Describing Fenriz's time spent in Canelux as a mixed bag, would be a generously optimistic way to put it. Unsurprisingly, wandering aimlessly had sent him on a number of adventures, including getting lost in a forest, and being chased around by pirates. Although in these adventures he had met many a marvelous person, he once more found himself alone, and once more without direction. His lifestyle, though not by his choosing, was a solitary one, and over time he had grown accustom to traveling alone. Yet given his recent experiences, a part of him began to miss the days spent with a companion or two by his side. Especially the days when those companions were his parents.

Darkness loomed overhead, which of course typical. Travel during the day would leave him incapable of traveling at all. Vampirism, if contracted, typically meant that a person was limited to movement by night. The trade off for being unable to coexist alongside their diurnal brethren meant they typically ruled in the darkness, preying on weary travelers, creating a reputation of being one of the most dangerous beings of the night. Most nights, Fenriz did not come close to living up to that reputation.This night however, he felt farther from a legend of the night than ever before.

His aimless feet carried him to the Bohar plains, although where exactly in them was impossible to tell. Even during these darker hours, it wasn't terribly uncommon for him to wander by passerby. Caravans of traveling merchants hastily trying to reach their next destination, travels who simply preferred travel at night, and naturally a few that Fen could only assume were up to little good. In most scenarios, he would duck behind a rock or a tree, and wait for them to be on their way. But every now and then, he would find that there was no such cover to be found. So instead, he would throw his hood over his head, and scurry by as quickly as he could manage. Normally in a situation like that, he would catch the attention of one person, although quickly disappearing before they were capable of of acting on his existence. Tonight was different, however. He would even dare come close to some, close enough to where if he wanted to, he could reach out and touch them. Yet not a single one even so much as commented on his existence.

The more steps he took in the direction he was going, the less people he came across, and before long even he took notice of how sparse other people had become. It only took a few more steps for him to realize why.

He recognized it as a graveyard immediately. Although this one wasn't exactly like the one he had accidentally stumbled across in the Koschei Forest. No the graves here were much more crude, their inhabitants seemingly hastily dumped and buried in unceremoniously dug holes.Most were marked with some sort of makeshift marker, though most were void of any details. But despite the hurriedly put together nature of these burial grounds, it was large, spanning further than he was capable of seeing.

But perhaps the biggest difference between this graveyard and the one he had stumbled upon previously, was the fact that this one was not infested with ghouls. Considering himself fortunate, Fenriz marched between graves, intent on crossing this land of the dead with as much speed as he could. As he passed one grave, it began to shake, almost as if the ground itself was coming to life, although this went unnoticed by the young boy. What he did notice, however, was a few, person-like creatures in the distance ahead of him.

He ducked down behind one of the gravestones, observing. From where he was, they looked like ordinary people, but there was something off about them. They didn't walk like anyone he had ever seen before, instead sort of lumbering aimlessly. Some of them were missing flesh, exposing a skeletal limb, though Fenriz, having met a man with a skeletal arm, didn't take this to be anything too out of the ordinary.

The young boy would continue to watch these "people", unaware that one was closing in behind him.

Blood littered the ground in uneven patches. Against the two moon's light, the fresh drops glittered like glass. A biting copper filled the air in scent as a lumbering figure stood in the shadows above two corpses. It's wild eyes burned a seething crimison, it's skin dripping with dark blood. Against the chilled air of the night, it's hot breath was visiable in large wispy clouds. A macrabe smile crept across it's face slowly, revealing blood soaked canines. The hunt had been fruitful for Xerxez. Two unwary travellers were quickly drained, their bodies tossed aside like trash. In this dead of night, Xerxez was in his prime. The ancient Vaewolf blood that coursed through his veins grew restless. His craving for blood itched at his skin unsatisfied at the pitiful feast that lay below him. It's nagging bite gnawed at his senses. He needed more.

With grace of a predator on the hunt, he dissolved into the shadows. His feet moved on their own, leading him through thin gathering of trees. Slow, precise movements kept him moving silently, a mere whisper among the night. His hunt lead him towards a series of sounds off to the west. He followed pursuit, careful to keep his presence hidden. Saliva formed in the corners of his mouth at the thought of another feeding, yet disappointment filled him as he reached the edge of small forest and observed. A small group of shambling zombies moaned in the wind at the edge of a decrepit grave yard. He spit in disfastication. The undead were rotten and supplied not an ounce of nutrition. But It was the sight of the small child slinking behind a tombstone for cover that made his heart sink. The child had red eyes.

He knew those eyes. The way they glowed dimly in the dark. It was all to familiar. They were similar to his, except for the intensity. The child must be hungry. He grunted, speaking under his breath. "If your gonna turn a child, at least feed the damn thing." He kept his gaze fixed on the child. Xerxez's advanced eyesight had no problem examining the boy's sickly skin and pale hair. The boy's condition wouldn't usually bother Xerxez, however with the recent news of his fatherhood, Xerxez was dealing with new emotions. He sighed, deciding on at least to return the child to his coven after a well fed meal. Before stepping from the shadows and revealing his self, a disturbance from the corner of his caught his attention. A single undead straggler was making it's way to the boy at a slow pace.

Xerxez could easily close the distance between the two in a matter or seconds do he decided to stay hidden, waiting to see if the boy would react to the danger. Soon enough, the zombie had came too close for comfort for Xerxez and he sprung from his hiding spot in the trees. The brisk distance between the trees and the grave yard was quickly crossed, Xerxez ripping a tomb stone from the ground with little effort. He lunged at the zombie, slamming the heavy marble stone onto the rotten corpes's head. The sound of bone splitting rang through out the open air, the body dropping like a sack of rocks. Grunting slightly, he turned to the young boy. Xerxez's eyes were a enflamed red as he shot the child an annoyed expression. "You need to be aware of your surroundings." He said bluntly. He careful to keep quite, as to not attract the attention of the small horde on the other side of the damned graveyard. "For our kind, death doesn't come from ahead, but behind." He chided, bending down at his knees so him and the child were eye to eye. 

"Tell me, young one. How old are you?" He asked, quick to interrupt him "No. Not how old you look. How long have you been immortal?" He asked, impatiently. He looked around the graveyard, expecting the child's family to leap out and protect him. "And where is your coven?"

Eventually his interest in the beings began to wane. Whoever, or whatever they were, he figured it wouldn't be difficult to pass by unnoticed. Crimson eyes quickly scanned to the left and right of him, and upon finding nothing else of note, he figured now was as good a time as any. A hood was thrown over his white mop of hair, and he stood, intent on continuing his haphazard journey. The moment he stood however, something else demanded his attention, something far more pressing than the aimless men and women that he was spying on.

As far as Fenriz could tell this man spawned from the very trees themselves, having not caught so much as a glimpse of him prior. But more unnerving than his sudden appearance was the way he charged, barreling toward the boy with at a speed he had never witnessed before. Usually, whenever a decision was to be made, he felt two parts of his conscious talking to him. His youthful, childlike mind, and the monstrous, vampire side. But in this moment, both monster and child were in agreement. They needed to flee. Unfortunately, this sentiment was not shared by his legs, which refused to move him from this location. So, he was forced to watch. Watch in wide eyed terror as what was surely his doom rapidly descended upon him.

One of the tombstones was ripped from the ground before going airborne with the being that had removed it. Gaining control of his senses at the very last moment, instinctively ducked, and both man and gravestone flew over his head. His eyes squeezed tightly shut, the only thing he caught was the sickening sound of stone meeting skull. Though, thankfully, not his. When his eyelids finally parted, and scarlet eyes surveyed what happened, he was left momentarily speechless. What had caught the worst of the attack seemed to be something like the creatures he was surveying, although now that he could see one up close, he could tell that this was no person. In this poor thing's case, what little flesh remained dangled from the bone, and had turned a sickly, unnatural combination of colors. It's few shreds of clothing in tatters and caked in dirt. And it's head was now mostly in pieces, although Fenriz theorized that this was not the case only moments ago.

Yet, even more unsettling than this abomination, was the man that put it in this state. Once more he found himself paralyzed with fear when red, irritated eyes met his own. When he lowered himself to Fen's level, the boy took a nervous step backward, placing his back against the tombstone he was hiding behind previously. This person offered him a warning. When he and Frey first met, the mage had managed to get the jump on him, to which Fenriz responded with a childish threat of his own, in an attempt to deflect his own shortcomings. Somehow, doing the same here felt like a dangerous prospect, so he responded simply with a meek, silent nod. Yet even still, he couldn't help but wonder what he had meant by "our kind". Fenriz had become somewhat adept at recognizing others like him, and sure enough, some of the signs were there. But there was still something that set him apart from every other vampire he had met up until this point.

When asked of his age, his mouth quickly swung open, feeling as if he had to answer his question with haste. Yet, the man was quicker in asking his followups. "W-what do you mean, immortal?" he stammered. He was still learning, even now, the perks and disadvantages his vampiric blood brought. One thing he had never been informed of was the extension of his natural lifespan. But even if he knew what this stranger was implying, he wouldn't admit to his vampire nature that easily, despite, or perhaps even because of, the fear he felt.

"I-I'm just a kid, mister. Only ten. I don't have a coven. I don't even know what that is, honest" his words poured from his lips hastily, save for the few times he would stumble over them. His eyes, however, remained focused on this stranger, never once daring to look away" I just got separated from my family. B-but I think they're over that way"

In his panicked state, he pointed in a direction, though blatantly not the one he was headed. As he hoped to lead this man astray, and leave this situation unscathed, another issue was brewing just beneath them, as more graves began to stir.

"The hell?" Xerxez said to his self, a muscular hand reaching behind his head to rub at his neck. From what he could tell, the kid wasn't lying, but he also was dodging the question. An annoyed grin crept upon his lips, revealing his blood stained canines. "Don't fuck with me, kid." He said blatantly. "Your eyes give you away." He said, pointing to his own iridescent crimison eyes. "You should cover your eye color with magic, kid." He said, "it gives you away." He said, as a demonstration, he quickly changed his burning red eyes to a dull muddy brown. A flash of teeth and and bright scarlet eyes bore into the kids soul once again. 

"I'm not here to hurt you, kid. The sooner you drop the pathetic act, the sooner I can help you. Your eyes are dull. I can't tell for certain, but I take it you haven't ate in… three days? It's not healthy. For fucks sake, your… 'coven' should be taking care of you. It's not safe for a vampire to stray with out food. Especially, one locked in a childish state." He said, a gruff tone to his voice as he explained to the stammering younglings. "You lose control when your hungry, and kids aren't the best in controlling their emotions, if you know I mean. It's how you get exposed, kid." Another glance around the area revealed the horde near the back were unperturbed in their moaning, and a lack of a concerned coven. His eyes darted back to dull scarlet of the child's. "What's your name, kid." He demanded, rather than I asked. When the response came, Xerxez's fingers ran through his rough jet black hair. "My name is Xerxez, kid. And you don't have to be afraid." His voice having a smoothing edge to it for the first time since talking to the child.

"You and your friends interrupted my hunting." He said, gestering towards the shambling pack. "And what I find is an unmonitored vampire child who is starved." He said, calling the boy out on his bluff. "Perhaps, if you like, since your family obviously isnt coming for you, you could hunt with me." He asked, a genuine care in his voice as he spoke. "After we get your thirst under control, we'll get you back to your family." He said, lifting from his knees as the sound of shifting dirt caught his attention. A quick turn of his head, he observed the graveyard as tombs vibrated and spots of land caved in and cracked. Grass and dirt were thrown upwards as the areas around tomb stones were concaved upwards. Roots snapped, and moans slowly filling the air

"Well, that is what I would like to say, but I guess that'll have to wait." A dark smile appearing on Xerxez's face. "Remember what I told you, kid? Be aware of your surroundings." Xerxez took a fighting postion. A graveyard of zombies stood no chance against a fully fledged Vaewolf, but it was the perfect oppertunity to see what the child was cabaple of. Xerxez would back him up if he needed it. "Tell me… what are you aware of, right now?"

More common than Fen realized, was people discovering his secret without him intentionally disclosing it himself. For most, it was his scent, though typically only other vampires could pick this up, a couple of others, it was the odd color of his hair that tipped them off, hence why he wore his hood more frequently. And of course there was the number of times his own body language betrayed him, his lack of penchant for lying on full display. But even through all of these incidents, never once did it occur to him that the very color of his eyes could be another tell of this decreasingly hidden truth of his.

There was, it seemed, even a solution for that, as this man briefly demonstrated. Fen might have been even more amazed by the feat if he weren't too busy wondering where the blood staining his teeth came from. The boy definitely had an idea though imagining how they came to be that way certainly did not make him feel any more comfortable with the current situation, pressing his back even harder against the tombstone he was leaning against, a part of him hoping to perhaps meld into it. Fen wanted to explain to him that he wasn't capable of performing magic, but the ever present lump in his throat blocked the way of his words.

Fenriz naturally was uncertain of any loss in sheen his eyes had suffered, although he was more than aware of the hunger he felt and fatigue it brought. The strangers estimation since the last time he had fed, however, wasn't quite accurate. Yes, it had been a while, but he had gone longer without. So why was he so drained? Fen had no idea, but drained was an apt word, as recently it had felt like the energy was being rapidly drained from his body. His warning about losing control echoed in his young mind, briefly stirring up memories of the first time. Though, even as painful as these memories were, it was hard to stay distracted from the present predicament. The stranger ordered for his name, and the vampire responded immediately

"F-Fenriz, sir". Only once had he taken to calling someone sir, rather than mister. He had been informed that person, being a knight, had earned that designation. Somehow, despite not having been informed of this man holding such an honor, his instinct apparently felt it was warranted "A lot of people call me Fen, but you don't… have to…" he trailed off.

When Xerxez first told him that he wasn't here to hurt him, he was skeptical, to put it mildly. Between the gruff tone, thrown around swears, blood-caked teeth, and equally crimson eyes staring down the poor boy, he had little reason to believe that his life wasn't in danger of being cut short. But the way he insisted that Fenriz need not be afraid, was at least enough to convince him to stand upright, relieving the gravestone of his weight.

"They're not my friends…" he insisted meekly, clearly having no response to Xerxez's vampire comment. At least there was no point in hiding it, any longer. Almost as if to show this, he lowered his hood, messy white hair once more on display. The idea of hunting with this man was… unsettling, regardless of how sincere he sounded, as it only conjured more images of how his maw had become so blood-soaked. But more striking was his comment on his family. The mention of his family not coming to help stung, more so than Xerxez realized. His mouth opened, but the words meant to explain his parental situation were silenced by more visitors from beneath their feet.

What was he aware of? He was aware of his desire to be nearly anywhere else, at the moment. Aware that he was becoming increasingly exhausted. And aware that he had little hope of fleeing from this situation. None of these things, he imagined, was the answer Xerxez was looking for. So what was?

"Umm… we're surrounded?" he responded lamely. A quick spin of his head revealed this suspicion to be true. But he knew, that this likely still wasn't enough to pass whatever test Xerxez had presented him with. He took a breath, a meager attempt to calm his nerves, and began to study the situation as best as he could.

"There's about… twelve of them… and they're very slow" Fenriz, even in the moment, was actually a little proud of the latter discovery. Whether or not Xerxez would find a simple observation about their speed impressive, was a different story. As the undead began to close the circle around them, Fenriz drew a dagger, a weapon he carried more for show than anything. He faced himself the opposite direction of his situational ally, although remaining close to the man. At this point, he had to trust that Xerxez genuinely did not mean him, as he knew for sure the zombies did not share the same sentiment. It quickly became clear that his new "friend" had no intentions of making the first move, most likely another test of his abilities. But his abilities, at least as far as he was aware, were very minuscule.

Once they had managed to become a bit too close for his comfort, he tossed his dagger at one. This had about as much effect as the last time he had tried, the blade becoming lodged in the skull of his target, though otherwise not seeming to cause it much distress. Feeling devoid of options, he took small steps backwards, until he had physically bumped into Xerxez, and could move no further back. Unlike the incident with the ghouls however, something far more remarkable than another stranger coming to his rescue occurred. A shadow, from where moonlight met tombstone, began to extent, slithered its way to the miniature vampire, quickly enveloping him in its dark presence. It harmlessly carried the boy beneath the undead's feet, before it released him outside of their circular trap, and returned to its original resting place behind the stone.

"What… happened?" he mumbled to himself. If asked now, what he was aware of, three things would come to mind. He was no longer trapped in the undead circle with Xerxez. He, somehow, felt even more drained than before. And finally, that the ground in his near vicinity once again began to hemorrhage, as more of the unholy nightmares began to claw their way out of their resting place.