A quiet rustle outside their shelter woke Luna up. She saw how the morning sun entered the shelter as she slowly opened her eyes. Luna stood up and peered out of the shack with her eyes partially closed. She gradually opened her eyes fully and observed how Jannet was already there, attempting to maneuver a leaf through the wind while holding it in her hand. Luna could tell by the look on her face that she was still failing.
She didn't even notice that someone was watching her. Again and again, she pressed her hand against the wind hoping to push the leaf away. Her face was red like a tomato, and her shirt was soaking wet. It was time for Luna to get up and acquire something to eat. 'Fruits will have to do it for now,' she thought and left their shelter.
Jannet had her back to Luna and was gazing in the opposite direction of the shelter when Luna said, "Good morning."
"Ahhh!" startled by the sudden voice, she threw the leaf away and jumped into the air.
"When did you wake up?" she asked as she turned around and tried to greet Luna with a warm smile.
"Don't know, maybe five minutes ago?" Luna said and shrugged her shoulders. "But it was fascinating to watch you train." Under the grin of Luna, Jannet became even redder and turned away.
"You saw everything?" Her voice became even quieter.
"Your idea seems right, but you need to control your Mana more if you want to use magic." Luna takes her bow out of the shelter.
"I think we should get moving before the monsters come back. We will get some fruits on our way, and eat lunch later in the day. But I want to build up as much distance as possible."
The wind was shaking the trees and brought a foul smell with it, which Luna noticed immediately. It was still weak, but that she could smell it told her that the infection was much nearer than she would like it to be. It was still damp from the morning, but luckily there hadn't been any rain to surprise them. They were moving northeast. The trees grew more numerous as they traveled deeper into the forest.
In the interim, no more light could be seen through the leafy canopy, and a dense fog had descended. The idea didn't sit well with Luna. It was far too quiet in the forest. The trees’ only sound was the wind, and only infrequently did individual lights peek through the treetops.
Breathing became more difficult the longer the lush canopy sheltered them. Jannet didn't take long to begin stumbling. She was finding it harder and harder to stay standing. Since the sun had been out of the sky for some time, Luna used her intuition to determine the direction, she noticed that Jannet fought through the forest, her head hanging deeper minute after minute.
Luna looked over to Jannet, who was walking through the mud, and saw that she could barely stand on her feet.
'The magic in the fog seems to bother her too much.' She fastened Jannet under her arms and carefully leaned her against a tree. The treatment wouldn't be too painful. But Luna saw that it was needed because Jannet's entire face was already sweaty, and she could barely keep her eyes open, which had lost their shine in the meantime. While Luna licked her teeth, she touched Jannet's neck. Carefully, her teeth dug into the flesh. It took a moment, but she injected something into her bloodstream and removed her teeth again. The gasping breath slowly eased, and the tense facial muscles relaxed.
"Hey, Jannet, are you awake again?" she tried her luck, but the effect had still to appear.
"Mhhh, just two minutes, ok?" she murmured, half asleep.
As another minute passed, Jannet finally regained consciousness. She immediately saw that Luna was not happy with the situation. Her gaze swept around, and her face contorted. Her body tensed as soon as she thought of Luna making a face. She knew Luna was always cautious, but she had only screwed up her face in horrible situations.
Something was nearby that worried Luna. But what? Jannet didn't want to know. After some time that felt like an eternity, her eyes focused on Jannet again. "Ahh, you're awake again. In a nutshell, the mist has hypnotic effects. You're protected for now, but I'd suggest leaving this forest as soon as possible."
A screech could be heard in the distance. Jannet didn't have time to take in what was going on as Luna was already pulling her to her feet. "Follow me as fast as you can; something is behind us." Luna knew how hard it would be for Jannet to keep up with her. But right now, they had no choice. Whatever was chasing them would pay no heed to her.
The two jogged through the forest. The fog blocked their every view, and Jannet wasn't sure if Luna knew where she was going. But she had to trust her right now. Luna already had her bow in hand and was ready to unleash a magical arrow at any second should anything show up in her field of vision.
She was significantly faster than Jannet and could therefore afford to look behind her. Suddenly she saw something red in the treetops. But it wasn't tendrils that pursued them. Jannet, who followed Luna like a puppy, didn't notice any of this. Luna's eyes lit up purple, and her field of vision immediately widened. More and more of these red figures could be seen in the trees. They shimmied through the trees like monkeys, vanishing in and out of existence due to the fog.
"I know you don't want to hear that, but something is following us. If I scream, throw yourself on the floor, understood?" Jannet was now exhausted. She had never really been an athlete. Fear flooded her body, and all her senses were focused on Luna's voice. If Luna said anything, she would probably throw herself on the floor.
Luna couldn't run as she wanted with Jannet in tow. More and more, it rustled around them. Red figures could see Luna bouncing through the trees. She wondered what kind of creatures were after them. Only the red circled them; nothing could be seen of their legs and arms. Gags and gurgles came from all sides. Luna felt the fear Jannet felt on her neck when, all of a sudden, a floral scent hit her nostrils through the air.
Luna immediately sensed the scent was dangerous, but Jannet collapsed before she could warn her. Her muscles also began to cramp, most likely because the scent was poisonous. In the trees, she heard the gurgling and screeching again. It almost sounded like shouts of joy to celebrate their hunting success. Luna stopped abruptly and positioned herself next to Jannet, who was once again lying on the ground.
With a loud crack, the red creatures leaped at them, and only now could she see them.
They were demon-like monsters that had a rose with many teeth for a head. The stem had evolved into arms and legs quilted with spikes. Alarmed by the rose's sudden attack, Luna immediately drew her bow. Electricity flowed on the string, and a lightning arrow formed.
"In this world, pesticides for weed control have probably not yet been invented!" With a scream, she released her tendon.
A loud crackle and thunder lit up the dark forest. The lightning bolts jumped between the trees, changing their strength and direction with each bounce. Jannet just lay on the floor, holding her head, hoping the noise would stop soon. The roses tried to dodge the bolts of lightning, but not everyone was able to.
Luna heard a loud clack, followed closely by a hiss as a projectile narrowly missed her head. She rolled forward to avoid other objects and crouched.
Spikes decorated the ground and a few surrounding trees. She knew immediately that the rose demons had thrown their spikes at her. Her eyes immediately turned purple, and her field of vision increased. She saw another volley of spikes flying at her as the demons continued to dance through the trees, trying to dodge the blizzard arrows. The blue arrow was still resting on her string. Her fingers relaxed, and the string slipped from her hand.
With a loud bang, the arrow left the bow. The spikes that were about to hit Luna crashed into an invisible wall and were thrown back. The demons were surprised by the returning spikes. A few were pierced, but most escaped with ease.
Luna didn't give the demons time for any further action. Jannet could have been injured. If that's the case, she needed immediate medical attention for her friend.
Luna pulled her string again; most of the lightning had already lost its penetrating power, causing the demons to counterattack again. The demons came closer, but when they saw another arrow ready to fire, they stopped and kept their distance. The arrow didn't crackle, but it wasn't blue either. Not wanting to fall into a trap, they kept their distance.
Luna had the arrow up and tried to build as much distance as possible from Jannet so that she would not be sucked into the exchange of arrows.
As quickly as the demons grew cautious, their hunting instincts trumped reason, and they leaped into action once again. Thorns were fired at Luna and were closing in dangerously fast. The arrow left the string, but instead of going in the direction of the enemy, it flew straight into the ground.
Luna immediately closed her eyes and tried to roll to the side to avoid most of the thorns. She grimaced as her shoulder and leg were pierced.
The arrow shone and sparkled like the sun as it flew toward the ground. It exploded with the brightness of a supernova. Luna was lost, but she grinned when she heard the roses scream in pain.
The sun's light had instantly blinded the creatures of darkness. They tried to move away, but ran into each other, tearing the skin off the existing thorns in the ground and trees. Even though Luna couldn't see anything, she knew it was her chance. She fired off a blitz one last time. The screaming of the flowers was slowly stifled by loud crackling and flickering.
The light bounced from tree to tree and illuminated the spikes on the Demons arms and legs. Even as they stood on the ground, Luna found it hard to see their arms and legs, which were well camouflaged in the forest. Alternately, the flickering lightning bolts lighted the faces of Luna and the demons.
She started to draw her bow again as she cast fearless eyes in the direction of the monsters that were still left in the distance. The Rose Demons gave a frantic gurgle and decided to withdraw for the moment. They knew there was no chance of getting near the two.
Luna didn't drop her guard, even as she saw the signal for retreat. She knew she scared them away for now, but they could always come back. She waited minutes to confirm that they were indeed alone before she approached Jannet, who was still cowering on the ground, waiting for a signal from Luna. The effect of the scent had already worn off.
"You can stand up now," she said quietly.
Jannet opened her eyes which became wet and red while the fight was going on. She was scared to death and could only shakily stand on two legs. Luna was bleeding heavily in front of her, which caused her face to pale further.
She walked over two one of the dead flower demons, took out her knife, and cut off the rose petals. It seems she didn't care about her injuries. After the flower's death, the scent was no longer infused with magic and could no longer paralyze Jannet anymore. Luna would later wash the petals to altogether remove the smell, but for now, they would have to carry them like this.
"Luna, you are bleeding heavily; you should rest first," Jannet said with a shaky voice.
"It's not that bad; take a couple of leaves from the monsters. We will later use them to craft something. It might also cover your scent so no more monsters will track us."
Jannet was still concerned about Luna's condition, but she remembered that Luna wasn't a human, so she tried to get that thought out of her head and went over to the cut and stacked petals, but only reluctantly picked them off the ground. This flower had tried to kill her not long ago, and now Luna wanted her body parts to be carried around. Jannet wasn't particularly fond of this, but she executed the order before Luna's patience would run out.
Luna turned around and said, "we will follow this direction for now." She pointed in a direction, and Jannet once again hoped Luna knew what she was doing. "Also, we should get out of here before more reinforcements show up."
Luna immediately started jogging in the direction she pointed in just a moment ago. Her instincts told her that was the right way, so she believed them. Vampires were night creatures, and they would always find their way.
For now, it was only a matter of time before they would discover the end of the forest. She also understood that Jannet's body could only withstand this strain for so long because she couldn't buff herself with mana, unlike her. Luna wasn't particularly skilled in this area, but a little extra power could help a lot. Combining that with her vampire physiology made it impossible for Jannet to keep up.
After 30 Minutes of Jogging, they had to stop because Jannet was about to collapse.
"Jannet, I know you won't like it, but the effect of my separate Mana shield on you will drop shortly, so to protect you properly, I have to bite you and inject new antibodies that will protect you for another hour."
Jannet collapsed to the ground, gasping for air.
She could only focus on breathing as sweat ran down her neck, and she thought she could hear the blood running through her veins. Her head pounded crazy, so she didn't fully understand what Luna was saying when she spoke. It took her a while to relax and ask Luna while still grasping for air.
"Could y...you re...repeat that."
"Sure, I said I am going to bite you and inject new antibodies that will protect you from the magical fog."
Jannet's entire face froze the moment she heard Luna. She didn't like the idea of getting bitten by Luna, even if it would help her.
"Can I say no?" she tried to ask.
"Then you would lose your consciousness, and I would have to piggyback you, so no, we won't discuss this."
Jannet started to wail at the thought of being bitten by a vampire. She threw herself back and forth on the floor like a small child and only stopped when she lacked the strength to do so.
"I see you've calmed down. Then we can start." Jannet shut her eyes and waited for the pain that would be felt when the teeth went in. She was surprised when she didn't feel the pain at all. The next thing she knew, something was being injected into her neck veins. She could feel it but didn't act on the impulse. Luna pulled her fang out of Jannet's neck and licked the blood from her teeth.
Instinctively, Jannet grabbed her neck and found that no blood flowed from her wound, she could feel through her fingers that the injury was still there, but it didn't bother her. If she didn't touch it directly, she wouldn't even know it was there.
"Didn't hurt at all, did it?" Luna asked. She had already grabbed her things and was only waiting for Jannet to get up.
Janet sat up straight, her stomach grumbling. Her clothes were stained with demon blood, and her body was covered in sweat and dirt. The smell coming from her made her feel extremely uneasy. Although she wished Luna would let her take a break to wash, she knew that wouldn't happen. Her trust in Luna has increased over the past few days, even though it was a little rocky initially. Jannet was unaware of how much she had come to rely on Luna. She tried to bond with Luna constantly in the lab, and now that she was imprisoned in this world, that bond had developed entirely on itself.
"Come on, I know you are exhausted and hungry, but we have to continue. You'll only lose more power the longer we stay in this forest since I haven't seen anything eatable yet."
Luna held Jannet's hand and pulled her to her feet. She hungrily followed Jannet through the musty forest.
