“…And from that day on Marcus and the vampire lord fought each other, until Marcus retired, of course,” Paul finished.

“That was amazing! Too bad that he stopped, I bet he could have kill him!” Lizzy commented.

“Yeah, I believe he could! Too bad he had to stop after poor Anna’s death…”

“Yeah, it’s too bad…”

“Yeah, especially now…”

“What do you mean? What’s happening?” she asked with worry.

“Oh! Well… The vampire is planning something, something big. Give me a second.” He disappeared from the room and returned later with a green book. He opened the book at a specific page, one with a drawing of an orb. “These are Elven Orbs, ancient relics that hold the power of nature.”

“Elven Orbs? Is this a forbidden book?! Where did you find it?!” Anything related to the endangered species of the elves was forbidden, the Church declared that their witchcraft should be removed along with everything that represented them long ago. Paul could be accused of heresy for holding this book.

“You’d be surprised with the amount of forbidden books they keep inside of that church, lassie!” he laughed. “Now, you see, Riverbel was once a land where elves habited, due to its spiritual energy — energy they managed to trap in these capsules to hold on for later. If you were to gather the Elven Orbs, you would be able to use their power for something great, something like creating an eternal night…”

“Why… Why are you telling me this?”

“Listen, Elizabeth, I have reason to believe that the vampire lord wants these orbs to gain their power. If he does, we’re all going to be in danger. So I have a proposition for you: I need you to take your father’s place as The Hunter.”

“W–What?!” exclaimed Lizzy, dumbfounded. “Me? As a vampire hunter? I don’t even know how to fight!”

“I can teach you how, just how I helped your father,” Paul offered. “We need to get those orbs before the vampire gets them! I am not as young as I was, I can’t look around the entirety of Riverbel on my own, I need help. And you, young lady, are the perfect candidate! You can follow your father’s steps and become the hope that this village needs!”

“That does sound good…” She was almost convinced, she liked the idea of being able to finally do something to save the village that she loved so much, to help its people.

“Please, we only need to get one of the orbs before the vampire to ruin his entire plan! He needs five different orbs, if we manage to get at least one he won’t be able to hold their power! Can I trust you with this?” Paul extended his hand towards Lizzy, waiting for confirmation of their deal.

“We only need to do this until I get one orb?”

“Yes.”

“And I get to kill vampires and protect the village?”

“Yes!”

She took a look at his hand, then closed her eyes, bringing her own hand to her chin. She had always dreamed with killing the vampire that killed her mother, to get revenge for every life that had been lost, to be able to do something. She was finally having her chance, a once in a lifetime opportunity to do what was right, to fight for what she believed in.

She decided to take his hand.

“You got yourself a deal, Paul!”

“Thank you, lassie, you won’t regret it!”

“I sure hope not! But if we’re doing this I need to do it at night. I’m supposed to be trapped in my own home right now, and I don’t think I’ll be able to use the passage during the day.”

“Of course, of course! I’ll see you at night. We can start tomorrow!”

“I’ll be there. Now, if you excuse me…” She got up her seat and put her teacup down on the table. “…I need to go back before they notice that I’m not there anymore.”

“You can use the passage as much as you want, it’s the safest way to get back to the mansion.”

“Thank you for everything, Paul.”

“Don’t thank me yet! We still have much work to do!”

With that said, Lizzy went back the way she came (not before taking the lamp she had brought with her). Somehow, she felt like the trip back to the mansion was shorter than the first time. Probably it was the excitement, the glee of knowing that she was about to do something great, that was pushing her to keep going.

When she arrived at the mansion, she was lucky that no one had miss her. They were still preparing her dinner, due to some error that resulted in some unusual tardiness. When a servant went searching for her, they found her in the library as if nothing had happen.

After dinner, Lizzy went back to her room to go to sleep. She would need the rest if she were to spend her nights training to become a vampire hunter. Unfortunately, the excitement and expectation didn’t let her bat an eye, she wanted to be tomorrow so badly! But she needed to be patient, the road to become a vampire hunter wasn’t going to be an easy one, there was much effort that she needed to put if she wanted to become the hero the village needed.