Nightfall: The Pureblood of the Assassins

2nd Night: Intertwined Hearts and Fate

Zephyr's POV

Run, Zephyr! Run! I run as what he asks me to. I pass by several trees as I try to get out of the forest. My bones are trembling with extreme exhaustion. Beneath my tattered clothes is a body full of bruises and wounds. I'm running barefooted but I don't mind. I have to get out of here. I have to.

I can see lights overhead and hear engines revving, like I'm close to the roads. Hoping that I already found the end, I reach out my hand as I approach it. An eerie silence surrounds me as the tip of my finger touches the light.

I sat bolt upright, panting. I'd had this dream way too many times: Me, running through the thick forest like it was life and death situation, prodded by a voice I thought I never heard and knew before. Was it part of my forgotten past?

I looked at my window as the afternoon sun cast crimson rays into my room. I've been living a tiresome cycle. Sometimes, giving up seems reasonable. For one moment, I thought of running away. No. I couldn't and I wouldn't. Someone had to pay for all of my misery, for all of my endless pain. And in order to achieve my goals, something had to happen. I had to make an effective move. And when I said move, it was literal.

***

As soon as I got ready, I jumped out of my window and rushed through the forest. I lived in an old mansion at the forest, 6 kilometers east of the alliance's hiding place. The mansion was once a shelter for the guild's founder and his family. When he died, his family left and it became isolated. Since it wasn't used for years, I volunteered to live there. Besides, I liked the place. It was peaceful and silent, like the entire forest was empty.

I jumped from a tree trunk to another. I didn't have to go to the hiding place anymore so I ran straight to the forest at the west, to where my next lead was. Honestly, I really didn't need the alliance. I was just returning a favor. For years, they guarded my corpse as I was in my slumber. And I still had to know something from them. So, I had to stay and endure having so much attention.

Because I lacked leadership, I was secretly called Useless Corporal by my subordinates. I didn't have any care. No one told them to make me a Corporal. I didn't even quite understand why I was one of the four sub-generals. Maybe it was because of my vampire blood. Whatever.

I was running through a clearing when the wind suddenly blew. It brought a strange metallic scent and I knew a thunderstorm was coming. The weather had been a little weird these past few days. Every night, the wind started to get bitter and cold. The wind blew like it was at war with itself. Thunder began to rumble,. Just as the first lightning was flashing, I picked up a very strong scent. It was nothing like any scent I've ever encountered. I was certain it was something I should check. So, I followed it. It led me into a clearing at the middle of the forest. It was surrounded by thick and mossy trees which seemed older than me. Tall wild grasses were rooted, like a natural fence, at the rim of the clearing. Huge leaves covered the clearing, like a cavern roof, except the center. Through the hole, I could see the night sky. The place wasn't new to me. I've been there before.

As I was looking around, the scent became stronger until a wall of darkness slammed into me. I was thrown across the clearing. Leaning against an old tree, I was sure blood was trickling from my lips down to my chin. I wiped the corner of my lips with my sleeve as I looked at the other side of the clearing. Standing there was a sillhoutte of what seemed a man. I gave him a death glare.

"Curse you." I muttered under my breath.

"Pleasant evening to you, too." The silhouette said. It was only then when I confirmed that it was a man. His voice was cold and bitter, like I was his old enemy he hated. “I found you, at last.”