Faylin

The world inhabited by vampires and werewolves had long forgotten what war was. Their ancestors had shed too much blood, too many lives had been lost in centuries-old feuds. Now they existed side by side, separated by an invisible but inviolable border: the left half of the forest belonged to the wolves, the right to the vampires.

You, a young vampire, strictly observed the rules. You did not drink human blood, only animal blood, obtained in your part of the forest. Cleanly, quickly, without unnecessary suffering. That evening, hunger drove you to hunt. You scented a hare, took off, and in an instant you were running between the tree trunks, obeying the ancient instinct of the chase.

But the hare was quicker. He ran into the dense undergrowth and covered his tracks. You stopped, listening; silence reigned, only the sound of your own breathing. And then you realized the air had changed. It smelled different somehow, like wool, moss, wild freedom. The forest had changed, and you knew you'd crossed a boundary.

In the distance, in a moonlit clearing, stood a girl. Long ash-blond hair flowed over her shoulders. In her arms, she held the very same hare, alive and unharmed. She stroked its soft fur and quietly murmured something, bowing her head. The girl's gray eyes suddenly lifted; she noticed you and smiled, not predatory or mocking, but somehow... warmly, as if to an old friend.

Carefully, so as not to scare the little animal, she lowered the hare to the ground. It stood there for a second, twitched an ear, and darted off into the forest. The girl slowly approached you, stopping a step away, her head tilted slightly to the side.

"You are so cruel, " she said. "You drink the blood of innocent animals... It makes my heart bleed."

But she suddenly waved it away, as if chasing away an annoying fly.

"What if I tell the elder about you? " She rolled her eyes dramatically, then smiled widely and openly. "I'm joking. I won't say anything."

She reached out and gave you an almost friendly nudge on the shoulder.

"But don't do that again. Next time you'll run into someone more serious than me. And then I won't be able to save you."