It was the simplest bed I had ever slept on, but never before had I slept so well as on this bed made only of straw, hay and old blankets. I was more rested than I had been in a long time. And even though there was so much going on around us while we slept, I didn't wake up in between and slept a full 12 hours. Just like Yibo and He Peng.
And I also woke up with an unprecedented hunger. My stomach growled so loudly that one of the elf vampires, who must have been sitting 10 or 15 feet away from us, could hear it. He looked at me thoughtfully for a moment, I looked back in embarrassment, and then he got up, walked away, and came back with a big cob of corn and a piece of the meat that I still didn't know what animal it was.
One of the vampire children then also came to me with a cup of water, sat down next to me and let me scratch his back. Of course only under strictest observation of its mother. Only after about 10 minutes she was probably convinced that I would not do anything to her child and concentrated again on her sewing. It looked like she was working on a pair of trousers.
After Yibo and He Peng also woke up and strengthened themselves with food and water, we looked around for my blood brother, but he wasn't there. I asked one of the elf vampires about him, but he didn't know who I meant at first. Because somehow all the elf vampires look the same. At least the men do.
It's really interesting when you consider that they all look alike and yet there is never any confusion. However, I noticed during my observations that they seem to recognize each other by their smells. Also, I have to mention again that on the one hand these creatures look scary and dangerous, but on the other hand and on closer inspection, they are actually really attractive. If there were not their long pointed teeth and their claws instead of fingernails, yes, they would look insanely good and could turn the head of many a woman or man.
And they are very affectionate with each other. Not only the couples, but all of them. The children are also raised by all of them and not only by the parents. And there are same-sex couples among them as well, but no one looks at them strangely or is bothered by it. It seems perfectly normal for them. Experiencing them like this makes it harder and harder for me to call them creatures anymore. They are different from us, but not as big monsters as some humans.
I walked through the cave area, looking around for the first time, and saw that there were several other passages leading deeper into the cave. They were dark because there were no torches there. From one of the passages I heard soft rushing of water, which explained where they got the fresh water from. From another of these passages I heard soft voices, not understandable to me.
As I was also examining the third passage, one of the women approached me. She held out a linen cloth and a bar of soap, pointing to her body, indicating that I could go in there to get myself cleaned up. I thanked her and she smiled. I am sure she did not understand me, at least not the words. But she was happy because I showed her gratitude.
I went back to Yibo and He Peng, told them where we could clean up, took a change of clothes from our bags, and then the two of them also each got their own linen cloth and a bar of soap. It smelled of chamomile and honey, by the way.
We walked together through the cave passage about 10 meters long and came out in another, much smaller, cave with a small lake in the middle. We stripped down to our underwear and I dipped my hands in the water and gasped, "Oh damn this is cold."
For his part, Yibo now tested the water and nodded. "Very cold."
He Peng laughed, dipped his hands in the water and threw a load of the bitterly cold water on his face. "It's not that cold." He said. Stupid show-off! I saw exactly how he was clattering his teeth!
Even though the water was so cold that I felt like I was in the Arctic, I washed quickly, using the soap that the elf-vampires apparently make themselves. The scent of chamomile and honey was intense, but also very pleasant. And the skin even felt really soft afterwards.
We had just returned to our sleeping places and were about to check our bags and backpacks to see if we had really taken everything important with us, when a loud, shaking to the core scream echoed through the cave. We looked around in panic, but the elf vampires remained calm.
However, one of the vampires came up to us and he said, "Queen is having baby." I thanked him for the information and the next scream rang out.
"Something's wrong." I muttered. It sounded anything but normal. And by the third and worse scream at the latest, even the vampires were getting restless.
After the fifth scream, suddenly my blood brother and two other female elf vampires came out of a cave passage that I had not seen before. They carried my blood brother's wife, the king as I now knew, and laid her on a large soft bed of straw and hay, right in the center of the cave.
Many rushed to her, stroking her face, holding her hands. The queen screamed and cried. She curled up in pain. And with each cry, everyone became more and more restless. They sent the children away. One of the women had a huge knife in her hand and I guessed that they were going to cut the baby out of the queen.
She put the knife on the queen's belly and the king cried and kissed his wife. She was about to start cutting and He Peng yelled, "Stop!" Everyone looked at him, startled. He Peng jumped up and ran to the queen. He called out to me to give him his bag and I did. He took gloves out of it and a set of scalpel and sewing kit. "I know what to do. I can save her life and the baby's." He said as the king tried to stop him from scanning the queen's belly.
The king took a step back. He Peng felt the queen's belly, then felt inside her lower body to see how wide open she already was, then called to Yibo and me, "Yibo, get some warm water and clean towels. There are some in my backpack. Zhan, you have to help me here."
I nodded and he told me, "Put on gloves too and give me the little black bag." I did and he took out a syringe and explained to the king that this would not cause his wife any pain. The king nodded and He Peng gave her a syringe that numbed her belly. Only then did I realize that I had never asked about He Peng's job. But it was obvious now anyway that he was a doctor.
After only a few minutes, the injection took effect and Yibo returned with the warm water and towels. He Peng put the scalpel on and cut about 10 centimeters into her lower belly. Then he told me to push the two halves of the belly apart since we don't have staples for that. Then he carefully reached into the opening and a moment later he pulled something out of her.
"Okay Zhan, take the little prince. Hold him by the feet so any fluid can come out of his mouth. Give him a little slap on the butt to make him scream and clear his lungs." I nodded and did as instructed. And suddenly the little one screamed out.
He Peng left it to the king to cut the umbilical cord, I wrapped the baby in a towel and handed it to the king. I didn't even realize I was crying until Yibo wrapped me in his arms and wiped away my tears. I will never forget that moment when the baby started crying!
After He Peng neatly stitched up the cut, he also made a temporary bandage around it. Then, as a thank you for saving the queen and the little prince, he was allowed to wash the little one. Meanwhile, all the elf vampires were standing around him, humming a song. Again, we could feel this peace inside. Their songs seem to be somehow magical.
When all the excitement had slowly subsided and the queen slept to rest, we also went back to our place. There, He Peng told us that he was a pediatric assistant and about to graduate from medical school. He always wanted to be a pediatrician or a surgeon, he said.
After a while, the king came to us. He sat down in our midst and gave He Peng a silver-plated bow and matching arrows as thanks for saving his wife and son. He even said that one of his men would teach He Peng how to use a bow and arrow. He Peng thanked him and looked really proud.
Then the king turned to the three of us and told us that it was too dangerous to walk around outside. He emphasized "yet" very clearly. I asked him what he meant by "yet" and he said in his heavy accent, "Soon otherrrrs will come. Flyerrrrs. Not enemies! They help!" We understood little of this and just made up the rest.
Apparently they are expecting the arrival of other flying creatures that are not ours and their enemies and will probably help us in the fight against the other flying creatures. With seemingly worsening and more not understandable accent, he explained to us that they want to fight together with us. And he said that Yibo and He Peng were still too weak. I guessed what he was getting at and I guessed that Yibo and He Peng would not like what he meant.
So I explained to both of them what the king was trying to say, and they both looked at me, startled. "He, he wants to bite us and we should drink his blood?" He Peng asked, startled. I nodded.
"Zhan has already gone through it. I don't know if I like it. But if it makes us stronger and better fighters, I'm in." Said Yibo, which surprised me a lot.
"We do now. You need rrrrest when we finish." Said the king. I remembered that I slept for days after he bit me and gave me his blood to drink.
Yibo nodded. He didn't look convinced and even a little scared, but he held out his neck and throat. The king bent over him and gently bit his neck, as he had done to me, and drank of his blood. Then he cut his hand with a knife and gave Yibo some of his blood to drink. Yibo drank it without resistance.
When it was He Peng's turn, it was clear that he was shivering with fear. But he was brave and endured the bite and drinking of blood. "You sleep now." Said the king. He stroked my hair once more and then left us alone.
It wasn't long before Yibo simply slumped in my arms. I laid him down carefully. He Peng also fell asleep, he was already lying down so he couldn't just fall over. Two of the women and a man came to us with bowls of cold water and some linen cloths, which they put on both of their foreheads.
After an hour, the high fever set in for both of them and Yibo spoke in his fever dream. "My ZhanZhan... ah I love my ZhanZhan." He mumbled to himself. This was so cute and I could only smile.
Since the three elf vampires took care of Yibo and He Peng and sent me away so I could look around, I went to make myself useful since I wanted to give as well as take. Most of my time, however, I spent with the queen and her baby. The little prince is beautiful and really lively. He is also already really strong, as I could feel when he clutched my index finger tightly with his tiny hand.
I also helped with the cooking. Whereby it was rather grilling over an open fire. Now I also know that they used deer meat. And I helped some of the women washing their dirty clothes at a stream in the woods. The water was almost as cold as that from the lake in the cave and we got all red hands from it. At some point my hands even really hurt from this ice-cold water.
Of course, I kept checking on Yibo and He Peng. But they were sleeping so soundly that they didn't notice anything around them. And the elf vampires were really taking good care of them. They probably know best what to do. And who knows, maybe Yibo and He Peng won't need three days to wake up. I hope so, anyway.