The mountain path twisted before us, a narrow spine of stone snaking through snow and biting wind. Gondo led at the front, muttering to himself about loose rocks and hidden pitfalls. Evileye walked silently at my side, her small frame wrapped tightly in her cloak. Tia and Tina flanked us, barely making a sound despite the treacherous footing.
We'd been walking for maybe an hour when Tia suddenly sidled closer, her voice a hushed whisper carried by the wind.
"Hey... Alex," she said, hesitating just enough to sound unsure.
I glanced at her from the corner of my eye, not slowing my pace. "Hm?"
Tina, on my other side, leaned in as well, her voice equally quiet. "How did you kill that many Quagga? Shouldn't you have gotten exhausted?"
Tia nodded vigorously. "Even someone like Evileye would get tired after fighting that many for that long. And she's... you know, special."
For a second, I considered brushing off the question. But then I caught the genuine curiosity in their eyes. It wasn't suspicion. It was the fascination of people who had witnessed something beyond their understanding—and wanted to make sense of it.
I exhaled slowly, letting the cold air chill my throat.
"Normally," I said, keeping my voice low so Gondo wouldn't overhear, "a person would collapse after a battle like that. Blood loss, fatigue, cursed energy depletion, you name it. Even a high-tier adventurer would be lucky to stay standing after an hour."
I paused, stepping over a jagged rock.
"But I'm not human. Not anymore."
The twins stiffened at my words, exchanging a quick glance over my shoulders.
Tia leaned closer, practically pressing herself against the wind to be heard. "Then... what are you?"
Tina matched her sister's intensity, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "Are you like Evileye? A true vampire?"
They thought they were being discreet, whispering under their breath like naughty children. But they hadn't realized they weren't the only ones eavesdropping.
I didn't miss the way Evileye's crimson eyes sharpened under her hood, the slight tilt of her head betraying her careful listening. Every fiber of her tiny body was tensed, ready to catch every syllable.
I allowed myself a faint smile.
Instead of answering immediately, I turned my head slightly and met Evileye's gaze—just for a heartbeat.
She froze. Not out of fear, but out of anticipation. Like a scholar glimpsing a page from a forbidden book and realizing it was far older—and far more dangerous—than she'd thought.
I turned back to Tia and Tina, my voice casual but carrying a weight that made them both shiver.
"You're not wrong to wonder," I said, my words deliberately slow. "She—" I tilted my head slightly toward Evileye without looking directly at her, "—has already started to see. Started to understand what kind of being I am."
The twins swallowed almost in unison.
"But if you're hoping for a simple answer," I continued, stepping deftly over a fallen tree branch, "you won't get one."
Tia hesitated, then whispered, "Do you... do you feel anything? After killing so many?"
Tina nodded nervously. "Like... trauma or guilt?"
I chuckled under my breath, a sound that wasn't entirely warm.
"Trauma?" I repeated, tasting the word like something foreign. "No. I don't feel guilt for ending the lives of those creatures. If anything, I find it... natural."
A gust of cold wind swept past us, rattling the loose stones along the path.
"I suppose," I added thoughtfully, "that's because my mind doesn't process it the way a human's would. I don't see a battlefield littered with corpses as a tragedy. I see it as... inevitability."
The silence that followed was heavy, broken only by the crunch of our boots against the icy ground.
Tia and Tina shrank back a little, no longer pressing for answers, but their eyes remained wide, filled with a cocktail of awe and wariness.
And Evileye... I could feel her gaze burning into my back.
She was trying to fit me into a box she understood—undead, vampire, demon, or perhaps something else. But I didn't belong in any box she knew. Not fully.
We continued onward, the path growing steeper and more treacherous.
I could feel the questions bubbling under the surface—the twins itching to ask more, Evileye dying to confirm her suspicions—but for now, the mountain and the mission demanded our focus.
Still, I could sense it. The gap between me and them had widened. I was no longer just an ally or a fellow adventurer in their eyes.
~~~
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