Lady Dhampir
Chapter 267

He carefully pushed the body's head with the tip of his sword, utterly disgusted. That thing didn't look anything like a vampire anymore. Its traits were so different from the noble, kind-hearted vampire soldier it had once been. Not only because the head was now detached from its body, but because the facial expression was horrible, disfigured, the mouth opened wider than normal, all fangs out and the tongue hanging out of its lips. The eyes were completely blood-shot and rolled up, looking like they were about to pop out of their sockets. There was no hair left on the head, only a few strands that looked coarse and oily, and the skull itself seemed misshapen. He sighed. A couple of steps away, the body was also completely monstrous. All the limbs were elongated and skinny, the skin looking so thin it was hanging down on the bones. It was curious to think those things could be so strong when most of the muscle on it had literally melted away... There were clothes hanging from the body, if they could be still called clothes. More like pieces of shredded fabrics hanging where they could, in a strange fashion. The uniform was so blood-stained, it was unrecognizable. There was nothing left to identify the soldier, sadly. "...Damn it," he sighed.

"What do we do, Commander?"

"Put it with the other unidentified one. We need to ask the lieutenants if somebody else recognizes this one..."

"That's... That's the uniform of the Ninth Division, Your Highness..."

He already knew that. He nodded. With this one, they had found all of the soldiers of the ninth Division, all dead. Most of the humans had been killed by their vampire-turned-wendigo companions, and now, they had found the last of those former vampire soldiers. Rayan wiped his sword, annoyed. It meant none of the vampire soldiers had made it. It was the worst piece of news. Now, he could only hope the Eighth Division had reached the other side, somehow, to let them know what was going on... If his wife hadn't figured it out already. He turned around, signaling to his men they could go and retrieve the bodies they had found. He walked to the camp, his steps digging through the fresh and crisp snow.

The Commander's tall figure was attracting all the gazes as he walked across the camp. They were now close enough to the main lands that he didn't need a coat anymore. In fact, they were already further back into the Emerald Forest, but, sadly, there was still a while before they would reach the other end. Rayan and his men had cut many trees on the way, and now, they had established a camp in the middle of the forest for over a week already; he had been obligated to announce it would be too risky and difficult to make any progress, after three human survivors had come back from the eighth and ninth delegation attempts to head home. At first, they had all been shocked by the stories of absolute horrors those men had told from their short stay in the depths of the Emerald Forest. Rayan, unlike most of his men who had left before Milena's paper was released, was one of the few who already knew about the wendigo. At first, many men had thought the retelling to be exaggerated, until the first attack on the camp. They had appeared at night, jumping down from the trees and making an absolute hell out of the camp. A night of horror, as the traumatized soldiers still spoke about it. For what had seemed like a long while, the wendigos had hunted down and restlessly attacked soldiers like hungry beasts craving fresh blood. They had killed five men in the blink of an eye, spreading their blood everywhere, before the soldiers had managed to chase them away, injuring one. Two tents were still stained with that blood, and the soldiers living underneath had refused to wash it.

The next night, the duo of Wendigos had attacked again, but instead of letting them resume the m******e, Rayan's men had gathered, and hunted down the two creatures. To be precise, it was the female soldiers who had been the most helpful in stopping them; as it turned out, the Wendigos were seeking female blood, so the female soldiers had put themselves as bait to help capture those two things, proving not only their bravery, but quick thinking. Since, Rachael had almost been leading her own army of women, who no longer had to hear a single sexist remark in the camp. Sadly, this was only the first victory in a long succession of battles. Now, even the humans had to sleep during the day, and stay awake at night to fend off the hungry and violent creatures. "It has calmed down, hasn't it?" Asked Philip, glancing around as a reflex. "This was the first one in three days..."

Rayan nodded once again. It wasn't so much that the wendigos had calmed down, but most likely they had already killed a lot of their former companions. He walked inside a large tent, where two more wendigos were pinned down on the table like science experiments, and heavily guarded by six soldiers each. He turned to the Marquess de Chalm, Andre, who had overtaken the new scientific division of the army after his predecessor was brutally killed in battle two weeks prior. "So?" He asked.

"Those two were definitely not soldiers of ours," he said. "Not soldiers at all, I would say. Most likely, commoner vampires, from what I found in their stomachs, and what was left of their clothes, too. They were definitely wendigos for a while. I also found this..." Using gloves and something like large tweezers, he moved one of the arms, spinning the wrist carefully to show inside the elbow.

"Punctures?" Muttered Rayan with a frown.

"Yeah. They were either giving or being given blood regularly. My intuition is that those wendigos were science experiments before someone... released them in the forest. You were right, Commander, someone deliberately put those things in the forest to attack our men."

"It doesn't explain how there were so many wendigos, though. Too many of our men were transformed."

"I know... We've inspected all of our blood supplies twice already, there was nothing wrong with them. Our human soldiers also willingly donated their blood, but there was nothing abnormal in it either."

"... Which leaves only poisoning through our food and drinks."

"If that was the case, Commander, all the vampire soldiers would have transformed already! ...Are you sure those wendigos aren't the ones who could have turned our soldiers...?"

"The ratio doesn't match," Rayan shook his head. "My wife determined wendigos are created from a vampire drinking vampire blood. Even if it is possible they were bitten by wendigos, it doesn't make sense so many of our men were turned, when we only found those two to be foreign to our army. They didn't have any significant biting marks, either."

"It's... hard to tell, with what we get left of the bodies..."

Rayan was already sure, though. Two wendigos weren't enough to have turned all of the Eighth and Ninth Division vampires into Wendigos. Which meant, there was an external factor they had missed. He had thought about anything the vampires and humans of the camp ingested, and ordered inspections, but if the camp was infiltrated indeed, no trace of how the vampires could have been turned had appeared. Only a handful of vampires had transformed within the camp so far, and they couldn't find how or from what. The fact that the Eighth and Ninth Divisions were the most impacted made him think the main threat came from further in the forest, but he just couldn't figure out how... He clenched his fist around his sword's handle once more. If only Milena had been there. She would have had the answers already... Sadly, no bird was coming to the camp anymore. The wendigos chased each one down to suck the blood out, like they did any living creature on their path, although humans were still their dish of choice. "Keep searching. And don't let anyone I don't approve of in there."

"Yes, Your Highness!"

He turned around, and left the camp.

"....Are you alright, Commander?" Asked Philip, worried. "...You should take a rest. It's midday, it must be hard for you."

"I'm fine....You're the one who should take it easy."

Philip smiled weakly, glancing down. Between his crutches, there was only one leg left, and it was heavily bandaged; the young Duke had lost the other one a few days before, during the wendigo attack. He still bore the injuries of being attacked and dragged by the wendigos, notably a large bite mark on his flank that still threw him into an indescribable amount of pain at times.

They both walked back silently to the Commander's tent, at the core of the camp. It had doubled in size since their departure from the Capital, like many others. Because so many men had passed, all that was left of empty tents had been resewn to make bigger ones for those who needed it, and many of his lieutenants had insisted the Commander get a larger one as well. He stepped inside his office space, and sighed, looking around at the papers lined up there. Right now, Rayan was tired indeed. It was insane how much paperwork he still had to deal with, reports of all kinds, accounts of the food left, and many more demands from the soldiers, worn out by those weeks of campaign in the north. Still, he just couldn't blame them. Although most of those men and women learned war could last months as soon as they began their lessons, none of them had the smallest idea of how hard each day would really be. Everyone had lost a considerable amount of weight, and now, they were relying on their last supplies to survive. The wendigos had chased away all the prey they had hunted to fill the holes in their meals before. Rayan was glad Lucian had initiated many hunts at the beginning of the war, for it had probably saved them days of starvation and cutting down the rations. He ignored the paperwork lined up, leaving Philip, who had become his camp aid, to check and sort them out first, and walked up to the space he usually slept in. It was the darkest part of the tent. He laid down on his bed, closing his eyes with a long sigh. Sadly, he knew he wouldn't be able to fall asleep so easily. It was a strange state, where his body was so often on alert that he had forgotten how to really rest... Without even looking, he grabbed a little box on the side, taking out the little ribbon hidden inside. He brought it up against his nose, deeply inhaling the scent he loved the most. Her scent. It had mostly faded already, but the memory of it was somehow enough for him to reminisce. He was craving that raven hair, and the sight of those purple eyes. He wished he could dream of her, when he slept... Just once would have been enough. He knew humans claimed dreams weren't clear or detailed enough to see the faces of their loved ones accurately, but he was confident his wife's traits would be as perfect as always. If only... "Alert! Alert!"

He jumped on his feet, throwing the ribbon back into the box, and dashing out of his tent, running past Philip with his sword in his hand. "Where!"

"Northeast, sir! One intruder!"

Rayan frowned. Northeast? So far, all the wendigos had attacked from the south, not from the north... Unless the giants were back? But it made no sense; they had chased them far enough already. He ran in the given direction, quickly followed by half a dozen soldiers who were guarding the camp, or quick enough to join.

He kept glancing up at the sentinel perched ahead, in one of the trees they used as a watch post. The man seemed confused, moving non-stop to get a better view. Rayan arrived below the tree, trying to glance further ahead too. "How far?"

"Less than a mile, but it's... I don't think it's a wendigo, Sir. It's too slow. The shape of it is strange too, but... in a different way. I think it's just a man, but... Wait. Wait... I think it's the Commander!"

"Who?" Asked Rayan, annoyed. "Lady Alexis?"

"No, Sir, it's... The Second Division Commander! He's wearing the De Crescent Insignia!"

Rayan's heart accelerated. Lucian was back? ...Why was he back already? What had happened to his wife? And the Kingdom? How could Lucian be back already, and coming from the north, too? Was he bringing good or bad news?" "...Go wake Lady De Nova."

"Yes, Sir!"

One of his men ran back towards the camp, while Rayan ran ahead, crossing in a blink the invisible limit he had set himself for his men to not get away from the camp. He just couldn't wait a single second more; he needed news about his wife, news about their life over there. As long as Milena was fine, he'd endure this war twice as long if needed...

"Lucian!"

He spotted his brother-in-law, who was walking in the snow, alone, with a heavy cloak on him. Rayan quickly understood why his sentinel had been so confused; Lucian was wearing a large oversized cloak and his body looked twice its normal size. He wondered what he was possibly hiding under such a large piece of clothing.

Rayan ran up to him, and Lucian lifted his head, smiling despite his red nose and cheeks, visibly burnt by the snow.

"Finally!" He chuckled. "Damn, I was worried I had seriously gone off my intended path..."

"We moved the camp a bit further south after your departure," sighed Rayan. "It's right behind me... Are you alright? You're freezing! How the hell did you make it all the way here by yourself..."

"Oh, I still had a horse until two days ago, but it got badly bitten during the night by a wolf or something... I had to free it. I knew I wasn't far, anyway... Damn, it's good to see you, I'm starving, and I was running out of milk, too."

"... Of milk?" Rayan frowned, completely confused.

Lucian chuckled, and nodded.

"Yeah. I got quite the surprise for you, actually. Well, it's from my sister, technically. Not that I was supposed to bring it all the way here, but, uh... The plan changed, and I had to find a quick solution. It was such a pain to shake those assassins off my back, and there was nowhere else I could go that I'd be sure they would be safe, too..."

"Lucian, what in the world are you talking about?"

Rayan's red eyes had instinctively gone down on the strange bumps on Lucian's chest and back. His heart was beating incredibly fast, especially for a vampire. The more he heard from his brother-in-law, the more his head seemed to be spinning with crazy ideas. Slowly and very carefully, Lucian moved his arms, suddenly revealing the precious package tightly tied against his chest. Rayan gasped. A baby girl was there, asleep against her uncle's torso, her little eyes closed and her mouth in a cute pout. She probably felt the annoying incoming of light, because she frowned, and slowly opened her red eyes, ready to cry.

Rayan took a step back, covering his mouth with his two hands, but unable to take his eyes off.

"...No way," he muttered.

"Hey Maria, say hi," said Lucian with a smile. "That's your daddy right there."

But the baby didn't really care for the identity of the stranger, for she made an annoyed expression, and whined a bit, hiding her face in Lucian's torso.

"Yep," he sighed. "Definitely her mom's daughter... Oh, and this one is Elizio..."

Unlike his sister, Elizio didn't even feel the coat being lifted off of him. The baby was deep asleep, his cheek against Lucian's back and his mouth in a little o, similar to his sister. His little hand was even still holding onto one of the ties that kept him on his uncle's back. "Holy f..." muttered Rayan.

He stepped forward, so emotional his hands were shaking. Still, a proud smile slowly appeared on his lips, and he approached Maria, who was now staring at him with an upset expression, looking like she was about to cry.

"Hi, my little princess..." He smiled. "You're so beautiful..."

He offered his hand, and to his surprise, the little girl grabbed his index finger right away, her big red eyes still on him. She seemed like she was reluctantly letting him entertain her, with a little prideful pout that felt all too familiar. Rayan let out a chuckle, and quickly undid the ties, to take her into his arms. Lucian let out a sigh of relief, stretching a bit.

"Oh, thank God," he muttered. "Who knew newborn babies were so heavy..."

"...She's perfect," muttered Rayan, obsessed with the baby girl. "... And she looks so much like her mom."

"You have no idea," said Lucian. "She bites when she's unhappy, too. Elizio's more of a crybaby, but at least he doesn't have fangs..."

Gently, Lucian took the baby off his back, handing his son to Rayan. The Prince chuckled, and gratefully took him into his embrace. Elizio was only slightly smaller than his twin sister, but their father had no issues carrying both babies into his arms. Instead, he looked as if he couldn't get enough of both, his eyes constantly going left and right. He even carefully got down on his knees, to hold the babies even tighter against his chest, taking a minute for himself. Elizio, who had this time felt the change of position, woke up, and began crying, while his twin sister was already falling back asleep in the other arm, her hand firmly gripping her dad's shirt.

"...You have to tell me everything," Rayan muttered. "Everything that happened over there... Is Milena alright? ... Why did you bring the babies here?"

"Oh, there's a million things," sighed Lucian. "But yeah, my sis is fine... She was the last time I saw her, at least. Not that I can guarantee she didn't go through a lot, but she was holding on, as always. Your brother's still a b****y pain in the a*s, too, by the way. Anyway, there is good and bad news, and it's probably gotten a whole lot worse than that since I left, too... I might have the beginning of some answer to the wendigo problem, too. But first, I could use some wine and food, if we have any left, I'm starving. Your daughter almost sucked me dry on the way here..."