Tales of Inathiel part 11

The Hunters of the Night

Having found her way to the lands of the humans, Inathiel made her way to the northernmost village in the area and decided to stay there for the night, unaware of what would come to wake her from her well-deserved rest.

A few hours passed as she continued to sleep, only for her to awaken to some commotion outside. Slowly getting up, the woman left her room and walked downstairs to find the innkeeper gone.

Thinking on for a moment, she stepped outside to see the villagers being backed off by a group of thugs, every one of them dressed in ragged leather armor and holding out torches in one hands and slightly worn swords in the other.

It was clear that the villagers were terrified by the bandits, and the leader of the group stepped forth, distinguished from the henchmen by his armor, which was in a better condition than the ones worn by the other bandits.

The man had covered his face with a dark cloak, and his eyes were dark blue in color. He spoke out to the villagers while pointing the blade at them. "It seems that luck is on our side, since your guardian seems to be busy with other matters this time..."

Inathiel wondered what the meant by this guardian, but didn't remain idle for long, stepping to face the bandits with an angered expression on her face. "You're out of luck, villains. Surrender or I will kill you all."

Seeing the woman threatening them, the men merely laughed while the villagers looked on in confusion. But everyone was shocked as Inathiel then twirled her fingers a bit, casting a stream of flames at the bandits.

The magical flames went along the ground with amazing speed, igniting two of the bandits as it made contact with their feet. The bandit leader stepped aside and managed to dodge, focusing his anger at Inathiel as he charged at the woman.

But his efforts were in vain, as the woman's fingers twirled again, and a bolt of lightning shot out at the man, shocking him to death and sending him flying while his minions burned to death while trying to run away.

As they watched on, some of the villagers quickly ran back into their houses while others looked on in awe at their unusual saviour, who was both awe-inspiring and terrifying as she turned to look at them.

"Who was this guardian they spoke of?" Still feeling fearful, the villagers hesitated in giving an answer until a gruff young man with dirty blonde hair and dark blue eyes stepped forth and spoke out.

"One reclusive nobleman who owns the castle to the southeast of here. He's sent his troops to guard the area every now and then...but he's kept to himself for the last few days for some reason..."

Feeling curious about this reclusive person, Inathiel decided not to ask anymore about him, turning to face away from the villagers and spreading her wings. "I want to go see this man myself..."

While the woman flew off, the astonished crowd looked on, but then turned to look at an elderly man as he began to laugh and make a remark to himself. "This place gets more weird with each day, having a devil as a guest and a vampire as a guardian!"

Meanwhile, in the castle where Inathiel was now heading, a vampire rose from his coffin, and looked out from the window before letting out a sigh. "Another day of dreaming of that odd elven woman..."

He then got up and walked over to his throne, sitting down and placing himself in deep thought as he felt something weird going on. "I sense that I will get my answer soon enough."