The night air was cold as Kai left his horse tied to a dead tree two miles back.
He walked the rest of the way on foot because riding any closer would alert the scouts guarding the valley entrance. He reached the edge of the Ashfen pass, where the vampire march camp spread out across the rocky floor.
He stepped past the first row of dying campfires.
Drone vampires stood in loose clusters around the flames. They were low-level grunts, pale and starving, and they barely possessed any sentient thought.
Kai walked right past them.
His partial skill, Crimson Veil, kept his mana dim enough that their basic sensory abilities slid right off his shoulders.
"Throw another log on the fire," a voice called out from the darkness.
A drone grunted in response and tossed a dry branch into the flames.
The pale creature looked right in Kai's direction.
