It was just another day in the cave. Luciel came back after hunting, and Violet was preparing food for herself and the raven.
The echoes of droplets were slow and loud, the sound of the deep river Nyx.
---
Violet's PoV
It's been 3 year and a half, so much has happened.
But this habit of Luciel to hunt like a beast didn't change. If only I had hunted myself today.
"Mr. Raven! These horns on these rabbits! They are broken! Can't you just ask Luciel to stop being rough on them?" I said, and Mr. Raven shook his head in disappointment.
"Ah! I need this horn to make medicine! Mr. Raven, what should I do now? Do you have any alternate recipes?" I sighed.
The recipe Mr. Raven told me was for the pain I experience now and then.
This weird illness, I don't know what it is, but it was affecting my body and mana. That's why I can't use spells properly.
Mr. Raven has told me a few recipes that help with the pain, but I still can't use many spells besides minor ones.
I was slowly grinding the rabbit horns when an unknown voice reached my ears.
"Are you sure that brat is here?" It was a voice I've never heard before. Someone had come inside the cave.
---
Present time... When Violet was discovered by demons...
Their eyes met mine. They were staring like they knew where I was before even coming here.
Their appearance was no different from the monsters we've seen. They had huge bodies; one of them had red skin with two horns and long, sharp hair. The other one had one horn with green skin and mane-like hair.
They had black and red uniforms. Their eyes were bright red with slit pupils like lizards.
Their mouths slowly opened, showing long needle-like teeth with drool dripping on the ground.
"Well... well... well, what do we have here! A human! A human in the Realm of Night!" One side of his mouth stretched ear to ear in a grin.
My heart was beating fast, sweat sticking to my skin. My mouth went dry, and words were stuck in my throat. I wanted to scream, but I couldn't.
"What should we do, Malao? Should we play with her here? Pull out her limbs and then sell her as a slave?" The excitement on their faces was palpable.
"What good would a limbless slave be? I don't know how to get you in guard lines! Well, we do have something that'll pay us in carts," the other monster spoke.
My tongue was trembling, but if I let my fear take over me now, I'd be dead before they killed me.
"Who—who are you?" I spoke. Then they looked at each other with blank expressions. For a few seconds, you could even hear the wind around, then suddenly they broke into laughter.
"Who are we? The audacity of this girl! Oh, the curses! Are you listening to her, Sieom? Who are we!" Their laughter felt like the barks of a mad dog, scratching my ears and the walls of the cave.
I was slowly trying to pull my arrow, nocking it while imbuing it with a minor spell of paralysis.
But then, in just a moment, they stopped laughing.
"Enough jokes... Get her, Sieom!" The monster pointed at me, and the red-skinned monster jumped at me.
In a blink, he closed up to my face, almost capturing my head. But then a strong gust of wind made me close my eyes, and when I slowly opened them, I saw the face of Luciel.
I felt his hands around my arms and thighs. I was in his arms. He saved me before they could grab me.
"Luciel..." The relief felt like my chest was released from tight bands.
Then realization dawned on me—now he was in danger too.
"Luciel... why? Why didn't you run away?" I spoke to him. He looked at me and, in his usual cold tone, said,
"Run? Me?"
---
Luciel held Violet with his eyes locked on the two monster-like creatures. He slowly helped her stand up, and without breaking eye contact with them, he spoke,
"Go and hide..."
Violet stared at his eyes, standing still.
"GO NOW!" Luciel yelled, and Violet jumped in place. She didn't want to abandon him. She wanted to fight with him, but she knew she would only be a deadweight.
She turned her eyes away and tried to run, but then those monsters in uniform spoke again. "Oh no, you don't!" The red monster leaped toward Violet, but Luciel grabbed his wrist and threw him against a wall.
The green-skinned monster, still staring at Luciel, chuckled and spoke, "Oh my, the excitement after seeing the child of Light made me forget why we were here." His claws slowly came out, and his face twisted in anger.
"How rude of me, acting so brashly... Accept my greetings, last of the House of D'Nocthera—Luciel Oren D'Nocthera.
Your House of the Noble of Nights has been ruined. You are just a flickering amber." The monster was grinning ear to ear.
He struck a nerve in Luciel, and suddenly a dark aura started pouring out of Luciel like clouds of ink.
"I guess these will be your last words!"
(Burning Blossoms)
The cave was covered in many red flowers. It felt like the seedbed of blood.
In moments, the red blossoms sprouted with crimson petals blooming. Then slowly, the petals started flying around, burning, and then a chain of explosions filled the cave.
One after another, the cave shook, the walls rattling and parts of it falling around.
In the corner of the cave, far away from the active battleground, Violet was staring at them...
"Noble of Night? What—who are they? Are they talking about Luciel?" Violet was still thinking of any way she could help Luciel.
Then a gentle touch slowly sank on her shoulder. Violet was about to scream, but a soft white wing covered her mouth.
It was the white raven, but the air around him had changed.
"Don't scream. If things get bad, we need to make sure they don't find our escape route..." He was talking about the small opening near the river that led to another part of the cave that could give them time to get out.
"Mr. Raven! Where were you? We need to help Luciel! And what is this Noble of Night? The Realm of Light and Realm of Night! Who are they?" Violet whispered slowly, sweat dripping like hail.
"Forgive me, princess. I can't go out in front of them. Some eyes don't watch for the person that holds them only," he said.
"I guess silence will only complicate things from now on." The White Raven closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Princess, the world you are in is called the Realm of Night, and you are not from here, princess. You don't belong here..." He spoke in a cold, calculated tone.
Violet's heart dropped in her gut. Her lips trembled in disbelief, her eyes screaming to say it was a lie.
"I am not from this world? What are you saying? Just because I don't remember my past—"
"It has nothing to do with that. You are human. Humans don't belong here, in this realm.
The Realm of Night is ruled by three major races...
The Guardians of Screeching Abyss, who live deep within the forests of the abyss;
The Nobles of Nights, the race that commands balance in this realm;
The Heirs of Darkness, the race that fills every part of this world."
The raven spoke, but Violet was still in a whirlpool of questions.
"These are titles of ancient races—the Dark Elves, the noble Vampires, and the raging Demons." The White Raven sighed. The truth of the dark world around Violet was in front of her now.
"The Dark Elves, Vampires, Demons?" Violet was trembling, and then, without missing a beat, she spoke, "Who are they?"
The obliviousness on Violet's face shook him. The realization sank in—she had forgotten everything.
"Forgive me. I guess I was protecting you from something that you didn't even know existed.
It's better if you don't know about them, but I'll tell you this...
A human shouldn't appear before them. For them, you are not better than a lowlife or animal," the White Raven spoke.
"But why? Luciel is kind to me! He—he is... Noble of Night... but he didn't—"
"In normal circumstances, he would've drained every drop of blood in your body, princess. He is the Noble of Night—the Vampire with Golden Blood.
The Golden Blood means royalty of this world," the White Raven's tone was grim.
Violet stared at him. She didn't know what was going on—who were vampires, what it meant to be human, everything...
Then she heard a loud explosion...
"What was that?" She turned her gaze in the direction of explosion...
"No..." She uttered with her heart gradually setting....
and saw Luciel drop to the ground with blood pooling under his body...
Suddenly, it felt like her head was exploding, bells ringing in her ears, her eyes growing blurry.
She started squirming in pain, then a voice echoed in her head...
"Princess! What happened to you! Princess!" The raven cried out...
But the pain was tearing Violet's head apart...
And suddenly a something flashed before her and she open her mouth gasping for air...
"Violet..." She screamed, "MAMA!!!"