The White Wolf and the Black Nightingale

𝓒𝓱𝓪𝓹𝓽𝓮𝓻 14

Shaela let out a growl towards the bandit as he tugged a little too hard at the rope binding her wrists together. She winced at the uncomfortable feeling of the rough rope digging into her skin, knowing it most likely would leave some bruises.

They had been walking for a good bit now, most likely heading for the bandit group's main hideout. There hadn't been many opportunities to break free without risking hers or Jaskier's life.

Her gaze moved over to the bard who definitely had seen better days. There was a large bruise forming around his eye from where one of the bandits had punched him after he made a remark.

The bandit leader walked up front, leading the group through the darkness of the trees. But the shrill sounds of screeching sounded from nearby, causing the whole group to freeze up.

For once in her life, Shaela was happy to encounter a monster. While harpies always ended up being a real pain in the ass, for once it was a good thing they ended up near a nest of them.

She almost grinned when a few harpies suddenly swiped down, attacking the unsuspecting bandits in a flurry of claws and feathers. Taking the opportunity of chaos, Shaela snatched the dagger from the bandit in front of her, cutting both herself and her companion free.

"Go! Hide, and don't let the harpies get you" she told her friend, who simply nodded and quickly turned to run away into the forest.

She turned her attention back to the chaos of bandits fighting harpies, ducking as one of the creatures tried to get to her. She moved to the bandit leader who had taken her swords, snatching the weapon as he was busy fending off 2 harpies.

It wasn't much of a surprise to see how quickly the harpies took down the bandits given they didn't have the silverswords that could kill monsters, and the fact that there were more monsters than bandits.

"Shit" the female muttered as she realized the harpies had now set their sights on her, and the odds were very much in the creatures' favor. Fighting in the dense forest didn't make the battle any easier, so Shaela opted to run back to a clearing they had passed by not too long ago.

She barely made it to said clearing before a handful of harpies caught up to her, one of them getting its claw in her shoulder and leaving a deep wound. The female quickly turned, slashing at the monster with her swords and landing a hit.

There were at least four or five harpies fluttering above her, their screeches loud and shrill as they swooped down to attack. Shaela did her best to dodge and attack when she could, but the monster had a good advantage of flying and staying out of reach.

She cursed loudly in frustration at the struggle of fighting off the creatures, almost giving up and considering just running until they would lose interest, but being the stubborn person she is, she never was one to give up unless absolutely necessary.

Yet before she could make a decision on what the best option was, there was a flurry of grey that threw itself at the harpies, making quick work of taking them down. Never had she seen anyone or anything move at such a quick speed, and she readied her sword just in case as the last harpy dropped dead on the grass.

Her eyes widened at the male in front of her, the first thing she noticed being the long claw-like nails that protruded back into much shorter sharp nails, followed by sharply pointed ears that formed back into human ears.

"You're a vampire" she mumbled, sword clutched tightly in her hand as she didn't know what to do. She never had encountered a vampire before, nor had she ever had any training on how to take one down as vampires didn't show themselves very often.

The vampire turned around with raised brows as he seemed to examen her. He didn't look like he was planning to attack her, yet his gaze made her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

"You fight like a Witcher, yet you're not one of them" the male noted, tilting his head slightly as his gaze met hers. Her own gaze examined him carefully in search of any indication that he would be trouble.

"You ought to get that wound checked. It looks rather bad" the male broke the tense silence, his black eyes lingering on her left shoulder where one of the harpies had left a deep cut.

Shaela hadn't paid much attention to it before now, the adrenaline of the battle having dulled the ache that now seemed to tenfold itself. She winced at the sudden pain, turning her head to try and get a look at the wound. It was indeed bad and certainly would need some stitching. That was going to leave a large scar.

The vampire motioned for her to follow as he made his way back to where he had come from, turning his head for a moment when she didn't follow right away. She hesitated in following him, keeping her guard up just in case he was leading her into a trap.

"Don't worry about your friend. He's safe" the male spoke up after a short moment of silence. It gave her a slight moment of relief, yet some concern in case the vampire was lying to her.

They soon reached a small graveyard, a single mausoleum in the middle of the area. A few half-burned candles were placed by the entrance, and the inside was decorated to form a living space.

Shaela glanced around in amazement at all the herbs and books that were sprawled all over the mausoleum, surprised at how homey it felt despite being in a graveyard surrounded by several dead bodies buried six feet under the ground.

The male motioned for her to sit down on a chair, moving around to collect a small bag of what seemed like medical supplies. She did as told, placing her sword against the back of the chair.

A shiver ran down her spine as she felt a cold hand grab at her left shoulder, moving her shirt aside so he could look at the wound. Shaela took the time to take a better look around the building to try and get an idea of why the vampire was helping her.

She let out a hiss when she felt him tend to her shoulder, cleaning away the dried up blood before stitching it up. She had to bite her lip to make as little noise as possible, flinching and letting out soft hisses whenever the needle would pierce her skin.

"Why are you helping me?" she asked after a few seconds of silence as he made quick work of patching up her shoulder. He only let out a light hum in response at first, too focused on stitching up the wound.

"Not all vampires are monsters. And you looked like you needed help" the vampire responded as he finished patching up her shoulder, smiling at his own handy work.

"My name is Regis" he held out a hand towards her, which she hesitatingly accepted.

"Shaela."

~~~

(̶(̶a̶/̶n̶:̶ ̶L̶o̶n̶g̶e̶s̶t̶ ̶c̶h̶a̶p̶ ̶s̶o̶ ̶f̶a̶r̶ ̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶I̶ ̶w̶r̶o̶t̶e̶ ̶i̶t̶ ̶a̶l̶l̶ ̶i̶n̶ ̶o̶n̶e̶ ̶d̶a̶y̶ ̶y̶e̶e̶t̶)̶)̶