Fallen Forest

Fallen Forest Ch.4

After everyone got into the spacious and comfortable black carriage, Ray closed the door behind him and then took an empty seat next to Lute. The elf looked at him with an arched brow and wondered why no one is driving this carriage. Seeing Lute's confused face, Ray explained, "Ah, the centaurs are smart enough to know where to go. They're not like horses that need handlers to command them. All you have to do is tell them where to go and or hand them a map. But they can be a little demanding sometimes about their pay."

"Ah, speaking of that, Ray! When is our next paycheck?" asked one of the centaurs outside. He overheard their conversation a little as they have sensitive ears.

"Sometime tomorrow!" shouted Ray.

"Why are you so impatient getting your paycheck, Garon?" asked the only female centaur.

"Ah, t-that's because of my wife. I wanted to keep it a secret a little longer, but we're about to have a new face in the family soon..." explained Garon with some hesitation.

"Oh? I didn't know she was pregnant. Congratulations!" yelled Ray in surprise.

The other centaurs beamed with joy and also expressed their congratulations to Garon.

"Y-yeah... haha..." Garon replied with a blush on his face.

"Well, how about that, Garon is going to become a father..." mumbled Ray to himself then shifted his gaze to Lute.

Before Ray could speak to him, Gale asked Lute if he wanted to fix his hair so it wouldn't be in the way. After Lute replied with a nod, he received a blue silk ribbon for his hair. With his hands, Lute fixed his hair into a single french braid that had a bushy tail. A couple of loose strands of hair stuck out that Lute was unable to fix, but then again his hair was always like that.

"So Ray, why did you come to pick us up?" questioned Rodas."The last I heard was that you were under strict orders from the top to do some missions for them."

"I was, but I just so happened to finish them all when I got new orders to pick you guys up and take you to one of our branch HQs. You have no idea just how happy I was when I received them," said the happy Ray, who looks at Lute."After all, I get to be one of the first Hunters to meet the mysterious vampire elf Lute and help escort him back with us!"

"Wha-? But I thought that you people hate-" began the elf.

"We do hate vampires, and some of us even despise their entire existence, but that's not it, Lute," interrupted Ray trying to explain things as he scratches his cheek. "Although, it is true that, some of us would probably not try to accept your existence because of prejudice-but a good many of them like you."

Lute perked up and glared at Ray with a frown. Thanks to his past experiences, he wasn't going to immediately believe his words. He had been chased by many Hunters before and was even almost killed by them a few times. As a result, it was very hard for Lute to trust anyone, especially Hunters from the Association.

"!?... What do you mean by that? So far, I've been forced into hiding because no matter who it was, I was chased off and was almost killed by them and your 'people' whenever they found out I was a vampire. And now you're telling me this!?"Yelled Lute with a scowl, not believing Ray's words."Why should I believe anything you people say?" finished the infuriated elf as he squints his eyes.

Lute was so angry that his pupils turned into slits, and his fangs were bared at Ray. Seeing this startled the others in the carriage, but they didn't do anything. If worse comes to worst, Rodas will activate the submission magic to restrain their guest.