Skylar and the others made their way into Denesti. The woman, who was mainly defending the village, held a sword and a hammer. She had a stern expression; the moon on her face made her dark skin and brown hair almost glow. Alucard stepped over the body of a dead night creature.
"You sent me a letter?" Alucard said as he made his way towards the villagers.
"Yes," The woman said, looking to the other villagers. "Welcome to Denesti."
"I presume it's seen better days," Alucard said as the villagers lowered their weapons.
"Quieter once," the woman said. Skylar took a few steps and stood beside Alucard. The day creatures and the girls stayed close by. "I'm Greta, the village head woman."
"Call me Alucard," He said, making Skylar snicker as he added, "No 'The'. And the woman snickering beside me is Skylar, a Maki rebel and my partner."
"And the others with you?" The woman, Greta, asked, referring to the girls behind Skylar and Alucard.
"The one with black hair and skin pale as death is Dracule, Alucard's sister," Skylar explained. "The woman closest to her is Elizabeth, her partner, and the other two are Tara and Tanya. Partners and two of the strongest women I know."
"And those creatures?" Greta asked. "They don't look like night creatures."
"They are my day creatures," Tara stepped in and explained. "They were the opposite of night creatures. I bring back the person themself from the dead in a new body. It's like resurrection, but in a new body. You could say it has qualities similar to the concept of rebirth in a way."
"I don't quite understand, but I will assume you aren't going to send them to kill us," Greta said. "Did Marius..."
"Was that your rider?" Alucard asked. "I'm afraid not. He was attached en route and bled from his wounds. His horse carried him the rest of the way with your message in his hand."
"Oh," Greta lowered her head slightly. It was clear she was hoping things would have resulted differently.
"I'm sorry," Alucard apologized.
"Well," Greta said as she looked at the villagers. "He's not the only one we've lost. But he was the last of his family, which is why he risked the journey. Still, I'd hoped... That's what hoping gets you, I suppose."
"I have more people to save, Alucard," Greta continued. "Get some rest, everybody, while you can.
"How long have you been under attack?" Alucard asked.
"Four days," Greta told him. "First, it was just one of those bastards. More every night. We barely made it through last night. We're lucky only a third of us are dead. Will you help us?
"..." Alucard's sword sheathed itself in the scabbard at Alucard's waist. "I'm sure the others and I can do something for you."
"I'm not interested in magic tricks, and one fight," Greta said, looking only at Alucard. "These people are under my care. Will you stay and defend them for as long as it takes?"
"Didn't Alucard just say--"
"You need to understand," Greta interrupted Skylar. "I don't know you. You and these odd ones have been twenty odd miles away for months. You creep around the forest, you have two wilted bodies outside of your weird castle on stakes, you're obviously half vampire, and have off marks in your skin near your chest."
"Excuse you, I--"
"And you appear to me to be half crazy," Greta interrupted Skylar again. "But you were the only possible advantage I could think of."
"Okay, shut up!" Skylar cut off Greta this time. "We already agreed to help! So give us like ten seconds to say again that we are here to fucking help you!"
"All done?" Alucard asked Greta after some hesitation, after Skylar's interruption.
"Did it work as well as it did for Skylar here?" Greta asked.
"Yes," Alucard said.
"Then I'm all done," Greta said. "Thank you. And that was one hell of an entrance."
"Yes, indeed so," a muffled voice came from a latrine hut nearby behind Greta. The voice made Skylar's eyes widen. Tara and Tanya both went tense, and the day creatures began growling. "You really are a very impressive young man.
"Sickening violence isn't especially in my skill set, you understand," a man came out of the Latrine hut, dressed like a strange noble, his beard beginning to grey a little. Skylar yanked her sword out again, her stance stiff, and her eyes filled with anger. "But I can recognize a fellow expert no matter the field. And Skylar, lovely to see you and some old friends again."
"Saint Germain!" Skylar spat, Tanya hissed, her claws flashed in the moonlight, and the day creatures growled and prepared to attack. "What the fuck are you doing here?!"
"I know you must still be mad for the last time we met-"
"You fucked us over, you damn psycho!" Tara snapped, her staff tight in hand.
"You know this one?" Greta asked.
"Oh, that is an understatement. He fucked us over while fighting a horde of mercenaries, and ran off when the fight was over!" Tanya bared her fangs, coming close to lunging at Saint Gemain.
"What?" Alucard looked at Skylar, anger in his blood, thinking of her in danger. "What happened?"
"I'll explain it all later, Alucard," Skylar told him, her eyes locked on Alucard as Saint Gemain made his way over to Greta and stood beside her. "And it is a long story; I will go into detail when there is time."
"And I will make time," Alucard said, almost making Skylar smile.
"And I will appreciate that," Skylar said.
"And I am glad to see you found someone, Skylar," Saint Gemain said.
"Shut the hell up," Tanya snapped at him. Tara stood between Tanya and Saint Gemain.
"You would be Adrian Tepes, yes?" Saint Gemain asked Alucard. Skyllar immediately stepped in front of Alucard and raised her sword, and pointed it at Saint Gemain's throat.
"Yes," Alucard placed his hand on Skylar's waist to keep her from doing worse.