The firewood crackled deeply in the fireplace, casting a golden glow over the rough stone walls of the kitchen. Dinner was behind them now; the bowls rested half-empty on the oak table, and the scent of warm bread still lingered in the air. Outside, the dense darkness had settled over the forest, silencing the world. Elara sat leaning against the back of her chair—stronger now, but her gaze remained uncertain. The new reality she had been thrust into felt too real to be a dream—yet she still didn't know how to make sense of it. What to do with what she had seen. What she had felt. The question that had been forming inside her finally found its voice.
"Tell me... about vampires. About the world they hide. What's true from the books, and what's just a myth?"
Dareth turned toward the fireli
