"Letters from Erian Lettum Corvelis Incrovion Cressida"

Letter 1: The Vampire Wedding

Luserian sat in his study, leaning back in his chair, and curiously examined the letter that had suddenly appeared on his desk. The soft light of the candle flickered slightly in the air, playing over the surface of the fine paper. The paper was clearly of high quality, adorned with golden ornamentation along the edges, yet all its elegance faded compared to the writing… to put it mildly, the handwriting was terrible.

"What is this?" he muttered in confusion, frowning. But then his eyes lit up with a faint suspicion. This handwriting was familiar—crooked lines, clumsy scrawls, as if someone was holding a quill for the first time. Of course! This was from his close friend, Erian, who apparently still hadn’t gotten used to writing.

“Well, let’s see what you’ve written,” he said with a slight smile, carefully unfolding the letter. A faint but familiar scent of the sea emanated from the paper—salty, fresh. Of course, even Erian’s letters smelled like the ocean. Luserian began reading:

“Rian, my dear and esteemed friend. As I promised, I’m writing you a letter. Surprisingly, I’m alive and even well.”

A light smile touched his lips. Such lines always carried a certain intrigue, something unusual, and knowing Erian, he had no doubt that this letter would turn out to be something completely unexpected.

“But what has happened to me still leaves me in shock. First of all, I was almost eaten.”

“What?” Luserian raised his eyebrows in disbelief. He reread the sentence. “Almost eaten?” That was clearly not a joke. Intrigued, he continued reading, feeling his curiosity growing.

“As you remember, I was taken by that creepy old vampire, the one you would describe as a living nightmare with rotting teeth and a perpetually gloomy expression. He said everything was ready for the wedding and that we needed to hurry. A wedding! And no one had told me a single word about it until the very day of the ceremony! Moreover, it’s called the Blood Oath. It sounds like instead of exchanging rings, we’re supposed to exchange bitten-off fingers, don’t you think?”

Luserian quietly smiled. Clearly, Erian still had time for sarcasm, despite the strange circumstances. A merman among vampires—it was unusual in itself, and now he was getting married? Luserian couldn’t wait to see what happened next in the letter.

“When we arrived at the castle, I realized I had walked into a den of monsters. Everything around was dark and shrouded in eternal night. Imagine: dark gothic towers, stained glass windows letting in only moonlight, ancient stone walls that seemed to have collected the dust of centuries, and around it all—a faint mist, like a shroud covering this castle. This place breathed eternity and… bloodlust.”

Luserian closed his eyes for a moment, recalling the rumors about this castle—majestic, dark, gothic. Abinferi, the kingdom of vampires, was a place where time seemed to stand still, and everything obeyed the rules of the vampires. For someone used to the sea and water, this must have been a nightmare.

“And there I was, standing with a crowd of vampires around me. They all looked at me as if I were some kind of strange curiosity, as though my mere presence broke some ancient taboo. But the strangest thing happened when they started dressing me up. Remember how you said that wedding clothes are white? Well, they gave me a light pink suit. Yes, light pink! Imagine: with my hair and that outfit, I looked like a huge cloud dolphin!”

A faint smile appeared on Luserian’s face. Erian, dressed in pink in the midst of a dark vampire castle, must have looked, to put it mildly, comical.

“Well, I thought, maybe it’s their tradition. I stood in a dark room in bright clothing. But honestly, I started doubting whether I was the groom. Maybe they were preparing to sacrifice me instead. But that was just the beginning of the weirdness.”