Journey, Reunion (Elena)

It is done. They are sleeping, coming into their new existence. It's a fitful sleep, like mine, but they don't seem to be experiencing the pain I did. I clean and pack up the campsite, preparing for the next stage of our journey.

The monk wakes first. We don't speak. The dwarf wakes a short while later and dons his armor while I finish cleaning. It's getting dark by this time, and much more comfortable. The sunlight, while not deadly, made me feel weak and a little sick. We gather our packs and set out, and the monk experiments with transforming into a bat to fly ahead, northeast, the direction the druid went. The dwarf and I keep walking in silence for a while. He seems conflicted, but doesn't bring it up, so neither do I. I'm worried about the druid, anyway. He was devastated after what happened to his sister; not only her death, but everything leading up to it as well. The cult and their machinations making her into so unnatural, undying queen of darkness. She wasn't the sister he'd known and loved, though she'd tried hard to convince him otherwise, right before she attacked him. I keep going over the day in my head, thinking there must have been something else we could have done t make things turn out better, but...no. It's past, it's done, we can't go back and change anything. We have this one life (un-life, now?) and we mustn't dwell in the past. We can only move forward.

I'm pulled from my reverie by a bat flying clumsily, almost colliding with me. Or maybe I'm the clumsy one, not watching where I'm going while lost in my thoughts. The bat turns into the monk, who easily falls into step beside me. She points toward the sky, drawing our attention to a giant eagle circling overhead, which has apparently been following us for some time now. It looks like the druid's eagle form, she says. We call out to him, trying to get his attention, but the eagle does not react, just keeps circling. What could we do to get his attention, to convince him to come down? The dwarf points into the trees, to a set of glowing yellow eyes. Wolves, he says, we can ask the wolves to help us. So we do just that. We reach our minds out to theirs, summoning them to us, and after a few moments it seems a whole pack has responded to our call. They run into the small clearing from all directions, a few rubbing against our legs, most seeming to just enjoy each others company.

As we hoped, the eagle comes down to land at the far side of the clearing, careful not to have any wolves underfoot, and transforms into the small druid. Relieved, overjoyed, I run toward him, arms outstretched, but I stop short when I see him flinch back. I lower my arms. Don't run, please, don't leave me again. He doesn't speak, but looks around at the wolves questioningly, then at the three of us. The monk smiles, showing fangs, as she pets a wolf. We called them, and they came. The dwarf pipes up shyly, he would rather be dead among friends, than alive and alone. I beseech the druid, please, stay with us, let us explain. He makes a circular gestures with one hand: Go on. The others step closer, slowly, and we explain what happened, first my change, then theirs. We still want him with us, we don't want to hurt him, we're safe, we're different, we're... Vampires, he finishes, nodding thoughtfully. This could prove useful.