Count's Daughter

          The doors to Count Isateo’s castle open for the goddess and her companions who were being escorted by the five knights. They make their way straight to the great hall where the count sits there, his eyebags are dark, he looks like he hasn’t slept in a few days. A young man, who looks almost exactly like him, except for having brown eyes instead of blue; sits near him with a bandage on his neck. The count stands when he notices the winged people approaching.

“I did not ask you here to have you punished, even if I did, I could not, as you have only showed incredible strength, which is common among non-human folks. No spells were cast in Freyiao Village, so you being able to cast magic is only rumors, thus I have no grounds to arrest you, not that I would want to.” He clears his throat as he touches his son’s shoulder. “You see, a week ago, the vampire formerly known as Count Vuncuali, attacked my son here and kidnapped his twin sister.”

“Formerly?” Reioi questions.

The count shifts, before explaining. "My father's great uncle was the count before him. He had been the count for many years, still, he looked as youthful as the day inherited the county. People would disappear, and he had an affinity for red wine. One day, he was caught biting the neck of a visiting nobleman. It became clear that he was a vampire. That very knight he was driven out of this castle and fled to an old vacation one across the realm. That is where he took my daughter. I humbly ask that you rescue her, I'll give you anything you ask in return."

"How far is his castle?" Reioi asks.

"About a two day's journey." The woman knight accompanying them replies.

"Alright," Rivhild agrees, "we'll go rescue your daughter."

"We will come with you." A knight to Rivhild's right says.

"Please rest here until high noon." The count offers. "You will need your strength for when you encounter Vuncuali."

The group thanks the count and then are taken to a room where they could sleep. The room has five beds, each one adorned with white sheets and blankets. Rivhild goes up to one of the beds and pushes down on it with her hands. “Whoa, this is soft!” She exclaims as she climbs up on it.

“Shall I keep watch?” Chimes asks, not fully trusting the count.

“I don’t think you need to.” Tuipa replies, “although, it may be good for you to stick around, why don’t you sleep in one of the beds?”

“I suppose.” He nods as he claims one of the beds next to Rivhild.

Each one settles in and sleeps peacefully well through the morning. The ladies are woken up but a pathetic, “Help…” by Chimes. The angel is tangled up in the blankets. “Apparently I move around a lot in my sleep.” He murmurs, his face turning slightly red from embracement.

“Even so how did you manage that?” Reioi raises an eyebrow. “Some sort of strange miracle?”

Tuipa scurries over to help him. “I’m really good at untangling things.” After a few awkward minutes, she finally gets Chimes untangled. “There we go, free as a bird. So, how was you’re first time sleeping in a bed?”

“Thank you, and uh, it was good. I liked it.” Chimes rubs the back of his head, still embarrassed that he needed help from something he managed to do while unconscious.

The women then begin to get ready, brushing their hair. While Tuipa is brushing Rivhild’s hair, the child gives her a request. “Can I tie my hair back?”

Reioi tosses over a spare hair tie as she does up her pigtails. “Anything particular you want done with your hair?”

“I just don’t want is brushing up against my wings, I don’t really like the way it feels.” Rivhild admits.

“I know exactly what to do.” Tuipa then ties up the goddess’ hair in a high ponytail. “There we go!”

Rivhild pulls out her pocket mirror and looks at her reflection in the mirror as she turns her head from side to side, testing the distribution of her hair. “Wow!”

The group then meets up with the knights and heads out for Vuncuali's castle. The stretch between the count's castle and the next village is easy, the road is nice and wide. After a few kilometers, one of the knights calls up to the goddess and her companions. "You four are fast, can uh, you maybe, slow down a bit?" She asks while panting.

The group waits for the knights to catch up before walking slower with them. "It must be your armour making you so slow." Reioi comments.

Another knight then speaks; "Maybe, still, usually we can keep up." He almost whimpers.

"Aren't knights supposed to have horses?" Rivhild questions.

"Eh, not all knights do," he shrugs, "although we should have brought one for Lady Mistasha." He adds.

"Oh!" Another knight chimes in. "In a couple days Dame Eania will be setting out on her horse to bring the lady home."

Soon they come to the village by the time the sun was setting. They rest for the night then continue on their way. The road they take is much like the one they took the day before, until the trail splits. To the right, the trail continues the same, a wide, well used road that passes through the woods. The one to the left has an old tree fallen over the road, the leaves had long fallen off with mushrooms growing freely on it. The only thing that didn’t happen naturally to that tree, is the recently snaps branches, no doubt from the former count. The group stays back as a young spotted fawn creeps out from the bushes. It sniffs at the fallen tree, curious as what lies beyond. Suddenly, the mother deer huffs and leads the fawn down the right path.

When the deer are clear, the group approaches the tree. “Well, this is the way to the vampire’s castle.” The knight Lucianu mutters, trying to hide how terrified he is.

Rivhild walks up to the tree and goes to lift it out of the way, but it snaps in half, spewing gross rotting chunks all over the young goddess. Chimes and Reioi help Rivhild clear the path. As they pass the final stretch to the castle, the road is overgrown, the once wide stone path is now only wide enough for one person to walk through comfortably, obviously only kept clear by the former count so he can get more victims. The group remains quiet, the forest has grown dark, the air unnervingly still. Then looms the vine covered gate, the vampire hadn’t even bothered to close it as it was still left ajar.

“I’ve heard that vampires are as strong as ogres, with the powers and wit of the fair folk.” One of the knights squeaked. “Do we even know that Lady Mistasha is still alive?”

Rivhild reaches out with her hand and closes her eyes, searching for the count’s daughter. She squeezes her eyes shut more before speaking. “I can sense two presences inside the castle, one good, and one very evil.”

One of the knights in the back lets out a whimper. Tuipa then smiles. “Only one evil in there? That’s no problem, I was worried that a vampire that old would have a few undead thralls.”

“Me too.” Reioi agrees. “From what I understand, fighting even a single vampire is no walk in the park, but it can’t be too difficult for us.”

Rivhild rubs her eyes, then she turns to the knights. “If any of you are scared, you can wait outside, I’m sure the four of us can handle what’s-his-face.”

“No way!” The woman knight squawks. “Lady Mistasha is our responsibility, we would be pretty pathetic knights if we just let a group of kids rescue her all by themselves.”

“As scared as we are, we must go, it is our duty!” Lucianu declares.

“Then let’s go!” Rivhild waves for the others to follow as she passes through the gate.