Chapter 14
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
The portal shimmers before me like liquid mercury, its surface rippling with unseen currents. I take a breath and step through, leaving Lazarus's tomb behind.
Traveling through the portals is uneventful until I pass the final wall. A force blast catches me unprepared, slamming me off my feet. I hit the stone floor hard and slide several feet, my head cracking against the corner of a wall. My vision blurs, the world spinning around me in a nauseating swirl.
"I knew we would find you here! Murderer! I am going to end you!"
I tilt my head up over my chest, blinking to clear my vision. Two figures come into focus: a furious Riselle and a warrior I don't recognize. The man is small but muscular, with flowing brown hair and piercing brown eyes. He stands bare-chested, wielding a massive axe in one hand like it weighs nothing.
I push myself up slowly, and Riselle's blazing hazel eyes lock onto me. She raises her staff, weaves beginning to form around it in swirls of green and gold.
"Wait! Can we talk about this? Please, Riselle," I call out, raising a hand in a placating gesture.
Her eyes intensify, hands clenching white-knuckled around her staff. Her entire presence radiates violence, rage burning around her like a palpable aura, wild and uncontrolled as a stallion galloping across open plains.
Riselle snarls and unleashes another blast of force in my direction. I roll sideways, coming up to face her again. From the corner of my eye, I spot Lazarus leaning against a wall, studying Riselle with clinical interest.
"I don't think these two are here to play nice and have a discussion with you, fledgling. If you don't want to imitate what a rag doll looks like, I suggest you strike back," Lazarus says cheerfully. I ignore the spirit's commentary.
Instead, I focus and analyze the pair.
This is Riselle, a level 20 druid. This is Azlam, a level 18 barbarian.
I exhale slowly. This won't be easy. Levels aren't everything, but they have more experience than me. Riselle sends another force blast my way, which I dodge as smoothly as possible with my still-healing body. So far, the barbarian hasn't joined the fight. I need to engage before he decides to.
With that thought, I immerse myself in my Domain, gathering mana and beginning to weave. Blood and destruction twist together, and from that weave comes lightning. The crimson lightning crackles and hums with power, casting an eerie red glow across the stone walls. Riselle's eyes widen, and I fling it—not at her but at her barbarian partner.
The barbarian rolls out of the way, and the lightning explodes against the wall with a thunderous boom. Azlam turns toward me slowly, eyebrows raised in surprise. Riselle gapes as well, but her expression quickly hardens to cold fury.
"It doesn't matter how many tricks you may have picked up; I'm going to end you."
She blasts me with force again, but this time I'm ready and rip lightning out of the air. It detonates against her blast, causing an explosion of crimson lightning that fills the corridor with crackling energy. Lazarus claps his hands together in delight.
"Oh, good move. I wonder if you're starting to see the problem, though."
I scowl, considering our situation. It doesn't take long to understand what he means. We're fighting at range, and I don't have any weaves that can effectively harm them from a distance. The lightning can be dodged or countered, so flinging it around isn't doing anything effective. Riselle's face twists in rage, but she too seems tired of the stalemate.
Which is why she begins to weave a different spell, her hands moving in unfamiliar patterns. Azlam hefts his axe as she works, and I sense something changing in the air around us.
"Oh, that's interesting. I do believe the young lady is about to shift. I haven't seen that done in an age!" Lazarus sounds like he's enjoying a show. All he needs is a snack.
I glare at the ancient spirit, but I can't spare him much attention. Instead, I rush toward the pair. Azlam smiles grimly and sets his stance. I keep running. Azlam raises his axe. I close the distance. He begins to bring his axe down in what would be a deadly strike, and that's when I start to weave.
At the last possible second, I roll under his strike and to the side. The deadly axe misses me by inches, and Azlam cannot reset himself fast enough. My lightning takes him directly in the head.
Your have dealt Azlam a fatal blow! Azlam has died! Blood lightning has increased to level 4.
Azlam's head explodes like a detonating bomb. Blood, brain matter, and viscera fly through the air in all directions. A strange smell fills the space—the acrid scent of burning meat. Azlam's headless body collapses to the ground, the stump of his neck charred and blackened. I look at the body grimly. I honestly didn't want to do this—didn't want to be killing these two.
I don't have time for introspection. A giant roar splits the air, shaking the very stone beneath my feet. I whip my head around and see a massive brown bear standing in the corridor. The monster grizzly takes up nearly the entire passage. My jaw drops open. It towers above me, deadly and primal, eyes blazing with that same uncontrolled rage that Riselle had shown. The bear's breath comes heavy and strong, pushing dust across the floor. It smells like an ancient cave in a forgotten forest—wild, dangerous, and untamed.
"Yep. You're not hallucinating. That's a grizzly. Aren't druids awesome? Remind me to tell you about the druid I used to know. The things he could turn into, let me tell you." Lazarus appears beside me, examining the bear with interest.
"The commentary isn't helping, Laz," I growl under my breath.
Lazarus holds a hand to his chest, eyes wide with mock surprise. "Did you just give me a nickname? How wonderful! Oh, you better watch out; I think she's charging."
She is, and she's too large for me to dodge in this narrow corridor. I rip lightning out of the air and hurl it at the grizzly. It strikes her and blackens a patch of fur but does little else. I curse, turn tail, and run. I can't see any other option. I don't want to kill her, and my lightning isn't doing enough damage. Lazarus seems to always be nearby, which makes sense; his spirit moves with the skull.
"She's gaining on you, I hope you know," he observes casually. "I really don't think you're going to outrun her, my fledgling. There's also your hunger; it's going to weaken you a bit."
He's right. I do feel hungry, almost unbearably so. It started pulsing within me at the sight of the blood that exploded from Azlam's head. The sight of it had once seemed gross, but now it looks like a gourmet meal. Delicious. I want it, and I want it badly. That's another reason I want to escape Riselle.
At that thought, a massive paw crashes into me, nearly crushing me to the ground like someone might push a bag of trash into a can. Pain, sharp and blinding, lances through my body.
I try to slide away, immediately rolling to my feet, but it's not enough. I'm batted again, claws digging into the skin of my shoulder and shredding it like paper. I cry out in pain, and the grizzly that is Riselle roars in my face. My eardrums pop at the sound. Her breath is hot against my skin, though I find myself oddly grateful that it doesn't smell bad. I almost laugh at the absurdity. Here I am, staring into the bear's hazel eyes, watching its gleaming, deadly teeth set into powerful jaws descending toward me, and I'm grateful its breath doesn't stink.
"I'm sorry, Riselle," I say sadly.
As the bear's jaws descend toward my head, her eyes blazing with triumph and fury, I slam lightning directly into her mouth with my free and unbroken right arm. The crimson lightning crackles with almost destructive glee, and this time it isn't hitting the bear's fur.
Riselle, in grizzly form, rocks back from me, her roar transforming into a howl of pain. I stand up and walk toward her, and I don't let up. I slam blood lightning into her head over and over again. The pain coursing through my body fuels my grim determination, and the hunger pulses right along with it, growing stronger with each beat of my heart.
You have critically injured Riselle. Riselle's bear form has faded.
Riselle's human body lies shaking on the ground; little sparks of crimson lightning dance along her skin. She groans in pain, and I notice a small scratch on her throat. It's tiny—not much of a scratch at all—but those tiny droplets of blood are suddenly the most beautiful things I've ever seen.
Time slows. The crimson beads glisten in the dim light, pulsing in rhythm with her heartbeat. The scent hits me next—copper and salt and something else, something primal that calls to the deepest part of my being. My vision narrows until there's nothing but those perfect ruby droplets and the blue vein throbbing beneath her pale skin.
I don't remember moving. One moment I'm standing over her, the next I'm straddling her body, my knees pinning her arms. Her heart pounds frantically, the sound deafening in my ears. She looks up at me, and our eyes meet. The rage that burned so brightly before has extinguished, replaced by naked terror. A single tear slides down her cheek.
"Please," she begs, her voice trembling.
Something stretches in my mouth—a sharp, almost pleasurable pain as my canines lengthen. I run my tongue over them in fascination. The hunger roars through me now, not just in my stomach but in every cell, every fiber of my being. It's a living thing inside me, clawing to get out.
Riselle tries to buck me off, but her struggle only makes the vein in her neck stand out more prominently, only makes her pulse race faster. I lean down slowly, inhaling deeply. Her scent is intoxicating—fear and sweat and beneath it all, that sweet, metallic promise.
"What are those? Are those fangs?! Don't—"
I strike like a viper, fangs plunging deep into the soft flesh of her throat. Her skin parts easily, like it was made for this purpose, made for me. Blood explodes across my tongue, hot and thick and indescribably sweet. It's like nothing I've ever tasted—honey and wine and liquid life itself.
Riselle's scream chokes off as I drink deeply. Her body arches beneath me, hands clawing weakly at my back. I don't feel it. I'm lost in sensation, in pleasure so intense it borders on pain. Each swallow sends waves of euphoria cascading through my body. Each heartbeat pushes more of her life into me.
The blood flows directly into my Domain, filling it with power. I feel my broken arm knitting itself together, bone fragments aligning perfectly. My shredded shoulder repairs itself, skin growing over raw muscle. Even my mind feels clearer, sharper, like a fog has lifted.
Her struggles grow weaker. Her heartbeat falters, struggling to pump blood that's no longer there. Some distant part of me knows I should stop, that I'm taking too much. But the hunger is insatiable, demanding everything she has to give.
Her hands fall away from my back. Her body goes limp beneath me. Still, I drink until there's nothing left, until the last drop slides down my throat and her heartbeat fades to silence.
Only then does the haze clear from my mind. Only then do I see what I've done.
Your blood consumption skill has increased to level 7. You have consumed all of Riselle's blood. You have dealt a final death to Riselle. Congratulations, Jackson! You have advanced to level 17!
The notifications cut through whatever remains of my bloodlust. I pull back slowly, staring down at Riselle's corpse. Her face is ashen gray, drained of all color. Her eyes stare sightlessly upward, the ghost of her final terror still visible in them. Two small puncture wounds mark her throat, surprisingly neat and clean compared to the violence of what just happened.
What have I done? For the love of everything, what have I done?
"You've fed, fledgling," Lazarus's voice is quiet behind me. "It's what we are."
I stumble backward off of Riselle's body, my hands shaking. The euphoria of the blood is still coursing through me, but it's tainted now by the realization of what I've become. My newly healed body feels alien, powered by someone else's life.
"I didn't mean to... I just wanted to..." The words catch in my throat.
"She was trying to kill you," Lazarus reminds me, his tone surprisingly gentle. "And she would have succeeded."
I look down at my trembling hands. They're stained crimson. "I didn't have to drain her completely. I could have stopped."
Lazarus floats closer, his spectral form wavering slightly. "Control comes with time and practice. You're new to this hunger. It will become easier to manage."
"Easier?" I laugh bitterly. "I don't want it to be easier to kill people, Laz."
"Then learn to feed without killing." His eyes glow more intensely. "That will be your first lesson from me. But not here. We should move on before others come looking for these two."
I cast one last look at Riselle's body. Her face seems peaceful now, the fear fading from her features as death takes full hold. Without thinking, I reach out and close her eyes.
"I truly am sorry," I whisper.
As I stand, I notice something glinting near Azlam's headless corpse. A small pendant on a chain has fallen from his neck. The crimson gem at its center pulses with an inner light that seems to call to me. I pick it up, examining it.
"That's interesting," Lazarus leans in, eyes narrowing. "A blood ruby pendant. Quite rare. It resonates with your Domain."
I slip it into my pocket, not wanting to think about why it seems to call to me. "Let's go. I've had enough of this place."
As we walk away from the scene, I can't shake the feeling that something fundamental has changed within me. Not just my newly awakened vampyric nature, but something deeper. The hunger that led me to drain Riselle completely is still there, quieter now but waiting beneath the surface.
I know it will return. And when it does, I'll need to be ready.
For a brief moment, I feel something stir within my Domain—a flicker of crimson and violet at the edges of my vision, gone almost before I can register it. A warmth spreads through my chest, both comforting and unsettling.
"Did you feel that?" I ask Lazarus.
The ancient vampyre smiles enigmatically. "Your Domain grows, fledgling. The blood of another has fed more than just your body."
I don't like the implications of that, but I keep walking. The path ahead stretches into darkness, and I can only hope that the next challenge doesn't require me to become even more of a monster than I already am.