Iris and Kia were walking through the empty streets of the noble district, softly illuminated for them by the silver light of the over casted moon above them. The two bloody figures must have looked bizarre as they confidently placed their feet on the stone-paved road in the almost pitch-blackness that humans would see if they peeked from their windows outside into the dark night.

 

"Iris, I still don't understand." The girl leaning heavily on the elf suddenly asked.

 

"Understand what, Kia?" 

 

"Why did you save the human? He was very rude to you and I can't figure out what was the benefit of that."

 

"I never really thought of myself as a proper elf, you know? From where I came from, I and my mother were the only elves in the village full of humans. I always just thought of myself as just me nothing less and nothing more. I listened to him with one ear and let out his words with the other after he explained what had happened."

 

The petite undead pondered on the elf's words staring at her face before speaking again. "I thought non-magical creatures have two parents."

 

"You are painfully blunt and straight to the point sometimes, Kia." Iris looked down at the fatigued mage.

 

"Did I say something bad?" The undead mage asked, unaware of what the elf meant.

 

"No, only a bit inappropriate but that is to be expected for a naughty undead like you~" Iris teased. "Answering your question, yes non-magical creatures do have two parents and I did have two parents. My father was killed while he hunted for food."

 

"Ahhh." The necromancer made a sound of acknowledgement to the elf's words, fully devoided of expected awkwardness or shame upon hearing such news.

 

"Do magical creatures have parents." Iris asked the girl after a long pause.

 

"No, we don't." The older undead replied with a face of explaining something very basic to a small child.

 

"Then who raised you or were you born with all the knowledge you have?"

 

"Raised me?" Kia looked down trying to recall the past memories of ages of old before looking back again. "The Cyclops?" She eventually came up with an unconvinced answer.

 

"The entire race?" The elf raised an eyebrow at the doubtful answer.

 

"No." 

 

"Then who was it?"

 

Kia narrowed her eyes in the search of an answer, combing through the vast, neatly organized memory which catalogued her long monotonous past to give the risen an accurate answer. "I can't remember but they wore clothes like this but grey and with sleeves." She pointed at her long black dress under her cloak. "And they were annoying."

 

"Like Umbria annoying or different?"

 

"Both," Kia explained. "The first person had a big blue eye and a long white beard and funnily said things always saying z instead s. He gave me lots of books to read and I liked speaking to him when he visited me. He had a nice laugh but once he came down to live forever with me he turned annoying like the lady and stopped laughing at all. The second person would always insist on being called Grand Seer and he was boring always lecturing about the Necropolis being a gift to me... or me being a gift? I don't really remember. But he always won any argument we had and later he would explain why I lost. He would also turn annoying and never spoke in the boring way again." Kia's voice betrayed a small hint of sadness. "When these two came to live in Necropolis their replacements would rarely visited me. And each new person became progressively more annoying the longer I didn't see them, only asking me to shoot a spell into a large crystal formation on occasion." The girl recalled.

 

  Iris diligently listened to Kia's every word cherishing each small bit of information she could get. As the necromancer's words drifted away into the nightly wind leaving them in silence Iris pulled the girl closer to her. They turned a corner and climbed the grand broad stairs which lead to the entrance to the vampire's mansion. A guard clad in black armour stood motionless in front of the door when he suddenly called out to the two.

 

"What is your business with Lady Blackworm?" 

 

"Ehhh..." That was an excellent question, Iris thought an awkward silence filled the air.

 

"I order you to leave before I will remove you myself" The soldier ordered. 

 

  The door behind the man opened and a tall soldier wearing similar armour exited from the manner. His confident stride faltered as he noticed the two undead standing on the stone steps.

 

"Eletuine, what is the meaning of this?" A familiar low voice came from the newly emerged soldier.

 

"Captain these warm... individuals wandered onto the property and I was about to escort them away." The shorter guard hurriedly moved from his post towards the two. "Captain?" He stared at the metal gauntlet which grasped his shoulder.

 

"I will be taking it from there." Karol said, he held the door for Kia and Iris to enter. In the corner of the elf's eye, she could see the bewildered guard going back to his post.

 

"Hope you had an enjoyable day, Supreme Master." Karol shut the door behind them and kneeled. "My Mistress hadn't yet decided if your illustrious existence should be revealed to them. I hope you understand their folly."

 

  Iris could feel the soft, delicate body of the girl tense up as soon as the man spoke. Kia ignored the poor Captain and attempted to walk away before a sudden realization hit her.

 

"Where is our room?" She asked the elf which she leaned on.

 

"Another good question." Iris replied, the mansion was so vast she only knew the way from their room to the garden, Umbria's office and the baths."

 

*Cough*

 

  The still kneeling man coughed into his gauntlet causing Iris to turn her attention to him with Kia following the elf.

 

"Mistress asked us to lead you to her when you come back, will that be acceptable to you, Great Master?"

 

"Grr...fine." The necromancer tiredly agreed causing Karol to stand up and lead them deeper into the mansion.

 

 

 

"Master!" Umbria's ecstatic voice could be heard as they approached the door to her office. "I was patiently and vigilantly awaiting your arrival."

 

"Hi." Kia sheepishly greeted the vampire. 

 

"Ehhh... Shall I order the servant to cast a cleaning spell on you, Master?" The vampire stared at the two undead who accepted her offer.

 

  The woman who was offered to Kia as a meal the night before was quickly brought in, she casted a spell on the two undead. Kia looked shocked at the simple spell and its effects but before she could speak, she and Iris were directed to sit on the comfortable chairs neatly tucked in, under the grand wooden table. Iris realised that precisely three chairs were left with the rest nowhere in sight. That alone wouldn't arouse the elf's suspicion but the placement of them did as all three chairs were lined up in a straight line beside each other with Kia already comfortably collapsed on the central chair, squished between two remaining seats.

Nevertheless, she sat down beside Kia on her right side with the bloodsucker on the girl's left. Iris looked around the room noticing the absence of the piles of notes scattered around previously which made the room look like a proper office.

 

"Master, I took liberty in ordering food to be made for you." The woman explained as she started to pull plates from her inventory. The aroma of cooked meat filled the air under their noses as Kia happily searched for cutlery.

 

  The plate in front of Iris contained a piece of a roasted chicken laying flat on a bedding of mashed earthfruits while being drowned in a brown sauce. She lightly grasped the metal cutlery and began to portion her meal in half for a certain hungry undead before beginning to eat. 

The food had the right balance of flavours never allowed one particular flavour to overpower all the others which wasn't what she expected from looking at the thick meat souce. With the addition of the food's texture, Iris could comfortably say she just ate a piece of paradise without exaggerating too much. When she finished her meal she turned to look at Kia and relish in each little happy smile and giggle the adorable girl made. 

 

"Can I?" Kia made a request that the elf already prepared for, giving her the pre-divided plate.

 

  When her Master finished eating the lavish food the vampire placed a chalice made from glass with a golden band carved with decorative designs wrapped around its rim. Inside the chalice was a dark red liquid with an alcoholic odour coming from it.

 

"What is this?" Iris asked the vampire while resting her open palm on top of Kia's goblet to block her from drinking the mystery liquid.

 

"Wine, Harbinger." The woman kept her courteous smile as she turned to the elf. "I can't see a reason why wouldn't you allow Master to drink wine. We are all undead so alcohol is only for taste."

 

  Iris let go of the drink and Kia grasped the glass chalice with two hands searching approval on her creation's face as she smelled the sweetish liquid, which she hesitantly gave with a simple nod to her creator. The necromancer gently pressed the glass to her small lips and gave the drink small sip. Her mouth moved as she rolled her tongue in her mouth tasting the wine. 

 

"Yum." A simple one-word praise came from the necromancer as her lips parted with the golden rim.

 

  This simple endorsement encouraged Iris to take a sip of her own drink. The elf never understood the appeal of alcohol which always tasted like a rotten version of whatever the brewer used to make it which on the few occasions Iris drank alcohol was usually earthfruit or grapes.

The liquid inside her mouth tasted like sweet fruits with unfamiliar flavours mixed seamlessly with familiar ones with no traces of the putrid aftertaste she thought she would taste or the characteristic metallic taste of blood. The wine smoothly flowed down her throat leaving her with a pleasantly tasting mouth reminiscent of freshly made fruit salad.

 

"Master, while you were away I was organizing documents and..." The vampire finally spoke her mind while pulling out an enormous folder with a black leather spine. When she set the folder down made all the things on the table jump up. "And I gather an extensive report for you." She said opening the large folder resembling a patchworked manuscript with pages sticking out of it at random.

 

  Without saying anything Kia sheepishly reached for the first loose page and held it in both hands, her finger rapidly tracing the suspiciously new-looking writing which beautifully flew through the paper resembling an experienced bureaucrat as she flipped through the report.

From what Iris could read over the necromancer's shoulder the contents of the report were ranging from achievements to logistics of supplies of villages. Iris eventually gave up on reading the meticulously written pages which left no detail unwritten, feeling her head spin with each page Kia turned over.

The two undead sipped on the wine regularly refreshed by the bloodsucker whose colour in Kia's chalice got progressively darker as the night slowly advanced which no one realised.

 

"I am tired." Kia suddenly stood up, and in front of her two equal piles of notes lay on top of the white tablecloth. 

 

"Going to bed?" The elf asked as the girl climbed on her.

 

"Yes." The girl agreed.

 

"I will lead you." Umbria proclaimed to the elf.

 

"I wouldn't want to take up more of your time. I apologise for the mess we caused." Iris answered, causing the vampire to frown. As the risen was about to leave Umbria's office she noticed the vampire taking a sip of her own chalice with a puzzled expression.

 

  When they reached their room Kia walked up to the bed with unbalanced steps, she climbed under the covers to the silent disapproval of the elf. The risen took her time to undress herself, slowly taking off her boots, gloves, jacket and trousers. She examined her clothes she noticed couple large drops of blood soaked deeply into the material which she would have to clean herself, not wanting to wait for someone else to do it.

Iris loomed over the bed's edge uncovering the fully dressed girl underneath. The risen slowly took off the tall black boots off the girl's feet alongside her black dress which willingly slid off Kia's petite frame only shrouded from the tall's undead gaze by the corset which the elf found too difficult to take off from the sleeping girl after a couple of attempts.

 

  Iris dropped onto the bed covering herself with the blanket. She stared at the beautiful sleeping face of the mysterious undead which she still knew very little about. She was about to drift into slumber but the room was suddenly illuminated by an abruptly flashing light of deep violet. The flashing felt erratic with no real purpose behind it. The undead mage's body rapidly rose and fell as she stirred awake leaving the laying elf to stare at the back of the half-naked undead girl.