"That will be 2 silvers," he changed one of their gold coins for 8 silver coins then looked at the pair as he turned over a key to the room. "219." He indicated the room number before rounding the counter again. There seemed to be keys hung up on pegs behind him or rather where he had been.

Shaking his head slightly to indicate that thieves had not been the problem. Again he gazed at the two. "I wish it were thieves ..."
ole flock of them.
He paused as if considering something. "They'll be here soon but I guess I have time to tell you. We are plagued with nosferatu, vampires ... every night they come here to feed, a whole flock of them. They get ahold of those that happen to be out after the sun sets and of course the adventurers that go out after them but have failed to return only adding to the ranks of the foul undead or winding up as no more than food for them.

"No one has found their lair either and no one knows where they're coming from either. We just know it's not from across the river since they cannot cross running water. They rule the night, we the day it seems. As it was I wasn't going to let you in it's nearly dusk now so you two had been cutting it fairly close."

The man had taken the fake gold and passed them real silver coins, a rather valuable good compared to what they had given him in exchange. After all they had nothing to take care of, nobody knew them so there was nobody who'd have lend them a single coin. It seemed a bit harsh, but that's how it worked for them.

They had listened to him, it seemed rather odd even if it was true what the man told the pair. Of course it revealed some things they could do while they were stucked in the dream though it wouldn't do them any good at all. Cora thanked him for the information he had given them before they turned with the key and were about to walk to their room. But Ryu decided to ask something first, it was her dream as well and she wouldn't waste the opportunity to have some fun if she was able to.

Sir, would you mind if I ask you a question? Cora stopped and turned while Ryu waited for the man to pay attention to her though she didn't wait for his answer. Do you think it would be wise if we take care of your 'problem'? We'd understand if you don't want to make them angry, but it may be a way to get rid of them and you wouldn't even have to get your hands dirty.

The other student joined the redhead to make sure he'd understand what they intended to do. Prince Edmonds sent us here, sir. We are here on purpose and are ordered to sweep away these living dead from this world's sacred surface. Whether or not people around here welcome our presence, our task has to be fulfilled before dawn. A plain lie, but it seemed that Cora understood her task in their play. Though the symbol on Ryu's shield and their colors may not have been the ones of his army, they could simply say they were of some sort of order.

"Wise?" The old man said with a shake of his head. "No, I do not believe it to be wise but if Prince Edmonds has asked the pair of you to follow up with his orders then it would not be wise to disobey him either. Being stuck between a rock and a hard place ..."

He spoke softly and sympathically since he did not wish to see anything happen to the pair when getting indoors occurred just narrowly. "I can not open up during the night. From sun down to sun up those doors are locked, you understand? So if you are planning on doing something during the night you best do so soon before darkness falls."

I see. So there is no way we can get out of here tonight? Not a problem at all, but they could stay there for one night without having the fake gold turn into its earlier state. The problem would be they'd have to travel somewhere else the next day without having any idea where to move exactly at that moment. After all it seemed they wouldn't have any chance to get out in the night unless these creatures break into the house, but some sleep seemed to be fine anyway.

Well, sleep tight, sir. Wait... one more thing. Are you sure there is no one around who knows where these things come from? Though it was late he may remember something, but even if he had no idea it was just fine. The knight and her squire stood next to the stairs which may lead to their room, but before they'd walk up they awaited his answer.

"I can't let you back in until the morning if you go out now," he said, he glanced to the pair then to the locked door and back. He scratched at the back of his neck as he had tried to recall something, anything.

He had looked back at the pair with the shake of his head. "No, I haven't heard a thing though I suspect, we suspect that they travel from a mining community we set up about three, maybe four months back for miners until the vein of ore that they were dealing with dried up.

"These things might even dwell in the mines, no one's sure since everyone who has gone after them perished in the attempt."

An ore mine... well, that sounds promising. One last thing before we are going to let you rest, would you mind to tell us where we are going to find the mining community? Her voice seemed warm, though she appeared quite determined.

The man would likely answer their question, after all it looked like he'd like to get rid of them someday. They would wait for him to answer before they'd speak again and go to bed, the day had been very eventful for two simple students who appeared to be a knight and her squire.

Thank you very much, sir. We are going to stay inside for the night though we intend to leave early, good night. And please don't worry about it, we intend to survive this encounter. With this and after Ryu bowed forward a bit just to straighten herself again the two girls turned and walked up the stairs to the first floor, walking towards their room down the hallway. To leave early would let them appear kind of believable, they would have enough time to get out of there until the gold would turn back to its earlier state.

He had been somewhat relieved that the girls had not been planning on going out their though it did little for him to consider that they would be facing such a deadly threat. Informing them about where the mine was and how to reach it the place was a quarter of a mile outside of the town.

That night they were awakened by a wrap on the window. Coming back to consciousness they would see a small boy, perhaps 10 sitting on a branch of a tree just outside their window.

He had been looking nervous, frequently gazing down at the ground as if someone had been their. "Let me in," he proclaimed as he addressed them. "The bad people are after me ..."

Both of them woke up quickly as they heard these audible noises on their window, though they didn't expect anyone to be outside if the rumors were true this boy seemed either suicidal or simply late, very late. As kind as they were, they stood up and Ryu opened the window after the girl's eyes had met once again, like a communication by eye contact.

The boy had been sitting on a branch of a tree and they doubted they'd have let him in if he was away further than being in front of their window. Although the way he would have performed just to get up that tree might have been exhausting, they had little anxiety about their trust towards him at first, he could have been one of them. It seemed highly recommended to be careful with him, at least for the moment.

Ryu waited for him to enter the room and partly assisted him to get in before she closed it after him and looked outside, to check if there were some of these 'bad people'. It's late, boy, why have you been outside? Well, at least you are fine for the moment...

"Thank you," he said as he had been assisted into the room and off the branch that he dwelled upon. He glanced at Cora who had looked outside though could not see anything which was not saying much. It had been late and dark so seeing into the gloom had been difficult.

"My dog got out of the house, I chased after it didn't want to have them get ahold of it," he began as he swung his eyes from one to the other. His eyes took in each in turn then had been about to say something though he could the gaze of their eyes on the mirror that had been hanging on the wall.

They had been cast in it's surface, which had been more than they could say about their nightly visitor who had known that the jig was up nearly right away.

He hissed barring fangs, his brown eyes glowing softly in the absence of light. He leapt at Ryu who had been closest to him, knocking her down as he gripped her night shirt as he went to her throat. He was exceptionally strong given the fierceness of his grip upon her ...

Both of them had been too surprised as the sudden attack came, the boy forced the air out of Ryu's lungs as he knocked her down to the ground, her resistance could barely be called a threat as she didn't know what to do at first. She wasn't afraid either as her body naturally began to let adrenaline show up within her body, the most enjoyable feeling in such situations and it wasn't her first anyway. You could say there had been worse next to a vampire boy on top of her and heading for her throat.

Get it off, damn it! Ryu shouted as she managed to get hold on to his front and hit him with her elbow though the force hadn't been enough to get rid of him, but at least it hit his head from the side so he would have to adjust his movement once again. The darkness made it harder to see for her, but she could see the glow of his eyes and she knew exactly if they wouldn't take care of him quick they'd be fucked in less than the night. As bright as she was, her position was uncomfortable enough to keep her from any smart movement.

Meanwhile Cora had grabbed the wooden shield next to the bed where they had slept on, it was the closest thing she could grab and used it to charge towards him while the shield wouldn't hurt her as much as the force would hit the boy due to the increased surface. Probably she wasn't as fast as Ryu at such a short distance, but if the strike had been placed good enough they would be able to let him stumble off her helpless figure so they could get their weapons and hunt down the threat. Though it was a boy of about ten years they would show no mercy towards someone who was about to change them to one of his race.

One thing Ryu would notice is that she had not tired in the grapple, which had been the only reason that she had been able to keep the boy from her throat. She did not seem to be as strong as the boy though the blow to the side of his head had bought her a moment of time before he adjusted for his new position and lined his jaws back up to her neck.

Though once ready to sink his teeth into her the wooden shield collided against him with enough force to render a normal being unconscious but the undead did not really know such a state other than sleeping in a coffin as was required.

The boy's grip slackened on Ryu as Cora struck and dislodged him with that shield. She may not have been as fast as Ryu but running, even that short distance, did not drain her any allowing her to push the pace a little.

He wound up in a crouch, hissing at the two, his eyes swinging to Cora as if studying here and the shield and how best to deal with it, his attention off of Ryu for the moment.

Then sudden he sprang forth at Cora, leaping at her and jumping at the wielded shield as he landed on it as his jaws snapped out at her throat in one fluid motion.

Though Cora had done good work it wasn't over at that point. Ryu slowly rose herself as the sudden pounce had paralyzed her for a moment and she had to recover first though he didn't give her much time at all as both seemed focused on the vampire in the darkness and his hissing sounds.

The red head could have done something already, but the shock still kept her in some sort of valueless state for a few moments. Cora could only face the being as she was about to avoid his sudden leap, the fast movement and their lack of vision were a disadvantage of high value for the creature.

The black haired knight fell backwards on the wooden floor and couldn't keep him away a fair amount of time as he headed for her throat. She could barely do anything, but Ryu had already managed to regain some consciousness and took her dagger as it was close enough and wouldn't need as much space as a sword to swing.

Ryu charged towards the boy and intended to kick him off the other girl though he seemed very strong and flexible in such surroundings which made him even more dangerous. As his canines were about to dig into the girl's throat, the red head had adjusted her strike and gave him a sweeping kick in the side.

The first kick had seemed ineffectual. It thunked against the boy with speed and precision though he had not even looked away from Cora as it seemed focused on sampling her life blood. It felt like kicking a wall, he had been that unresponsive.

Then another kick moved him enough so that Cora could squirm away from his snapping teeth, fingers gripped on the wood of the shield as he did so as if he had been stabilizing his own weight against it.

But such had been his focus that he had not noticed the blade that Ryu now grasped though he probably would not have behaved differently had he of known given his single mindedness in his approach of dealing with the pair. He tried to use his speed to best effect thinking that he could overwhelm one then the other though that had not been seeming to work that well.

He had acted quick given that his deception had been broken given the presence of the mirror on the wall. Had it not been there he would have had an easier time dealing with the pair rather than enduring matters now in this rather straight forward way.

Cora quickly squirmed away and left the shield behind as the vampire didn't intend to loose his grip on it. Though she had made it out of his grasp, they still had to get rid of the barely known creature and Ryu doubted that after she read all those stories about such things in novels a single strike with the dagger could kill the boy.

As nothing was in her way but the boy Ryu continued her relentless assault as she tried to hit him with a quick strike and if this one missed there would be another one and so on, she simply wanted him to focus on her and keep moving until she'd hit or Cora would come up with something useful, just in case the red head wouldn't be successful.

While she tried to keep the body busy Cora tried to find something useful, the shield wouldn't be a good idea as it would be too far away and in an open area so he could assault the one who was going to get it, so the knight dashed towards her own weapon and got ready to cut those thing into pieces. Though their stamina wouldn't fade they were not used to such weapon, Ryu had an encounter once where she was able to get some skills but in addition to these there was no experience. Of course they wouldn't give up so easily, especially if they could outnumber their enemies.

And while distracted with Cora there came a painful sting that burned as the metallic point of the dagger buried itself in his shoulder near his throat. The throat had been the intended target he thought though she had missed the mark.

As the weapon had been pulled out he turned towards Ryu, springing up towards her though Ryu avoided hi, by instinct, slashing out against his face, the dagger sliced through his cheek leaving a jagged scar though the wound on his neck stopped bleeding then began to close before her eyes.

The same occurred to the cut on his face as she watched though sequent blows cut his hands that had warded off incoming blows cutting into his hands, causing a moment of pain before closing up and leaving no effect upon him.