The Fallen Vampire

Oba was one of the last fallen territories that was still largely untouched by the races of light.

Far from being able to be called a kingdom, it was a city nestled deep within a secluded forest that was all but impossible to find without a map.

Finally, after multiple long days of travel, the group finally arrived at the large iron gates that closed off the city to the outside world.

At the back of the group, Vermeil had her head covered with a spare cloak Lucia had in her ring.

She wasn't too enthusiastic about giving her possessions to a human but with both Indra and Keran ensuring that it was ok, she found little else to complain about.

Before they attempted to gain entry, Keran reminded Vermeil of the rules they had set prior.

"Remember, keep your head down and do not say a word."

"I got it, I got it. You can have a little more faith in me you know?" Vermeil said with a smile.

Now that she knew that Keran did not dislike her, she found it easier to speak more comfortably with her.

The werewolf princess however was still growing accustomed to such familiarity. "Yes well... we will see if my faith in you is well placed."

"It is!"

"As I have said, we will see."

"I can't wait for you to-"

"Shut up. It would seem we've already been noticed." Indra suddenly said.

The gates to the city swung open with a loud clang and several demonic guards streamed out, each of them at the overlord realm.

Drawing their weapons, they all pointed their blades at the group.

"They have a human!"

"There's a human among them!"

"State your business!"

"They've come to infiltrate us!"

Indra merely rolled his eyes as he glanced at Vermeil who was trembling in the back.

'We should have left her in the fucking forest.'

"Human male! Get on your knees and put your hands behind your head!" A guard suddenly shouted.

Indra suddenly flinched as he realized that he was the one who had been mistaken as a human.

A deep sense of irritation began to surge from within his chest.

At his side, Lucia was finding all of this to be absolutely hysterical.

"Pfft... Yeah, 'human male' do as they say!" Her cute laughter was unfortunately being suppressed by her hand covering her mouth.

"I will turn you into a pair of cheap boots." He countered.

Vermeil would have found this situation to be hilarious as well,

"Cease your chatter and get on the ground right now!" A guard warned again.

"I am no human, incompetent whelp."

Indra finally stopped hiding his presence and aura, causing the guards to reflexively step back from it's sheer strangeness.

His aura was unlike anything they had ever felt before, their fear of the unknown caused them to step back even though they could feel he was only at the mortal realm.

"What... are you?"

"You would not believe me if I told you."

At this moment, Keran decided to step forward and the guards immediately recognized her.

There was only one family of black werewolves left in all of Tayar, making guessing Keran's identity as easy as checking the time of day.

All of the guards bowed respectfully, their greetings containing an immense amount of respect and fear.

"We greet the princess of the Garou."

"There is no need for that." Keran assured them. "My party and I request entrance into your city."

"T-That is no problem but... the lord will want to know that a guest as esteemed as yourself is within the city. I am afraid we must inform him."

"I have no issue with that. In the meantime, please show us to your best inn."

"Yes, princess!"

The guards prepared to open the gate when they seemingly all had the same worry at once.

The bravest among them turned around before asking the dreaded question.

"Princess... I know it is not my place to question you, a-and I certainly mean no disrespect but... who is that man beside you?"

Keran put on a charming smirk and a bit of her fanaticism spilled out as she grabbed Indra by the arm possessively.

"He is my beloved, and the last of vampire royalty. Be sure to pay him the proper respect."

As the guards stood there with stunned faces, Indra looked down at Keran's arm that was intertwined with his own.

'This girl... she just does whatever she wants, doesn't she?'

-

When the group entered into the city, the downwards atmosphere of the citizens was incredibly noticeable.

The fallen were clearly downtrodden, their threat of near extinction making it rather difficult to smile and be merry.

However, their depressive atmosphere was immediately dispelled when their eyes fell on Indra and his group.

Normally, a group filled with beautiful women walking the streets would have been the focus of everyone.

However, no one was able to pay attention to any of the girls.

None had even noticed Keran.

Without exception, everyone's eyes were on the tall vampire who stood out among them.

Indra's charm was so mesmerizing that he had captured the hearts of all of the citizen's without even meaning to.

"Who is that?"

"By the gods.." 𝑓𝓇ℯℯ𝓌ℯ𝑏𝑛𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

"What is he?"

"I've never seen someone so... perfect."

Naturally, Indra could hear the chatter coming from the citizens as well as feel all of their gazes upon him.

However, he did not understand why they were behaving in such a manner, nor why they were staring at him as if he were some sort of magical creature.

When the group arrived at the inn, surprisingly it was mostly empty.

Apparently Oba did not see very many travelers, as such they had no trouble acquiring a room for all five of them.

As the group headed upstairs to their lodgings for the night, Keran's ears and tail dropped sadly.

"You didn't have to get all of us separate rooms you know? It would have been nice to catch up a bit and maybe spend more time together..."

The sad look she was giving him tugged at his heart strings and he almost considered inviting her inside.

However, there were two women that he had to sort out important matters with first.

"We'll... catch up later, little wolf." He said apologetically.

Without turning back, he slipped into his room and left the rest of the girls inside the hallway.

Raising his hand, he rubbed the bone ring on his finger and called for his closest companion.

"Come on out, Enyo. I want to know why you've been avoiding me."

It did not take a genius to notice that she had been acting strangely.

Even when the sun had set and she was free to come out of her ring, she still chose not to do so and he had no clue as to why.

Because he could not talk about something so sensitive in the company of the others, he'd waited for this exact moment to finally receive some answers.

Indra's ring glowed a bright white and Enyo appeared right in front of him, a sad smile on her face.

"H-Hello..."