The roars continued for several seconds before fading among the trees, but they were enough to completely change the atmosphere of the group. The explorers drew their weapons and Claire raised a hand to order silence while watching the forest. Lilith did the same and focused her senses on the surroundings.
She could hear branches moving in the distance, small animals fleeing through the vegetation, and the constant sound of wind passing through the leaves, but nothing seemed to be approaching them directly. Whatever had produced those roars was still far away. The stranger on the stretcher did not seem reassured.
She had closed her eyes and was breathing with difficulty, although Lilith suspected that had more to do with her wounds than with fear. "What was that?" Claire asked. The young woman remained silent. "A minute ago you said it was too late," Lilith insisted. "If you know what's making those sounds, this would be an excellent time to explain."
The stranger opened her eyes and looked toward the forest. "It doesn't matter. We have to get away from the ruins." Claire exchanged a glance with Lilith before ordering everyone to continue. Getting answers could wait. Reaching the Eternal Bastion before discovering what was roaring behind them was far more important.
The return journey was much faster than the trip there. No one stopped to study plants, roads, or ancient remains, and Lilith kept her senses alert throughout the entire route. She heard two more roars, each weaker than the last, until they finally disappeared. When the enormous walls of the Eternal Bastion emerged between the trees, the group's tension eased.
The stranger reacted in the exact opposite way. She pushed herself upright on the stretcher until the pain forced her to stop and stared at the fortress with a mixture of surprise and fear. From the ground, the Eternal Bastion looked even more absurd than from any of its terraces: walls rising hundreds of meters into the air, towers spread across different levels, and one of its gigantic legs planted in the earth like a pillar capable of supporting a mountain.
"You've never seen one before," Lilith commented. The young woman did not answer immediately. "I thought the stories exaggerated." Lilith looked up at her home. "I thought something similar the first time." Claire gave her a curious look at the comment, so Lilith decided not to add anything else.
The guards allowed them inside after receiving Claire's report, and the stranger was taken directly to a small infirmary on the lower levels. That was where another problem began. The young woman recovered enough energy to refuse to cooperate with practically everyone. She did not want to hand over her belongings, she did not want to answer questions, and she definitely did not want a vampire doctor coming near her. The man eventually stepped away with an exhausted expression while a human healer took his place. Only then did she allow them to treat her wounds. Lilith watched part of the process from the other side of the room with Claire. None of the injuries seemed fatal on their own, but she had lost a lot of blood and one of the cuts on her abdomen showed signs of infection. "She'll survive," the healer explained after finishing. "She needs rest and food. No walking for at least a day." The young woman opened her mouth to protest. The healer raised a finger before she could speak. "And if you try to leave tonight, I'll bring you back personally." For the first time since they had found her, the stranger seemed to have no response prepared.
Lilith and Claire left shortly afterward. The people in charge of the expedition wanted to question the young woman once she had recovered, especially after hearing her warning about the ruins, but Lilith had a feeling that sending half a dozen unfamiliar officers would not accomplish much.
That girl already seemed to consider the Eternal Bastion a prison and vampires something even worse. "Why do you think she reacted like that when she saw my fangs?" Lilith asked as they walked through the corridor. Claire shrugged. "She could have had bad experiences with vampires."
"She tried to cut my throat before she knew my name."
"That counts as a bad first impression." Lilith glanced at her. "Mine?" Claire smiled. "The fangs don't help." Lilith decided that explanation could wait until the stranger was willing to talk.
Several hours passed before she returned to the infirmary. By then, night had fallen and the Eternal Bastion remained stopped near the ruins while the last exploration teams returned. Lilith expected to find the young woman asleep, but she was sitting on the bed slowly eating a bowl of soup.
Her sword was gone and her wounds were covered with clean bandages. When she saw Lilith enter, she set the spoon down on the plate. She did not try to attack this time, which could already be considered progress. "If you're here to interrogate me, you can leave." Lilith took a chair and sat in front of her.
"Actually, I came because I still don't know what to call you, and saying 'the girl who tried to stab me' is starting to get too long." The stranger kept a serious expression for several seconds, but Lilith noticed the slight movement at the corner of her lips. "Evelyn." "Just Evelyn?" "For now." Lilith accepted the answer. "Then, Evelyn, it's nice to officially meet you. Let's try to make this conversation involve fewer weapons than the last one."
Evelyn picked up the spoon again, although she did not take her eyes off her. "You know my name now. You can leave." Lilith slowly shook her head. "I also want to know what those roars were." The spoon stopped halfway to her mouth. "Animals."
"Claire told me animals usually don't make an injured person prefer running away instead of receiving medical attention." Evelyn set the spoon down again. For several seconds she seemed to consider how much she could reveal. "I don't know what they're called. They appeared a few weeks ago. They hunt in groups and every night they get closer."
Lilith leaned slightly forward. "Closer to what?" Evelyn realized too late that she had said more than she intended. Her expression hardened. "The ruins." "No." Lilith shook her head. "When we found you, you weren't acting like someone who lived there. You had supplies, traveling equipment, and that pendant." Evelyn instinctively brought a hand toward her chest before remembering that her belongings were stored beside the bed.
"You went through my things."
"It fell out. I'm not that nosy." Lilith paused. "Yet."
Evelyn watched her with a mixture of irritation and confusion. It was obvious that Lilith was not behaving the way she expected a vampire princess to behave, and that confusion seemed to be working better than any interrogation. Eventually, she sighed and looked away. "There are people living on this continent." Lilith stopped smiling. "How many?"
"I'm not going to tell you where they are."
"I didn't ask where." Evelyn looked at her again and remained silent. Lilith then understood the reason for so much distrust. She was not only trying to protect herself. There was someone else behind every answer she refused to give. "Your people," she said. Evelyn tightened her jaw slightly. She did not need to confirm it.
Lilith leaned back in the chair. That changed many things. Ever since entering the Demon Continent, she had heard people talk about ruins, expeditions, and barely mapped territories, but no one had mentioned human communities living there. "I'm not going to force you to tell me where they are," she assured her. Evelyn seemed surprised. "Why?"
"Because you just met me. It would be pretty stupid to trust me with the location of your home." The answer left Evelyn speechless for the first time. Lilith stood and placed the chair back beside the wall. "Rest. Tomorrow you can decide how much you want to tell us." She walked toward the door, but Evelyn's voice stopped her before she could leave.
"Bloodrose."
Lilith turned around.
Evelyn no longer looked angry. Only worried.
"If your fortress plans to remain near those ruins, convince them to leave."
Lilith rested one hand against the doorframe. "Because of the monsters?"
Evelyn slowly shook her head.
"The monsters are the reason I went there."
The silence that followed made Lilith take one step back into the room.
"Then what are you worried about?"
Evelyn looked toward the window. From there, only a small part of the dark forest surrounding the Eternal Bastion could be seen.
"Whatever is making them run."