– I was left with terrible scars on my legs.
Necroline slightly unwound the bandage and showed part of the lower leg. The skin was mutilated, burns mixed with bloody streaks from claws and swords.
The girl looked at it all with irony and smiled strangely. Rewinding the bandage, Necroline clicked her tongue thoughtfully.
“All the wounds were inflicted by a magic blade, and therefore such scars remained,” the kunoichi girl snorted. So now I have made a vow. I will leave the Haya ninja clan if I really find someone who loves me and is willing to risk everything for me. But this doesn’t happen in real life. These are fairy tales.
Necroline smiled openly. She was beautiful, and now it seemed a crime that the girl rarely smiled. Most likely, only on special occasions and for special people.
The wood in the fire crackled softly. The birds didn’t sing. Old cemetery. It created a terrible atmosphere – a cursed place. Once upon a time, there was a war between vampires and humans. People imagined themselves above all and challenged the vampires. There are no winners in this war – only corpses.
The bushes stirred. The company of ninjas twitched. Necroline and Dale were already preparing to launch attacks, and Zander suddenly stood up and calmly walked somewhere to the side.
– Hey, what are you thinking? Caroline asked fearfully, standing behind her friend.
– What about girls? The elf purred softly.
Dale waved his hand and explained:
– Zander dreams of appearing heroically, saving some beauty. But, alas, every time he has a bummer. I think this time…
The shaman did not have time to finish, because the pointy-eared elf flew out of the bushes at the speed of a rocket.
– There was a mistake. There are vampires,” Zander explained.
There really are vampires out there. Slender with pale skin and black robes. The unnatural eyes glowed with a bright scarlet, almost uncontrollable, bloodlust. Without thinking, Necroline tossed the head of garlic. The nearest vampire grabbed him and swallowed him in one fell swoop, not bothering to chew his food, causing the ninja girl to make a displeased face.
– So you choke, – Necroline said, somewhat offended, realizing that the mutations are affecting, and the old weapon does not work so effectively, which means there was only one left.
***
They fled from the vampires briskly, overtaking each other. The fact is that over the several thousand years of their existence, vampires have adapted and are truly afraid of only two things: holy water and sunlight.
Our heroes “flew” and “jumped” to the village in such a short time that any Olympian-athlete would envy.
When only three hundred meters remained, the whole four stopped together, hiding behind the trees to take a breath. They are still ninjas, and they need to look decent, and not like out of breath siskins.
It has already dawned, and the air is unusually fresh, invigorating and raising morale.
– And we would have reached the village only tomorrow evening, – Caroline shook her head sadly.
– A peculiar plus, – Zander forcedly smiled.
The village of Khaya turned out to be small, with a dozen houses, but quite strong in appearance. All houses are made of stone from two to three floors. Joyful and smiling children ran through the streets, dogs walked, adults went about their business, old people gossiped on the benches.
The little girl rushed towards the kunoichi girl and hung on her waist demandingly.
– You’ve come! The girl exclaimed.
Necroline looked at the child somewhat puzzled, as if bewildered. She obviously did not know the girl, and was not used to such treatment from children.
– Will you save me?
At first glance, the girl was about six years old, in her hands she held a small wicker basket with flowers. She handed a chamomile of these flowers to the “dark one”. Necroline’s violet eyes showed such incomprehension that Caroline involuntarily giggled.
– My deceased mother predicted that you would save me tomorrow.
“I’m a mercenary and I don’t do anything for free,” the kunoichi replied coldly. It might even give the impression that the girl has no human feelings, only “money”.
“If you don’t save me tomorrow on the roof of the fourth house, then I will die with my head held high, and I won’t regret my life,” the girl’s voice was serious. “So just remember me. I am Lesya.
Leia turned around and ran away. She didn’t look upset at all. Rather resolute and confident, but what??
Dale, who took a step forward and caught up with Necroline the fastest, noticed a strange understanding in the eyes of the ninja.
– Necroline, well, how long can you wait? BUT? The voice that called out to the ninja sounded loud and demanding.
On the threshold of one of the houses stood an almost exact copy of Necroline, only a little taller and older, and most importantly – the eyes. Melania’s eyes of an unusual green color looked at the world harshly and demandingly.
Necroline smiled and rushed to her sister.
– How do you feel?
Thanks, you saved my life.
– Meet me. My new companions are Shiro Dale and Tan Zander. And this is my older sister Melania, – Necroline smiled slightly.
Why isn’t the ending “line”? the elf asked.
– My real name is Meline, but I like Melania better, – the girl explained.
– Understood.
– Remember Verdandi? Melania asked her younger sister, who immediately nodded. “She wants to challenge you and enter the Best Ninja competition. From today on, you will be training. We can’t fall on our faces. And we can’t do it with a face, either.
“Okay,” Necroline nodded obediently.
During lunch, the shaman became more and more surprised at the oddity in Necroline’s behavior. She was completely different. Before that, the kunoichi seemed rude and insensitive, but now, on the contrary, she demonstrated unprecedented obedience, bordering on submissiveness. Of course, a person is not unambiguous, but here the principle is different. At home – a good girl, and outside the threshold – a bully. Maybe the girls call it romance, maybe stupidity, maybe something else… it turns out ambiguously.
Melania or Meline turned out to be cheerful and sociable. It turns out that their parents were slaughtered by the Hounds. Then only a few children survived. The Haya settlement was preparing ninjas in order to take revenge on the Hounds and revive their kind.
The reason Melania didn’t like her real name was only known to Necroline. In fact, the name Melaine reminded her of the former wars with the Hound and Shinigami clans.
“Dark” also gave hope that it would help to exterminate the enemies and return the clan to its former glory and power. Her “brake” was Caroline, who constantly fought for the “light side of the soul” of Necroline, tuning in to world peace.
***
Caroline, Zander, and Dale woke up almost at the same time, three seconds apart. After breakfast, Caroline took everyone to the place of training – a picturesque rock with a waterfall.
Necroline, dressed in a blue cotton miniskirt with a black top, was concentrating, putting her thoughts in the proper order necessary for magic. On