Dreams come true

===Aislinn===

Aislinn had a hard time understanding the Old Man's notes. She had been studying under the Elder for two decades, but he still bored her to death. Moreover, she seriously doubted that she was supposed to be the one who taught Princess Pyre how to use her Element and become as strong as she was.

She was excited, as if a dream of hers had come true.

She met Princess Pyre.

She didn't interact with her, but she was there while the Princess fed over that human.

That was the closest she ever was to the Princess. Her mother had worked for the royal family for a very long time, and she even had taken permission to have a child from the King himself, but she never seemed to have any special title or power.

Aislinn had asked the Old Man if he knew anything about why her mother got permission from the King, but all he knew was that the King said he had his reasons. What those reasons seemed to be something he hadn't shared with anyone.

As for her father, they lost him at the first attack of the humans in the castle. He was one of the soldiers who stayed behind, ensuring everyone else had enough time to evacuate. They hadn't found his body, so there was a chance that he got captured and experimented, but if it was the case, they weren't sure.

She noticed the Princess seemed to have gotten unexpectedly weaker, probably from what the humans did to her, so an idea popped into her head.

They both had the same Element, and she was learning under the Old Man, so maybe they could train together in the future.

That was why she tried to study hard on her notes, as she wanted to show how great and bright she was at the Princess.

At a point, she felt something landed on her head.

It was her familiar, the firebat.

She was still learning how to work with that ability, but she was so happy to learn that this was something that not just anyone could do. Even the Old Man couldn't use that ability, apparently. He could make something similar with his Element, but he had to control their movements, as he couldn't get a spirit to take control of his creation.

Even if she hadn't formed the Power Shard of it yet, that was because they needed a sizeable amount of blood to do that, as it needed to become in a small amount of time and took a lot of stamina, so they needed blood to restore it while working on it.

She had the firebat summoned all the time since each time she summoned it; there was a chance of a different spirit taking control of the body she controlled. She was told that if she made a Power Shard, she could summon specific spirits if available, but it was pure luck for now. Keeping it summoned required her to feed it some energy every few hours, but it wasn't too much, even for a beginner like her.

She summoned the firebat a few dozen times until she found a Spirit following her orders. At least most of the time, as it was common for it to fly away and return after a few minutes.

It looked exactly like a bat, just as if it was a bit more reddish than black.

As she kept reading, she heard footsteps approaching her, but she ignored them to focus on her studies. It was most likely her mother, as she didn't hear the stick of the Old Man.

"Nice familiar you got there."

The voice seemed unfamiliar to her but also somewhat familiar.

She raised her head and froze in place.

"Are those notes from Elder Gareth? I recognize his writing. Brings back some memories from a long time ago. I was even younger than you when he became my tutor. What is your name, young lady?" the Princess asked the young Vampire.

"I… I am…"

She tried to speak, but the words weren't leaving her mouth.

Then she felt the weight on her head disappearing as she saw her firebat flying and landing on the Princess' head.

"You can't…."

"Oh, how cute. It's been a while since I interacted with a young Spirit like that. I forgot how pure their energy felt. Those 'stronger' spirits may have been more useful in battle, but they must work on their aura."

Aislinn was glad that the Princess wasn't mad for her familiar's behavior.

"You have still not said your name. I consider it quite rude behavior."

Aislinn hoped at that moment that the earth opened in two and would consume her.

"Aislinn, my lady. Name is Aislinn."

She kneeled to the ground before the Princess, hoping she would forgive her for her rudeness.

The Princess left a light chuckle after seeing her doing so.

"Stand up—no need to behave like that. I was kidding about you being rude. You are Ecaps' child. Correct?"

Aislinn didn't know what she felt. It seemed to be a mix of excitement and happiness.

The Princess knew her mother and knew her, too. It seemed like her mother was genuinely close with the royal family, as she thought.

"That's correct, my lady."

"My name is Pyre. You can use this instead of 'my lady.'"

Her mixed feelings were even stronger now.

"So, is there a place to practice? If you have some free time, I can show you some moves," the princess said next.

Aislinn's dream was coming true. She secretly pinched herself to see that she wasn't dreaming and was glad she could feel the pinch.

"We can go to the training grounds. Humans rarely go there….I have something that can help us."

She stood up and headed to one room nearby that wasn't upstairs. Those were the servant rooms.

She returned with a small backpack and brought three things out--- two rings and a waterskin.

She put on one ring, and her appearance slightly changed.

Her skin wasn't as pale as the princess's, but it was similar to that of an average human with the ring. Her ears weren't pointy but round like human ears, and her eyes, instead of being somewhat orange, were black.

Pyre got the other ring and pulled it on, which had a similar effect on her.

Her people had developed this ring centuries ago to travel around human cities without drawing attention.

Then she picked the waterskin. She could smell that it didn't have water in it. Instead, it had blood in it and was almost half full. It also wasn't a normal waterskin but a magical one enchanted to keep what it contained fresh for an extended time. The fresher the blood, the better its benefits.

"Are you certain about giving me this? It wouldn't be easy to get that much in current circumstances."

"For the Princess, I will gladly give it. It is the least I can do for our people."

It was true that the sooner the Princess restored her power, the sooner they would restore things to their former state.

The Princess smiled at her as she drank all the blood in it.

Aislinn was sad to see the blood she had gathered all that time gone so fast, but she knew it was for the better. It was her decision, after all.

"Follow me. "

So, the two female Vampires started making their way to the training grounds.