A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Seeing he had managed to wound his opponent severely, Erik stowed his hammer behind his back. He considered the fight to be over.

His lips had curled into a broad grin, because he had enjoyed the fight quite a bit. Back on Söl, most people he fought were either too weak or focused too much on their powers to really give him the high-stakes, close-quarters combat he longed for.

The spectators, or at least the non-enslaved ones, were murmuring among themselves, astonished at the way this fight had gone. No one expected the warden to lose, not to mention that they had never seen anyone with two affinities before.

Erik now decided to go check up on his opponent. The crowd naturally saw this, but no one moved to stop him. They didn't think they would be able to, after all. So they just watched from the side, wondering what this powerful human would do next.

Seraphina was lying on her back in the grass as blood flowed from a great many cuts on her body, staining the green with red. Her body felt too weak to move from a combination of blood loss, pain, fatigue and sunlight.

While vampires had reduced their vulnerability to sunlight through aetherium, this did require them to exert a small amount of power during the day to counter it.

Right now, however, she had overtaxed herself in using her counterforce ability too much, not to mention that it had been too long since she last drank blood as she had been in too much of a hurry to get here.

Unlike their weakness to sunlight, their reliance on blood was still a powerful weakness for them. They required regular blood consumption to survive, keep their supernatural regeneration active, and prevent ghoulification.

While shapeshifters had constant access to regeneration, vampires faced more drawbacks, making them less advantageous overall.

Shapeshifters, in comparison, had minimal weaknesses, with aetherium significantly reducing their vulnerability to wolfsbane. The only hindrance they faced was the need to transform to unleash their full physical prowess, a process typically taking no more than a second or two.

The biggest drawback to this was the ruined clothes they had to deal with every time.

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On the other hand, vampires depended on blood for sustenance and had to exert a small amount of power during the day to counter sunlight weakness. The only distinct advantages they possessed were an extended lifespan and continued access to their full physical abilities, assuming they had recently consumed enough blood.

Meanwhile, shapeshifters' diminishing transformation times as their power increased meant that even this advantage was gradually fading away. Even the touted immortality of vampires wasn't accurate; the oldest vampire Seraphina knew was merely around two hundred years old.

In Seraphina's case, the sunlight weakness was worsened because the icy shards that had wounded her had also ripped her clothes, exposing most of her body to the open air.

Vampires liked to wear tight-fitting black clothes covering most of the body to reduce the effect of sunlight as much as possible.

After all, if it was absorbed by their clothes, it wouldn't be absorbed by their skin. Other colors would just reflect the sunlight, which might as well hit their uncovered body parts. To be fair though, these clothes are mostly a leftover from before the awakening.

Seraphina could only count her lucky stars that it was a cloudy day, or she might not even be able to open her eyes now that she couldn't protect herself with aetherium.

Luckily, only Erik could really enjoy her exposed skin as the crowd was too far away and couldn't look down at her from above.

Appreciating the view of Seraphina's gorgeous and well-endowed body despite the blood, Erik wore a lustful grin as he crouched next to her prone body, "That was a good fight. You are quite skilled with that sword as well as your abilities. I'm impressed."

While he would have won much more easily if he could use his full abilities, Erik was still impressed by this woman's fighting ability. The fact was, she simply didn't have many of his advantages.

For example, if it weren't for his armour, he would at least have some wounds. He would still have won, just not entirely unscathed.

Continuing to enjoy the view of his defeated foe's mostly naked body, he decided to introduce himself, "My name is Erik Gunnulf, by the way. I make it a point to tell a woman my name after I've seen her naked. It's just good manners, you know."

Seraphina did her best to stifle her pained groans as she stared at the sky in an attempt to ignore Erik.

She hated her current vulnerability. She wouldn't die from her wounds, but she wouldn't be able to get up any time soon, either, not while it was day and she didn't have blood to drink.

She closed her eyes as anger over her own failure flowed through her mind. Anger at her current weakness, anger at losing, anger at not anticipating every possibility, and at becoming hasty near the end.

She knew some people had two affinities, but it was still too rare for her to have considered the possibility during the fight.

Erik wasn't unique with his multiple affinities as sometimes, people were just born with them, and although that wasn't the only way to have more than one, other methods likely weren't available to Earth for now.

Seeing that the woman was uninterested in talking to him and prepared to stare at the sky in annoyed defiance, Erik kept talking, "So. Are you just going to keep lying there?"

He was perfectly aware of her current difficulties, but he couldn't help but try to rile her up a little.

This time, Seraphina responded, "F- Fuck you."

Erik chuckled, "Maybe later." As Seraphina rolled her eyes at him, he continued, "Anyway, would you like some help?"

Seraphina was undoubtedly surprised by his offer as her eyes opened, and she looked at him with suspicion and wariness, "Why? You already got what you wanted."

Despite her words, the truth was that she really could use some help. She had been far too hasty by rushing into this duel.

She had no subordinates or blood supply present, because she had travelled ahead of her companions when she heard what Liam had done. So now, she would be forced to lay here and slowly recover until they arrived, assuming no one messed with her.

She certainly didn't trust the subordinates of that toad Liam, but was Erik any better?

The man in question shrugged, "I respect you as a fighter. You and I have no hatred between us, so leaving you out here to bleed out on the grass is not my style. Besides, I need some information, and you are the perfect candidate to provide it."

Neither Emily nor her slaves really knew much about the events from the last seven years since the slaves were too weak to know much, and Emily mostly stayed holed up on the Ashcroft estate. Hence, Erik and Elora needed another source of information.

Seraphina grumbled for a while but didn't respond.

Seeing she needed some more incentive, Erik decided to poke at her honour. She seemed like the kind of person to have such a thing, "Well… if you're unwilling to follow through on your word, then what else can I do?"

This statement triggered her as she growled, "What the hell are you talking about? Go grab Liam. You won."

Erik chuckled as she responded exactly how he wanted her to, "Actually, the deal was the winner would 'get to decide how this ends'. And I don't want it to end with you bleeding out on Emily's lawn."

Seraphina perked up a little. Perhaps she only needed a valid excuse to let herself be helped?

However, she still hesitated before suddenly making a demand of her own: "I want to meet Emily and Emma! You help me and let me meet them, and I'll tell you whatever you want… within reason."

Erik's eyes shone with interest. After all, he and Elora had not found anything about Seraphina in Emily's memories, "So you really do know them, huh? Anyway, why does it sound like you're doing me a favour?"

Clearly intent on doing whatever she could to appear in control, she quickly answered while suppressing her own pained groans with clenched teeth, "Take it or leave it."

Erik could see the determination in her eyes. She was ready to be left there if Erik didn't give her some dignity in defeat, so he chuckled in resignation, "Fine. But before I help you, I want your name."

It's not like he minded if she met with the sisters. In fact, if Seraphina had a positive history with them, his actions so far might increase his standing in her eyes, which could be helpful in the future, as he was trying to bind this woman to his side.

She looked at him with a little exasperation. Was he trying to be her friend or something? Regardless, she saw no problem with it, "Seraphina Nightshade."

Erik couldn't help but laugh at her name, which caused Seraphina to blush as she growled, "What?!"

He shrugged, "I don't know, it's just such a typical vampire name. Did your parents pick it from some trashy vampire novel?"

Seeing her withering stare, Erik chuckled and decided to drop the matter before suddenly grinning and extending his hand while dark green energy swirled over his arm towards it, "Regardless, let's shake on our new deal, Seraphina."