"Layla wasn't expecting anyone to be in her house. Why? Because she had set up a protective barrier in her mansion that would help her kick out intruders. She was surprised to see vampires in her house. Even with the chandeliers turned off, making the place dark, she could still recognize the red eyes glowing in the darkness. Eric was also surprised, as it was his first time seeing those red eyes. Although he was a dragon in his past life, he hadn't encountered any vampires. Before Eric and Layla knew what was happening, a portal suddenly opened behind them. Before they could react, the portal created a wind that sucked them in.
Eric found himself in a place he didn't recognize. The sky was dark, but despite the darkness, he could still see two moons - one red and one blue. As Eric looked around, he realized he was in a forest. He wondered to himself, 'Why do I keep finding myself in forests? Am I cursed with the spirit of the forest, or is it just because I have the ability of wood?' As he examined his surroundings, he noticed the trees were unlike any he'd seen before - they had pink leaves. Eric couldn't recognize what kind of trees there were; he knew he was definitely not in the human world. He had a guess: 'I think I might be on another planet. What is this place, and most importantly, where is Layla?'.
Meanwhile, in a vast, black-painted castle with thirty rooms and an underground basement, Layla found herself trapped in one of the many prison cells.
'Damn those bloodsuckers! Where's Eric? Where am I? Why am I locked in a cage? And how did those blood beasts pass through my barrier?' Layla looked around, realizing her staff was gone. She remembered she mistakenly threw it away when the portal opened, before the wind sucked her in, landing her in the cell. Without her staff, Layla felt helpless, unable to perform magic or use her witch abilities.
As she pondered her situation, she heard footsteps approaching. Layla's curiosity turned to panic as she worried about being defenseless. What if the vampires want to experiment on her or feed her to one of their kind? Her mind racing, Layla anxiously watched the direction of the footsteps.
A young-looking man, likely in his thirties, appeared. However, his youthful appearance belied his true nature - he was a vampire named Anos. With a calm demeanor, Anos approached Layla's cage and said, 'You're welcome to my father's castle.'
Layla looked at Anos and asked, 'What do you want from me, creature of the night?' Anos gazed at Layla silently before responding, 'You're a witch. What do you think we vampires need witches for?'
Layla was surprised. 'What do you mean?'
Anos said, 'We need a witch to help us teleport our settlement back to the human world. We've been away for a long time, and my father believes it's time for us to return.'
Layla asked, 'Why not ask the former witch who helped you get here to take you back?'
Anos replied, 'It doesn't work that way. Besides, she's already dead. We need a new witch to help us.'
Layla's eyes widened. 'So that's why your kind is kidnapping people in the human world?'
Anos shrugged. 'What do you expect? Humans are nothing more than livestock to us. By the time we arrive, we'll take over everything.'
Layla's determination grew. 'You want to take over the human world, turn humans into livestock? It's not going to happen.'
Anos smiled. 'Oh, it will happen. Do you know why?' He stepped closer, his face inches from the cage. 'Because the two most significant threats are out of the way. The entire dragon race has been wiped out, and the strongest leader of the Elijah family has passed away. We vampires have been in hiding mostly because of the dragons. They've been a thorn in our side, burning our villages, killing our kind. Now that they're gone, we see no reason to hide anymore.'
Anos continued, "Though the Elijah family remains one of the strongest in the human world, we vampires have built a force strong enough to take them down. Our spies have infiltrated every corner, gathering intel. We know humans no longer have powerful warriors to defend against us." Layla looked at Anos defiantly. "Don't be surprised if we can get rid of you vampires the way we did with the dragon race." Anos sneered. "That's never going to happen. We're fully prepared, and our power surpasses your imagination. Whether you like it or not, you'll help us transport our settlement to the human world." As Eric walked through the forest, he spotted a group of beasts in the distance. He decided to keep a low profile and hide, but it was challenging due to the abundance of powerful creatures, including rabbits. Eric knew he couldn't fight without controlling his trees. He had no martial arts skills to defend himself in battle apart from manipulating trees and vines. Eric carefully navigated past the monsters, using leaves and branches to disguise himself as a plant. However, his plan went awry when a rabbit with two long horns and standing on its hind legs spotted him. The rabbit, attracted to the same type of tree Eric used for cover, began to eat the leaves, revealing Eric's hiding spot. The rabbit was surprised to see Eric, who quickly reacted by using his vine powers to pierce the rabbit's eyes. However, the rabbit dodged the attack, sustaining only a scratch on its face. The rabbit shouted, alerting other rabbits, which charged towards Eric's location. Cornered and outnumbered, Eric had no choice but to fight. He connected his powers to the nearby trees, instructing them to defend him. The trees sprang to life, their roots becoming legs and vines becoming hands, with sharp wooden teeth and grey eyes. The forest transformed into a battlefield as the trees clashed with the monsters. Eric had turned twenty trees into minions to defend himself. The trees' thick wooden bodies made it difficult for the rabbits to retaliate, and they were getting killed one by one. However, the situation changed when Eric heard a loud noise, causing birds to fly away. As the noise drew closer, Eric's instincts told him to run. A terrifying beast emerged, standing on four legs with a tiger-like face, four wings on its back, and a serpent-like tail with two heads. Eric's instincts kicked in, and he fled to a nearby cave, following the rabbits and other beasts that were fighting his tree minions. The beast chased them, destroying Eric's entire army of trees. After the beast left, Eric emerged from the cave, surveying the destruction. He knew he couldn't keep any trees with him, as their size would attract unwanted attention. The beast seemed tired after destroying the trees, and Eric took advantage of the opportunity to escape. As he walked away from the direction the beast came from, Eric thought it best to explore a different path, hoping to find something that would help him escape this strange place. With no clear destination in mind, he continued walking, unsure of where he was or where he was going. Layla, still trapped in a dark room cage, wondered if Eric had also been sucked into the portal and was now in the vampire world. She closed her eyes, using her magic to scan the planet and locate Eric. She found him wandering aimlessly, without direction. Layla decided to communicate with Eric through his mind. Eric, walking tiredly, was consumed by his thoughts. He lamented his life, from being a mighty dragon to becoming a noble, only to end up in this unknown place. He felt life was unfair, wondering if he had done something in his past life to deserve such punishment.
As Eric continued to complain and regret his life, he suddenly heard a voice in his mind. "Eric, it's me, Layla." At first, he thought he was hallucinating, but Layla's voice grew clearer. "Turn to your west and keep moving forward. You'll see a castle. Be careful, it's surrounded by vampires. I'm trapped in the castle's underground basement. If you receive this message, please help me, and make sure you don't get caught."
Eric, after hearing Layla's mysterious message, decided to follow her instructions. He headed in the direction Layla had told him. After thirty minutes, he saw a city in the distance. "Finally, a city," he thought. However, Layla's warning about the vampires surrounding the place made him cautious.
"Damn, what should I do now?" Eric thought about disguising himself as one of them. "Vampires have a keen sense of smell; won't they be able to detect that I'm not one of them?" But Layla is the only hope for me escaping this place. "She's my ticket out of here. What should I do now?"
Michael and Vodeen waited for Layla and Eric, but when they didn't show up, they decided to head to Layla's house. Upon arrival, they noticed the barrier surrounding her house was compromised. They entered the house, finding the door open and the living room in disarray. Vodeen spotted Layla's staff on the floor, which seemed unusual since she typically kept it with her.
"Isn't that Layla's staff?" Vodeen said. "She usually takes it everywhere."
Michael nodded. "Yes, that's her staff. Where is she? The mess suggests something happened. Let's search the house for clues."
After a thorough search, they found nothing. "What now?" Vodeen asked.
Michael suggested visiting Favy, a friend of Layla's with tracking abilities. They rushed to Favy's location, explained the situation, and asked for her help. Favy agreed and followed them back to Layla's house, where she performed her magic. Holographic images of Eric, Layla, and three vampires appeared, revealing they had been sucked into a portal.
"I think I can take you both to the portal's destination," Favy said. Vodeen agreed, eager to rescue Layla. However, Favy mentioned she couldn't accompany them due to important family business with the Green family. "You two would have to go by yourselves," she told them.
After Favy spoke, she clicked her staff on the ground, and a portal opened before them. Vodeen and Michael stepped into the portal, ready to face whatever lay ahead in their quest to rescue Layla and Eric.