I Can't Get the Vampire Rogue to Romance Me

Chapter 5 - Two Rogues and a Druid

The vampire rogue's face was priceless as the goblin he thought he had killed keeled over from Evangeline's blade.

For a meet-cute, that was a good one.

And that was all they got.

Somewhere, someone boomed a word of power.

They both turned to look in that direction. All Evangeline saw was a goblin wearing a skull and holding what appeared to be the spine and rib cage of some animal like a staff, both of its clawed hands extended to the sky.

Evangeline had time for one action. She sent her dagger to her camp inventory.

And everything was blackness.

When Evangeline awoke, the world was rumbling underneath her. She lay on her side, and her whole body ached. Blinking her eyes, all she could see were legs. She tried to stretch and discovered her arms were bound up behind her back. For a brief second, she started to panic, but then...

Special Power: Meta Knowledge—activate

She remembered... this was part of the... part of her...

Blinking Evangeline realized she was having a hard time recalling something. Something she should just know, but for the moment, it wasn't as important. She just knew this was all happening according to plan. What she did need to figure out was how to get out of this concerning situation. Shifting where she lay, she tried to work out if she could sit up or not. It became clear after some wiggling that there were too many unconscious bodies around her in equal states of tied up to manage it.

Then a shoulder gently bumped into her head. "Here, press against me, little one, and we can manage this," a warm, deep voice instructed beside her. She did as she was told and pressed up.

Sure enough, the other body gave her the leverage she needed. Around her neck, a metal collar thunked onto her collarbones as she righted herself. It was clearly meant for a larger creature yet was too small to get it off by shaking with enthusiasm.

Instead, she regarded her new friend and realized she knew who he was. "Oh, you're ... a druid," she amended, instead of just outright saying his name. The last thing she needed was to start things off awkward by not actually being properly introduced.

"Yes, Hagor," the large druid man said, nodding to her. "Of the Western Forest."

"It's nice to meet you," Evangeline said and meant it. "I'm Evangeline," she said before she thought better of it. Maybe she should have used a different name, but her real one rolled off her tongue too fast.

Some rogue I'm turning out to be, she thought to herself. But she also knew there was no reason not to use her real name here. It wasn't like calling herself something exotic would change what happened next.

Hagor was one of her favorite characters after Valerian. He was warm, charming, and sweet. It was everything she should like wrapped in a large man's frame. She had thought when she had started... of all of her encounters with this world, it was Hagor she would want to romance. And then she learned...

But she couldn't remember what it was. There was something about him that had turned her off to him, even though he was a romanceable option. But at that moment, she just couldn't recall.

"I think I'm losing my memory," she muttered.

"They cast a very powerful sleep spell on all of us. I would not be surprised if more than a few have trouble remembering what happened."

He shifted on his seat, tucking his long, chunky legs into a crisscross. He was dressed exactly how she expected with clothing of simple green and brown weave that made him disappear into a shadowy foliage if he held still enough. His wild hair and bread were laced with twigs and leaves; though at that moment, they were also stained with flecks of red. His lower lip was split and on its way to swelling. Then he cleared his throat and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were filled with green light. " ," he said, the word of power thrumming. The light erupted from his eyes and slid down his body under his clothes before disappearing.

Knowledge: Arcane – 10%

Evangeline swore she heard a rattle sound again followed by a merry bell. Then she just knew...

Restorar - level one cure spell. Target one living creature.

His face had healed, the cut disappearing and the growing bruises under his eyes fading away. She presumed any other injuries he had were also gone.

He sighed contentedly, rolling his shoulders. "Oh, that is better. I am pretty sure my rib was broken." He then glanced at Evangeline. "I can do it once more for you if you would like? I used my first earlier today and have not yet rested."

She almost turned it down, but her whole body objected to that. "Yes, please," she said.

He smiled and repeated the process. The warmth from the light was glorious as it washed down and through Evangeline. Every ache and cut eased away. When it was all over, she felt like she had just taken the world's greatest power nap.

"Better, little mouse?" Hagor asked even though he knew the answer.

She snorted at the endearment. "Yes, thank you," It was silly, but that was the Hagor she knew. Everyone in his party would acquire a little pet name from the mighty druid, and sometimes, they changed depending on how he felt about them.

The nice moment was interrupted by the wagon jostling as it went into a dip.

"Well, I hope you have a high tolerance for the uncomfortable because we seem to be in a situation," Hargor said, observing the other tied-up bodies.

"Don't worry, we'll get out of here," Evangeline reassured, as she tried to wiggle around herself to figure out if she still had her +1 dagger. Tied-up hands made that an unrealistic goal. "I suppose they took all of our stuff?"

"I'd be more shocked and already out of here if they hadn't," Hargor stated.

"That's okay." Evangeline glanced at the back of the wagon. She could see a whole troop of goblins, marching and laughing as they sang off-key songs of their triumph. They had just had a successful raid on an inn, so it was understandable. "Where is Valerian?"

I am guessing that this is a spell. If you are going to have a lot, consider providing me with a lis so that I know if they are spelled correctly or not.

Yes, I'm just making up spell names to avoid getting sued

Restorar - level one cure spell targets one creature.

To be continued...

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