Secrets Revealed

Aoric tapped his fingers on the leatherbound back of the book.

"Are you not surprised?" The Sorcerer asked with a hint of disappointment in his voice. Was he upset because Aoric hadn't really reacted much?

"I am." Aoric replied, trying to keep his voice calm. He was surprised, and he was also trying to readjust all the facts in his mind. "So…" He took a deep breath. "The 'bats' are vampires. The wolves are werewolves."

The sorcerer nodded. "And ruts are the children of the joining of a werewolf and human." He explained.

"And the wound on my face was caused by which one?" Aoric asked, touching his face, where the wound would have been if the Sorcerer hadn't healed it.

The white haired man tilted his head ever so slightly. "I couldn't say for sure." He finally said. "I didn't pay much attention to it since I was more focused on healing your paralysis. He smirked. "Why do you ask? Planning to take vengeance?"

Aoric was quick to shake his head. "No, I'd rather not deal with any supernatural creatures, or people." He hesitated as he noticed the Sorcerer's smile grin widen. "Yes, I'm wall aware that you're a sorcerer. I'd rather not have needed your magic either."

The Sorcerer laughed out loud. "Most people prefer to be less direct." He commented. "Anyways, now that you know what the big families are hiding in Vesporum, my work is done for now." He pushed himself up. "We'll talk later." With that, he left.

Aoric breathed a sigh. There was a lot he needed to rethink now.

-

Irene took a deep breath. Once these letters were sent, there was no turning back. She finished signing the last one and placed the paper on her desk to let the ink dry a little.

These letters were to the leaders of the other families. The strongest, most powerful purebloods. People who weren't just strong because of their blood, but also because of their political prowess. These people rarely convened. In fact, such a gathering as the one she requested in her letters had never happened before in her lifetime.

But then again, no pureblood had been murdered in cold blood in her lifetime either. She sighed, her heart was racing, it had been difficult to keep the pen steady as she wrote the letters. Now that she was done, a wave of relief washed over her.

Sure, the most difficult was still ahead of her, but at least now the process had been started. She took the letters and placed them in their envelopes, then wrote the name of each pureblood on the envelopes before placing them all aside.

Now, all that remained was sending these off, but that was a task for tomorrow, as the sun had set already, and it was a night of clear skies. No one would dare step outside today, especially after Ava's death.

She pushed her chair back and stood up. Her back felt sore as a result of sitting here and writing for most of the day. She would love some exercise just about now, but the clear weather made that impossible. How long had it been since she last went on a hunt? It felt like months, maybe even a whole year.

She went to her room instead, where a hot bath awaited her. She took off her clothes, and stood by the window for a little bit, letting the cold air touch her skin, sending shivers across her body. Only a while later did she turn her back to the window and stepped into the hot water.

She slowly lowered herself, submerging her body until the water reached her chin. The stern, cold expression on her face faded, leaving its place to a faint smile. Very few pleasures in life could beat a hot bath. She pushed all the unpleasant thoughts out of her mind and closed her eyes.

-

Aoric let the heat of the dancing flames warm his hands. The weather had suddenly turned cold, much colder than before. Even the library had grown somewhat colder, which was why he was sitting on the soft, fluffy carpet next to the hearth.

He was still surprised that an open fire was allowed to be so near to so many books. A single stray ember, and this whole library could go up in flames. Thousands of ancient parchments and historical documents could be lost within minutes, with little to no way to stop it.

He bit his lips. Could the Sorcerer's power be protecting this place? It didn't seem unlikely at all, considering he was able to heal Aoric within only a few hours. How powerful was he, Aoric wondered. If he had gone ahead with Irene's plan to steal the blood in the grail by the altar, who knew what could have happened to him.

He fiddled with his hair. Werewolves… He was now more than certain that was what Irene, and perhaps Ivy was. But why would werewolves even need blood? Weren't vampires the blood sucking ones?

He sighed and shook his head. He wasn't even sure of what was going to happen next. Would he still need to deal with Irene? If so, then he couldn't really think of a way to steal the blood, and nor did he want to cross the Sorcerer.

He pouted. There had to be a way out of this mess without crossing any one of these supernatural beings. Right?