I felt both reinvigorated and relaxed after waking for probably the first time since ending up as a vampire. I ended up lazing around in the bed for a while longer, savoring the feeling until I remembered that Qubit should now know how long the sun is down.

"Got the time yet?" I asked while lifting the cube above my head.

Day length: 12:02:47

Night Length: 11:57:13

Time Until Dawn: 11:38:26

Nearly twelve hours, a little less to be safe. Should be getting longer since winter is coming.

I forced myself to my feet as I had to make as much use of the time I had to explore. Exiting the bedroom, however, revealed the wolf corpse I had completely forgotten about after last night's events. Not feeling hungry and a little uncertain about the spoilage of blood within a corpse I abstained from touching it for now and merely stored it inside Qubit. Only after the body vanished did I remember the hare that was still in there along with clothes and hoped they would not intermingle wherever they were.

I'll just hope for the best and leave it be for now. If it causes problems then it is probably too late anyway.

Stepping outside I was glad the weather was still good with barely a cloud to be seen in the starlit sky. Before setting off to explore I washed the dried blood off my hands and face in the stream as well as my feet, as futile as it was, and considered grabbing the shoes on the corpses as there had not been any spares in the house. I quickly decided against it as that was a sight I did not want to see.

Scanning my surroundings once over for the werewolf, I began by circumventing the houses as much as possible on my way to a road that I had spotted which led to a break in the trees. The path itself was of trodden dirt with a line of grass going down the middle, clear of rocks or any other obstacle. Rather than winding between the trees, it was quite straight and flat, not following the bumps and slopes of the surrounding forest. It was odd and unnatural but seemingly cleared from use rather than construction. My best guess was that it had been abandoned for some time and overgrew before getting used again.

Idle thoughts as these occupied my mind as I enjoyed the tranquil night walk through the woods, only occasionally interrupted by rustling leaves amongst the gloom of the trees. I kept an eye out on the countdown till sunrise Qubit provided and nearing the second hour of my hike I was forced to stop. On the path up ahead two yellow eyes were staring at me as a large grey wolf blocked the way. I was surprisingly not too worried or scared. Perhaps it was my encounters with the werewolf putting this threat to shame or the presence of Qubit providing me safety that reassured me. Whatever it was, I felt confident I had nothing to fear as long as it was alone. I stood my ground and stared it down, noticing it looked similar to the one the werewolf gave me.

Of course, it does. It is from around here. Although, now that I think about it, hasn't every animal I have seen so far been huge, or are they normally that big?

The encounter ended without incident as the wolf retreated into the treeline and after waiting to make sure it was gone, I continued on my way.

About four hours in the trees started to thin, giving way to a grassy field and I marveled at the open country but also disheartened with no civilization in sight. The path continued on straight ahead and there seemed to be some shapes nestled on the roadside but I could not make out what they were. I decided to head back as soon as I examined whatever it was as I doubted I would find anything within the next hour and I did not want to cut it close seeing as there was nowhere to hide from the sun unless I wanted to risk becoming swiss cheese in the forest.

I continued lightly down the road until I could finally make out what the shapes were. It was a wooden two-wheeled cart parked in a ring with three tents facing inwards. When I got even closer I realized a mound that that laying nearby was actually a horse. My excitement at this point was immeasurable but I was also wary, bringing up my hand to try and feel how much my fangs might show. Unless they knew vampires existed I doubted they would think anything more than I am weird, which they might anyway in my current state. My hair was a mess and I did my best to straighten it, my clothes and I probably stank which I could not do anything about and I was barefoot which was also out of my hands to remedy. All in all, this would be one hell of a first impression and not in a good way.

I stood some distance from the camp as I contemplated how to approach, as waking them up might spook or anger them but I had no choice as I could not wait for morning. I steeled myself to approach and at least see what I was dealing with before calling out. As I was about to reach the edge of the camp and get a good angle to peer into one of the tents, I heard footsteps and saw a tall figure bound into the camp from the opposite end. I cursed at myself for being too focused on the tents as both I and the lanky man with frizzled hair before me were briefly frozen from the unexpected encounter.

"Whoah there, steady goes." He looked me up and down with a hand resting on what I saw was a sword sheathed at his hip, after which he gave a scowl and a cautious look down the road I came from. "Trouble follow ya?"

I ended up shaking my head as a response after hearing him speak in the same language as the werewolf, not yet confident in freely speaking it myself. I saw him visibly relax a bit at my answer, hand still at the ready however and his eyes on me once more.

"The hell Larry, what's going on?" A female voice interjected from the tent nearest to me but entrance facing away, drawing the man's attention.

"Survivor, I think. Lighthouse, wake up!"

The owner of the voice from the tent quickly revealed herself as a short girl sporting a pixie cut and a scratch scarred right eye as she got out holding an unsheathed shortsword at the ready. At the same time, a loud yawn came from the far tent.

"My turn al- who's that?" This time it was what appeared to be a young man with neatly trimmed hair who ended up half stumbling over his own feet trying to get out in a rush after spotting me, and to my utter surprise started glowing and lighting up the area.

As I winced and shielded my eyes from the sudden light that seemed to be emanating from the man's skin, it retracted as quickly as it came after hearing a yelp of pain.

"I swear the next time you light up for no reason I'll clobber ya!"

"You just did!"

As my eyes readjusted I saw that I was not the only one to have been briefly blinded as the others were blinking and squinting in my direction.

"Sorry about that. You're not hurt are you?" I once again shook my head in response to the girl's question as she lowered her sword which I eyed cautiously. "Where'd you come from?"

I scolded myself for not practicing speaking and answered as simply as I could, "Village."

"Evergreen?"

I assumed that was the name of the place and nodded, hoping it will not cause any misunderstandings. At my response, all three of them seemed to perk up and suddenly become at ease. This confused me but did not question it as it helped smooth things over. The girl then quickly hopped over to the cart, tossing her shortsword inside as she started to rummage for something.

"The name's Larry as ya might have heard from Lucie over there, and the lighthouse here is named Tristan." The lanky man introduced himself while punching Tristan in the arm when his name came up, earning himself a spiteful glare, and finally leaving his pommel to rest.

Lucie made a return as soon as introductions were over with a flask and heavy blanket, handing me each in turn with a smile leaving me too perplexed to refuse. I was quickly ushered by her to the front of the cart where I could sit down on the driver's seat, constantly glancing at Qubit along the way who was seemingly being ignored by the three as Tristan made an attempt at retreating to his tent before getting dragged along by Larry.

"Drink some first. It's just water, don't worry."

I took a test sip at her beckoning, acutely aware that I had not drunk any water since becoming a vampire and worried I might find it undrinkable but was pleasantly surprised to find it rather refreshing, albeit a little warm. I did not drain it dry as I did not want to seem rude or desperate and honestly was starting to feel a little impatient to ask them questions but relented to answer theirs first as they seemed to have just as many. It also might give me opportunities to learn more just from what they ask as they definitely seemed to know magic from the aptly named lighthouse demonstration.

Why did the first magic I saw someone do have to be one to make them glow of all things.

I was slightly disappointed but also glad I could be disappointed by something as silly as that despite all that has happened. A slight smile played on my lips, which only widened as I felt a sudden warmth envelop me, like an electric blanket but I was sure the one around me was, by all means, regular, at least from what I could tell.

"So what's your deal?" This question from Tristan was met with another, more serious punch much like when he lit up. "Ow! Fine! I'll be quiet."

"Have you encountered any spirits?"

The girl's question threw me for a loop right off the bat, making me rather want to answer the more pointed previous question. I decided to answer truthfully as it was better than getting caught in a lie, which was very likely given how little I knew of what was going on. I made sure to turn away from the group as I answered to hide my fangs as best I can.

"I don't know."

"We heard there was a wolf-like spirit that attacked Evergreen and came from Arenol to confront it. We are knights under the employ of Baron Felix Thornton." A snort came from Tristan and Larry gave him a glare. "Is there anything you could tell us about it? Anything you know?"

I thought it odd for the werewolf to be called a spirit but it might just be a less threatening alternative to monster, which is definitely what I would call it. Before I could say anything about it, however, a question from Tristan made me whirl around and tense up from shock as I realized that the fangs might not be the only change to my appearance. 

"Why's her hair white?"

Before anyone could respond the looming shadow of a massive, humanoid, wolflike beast launched itself from the grass toward the backs of the three people watching me, eliciting a scream of horror from me.