As Haima trots out of the Adventurer Guild, she is surprised to see her good friend Godrick standing just outside the door.
"Ah!" Haima says, blushing slightly. "Godrick, I didn't know you were back!"
She twirls her body away from him, so as to not be quite so close.
He gives her a pat on the back and she squeals. "I am, love. Just got back from scoutin'. I tell ya, that bayou's every bit as spooky as they make it out to be. Even the damn animals are vampires, Haima! Oh, but I did find some other humans that were still right in their heads. Get this - they're ruled by a serial killer."
"Oh my," Haima says, shifting her weight onto one leg and swaying. "How horrible. Before I died, I heard about these 'twin vampires', too. Even with everything going on, the constant death and bloodshed…they still found a way to become legendary. Er, legendary in a bad way, anyway. Notorious?"
Godrick punches Haima in the shoulder lightly and playfully. "You're a right wicked little one, aren't ya?" he winks. "I've got to get my intel reported, I'll catch ya later."
Haima covers her mouth to hide her smile and strolls away, down from the castle heading north. She had to get 100 bananas. Not too bad of a task - the thick jungle around them was plentiful with fruit. Before the apocalypse happened, this place was paradise.
On her way out of the castle into the jungle, she borrows one of the supply carts by the gate.
…
"La, la, la," Haima sings to herself as she rustles around a large banana tree, trying to grab the greenest ones she could find. A special treat for herself - she liked them a little green.
Suddenly, she hears rustling in the trees. Her head immediately jerks toward the noise, her hand reaching for her dagger.
"Come out! Whoever you are!" Haima commands, her adrenaline rushing. Her eyes dart every which way, looking for even the slightest clue.
"My, my, what an observant little human you are," comes a deep, crass voice. A figure steps out of the shadows - a tall and impossibly slender vampire with black hair and protruding teeth. This one is no Master Vampire - he lacks their grace and unnervingly human beauty.
He stretches out his fingers, long nails elongating out, growing into blades. A floppy tongue falls out of his mouth, slurping.
"I haven't had one as fresh as you in a long time. I bet you taste d-d-d-delicious," he croaks with a stutter.
Haima looks down at the ground. She can't help but smile. 'This poor vampire,' she thinks to herself. 'He probably thinks he stumbled on some innocent, powerless girl foraging for food.'
Her mind flickers. She was that person, once. Long ago. But children of the Gore family didn't stay innocent for long. She was only six years old when training in the Secret Arts began. By nine, she could control a regular human like a puppet. By fourteen, she was creating weapons out of the blood of her enemies and wielding them like a telepathic sorceress.
Haima closes her eyes. The memories of back then hang heavy - a dark cloud she dares not breach often. That was all a long time ago. Before long, Haima was a prodigy of their arts. She learned techniques that had never been conceived before. Were she not simply overwhelmed one day by an endless horde, she would have continued fighting all this time.
"Why are you here?" Haima asks the vampire. She senses his presence drawing nearer, slowly. She can hear the blood flowing through his veins. A pounding sensation in her head syncs with his heartbeat.
"My masters are curious," the vampire gurgles. "They'd like to set up a new game here, haah…"
Her eye twitches. "It's a shame you won't be able to return a message for me," she says. "I have something your vampire friends would love to hear."
She raises her hand and snatches at the air. As she does, the vampire grabs at his throat. He's choking - all the blood in his neck is constricting and tightening.
As he gasps for air, he falls to his knees. He holds one hand out toward her, as if to beg for mercy. She looms over him, smacking his hand out of her way.
"Tell me, vampire. Has one so low as you ever heard of the 'Gore' family?"
His eyes widen with shock as he realizes the implication. She's controlling his blood.
The Gore family was infamous in the days of the early apocalypse. Natural-born vampire killers - able to wield blood as magic. A sapped vampire would crumble - they depended desperately on the blood within them for everything.
She grabs his head with both hands, pressing her fingers into his temples. "Let me show you a little family secret," she says, massaging his temples with her thumbs and tilting her head toward the sky.
POP!
Haima infuses some of her power into the vampire, forcing the blood in his head to shoot out. The back of his skull explodes open, launching brainy bits all over the jungle. The vampire scout falls limp to the ground.
Haima stands there, still holding what remains of the vampire's head in her hands. Once she notices, she tosses it to the side and turns back to the tree.
"Now, how many more bananas did I need?"
She returns to picking, but something sits heavy in her chest. What kind of 'game' were the vampires planning?
Elsewhere, on an island in the sea, Barns and Clancy were finally ready to embark on their sea voyage. They discovered the sail in disrepair, but it was no issue - Clancy would be able to ride in the back of the boat like a motor and propel it through the water to Dimartino.
"You sure you got this, King? You're not going to burn out on me, are you?"
"ENDLESS STAMINA."
They get all of the new recruits onboard, looking starry-eyed toward home. It would be another late night when they returned. Barns is starting to get used to it.
"Let's ride, Clancy!" Barns shouts over the side of the boat. Like clockwork, the crab begins to thrust the boat forward. It's not as fast as riding around on Clancy, but for transporting this many people, it'll have to do.
Barns raises his sword and points it toward the horizon. "Civilization awaits, my friends!" his words bolster the spirits of his fellow humans, and onward the boat goes, bringing new life to the kingdom.