42. Two Sides of the Moon

"Yumino..."

"..."

"Yumino... the story is over."

"..."

"Yumino!"

The elf slowly opened his eyes with a "hm?"

"Please get out of the snow! You'll freeze to death!"

More so out of habit, the elf listened to Gauntmere and stood up. He continued walking, trying to get himself lost in the forest. Small cuts from his fight felt like they were burning upon contact with the cold air, but they were nothing compared to the pain he had felt from the scar near his heart.

"Gauntmere," Yumino called, forcefully dragging himself through the forest as he had been asked to do.

"What happened to Luciriel's spirit? There's no way he, of all elves, would find peace when his body has killed us all."

The times Yumino had searched for Lucien's ghost were not few. Since he didn't find anything, he assumed the elder may have long found peace upon seeing his vampire self as a lord, but Gauntmere's story proved that it was not the case.

"His spirit is still around," Gaunmtere answered.

"Then where is it?"

"It's within his vampire self. He is the one exception to our rule."

Even if Yumino didn't ask for more details, Gauntmere continued.

"When he turned to ash next to Famine, she gave him a choice. Luciriel could choose to leave the world of the living for good, or one day come back as an undead. I think the result is obvious."

"Are not all elves are destined to become vampires once they die?" the elf asked in a low voice.

"That was once the case. Think about it, Yumino. People don't casually turn into undead, right? Those are rare cases."

Heavy silence followed before the witch finished what she had to say.

"Only after he had made that choice did the rise of vampires become the norm. It was through his power, hate, and unwillingness to accept what Death had done that he tied every dead elf to his soul and made them walk this Earth once more. Of course, he couldn't have done it with his powers alone. Pestilence, that damned White Rider, had to stick his nose in too. Undeads have always been His and Death's common playthings."

"The kinder they are... The more hate they hide..." Yumino spoke, igniting a hint of hope in Gauntmere that his light had not yet faded.

"That's right, Yumino. They say that the higher they are, the harder they fall!" she added.

"But remember, the opposite can also be true! The lower you are, the higher you can rise! You just have to keep your head up!" She continued, trying to catch the elf before he returned to the pits of despair.

"Yes..."

However, the elf hadn't started rising in the first place. He just kept walking, the snow crunching beneath his feet as small blood drops painted it red here and there.

"Yumino, let's find a way to treat your wounds," said Gauntmere after many minutes had passed in silence.

"Yes..."

"Do you know how to do it?"

"No..."

While Yumino was no stranger to getting wounded, treatment always fell on Nima or the others around him. In hindsight, he hadn't been so helpless since the day he came to this world. Only now was the last elf—in a manner fitting to his title—truly alone.

"Fine then," said the witch. "Let's find a place where you can get some rest."

*****

The day when Death gave the elves the verdict was the day everything changed for him.

"Why?" Luciriel asked himself in his last moments.

"Why would He do such a thing? We've never had any quarrel with the Rider of Death!" he screamed, but he could hear nothing.

"Why didn't Famine stop Him? She took our hospitality for granted, and when it was time to defend the forest that welcomed her, She got thrown around like a sack of dirt!"

With no body, surrounded by darkness, and drowning in sorrow and anger, Luciriel desperately tried to find a way to fix things.

"I have to save the elves!" he said.

"I have to make sure they're safe! I have to make sure they can live eternally, just like we've always done!"

"Luciriel..."

For a second, the elven spirit thought someone had called out to him, but he didn't pay it any mind. He was running out of options and time, and dis thoughts were already chaotic.

"I have to... I have to... I have to..."

"... behind... or come back... vampire," that voice resounded again.

"I have to save the elves! My elves! Death! Riders! I have to..."

And as his spirit started fading away, he made his decision.

"I have to get revenge on them!" he said.

"I will take out those riders no matter the cost!"

*****

Lucien opened his eyes and jumped out of his bed, his breathing heavy and his face twisted in fear from the nightmare—no, memory—he had just woken up from.

"Lord Lucien! Are you all right?" the girl sitting next to him asked.

"Ah, Averin... Have you been keeping watch over me?"

"Yes! Of course!" she answered with a bright smile, yet the dark circles under the eyes and her wobbling gave away the fatigue.

"I see. Thank you for your service," Lucien said, forcing himself to smile.

"Of course! Any time..." Averin said, the strength in her voice fading as the wounds hidden by her armor ate away at her well-being.

"You truly are the perfect knight. Both your father and brother would be proud."

"I am... just doing my duty, sir!"

On the other side of the door, a giant man stood leaning on the wall, disgust being easy to read all over his face.

"Oh?~" a feminine voice resounded. "What could possibly get our Garron so mad?"

"Nimera, I think you should stay out of it," Garron answered, not giving the vampire lady a chance to peek into his closed-off heart.

"Ah~... How cruel..." she said. "And here I hoped all four of you would take our side with bright smiles on your faces..."

The giant stood silent.

"By the way, where are Gavin and Velmira?"

"None of your business."

In response to being cut off, Nimera clicked her tongue.

"Fine!" she said. "With the four of us, whatever those two do won't change anything. It's not like that hero stands a chance against our Lucien. Neither he nor Death do."

Nimera turned around and left, leaving Garron to listen to the silver tongue of the other vampire as he played with the one thing in this world the gladiator of old had promised to protect.