(Present Time)

The silence in the room stood like a death reaper, ready to hitch as many souls on its cloak of death for no one wanted to break or challenge it. Some hunters had gathered in the room where Xiran had fought his father.

The battle between the father and son had ended with the latter escaping. Xiran finally carried Irlana to the room where he had seen those doctors earlier. Entering the room he saw two of them were still there, hiding away with fearful eyes.

"She is bleeding, treat her," he asked in a domineering tone. Laying her down on a table.

"If you tried anything funny, I will wring your necks," he warned and stood beside them, watching them like a hawk.

They quickly moved and with shaking hands got the required medical supplies and stitched up her wound. Xiran called Silver and asked for the update, he informed him that everything was under control.

Rumail had hacked the security system through the little devices hunters had planted in different locations inside the building and was gathering all the data.

Once Irlana was treated, Xiran left her in the care of one of the hunters and made his way down. The hunters and vampires were rescuing and bringing out hundreds of elves and other species, whom his father had captured and imprisoned.

"Ransack the facilities, gather everything valuable. Send all the elves to be relocated to Tremais. Burn all these facilities to the ground and send all prisoner vampires, hybrids and doctors to headquarters. Aldridge will decide their fates. The ones he wants to keep and the ones to be annihilated."

He issued his order without a trace of remorse or pity on his face. His grey hues lacked warmth. Silver simply nodded and his orders were issued further without any reluctance. From his grim expression, Silver had deduced that Phantom had escaped.

Xiran’s forces lost thirty of their men and women while the enemy suffered heavy losses and lost three of their facilities.

All these three facilities were burnt and Xiran stood there watching the one he had attacked being consumed by flames. Its fumes seemed to touch the sky but the fire seemed to devour him with regret. His father should have died inside it, his body should have burnt giving off the stench of his sins and yet he was still breathing somewhere.

Xiran was beyond disappointed, he had let everyone down yet again and he wouldn’t be able to get his Leia back. The reality of keeping her hidden had to be prolonged and now his father will be hell-bent on finding her. He won’t risk going to her again.

He stood there, watching the last traces of fire dim and flicker out its amber hues and turn to charred remains. The wind picked up, blowing away the ashes and hopefully, the horrors that must have taken place in this wretched place.

His thoughts went back to Zirius’s girlfriend, the agony he had observed in that girl’s eyes was going to haunt him forever and to think his father was responsible, she was sure to hate him forever.

"Xiran!" Silver’s gruff voice made him slightly turn to look at him.

"We should head back, our work here is done and we don’t want to remain in this foreign territory any longer than we have to. We can be attacked," Xiran sternly nodded. He was thankful for Silver and how he had taken charge of the rest of the mission. Aldridge had said he was a valuable asset and he had surely proven to be.

"Have all the elves been taken to safety?" Xiran asked as they began to move towards the last car which had been reserved for them.

"Yes! I have also sent your sister with Agent 93. They have crossed the border safely. It’s just us now," they reached their car and Xiran was about to get in the driver’s seat when Silver said:

"Let me drive," Silver could see Xiran was not in his right state of mind.

"Ok!" Xiran quietly moved to the passenger seat and got in. Silver started the car and soon they left behind the skeleton of the building which had been a torture cell for hundreds of elves.

"I failed!" Xiran uttered the words with the utmost regret. His bent hand rested under his chin and his elbow was supported by the window.

"What happened?" Silver asked without any judgment in his voice. He had seen the hatred Xiran always harboured for his father, something must have gone wrong.

Xiran narrated everything to him without skipping any details.

"I thought I would be able to win Aselia back. I had wished the doctor who had invented the serum to restore memories will be in one of these facilities. As Amoris had seen him here, but my father must have shifted him."

The regret laced his words, the tears of remorse stung his eyes, and frustration turned his insides into a raging storm. And yet he didn’t shed them, his watery eyes stared outside.

"We will get him next time. You made the right choice of saving your sister. Don’t let the guilt consume you, we need your strength because your father will retaliate."

Xiran wasn’t expecting Silver to offer him words of reassurance. He stole an awkward glance at Silver who was keeping a straight face. So he guessed both of them had come far and finally put their differences aside.

Xiran didn’t fully know that Silver was so conflicted because of his feelings for Rubisha. He no longer considered Xiran an enemy and wanted to ask how he and Aselia had made their relationship work as long as they did for he was lost.

"I understand this is not the right time but can I ask your opinion on something?" Silver reluctantly requested. His jaw set tight for he was mustering up a lot of courage to say something like that.

"Sure," a look of surprise passed on Xiran’s face. He didn’t know what Silver possibly wanted to inquire from him.

"Can a relationship really work between a vampire and a vampire hunter?" Xiran whipped his head towards him. Silver expression was deadpanned, he wasn’t joking.