Valerik walked through the empty square of Lomedor, a hunger running through his body. A shot of pain jolted through his body, up his stomach and down his back. He shivered and convulsed, puking into a nearby corner. He had been traveling by night for three days now. He could live in light, as long as his unnatural hunger for blood had been filled, but traveling by wilderness had been harsh for him.

His dragon had been worried about the condition of his master. The small ash dragon looked up at Valerik, a pitifull look across his face. A feeble smile wiped across the sickness of the vampire as he bent down to pet the dragon. Suddenly, someone came up behind the vampire and tapped his shoulder.

He swung around, and saw a guard behind him. "Excuse me sir, but are you alright?" the young man asked. The guard noticed the dragon and asked, "Oh, wow! Can I pet it?" he said. Valriek nodded feebley, leaning up against the side of the nearby building. The man bent down and touched the top of the dragons head. Immeadiatly, the Akor bite the mans finger.

The guard let out a small 'owh' and shook his finger. The bite was small, but a small bite of blood fell and landed on the ground. The bit of crimson caught the vampires eye. He followed the tiny droplet with his eyes all the way to the ground. He needed blood. He looked up, his eyes now blood shot. He opened his mouth, revealing fangs.

He pounced at the guards exposed neck, sinking his fangs deep into his flesh. He drew pint after pint of blood, untill the guard was pale, and dead. With renewed strength, Valerik let the body drop, and wiped his mouth off. Akor let out little chirps and jumped up and down, flapping his wings to suspend his jumps.

"Yes, I'm back," The vampire said. He swooped down and lifted up the tiny dragon. It chirped happily, chewing slightly at Valerik's fingertips. He put the dragon on the ground, and picked up the body of the guard, shoving it inbetween two buildings.

Morkus took a dismembered finger out of his pocket and began sucking the end of it like a lolly-pop, only most lolly-pops weren't bits of flesh and blood. Winter stood next to him, leaning against a wall with her arms folded.
"Lucky it's not raining," Morkus piped up, taking the finger out of his mouth much like a cigar "I think most pubs are shut up by now."
Winter spared him a single glance and looked away, a plain expression on her face.

Morkus and Winter had been traveling together for a long time now, however they weren't exactly the sort of people you'd most likely to see around the place, Morkus was a cheeky vampire with long black hair, blood red eyes and a scar down the side of his face, Winter was an emotionless half angel (by appearance at least) with blue hair and eyes and slitted pupils. Not the most common of combinations.

"So," Morkus spoke again "you thought of any more plans?"
"I think it may be best to either stay out of our opponent's way or defeat them quickly," Winter replied "If we can sneak past them then they'll know we'll get the blade before they can, and therefore they will be too afraid to challenge us."
"Heh, I hope your right," Morkus replied "cause I really..."
He stopped mid sentence. The finger dropped out of his mouth and. Winter looked over at him, Morkus was sniffing the air, his eyes showing an animal like aggression.
"What is it?" Winter asked.
"Blood," Morkus replied "and somebody spilling it."

Winter looked at him, she didn't doubt his intuition, in fact she'd rather catch up with the culprit before anybody got killed.
"Lead the way,"
Morkus sped off with a speed unmatchable by a simple human, however Winter merely jumped at least 20 feet in the air, soaring over the houses and keeping up with him with every bound.

Eventually she landed on a rooftop, looking down on an empty street.
"Well?" She asked.
"He's close," Morkus appeared as though from shadow "another vampire's been feeding tonight, I can smell him."
Winter's eyes narrowed.
"I wasn't aware that vampires held racial grudges against each other," she said.
Morkus ignored her and sped off again, Winter looked up and jumped after him. However when she landed he wasn't in her sight.
"Morkus!" She called after him "don't go doing anything unnecessary, I don't care if he's killed anyone, I won't be having anybody else killed tonight."
"You worry too much,"[COLOR] Morkus replied, appearing behind her.

Winter looked round, unsurprised but irritated by her knack of not watching her back.
[color=navy]"If he's a vampire he'll have had no choice, I should know I haven't fed in a while. The longer you leave it the stronger it becomes."
"Then stop wasting time," Winter said.
She looked skywards, listening out for any kind of sound that might give the killer away. A faint chirrup caught her ears, not too far off either. She leaped up again and in three bounds landed on a rooftop, the anonymous vampire visible just across from her. Winter couldn't see any bodies anywhere, but if he was smart he'd probably had hidden any.
"Nice night for a snack?" She asked "nice dragon by the way."

Valerik licked the remaining blood off his lips, staring up at the night time sky. It was so peaceful, such a decieving night, misguiding the events that happened. He smiled and began to walk off, only to be caught off by a voice. He turned around to see a half angel on the rooftop, looking directly at Valerik. He quickly concealed his fangs, but knew that she had already been aware of their presence in her comment to come.

"Nice time for a midnight snack, nice dragon by the way," she said. She knew his unnatural being. She knew of his attack, of his feeding. But how? Only a vampire could detect blood from a distance, perhaps only even a blood crazed vampire. But how did she know? He would have to keep his calm and avoid a fight.

Akor was at his side, the little dragon just now noticing the presence of the newcomer. Surprised and overjoyed, the ash dragon began to chirp, jumping back and forth, back and forth. He then jumped up and flapped his wings, flying up to the roof with some difficulty and landing on the roof. He then began to nudge up against the women, enthralled at her presence.

He then began to cough, and a puff of smoke came out, but luckily, the dragon aimed the oppisite direction of the women. His breath weapon was deadly, and Valerik wouldn't want another death on his hands. He beckoned back for Akor, who jumped off the building and glided into Valerik's outstretched hands. He stroked the dragon's head, and placed him back onto the ground, in which he ran in circles around the vampire's feet.

Valerik began to chuckle, happy that the dragon enjoyed the company of people. He knew though, that the dragon would eventually have to get use to spilling human blood, and without mercy. But for now, he could remain as innocent as a child. "Why, hello! Thank you for the compliment, my dragon loves your presence. As for me, I am Valerik, and I, as you know, a vampire," He said the last part with exposed fangs, grinning largely. "Do not fear, for I have just fed, which you probably know as well," he said, aknowledging her intellect.

Winter looked down at the hatchling playing about her, however she remained impassive. She had never been in favor of keeping pets, however the dragon seemed to be enjoying itself and she wasn't about to try and put it down. She looked back at the vampire, keeping the same expression on his face. He seemed to be perfectly reasonable as an individual, and as Morkus had said he was probably only feeding to reduce his craving, so Winter was prepared to let him off this time, however if she'd caught him in the act the first she'd do would be to intervene.

She hopped off the roof, landing lightly on the ground and fixed her gaze back on the vampire.
"Don't get the wrong impression of me," she began "normally I'd attempt to prevent any killing I can with whatever means necessary, however since I wasn't around I guess you got lucky."
She paused, possibly waiting for a reaction. The vampire didn't seem evil though, at least not to the extent that he'll bite every person he meets and Winter wasn't about to start a fight just because he killed someone, she only ever fought to prevent death, not because of it.

She looked down at the vampire's dragon, running circles round his feet. She'd never set eyes on a dragon this close before and it wasn't what she expected, although possibly this dragon might have been raised away from its mother or else had always been owned by the vampire, it did seem extremely playful, almost like a puppy.
"Well, I guess I have no business staying here," she said "I prefer not to start a pointless battle over someone who is already dead."
She looked up to stare the vampire straight in the face.
"My name's Winter," she explained "and if I do encounter you, or anybody else in the act of killing I will do everything in my power to stop you. So don't trust me to be an ally too much."

Valerik listened to the words of the half angel, taking in what she said, "Don't get the wrong impression of me," she began "normally I'd attempt to prevent any killing I can with whatever means necessary, however since I wasn't around I guess you got lucky. Well, I guess I have no business staying here I prefer not to start a pointless battle over someone who is already dead.My name's Winter," she explained "and if I do encounter you, or anybody else in the act of killing I will do everything in my power to stop you. So don't trust me to be an ally too much."

"Winter," he said, as if experimenting how the name felt on his tounge, "So you will do everything in your power???" he said in a mocking tone, tilting his head to the side, as if evauluating her strength. He sneered, and then began to turn around, but stopped, and faced her again.

"If I kill, you'll stop me?" he said, looking over at her, staring into her blue eyes. He recalled her words, remembering what she had said earlier,' and if I do encounter you, or anybody else in the act of killing I will do everything in my power to stop you. So don't trust me to be an ally too much.'


"Winter," he said, looking at her with a slight, mocking grin, "what would make you think that I, Valerik, would ever want to be your ally? Your kind repulses me, your respect for lesser beings. I am not your ally, but your enemy. Next time you see me, I will have killed, and you will have no choice but to fight me," he said coldly, and gestured for Akor to follow.

Several pub goers were walking home, swaying slightly from drunkeness, colliding ocassionaly with a crate or wall. Some looked behind them, slightly taken aback by the sight of a ash dragon leaping behind a dark looking fellow. He ignored them, and continued to his destination outside the city of Lomedor.

He turned and walked away, towards the gates of Lomedor, out of the city, still smirking from his encounter. The sun began to rise, its pink rays reflecting off the horizen, giving a faint glow, a peacefull atmosphere. 'Next time we meet,' he thought, 'blood will be drawn.'