Was it five minutes? Half an hour? A bit more? He didn’t know and didn’t care. There wasn’t anyone else to bother him fortunately. He got up when he thought it was time. Looked around and wiped of most of the mud from his face.

Examining these creatures further they kind of looked like that… What did that frog like person called them? Dro… something? Exhaustion made him indifferent about his emotions. On the other hand reason dictated him to investigate if it is true. He popped his claws and walked closer to the nearest carcase. Stepping over it he sit on its neck. He cut the skin with his claws and then the gray flesh. He had to search, but in the end he did find some kind of gland like thing. Unfortunately he cut the first right open. Accompanied by a nasty sound his hand got even dirtier with the black gooey thing spilling out from it. He tried to shake it off, with little luck. He wiped it off in his clothes. Well at least what he could in what clothes he left. So he tried again. And tried with the other creature. In the end he left with two intact gland hoping he will find his way back to Ga’Balgala.

Getting out of the swamp took the rest of the night. Getting together himself took another half night. Wandering around where to go next took the other. How ever got he lost he got lost real bad. The forest seem to have no end in this region. And one tree looked almost the same as the next one. Lately he thought he got used to it, finding his way around the woods. What was different now?

And the answer: He was.

Exhausted and disoriented he couldn’t concentrate. He caught some animals to quench his thirst but something wasn’t right. It wasn’t enough. The thirst didn’t tortured him. Not really. Still something wasn’t right.

This unfocused state of his mind that lead him astray. He wandered around all night and the night after that. He listened to the noises around him. He could hear some smaller animals crittering about. All frightened by his approach tried to be completely silent or ran away.

And there was that moment when all this disoriented state seemed to pass. All of his senses became focused again. A point of clarity in this dark night draw him into one direction. What ever the phenomenon was it was surely magical. Some sweet dark energy lured him further into the forest. He followed the pull of magic until he found the source.

Four people in dark brown hooded robes where chanting in the middle of the woods surrounding a sturdy makeshift table. All holding a sharp knife in their hands looked threatening for the woman tied to the table. She was screaming though her mouth was muffled. Her hands tied strictly to the table, she tried but couldn’t break away from her bonds. Freyan looked at the scene from a few steps back hiding in the dark. The woman had a slightly muscly body, showing she was used to work around the house or the fields. Her torn white dress cowered everything it needed but nothing more. She wore only a blue shiny pendant beyond that. Her blonde hair was tangled, her skin dirty. Where ever she was from she was clearly dragged away.

‘She is beautiful… but not as much as her…’ this was the last thought Freyan could gather watching the scene. After that the sound of their heart beating blocked everything else out. He acted with speed beyond normal human capabilities even if he wasn’t able to muster his full strength.

The chanting stopped as the figures in robes saw their accomplice in the grip of a vampire. Freyan acted out of hunger. He caught the closest one, tore of his hood and bit his neck with vicious force. He lost all his reason tasting the sweet blood of a human.

He couldn’t enjoy his first catch properly though. As he heard the others moving behind his back he tossed the dying man to the ground. Swiftly changing directions he sliced the throat of another with his claws. He jumped right after those who was left. The two other ran in different directions. It seemed he had to chose which one to follow. He pushed the closest one to the ground and stepped on him. Then grabbed the ankles of the remaining one with magic and pulled the screaming woman back. He didn’t even flinched as the man under his foot stabbed him in the leg and tried to push him off. Freyan grabbed the man. Lifting him up he bit his neck and drained him dry. The woman in his magical grip screamed but not of the horror she had to witness. The magic holding her was made of dark energy of course and it burned her skin. Freyan focusing his victim close at hand let go of the magical grip after a time but that time the woman already fainted from pain. He threw the lifeless body away and walked to the unconscious woman in a slow pace. Even if his hunger slowly become sated the sheer ecstasy didn’t let his mind took control again. Not yet. After all this time it was the first occasion he drank human blood, he enjoyed it too much.

As the last robed figure fell to the ground Freyan stood motionless savoring the moment. He never felt so powerful, so free before. Yet as the darkness engulfs the light after dusk so did reality seep back in. And there was still somebody left alive.

He turned around and stepped to the table. The woman tied to it started to scream again looking at his bloody appearance. His eyes gleamed yellow by the faint light of the torch thrust in to the ground nearby. His hands still with claws covered in blood. From his chin blood still dripped to his dirty, already blood stained raggedy clothes.

“Shhh…” said Freyan putting his finger before the woman muffled mouth. She started to cry. “I will take you home.”

He tore off the ropes tying the woman to the table. Full of fear she sat up slowly while Freyan removed the muffle around her mouth. After the woman could take two deep breaths she wanted to ran. Freyan caught her wrist in an instant.

“Wait! Its not safe. Going through the forest just like that” Freyan spoke slowly in tranquil manner. He wasn’t totally aware what he did, or what the scene around them looked like. The woman clearly didn’t understand what he was saying so he tried to gesticulate with his free hand ‘slowly’. Still the other one looked at him with a shocked face. He let her go again.

“After you” said Freyan gesturing to towards the woods.

Confused the woman looked at him then to the dark forest. And again back to him. In the end she started to walk in a hurried pace. They met some wraiths, and a vicious feline like monster as they walked, but nothing Freyan in this state could handle. They went to a pond near a cliff when she stopped. She did as if she wanted to drink from it but Freyan only had to look away for a second. The next time he looked back the woman was nowhere to be found. He looked around, even tried to search for her heart beat. He could only hear some animals in and around the pond.

Mesmerized by his own reflection in the water he crouched on the shore. Now he could partly understand the horror in the woman’s eyes. He still had to process what happened tonight.

He tried to comprehend it. But there was something in his mind blocking the full flow of thoughts. The facts were simple. Wandering in the forest there was nothing that could replenish his strength to the fullest. What he craved even without thinking about it was human blood. Satiated he could control his actions and think. Well at least partially.

In attempt to clear his thought he started to wash off the now dried blood from his face. Yet he still missed something. His eyes still gleamed with an eerie shine and his actions seemed nothing but rational for him.

He stood up and looked around deciding which way to go. As he entered the forest again it all started to come back to him. This part of the forest looked familiar to him. After a few hours of walking in human pace he was now sure how he will get back to his original destination.