The vampire woman got to her feet and walked in front of the group. She stopped after a few paces and turned back to face us. Serin waved for the rest of us to follow on and headed after her. Altria, Liz, Celine and I started after them.

“Are we really just going to follow her?” Asked Beth who hadn’t moved from the spot.

“Yes. We need somewhere to sleep. Come on.” Answered Serin.

Beth looked reluctant, but seeing that everyone else was going and that there didn’t seem to be any room for argument, she followed the rest of the group. We were led up the road, just a short way past the junction we stopped outside a large house. It was probably the local lord’s or one of the nobles that used to live here. It was built to a better standard than most of the other buildings in the village and while most of them weren’t entirely derelict, this was in a better condition. The vampire walked up to the front door, pulled a key from her pocket and opened the door.

“Please, come in.” She said standing just out of the doorway.

Serin glanced back for a moment before heading inside. The rest of us followed closely behind her. Once everyone was inside the woman closed the door behind us.

“Follow me.” She said heading into the next room.

This was a large living room. It had an open fire at the far end and was still furnished like its previous owners left it. It felt lived in.

“Have you been living here?” I asked as I followed her inside.

“Yes, this is my home for now.”

“You know you didn’t have to take us into your home.”

“This is the most suitable building here.”

“Thanks… By the way, what is your name? I’d like to know what to call you.”

“You can call me Aetherin.”

“My name is Theo.”

“Theo.”

“Yes, the other human here is Serin. The catkin girl there is Altria. The wolfkin is Beth. The half elf is Liz, and the succubus with us is Celine. Thank you for taking us in for the night.”

“I wouldn’t want you sleeping outside here. The area isn’t safe for your kind, as you have already found out. Don’t worry though, you will be safe here. Feel free to light the fire and make yourselves at home, I’m going to prepare the guest rooms.”

Aetherin showed me where the woodstore was and then left the five of us alone in the living room. We soon had a fire going and were relaxing on the sofa and chairs while we waited for her to return. It was already late. Tomorrow was going to be a hard day if we set off at a time that was remotely normal.

“Shouldn’t we organise a watch? At least one of us should be awake at a time.” Asked Beth.

“Do we need a watch? We’re inside and Aetherin said we would be safe here. You saw how powerful she is. I doubt that we’re likely to run into any trouble here.” I answered.

“Even if you trust her, I won’t be able to sleep easy unless we have some kind of watch.”

“We’ll set a watch. Even if Aetherin says it’s safe here, we are in enemy held territory. We need to be able to react quickly if something happens.” Serin said while shuffling some small twigs she found in the woodstore.

It seemed like a waste of effort, but I could see why Beth felt nervous about staying here with someone that was an enemy only a few minutes ago. The only experience she had with that skill being used was with Celine, and she was still cautious around her. Liz on the other hand seemed to be taking it all in her stride apart from her initial surprise. She already had a good understanding of how most of my skills worked and she seemed happy to assume that this would work on Aetherin just like it had on everyone else before. Serin and Altria had seen it in action enough for them not to be worried and I knew Serin was only agreeing to set a watch to keep Beth happy. We quickly organised the watch order, before we were joined by Aetherin again.

“Your rooms are ready. Would you like me to show you up or did you need to eat first?” She asked as she returned.

It was late, but we hadn’t eaten since we had stopped for lunch.

“We should really eat first. Is the kitchen here still usable?” Asked Serin.

“It is. I don’t really make much use of it, but it is in good order. Let me show you.”

Aetherin led us out in the hallway and down to the building’s kitchen. She probably had little use of the kitchen. Did vampires eat normal food at all? I didn’t know. The kitchen was clean and tidy as if it had been well looked after. There was no sign of dust or decay like you might expect to find in a room that was barely used.

“The cooking equipment and utensils were all left behind by the previous owner. There should be everything you need here. If there is something you can’t find, please let me know.”

“Thank you Aetherin.” Answered Serin.

It being so late, none of us particularly wanted to cook up a proper meal. Instead, we quickly threw together something from our provisions to go with some meat that we heated up. Once it was ready, Aetherin took us to the dining room next door, and we quickly ate.

“We should head to bed. We still need to leave tomorrow morning.” Serin said once she had finished.

“You’re going to leave tomorrow?” Asked Aetherin, almost sounding concerned.

“Yes… We have to finish our quest.”

“Where are you going?”

Serin glanced around the room while she wondered what to say, but before she could answer Liz had unravelled her map and laid it down on the table.

 “This is a great opportunity to gather some information.” She said with a grin.

“We’re just going to let her know where we’re going?” Asked Beth.

“Well, the likelihood is she will end up travelling with us, I don’t see the harm.” Answered Liz.

“What?”

“I mean, that just seems like the obvious outcome… Aetherin do you recognise this area?” Liz asked without paying Beth much heed or waiting for the others to agree.

Serin just shrugged her shoulders like she half expected something like this to happen and Altria laughed as she watched on.

“I know it yes. Is that where you’re headed?”

Liz glanced over to Serin and Altria.

“It is.” Answered Serin.

“That area is dangerous, you shouldn’t travel there.”

“We have to go there. We’re on an important mission for answers. We’re trying to stop a war amongst our people, we can’t turn back just because it’s dangerous. Can you help us? Maybe tell us the safest route there.”

“I… I can help you.” She answered after glancing across the table to me.

“Thank you.”

“It still won’t be safe, but I will tell you what I know.”

“That’s all I ask.”

“You should probably rest up. Doesn’t your kind require sleep?”

“We do. I suppose we can discuss the route with you in the morning.”

Liz looked as if she wanted to continue the discussion now, but after looking at the others and realising everyone was tired, she wrapped up the map.

“Shall I show you to your rooms?” Asked Aetherin.

“Please do.” Answered Serin.

Aetherin led us back to the entrance hall of the house.

“I’m going to stay down here, seeing as I’m taking the first watch. I’ll sit in the living room.” Beth said as Aetherin was about to show us upstairs.

“You won’t have need of that.” Aetherin replied.

“We’re just being cautious.”

“As you wish. I won’t stop you.”

Aetherin then led the rest of us upstairs. This place was nothing on the scale of one the princesses’ family’s homes, or even Serin’s, but it was still a grand house and upstairs there were several rooms. We passed one door and stopped outside the second.

“Two of you can take this room.” She said as we waited outside.

“Why don’t you and Celine take this one Altria? You probably know her the best after Theo.” Suggested Serin.

“Sure.” Answered Altria.

“Master?” Celine said looking over to me.

“You’ll be okay with Altria, won’t you?”

“I suppose… I did want to stay with you.”

“I expect I’ll have my own room.”

“Yes, I have prepared a room just for you.” Answered Aetherin.

Celine didn’t argue and after she and Altria went inside Aetherin showed us to the other rooms. We stopped two doors down.

“The one downstairs can take the room next door when she finishes her watching.”

“Thanks, I’ll let you know when she comes up.” Answered Serin.

Serin and Liz went inside, then Aetherin showed me to the final room alone.

“In here.” She said holding the door open.

I nodded and stepped inside. The room was dimly lit by a few candles, the double bed was neatly made. I glanced around this room looked as if it was lived in.

“Isn’t this your room?” I asked.

“It is.”

“You know, I couldn’t kick you out of your own room.”

“Thank you.” She said shutting the door behind her, it locked with a clink.