Lawrence tried to gain the half-breed’s trust with little acts of kindness; he often left things for them deep within the forest where he had first encountered them. He left out clothes, bedding and food for them.
A year went by and Lawrence began to wonder wether his actions had made a difference. That was until one of the female half-breeds arrived at Lawrence’s home in a panic. She stood nervously leaning on the giant pine tree she had once been tied too.
After urging him to follow her, the girl brought Lawrence to an underground den, the entrance hidden in the hollow of an ancient Yew tree. Inside the den, one of the male half-breeds; the smallest of the four, was flailing and screaming in agony. A sign that his young, once human body was starting to reject the foreign vampire blood inside him.
Lawrence used his knowledge of sealing and medical magic to relieve the boy from the pain, saving his life. This was how Lawrence earned the trust of the four half-breed children.
– – –
After earning their trust, the four half-breeds opened up to Lawrence and told him everything that had happened to them.
The four of them were friends from a small farming village (far away from the effects of the Purge) but were kidnapped by vampires and turned into half-breeds and thrown onto the battlefield to see the horrified and disgusted glares of the kingdom’s soldiers. With no one willing to help them and everyone trying to kill them the four half-breed children ran away. They didn’t want to die, so they ran without looking back. Hunted by both humans and pure-blood vampires, they found themselves in the Dark Forest.
After hearing everything they had gone through, Lawrence decided to adopt the four half-breed children as his grandchildren. Since he had no blood relations, this was his only chance at having a family.
Lawrence raised the vampires, helping them adapt to their change in nature and control their new unique abilities. The four of them formed a strong bond with Lawrence. They respected him above all else. Even though he was a human, he was much stronger than them.
– – –
20 years later, Lawrence had grown old and weak while the four half-breed children had gotten stronger and matured into adults, their slowly ageing bodies mean’t they still maintained their youthful appearance (basically looked half their age).
Lawrence was devastated his hope for humanity never came to be. Not long after adopting the four half-breeds, things had gotten much worse. Humanities relentless assault pushed the other races to their breaking point, leading to an all-out war.
Even after sixty years, humans still hailed themselves as the superior race. The Purge had devastated the other races, the Kingdom had succeeded in their goal to eradicate the other humanoid races from the country. Any survivors of the other races had long fled the country or gone into hiding. With the success of The Purge, the humans of the kingdom became more daring and now looked at claiming the Dark Forest as their territory.
As Lawrence grew older and weaker, his adopted grandchildren took care of him and his home. After raising them for over twenty years, Lawrence was well aware of how strong his grandchildren had become, however they have never left the Dark Forest. He was terrified of leaving them, should they ever be discovered by the Kingdom, they would live like fugitives, running and hiding just as they had as children. Lawrence didn’t want that for them, he wanted die knowing they would be safe.
In a desperate attempt to protect them, Lawrence used the last of his strength and magic power to forge four sacred weapons, each uniquely crafted for each of his grandchildren.
With his life fading away, Lawrence’s last act was casting a powerful sealing spell, creating a barrier to surround and camouflage their home from outsiders. Only those granted permission would be able to pass through the barrier.
After exhausting the last of his energy, Lawrence reached the end of his life. He bid farewell to his beloved grandchildren; he didn’t want to leave them in a world of persecution and uncertainty. At least he could protect them with his life.
The End
Dedicated Dreamer 