Chapter 2: Undead City - Altraud.
Turning back, the undead saw Arya kneeling on the ground, barely suppressing her urge to bawl her eyes out.
"What will I get from helping you?"
The blue flames in its sockets flickered with interest as it waited for a response from the girl. The girl however remained silent, she didn't have anything to offer, She was alone and helpless, biting her lower lip she spoke in a barely audible whisper.
"As long as I am not treated like a slave, I will do anything".
"What will you do if I treat you like one?"
Hearing its question, Arya raised her arm as a red hue emerged out of it, and pointed it at her heart.
"I will die. I don't want to live as a slave" she declared and glared at the undead.
Hearing her response the undead burst out in laughter.
"Interesting, I am Arthur, an undead lich" Arthur extended his arm, helping her to stand up.
" Arya, a vampire"
She introduced herself while accepting his help.
"You can stay in the city but if you ever harm an undead, you will meet a horrible end"
Arthur turned back and resumed his walk, and placed his hands on the gates after reaching them. Following his action, with dust spreading out, they creaked open.
Arya hurriedly followed him and entered the city.
The interior of the city looked.....Deserted. There were no buildings or houses, only graves. All kinds of graves were scattered around, some made of granite others of marble, each adorned with a wide range of colours and sizes.
A dark atmosphere pervaded the surroundings, as undead of all kinds roamed around in every direction, creating a spooky atmosphere.
Arya looked at all these with ill-consealed curiosity, observing as a few skeleton soldiers practised archery, while others cleaned the graves and other miscellaneous objects.
She was banned from crossing her palace gates, so visiting a new territory aroused her curiosity to know about everything around her.
As they were walking past the graves, a black bat zoomed past them and dropped a letter on Arthur's head.
Holding the letter in his bony hands, Arthur skimmed through its contents before crumpling it and throwing it to the ground. Arya however quickly picked it up and read it.
< Hi Arthur,
It's me your old enemy, I hope you are not doing well and will kick the bucket soon.
Anyway your wellbeing aside, I wrote this letter to ask a favour from you. I exiled my daughter into the undead territory, but I still care about her. So here's the deal, as long as my daughter is alive, I will help you to fend off those pesky humans.
I hope you will keep her safe.
Your eternal enemy.
Veld>
Red hue seeped out from every part of her body as she read the letter, she looked blankly up at Arthur and questioned,
"Why? Why is he pretending like he cares about me? What should I do? "
Arthur observed as the red hue emerging from her body intensified with each word she spoke, he gently stroked her head, calming her, and answered
"Punch him in the face"
"I am not strong enough"
She lowered her head in shame, she wanted to punch him but was powerless. Arthur's next words however gave her a new hope.
"Then stop whining and grow strong. Since I want to see my eternal enemy get punched by his daughter, I will help you to grow strong".
He laughed boisterously and walked towards a grave made of granite.
"Do you pity me?" Arya asked as she followed behind him.
"I do"
Arthur answered as they reached the grave and turned towards Arya, only to see her smiling.
"I see, Please take care of me" she spoke while giving a courteous bow.
"Don't you feel frustrated that I pity you?"
"I prefer the truth, even if it hurts".
Arthur grinned while listening to her response and gave her an obsidian black crystal.
"Place this crystal on the grave" he ordered while pointing at the grave in front of them.
Arya followed the orders and placed the crystal on the grave.
Soon after, a magic circle appeared on the roof of the grave and shone in a red colour, following which the roof split open revealing a staircase leading to an underground chamber.
Arya observed all these with her mouth agape, eyes shining in amazement.
"This is going to be your residence from now on. Rest for today and find me tomorrow morning, You can find me in a grave made of white marvels at the centre of the city, it's pretty eye-catching so you won't have much of a problem finding it. Well, see you" Arthur informed and walked away.
Entering the grave, Arya saw a spacious chamber containing a bed, a few scrolls and some meat. After exploring the chamber a bit more, she laid her head on the bed and drifted to sleep.
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Ever-night forest, border of human and vampire territory.
Edinburg Fort is present at the border of the ever-night forest and acts as the first line of defence for humans against vampire invasions during nighttime.
The fort had faced many invasions in the past but was breached only once. The consequences of that failure, however, taught humans of its importance. After recapturing the fort, the security around it was increased to twice that of any other fort.
Inside a room in the largest building of the fort, a lone woman sat glancing at the stack of papers on the table in front of her like they were her mortal enemies.
She had long silvery-white hair, and crystal blue eyes, and was 179cm tall with a lean physique, around 35 years old, She looked beautiful even with her age wrinkles.
She Begrudgingly began to stamp her seal on the paper when the door to her room was flung open.
A 30-year-old man with a knight's attire entered her room while gasping for breath. He gave her a courteous salute and stated
" Captain Fiona, it's bad news"
Fiona's eyes grew dim upon hearing his worried voice.
"Tell the news and I will decide whether it's good or bad" she spoke while giving him her attention.
"Yes, The vampire activity at the borders of the ever-night forest increased since a few days ago, The movements of goods around the vampire territory are also abnormal" He informed, and turned silent, waiting for his orders.
Fiona thought for a while and then stated
"Request for reinforcements from the army placed along the undead borders, remain alert, and keep me informed on the vampire's movements"
The knight hesitated upon hearing the orders and then raised a question,
"Captain, what if the undead and vampires attack simultaneously?"
"Don't worry, Arthur is too passive, he will not attack unless his people are in danger. We cannot let the vampires capture this fort, now move"
Her explanation reassured the knight as he scurried away to carry out the orders.
After his departure, Fiona took out a locket from the table drawer and opened it, it contained the image of two children playing with each other while smiling happily. Looking at the image, Fiona's chest ached, She quickly placed it back on the table and returned to doing her paperwork.
***************************
Inside the undead city of Altraud
In the central white grave. Arthur sat on his chair while observing two other undead skeletons standing in front of him.
One of them carried a bow and arrows on his back and was the best archer among the newborn undead, on the other hand, the second undead wore the same attire as Arthur, she had a fondness for imitating others that was too abnormal even for undead standards.
They were the problem children of the new generation and Arthur was having a hard time dealing with them. He tried grouping them with other undead but the other members of the group just couldn't keep up with them. Signing he announced,
"A female vampire is going to work with you guys from tomorrow"
"Is she strong?"
"Is she cute?"
They both asked the questions in unison, the archer caring about her strength and the other caring about her appearance, completely ignoring the fact that she was not the same species as them.
Arthur rubbed his head, and spoke while sighing "You will know about her tomorrow" and sent them away.
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone