"You have to hold the hilt with one hand," said Leon as he held his sword, "like this."

Ophelia tried to copy him. She placed her right hand firmly on the hilt of the wooden sword.

"Put your other hand on the end of the hilt."

She followed all of his instructions attentively.

"Alright. Now keep your feet the same distance as your shoulder width. Keep your arm forward."

***

Ophelia had trouble falling asleep for the next few nights. She only learned how to hold the sword, the basic stances, and a few strikes. Training on the last day did not drain her of much energy, but for some reason, she could not keep up for long.

Sighing, she turned around in bed. She could hear the passers-by talking and giggling as they strolled in the lively night.

It was not their voices that interrupted her sleep. She still had that uncomfortable sensation of falling from a tall place. The air that passed into her lungs did not feel enough. Her back was in pain.

She knew Leon was outside the bedroom, probably reading. Ophelia got up and staggered out of the room. Standing at the door, she looked at Leon, who had a newspaper in his hand.

"Ophelia, why haven't you slept?" he asked with a calm voice.

The girl regretted her decision to come to Leon after hearing his voice. Somehow it made her heart flutter even more. Before she could speak, Leon said, "Does your back hurt?"

Ophelia nodded. "I asked Miss Grace to give me medicine to reduce the pain, but she said that she couldn't. Why did she say so?"

Leon chuckled a little. "Because there is no medicine to reduce this pain."

Feeling disappointed, Ophelia sighed. She turned around and walked back into the room. Leon said, "I am sorry, but you have to endure it."

As she stepped inside, a crushing pain caused her to groan and fall on all fours. She could hear something crack inside her body, bringing tears to her eyes. Leon rushed to her while she stuttered, "I think I'm dying..."

"Just wait a little longer," said Leon as he crouched beside her. Ophelia was annoyed since she was suffering and he did not do anything about it.

Not being able to endure the pain anymore, she fell unconscious on her side.

Leon gave a sigh of relief, looking at the parts that grew out of her aching back. I wonder what could have caused so much pain for her to black out, he thought as he looked at her face. There were tiny beads of sweat on her forehead and nose.

The parts that extended from her back were mainly made of bone and skin, but Leon knew the feathers would soon grow.

He carefully placed one of his hands under her shoulder and lifted her. He made sure not to touch her back, supposing doing so would hurt her.

Wrapping his other arm around her hip, he gently picked her up. She was lighter compared to the last time he held her.

Dim rays of light entered through the window, telling him it was dawn. The room became slightly illuminated.

He walked to the bed with slow steps and laid her down, making sure her back did not touch the sheets. When he was done, he sat on the floor beside her.

Leon gazed at the girl sleeping beside him. She was a drop of sunshine that descended upon the kingdom engulfed in darkness.

He slowly removed the strands of hair covering her neck. There the scar was; the evidence that his fangs had pierced into her delicate skin. The corners of his lips rose a little as he ran his fingers over the mark, feeling a hint of delight.

At that moment, Grace arrived. She stepped into the room to see Leon sitting beside the girl who grew new wings. Grace was astonished; she strode closer to Ophelia.

"How did this happen so early?" she asked with great keenness.

Leon pointed to the scar of his bite on her neck. "It is because of my venom."

Grace nodded, surprised by how it worked. "I thought she would never grow wings, now that she has fully grown up."

The vampire man gave a light chuckle. "Mother, she is destined to destroy a kingdom. How could you underestimate her abilities?"

"I know, I know, it is just..."

"Hard to believe that someone like her is capable of something so cruel..." Leon finished her words. "She is so innocent; she cannot even use a weapon correctly. Sometimes I doubt if I have brought the wrong person."

Grace placed a hand on his shoulder and smiled. "I trust your instincts, Leon. You have brought the right girl."

Leon nodded as he placed his fingers over her hand, feeling the petal-soft skin. As he felt the rhythms of their hearts align, he instantly took his hand back, thinking, What am I doing?

He stood up and bade goodbye to his mother. Grace said, "Are you leaving now?"

"Yes, I have to go. I cannot stay here for long."

He left the house and rushed to the place where he used to train Ophelia. He could not train her for the past few days because of her pain. When he reached there, he was panting. He took a deep breath as the shadow came out freely.

"I see you are quite infatuated with her."

Why are you back?

"Back? I have always been, and I will always be with you," said the shadow as it crawled over his shoulder.

Leon gave a wry smile of disbelief. You did not have to remind me...

"I'm already doing you a great favour. Won't you do anything to pay back?"

A pair of hands came out of the shadow and held his shoulders. Leon closed his eyes, sighing. What more do you want?

The hands gave him a violent push from the front. He was unable to get up as the shadow-like creature sat on his chest. It had no face, but Leon could tell that it was delighted.

"You will not get too close to her. If you do..."

Ice-cold hands crept up to his neck, piercing his skin with their nails. Leon did not risk struggling against it, since he knew it would make the hold tighter.

"...you know what I will do to you."

Soon, the shadow began to fade away. The burden on his chest became lighter, but the sting in his neck remained. He would have to hide it using his magic.

The shadow was a curse. It had been haunting him ever since he undertook the duty to find Ophelia. Leon had made a deal with it: the shadow could do anything to him in exchange for concealing Ophelia's location from Nathaniel.

***

A woman in black stepped out of Nordlys through the barrier of clouds. It did not seem to hurt her, since it would only restrict the werewolves from entering Nordlys.

Her face was covered halfway with a mask; her eyes were almost invisible under the shadow of her hood. A metallic badge that said II was attached to her onyx black cloak. She stood at the edge of the cliff, ready to jump.

As she did so, gravity stopped working on her. She rose to the sky as if she used an invisible staircase. Her destination was the faraway cottage flying over the roaring sea.

Within a few seconds, she arrived at the front door of the cottage that was banned from Nordlys. A teenager stood at the door, ready to inform the owner about any odd situation.

When he saw the black-clad woman come, he was overwhelmed by dread. He forced a smile and stuttered, "Good morning!"

The woman rolled her eyes. Seeing her expression, the boy alleged that she was irked, so he quickly opened the door.

She entered the cottage and found three people sitting at a round table, keeping an empty chair for her. Two of them had the same attire as her, except for their badges. They were the numbers I and III.

The other man, however, did not have his face covered. His shoulders were broad and he had sharp facial features. His olive-green eyes glinted as he said, "Apostle II, take your seat. What news do you have for me?"

The Apostle sat and said, "Ophelia hasn't come out for a few days. She used to roam around the woods with him until they would go to a certain place and disappear. I couldn't get there, even in their absence. It seems that place is guarded with magic."

"Let's not worry about that place. He probably trains her there."

A young man spoke next. "Master, the shadow that you sent after him does not obey your order. If it gave us Ophelia's location then we could have done our job earlier." It was the third Apostle.

"Don't worry, the shadow will annihilate him in return. Either way, it will be good for us," said the master with an eerie smile.

When the second and the third Apostles looked at him with doubt, the first Apostle said, "The plan is to make him weaker so that he is unable to train her well. Even if she is destined to kill, she cannot go much far without having proper skills."

"And then?" asked the lady with her arms crossed.

"The girl will be devastated, and then it will become easy to put her to death," replied the master.

It all made sense to the second Apostle. The master did not only want death, he wanted revenge as well. The thought of it gave her a slight tremor; she did not know if it was fear or pleasure.

She stood up, saying, "Alright, I'll be taking my leave."

When she walked up to the door, the master called. "Wait, Apostle II."

The lady stood in her place, almost frozen by his words. She knew what he would say next.

"I have a mission for you."