Inside the Devil's Lair

"His cape is his refuge, the sun is his enemy..."

Danli whispers and they gasp, fear etched on their faces. He eyed them with caution and the tension that's hanging over the place becomes stronger. Every word is anticipated with shivering knees.

"His skin is pure-white like the first snowfall. He has sharp fangs and red eyes. Sometimes a red spill of blood on the side of his lips." Then he lifts a pointfinger, "he burried ten nails under a man's skull. The master of Torture, beware Prince Vlad. Beware the Impaler."

Iona lives in a community that feared Prince Vlad who was rumored to be a vampire. She was introduced how to repel vampires and how to fight them. But instead of vampires, Echia (Ekiya) her home was raided by bandits. Their houses burned, their resources robbed, people were killed--including her mother. She fought but they outnumbered her. Just when she was about to be raped, a cold piercing voice sounded.

"Sell her to me or die."

The bandits flushed in white. And they were tamed like a sheep over a lion. With a quivering voice, one of them spoke, "Prince Vlad the Impaler."

Then Iona found herself inside the devil's lair.