Duran woke to a shout and something slamming into his side so hard that it knocked the breath out of him. He reflexively summoned a ball of magelight before his eyes were even fully open. Four people who looked roughly human surrounded them. Hamish was still trying to escape from his sleeping bag while Slone, who had just finished shifting into wolf form, snarled at the attackers to keep them at bay.

The attackers were undeterred. Three of them lunged at Slone and the fourth swooped down, grabbed Duran along with his sleeping bag, and dashed off with unnatural speed.

Duran tried to struggle, but the grip of the man who was carrying him was unbreakable. All he could do was keep his magelight held high and bright as a beacon for his friends, if they managed to survive the attack.

Suddenly, the man dropped Duran with such force that he was sent tumbling across the ground. Someone or something had fallen on the man from the tree above.

A young man with dark hair down to his chin crouched on top of the man who had carried Duran off, his hands pinning down the man’s wrists. Despite the young man's slender frame, he seemed to be able to hold the other man down, although the man’s writhing and struggling made Duran fear that wouldn’t last for long. Duran had kept his knife on him since they’d encountered the humans, and he reached for it now as he got to his feet.

Duran had always told himself that he wouldn’t hesitate to defend himself if he needed to, but his hand shook as he lifted the knife. When the man twisted and nearly got a hand free, Duran forced himself to act, plunging his knife down into the man’s neck.

The deep cut left behind was meaty and gruesome, but there was no fear or pain in the man’s eyes. He didn’t seem deterred at all. Duran lifted the knife again and his blood ran cold as the man bared sharp teeth at him.

He was no man at all. He was a vampire.

Duran stabbed him in the throat again, but he was less surprised by the vampire’s lack of reaction this time. He should have realised something wasn’t right from the second he’d stabbed someone in the throat and blood hadn’t sprayed everywhere. Even in that shared dream they’d had, there had been a spray of blood when Hamish had slit that man’s throat.

Duran brightened his magelight in an effort to subdue the vampire and the young man squinted large, chartreuse eyes and turned his head away. The vampire shut his eyes too, but it only seemed to make him more agitated.

Duran prepared to attack again when suddenly, something large, furry, and unmistakably Slone-shaped emerged from underground and charged into the fray. Slone's teeth clamped down on the vampire's throat and the young man who had been holding him down scrambled up the tree he’d dropped from with impressive speed and agility.

Slone had the vampire on the ground, his struggles now much weaker, as Hamish came running towards them. He was holding a bloody knife and his shirt was torn and soaked with blood that Duran hoped wasn’t his own. Hamish knelt down, grabbed the vampire by the hair, and plunged his knife through the vampire's eye with a twist to ensure that he was truly dead.

Hamish left his knife where it was and rushed over to Duran as Slone started to shift. “Are you okay? Did it hurt you?”

Duran was momentarily speechless, his mind racing with a jumbled mess of thoughts. He finally managed to nod.

“Are you hurt?” Hamish pressed.

“Oh, I—no,” Duran said. He’d been knocked around enough to feel it, but he wasn’t about to fuss over a few scrapes and bruises. “Are you both okay?”

Hamish lifted his shirt, revealing a long scratch on his chest. "One of the vampires got me, but the wounds aren't deep. That's why we wear armour when fighting vampires. I'll be fine."

Slone stood at the base of the tree where the young man who had helped them had escaped, gazing into its branches. “You okay up there?”

“A man stopped the vampire and held him down until Slone caught up with us,” Duran explained when Hamish just looked confused. “He scampered up that tree afterwards.”

“As men are wont to do,” Hamish said. 

Duran joined Slone under the tree and looked up, but it was too dark to see much. He didn't want to blind the young man with his magelight, so he called out instead. "Thank you for helping us. If you're scared of us, there's no need to be. We're friendly."

“Sorry if I scared ya.” Slone looked down at himself. He was completely naked and had blood smeared all over his face and chest. “This probably ain’t any less scary than me bein’ a wolf, huh?”

A head peeked out from the leaves above.

“You good?” Slone asked.

The young man nodded.

Duran turned to Slone and asked, "Are you okay?"

“Ah, yeah,” Slone replied, looking down at the blood covering his body. “My fur’s pretty thick. Might not stop a wyvern’s claws, but it’s good in a tussle.”

Duran used his magic to brush away the blood on his hands and then focused on cleaning Slone up.

Hamish stepped up next to Duran and Slone, wiping a cloth over the knife he had retrieved from the vampire's eye. The young man climbed down onto a lower branch and lay down on it as he stared down at the three of them with large eyes.

“What’s your name?” Hamish asked.

The young man continued to watch them and Duran was sure he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, speak, but finally he answered. “Skye.”

“I’m Hamish,” Hamish said. “The man you saved is Duran and our sometimes furry friend here is Slone. Did the vampire hurt you?”

“I’m fine,” Skye said. His voice had a light, lilting quality to it.

“Thank you for saving me,” Duran said. “I don’t know how you managed to hold a vampire down, but thank you.”

Skye grabbed a fistful of leaves, twisted his hand until they broke off, and then let them flutter down on their heads.

“Listen, Skye, I don’t know how equipped you are to be out here, but as someone who’s experienced with vampires, I can tell you that we won’t be going back to sleep tonight,” Hamish said. “We’re trying to find a coastal town to the northeast and we won’t be stopping again until we reach it or until we have daylight protecting us. If you’d like to travel with us, you’re welcome to.”

Skye sprinkled more leaves on them. “Saltwater?”

“Is there a place by that name to the northeast?”

Skye nodded.

"That might be where we're headed then. Are you going that way?"

Skye nodded again and swung down from the tree, landing almost silently on the ground.  He carried a small bag with him and had a strange look about him, although Duran couldn't quite put his finger on what made him seem so unusual, aside from his larger-than-usual eyes.

As they walked back towards where they had left their belongings, there was a chittering sound and Cookie sauntered up to them. Skye watched her warily as she sat down in the middle of the group and started retching. She made disgusting guttural sounds as she coughed and gagged, eventually producing a torrent of liquid mud along with the egg.

"Ah, you kept it safe!" Hamish exclaimed, grabbing the egg and hugging it to his chest. "I was worried I'd lost my baby."

Skye looked back and forth between Cookie and the egg, clearly confused. "Did that weird dog just give birth to an egg through its mouth?"

“No, she swallowed it for safety and then threw it back up,” Hamish explained.

Skye nodded, apparently satisfied by that response.

As Duran worked on cleaning up the egg, his knife, and Hamish's body, Skye watched with interest. His eyes would occasionally wander to the floating orb of Duran's magelight, but he didn't ask any questions.

When they returned to the spot where they had been attacked, they found that their belongings were still there, although Hamish's sleeping bag was torn and slightly bloody.

“Pack it up for now, and I’ll clean and fix it later,” Duran promised. “I might not be very useful in a fight, but I can do that much.”

“Not very useful?” Slone asked. “You’d had a good go at that vampire by the time I got there.”

“I had help.” Duran sent a glance in Skye’s direction and found him crouching on the ground, going through Hamish’s bag.

It was so audacious that for a moment Duran was just stunned, and by the time he got to the point of pondering how harsh he should be towards someone who had just saved his life, Skye had grabbed a cucumber from the bag and walked away, munching on his stolen snack.

Duran and Hamish exchanged a look, and then Hamish went about securing the straps on his bag without comment. He shouldered the bag and placed his egg in its harness. "Let's get going then."