The woman's red eyes approached Aaralyn's face, staring deeply at her while offering the snack, which Aaralyn promptly took.
Her hunger was so intense that she couldn't hold back anymore. She began to devour the snack as fast as she could. She couldn't even think about the taste and smell of what she was eating anymore. Whether it was poison or not, it didn't matter; her stomach hurt too much for her to worry about something so trivial.
And if she were to die, let it be with a full belly!
Kaalindra watched the scene as her mistress approached, descending from a black carpeado, a sturdy horse.
Her mistress, a woman wearing a Black Hood that only revealed her beautiful crimson-toned red hair.
She looked at Aaralyn, who wasn't even paying attention, and analyzed her completely, her body with eyes completely radiant in pure red.
Aaralyn ate calmly as she heard a noise coming from the horse. The woman, whom Kaalindra referred to as mistress, was picking up a small flask. As she looked at it, she saw the swords on Kaalindra's belt, while at the same time she saw a golden spear on the back of the woman she called mistress.
"We're not here for games, Kaalindra," she said as she handed the flask to Kaalindra, who nodded with a smile that said 'You're the one playing around here, mistress.'
Kaalindra opened the flask and handed it to Aaralyn, who felt slightly intimidated. After all, now that she stopped to think and saw the weapons, they could be inquisitors or beaters in the midst of the war.
"Drink," Kaalindra commanded, and Aaralyn shrunk, but accepted. She didn't have much choice but to listen to what the woman said.
She took the flask and drank. To her surprise, it was just regular water, drinkable water, and still... 'Is it cold?' She felt her whole body slightly heal, and soon her body was as good as new.
"Congratulations on getting blessed water. Now stand up and introduce yourself," Kaalindra said imposingly, and Aaralyn quickly did so. Her clothes were something like a gray dirt-stained dress, and she had nothing else, not even undergarments.
"What a stench," Kaalindra's mistress said and then.
"Cleanse," Kaalindra intoned, and Aaralyn's entire body was cleaned, turning her into a completely different girl.
"Better now, mistress?" She questioned, and her mistress nodded. "We have little time, do as you please," she said in a somber tone that made little Aaralyn tremble with fear.
Kaalindra couldn't help but laugh lightly as she saw the girl's expression turn from fear to embarrassment at seeing such a beautiful woman laughing at her. She was still a child, but she was embarrassed by such trivial things.
"Hey, kid, name and age," she questioned, and Aaralyn quickly bowed in desperation. "Aaralyn! I'm fourteen years old! No! I'm fifteen!" she said desperately.
"Hmm... quite young," Kaalindra said as she looked at the girl's poorly developed body. 'She's going to die soon, her body may seem fine, but her eyes... the pupils and the marks on her corneas, she's sick.'
"Ah~ Okay, mistress," Kaalindra said, and her mistress turned to her with a look that said 'Are you really going to do this?'
Kaalindra responded with a nod, and her mistress just sighed heavily. "Do as you wish," she said as she mounted the black horse. "She's under your care, don't bother me with these silly sentimental things," her mistress replied, and Kaalindra gave a small smile.
"Hey, little girl, want to come with us? You won't go hungry," Kaalindra offered, and Aaralyn was surprised, actually, extremely surprised.
Aaralyn began to cry and say, "Can I? I have nothing to offer! I'm an orphan! I have no money! I can't even write! Aaralyn is not smart!"
She wasn't very smart, barely knew how to write, and had nothing to offer, and such a beautiful woman was offering such kindness to her, it was something that, for her, was... surreal.
"Hey, stop being temperamental, who said it's for free? You're going to work hard," Kaalindra said and picked up the girl.
"KYA!!!" she screamed, but soon realized she was sitting on the shoulders of the two-meter-tall woman.
"Be quiet and enjoy the view until I heal you, we have to go soon," Kaalindra grumbled as she got on the black steed and followed her mistress who had already left. "So tall," she sighed lightly. Aaralyn was only 1.45 meters tall.
Thus, they began their journey. Aaralyn followed Kaalindra as if she were her salvation, and their relationship began to blossom: master and disciple, sisters, and finally, mother and daughter.
Aaralyn was then instructed by Kaalindra, becoming her first disciple. Her days were peaceful and hard, and one day, Aaralyn ended up questioning Kaalindra about something.
"Lindra, what is our mistress's name?" She asked, and Kaalindra blinked her eyes at the stupid question her disciple asked.
"Seriously, Lyn? I treat you like my daughter and you don't know who our mistress is?" She questioned, and Aaralyn blushed slightly. "Sorry..."
"Hahaha, I'm kidding, I didn't tell you on purpose," Kaalindra said and then snapped her fingers, and Aaralyn realized that she was now in a new dimension, well, it was just a visual representation of what that place really was, Kaalindra's mental world.
Aaralyn looked around and saw only a magical image. It was a kind of field blooming with red Spider-lilies. The skies were completely white, and there was a small temple in the place, in Asian style, where both of them were.
"Your favorite flower..." Aaralyn said as she picked up a small newly bloomed one. "Spider-Lily, the flower of death," Kaalindra commented.
"Death..." Aaralyn whispered, and Kaalindra said, "You know I'm a vampire, right?" Aaralyn agreed; she found out not long after being rescued by this woman.
"Our mistress is the strongest vampire in the whole world, the most formidable female vampire in history," she commented, and Aaralyn trembled. She knew about many things in this world, and she knew that if there was a woman called the strongest vampire, it was only one person.
Aaralyn trembled to know that all along she had been seeing the most wicked demon in the world, the woman with the worst reputation in the world, the supreme, the devastating, the god-killer.
"Valentina Scarlet."