10: Marid's Call.

After hearing the loud ring bell, he slowly began to walk back toward the town but stopped after a few steps.

" My shirt has already been torn to rags, maybe it's best if I head straight home." He thought, slowly placing his hand on his chin.

It was almost past dusk and almost all of the town had awoken from their night's rest, meaning that walking through the street would be a very huge problem for him.

" Seeker, come to me for whatever it is you seek."

A strange, husky, and loud voice went off in his head and he was forced to fall to his knees as he held his head with both hands, groaning in pain.

The intense pain stopped after a while and he slowly let go of his head with his mind still dwelling on what had just happened.

" Strange things have kept happening to me ever since the Witch Master arrived at my village." He thought as he slowly got up from the ground, " I'm actually starting to think he might have cursed me."

" Well hello there, I thought well of the possible outcomes and decided to come see you... with some pair of clothes." Ketevan said, approaching him from behind.

The moment he heard the familiar voice, he was instantly filled with rage and quickly turned around while flinging his fist, with a huge frown on his face.

Ketevan was quick to grab hold of his arm and instantly twisted it, causing him to scream loudly in pain.

" You seem fairly interesting as of the moment." He said letting go of Sina, "Your sudden lash was fully expected, so try to read your opponent next time."

" You truly are diabolical, giving me nothing but pain ever since the first day we met. What is wrong with you?"

The moment he asked the question, Ketevan pulled him closer and whispered to him, " I'm simply interested in you. You don't seem typically like one of them, but only seem like a cause for more suspicion."

He quickly broke free from the man's grip and backed away. He understood what Ketevan meant with every word he said and his heart was pounding as he stared at his mischievous smile.

" What do you mean by that?" He asked, trying to turn his expression of shock into a stern one.

" What do mean what do I mean? Quit trying to hide the obvious from me. You're a vampire now aren't you?" Ketevan asked, throwing the shirt that he had with him towards Sina, " Now grab these, and let's get going, walls aren't the only things with ears."

Sina slowly followed him out of the forest and arrived back at the shed to see Kelvin and John discussing how many wolves they had killed.

Their training stopped far too early due to a call issued to Ketevan in the middle of their session but before he left, he had taken Sina far away from the crowd to have a word with him.

" So... about your existence, the vampire. As much as I am worried about the safety of the people of Avan, you don't seem to be aware of what you bear as well. Just to say... I'm worried about you as well..." He said, looking up at Sina, " don't take my actions too seriously, I should have asked before trying to experiment with you. The presence of vampires is quickly becoming widespread and no one is prepared to take it lightly. Whether they are cult or not..., I highly suggest you watch out for them, the vampire hunters. You're fairly capable but your faith is sealed if you're ever to come up against a divine warrior."

Sina stood there, Pondering everything that he had just heard. What he was had already become quite obvious to him but now he had to worry about the chances of a group of people with nothing but the intention to kill him finding him.

He didn't head home after that knowing fully well that he had yet to have his morning meal. He sat on top of a tree with his palm against his face and his gaze on the ground.

Memories of what had happened with the Witch Master, that screen that had popped up during his fight with the troll, the voice that went off in his head and Ketevan's earlier words were all running through his head.

" Seeker it said, just what could it be apart from the Witch Master toying with my mind." He thought, slowly looking up at the sky.

" Seeker! How strange that you still have yet to visit me. My lair lies before you, just a few more steps before all your questions will be answered."

The voice was twice as loud as it was last time, prompting him to fall on his back from the tree.

He crouched up on the ground, groaning in pain as he held his head once again. The pain lasted longer than last time and as soon as it stopped, he stood up and took to his heels.

He didn't have any specific destination in mind and simply wanted to get rid of anything haunting his mind at the moment.

He kept on moving forward, avoiding every tree that stood in his way while not looking up even once to see where it was that he was headed.

It was only after a few minutes that he lost ground to walk on and stayed a few milliseconds in the air before he went crashing down.

His leg bent and twisted as he landed on the ground and staggered forward. It wasn't long before he crashed face down on the ground and quickly placed his palm over his mouth as he began to cough violently.

The entire area was filled with smoke and he lay there, coughing violently with his palm over his mouth. The sudden surge of smoke took a while before it cleared out and he proceeded to slowly open his eyes.

His eyes were still hurting his gaze was blurry as he looked to see a strange-looking figure lying before him.

He rubbed his eyes and blinked a few times before his vision fully cleared and the figure before him was revealed.

Right in front of him was a statue that seemed like it was made of bones. It extended a few meters from the wall with horns sticking out from the side of its face.

Its eyes were empty and dark with lips as wide as its face. It was nonetheless menacing and the mischievous smirk made it all the more frightening.

" Where am I?" He asked, slowly standing up from the ground.

" Fear not seeker for you have arrived at my lair." The voice went off in his once again but this time, rather soft and quiet.

" So this is what had been calling out to me. What is this, the Witch Master's isle of operations?" He thought, quickly backing away.

" Fear not seeker for it is Marid who seeks you and no one else. The call you have answered is of Marid's alone and now, feel free to seek for any answer you wish."

He was dumbfounded as he kept his gaze on the strange figure. There were statues stationed around the place as well all of different shapes and sizes. It was the last place he wanted to be in.