Nazmi glanced down at her palm and took in a deep breath. In her hand was one of the two weapons that she had managed to make and bring along on her journey.
Her father, though a pacifist, had once shown her how to make an incredibly potent paralytic. It had taken a lot of convincing, but he decided to help Nazmi grow the plant it was derived from. Though a typically difficult flower to maintain, Nazmi had nourished and pampered it into a completely full and healthy blossom after only a few weeks.
Nosbene.
A large flower with deep, violet petals that bloomed in an intricate circular pattern, mimicking a spiral staircase the way it descended down the stem. It gave off a faint blue glow, and was only able to be grown in dim or no light.
Due to nosbene's fickle and particular nature, Nazmi was unable to bring along any fully grown plants – so instead, she packed several seeds and a condensed pill she had made.
It was a such a high concentration of nosbene powder that it was guaranteed to render the person who ingested it completely immobile. Even for a strong, pureblooded vampire it would still work for 2-3 minutes… that's what she thought, anyway. There wasn't any way for her to rest it beforehand.
But a few minutes was all the time she would need. Similar to nymphs, vampires could only truly be killed through decapitation or the removal and destruction of their heart. They would also suffer grievous wounds from wooden weapons, that took longer to heal than normal ones.
That would be when her second weapon would come into play. It was a scimitar she had hand-crafted over time behind her father's back. She read nearly 30 books on sword craftsmanship and would make trips to the swordsmith once or twice a week for assistance.
She had grown large, leafy branches all around it – which made it look like nothing more than a walking stick… but on her command they would crumble into soil, and she could use her scimitar freely.
With her two weapons in hand, she nodded with determination.
She, Aero and Shea entered the city confidently. It was important to act as though they belonged there, so as not to arouse any suspicion. They all had facial coverings and headscarves to protect their identities.
There were only a handful of buildings in the small town, and they were all located in the center. Expanding out in all directions were large and small tents, fortified against the weather. Though the number of vampires wasn't necessarily large, it was certainly a significant number.
Aero held Nazmi's hand tightly. She assumed he was concerned that she would wander off on her own and get into trouble – and he was probably right. Shea led the way, nodding curtly at any other vampires they encountered in passing.
They had discussed beforehand that the plan was to first look for any sort of infirmary, since that would be the easiest way to steal a blood sample without being caught.
So, that's what they were doing. Shea led the way, and Nazmi was continuously impressed by the other girl's ability to act. It was something that Nazmi was also able to do, but not to such an outstanding degree. It was no wonder the council tried to utilize these two to their advantage.
Nazmi's nose crinkled when an unfamiliar scent invaded her senses. It wasn't necessarily a bad smell, in fact she'd go as far as to say it was a pleasant one – but it felt… dangerous. She subconsciously gripped Aero's hand a bit harder, which caused him to glance down at her with concern.
She mouthed to him silently, 'Can you smell that?'
'Smell what?' He replied with a raised brow.
The nymph pursed her lips, confused. She didn't even have a particularly strong or sensitive sense of smell, and she was alarmed by this scent – but he couldn't smell it?
'Forget it,' she signaled, shaking her head.
He was hesitant to drop it, but he did. They continued to follow Shea around despite the nymph's obvious discomfort.
It took ten or fifteen minutes of casual wandering for them to find what seemed to be a medical tent of some kind. Shea immediately walked in; if she needed backup, she could communicate with Aero telepathically so she would let him know.
Nazmi had noticed that there were hardly any female vampires in the area. There were some, but the percentage was pretty low. It made her feel even more out of place, considering her small stature and feminine demeanor. One could tell just from a glance that she was a woman, even under all the layers of clothes and disguise she was wearing.
Aero kept vigilant watch on the area, his icy blue eyes focused on each individual face that was in the vicinity. It almost felt like he was daring them to question them, or to try and stop them.
From within the tent, Shea had struck up conversation with one of the doctors. It had initially seemed to be going well but was quickly taking a turn for the worse. The female vampire she was talking to was very obviously growing irritated.
Aero glanced down at Nazmi with a stern look that screamed 'stay.'
She was planning on listening to him, but from the sounds of it, there was a potential physical altercation rapidly approaching. The twins had told her that if things went awry, she should try to escape as quickly as possible – with or without them.
Nazmi wasn't particularly sure whether she should stay or not, but ended up deciding to leave. She tried to walk as nonchalantly as possible toward the town center, so as not to seem like she was fleeing a crime scene.
Many of the vampires were giving her strange looks – none were really malicious, but they were certainly confused. She avoided eye contact with them despite the feeling of their gazes burning through her skull.
The nymph glanced around at the few actual buildings she was approaching. One was an inn of some sort, the other was a military building, and another was…
What was that?
She couldn't really tell what it was from the outside, and it had no signage outside to indicate. It seemed like there weren't very many people loitering about the building, so she decided to go inside.
Surely since there was no one close to it, it would be relatively empty and quiet – a good place to hide.
She couldn't have been more wrong. Her lack of sense for the ways of the world had screwed her over again.
As soon as she pushed open the large door, the smell of smoke and loud chattering ambience overtook her. There were several tables all clear full of vampires gambling and playing various games.
It was… some sort of rundown, makeshift casino?
Nazmi was ready to turn and leave when a group of three or four larger men came walking in, inadvertently shoving her forcefully with the door.
She lost her footing and slipped, falling backward to land on the ground flat on her ass… or so she expected.
Rather than hard floor, she found a strong pair of legs beneath her. Nazmi was super startled and looked up at the man, ready to apologize.
But a burning gold gaze locked with her sage ones.
It was him.
Prince Samir.
Nazmi's eyes narrowed and burned with hate. She wanted to kill him then and there, but it was an inopportune situation for her. He would definitely have the upper hand and likely kill her.
So, after resisting the urge to slice his throat right then, she decided to do something even more stupid.
She turned her head and tried to get up, as though he didn't exist at all.