The Accidental Vampire

After a small yet serious discussion, Atlas and Lilith finally agreed on the plan. They walked off the grass and back to the carriage.

"I won't ask what you discussed since you wouldn't have gone so far if you wanted to tell us. But can you at least tell us what we're supposed to do? Or will you two be the only ones going inside the city?"

Yovana was slightly upset that Lilith and Atlas didn't trust them enough to discuss the plan with them, yet she couldn't do anything about that except go with the plan.

"We won't be going in alone. You two will be coming with us as well."

Atlas started explaining the entire plan. Lancaster heard the entire plan with a weird look on his face as he occasionally kept glancing at Yovana.

"With her?" he asked after Atlas finished the entire plan.

Atlas nodded. "That's the plan. It should give us what we need."

"What about your aura? Won't they realize who you are with that?" Yovana pointed out the flaw in the plan that she was told. "The problem isn't how we will enter. You two should practice. I'll go train with Lilith. We will enter the city tomorrow.

"If you believe it'll work, then I have no problem."

Even though Lancaster didn't know how this plan was going to work, he decided to place his entire trust in Atlas. If he was willing to go with the plan, that meant the plan had some merits that he couldn't see at the moment.

The biggest problem in this plan was Atlas' aura which was a make-or-break problem, but Atlas left that to Lancaster.

The Carriage Driver was instructed to get the carriage off the roads and to hide it inside the forest. Atlas went deep inside the forest with Lilith, leaving Yovana behind with Lancaster.

****

The forest was filled with thousands of trees. It was so dense that it was easy for a person to hide inside the forest without being noticed.

Atlas stood in the center of the forest with Lilith.

"Before we start, you need to calm your head." Lilith sat on the ground.

"I'm already calm," Atlas answered. "Just teach me the spell."

"That spell isn't as easy as the last spell you used. It'll take some time. Sit down."

Atlas followed the instructions and sat before Lilith, facing her.

"Now, close your eyes and stay like that for thirty minutes. Calm your breathing and just try to feel your body and the elements around you. You must not open your eyes before thirty minutes are over. Alright?"

Atlas closed his eyes and did the same, wondering why Lilith was asking him to do it. It seemed so easy to do, after all. All she was asking him was to meditate. If that's all it took, then it wasn't hard at all.

Unfortunately, only when he did, did he realize that it was more complex than it looked. Just within ten minutes of meditation, his mind started swaying. He couldn't focus on anything. There were just so many thoughts in his head which didn't allow him to think of anything else.

Was this what Lilith meant when she said that he needed to be calmer? Even though he felt as if he was calm before, only now realized that there was so much chaos hidden behind that calm.

He wanted to stop, getting irritated. He wanted to open his eyes and take a walk, feeling as if he was being suffocated by this.

Unlike Atlas, Lilith had her eyes open now. She could see the distressed expressions of Atlas.

"Now you realize what I meant? Your mind is chaotic, and with that, you can't effectively cast the spell I'm about to teach you. And even if you did cast it somehow, it might break at any moment when you're inside the city, which would be even worse." Lilith's melodious voice fell in Atlas' ears, giving him the must needed distraction that he needed from his own thoughts b

"It's better to take more time here and perfect all flaws than taking a flawed spell and putting yourself at risk. You understand?"

"I gave you only thirty minutes to meditate because I knew you couldn't even do it. Now that you know, I'll tell you the truth. You won't succeed in calming your head in thirty minutes. In fact, it must even take an entire day, or a week, or more. We won't proceed to the next part of the plan until you succeed."

"You're right. I have too much chaos inside me, but how to solve it? The scary silence of meditation and the chaotic thoughts make me feel like I'll go crazy within minutes, let alone hours."

"You won't go crazy. You're much stronger than that. If you want to calm your head, you need to face them one by one. Focus on each thought individually and work with it. Try to understand why you have that thought. You need to come to terms with everything and realize that you aren't alone in all this. You don't have to take all the burden yourself."

"If only it were that easy." Atlas let out a tired sigh.

****

No matter how hard it was to stay focused, Atlas didn't give in. He remained seated, having his eyes closed.

He even tried to use Lilith's approach, which appeared to make things even more complicated. As he delved deep into one thought, hundreds more came.

The chaos was just too much.

First three or four hours were the hardest for him as he tried to navigate through his chaos, but with the passage of time, things became somewhat easier. He even forgot where he was sitting or what he was doing. Instead, he was completely lost in his own thoughts, entering his own world.

Lilith watched Atlas immersed. She nodded her head in satisfaction. He had finally started the process.

She silently stood up so as to not disturb Atlas. For his safety, she even cast a formation around him so no one could disturb her without alerting her since she needed to leave him temporarily to take care of something.

Lilith stepped back, not making any noise before ultimately disappearing, leaving Atlas all alone in the forest.

Surrounded by a beautiful formation, Atlas remained alone, lost in his thoughts as gentle winds brushed against his face, making the atmosphere even more serene.

Half an hour after Lilith disappeared from the forest, someone approached Atlas.

A group of four appeared to be coming back from a distant place, traveling through the forest.