“Wait. Before you leave,” I quickly exclaimed. “I am a vampire. But you, I do not know.”

The mist did not reappear, but a voice flowed forth from the wind. “I am the first dead,” whispered Sara. Her voice, cold, but refreshing in a world so filled with fire.

I did not move or speak. Her voice cooled my flame, and made my will pause.

#

Outside the palace, men and women walked aimlessly, sold fruits and crabs under stalls covered by blue tarps. I walked towards the closest merchant. In one hand he held two crabs, and in the other a couple of coins he just received from someone who was about to take the crustaceans. “Hey, sto—.” Just as I was about to tell them not to eat those crabs they jumped out of the man’s hand and ran towards the palace. A great migration had started. A flood of red, more impressive than what he had seen at sea occurred. However, when I turned back to the merchant, he did not care for this event one bit. The coins were already in his pocket, and the customer walked away.

I ran to the man with empty hands. “Hey, do you hear me?” I asked.

The man looked down to me with yellowed eyes. Although bad, nothing could compare to the fishermen. However, that didn’t mean he looked like a man who could live much longer.

“You forgot to get your crabs. Did you not pay two coins for them?”

The man looked down even further to find his hands devoid of crustaceans. “That’s true… How did I not notice? Thanks kid.” The man walked back to the tent.

“No, I forbid you from going back.”

The man started to walk back towards where he was heading to earlier while speaking. “I’ll talk to him later. Maybe he needs the cash. I’ve never had a problem with him before.”

Was this my power? Or an effect of the ghosts. It might also be a mix of both. “Stay here until I come back.” I ordered.

The man halted.

I flew back to the palace and called out to Sara, “Do your powers make people lethargic and do as you wish?” I asked.

No answers came for a few seconds, but it did eventually come, “No, if it did, I could order them to let me meet Sara.”

I nodded. “Thank you.” I left once again. I flew back to the man waiting for me. Once I landed next to him, he started to move once again. “Don’t move.” He stopped.

I didn’t think I could gain additional abilities. Wasn’t I, as the patriarch born with all the abilities of a vampire? Then perhaps this was to do with mana. With practice, did my use of mana become more efficient? Had I started to use spells unconsciously? But I hadn’t done anything different. The ladies who guarded Amara didn’t do as I commanded. Perhaps it was a result of the ghost's lethargic effect combined with my powers? I didn’t know but I’d have to figure it out eventually. But for now, I had to do something else. Something related to why I stopped this man. “Do you know of anyone named Sara?”

The man looked back down to me. Although not a robot, his words staggered out. “I know three Sara’s.”

“Oh God.” This wouldn’t work I forgot that this wasn’t a small village. I looked around and with a single glance my eyes passed over four large streets, multiple side streets, and a few hundred flat top houses made of compressed earth and stone.

“Where is the city register?” I asked.

“It is in the palace. When someone is born or dies, their family reports it. And each year the palace guards go around and make certain all is in order.”

“Stay here.” If he knew the Sara in question, he could be of help.

#

“Where’s the population register booklet?” I asked the first palace guard I saw.

The man, whose sweat dripped down on the stone road did not peer down to meet my eyes. “In the treasury.”

“And where are the keys to get in?”

“With the lord.”

This was getting too arduous. I wasn’t a detective, or one who liked quests with ten steps. However…

I looked up to the guard. A grey film covered his brown skin, making it look like frozen earth. His lips were cracked and covered by dried clumps of blood so unappetizing my vision turned puke green.

“I’m an idiot.” I facepalmed. No doubt Sara would know where Sara was. And so, I yelled towards the sky. “Sara, can you guide me to Sara? I’m going to try and explain the situation to their parents. I can even bring her here if I manage to work something out.”

“Really! You’d do that for me?” She spoke immediately.

“Yes, it’s the least I can do for the favours you’re giving me.” I was also curious about who this Sara was. Probably a baby with mana. But had only one child been born since the magical era started? What made her special?

“OK, just follow the crab.” A single crab ran out of the palace. It’s eight legs moved with frantic haste, hopping over rocks and cracks.

#

The house in front of which the crab stopped was a two-story building. Set on the ground, a wooden plank with an engraving of a pendant indicated that this was a jewelry shop. However, the windows and the doors were closed. I pushed open the door. There didn’t seem to be any locks. I stepped in and closed the door behind me. The door did have a lock. I did not touch it. Rust and metal tickled my nose. I sneezed and walked to the back of the storefront counter, making sure not to bump into any displays. Although I could see in the dark, this dark seemed different, abstruse, and hazy. Grey. I pushed open another door. There were stairs going up, no doubt to the store owners’ living quarters. I stepped on the first step. The wood creaked and cold wind breezed by me and put my hair on end.

When I reached the middle step my feet tingled and I shivered. I placed more weight on the plank. The wood released a high-pitched creak which shifted the air and tore at my head.

With the next step, I could see the second floor. I remained there. Letting only my eyes peer above the second floor. A man and woman sat on a large cushion. Although they didn’t face me, they did not react to the sound of my steps. I quickly went up the last few stairs. Hoping that only the stairs were frozen. However, as my feet started to swell and harden, I transformed into a bat, flew up to the ceiling and hung from a beam. I wasn’t warm, but anything would beat that floor. And from here, I had a better view.

In the arms of the mother, a child slept. It had the opacity of a steam cloud. Next to the mother, the father had his finger on the baby’s stomach. As if he tickled her. However, they did not move. A thick layer of grey ice covered their skin. I concentrated on my hearing. Their hearts still beat, however, the baby. The baby had no pulse. She had died. Yet, tiny white specs of mana still emanated from her nose.

I flew down when I had warmed up a bit and landed in front of the family. I bent down to take the child, however, the father’s finger slowly crept up from his child, and the mother started to turn her back to me. They were slow and their movements sounded like grinding gears. “Stop moving.” I ordered. However, nothing happened. The sound grinded my brain.

I walked around the mother and crouched down in front of her. She started to move again; however, a turtle could win a 100-meter race against her. I grabbed the child. It started to cry, and her parents started to get up with the speed of a centenarian. However, even this speed was too much for their bodies.

A crack appeared on the father’s knee, and the mother’s stomach. “Stop. Stop. Stop,” I ordered. I did not want to see what would come next.

The pair continued to move. More cracks and fissures formed on their bodies. The child wailed. Ice formed on my hands. I set the child down. Her cries lowered; however, they did not end.

The parents bent back down. Cracks continued to spread. I transformed into a bat and flew out the window. When I looked back, a piece of the mother’s stomach fell out and shattered on the ground. Grey intestines, and coagulated blood spread about the room. The father’s knee cracked, he tumbled over, his hip hit the floor, and he crumbled into a hundred pieces. More than just frozen guts now filled the room. Pink clumps of brain, sheets of lungs, and a frozen heart were a few of the recently added decorations.

Sara stopped crying. But after a few seconds, she burst into a wail which shook the air. A white mist followed. It spread through the air and froze all that it touched. The people who walked on by, the stone roads, and the earth structures. The water in the air crystallized, and a crystal rain formed. The air sparkled, shined, and dazzled even the coldest of hearts.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t admire the scene. No, I did not want to see such a scene and so, with great haste I flew off to the palace.