• Zeus kept walking well through the night and throughout the next day. The sun was blazing on his torn up back, and he could feel the bare skin already starting to burn mildly.
    His head was bent over Isabella to keep her in shadow, so he didn’t notice a town in sight until the dirt road suddenly became a cobble stone one, rough under his scorched, bare feet. He could smell the healing magic coming from the city and turned his head to it, taking a deep breath.
    His foggy mind cleared, and his burning skin felt cool relief. He shifted Isabella in his arms and looked curiously at the small, brick houses and buildings everywhere. There was writing on a few houses, but its writing was unfamiliar and alien looking.
    Probably elven writing.
    Just as he thought that, a young, pale blue skinned elf in a white uniform skipped out of a white building with writing, a basket of healing herbs on her small arm. Her silver pigtails bounced as she moved, and she was whistling a soft tune.
    When she caught sight of Zeus and Isabella, burned, bloodied, and torn up, her childish blue doe eyes widened, and she froze, her whistle caught in her throat.
    Zeus gave her a tired half-smile, trying not to scare her off. “Please, we need some help.” He said quietly, taking a step towards her. The girl looked at him for another second before sprinting back into the building.
    He sighed, and took a few steps towards it gingerly before hearing several footsteps coming from inside. After a few seconds, two more blue skinned elves came out, only both were older and wiser looking.
    The closest one, a slim, tall elf with deep blue hair pulled up in a ponytail to show her long, pointed ears walked over to Zeus and put her blue hand on his shoulder. She looked around twenty, like Zeus. The other, a short, thick boned, kind faced old elf lady with wispy gray hair was staring at Isabella curiously, her arm around the little child.
    “What happened?” The one his age asked, her voice light but heavily elven accented. He was shocked, as far as he knew, elves didn’t speak English. She stared at him patiently, waiting for his answer.
    “Err, a bomb went off…look, my sister, she’s hurt badly. Isabella fell asleep a while ago, and I-I…something…something’s wrong….please, could you help us?” He managed weakly. He felt so scared and worn out from just saying that and his shoulders fell even lower.
    The elf girl nodded and smiled kindly at him before turning to the others. She started speaking rapidly in her foreign tongue, using her hands and mouth at the same time to speak. The language was musical sounding, lacking any harsh or defined pronunciation. It was almost soothing.
    The old elf kept shaking her head, waving almost urgently as she replied back, talking in clipped sentences and a tense voice. It looked like they were fighting. The one his age looked like she was begging the oldest one who looked were grumpy.
    Zeus couldn’t be sure he wanted to know what they were saying at the moment.
    The little girl, who’d gone all but unnoticed, tugged on both of here long white sleeves and pointed to Zeus. They both shut up and stared at the girl. After a second, she started talking, her childish voice sweet and innocent.
    The old one listened for a minute before sighing and waving over Zeus. He stumbled over warily, clutching Isabella carefully. The old lady pushed him down until he was kneeling eye level with the little one.
    The child smiled and raised a small hand which she placed on his forehead.
    It sent electric currents through Zeus, and after a second, he slumped and fell sideways to the ground. His eyes rolled back inside his skull and he fell asleep.
    “I think you overdid it Lily.” Mira, the one Zeus’s age said calmly, chuckling as she gently picked up the limp, vampire girl. Lily, the little elf, giggled and ran back inside the hospital, right as one of the doctors came out.
    He picked up the vampire guy and they all brought the vampires into an isolation room where they could heal them without being harmed if they were a threat.
    Lily handed the basket of healing herbs to Mira and the doctor. Then they set to work, treating the burns and wounds the vampire’s had acquired from a ‘bomb explosion’.

    Zosma felt nauseous when she came to. Her eyes were closed, but the light was seeping through her eyelids, making her headache worse. Her whole body was aching, and when she took in a breath, pain shot through her chest.
    She felt something wrapped around her left arm up to her shoulder, around her stomach, and a leg that was slightly itchy and a fuzzy blanket overtop her. The slight weight hurt. She groaned softly and opened her eyes to an unfamiliar place.
    A white ceiling: bare brown, smooth walls: a few wooden tables with plants on them: chairs everywhere: a guy. A guy! He was leaning against the wall across the room watching her with a cat’s smile, cloaked in a simple black and red suit with a white doctor’s coat.
    “It seems thought hast awaken. How do thyne feel deary?” His soothing, low voice asked calmly. Zosma groaned again and opened her dry mouth to speak.
    He put a white gloved hand up and walked to her side, moving lithely and silently. “Oh, never mind, thou shouldn’t speak. Deary, just rest so thyne may recover quickly.”
    Recover?
    Her foggy mind couldn’t remember anything happening recently to have gotten her hurt. What did she do? And who was the cat-like guy with the ebony hair, pale skin, and burning gold eyes that was talking oddly? She didn’t even recognize her surroundings.
    It was hurting her head with her questions, so she closed her eyes again and prayed for gracious sleep. She felt the bed depress by her knee and figured the cat guy had sat on it. She felt him put a cold hand on her cheek and stroke it gently.
    “Thou art so beautiful, like a rare, exotic flower. Slumber peacefully deary…” He whispered his voice as gentle as his soft touch. Even though she didn’t even know him, his voice lulled her to a dreamless, peaceful slumber like he had wished.
    A faint smile was on her burned face and she snored ever so softly.