nothing to do with her, after all, what she should do was to go full speed back to Simista, and there was no doubt that King Abereth was very much looking forward to the news she brought back. She did her trance early, while the sun was still high, planning to travel all night. Now, seeing Percival jumping around and screaming like crazy, Xuelin regretted that she chose to move on.She should have gone straight to the library, straight to Danica, her friend, when she might have needed her help...and still was. Xuelin swung under the branches, her feet lightly touching the next lower branch.She bent her legs and fell back, swinging her knees around the branches so she could grab the lowest branches with one hand.She continued to spin slightly on the momentum and fell to the ground.Percival, who was following behind, struggled to catch up. Xuelin stretched out an arm, made a ticking sound, and Percival leaped towards her from the lowest branch, sending the elf girl with it to sprint eastward at full speed, back to her friend.