Chapter 1635: What Is A Vampire?

“You don’t know what a vampire is?” Kai asked, almost rushing forward and pushing past the other two. His eyebrows were raised, and for a split second, the seriousness on his face made it look as if he was questioning everything about this era.

“What is it, is it some type of disease?” Galdark asked. His confusion was genuine, his voice carrying the tone of someone desperately hoping there was a simple explanation.

“You could say that,” Lupus said with an inward smirk, though it wasn’t really the right time for one. He folded his arms, letting Kai take the lead, since clearly Kai had already pieced far more together.

Kai didn’t respond just yet. He stared at the ground, lips pressed tight, because things were finally falling into place for him. There had been something bothering him for a while, why he didn’t figure out the answer sooner, and now everything lined up in his head.

“I was so confused,” Kai said aloud. “We had reports of others having seen Lilly out and about, seen her walking through the settlement, even talking to others. Although there was good reason to doubt if those reports were real or not, since the pack didn’t actually know about the situation, they didn’t have a reason to lie.”

He shook his head slightly, annoyed at himself.

“And the simple answer is they weren’t lying. Even if they could smell that Lilly was different, or felt agitated around her, they wouldn’t have linked it to being Lily. Maybe they would’ve thought she was trying some new type of perfume or something. And without knowing anything about vampires, they couldn’t make that connection. Plus the furnace… with Lily being in the furnace’s center with the intense heat, it would’ve blocked the scent from leaving the place entirely.”

While Kai was satisfied with why he hadn’t gotten the answer sooner, Gary and Lupus exchanged a look, still wondering how it was possible that the Werewolves of this era didn’t even know vampires existed. For them, this was basic knowledge, ancient history even.

“You’re going to have to stop mumbling and explain the situation so I can understand,” Galdark said. There was desperation in his eyes now. “I need to know why Jack has been acting the way he has.”

Kai exhaled slowly. He had to figure out how to answer without saying too much or creating panic. The biggest problem was that even he didn’t know what vampires were currently in this era. Were they hiding? Were they extinct? Did they have a settlement somewhere? Or… was Lilly truly one of the first?

The power of vampires had to be respected. And without understanding the time period’s knowledge, they couldn’t just claim too much as fact.

“Vampirism,” Kai answered at last. “As Lupus said, you can think of it as a rare disease. There are two main traits to it. One of them is being severely affected by sunlight during the day.”

Galdark’s eyes widened. He replayed every recent memory of Lilly, her absence during the day, her sudden changes in behavior, her pale complexion. Now, with this explanation, the pieces fit a bit too well.

“The second issue with vampirism,” Kai continued, “is that they end up craving a strong lust for blood. Normal food no longer satisfies them.”

Kai then looked toward Lupus because he only knew the basic facts. Lupus, having interacted with vampires more closely, picked up the explanation.

“Right,” Lupus said. “And if blood isn’t consumed for a certain amount of time, they turn into practically a beast that attacks everything on sight. Jack must have figured this all out really fast for some reason, and that’s probably why he locked her in the furnace.”

There was no doubt, if vampires were a completely new concept to the Werewolves of this era, then how did Jack figure out his wife needed blood? The truth would’ve been dark. The situation must have turned violent several times. Jack must have been forced to intervene again and again until eventually realizing what she craved… and what stopped her.

“These people that have these traits… this is what we call vampires,” Kai said.

Galdark stood still, absorbing every word. Even in a world filled with magic, the idea of a human turning into something that fed on blood was almost too much to accept. But the three in front of him had no reason to lie. They didn’t seem confused. They didn’t seem uncertain. They were stating facts.

“Thank you for the information,” Galdark said finally. “There are a few things I need to check, things I need to confirm. If it turns out to be true… I’ll come back to you.”

Without another word, he stepped backward and then simply dropped off the rooftop, landing below as if in a hurry to find answers immediately.

Silence lingered for a moment as the three watched him leave.

“So the Werewolves don’t know about the vampires,” Lupus said with a sigh. “The races that have been enemies for a considerable amount of time. It’s a shame that his wife, of all people, ended up like this.”

“What I want to know,” Gary said, rubbing the back of his neck, “now that we know all of this… what are we meant to do? Are Steve and Jack going to clash because of this? And if they do… what side do we pick?”

His voice trembled slightly, not from fear, but from the weight of the choice. The Werewolf camp, Steve’s leadership, Jack’s loyalty, Lilly’s condition… it all felt like a fuse waiting to burn into something explosive.

Kai didn’t answer yet. His eyes drifted toward the distance, toward the smoldering heat of the forging area, toward the furnace that now housed a truth none of them had expected.

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