Everyone in the room was tense. Frederic was curious as well.
Damian read the letter first, but not aloud. He kept it to himself, which only increased everyone's curiosity.
"Spit it out," Frederic said.
"I have a vampire friend named Serana. She was on another floor of the dungeon, and apparently the person who wrote this letter said someone captured her," Damian said.
"What? You befriended a vampire? How unique you are," Raikono said.
Frederic made a sign for Raikono to stop talking. "Where is she, then? On this dungeon floor or another?"
"This one. We have to go there to get her."
"But the person who wrote the letter is the same person who kidnapped her, right?" Frederic asked.
"It would make sense. People often write letters demanding money or other things in exchange for releasing the kidnapped person."
"No, it's not. That's the strange part about this. I have no idea who wrote this, or how this person knows about me and Serana."
The person who wrote the letter was important to Damian. He wanted to know who it was. But the more important part was to rescue Serana!
"Are we leaving today or tomorrow?" Frederic asked.
Frederic believed that saving Damian's friend was an important task, so it would be best to leave as soon as possible.
"No. We need to rest at least for one day before leaving."
The journey from the village to the city had taken them 18 hours of constant flying on Raikono's back, and that was tiring, even for them.
They needed to rest before going out again. If this mysterious person had the time to send a letter to Damian about Serana, and not go look for him in person, it meant that she was okay, at least for the time being.
"Alright. You and Raikono go to bed. I'll prepare the things for the journey, and make us dinner."
"Aren't you going to sleep too, old bones?" Damian asked. fr(e)ewebnov(e)l.com
"Me? Nah, I can sleep on Raikono's back later. Go, go."
Frederic was like a grandpa taking care of his grandchildren. Damian did as Frederic asked, and went to bed.
He woke up 9 hours later, feeling completely refreshed, and his nostrils were filled with the scent of apple pie.
"Apple pie? Where did you buy this?" Damian asked.
Frederic looked as if he was waiting for that question the whole time. "Buy? I cooked it."
"You?"
First Frederic had turned into a fishing enthusiast, and now he was cooking too? What in the world could stop this man?
Raikono woke up one hour after Damian did—he was tired after flying for longer periods—and was surprised just like him after knowing Frederic was the one who made the apple pie.
"This tastes good, though I prefer something bigger, like another creature," Raikono said, opening his mouth near Damian.
"Oh, good jokes Raikono. Try to eat me and you will get your ass kicked back to that mountain."
"You two look like two kids," Frederic said. "I packed up some food for me and you in this backpack. Raikono will have to find its own."
"Old bones, you eat like a normal person? Aren't you like a massive dragon? You should be eating more than me!"
"I cannot go to my dragon form anymore, remember? My power is sealed just like you!"
"That's lame!"
They ate, took a shower, and did the necessary things before a long journey. After all of them were ready, it was time to mount on Raikono's back, and go toward the location the letter said.
"We are heading to this place? Are you sure?" Frederic asked, pointing at the cheap map Damian had bought a while ago.
"Yes. This is where the letter told Serana is. Why? Something wrong?" Damian asked.
Frederic took out another map from his backpack. "With the money we got after completing the quest, I bought us a decent map. One that is actually updated," he said, looking at the cheap map with disgust. "Anyway, your map says the area is only a forest, right? But mine says there's a castle there."
"What? Let me see it."
Damian thought that Frederic might be mistaken, and was looking at the wrong area, but no. It was true. The area had a castle on it.
"It must be a vampire castle too! Why else would Serana be there?"
If it was a castle, Damian had a strong guess it was one that belonged to a vampire.
"Another vampire kidnapped her? Why?" Frederic asked.
"I have no idea, but this is a four-day journey, even with Raikono flying at his full speed."
Frederic could see that Damian was worried. He placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry. Everything will be alright."
Damian knew Frederic was just saying it to make him feel better, having no idea if it was true or not, but he appreciated the gesture, and tried his best to relax.
Four days passed. During this time, Damian, Frederic, and Raikono traveled as fast as they could, only stopping to get the necessary sleeping time, and take care of their other needs, such as food, drink, and using the bathroom.
The time they had to enjoy was little, solely focusing on reaching the castle as fast as possible. And then, there it was: a massive cobblestone castle at the top of a mountain near a cliff.
"This looks like Dracula's castle," Damian said.
"Who's that?"
"A vampire from a movie."
"Movie?"
"I will explain later… We have other things to worry about."
The castle was not the only building in the area. There was also a small city at the base of the mountain. When Damian went there to check, everyone had tired faces, and seemed to be worried about something.
It was rare for people to go there. As rare as a phoenix feather, so when Damian and the others arrived in the city, everyone wanted to know who they were!
The people in command of the city came to meet with Damian in person, with an army of guards around him in case something bad happened.
"Who are you and what are you doing here?" a short man with a ponytail said.
He spoke in an aggressive tone, and Damian disliked that. Damian had never seen any of those people before in his life, so what was the reason for the bad treatment?
"Just visiting. Is it prohibited?" Damian said.
The short man laughed. "Right, surely that's the case. You," he said, pointing at one of the guards, "Use garlic, and holy water too, just to be sure."
"Garlic? Holy water?"
Damian had no time to respond as someone was tossing a lot of garlic and holy water on him, wetting his hair and clothes.
"What? You are not a vampire? That's strange. You came unannounced during the night and did not tell us the reason you are here," the short man said.
"So this is why you did this to me?" Damian said with an angered tone.
"Come, there's a place for you to stay with hot water and new clothes. I am sorry about this," the short man said.
The way he spoke was way different than before, so Damian relaxed and contained his anger, accepting the man's offer.
They went to a hotel, a rare sight to behold in a world like the dungeon. Damian learned that the man was the current ruler of the city, a man called Lance.
The reason for his strange behaviour after seeing Damian arrive in the city was due to two reasons.
First, the place barely had any visitors, so anyone going there would turn into a suspect.
But the main reason, and the one behind the garlic and the holy water was the recent vampire attacks happening in the area.
Everyone knew the castle up in the mountain once belonged to a powerful vampire, but it never attacked anyone, and no one got close to the castle as well, so the city lived in peace.
Yet for some unknown reason, some vampire attacks started, with some even happening inside the city! The city Lance cared deeply and tried his best to protect already had vampires sneaked inside of it!
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Damian asked.
He was there to find Serana, but maybe Lance or the others who lived there had more information about the castle, the other vampires, and perhaps information about Serana herself!
"Would you help us? I mean, I am choosing one of my guards to go to the castle to investigate. Maybe you can do that for me and share everything you learn? You don't need to enter the castle but watch the surrounding area for anything suspicious. I can pay you a lot of gold!"
Damian would go there to the castle anyway, so getting some money out of it was not bad. Not bad at all! He accepted Lance's offer, "You can count on me. When do you want me to go?"
"Tomorrow morning. It is not safe to roam in the forest during night. Anyway, enjoy your stay here, all for free! This lady will show you your room." Lance said, and then left.
They got a free accomodation in a nice hotel. It did not have all the tecnologies and things a hotel in Earth would have, but still had hot tubs, pools, and other relaxing things to do. The bed too sent them to paradise of how good it was.
But there was a price for it. In the following morning, Damian, Frederic and Raikono left the city, moving up to the mountains to see the castle.
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