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Clarissa was about to rush out to warn the others when she saw two shadows moving under her door. She unsheathed her sword quietly and positioned herself at the side of the door with the sword raised.

The door opened with a quiet squeak and two men moved in, their footsteps were light.

The room was brightly lit up, still, they did not notice Clarissa hiding waiting for them but she saw them clearly.

Bandits.

When they noticed only the child on the bed they were confused wondering where the lady was, before they could notice anything different, Clarissa kicked one at his back knocking him to the ground.

The other turned, sword in hand, ready to attack but Clarissa was ready for him. She blocked his attack with her sword. Then went after him relentlessly. He was good but she was better.

He continued to back up, moving towards a wardrobe and he found himself fumbling to block her attacks.

At the slightest opening, Clarissa sent a powerful kick to his abdomen that sent him flying into the wardrobe and some of the decorative vases which were kept on it, came crashing down on him effectively knocking him out.

Clarissa hit the second one at the back of his head and he passed out as well.

When Clarissa rushed out, it was to see Leonard and Raphael engaged in fights of their own. She hurried forward to fight off a man that was coming to attack Raphael from behind.

Her sword met his just in time. He was easier to beat down compared to the first man she fought. She ended his life by piercing his heart with her sword.

She was going down the stairs to see if there were other bandits, only to meet Elaine smirking at her.

Gone was the kind, shy maiden. In her place was a female bandit with wicked intentions.

" It seems my men couldn't handle the job. " she said, drawing her sword. " Don't worry, I will make... "

The sound of Clarissa's gun going off cut off her speech and the pain that exploded in Elaine's chest was brief. Her body dropped to the ground and life went out of her eyes.

" You talk too much. " Clarissa said, walking past her. She moved to the lounge waiting to see more bandits pop out but there was no sound until she moved further towards the rooms which were on her right side.

The sound of something dropping in the room next to her had Clarissa edging towards the open door. All she saw was a man's body on the ground. She checked the body to find it warm. She turned it over only to see that its heart had been ripped out. She took a closer look at the body to see that it was one of the bandits.

What could have ripped out his heart so cleanly? Mari could not enter the inn because the door was so tiny and even if she could, she couldn't pull out the man's heart in such a clean manner.

She heard a purring sound and looked behind her to see Zeek, Dante's cat. Her erratic beating heart calmed down.

It probably escaped from the room when she left, Clarissa thought.

She walked to the next room to meet two other bodies in the same condition as the first.

The third room she checked was worse. There was a male and female body decaying. Both were stabbed several times and seemed to have been rotting here for days. She wondered why she could not perceive any smell. No amount of chemicals could hide the smell of rotting bodies and fresh at that. Maybe magic.

Her mind went to the candles and stones she saw when they entered. But this was not the time for that. Now that she was sure, there were no more bandits, she had to find a way to treat Dante.

She ran up the stairs to see Leonard tying up the men she had left in her room.

" Raphael, " she called out desperately.

" He's already in the room seeing to him. "

She nodded and ran into the room to see Raphael's eyes glowing red and his veins seemed to glow blue like lightning in a dark sky.

Dante was submerged in glowing water or rather water flowed through his body. Few seconds after she had entered the room, Dante woke up coughing. He threw up blood.

" He's going to be fine. " Raphael said, seeing the relief on Clarissa's face.

She nodded and went to Dante. There was more colour in his face now compared to how pale he had been earlier.

" Thank you, " she said to Raphael.

He nodded.

Leonard stood at the door, hoping the child would get back to himself soon. " There are bodies in some of the rooms. "

" I saw two. Did any of you kill the three bandits downstairs? " Clarissa asked, standing up.

Both men denied doing so.

She felt it was weird. Who could have killed them?

Raphael was curious at the astounded look on her face. " How did they die? "

" Their hearts were ripped out from their chests," she replied.

It sounded very familiar to him, it was something his friend Kieran would do.

When the cat came into the room this time, Raphael knew why his eyes seemed familiar.

They had an important guest with them.

They got rid of all the bodies by burning them and then got rid of the candle and stones which when combined hid unpleasant smells.

It was simple magic of illusion that required no spells or help from an actual witch.

They were unable to stand the smell and spent the night outside instead. Clarissa now more than ever wanted to drive a stake through the vampire Lord's heart.

Kieran saw the look on Clarissa's face before she fell asleep. He knew very well how much she wanted to murder him. It would be fun taming her.

Raphael wondered who would be tamed, the princess or his friend.

As they slept in the woods awaiting the next morning, Kieran changed back into his form and went to Shadow's Kiss to make preparations. By the next morning, he was back and all was in place.

Author's note

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