A few hours ago.
Klaus watches the starry sky outside the tent while Irina takes a bath. He couldn't stay inside without wanting to make love to her again, and that way, they wouldn't move on.
He finds the view of the desert at night beautiful; that silence is pleasant, as well as the light of the two moons in the sky; and, of course, the fact that there are two moons in this world also impresses him a lot.
As he looks up at those moons in the sky, he thinks of his family. [You are out there somewhere... I'll find you and then open the coffins so we can enjoy this world together.]
While thinking about everything that happened in the last week and wondering about his next steps, Klaus doesn't see the time pass, and almost an hour later, he feels Irina's delicate and soft hands hugging him from behind.
"I took too long?" She asks.
Klaus doesn't know which answer is the right one; An hour to bathe is a long time, but when he turns around and sees how beautiful Irina looks, that seems worth waiting for.
She is wearing a short blue dress and long cloth boots; her hair is loose and shiny, and her whole body smells like fresh flowers.
"You look beautiful, my love." He hugs her and kisses her lips.
She smiles proudly. "I found these clothes in a chest inside the tent; there are many other clothes in there; maybe some will fit you too."
"Great, I'll check later." He responds. "I doubt these clothes will last long anyway."
"The way you fight, no clothes will last anyway." She comments. "But this desert is enormous, so we can reach the Ancient Forest without encountering any enemies along the way."
Klaus sighs. "You don't think we can find her, do you?"
Irina makes a thoughtful expression. "I don't know if I want to find her... after all the shit that's happened, we could just move on and leave it all in the past."
"Oh, dear..." He tenderly strokes her face.
Klaus understands why Irina wants to leave all the painful memories in the past, but he can't forget everything Shadya has done, and of course, she will always be a problem due to everything she knows about him.
"Let's just keep moving, okay?" He says. "But it would be nice to find humans out there, you know, more food is always good."
"Fine." She smiles.
Irina is still trying to get used to the way that Klaus sees humans as food, but at the same time, she thinks they deserve that because they are mostly cruel and greedy people.
Klaus holds her hand and caresses it with his fingers. "So, which way now?"
The fairy looks at the moons and stars in the sky; she has always enjoyed traveling through the Ancient Forests' territory, so she knows how to guide by the sky both day and night.
"That way." She points north.
"So let's go." Klaus comments.
So after Irina puts her energy into the tent, it magically reverts to a small box, which is stored in Klaus' ring before they head north.
Now that there is no sun, Klaus can run freely across the dunes while Irina follows him, flying as fast as she can.
He only uses half his speed so the fairy can keep up with him, and they can talk.
"Damn, how can you be so fast while still in the sixth layer of the Martial Novice Realm?" She comments. "I already feel as fast as a Martial Lord, and I'm still in the second layer of the Warrior Realm."
"Agility has always been my strong point." Klaus responds.
"I bet so." She speaks. "You moved as fast as light when you drank that blood... maybe that was Martial King level already."
As he remembers the Dragon Princess's blood, Sparkles pass through Klaus' eyes. "Do you have any idea about how they got that blood?"
Irina makes a thoughtful expression. "It must have been with the sea merchants; I've heard stories of a distant continent ruled by a race descended from ancient dragons, but there's no way of knowing if it's really true.
"I think it is." Klaus still remembers that dragon race he saw in the vision with the Dragon Princess.
"Hmm..." The fairy knows that Klaus saw something when he first drank that blood, but she doesn't want to appear any more jealous than she already does.
"So, do you think I can get more of that blood from those merchants?" He asks.
"They don't usually negotiate with demi-humans." Her expression gets upset. "Actually, they only come to our continent to get demi-human slaves, mainly my people."
Klaus doesn't really care about Irina's people or any demi-human race, but since she cares about them, he is willing to kill any humans who treat them, especially as that would be much food for him too.
"I wasn't thinking of negotiating..." He comments.
"Oh?" Irina likes how that sounds; she would really like to see all those slaveholders become food for Klaus. "So it's worth looking for them, but I think we'd better not do that too soon."
Before Klaus can ask why, she explains. "The people who manage to cross the dangers of the sea are usually in the Martial King Realm or higher, and we have few people like that on our entire continent."
"I see..." Klaus continues talking to Irina as they travel through the dunes; he has many other questions on his mind, but he stops when he hears something.
The desert is tranquil at night, so Klaus notices some sounds a mile ahead and quickly alerts Irina. "Looks like we're in luck."
"It's her?" Irina gets concerned.
Klaus walks forward as he focuses his senses, listening to the Keld group talking around the campfire.
"Not her." He answers Irina's question. "They just seem like a lost group."
Irina notices the excited smile on Klaus' face, and she almost feels sorry for the vampire's next victims. "They have such bad luck..."