A few minutes later, Hildr sat opposite Lin Rui. They had moved to one of the best restaurants in the city. It was called Caesar Restaurant, and it had the best food and service possible. Luna sat next to Hildr, but she seemed to be minding her business. Her face was a bit red, and Hildr knew why. She smiled at this, but she said nothing about the issue. In her eyes, this was nothing more than puppy love that would fade after a few months.
"Where do you come from?" Hildr suddenly asked this strange question. Luna looked at her with many questions in her eyes. Luna had already told her about the fact that Lin Rui was part of the Qilin clan. Rui looked at Hildr and smiled as he took a sip of his wine. He then looked into her eyes. "I am a Qilin." This was enough to answer all the questions that anyone could have about his origin. After all, there was only a single Qilin clan in the entire world. Hildr smiled at this answer. She then raised her hand and called over a waiter. She pointed at something on the menu, and the waiter returned a few minutes later with a tall glass of human blood. When Luna saw this, she did not have any reaction. To her, it was the same as ordering a glass of milk. This was how normal drinking human blood was among the Otherkind. On the other hand, Lin Rui's eyes glazed over for a second before he returned to normal. Hildr took a sip, and the three continued chatting about other things. They talked about the weather, politics, and even the few wars that were currently going on in the world. Hildr suddenly began talking about things in the human world, and just like that, Lin Rui suddenly had a lot to say.
The conversation became more heated as the two discussed the relationship between humans and the Otherkind. When Hildr saw that things were about to force them into crossing a line she was not ready to cross, she changed the subject. The three returned to simpler topics, and just like that, they grew closer.
That evening, Hildr cooked just as she had done every day, but this time around, her other roommates actually came for dinner. This was a first, and since it benefited Hildr, she did not complain. Anastasia was the first to arrive. She had only recently moved into these quarters, and in all this time, she had avoided all of them. She even avoided Amelia and her gang.
Soon, the other girls arrived, and to the surprise of everyone apart from Hildr, Adrian came with Amelia. The room was completely silent, with the sound of the television being the only sound present. When she was done cooking, Hildr put the food on the table, and to her surprise, everyone began eating. Luna began speaking with Hildr, and soon, everyone joined in. Luna was very good at bringing people together. They talked about the gladiator fights and how amazing Lin Rui was. At some point, they even began talking about the Mad Beast, who had become a real problem of late. There had been more attacks, and things were becoming more dangerous than ever.
"I think the Mad Beast makes a few good points," said Adrian. Everyone at the table looked at him with questions on their faces. Even Amelia looked at him in a weird manner.
"What are you talking about?" Hildr asked him. Adrian bristled slightly at this. He knew firsthand how vicious the woman before him was. The fear she had put in his heart was still fresh. Adrian cleared his voice before speaking.
"The Mad Beast released his demands a few days back, and they were very simple. He demanded that we stop killing humans for food. This is his biggest demand. The others are all simply the same thing. He wants humans to be treated the same as Otherkind. After thinking about his demands for a few days, I realized that he was being reasonable. Humans and Otherkind may be different races, but there is no need for humans to be treated the way they have been for the past thousands of years. In truth, humans are not inferior to the Otherkind in any way. It is just that we can use the Soul of the world, and they cannot." Adrian was very passionate with his words. Nara, the one who claimed to be a fire spirit, looked at Hildr, Amelia, and Anastasia as though this discussion had a lot more to do with them. This was a fact, since the three of them were children of the night. Hildr was a Draugr, and the other two were Strigoi. They all drank human blood, and it was their main source of sustenance. Hildr saw the looks and smiled. She then looked at Adrian with a calmness that shook him for a second before he remembered that this was the Dragon capital.
"How do you suggest that we survive? Surely, you do not expect us to willingly starve just for the sake of the humans." Her words made her stance on the matter very clear. Adrian was not intimidated by her aura.
"Even though we survive on human blood, we do not actually need it to live. We can live on animal blood without any issues. We simply choose human blood because it tastes better, and it gives us a sense of superiority."
Luna nodded in agreement, and the ever-frowning Shet began looking at Adrian as though she approved of what she was seeing. Hildr surprisingly nodded in agreement with Adrian's words. She then looked at the magic device. There had been another attack from the Mad Beast.
"Still, do you think that this is the best way for him to make his case to the world? From what I understand of the world, this will anger the Otherkind even more, leading to more pain for the humans. I can assure you that over the next few days, the Otherkind will become even more cruel and unfeeling towards the human plight. You cannot simply wake up and change a society through more destruction. He should have come up with a better plan if he wants to save the humans," she said.
Everyone at the table looked at her in anticipation of what she would say next.
"What do you think?" Hildr asked Amelia, the only one among them who could be said to have a vested interest in how things developed for the humans.