48 Prologue

A certain woman's journal-

13th day of the first Month. - Left the Capital City of Lograth at 9:00 AM, on the 5th. Despite it being a few hundred kilometers north of the capital, I arrived at Kalhyr on the 12th. Had I received news about this on Summer, I could've arrived around the 7th or the 8th. However, Winter has long arrived and froze the waters around the port making the river unnavigable forbidding me from travelling towards my destination via the use of ships, thus I had to take a carriage and head up the Dreghei River, in order to traverse through the main routes and so that my family and servants would be reassured of my safety.

It left me with a feeling of desolation to leave the comforts and the safety of my warm loving home into the freezing north, especially when the new year has just begun. However, I still left anyways due to it being something I must do, for the information I've gotten were interesting.

I left in a good time as my carriage was able to join with a caravan on their journey. Due to the worry of my servants, I had more than what I needed for my journey as they filled my luggage with clothing and enough food to last me two weeks even with the Aurel and Tatiana as my company. I am left with the impression, that they still oppose my decision and would stop me if they could but are in no power to voice out their opposition, thus all they could do was give me all that I would need as to increase the chances of me returning safely, however slight it may be.

The caravan that I joined were surprised about the fact that there were other people leaving during this period of time. The leader was a jolly merchant who owned the majority of the carriage. 'What could a lady be doing for her to leave in such hard times?' was what he asked me when I suggested that I join them on the road. 'Going back to my family' was the reply that I gave them, which of course was a lie. The man chat with me, much to the annoyance of my retainers. However I do not consider such actions as below me, for it were from things such as these, that my late Mother and Father were able to grow their connection and subsequently their business.

I could not write down my daily experiences during my journey to Kalhyr, for there were not much to write. Everyday was the same as yesterday, the snowy silence of the forest were our constant companions, sometimes broken by the neighing of the horses or the sound of the whip. The Sun was shy up in the sky as it hid its glow behind the grey clouds. Aurel and Tatiana would not speak to me of their own accords, leaving me with a lot of time to look at the surroundings.

I soon lost my boredom as a sense of wonder came into me as I marveled at the beauty of the scene in at my left. Before us were vast taigas, covered in the whiteness of snow. There was everywhere a bewildering mass of pines, spruces, and larches, a coniferous forest that I haven't seen down south. As we drove by, I could see snow falling from the branches that could no longer bear the weight of the snow resting on top of them. I've travelled multiple places before, but rarely have I ever gone north. Nor did I have any sense of wonder before, when I heard of the vast lands up there for it was the same as being amazed by our own backyard. However seeing it for myself was an eye-opening experience indeed.

We arrived at Kalhyr at nightfall, where we stayed at Sunny Legacy Hotel, which was a funny name considering the place was anything but sunny. I informed my retainers that we would be eating the hotel's food for supper, which they objected to. But I would not back down on this one, as tasting the local delicacies is part of they joys of travelling. The waiter was delighted and asked for what is it that I would like to eat.

After saying it, a few minutes later I was served hot mushroom soup as well as 'steak'- bits of bacon, onion, and beef, and roasted over the fire. Pretty standard, but it was something that I seldom ate so it was not unwelcome. Unfortunately, the following day I did not have much time to observe the city's beautiful architecture as well as it's history for I must make haste towards my destination. However, I do plan on doing these things at our return journey.

....

15th day of the first Month- My impression when I first arrived at the town was it felt like I travelled back in time, and saw what an old Elven village looked like. It was deep in our territory thus there were no need for fortifications or any sort of reinforcement. The only semblance of defence it had, was a wooden fence surrounding the entire town mostly to keep wild beasts at bay.

The town was filled with lovely people as they were particularly welcoming of us. They don't usually get visitors especially not around these times, so they were surprised to see my carriage. I made sure not to put any sort of decorations or ornaments in the carriage and kept it simple, so as to not give any ideas of what sort of person is inside. It was a normal peasant's carriage, wooden in its structure, without anything to make it look out of the ordinary.

It was a shame that all upcoming festivals had already passed or is due atleast two months prior, as there were nothing of significance that I could record. Wooden and stone houses, all with stone chimneys, which is obviously needed considering the abysmal temperatures up here. Whoever was it that added the wool greatcoat on my luggage without my permission, I would like to thank them for their forethought as I would no doubt be shivering in the cold should I've wore the clothes that I prepared myself.

The day passed so uneventfully that even writing this made me want to fall asleep. But still looking at the lovely people in this town, it's heartbreaking that they're so clueless of a vermin living in the midst of them.

.....

17th day, First month- Yesterday was a particularly eventful day for me. I wore the black wool greatcoat that reached until the back of my knees, it was a good protection against the cold as well as the fact that it still allowed me to move like I wanted despite it being heavier than my usual attire, again I am grateful for the one who had the foresight to give this to me. I also wore high winter boots that reached just below my knee and I had a heavy crossbow on my arms.

In the corner of the village was a particularly isolated house. From what I've heard the inhabitants were a married couple, the husband being a hunter and the wife, a seamstress. I already knew who I was looking for due to what Tatiana has told me yesterday. So at dusk when I came knocking on their door and told them of a 'heretic' living in this village, I didn't expect for the husband to suddenly go on a frenzy as he attacked me. It seems that he expected that I would be coming as he was already fully equipped when he came out. His attack obviously failed seeing as to how I am alive, writing this journal. However the husband, oh so claiming to be a necromancer, ran to the woods and I wouldn't have come here in the first place if I were to let someone like him go just like that.

He was skilled in his craft, being able to skillfully weave in shooting arrows as he changed his hiding spot, switching from tree to tree. His experience shone as he would use earth magic to make stones move, giving the illusion that he was somewhere else due to the sounds that was being made. He wore white clothing which camouflaged him in the winter background, in contrast to me who was wearing a black greatcoat and stuck out like a sore thumb. All in all, he was undoubtedly a very skilled hunter, probably the best in this small town, so much so that it pained me that I must put him down. As much as I wanted I wasn't able to keep him at a state, where he couldn't fight without being dead. It felt like if I were to cut off his legs, he would crawl his way to me, and should I cut off his arms, he would bite and gnaw me to death instead. He fought me with such fervor that I knew he wouldn't stop until one of us was dead.

However that was all he was, a skilled hunter. He didn't show any particular promise on the ways of magic, let alone necromancy. 'Why don't you raise some skeletons necromancer? Surely that would help you' I taunted him. 'There are no corpses here for me to control' was his reply as he stayed back a distance, before nudging another arrow on his bow.

I remember sighing in regret, when I heard him unrelenting on his claim of being a necromancer, I knew that he was prepared to die. For someone of his skill, he must've earned his living killing boars and other wild beasts. Selling their meat to the town, subsequently feeding his neighbors. I pray that this town had other sources of food, for one of them will be going down tonight. Catching him off guard, I put a bolt through his heart ending his life.

I remember his last words telling me, no, begging me of his wife's innocence and whatever crime he committed before was only of his own accord. 'She has been through a lot' he told me, before his body turned cold. I sighed at his love and devotion to his wife, before dragging his corpse back to his house as the sun has since long set down the horizon.

It was already dark when his wife, I mean, widow, finally saw me return. I remember her face when she asked me 'Have you seen my husband?' and her face when I laid his corpse just infront of her feet. I don't think I've seen someone's face change so drastically, from her curious and worried face, to one of pure shock and terror.

'He confessed that he was a necromancer' I said to her, before pointing to the crossbow hanging on my back. I think it was at that moment that she finally pieced things together as she saw the silver bolt etched at his chest.

Hearing my words, she was stupefied. Words such as 'But he isn't', 'there's no way', and 'he's too kind' came out of her mouth. Of course as his wife, she should know him more than anybody. 'Yes, I know' was the answer I gave her. I also knew, that he was no necromancer, nor did he dabble on any of the dark arts, that he is infact innocent, which was why I tried to reason with him in the first place.

At that split second, I remember looking at her then, and I understood why the hunter would be so enamored with her. She truly was beautiful, stupidly so. Not even her face filled with grievance, nor her eyes filled with hatred did anything to diminish her beauty. The way she glared at me at that moment, when she found out that I killed her most beloved despite knowing that he was infact innocent was a thing to remember, she looked like she wanted to tear me to shreds, spit on me as she tore me from limb to limb, before dancing right next to my cold corpse as she celebrated my brutal death, such was the hate that I could see on her eyes.

However, she wasn't given the chance to do such things as once I said those words, I took my crossbow from my back before firing a silver bolt, straight at her heart. 'I think you would know that answer to that, vampire' was the words I said to her, as I shot her by surprise. I knew that for creatures such as this, there were no need to play fairly.

That time, I couldn't help but grin in delight. Her shrieks of agony as she felt silver pierce her skin. I dashed backwards, keeping a safe distance from the monster before firing some more silver bolt towards her, one pierced her in her left thigh while the other went through her stomach. She hit the ground hard with her fists in her anger, as a testament to her supernatural strength, the ground crumbled as a meter-wide crater formed where her fist hit the ground.

Sizzling sounds came from the spots where I shot her. I could see white steam rise from her skin like she was being burned inside out. I could only imagine the pain she must've undergone, as she tried her best to stand up but to no avail, for I continued to plant more silver bolts in her body as I fired on her repeatedly. Her tenacity surprised me, as she continued helplessly chanting the words 'I hate you' in repeat, as if saying so would help her kill me.

'I wonder what black magic did you use, for the man to fall so deeply for a cretin like you' I threw out those words at her. My words seemed to have angered her beyond all measure, as she screamed hatefully at me. I couldn't remember her exact words but once she was done shouting all her grievances, she became weak as the amount of blood she lost could no longer be ignored. Using her only working limb, her left hand, she slowly crawled onto her husband's dead body before hugging him one last time as she too ceased breathing as their corpses were slowly covered by the falling snow.

It was another job well done, another creature of the night exterminated. However despite me not taking any sort of wounds or injuries this time, I don't consider this one as 'well executed'. The thought of killing my fellow elf, especially one that is innocent, left a bad taste in my mouth. Originally I thought he was perhaps unaware of his wife's true nature, so I tested things out by telling him that I knew of a 'heretic's' existence. However, it seems that he already knew and once he heard me say 'heretic' instead of vampire. He thought that perhaps I was unaware that it was his wife, thus he wanted to take the fall for her instead.

Thinking back now, I remember checking the man's corpse where the bite marks are on the front of his neck, rather than the back, also there was the lack of wounds anywhere else on his body, other than the ones I gave him, must mean that he was fully aware of her vampiric nature and married her anyways.

A forbidden love despite all their differences, huh?

How romantic... Shame it ended early.