Emma crossed the frozen cave lattice, entering the grander world outside. The cool wind whistled against the sparse trees in the tundra. Snow formed a thin barrier in the air, covering most of the night sky. Emma could only see the occasionally flickering star overhead.

  Though it was cold outside, the woman could not see her breath, nor could she feel it. She took a forced deep inhalation through her nose and felt tranquil. Moreover, a sweet scent greeted her.

  She walked down the hillside, her feet crunching in the snow. The dark trees were covered in a thick layer of white.

  All of this would have been concerning before, especially given her lack of shoes. However, the pale woman was immune to these feelings. Instead, she chose to follow the tantalizing scent, like that of the sweetest peonies.

  As she walked, the smell grew thicker, and she eventually reached the source. However, the sight contrasted heavily against the smell.

  If her vision could be described as a tragedy, then the scent could be described as heavenly.

  This world of opposition was produced by a soldier lying on the ground. He wore leather armor, and a steel sword shone in the snow beside him, reflecting the red insignia on his shoulder. It was an orange brazier emblem.

  The man bled from a wound in his ribs, and on his other side the arm was missing. Fresh crimson dripped into the snow, and the man’s chest rose and fell slowly.

  Despite missing many of her memories, Emma knew what this was. She was observing someone’s final moments. Their death.

  Whether it was her ruminations or the crunching of snow, the man grew aware. His eyes flicked open and stared at the intruder to his grave.

  He looked at her with a sense of resignation. The man coughed before speaking.

  “Are you to be my reaper?”

  However, Emma could only tilt her head as she neared closer to him. She began to feel her stomach grumbling from that sweet scent. Her eyes narrowed towards his missing limb, watching the blood drip like a faucet.

  “Did you forget how to speak? If I’m to be eaten, at least give me your name.”

  Emma’s eyes widened in realization as she pointed at herself in confusion. Why would she want to eat a human? Her faint memories allowed her to recognize it as something profoundly disturbing. Cannibalism.

  The man chuckled. “I’m Karlack. It looks like you still have some reason about you. You’re a vampire, right?”

  Emma shook her head. She had no recollection of ever being bitten by a vampire. Once more, she was certain that vampires were something that couldn’t exist. However, magic was also something that was surely fiction, yet she had produced icicles with ease.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Karlack frowned and looked down at his missing limb, wrinkling his face in disgust. “You’re nothing like those others. The ones the church told us about…”

  Seeing that Emma provided no answer, the man shook his head before continuing. “I can see you’re a creature of reason. Can you listen to a dying man? I don’t need an answer. Just listen.”

  As Emma nodded, Karlack smiled. “Good. Heh, nobody wants to die alone, do they?”

  With his remaining arm, he pointed off into the distance. “I have two final requests. I believe the gods have already forsaken a reject like me. However, you…you might be my saving grace.”

  “Out west---down this abominable hill---there exists a small village. I want you to protect those people. Otherwise, can you please inform the kingdom? They aren’t safe. That’s why…”

  Emma jumped as the man coughed again. He used his arm to grab onto her shoulder, looking deep into her cloudy eyes.

  “There is a monster in these woods…Frost troll...It feeds on humans…”

  Frost troll. Vampires. Kingdoms. Emma’s mind began to conjure up imagery from an unfamiliar world. She realized that the man’s life was fleeting even quicker now. As his eyes began to shut, she shook him. She didn’t feel anything about his potential death, but the thought of not learning the second request was grating on her.

  “I’m sorry, lass. I don’t think the gods will accept me like this…When I die, you may use my body as sustenance.”

  Emma shook her head, realizing that death was the finality of existence. This man was really going to die, and she hadn’t said anything. Nor did she provide a single word of comfort. As his breathing became more and more shallow, she finally found her voice.

  “Emma,” she said, pointing at herself.

  Yet that small gesture was enough to make the man’s eyes light up. He grinned as the blood kept pouring out of his body.

  “That’s…A nice…name…”

  Karlack drew his final breath, his good arm falling limply into the snow.

  Emma watched in confusion. Even more confusing than the suddenness of his consciousness fleeing the world was the fact that her mind started seriously considering his second proposal. Each second spent looking at him was a second spent in hunger.

  Her rational brain said that such an act was profoundly incorrect. That by partaking in what her salivating mouth wanted, she’d become an enemy of the world, and it would be a step down into a broken path littered with corpses. Yet, the man had earnestly asked for it. He had given her his seal of approval. Was it so wrong then?

  Either way, she found herself lowering her head to the man’s neck on impulse. She could have easily sucked away at the pouring blood from his missing arm. However, the revulsion from that act was somehow even greater.

  Her pearly fangs eventually sunk in, and the taste that greeted her was sweet like honey. Emma’s reason was forgotten in an instant as she began chugging.

  The vampire’s first feast in this world was savage like that of a wild animal. Blood poured out of the corners of her mouth as she sucked the life essence. In her gluttony for the substance, she found herself sucking harder until there was nothing left.

  Karlack’s corpse leaning against a tree had shriveled completely. And the sight triggered a sense of disgust in Emma. She was attacked by post-drink clarity. However, the feeling of control was even greater than that.

  The magic limb pulsated, and her body felt warm beyond belief. It filled her with a sense of ecstasy. In that high, she thanked the man that allowed such a feeling, vowing to never forget Karlack.

  She picked his sword up out of the snow and held it up to her face. Reflected on the blade was her face covered in blood, but her cheeks were noticeably fuller now. Her eyes had changed in color slightly, becoming a little bluer than before. And her hair had taken on streaks of light blue.

  Emma smiled at the sword in her hands. “I will name you Karlack.”