He just lay there frozen as the monster let go of him. It started to jump around laughing about how fun the chase was, as if to prove how impossible it is to escape. So much for hoping it isn’t cruel. At least the thing it wants is for him to cook for it, and not something truly evil like act as a source of blood, or scream in pain. Hopefully that doesn’t change.

Slowly he worked on sitting up, only to realize how tired he is. His legs are shaking, his breath ragged and his mana, almost depleted. Not to mention the ten or so fresh flesh wounds on his upper arms.

Looking at the energetic and bloody monster, his new employer would probably be a better description, he sees it having stopped laughing and slowed down to giggling.

“That hunt was really fun!” I say as the laughing subsides. It truly was fun, the chase was exhilarating and the satisfying way the otter’s flesh gave way between my teeth. 

The dancing electricity that usually surrounds me are pretty much gone thanks to using about a quarter of my mana, but they’ll return once I regenerate to capacity.

I’m taken out of my moment when I hear a small voice. The vampire flinches as my head snaps towards him. It takes a moment for him to recompose himself, during which I notice how heavily he breathes.

“What am I going to cook for you?” he asks in a cautious voice.

What indeed? I take out a few of the things I’ve hunted, an otter, a goat, a piece of deer, though obviously I place the deer on a table alongside the half-plucked bird, one of the fish and the turtle. I even take out the stove from that basement in the wasteland.

I consider taking out some of the pickled stuff as well, but no, I don’t really want to.

He just sits there staring mutely watching me place stuff around on the forest floor and the slightly warped and melted metal table.

“Anything really. You did a good job on the lightning hawk, though some salt would make it better. Where do you usually cook stuff, anyway?” I say.

After a moment of just staring at me, he answers “In my cave. That way” while helpful pointing.

I helpfully note down in my mind that it’s pretty much opposite to the direction of the demon city. Suddenly I feel the quest marker shifting to the direction of the cave. Neat.

I start gathering my stuff again while letting him recuperate.

As that happens, I spot him drinking from a glass container of sorts, which immediately catches my attention, so I run over to him.

“Whatcha got there?” I ask with that sort of casual tone parents use when they catch their children having something they shouldn’t have.

He once again flinches at my attention. Is he afraid of me, or something. Yup, he would definitely be afraid of me. Kinda funny actually.

“B…blood” he says carefully, holding the half empty glass bottle out for me to inspect. I sniff it and yup, he’s a vampire alright.

I shrug and return to packing up the stuff. He audibly sighs in relief. Some giggling escapes me, and he immediately clamps up again.

Honestly this is way too fun. 

A few more minutes and he is up and walking again. From then on it’s fairly quick to return to his cave. We pass the clearing I slept in at about the halfway mark.

Once we arrive, I find nothing of note, except densely grown foliage. He does some magic and the plants move aside revealing a cave inside.

It’s quite cozy with furniture like a soft chair, a bed, a table and even a bookshelf.

“Wow, this is a cool place.” I say honestly. The small glowing crystals dotted around keep the cave decently lit. He smiles slightly at the comment, and simply continues showing me around, him having stopped flinching at my every move during the short journey.

Further in he has a storage area with some of his stuff, though he keeps most in his inventory, like sensible folk. The cooking area I initially asked about is actually outside. He set up a campfire and has this metal racket he sets above it. 

After the short tour, he sits down in his chair, and I take out the remaining cushion from the couch and sit on the floor. I could have sat on his bed, but I’m still partially bloody. Speaking of blood, I want to get clean, so a short question later and he points me to the closest river.

As I wash myself, I’m left with a single thought, I really should have asked if he had soap…

Some careful application of magic later, and I’m free from blood and the river is full of soot. The gash that the Otter gave me doesn’t hurt any longer, but it’ll probably take a little while to heal. I don’t know how long though, it could be fine tomorrow, or in a week.

While I’m at the river I look for some fish, but find none. 

I’m still wet when I return to the cave, though I shake a little extra before entering. He didn’t close the foliage when I left, so I don’t have to dig through it to enter.

What he did do while I was away though, was to fall asleep. He sat there in the comfy looking chair, snoring. Should I move him to his bed? I decide against it.

So, what do I do while he sleeps? Hmm, I’m still going to the demon city, or was it a town? I don’t actually remember. Either way, should I bring him along? Can he even refuse? I mean, If I was nice enough to pack away his stuff, he would happily come along, right?

I giggle at the silly hostage situation. The question is if I want him to come along. Having a chef sounds nice in theory, but I’ll have to manage him. Sure, I can force the matter, but then he’ll resent me and do a subpar job while looking for a way to escape.

I think I’ll settle with having him cooking a few meals before I leave.

What to do while he sleeps though? Should I finally drain the last bit of mana from the abominite? I plop it down on the ground next to the cushion, which I moved closer to the entrance. Once I touch it, I feel the mana inside it, it’s not all that much, but I still can’t get myself to draw it out, so I stow it away again. Oh well, something for later then.