The forest was beautiful through the day and the night, but when the sun rises it was a sight not to miss. The golden sun light could be seen clearly shimmering in the morning mist as it fell through the trees, breaking the darkness under the forest’s dense canopy. The air was fresh and cool with the cent of dew and the pollen of blooming flowers. All around was more green then anyone could imagine. Towering trees, thick shrubs and soft, green grass covered these lands. The forest was awakened and brought to life with the gentle songs of the wild birds echoing through the trees.
Dina’s deep green eyes gazed out at the beauty of this land. Her long, wavy, brazen hair flowed freely in the gentle breeze as the laid back, propping herself up with her arms. Nickodemus, the white owl, her guardian, sat in the grass next to her. The dunpealess knew she shouldn’t be outside, but she needed to be alone to think, away from all the servants and guardians. It had been two weeks since D left, and she couldn’t stop thinking about what happened. She felt as if her kingdom was in disarray, more now then before anyway. After the hunter left, Dracula locked himself in his chambers and didn’t come out until four days later. And even now, as he wonders around the castle with his advisor on his heels, he does little more then carry on with his nervous breakdown.
“Nickodemus, what are we to do now?” She sighed. “Where do you think he went?”
“Back to hunting. What else?” The owl answered. “Do not worry, princess. He’ll be alright.”
“I sure hope so...” She frowned slightly. “But I’ve got a bad feeling about all this...”
There was a shuffle in the brush nearby and the dunpealess’ eyes shifted towards the offending noise. She pulled her legs up and slowly began to stand, her eyes fixed.
“Watch out!!” Nickodemus screeched as a large beast leapt at Dina from behind. She spun around and a bag was thrown over her head. Two arms restrained her as she tried to fight and her light crossbow was torn away from her. The dunpealess screamed as something sharp and needle-like was jabbed into her arm and she soon fell unconscious.
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“...With the uprising of the human resistances, the vampires soon found themselves under the heel of the new democracy and were scattered and driven into hiding as groups of avid vampire hunters invaded their lands, seeking revenge for the many friends and family who had fallen at the hands of the vampires...”
D could hear the voice of a young woman giving her lecture as he entered the museum, a large building made mostly of stone near the center of a small city. This was called the Museum of Stars. No, it wasn’t a star constellation museum; it was made solely for the purpose of learning about vampires, started by a group of vampire enthusiasts. Apparently, this woman was their leader. The reason why anyone would be so terribly interested in vampires, in the liking sense, eluded D.
The main room was filled with rows of chairs, only half of which were being used. The young woman stood at the front with a screen behind her to display various slides. She was fairly thin, but at an average height. Her shoulder length, straight, brown hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail and a pair of plain, square lenses glasses rested upon the ridge of her small nose. She wore a dark blue women’s business suit. D leaned against a column and waited for the session to end.
“However...” She paused and smiled gently when she noticed the dunpeal hunter. “...Not all vampires were like the Cyrus vampires.” She pressed a button and the slide changed from an old photograph of a group of savage, bloodthirsty vampires locked up in a dungeon somewhere, to a slide of an old painting of a conservative, civilized vampire. “Vampire King Valdemar Conary Dracul, or more commonly known as Count Dracula, the most famous vampire of all led a culture of vampires that was very different... but we’ll get into that tomorrow. You all have a nice night.” There was a short applause, then the attendees began to exit the building. She picked up her notebook that was lying on the small table in front of her and signaled for D to join her.
The dunpeal weaved his way through the small crowd, which wasn’t a hard job since, even though these people must know a fair bit more about vampires and dunpeals then the common man, they still feared him and seemed to avoid him. He stopped a few feet in front of the young woman and waited. She smiled again, which was rather awkward to D, as not many people like him enough to look at him with anything but contempt, hate or fear on their face.
The young woman stepped up to D, who towered above her small stature, and extended an arm. “Hello, Hunter D. I’ve heard a lot about you. My name is Janet Forest.”
The hybrid hesitated a moment, then shook her hand.
Janet grinned. “Right this way!” She turned and D began to follow her through the museum. The interior walls were made with reddish colored wood, most of which was covered with glass encased shelves that displayed various vampiric artifacts. Everything from traditional vampire jewelry, clothes, and paintings to weapons, voodoo dolls, spell books, and even a couple mummified corpses, preserved after being buried under the salty sands of the desert for thousands of years. They soon reached a flight if stairs and she led him into a small conference room with five other people in it, three women and two men. “Allow me to introduce my expedition team to you, Mr. D.”
“.....Just D, please.” He muttered.
The young woman nodded. “This is Erin, our photographer.” She pointed to a young woman who looked to be in her early twenties with dark brown hair just past her ears. She was dressed casually with black pants and a tan colored top. She looked up and just glared at D.
“Tabitha, our scientist.” Janet continued.
“Call me Tabby.” An older woman with light brown curly hair in a beige business suit said.
“Slade.” An obvious dunpeal. He looked odd though, crouched over in his chair with his face pointed to the ground, but with his eyes open and wild as they darted around the room, looking at everyone. His long black hair was stringy and messy. “He might look strange, but he has a gift.” She whispered to D with a grin.
“His brother, Brock, our navigator.” Slade’s brother looked nothing like him. He had long, blonde hair. He was a tall, muscular young man, and was definitely completely human.
“And Nakoia, another vampire hunter.” To D’s right, was a young woman leaning against the wall, away from the others, with a cigar pressed between her lips. She was clad from head to toe with battle gear, most of which was hidden by her long, black cloak. She had straight, brown hair and bangs, which weren’t very well groomed from what he could see. She wore a black and white bandana and a pair of dark sunglasses. She looked human, save her ears, which were covered at the moment by her hood. But the sent of her blood told D she was at least a fourth vampire, another dunpeal.
Janet slapped her hands together. “Alright... now that we’re all here, let’s discuss our plan. Please have a seat, everyone.”