We meet again

They went deeper into the forest.

The sky was black and they could no longer continue the journey so they found a place close to a small lake to stay for the night.

The night was cool but still comfortable. The grass was also Smith and comfortable and not itchy to the skin.

They took out their sleeping materials -mats, small pillows and light blankets- and laid down for the night.

***

The sun was just rising, it looked like it was hiding at the back of a hill throughout the night. It was beautiful.

"Ouch ouch my body is itchy" Kiara woke up scratching her legs and arms that were exposed like an insane woman.

"Wake up __ ouch! ahhh!" She said tapping the rest of them to wake up and scratching her body.

She looked mad.

"Ahhhh hummm" Kyra and Eros yawned stretching their arms.

"Ouch my legs and arms are itchy" Kyra eyes shone as she scratched her exposed skin.

"Me too" Eros and Kiara said at the same time.

"What happened?" Eros asked.

"I think it's mosquitoes," Kyra said thoughtfully.

"It's so bad ouch" Kiara complained.

"I can't continue the journey like this, I would go take a bath in that lake there," Kyra said pointing at the lake nearby "Kiara follow me, Eros you will take a bath after us, so face the other side, don't look" Kyra ordered and brought out a packet of bathing soap and a towel that she bought.

Kyra and Kiara pulled their clothes and stepped into the lake while Eros turned his back on them.

The two were playing and splashing water at each other while bathing in the lake. Eros was almost tempted to look but he restrained himself.

Being the only man between two girls with exceptional beauty is not easy.

Wynstar even went swimming in the water and for a moment he wished he was the tiger.

Soon they were done bathing and like magic, their bodies ceased to itch.

The lake must be magical.

They dried up their bodies and dressed up.

"You guys should stay here I'll be back," Kyra said after dressing up.

"Where to?" Eros asked like an over protective father.

"Where I'm headed is none of your concerns" Kyra simply stated with a straight face.

"Don't get lost" Kiara said chuckling at Eros dumbfounded face.

"Don't worry I won't, I'll use this string to track my way back" Kyra said and Kiara nodded showing that she understands with that Kyra picked up the string and tied it to a tree and then she left with the remaining ball of string in her hand.

It was Eros's turn to bathe and he got in eagerly due to his itchy skin.

After hearing from the girls that the water ceases the itching her was eager to bathe in the lake.

***

Kyra walked for about forty minutes tying the string to trees for landmarks. She noticed that the dark forest was very beautiful. It was full of trees with evergreen leaves, beautiful wild and normal flowers of different colors lakes, and streams. It was not as she imagined the forest to be.

She imagined it to be scary and ugly with tattered and untrimmed grasses and trees but it was the exact opposite. It looked lovely, with all types of flowers she knew and didn't, everything about it was wonderful except the dreadful demonic mosquitoes, of course.

She walked and walked until she got to an open space. It was amazingly beautiful she had to tie her string and take in the beautiful scenery.

It was an open space, like a circle-like space. The ground was filled with carpet grass that looked like it was just mowed -it looked like a perfectly manicured lawn- with short large trees with fruits on them, different from the other trees in the forest surrounding the space. There was a waterfall at a corner pouring from seven rocks like stone steps into a crystal clear stream-it wasn't deep. It was quite a sight.

It looked like it was drawn out of a fairy tale.

She pulled her boots and placed her legs on the soft grass. It was so soft.

She plucked a lot of fruits and put them in her space bag and kept it in the corner. She went to the stream and drank water from it. It was cold and she liked it, she wished she could swim in it but she had to start going back before the rest start looking for her.

"I'll bring them here," she thought.

She wore her boots and was ready to leave when three guys surrounded her.

She tried to move but they blocked her, she tried moving the other way they blocked her still.

Feed up with their nonsense she asked "What do want?" with boldness, her head held high.

"What a fine beauty we have here!" #1 guy exclaimed.

"She is indeed beautiful" #1 said holding her chin and she smacked it off.

Kra has always detested men and this one saw himself for to hold up her chin.

Idiot!

"Tough, huh?" #2 said

"Tougher than you think" Kyra replied and tried to move away in another direction.

"That's how I like my girls," #3 said with a small smirk playing on his lips.

These men must have been locked up in this forest for years to be talking this way. They must be so horny that they would just want to release in any girl.

No surprise that they must have been having sex with each other.

The old man said only smart people could find their way out of the forest.

These men are stupid. No doubt.

The men were a huge contrast to the surrounding. The area was tidy and clean and seeing such dirty and untidy men in the place was unpleasant.

They didn't for the surrounding. They looked like they haven't bathers in years. Their hair were different shades of grey and brown as a result of dirtiness. One even had blonde hair too bad it was all covered in dirt.

"Don't make me break your bones before you get out of my way" Kyra said giving off a dry laughter.

"I would like to watch you try," #1 said showing off his teeth that was now brown and yellow. Kra cringed at the sight.

Oh how much she wanted to leave the presence with immediate effect.

One of the guys strode toward her and gripped her shoulder tightly and she held his hand and tumbled him on the ground making his back make a loud thud sound.

Touching them made her gag but she has no choice but to deal with him than let them sleep with her, because it seems like it's the only thing on their mind.

And the gods know just how dirty their private parts are.

They started bombarding her with blows and kicks and she dodged them all with ease. She beat them up till they were weak. They were surprised by how a girl could fight that much without getting exhausted.

One of the guys whistled seeing that she had beaten them all and eight more guys appeared surrounding her.

He called for back up.

"Weaklings" she thought.

She started to fight them off, blowing, kicking, and slapping, but they were too much for her to fight off. They were already overpowering her and she was getting weaker by the second, and they took it as an opportunity to deal with her. Soon she was on the ground with her head bowed, she was too weak.

One of the guys brought out a knife and was about to slaughter her out of anger.

They were angry that she beat them up and they forgot about why they stopped her.

And for a second she thought she was going to die, but then something with the speed of light was slashing men and they were just falling one by one with their heads separated from their bodies. Kyra was utterly shocked, she wonders the type of creature that will kill people in a milli-second and then she remember the old man's words and she knew she was in big trouble.

"What are you" Kyra screamed with her hands shielding her head that was bowed down and she heard a little chuckle.

She wondered what kind of creature will slay eleven humans within a blink of an eye.

"Raise your head little one" Kyra heard the most beautiful male voice she ever heard. Though the voice sounded strangely familiar.

Not like she knows a lot of males.

" you can speak?" Kyra asked shivering with great fear.

She never expected the creature to be able to talk.

"Of course, I can speak " he said with a chuckle "I want to see the face of the one whom I saved and this red hair looks oddly familiar"

" don't you want to kill me," Kyra said still shielding herself.

"No, I just saved your life can you stand up now," he said with a tired look on his face.

She stood up slowly then raised her face and shock was written all over their faces.

"We meet again," the stranger said with a smirk playing on his lips after recovering from the shock.

She was stunned to see a strangely beautiful man.

"You are human" She stated in shock ignoring his statement and the latter laughed ignoring her statement also.

After looking and evening the face of the stranger for sometime she recognized him. He was the stranger Kiara and her met at the market square and the prime suspect in their mama's mysterious death and missing corpse.

She didn't look at him properly at the market. But she saw that he was beyond handsome. He had jet black hair that she felt like touching, and piercing black eyes that could see through your soul, he was about 6ft 8. He has well-defined cheekbones and jawlines that could cut off touched. He was not the overly broad type but he was not slim -moderate- with well-defined muscles and abs you could see it through the black button up shirt he was wearing, he wore grey trousers and black boots. He is impeccable even with his simple outfit.

He looked like a sculpture, he was beautiful.

Heavenly!

His scent filled her nostrils, he smelt of nature itself, like earth, rain, and flowers. And the gods know how much she loves nature but she didn't care because this might be the man who killed her mother.

"You, you" she started punching him after starting at him for a long time.

"If this is how you say thank you then you are welcome dear," The man said with a smile littered in his face.

" What did you do to my mama?" she cried still hitting him not even sure he was the culprit.

"What is wrong with you?" He asked in confusion.

"What is wrong with me?" She asked looking at him "stop playing dumb asshole" she screamed louder.

"I'm not playing dumb, I don't know what you are talking about" he looked at her more confused.

"You are the accomplice to the one who killed my mama" she screamed hitting his chest harder.

"What," he said looking shocked "you can't just go around making baseless accusations," he said a little bit angry "do you think if I killed your mother I would have saved you just now, seeing you I would have killed you the way I killed those men, but what makes you think I killed your mother," he asked with his voice softer in his latter statement.

She looked down ashamed of herself, he was right she can't just make baseless accusations but he was her only suspect, and putting the pieces together it might be him, might?

Her mother taught her better than to throw battles accusations at people randomly. If her mama's first were here she would be frowning down at her.

She felt ashamed of herself at the moment.

"You are my only suspect and that day I was wondering how you knew that our mama was waiting and she sent us," she said looking down with tears pouring from her eyes.

"Sorry for your loss but honestly I didn't kill your mama ok?" He said with concern written in his voice.

"And her body got missing after some days" she explained further, she didn't even know why she was telling him.

"That's mysterious," he said stroking the beard on his chin "so what are you doing in the Dark Forest," he asked the one question he wanted to ask her because humans don't go into the dark forest.

Only some like those idiots he just killed that have been trapped in the forest for years.

"I guess since you saved my life I owe you a favor, so I'll answer this question instead of snubbing you....

the two most powerful gems have been stolen by the greedy King, Zarek, and the gods chose me with my sister, and my pet tiger as my assistants to retrieve the gems but we were to go on a journey to this forest and get to the heart of the forest but the god of Fire said something which I can't remember but we'll find out on our journey to the heart of the forest" she explained to him.

"Wow! You must be special for the gods to choose you" he smiled showing his perfectly arranged white set of teeth, his canines were abnormally long.

A huge contrast to the teeth of the men who attacked her.

"Maybe" she shrugged and shuddered at the sight of his canines "so how did you kill those men within a blink of an eye?" She asked the one question she's been dying to ask.

"I'm not human" he stated and smirked showing his canines.

"Then what are you?" She asked with a perplexed look on her face.

"He looks human, he speaks English, he can't be a monster, monsters are ugly but he is extremely gorgeous, oh snap out of it Kyra," Kyra said in her mind.

"Did you hear me?" He asked waving his hands at her face cause she was staring intensely at him but wasn't listening.

Staring. He got that a lot, it wasn't something new, but he still likes that she was staring at him like that.

"Ummm, what were you saying?" She asked slightly embarrassed being caught red-handed.

"I said I'm a monster" he repeated himself.

"But monsters are ugly," she said looking at him confused.

"Oh so you think I'm handsome," he said teasingly with a smirk playing on his lips.

"I didn't say that," she said scrunching up her nose and tilting her head.

"You said monsters are ugly and you think I'm no monster because I am handsome," he said with a teasing smile.

"I didn't say you were handsome," she said with a little frown.

"And I caught you staying at me" he stated with a small teasing smirk and a raised eyebrow.

"He just had to bring that up" Kra thought and blushed.

"I was thinking of _____" she said not able to complete her statement.

She was thinking of him.

"Ok you didn't say it," he said raising his hands in the air "but am I handsome?" He asked with the same smirk on his face.

"You seem ok, erm my sister and someone else is waiting for me," she said and he just smirked.

"She feels I'm just ok, but I'm very handsome, how will she say I'm just ok, I'll make her say I'm handsome someday," he thought with a smirk on his face.

"I'll join you I would like to see your sister again" he said

"Flirt," Kyra hissed in her head.

"and by the way, you'll need somewhere to stay there are mosquitoes in this forest so you can't sleep outside," he said and she knew she had no choice but to let him help her.

"Ok," she said and he smirked.

She didn't have a choice she couldn't sleep outside and let the mosquitoes suck all the blood left in them.

They were following the string Kyra tied to the back of the trees.

"So how are you a monster?" she asked because she still didn't understand it.

How can a man look so human and call himself a monster. Maybe humans have called him a monster for no reason -or because of his strange beauty- to the extent that he claims it. If that's the case she understands, she and her sister have been called witches and mama says it's because the people are jealous of their beauties.

"I'm a monster, that's what humans tell their children in bedtime stories," he said.

"How but you look human and monsters can't talk," she asked in confusion.

He laughed a little "I'm a vampire, I suck blood"

"Really? Do vampires even exist?" She asked shining her eyes brightly in shock and for a moment he was lost in those green orbs "why didn't you kill me?"

She couldn't believe she was talking to a vampire.

"We have exist and we have learned to suck the blood of animals but sometimes we still help ourselves with human blood," he said with a smirk showcasing his amenable long canines.

"We? There are still many of you?" She asked.

"Yes this is our territory many believe we are extinct, but there's a whole community of us" he explained.

"Wow," she exclaimed.

They walked and conversed for sometime till they got to where her sister, Wynstar and Eros were.

"You made me worried, we were about coming to look for you" Kiara sighed when she sighted Kyra.

"I wasn't worried at all, in fact I was a bit glad ms grumpy was gone for a while," Eros said and Kyra was about to slap him when Kiara noticed the stranger.

All Kyra and Eros do is bicker at each other and hit each other. When they are around each other they behave like infants.

"What is he doing here?" Kiara asked in shock pointing at the stranger.

"Oh he's the stranger we met at the market square who we also thought killed mama but apparently he isn't. He saved my life, some bandits attacked me I was doing well fighting them off until they called for backup. He lives here and will take us to where we can stay so mosquitoes don't eat us alive and fun fact he is a vampire, see his teeth" Kyra said in a rush smiling.

"Thank you for saving my sister's life," Kiara said with a genuine smile "and what my sister said about you being a vampire is that true" she grimaced in confusion.

"Yes, I'm a vampire, a blood sucker, a monster," he said with a smirk teasingly.

"I thought vampires aren't real," she asked tilting her head to the side.

"We are, and I'm surprised you guys aren't scared of me," he said with a pout.

"We've seen a lot, our mother's corpse got missing, we've come to know that those priests are actually immortals, we got swallowed in the belly of a whale and we have seen the god of Fire, Farrack as a gorgeous man in flames, so I don't think there's something that's going to get us extremely stunned," Kiara said with a shrug.

"Whoa you both have been through a lot," Eros said in a fit of laughter.

"And who may you be?" The stranger asked Eros.

"I am the Imperial Prince, Eros Aslan" Eros said boldly.

"If I may ask why would the Imperial Prince want to go on this stressful journey," the stranger asked and something flickered in Eros's eyes but it was too quick to be noticed.

Kyra and Kiara always wondered why Eros came with them but kept silent only to wonder about it in their minds.

"Because I wish to, and I've always wanted to leave that palace for a while," Eros said scratching his neck.

"I never got to ask what's your name?" Kyra asked the stranger.

"It's Clayden and what are your names," he said pointing at the sisters.

"My name is Kiara, this is my sister Kyra and the tiger there is our pet Wynstar, she wouldn't attack you unless you attack Kyra and me," Kiara said and giggled placing her hands on her lips to muffle the sounds but you could still clearly hear her giggles.

"She can't behave at the sight of a good looking man, oh Kiara" Kyra thought shaking her head at her sister.

She didn't even allow Kyra to introduce herself.