Midnight followed his lead, raising her hands in surrender. Elaine slowly stood up, looking at Noelle before doing the same, but Drake didn't move an inch, nearly as tall as them on one need and staring at them, as if daring them to try him. Jack waited, seeing it as a good sign that no one had attacked yet, when one of the warriors lowered his spear, stepping forward and stopping in front of Jack, looking down at Noelle with recognition in his eyes. He was slightly shorter than Jack, with silver hair longer than Noelle's, darker skin, and amber eyes. He had a scar on the side of his face, reaching his ear and nearly taking it off.
"Noelle, the eye taker? I have not seen you for years, not since the queen of the elves visited and you insisted on leaving with her."
He turned to his men, holding his hand up.
"Stand down; she is expected, and so are the vampires and elven princess."
The soldiers lifted their spears, still eyeing the vampires but showing no signs of attacking. He heard Midnight sigh in relief, Jack lowering his hands and seeing the dark elf relax, grinning and holding out a hand to him. Jack eyed it, wondering why he called Noelle the eye taker and making sure to remember to ask her later.
"We had heard of an attack, but it seems you all took care of that. For that, I thank you. My name is Rolthin, the watcher of the Hidden Sanctuary and the leader of its warriors. Noelle is a distant cousin of mine, and I have missed her greatly, although I see she didn't make it in one piece."
Jack slowly blinked, realizing that the dark elf had made a joke about Noelle's arm and wondered it if was not too soon as he reached out, gripping Rolthin's forearm and shaking it. He looked back at Noelle, surprised when she chuckled at his words, having Drake help her to her feet, where Drake draped his cloak over her, everyone having forgotten that her shirt had been torn, revealing her chest.
"Good thing too, otherwise you and your warriors would most likely be dead. I am only alive because of these fools, and owe them my life."
She looked at what was left of her arm, smirking and for once having no edge in her voice or gaze.
"An arm is a small price to pay, and I would gladly do it again."
Rolthin nodded, looking around and frowning at the sight, seeing blood, guts, and corpses everywhere.
"That werewolf held nothing back. I see Jerry on the ground; he isn't dead, is he?"
Elaine shook her head, gesturing to herself as she spoke, relief flooding her eyes.
"No, I healed his wounds, and he should be fine. I feel bad for him though, having to help kill his own brother."
Rolthin told the men to retrieve Jerry and Sarah, looking back and bowing his head at Elaine.
"Do not feel bad, he will most likely thank you for it when he wakes up. His brother had been on his mind for quite a while, knowing that he was not the man he used to be and could be killing innocent people. Now he can rest easy, knowing his brother is at peace at last."
Rolthin turned around, pointing back to the spot he burst out of the ground earlier.
"For now, let us retreat to the sanctuary before anymore problems decide to show up."
Jack cleared his throat, getting the dark elf to turn around with a confused expression.
"About a mile to the east of here is the bodies of three vampires. Later, after everything else is taken care of...I would like to bury them, so that no animals violate their remains."
Rolthin nodded, and with that he led them to a hole in the ground, surprising Jack as he saw a ladder leading down it; that is how they seemed to appear out of nowhere, they had tunnels leading underground. The dark elf's hand glowed orange for a second as he chanted in Falvelen, a small ball of light appearing and hovering around him as he descended the ladder, the others following him down. As they climbed down, Jack could hear Noelle grunting with effort, weary from fighting and having to do this with one hand.
The tunnel began to slant up, and soon the ladder ended, the ground even enough for them to walk, although Jack and Drake had to nearly crouch to fit through the small tunnel. They continued down it, Rolthin's spell lighting their way, until they saw light at the end of the earthen tunnel, leaving it and finally seeing the Hidden Sanctuary.
He had wondered how they had some city hidden near the cliffs, and he never would have guessed the answer. The Hidden Sanctuary had been dug under the ground and carved into the cliff face itself, and if Jack looked closely, he could see spots where they carved out windows, revealing the blue ocean reflecting the moonlight. He looked around, seeing no support beams anything to hold the roof of dirt up, and guessed that magic was involved in making it. The sanctuary itself was quite large, probably nearly as long as the cliffside was, with hundreds of people of all different races going about their days, occasionally stopping to gawk at the bloody, beaten visitors that gawked right back.
Rolthin laughed at their expressions, turning and gesturing to the underground city behind him.
"Welcome to the Hidden Sanctuary, home to every race in the land, all living and working together. Noelle had sent word ahead, and the council is eager to meet you all, especially the princess. I know you must be weary, but please follow me."
He lead them through the city, everyone besides Noelle gawking at everything around them in awe. The ceiling was pretty high, and it was smoother than he expected while somehow still looking like dirt; he could tell that Midnight was going to go crazy here, questioning them how they pulled something like this off. They walked past stalls with food and clothing, buildings made out of clay or stone, and every race, surprising Jack when he saw not only vampires, but dwarfs as well, the little men usually doing some type of manual labor, his first time seeing a dwarf at all. He was amazed by is, seeing the races all living together in harmony without killing each other.
Rolthin led them to one of the tallest buildings, and Jack stopped for a moment, getting ready to meet the leaders of this city. He did not know what would happen, but they had finally reached their destination, and he was eager to start preparing for what they would do next.