Broken villagers. Dark forces. Strange Minotaurs. Old books. What's behind it all? Why is all this happening?

  "So what's your plan, Kenji?"

  We were all sitting at the table with one beer mug. Kenji was playing Mr. Mysterious. He didn't speak from the town hall to the pub. Does he even have a plan?!

  "Yes, I do, Iruka!" He growled.

  "Hey! Stop getting in my head, you little..." I started yelling at him and slamming him.

  "I wasn't examining your thoughts, I was examining others'. I don't want them eavesdropping. What do you know who might be spying here!" He shouted at me and scoffed.

  "So. First. Defense. What they want is the books. The great thing is, there's a spell protecting them, but we don't know how strong. We can find out, though. Our priority is the villagers. We should look around for a building where we can hide them all and protect them. They can't get in the way. They could be killed or used as hostages again. Minotaurs are rather stupid creatures, but these are no ordinary minotaurs. We must ensure the safety of the villagers. And now, secondly. Our attack. We'll set a bait and trap. I'll create an illusion in their minds before they get here. I'll rebuild the entire village in their minds. We'll make it a maze. The bait will be used to point them in the right direction. We need to catch at least one of them alive to find out the location of their camp and who's behind it. It's a simple but effective plan. We'll split into teams. Agreed?”

  "That's a wonderful idea, honey!" Aki stated, lifting one corner of his mouth.

  "How many times have I told you not to call me that in front of them!!!"

  Kenji turned all red. I don't know if from anger or shame. After all, he was making nice with Aki. Like I did with him two minutes ago.

  "Wait what?! You two are together?!"

  Oops. Someone somehow forgot to tell Shika.

  "Y...y...y...y...you...two...t...t...together?!" She stuttered the next sentence, but couldn't say it.

  "I agree with the plan." Fuyu tried to change the subject and it was as if the last conversation didn't happen.

  What a spectacle it was! Kenji was still snapping and cursing Aki, and Shika was looking at them rather strangely now. Like a lovesick fanfiction writer about her friends mixed with death envy and...god again that weird aura. Fuyu had transferred it to her! Maybe I have it too. Oh my god... Oh, no! Fuyu's already starting to froth... That's too bad...

  "That's enough. Let Fuyu get angry, right? Hehe." I tried to calm everyone down.

  Kenji looked at Fuyu. His murderous look was enough for Kenji. He quickly let go of him and squatted down again.

  "So back to the plan. I'll create the illusion then. Natsu will cover for me. Iruka and Fuyu will guard the settlers. Aki you will keep an eye on Shika from afar. Shiko will be the bait. Haru, you will be at the forest. See if you can find out where the monsters are coming from. Any objections?"

  "Except I'm bait, so no." Shika muttered.

  "Okay. So I'm going to find a suitable place to gather with Iruka. Meanwhile, Natsu and Aki can announce our plan to the mayor and gather the people. Meanwhile, Kenji and Shika can go find somewhere to lock the beasts up."

  This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

  We all nodded. We finished our last sips of beer and left the tavern.

  We walked through the entire settlement. Everyone looked at us strangely, but I'm getting used to it. All the time, there was silence between Fuy and me. I didn't know what to talk to him about. I didn't want to disturb him. He seemed to be fully concentrating on our plan.

  "What about your dreams about your parents? Do you still have them?"

  I was quite taken aback by the question. I had told him so long ago that I thought he had just forgotten. I couldn't make a sound, how surprised I was.

  A memory:

  I was sleeping. I was cold. It was the next night that I learned their secret. I dreamt of my parents again. I don't know exactly what it was. I only remember little snippets. There was so much at once. My brain was running at full speed. I didn't even feel like I was asleep. I felt like I was running a marathon. I was sweating and breathing fast. Everything was getting more and more intense until it led to me screaming not only in my dream, but in reality, and that woke me up.

  "Mom?!" I exclaimed.

  "No. It's me. I came to check on you. He was mumbling something and twitching terribly... Did you have a bad dream?"

  Fuyu's skin was so white in the moonlight. He looked like he was glowing. At that moment, he reminded me of an angel sent from heaven. Everyone sees vampires as monsters of darkness. Creatures that only hurt and destroy others. It wasn't like that for me. It doesn't matter what race or being you are, it's how you treat others. How you want the world to see you. No being is evil unless they choose to be. It's in us. We must choose the side of good or evil.

  That night I told him about my memories and he helped to confirm them. That night was one of the nights he was good to me. That there's someone there for you who will listen to you without any problem. To help. To be your mentor. Your willow and shoulder to cry on. That's priceless.

  "N..no.. I mean, no. It hasn't seemed like a while. I have other things to worry about."

  "Yeah, I can see that." He said and just snorted.

  "What do you think of this building?" He asked, pointing to a large barn.

  "That's our shared barn. This is where we store our hay and then it is divided equally for everyone." An old woman spoke as she walked past us.

  She was petite and quite old, but something energetic radiated from her flabby wrinkled face. It was a kindness the villagers here didn't just show.

  "Thank you." I reply with a smile.

  "Madam, may we ask you to take your necessities like food and drink and hide there. We will bring the whole village there in a while. You need not worry."

  The lady just nodded and limped towards her house. We made our way to the town hall. There they were all as we had agreed and announced our plan to the old man. The mayor came out in a moment. The villagers who were in the square gathered and waited for the mayor to speak. They had already been taught, so they didn't make any noise. They stood quietly and waited

  "My fellow citizens, we want to avoid further loss of your life, so I beg you, go hide in our barn. As you may have noticed, we have here the famous hunter Narano and their apprentices. They will take care of you and protect our village. So please move to the hay barn with your essentials. Let everyone know!"The councillor told them.

  With a great deal of noise, the crowd began to dissolve into their houses and then immediately headed for the barn. The mayor apologized, too, and went to get his stuff. I looked back and saw Haru, Kenji and Shika coming towards us.

  "What are you wearing?"I'll ask Shika with a choked laugh.

  "Well, a sexy cow costume. They're half bulls and I have to entice them somehow.”

  I looked down and went all the way up. She wore high-heeled boots. On top of that, she wore a pair of strappy shorts that revealed more than they should have. She also wore a shirt, which she tied on top of her chest to show off her belly button, and the buttons weren't buttoned up to her neck, either, if you know what I mean. She wore her horns to it and tied her hair back in two ponytails. By the end, she had a bell on her neck, too. I stared at her in disbelief, then turned to Kenji with an expression: 'Have you bewitched her into agreeing to this??'

  "Well, I think it'll work. And not only to them but also to... " Natsu didn't even finish his sick thought. Aki punched him in the stomach.

  "I don't have good news.."He broke Haru's good humour. His gaze was far too hard. I never liked Haru with his straight face. He must have had some bad news.

  "The Minotaurs are coming. They'll be here within the hour."He added. That's fast.

  "Okay. Everybody take your seats. You know what to do."He clapped his hands to Fuyu to get us out of our trance.

  No one said anything about it. They all turned around and went straight to their seats.