Spectral tales

During a full moon night, in a dark forest, a group of five moved surreptitiously while carrying an asleep child.

A middle-aged man carried her and ran towards the outer walls of a city with the other four following closely behind him. As they approached the wall, a young man of the group stepped on a dry stick, creating a <crack> sound.

" Careful" The middle-aged man, who was carrying the girl whispered while peeking at the girl in worry. However, The girl in question, disturbed by the sound, groggily opened her eyes.

She seemed to be around 8 years old, 128cm tall, with dark black hair, blood-red eyes and a spot-free doll-like face but her most striking features were her pale white skin, pointed ears and sharp canine teeth, classic traits of a vampire.

The group of five were similar to her.

She looked at the dark forest and the towering wall around her, perplexed. The group of five quietly observed her actions.

"Um, Bruce, is this an undead town entrance? " she asked while gazing at the creepy wooden entrance gate that was held tightly by the rocky outer wall, in front of her.

Bruce answered her with a sombre nod.

He was the middle-aged man who carried her to that spot. Around 40 years old, with brown hair, and brick red eyes, appearing 185cm tall with well-built, toned muscles, he had a rather intimidating presence.

"Am I being abandoned?" The girl inquired with a stoic look and was met with an uncomfortable silence with the group of five actively evading her gaze.

"Why don't you kill me?" she asked, tilting her head in confusion. She knew that her life was in danger and that she was a nuisance to her family.

Bruce bit his tongue in frustration upon hearing the question and looked at her with a troubled gaze.

"Miss Arya, we were ordered by your father to exile you into the undead fields, If we ever hear of your presence in the vampire territory, you will be disposed of immediately".

Closing his eyes as tears threatened to spill from his eyes, he uttered the words he never wanted to say.

"You will be abandoned in the undead forest, whether you live or die is up to you".

Turning away while trying to hide tears spilling from his eyes, he continued "Please don't show your face to us ever again ".

None came to comfort him, he didn't deserve it.

The other four members too looked at her with pity, they wanted to reassure her but knew that they had no such rights.

"….. Anything else?" The girl, Arya, had no visible emotions on her doll-like face, not appearing to be bothered by the situation in the slightest, which only aggravated the frustration that the group felt.

"Nothing" Bruce replied and walked away. As they were departing, the young man who had initially stepped on the dry stick, glanced back at her and bowed his head as a form of apology.

"Um, I.. We, forgive us" he managed to blabber while walking away.

Area stared at the group till they were no longer visible, not moving away from the place for a long time. A single drop of water fell from her eyes.

"Why?" She whispered to herself while wiping the tears that fell from her lonely eyes.

***************************

Inside a large palace,

On the third-floor corridor, a middle-aged man with black hair, blood-red eyes, 190cm tall, with a slim build and toned muscles, wearing a crown on his head gazed at the horizon with sorrowful eyes.

< tap>,< tap>,< tap>.

Hearing the footsteps he turned around to see his rival and childhood friend, a man around the same age as him, 185 cm tall, with blue hair and orange-red eyes, wearing a combat mage uniform, standing beside him.

"When did you become a hypocrite?" The blue-haired man Sirius inquired while observing the setting moon in the distance.

" I don't know what you mean " The King-Veld was confused by the sudden accusation from his friend.

"Sigh, you never cared about her, at least not when she was around so don't look like you are concerned now " Sirius spoke in a low voice, he was angry and frustrated about his decision to send her away, but also knew that it was the best way to save her.

Veld didn't reply, he had his reasons to ignore her, but now all those reasons felt like shallow excuses.

"Where is she now? "

"Somewhere safe you don't need to worry, she won't die " Veld glanced at him and reassured, his expression a mix of sorrow and relief.

"And, how are you so sure, what makes you think that she wouldn't commit suicide? She already attempted it countless times" Sirius continued his inquiry, the worry in her voice not dissipating in the slightest.

"I don't know, but her last attempt was three years ago, do you know why?" Veld asked back while pointing his finger at Sirius.

"It's because of you Sirius, You taught her about skills and gave her a reason to live" Veld continued in the same monotonous voice "As long as she has someone like you around her, I think she will be fine"

"And, who is replacing me?"

"Arthur from the undead city of Altraud" Veld grinned as he answered.

"… Do you think she will come back for revenge?" Massaging his head to try to avoid a headache, Sirius asked, annoyed.

"No idea, but if she did, I just hope that I will be her first kill".

" I wish for you to rot in hell, Your Majesty".

Laughing out loud at those words, Veld turned back towards his chamber,

"Those words can get you executed "

"Ya and lead to a civil war " Sirius replied instantaneously.

"Nowadays, almost every action I take leads to civil war " mumbling to himself the King walked away.

Sirius stood there a bit longer " I hope you don't become a cold-blooded monster like us" he whispered while looking at the moon and headed towards his designated post.

*************************

The outer wall of the Undead city of Altraud.

Arya stood still on the ground not knowing what to do, her mind was a mess of emotions, none of which were good.

"How long are you going to just stand there?"

Startled by the sudden voice, she looked towards the top of the rocky wall and saw an undead skeleton sitting leisurely and observing her.

It wore purple mage robes and had grey-white bones, blue flames flickered incessantly in its eye sockets as the lump of bones observed her every action with interest.

Arya immediately bit her thumb and drew blood, She pointed her fingers towards the bony observer and mumbled,

<Blood arrow>

The blood pouring from her hand turned into an arrow and raced towards the undead, who didn't appear to be bothered by the attack. Casually swinging its hand, it created a shockwave strong enough to disperse the blood arrow and still affect Arya, leaving shallow gashes on her exposed skin and tearing her clothes in multiple areas.

"Now it's my turn, <life drain> "

Following the undead's words, a green hue emerged from its body and zipped towards Arya at a speed far greater than her blood arrow. She tried to dodge but the attack hit her arm, turning the arm into that of a shrivelled corpse's arm.

Looking at her disfigured arm, Arya clenched her teeth in frustration and mumbled <regeneration>. Instantly a red hue enclosed her arm, returning it to its original form in seconds. She gazed back up towards the top of the wall, ready for another round, only to realize that the body figure was missing. She looked around in panic, but a second later her knees buckled making her stumble on the ground, and her face turned blue from exhaustion.

"Is that all? " A rugged voice emerged from behind her as the bony figure pointed its arm towards her heart. Sweat trickled down her forehead as she felt the cold touch of the undead. She instinctively knew that her life was in its hands.

"Yes, that is all " she replied while nodding and waiting for her imminent death but it never came.

"I don't enjoy killing children, Leave this area before it's too late " the undead spoke in the same rugged voice, yet it was fluent enough for her to understand. Lowering its hand the undead walked towards the city gates but stopped upon hearing the quavering voice of Arya saying "Help me, please ".