n

n

nXavier and Sangrea quickly descended the staircase; as they neared the bottom, Sangrea’s face became increasingly worried.

n‘I hadn’t told him anything about the camps to keep him safe… Is he really ready to enter?’

n‘If something goes wrong… There won’t be anyway to escape…’

nHer eyes lit up as she watched his back slowly drift downward.

n‘No… No matter what happens, I’ll keep you safe… Even if I have to break the seal on my powers myself-‘

nUnbeknownst to Sangrea, Xavier had suddenly stopped.

nLooking past him, it became clear why. They had reached the bottom.

n“What’s this?” Xavier asked as he stared at the single object before him.

nA large square mirror with a blood red reflection. The mirror showed them the reflection of themselves, however, upon a closer look, one could see something else, something larger.

nAs she approached it and placed her hand on it, Sangrea muttered, “It’s a transportation mirror, built by the Vampires to manuaver around their camps. Vampires absolutely hate having their camps location discovered after all.”

n‘So this is the only way to get there, at least the only known way.’

n“Do we just walk through?” Xavier asked

nShe shook her head.

nShe snapped her finger, and in that instant-

n*SLASH!*

nA scythe emerged from her shadow, creating a cut on her arm before disappearing once more.

n*Drip* *Drip*

nAs she placed her bloodied arm on the mirror, Xavier watched her blood stream down it.

n*Glow*

nFollowing a split second of the mirror growing brighter, their reflections slowly faded into an underground passageway.

n“It reacts to blood.” Xavier said as he stepped forward.

nThe moment he was about to walk through the mirror, Sangrea beside him stopped him. “Only Vampire’s blood, fledgling or human blood doesn’t work…”

nXavier nodded having understood but Sangrea still didn’t let go

n“Is something wrong?” He asked

nAfter a slight nod, she hung her head.

n“You’re strong, a lot stronger than before… We’ll get your family and leave quickly, don’t do anything to put yourself or them at risk…”

nXavier stopped to look at Sangrea, who was genuinely worried.

n“I won’t make any promises about putting myself at risk, you know I’ll do whatever it takes to get them back. But don’t worry about them, I’ll make sure nothing bad happens to them.” Replied Xavier.

nXavier had come all this way for them, to think he would let anything happen to them while he was in reach of them. It was absurd.

nHis blood boiled just thinking about it.

nShe let go of Xavier’s arm, and as he turned to walk into the mirror with her, he stopped to ask a final question.

n“Those guys who’ve been following us… Are they with you?” Xavier asked.

nSangrea froze up.

n‘He noticed them? But when and how?’

nSlowly, she nodded, worried that he’d react badly to it.

n“I tell them not to but my father always puts them on my watch in case something goes badly…”

n“That’s fine, I just wanted to make sure.”

nXavier grabbed the shocked Sangrea’s hand and dragged her into the mirror with him. And just like that the two’s traces disappeared from the sight.

nOn the staircase descended an old man wearing a butler’s uniform and round glasses. He was accompanied by a tall, heather violet-haired maid.

nOther figures hid in the shadows while waiting for orders behind them.

n“Do you think that young boy really managed to sense us?” The heather violet haired maid questioned.

n“If he did, then maybe he wasn’t as useless as I’d assumed.” Responded the butler with a wide grin.

nBeing caught while hiding, something that was his specialty, deeply enraged the old butler who had years of experience.

n“I want all of you to prepare yourselves. That young man is putting the young lady’s life at risk, it’s clear she doesn’t care about her father’s orders.”

n“What are your instructions?” Asked the heather violet haired maid.

n“If worse comes to worst, we kill him. The young lady’s life should always be prioritised over her happiness.” He commanded.

nThough she seemed hesitant to agree with him, the heather violet haired maid nevertheless nodded.

n–

n–

n–

nXavier’s eyes narrowed at the sight. He and Sangrea had ended up on the inside of an alley.

nHe looked back only to find a wall which led to a dead-end.

n“So we can’t come back the way we came?”

nSangrea too seemed surprised by this.

n“I only travelled by large mirrors and usually there’s a way back through another mirror in the same spot… I’m guessing this is a feature which comes with the smaller mirrors.” She muttered.

nXavier nodded, and just like that, he walked out of the alleyway.

nHis eyes widened as he did so.

nBefore him were large brick houses that looked as if they would be perfectly at home if put next to those built during the medieval era

nThe area is connected by many large roads and streets that lead to huge, ancient, castle-like buildings.

nWhat surprised Xavier the most was above their heads. Rather than a sky, there were countless hardened bundles of earth being held up by foundations placed all over. It made sense since they were standing on the inside of a giant cave, but it was still impressive to see.

n‘They weren’t joking when they said the Vampire camp is underground… This is just one camp? How big is this place?’

nThe street before them was deathly quiet; there were no lights visible in the houses around, as if they were just there for aesthetics.

n“Surprising, isn’t it? Most of this place is uninhabited.” Said Sangrea from beside him.

n*Step!* *Step!* *Step!*

nThe sound of hasty footsteps caught their attention, as they saw a group of Vampires wearing navy blue uniforms rushing past them.

nTheir crimson red eyes and pointy red ears stood out from beneath their cap.

nEven though Xavier was wearing the uniform, he had a problem since his ear wasn’t pointed since he was only a fledgling.

nHis messy spiky black and silver hair covered part of his ears, so it was harder for others to tell, making it easier for him.

n“So… Are you ready?” Xavier asked.

nHe was referring to the search for the place where they were keeping all the hostages.

nSangrea nodded.

n‘Looks like the only way out of here will probably be to travel through the main gate… How will we get everyone out even if we find them? We can take on the noble’s but what will Xavier be able to handle a Vampire Lord or greater?’

nSangrea was snapped out of her thoughts by Xavier who suddenly tagged at her shoulder.

nA Vampire down the road held onto numerous chains tied around the necks of what appeared to be humans following after him.

nXavier gestured at her to follow him and she agreed.

n