That day Nicolai got quite close to the twins. The human one was named Kiran and the young vampire was named Elijah. They both were five summers old.
Hunter and Issac were twelve and Darius and Nolan were fifteen. Raven was seventeen. Matt was the oldest among them, twenty years old.
The new twins were officially the youngest members of their family now.
Kiran was much more hesitant talking to others, but he could feel him warm-up to them. Elijah on the other hand was very reserved.
They both came out of the small hut and were willing to play on the sand albeit alone. Hunter and Issac tried to move a bit closer in order to play with them.
But Elijah growled and hugged his brother protectively. This kept the other pair of twins away from them.
Nico softly chuckled. 'They will need some time.....'
Hunter seems to love the thought of the kids. He could see it. The young blond child was more than happy to give away his one and only toy to Kiran. It was a rattle made with twigs and flexible dried bamboo. Inside there was a small rock, and it made a rattling sound when it was shook.
The young human boy smiled softly and took it from him.
Elijah immediately plucked it out of his hand and sniffed it. only after assuring that nothing was wrong with it, he let his bother touch it or play with it.
Nico slightly frowned. Their defensive state really explained how badly the twins were treated by their parents. Especially their dad.
'It's all in the past now. They are safe right here. We will live and thrive...'
The meat was cured. He needed to chop it into small pieces and wrapped it in huge leaves. They did not have a container that was free. All of it had the elk's blood stored away. He had no other go but to store it in this way.
Suddenly, he noticed a small gaze looking up at him.
He turned to see Kiran looking at his hands licking his lips.
'Oh looks like he really liked the cured meat.;'
He wrapped a small piece in a clean leaf and gave it to Kiran. "here"
"Thank you," he said softly. He swiftly ran to Elijah and tried to share it with him. But the other young boy shook his head. Kiran ate the meat while Elijah kept a lookout for him.
Nico finally was done with the meat. He carried them into the house and stored them in a cool corner.
Coming out of the hut he almost collided with Hunter and Issac. Chuckling they apologized and ran away.
"Be careful, both of you. Don't get hurt. Play safe,"
"Yes elder," they said happily.
Avery was just sitting in a corner writing something on the soft sand.
Nico sat next to him. "What're you doing?"
Avery did not reply. His eyes looked distant. It was a weird shade of purple... he had never seen this kind of eye color before.
"Avery?! Hey.." he gently shook his shoulders.
The young vampire came out of his dazed state. He blinked, looking up at him. "oh Nico, hi,"
"What was that? Why did your eyes look like that?"
"Oh, it's because I was doing a spell. I kind of failed though. My mentor is going to be so upset,"' he mumbled scratching his head. "Bet you do great in your training.. You're strong, Nico,"
"Well, I don't have any such amazing powers like you. I'm human remember,"
Avery frowned deeply. "You deeply believe that you are human, don't you?"
"I am human,"
Sighing, Avery started to scribble something on the ground. it looked like interconnected stick-like words.
Nico leaned forward curiously. He had seen these writings before. But he was not sure where. "What are you writing?"
"A spell. I'm trying to connect to my mentor again," he mumbled softly.
"Is this witch language... I feel like I've seen it before,"
This caught the young witch's attention. Avery excitedly peered at him. "Where? Did you mentor teach you too?"
"no... I think I saw it in a book. I tried translating it but I was not able to find the language..." he mumbled peering at the stick letters.
Avery gasped out loud. "You saw a grimoire. Nico, do you realize how lucky you are?,"
"huh.. What's that?"
"A grimoire, a witch's experiences, and all of her spells are documented in it."
Nico nodded. "So it's like a biography of their life,"
"Yes, seeing a grimoire is rare. It could only mean that your mentors approve of you. this is wonderful news. Why didn't you tell me before? There is no use lying about being human. You can proudly say you're a witch approved by the most powerful,"
"Okay... Avery, I want you to understand. I am not a witch, I'm a human. Yes, I saw the book, but it was not mine. It was just lying around in my house." he saw Avery opening his mouth to refute. "That doesn't make me a witch."
Avery sighed. "You seriously believe you are human? What if I prove you wrong?"
Nico frowned slightly. "How?"
"Just do a small spell. I want you to write it down and chant. {' exaudi quaeso preces meas, ad me oraculi mei.'}"
Nico spoke Latin very well and he understood the spell as well. It meant. {please hear my prayers, come to me, my mentor.'}
'If this can prove him wrong I'll gladly do it.'
He scrabbled down the stick like letters and uttered the spell.
Suddenly he felt a white light shining from each of the letters in front of him.
Before he could even comprehend what was going on, he lost consciousness.