The Queen of Vampires

New Friends

…Nothing happened. She lifted her hand again, touching the flow of magic. She focused hard on the cup in front of her. Nothing happened. She gritted her teeth and concentrated harder. The cup moved a little and she was out of breath, like she just ran several thousands miles. If magic is that hard, she don't know why it is so useful in battles. Maybe she just need practice? Or maybe she is just not talented enough. If she could find somebody who can teach her, it would be good. But magic is frowned upon in this town. Who would know magic and if someone did know, why would they teach her? She need to practice and get better, not because she wanted to be powerful but because of her curiosity.

The next morning, just as the tiger said, the King and Queen arrived with thousands of soldiers. Mira can hear everyone's heartbeat. But there were a group of soldiers that sound different from other soldiers. She looked at the direction and found a soldier looking back at her. Maybe he is someone like her? Or was it just chance? Probably chance. After all, she knows that she is beautiful.

The mayor bow, "Welcome, your majesties, to the humble town of Valor. I hope you will enjoy your stay here."

"I am certain we will enjoy it here."

"And your majesties, I hear that war will be following us here?"

"Yes, mayor. It is a miracle you defended this place from those filthy barbarians."

"Our soldiers will be ready, my lord."

"Good. Now show me to my room. I need to have a word with my wife."

"Of course, your majesties. I shall show you at once."

Mira shake her head went back inside but Aurora grabbed her hand. "Wait, don't go yet. You need to listen to the speech that the commander is about to give."

"Fine, after that, I am going back to sleep."

She nodded. The 'commander' stood in front of the crowd. The commander was the person looking at her before.

"Citizens," His voice was odd. It almost sound like he is a woman. No one seemed to notice it but Mira did. "I will be personally handpicking candidates for the fight that is nearing us by the minute. I need people with special talents, like healers, for example." The commander looked straight at Mira. "You may think that we have many soldiers but we don't have enough. The enemies will be hundreds thousands strong. We will need every able-soldiers."

Mira wasn't impressed with his speech but everyone else seemed to be very impressed. They all applauded cheerfully like they didn't hear that there was hundreds thousands strong army matching towards them.

"You, there." He pointed at Mira. "Follow me. I have a task for you."

Mira didn't want to follow him as she knew something was wrong but she can't refuse. If she did, she would probably be executed or worse. So she followed him to outside the town. She called the tiger so that it can help her if something did go wrong.

She was right. As soon as they were out of sight, he twisted her hand and push her head on the floor. "What are you?"

The tiger slowly came out of the forest, growling. She had a feeling that the tiger wouldn't be enough so she called a pack of wolves. The wolves were nearby and arrived immediately. The wolves surround and growl at him.

"I am human. What are you?"

"Don't think you can fool me girl. I know for a fact that you are not human. So, I will ask again. What are you?"

"I don't understand you."

"Then what are those animals doing there? Huh? Did they came here on their own?"

"How would I know what they do?"

"You are different, girl. From now on, I will be watching you closely."

"Wait, I have a question."

"Ask."

"I wasn't asking for your permission but whatever. Why do you sound like a girl?"

That question seemed to shock him.

"How did you- No matter. So you can use magic, too? Eh? This is interesting. I change my mind. You will be joining my battalion. Be grateful that I don't kill you."

"I am not really afraid of dying. I mean I already died once."

"I see. Then don't be grateful. Just follow me to my camp."

That was a surprise. The commander turned out to be a woman and she found out that Mira can use magic. And instead of executing her or imprisoning her, she added her to her battalion. That day was already strange.

They walked up to her camp, with the commander walking in the front. There were 7 people in her battalion, which was strange because there are normally hundreds of people in a battalion. Then when the soldiers saw the commander, they did the strangest thing. They stood stiffly and raised their hand to their forehead, like they were looking under the sun. She nodded and they all relaxed and went back to whatever they were doing. She recognized two men in the battalion as the men who were sparing in the lion's memory.

One person noticed them and came to the commander and whispered, "Commander, who is this person?"

"You know I can hear you, right?"

"Her name is...Hey, what is your name?"

"Mira. What's yours?"

"Lois."

"What's she doing here?"

"I can still hear you."

"She is different."

"What? You mean like us?"

"Yes, she may even be more powerful than all of us."

"What are you all talking about?"

"Discussing if we should kill you."

The commander called everyone except Mira to discuss. They discuss for almost an hour, arguing back and forth while Mira fell asleep from boredom and tiredness.