With my Magispear in hand, I waited the Thralls assault with Halcyon at my back.
From the fog, they emerged slowly, on all fours, as if sizing us up, strategizing their assault. Each grumbled lowly to themselves.
Our breaths were heavy as we anticipated their first move. "Thralls... I know not much of them." I said. "How do we fight them?"
"Fire... typically. But these ones are different somehow; stick to holy magics if you can." Halcyon whispered.
"What will you do?"
"Don't worry about me..." He said assuredly.
Their grumbles grew louder as each of them sprinted at us chaotically.
I leapt up as one charged me, vaulting over its assault and landing on my feet, though immediately, another, gnashing its teeth at me, bloody and blackened, aimed for my neck. Too soon to utter a word, I quickly moved to its side just in time as its teeth bared down with a sickening knell. I spun my spear and slashed swiftly, only to hit dirt as the beast seemed to vanish almost instantly.
I glanced up at Halcyon, who seemed to keep up with their assault with little effort. He was a haze of blocks and feints as he smacked away their attempts. "Down!" He shouted, grabbing one by its neck and slamming it into the ground with a thud of shattering bone.
I wouldn't be able to keep up with them the way I was. "Repel," I said as one again lunged at me. It snarled in pain as it smashed against a nearby tree. So many words used in quick succession; I needed a better strategy.
Just then, an old lesson taught to me once, through words as of now, distant, rang in my mind. "The heavy-footed are the first to perish."
I knelt into a lunging stance, "Godspeed!" With force, the ground shattered under me as I flew forward, immediately dispatching two of them. Their heads fell to the ground, still grumbling.
The energy that now flowed through me would only last but a few moments. Three more emerged from the fog, one of whom pushed past me to Halcyon, who batted it away with instinct and continued to fight two others. The two ahead bore down on me closer and closer.
I gritted my teeth. "Feint," I said, as they gnashed at my afterimage. "And reform," I shouted, manifesting next to Halcyon and slashing away the two he fought.
"Thank you," he said, catching his breath. "But this isn't over."
The thralls left grouped together, imposing and vicious, their maws agape and wretched. They charged with a violent wail. "Halcyon, stand back," I said. Halcyon moved back a few feet, and I gripped my Magispear, tightening my stance. The world around me stilled for a moment. Their footsteps and heartbeats were my only focus. "Tenfold strikes!!!" I shouted, thrusting my spear. The blood of the beasts soaked the air as each was impaled numerous times in an instant. A silence fell as their snarls halted, and each fell to the ground.
Kneeling to the ground in exhaustion, I looked at Halcyon, who had a smirk on his face.
"What the hell did they teach you at the Arcanex?"
I chuckled, catching my breath. "You handle yourself well. It was amazing how you outpaced them." I told him, "I was barely able to keep up."
"I've been around a long time; you learn some things." He smiled. "These... were unlike most Thralls."
"In what way?"
"Most Thralls retain a sense of identity... only losing their free will. Some can resist, some can't, but these Thralls, they were feral, likely under their creator's full control, like puppets."
I looked at him with a furrowed brow.
"I believe he raised them at the brink of death, using his blood. It's a rare application... to be sure. Most would be unaware the option exists."
"So raising them on the brink of death... what? Strips them of their prior humanity?"
"Yes..." he said soberly.
At the realization, the Thralls began to rise again, their wounds healing as they wailed in anger.
"Which means they'd have a sense of immortality."
I moved back into a defensive stance, "What should we do?"
"It's time for you to stand back now... I believe I can handle this."
The thralls stumbled our way, the sickening sound of bones and skin healing, blood pouring back into their bodies like tendrils restoring their severed limbs and heads.
Halcyon walked a few paces forward and held out his palm as they approached. I could hear his breath, hard and concentrated, even over their snarls.
He clenched his hand into a fist, and each thrall wailed in pain and lumbered forward, slumped into the dirt.
"There..." Halcyon said.
"You couldn't have done that before?" I asked.
"In truth, I wasn't sure I could." He paused. "Perhaps this realization will help in the coming battle."
With the danger abated, we took stock of our surroundings; the fog seemed to draw away from us, clearing our path once more... the red energy continued to flow again, forward, into the depths of the woods.
"I suppose we should follow again." I said.
We continued into the dark; the scant rays of light from the canopy were all that would help us see. The feeling of eyes watching us had gone with the end of the assault, but that didn't stop the feeling of pervading evil. Recalling the state of that farmhouse and the Thralls, this vampire seemed non-discriminating in who died by his hand.
A few more minutes of walking revealed the entrance to a cave, stone soaked in crimson blood. A young woman in dented armor lay on the ground, with shallow breaths, a large chunk of her neck missing.
"Is that not...?" Halcyon's words stumbled.
"Yes, the Hunter who attacked you."
We looked upon her for but a moment before racing to her side.
"Can you talk?" I asked. She let out stifled grunts as if trying, tears running down her eyes. "It's alright, I said, don't try."
"Can you save her?" Halcyon asked, hesitating to get too close.
"No... death is going to take her very soon. Even if I tried, I couldn't..."
Her body went limp almost immediately, but her arm and finger pointed to the cave.
"I think we know what we must do."
Halcyon sighed angrily.
"Yes..."
A shallow breeze could be felt from within as we entered. "Gods, do you smell that?" I coughed.
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"It's likely that horrors await us inside. Are you ready?" he asked.
"Yes," I said, letting my Magispear dematerialize.
He looked at me confused, "Will you not need that?"
"I'm afraid it won't serve me well in such close quarters," I stated. "Now... Converge," the remaining rays of light from the entrance drew into a small wisp of light. "We should continue."
The wisp illuminated the dark passageway. The smell of rot and death only got worse as we ventured further, and the air became humid, the walls of the cave dripping with condensation... and blood. Echoes, much like screams and cries of pain, reached us, though muffled.
"Those sounds are further away than you might think. Hopefully, they won't be of any concern." Halcyon said. His expression was one of usual irritation. The scent of blood must have gotten to him.
"Have you truly not fed in centuries?"
He seemed hesitant, staying silent.
"You don't have to tell me... it's only," I paused, "I can tell it's making you uncomfortable."
"As I've said, 'It's nothing I can't handle.'"
I nodded, disregarding his apprehension.
The way forward became more cramped, but a chill breeze came from deeper down, much to my relief as sweat had begun to drip down my brow. The cave, however, seemed to grow ever deeper.
"We must've gone a mile by now, maybe two?" I stated, "How much further could it be?" Though soon, we came to a large room, a dead end with no perceivable way out save for the way we came.
"What is this?" Halcyon mumbled.
The spell guiding us lay stagnant in the center of the room before coming back to my side.
"This... can't be it," I said. "There's no way forward."
Halcyon looked around wearily, as if seeing something, sensing something I didn't. I moved closer to him.
"We're not alone..." he said.
From the walls emerged more Thralls, though bipedal and less bestial, and their moans and shrieks were replaced by words... sentences. "Intruders..." they said. "Food..." another uttered. "Has the master led prey to us?" This voice, however, was clear and well-spoken; it emerged from the wall in a grey robe, with staff in hand. "What is this..."
Halcyon held a hand in front of me. "That is a mage... enthralled!" He said, in fear.
"You are the ones who slew my brethren," it hissed. "Shall I slay you in kind?" The edges of the room burst into red flames.
"Fire," I shouted. "I thought you said they were weak to flames!"
"Normally, yes, but I said they're different!"
Two of them sprinted at me. "Damn," I said as they rushed, swinging their taloned fingers at me. I dodged and feinted their blows as best I could. "Ah," I gasped as one sunk its claws into my arm.
"Sebastien!" Halcyon shouted about to rush to me.
"Oh no, you don't!" The mage thrall said as he split the room's center with a wall of flame, separating the two of us, blocking my line of view.
I screamed as its claws sunk deeper, holding it back with my arm as it bore down on me, biting at my neck. Its breath was repulsive, and its teeth were flesh-filled. Through stifled screams, I shouted, "Godspeed," bursting out of its grip like lightning and flipping it away. I held my arm in pain but was given no pause. Just as the one struggled back to its feet, the other lumbered at me with reckless speed.
I feinted left as it swung, missing me slightly but tearing at my tunic. In its confusion, I placed a hand on my wound, "Restore!" I yelled. My wound healed quickly, restoring my arm but sapping my stamina; even with Godspeed active, my movements would be slowed, and it was apparent as they both attacked again. Each blow came closer and closer to hitting. My clothes began tearing into shreds. I could not keep it up much longer.
Here and there, I glanced through the flames, and when my feet hit the ground, I could feel the rumbling of Halcyon's battle with the mage. The sound of earth shattering was heralded by bursts of fire.
In my distraction, one clawed me in the chest, sending me barreling to the ground, but using my momentum, I came back to my feet, recalling what Halcyon had said earlier, "Stick to Holy Magic."
I beckoned the wisp of light in front of me, "May this light be blessed!" I said. It grew brighter, causing the Thralls to stop in their tracks. They watched me wearily, seemingly avoiding its range.
"Halcyon, can you hear me?"
"Yes," he shouted breathlessly.
I raised my hand, causing the light to float to the cave's ceiling. "Take cover!!!"
I recalled a memory from when I saved him... the orb that shone its cruel light upon the innocent. "Magnify!" I shouted. The orb's light enveloped the entire room as it exploded like a small nova, sizzling even the ungodly flames the mage had conjured. The thralls cried out as their skin seemed to burn under the orb's majesty. They quickly reduced to dust, first flesh, then bone.
When the fire in the center of the room finally fizzled away and the Orb's light faded, I glanced around the room, trying to find him. He had to be okay. I held my chest in pain from my earlier wound as I searched for him.
I heard a rustling of fabric and small pebbles; a muffled groan came from under them. "Gods, are you okay?" I said, racing to his side.
He pulled the singed fabric off of him, "Yes..." He said, "I imagine they're dead?" His skin was seared but healing.
I nodded, but his pain was apparent. "I'm so sorry," I said.
"The fabric shielded me from the worst of it. I'll be okay." He said, "What matters is that they're gone. Especially him," he pointed to the mage, unclothed and burnt.
"Did you tear off his clothes?" I asked.
"What would you have done?" He said with irritation.
I smiled and helped him up.
There was already an exhaustion between the two of us. Two battles back-to-back; could we keep it up? Knowing that soon we'd have to fight the true enemy? I wasn't sure, but danger never waits. As we stood to our feet, the dead end before us seemed to become transparent, slowly disappearing and revealing a great chasm, bottomless, and stretching far into darkness.
"God's," Halcyon said, "This is..." Just before he could finish, an evil presence fell over us like impending doom... like a cold hand down your back.
"Sight of Aether," I quickly whispered. The red energies from before seemed blinding, pervading the entire room like a plague; they seeped into the stone and the air, but up high, standing upon a ledge, the energies centered on a dark figure. My spell was released.
"Greetings, my friends, and welcome," the voice said with gusto. It was a man, pale like Halcyon, and imposing. His hair was long, but pulled back, and he stood with a sense of arrogance. It clasped its hands together. "So it is you that I have to thank for killing my flock?"
Halcyon gritted his teeth and stepped forward. "Your flock? Do you mean the innocent people you violated and turned?
"Ah, the lowly and weak bearing their fangs at the oppressor, a tale as old as time." He dismissed. "I have no interest in innocence or guilt. Each served their purpose as I intended, and as it were, you are the ones who slew them," he smiled sadistically.
It was true... whether we liked it or not, each thrall was once one of the villagers, innocent, and turned by this madman.
Halcyon lost his words... so I stepped forward.
"Enough of this... why have you terrorized these people?" I said, "What is the purpose?"
"And the mage, ah yes, what was it, Sebastien? Son of the great Archmage of Kygaron? One of the wielders of the Aspects? Have you not made it home to Daddy yet... he's worried about you so." He pouted sarcastically.
"Why you..."
"Hush, dear boy," the vampire said. "I know more than you think. In truth, I hoped you would seek me out so that I may speak with you." He laughed, "But I see how wasteful that would be of my time; I have loftier goals to attend to."
An even darker figure emerged next to him, almost lost to our sight... but I saw it nonetheless. Before I could say anything more, the edges and cliffs of the chasm were suddenly lit with torchfire and fog, and upon them stood hundreds, if not thousands, of thralls.
Our jaws fell agape. These Thralls were innumerous, warped, distorted... more monstrous than the ones we faced.
"Elm was but a footnote, a rest stop if you would. But now I'm afraid I must bid you farewell."
"Farewell? No! We won't let you leave here!" Halcyon yelled.
"The choice isn't yours," he pouted his lip, "You worked so hard to find me, and you did! You should be celebrating!"
The thralls along the edges disappeared, retreating further into the chasm.
"Come down here!" Halcyon yelled again, "You chatter like a bird on its perch, but your words are hollow!"
"Will you truly leave?" I asked. "I promise we will remain a thorn in your side if you go!"
"Thorns can be plucked," he laughed. "I never said you'd leave alive." He waved his hand, and the chasm began to shake violently.
"It's blood magic!"
"Gods!" I muttered in fear at Halycon's words.
A sickening aura filled the area as the chasm rumbled more fiercely.
"Oh, it has been so fun chatting with you both. We really ought to do this again sometime." He sneered madly, disappearing beyond the ledge along with the shadowy figure.
"We've got to go..." I said, "We've got to go now!"
The chasm began collapsing, rocks and stalagmites fell from the ceiling, and the ground beneath us began cracking.
"Let's go," he said angrily.
We burst into a sprint, leaving the way we came. The walls around us began to crack and splinter.
"We've still so far to go! We'll never make it." He said.
The way ahead collapsed in front of us, halting our advance, "No!!!" I screamed. The tunnel began caving in on top of us, large rocks pelting us painfully.
My mind ran rampant with ideas, i could feel my heart pound violently as I panicked, begging for ideas within my head. "Stop!!" I yelled without thinking.
The collapsing halted, and I fell to my knees, panting heavily. I could feel the strain of the word as a vein bulged out of my forehead, my skin blazing like fire.
"Are you okay... oh Gods, you're burning up!!"
"This won't... hold! Take... my... hand." I gritted.
My hold on the rocks and rubble quickly began to weaken, and the rumbling grew more violent. What felt like the weight of the world on my shoulders tested my resolve. It was hard to utter any words, hard to breathe.
Through strained breaths, I pushed out the word, just as my hold broke, "Depart!" I cried. The rumbling sound of falling rocks silenced as we were pulled through the fabric of space. Blue filled my gaze as I hit the ground hard... sky blue, and leaves crunched as I tried to regain my bearings. Halcyon knelt over me, but I could not hear him. He shook me, and his mouth moved with silent words. My body grew numb, and like the final moments of sunset, my sight blackened.
Sleep took me, and the overuse of my abilities had taken its toll. In this void, a hand stretched out to me, familiar... welcoming, the only light to burn away the dark.
"It's you..."
What seems to be Sebastien's weakness.
