Ch. 2.1 | Bloodlust
PoV: Lania
“Hmm,” The magical analyst said. “Yes indeed. Mana is much stronger around the portal. The leylines have converged. It acts as a pin between our world and beyond . . .”
The old man continued to watch the portal intently, utterly absorbed. All Lania could see was a deep red portal. She couldn't sense mana yet, let alone leylines. She just took the scholar's word—that literally was her job.
Lania swiftly jotted notes on her piece of paper, still made from not-trees. Unfortunately, no Temporal mage wanted to stand around for a hundred years with a bubble up to let trees grow. Trees were still far too valuable for paper, and any successful business venture wasn't worth even a decade of life to any Temporal mage. Not only did Temporal mages have to account for backlash—but also the fact that manipulating time bubbles beyond one's self took considerable skill. Leaving too far from a bubble would pop it, and throwing a bubble around a non-human thing was difficult. Magic was still much uncharted.
When the old man went silent, Lania slid another piece of paper—somethign she had copied from a grimoire—over her professional notes and read up on magic. She really wanted to be a mage someday. She wanted to meet Aisha Of-Jinan or Fazl Of-Salama. Maybe even the elusive Sanya Of-None.
Lania was intrigued by the stories about them. Of-Jinan, a walking corpse with a mixed reputation. She had destabilized Glorestra by killing its prince, then ended the tempest. Unfortunately, that act had come adjacent with the portals not unlike the one in front of Lania. Magic had become more complex and interesting, while death tolls went up due to increased danger. The world also became more connected, reigniting ancient feuds for territory and dominance, easy now without the tempest. Yet, Of-Jinan had started the adventurers’ guild to help slay monsters, vanquish portals, and capture particularly nasty individuals.
Basically, the entire structure of society had been reinvented and needed to adapt to all these new things, and a lack of tempest.
Of-Salama was a talented Elemental mage with a focus in the Aeolian branch! He had developed the [Flight] and [Aeolian Sundering] spells, among others.
Then there was the strange Sanya Of-None. A powerful apparition, appearing in random places dozens of kilometers apart, destroying monsters and vanquishing portals, just to disappear again. They say she had killed more . . . ambitious . . . politicians than anyone.
Oh! And she was a social deviant. Some people say that she was actually a man. On top of that, they said she had murdered a student and mutilated another during her time at an academy. She had a reputation of being mentally unstable and completely unapproachable.
So interesting! Lania wanted to uncover the secrets of these three individuals—and maybe those of any other intriguing individual.
“If only we had the gear to walk in . . .” The magical analyst thought out loud. “The mana signature is far unlike Abyss portals. In fact, it might not be an Abyss portal at all . . .”
Lania rolled her eyes, it most certainly wasn't. Red was not purple—simple! This was something entirely new. She quickly jotted down the quote about it having a different mana signature, the rest was irrelevant.
“Back!” A Spatial mage barked, who had the passive [Spatial Sense].
The portal began to warp breaths later—a telltale sign of a monster emergence.
The magical analyst jumped. He hurried a dozen paces back on old feet as the squad of mages stepped closer.
Lania had been keeping her distance, sitting on a comfortable patch of grass. No way was she going to be up close to something that could instantly become dangerous! Lania had nothing with which to defend herself with.
Her research group camped out around the portal. It was red instead of purple, which was a first. It had spewed out different monsters than the latter, though few. Bat-like things came out at night, smaller wolves during the day, according to the scout report. None of the squids or scorpions of the purple variant.
Their small group included Lania (a scribe), the old magical analyst (his name was Ibrahim), an assistant, and then the mages—an Elemental, a Temporal, and the Spatial mage. The Elementalist mage specialized in fire magic—Thermal variant. They had weak ice magic too. They were incompetent with Aeolian magic and barely fledgling with water. Lania wanted to figure out how Elemental mages worked, and how they often ended up in one type.
Lania did not care that much, she wanted to aim for one of the lesser known mages. Of-Jinan was a Necrotic mage, Sanya was both a Spatial mage and a Celestial Summoner, according to the rumors. There was this one woman with Sanya named Mai Of-None, she was something weird—Fleshweaver?
There were rumors that the two of them knew an assassin as well . . . that wasn't even a mage type! Professions with skills had also shown with the loss of the tempest. It was like the tempest had kept the whole world at bay, with it gone, the portals came, and magic opened up. There were alchemists and tanners and cooks and all sorts of things! The group’s assistant was a cook, which . . . Lania did not know how they differed from people being able to cook food before. Maybe they were all still pioneers at it.
The red portal gurgled, visibly warping. It was like a cat on the verge of throwing up. Lania winced. She found her heart rate and breathing increased. Her palms began to feel sweaty despite the chill in the air.
The three mages held their staves out, readying magic. They stood in weary, almost battle-ready stances, as if their staves were swords and they were duelists. Lania almost snorted at that. Did mages need stances? They could stand any which way—even sit—and that wouldn't matter, just cast a spell and watch the monster go kaboom.
Something red emerged. Four massive arms sprouted from its back skittered forward. Lania couldn't take in the rest of its features before the mages started bombarding it with attacks. The Elementalist's fireballs created too much smoke. The Temporal mage immediately threw up a time bubble and ended up in front of the monster, a blur of movement.
Then, unexpectedly, one of the limbs shot forward and impaled the Temporal mage in the stomach.
Lania gasped. She found herself standing up and shaking.
The arm wriggled out of the mage's corpse, which went limp onto the grass, staining it red.
The Elementalist paused for only a moment before resuming his attacks. Lania saw more of the monster—it looked red because it was covered in a shimmering layer of blood. What was this thing? . . . It had massive fangs protruding from a pig-like face. It even had the ears of a pig. If Lania saw its backside, would it have the stubby, curly tail? Ack! This wasn't the thing to focus on.
It was a massive man-sized pig, just with legs sprouting from its back instead of . . . normally. Oh, yes, and the coat of blood.
Lania dropped her paper and clipboard and took steps further backward.
The monster turned to face the Elementalist, hurling bigger and bigger fireballs at it. That seemed to be the range of spells someone attuned to Thermal mana could do without also being Aeolian. Someone must have cut a corner in the budget for the expedition to enlist such weak mages.
Or maybe the monster was just strong? How had it killed a Temporal mage with a time bubble active? How could it shake off a couple dozen fireballs like they were sports balls?
The monster was on top of the Elemental mage in an instant. Spindly and unnatural arms piercing his flesh and leaving him dead.
The monster looked around for its next target.
The Spatial mage just stood there, he hadn't attacked at all.
He dropped his staff.
The monster's gaze snapped onto the mage. A second later, the mage was another corpse pooling blood on the green grass.
The old man, Ibrahim, took this as his sign to run.
The monster cut him down too. Lania swore that its limbs could extend in length beyond what they were normally at . . .
Lania's eyes were locked onto the monster. She did not see if the assistant had run away. Lania hoped that she had managed to escape. Maybe she would live to tell the tale and warn others about this monster.
Instead of jumping at Lania instantly, it prowled towards her, curious or weary. Why? Why didn't it just jump to her and kill her like it had the others?
Lania's heart slammed in her chest. Her breathing threatened hyperventilation. A primal fear froze her body.
She took one tiny step back.
She tripped on a rock and fell on her back. A weak pain laced through her.
In a blink, the monster was on top of her. It snarled like a dog, barring its teeth. It had normal teeth around its sharp fangs.
Lania shut her eyes hard. She turned her head sideways.
She felt the thing exhaling air from its nose. The thing breathed? It was a wet, bloody breath. All Lania could smell was iron. Though, that was probably better than what she expected an otherworldly monster pig to smell like. Mosquitoes would be all over this thing.
Um.
Was it going to kill her? . . .
The thing sniffed at her. Curious. Probing. Why?
Lania risked a glance, opening one eye slightly.
The thing was practically at her neck.
Then, something stabbed it.
Lania gasped, pain screamed from her neck.
She began to sweat. It hurt! What was it doing? . . .
She felt something flow through her neck. Alien. A strange sensation flowed through her. The pain at her neck numbed.
The monster withdrew its fang, tilting its head curiously.
Lania's vision danced and blurred.
The monster stalked off into the wilderness, away from the portal.
Lania's heart spasmed for a moment . . . then returned to . . . not normal. Almost, like it was inverted?
With every heartbeat, the world shook, until she fainted.
☆ ☆ ☆
Lania woke up, hungry—no, starving. And with a craving for blood.
For . . . blood? . . .
Something felt weird in her mouth. Lania slowly brought a hand up to it and poked around.
Did she have fangs of her own now?
What?
Lania glanced around her body, thinking she would see a bloody monster pig in its place.
She only saw herself.
No—wait, all the brown had been drained from her skin. She looked almost like one of the humans from the caverns, all see-through pale. Except she wasn't quite that pale.
Lania pushed herself into a sitting position. Her neck ached. Her back ached. Her stomach begged for relief.
She glanced around. Yep, still the grassy meadow, a red portal whirled and popped a couple dozen paces away.
Behind her, the tents of their little expedition still flapped lightly in the wind.
Lania stood. There was a town maybe half a day away. She could go there . . .
. . . for food? Human food, not blood! Yes, humans as the food! Mmm. Humans . . . Maybe she could drink the blood of livestock or something instead. Hmm, that did not sound nearly as satiating. A couple missing humans wouldn't be anything . . . maybe she could drain them without killing them?
Lania shook her head. What? . . . Why was she even thinking these things?
Lania looked at the corpses of the mages and Ibrahim. They did not seem very appetizing at all. In fact, she felt very queasy thinking about it. Was that her human side or the monster side that found it thus?
The four of them were mostly bloodless prunes now anyway. It had all seeped out onto the grass and dried.
Lania glanced up. The two suns were still around midday. She hadn't been out for very long at all.
Lania turned and headed towards the town, after picking up her things (and other people's things, they wouldn't need them, they were dead) from the tents into a pack.
☆ ☆ ☆
She stumbled into the town, night rising. As the moon came up, Lania felt a calming wave of newfound energy rush through her. She almost sighed with content.
Her stumbling stopped, and became a normal gait.
Most people had returned to their homes for the night. This was good for Lania, maybe. She could eat an entire household without anyone knowing—no! Stop! She wasn't going to eat anyone!
She had a primal urge to do so. It pushed her and begged her to feed. She couldn't get the thought to go away. Nothing could distract her from this need. It always pushed back to the forefront of her mind, desperate and loud.
Hey, maybe this small town has a branch of the adventurers’ guild. I bet that mages taste better than—stop! Please!
She wandered a wide, dusty street, looking for a tavern—or so she told her brain. She knew deep down that she was looking for the adventurers’ guild location.
Um. She probably stood out with her pale skin. Not that anyone knew what it could mean. Maybe they would think she was the daughter of a cavernous citizen and a surface one? She had not seen any of those, she tried to recall. They probably existed, and she imagined that they looked like her.
Minus the fangs.
There!
A metal sign hung from chains and a metal post, sticking out from the stone wall. It had the symbol of a staff and a sword crossed together.
Light glowed from its windows, probably from llumifruits rather than candlelight. Buttresses and other architectural work allowed for the increased size of windows, allowing a generous light to spill onto the otherwise dark street.
Her heart rate increased again. A morbid anticipation sent a shudder through Lania. She wanted to run forward and jump around and sink her fangs into—hey! Brain, be quiet!
Lania made it to the stone door and entered. The door was already open.
Tables were arranged in neat aisles. A large metal board off to the side held pieces of (non-tree) paper stuck to it via magnets.
Half a dozen people sat at the tables. A group of three, and then three people sitting alone.
A counter sat across the room from the door. Behind it, a bored receptionist slouched in a chair, arms crossed on the table and her chin resting there. It didn't look very comfortable. Beyond her, kegs of stone held cheap drinks. This establishment probably didn't offer much in the way of food . . . for others.
No! Stop! Bad girl!
Was she even a girl anymore? Did monsters have genders?
Lania gasped. She recognized one of the solo drinkers as the assistant from her expedition. Argh! She would notice how oddly pale Lania was.
The people in the tavern looked up at Lania. People probably didn't enter such a small branch often.
So much for going unnoticed.
“May I help you?” The receptionist droned. “You look awfully pale.”
Lania shook her head, and groaned internally.
The assistant took another swig from her drink. Her eyes looked hollow. Dead.
Lania stepped forward and took a seat at the assistant’s table. What was her name again? Uhhhhh. Wait—her name might literally have been Umm.
“Hey, Umm,” Lania greeted, setting her pack down on the bench-like seat. A great weight left her shoulders, unfortunately not a metaphor.
Umm took another sip from her drink.
Lania waved a ghostly pale hand in front of Umm. “Reality to Umm.”
Umm snapped out of it. Life emerged from her eyes. “Oh Heliux. Lania?”
“Hi.”
“W-why are you so pale? Are you okay? What happened? You're very . . . red . . . too.”
Lania tilted her head. She did feel heat rushing up through her body and up into her face. Her body shook slightly.
“You're not hurt? Are you, um? . . .”
“No! No! No. I'm fine. Not hurt, and not ‘um.’ That's you, you're Umm.”
Umm shook her head. “How did you make it out alive?”
“Same as you. I ran,” Lania lied.
“I-I saw it jump on everyone. I didn't think I would escape. You were still there when I looked back.”
Lania shrugged.
Umm sighed. “I'm glad to see you're alive. Though you might want to see a doctor.”
Someone stepped up to Lania's table. An adventurer. No mage robes. One of the new non-mage classes? Maybe just a competent warrior of some kind? Something else? “Hey misses. It looks like you could have some fun.”
Lania sighed. She shared a look with Umm.
“Hey!” The receptionist said. “Don't. Go away, Saif.”
“Just asking!” Saif said. “You never know when they'll say yes. She looks like she needs it.”
Oh. Did her lust for blood make her look freaky? Both Umm and Saif noticed it. That was . . . inconvenient.
“I'm a lesbian,” Lania deflected.
Saif choked. Then he regained his composure. “Spend some time with me and I might just make you straight again—Ah, or bi, at least. I think I could do that.” Saif winked.
“No,” Lania said flatly.
He sighed. He reluctantly stepped away from the table. His steps went quiet until they stopped, sliding back into the table with his drinking buddies. Or adventurer friends—or mage friends—whatever they were—hopefully they were mages. Yummy.
Lania sighed—though with relief rather than Saif's disappointment. Okay maybe disappointment too, her thoughts were far off the road.
Lania flashed Umm a toothless smile. Grim. A little pretend that everything was alright.
“You're shaking,” Umm noticed.
Lania looked at her hand. She was.
She wanted blood so badly. She might even go get Saif's.
Not that he was a mage. Lania craved mage blood. Maybe he was a mage without robes? One way to find out, right?
Hmm. What if Lania took Saif up on his offer and then drained his blood? They'd be away from everyone. No one would know.
What? Why was she even thinking this? That was crazy!
“I got a room for the night,” Umm told Lania. “If you need to relieve yourself.”
Lania flushed for real this time—not just from her need for blood. She shook her head. “No. I'm good. I'm fine. I'm great.”
Umm raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. Definitely.”
Umm shook her head and went back to her drink.
“No,” Lania whispered. Her whole body twitched. She wanted to run wild and pounce on her prey and such their blood—
Oh.
Her entire body was shaking, like she had a ton of built-up energy that wanted to be released.
She didn't know if she could keep it back for much longer.
She—
She turned and crossed the adventurers’ guild in an instant. She had jumped up and ran along the tables like an animal. She barely even knew what she was doing.
She didn't even know how she was capable of this.
She made it to the group of three in an instant. From one side of the guild to the other, as if no space distanced them at all. As if the guild was but a broom closet instead of a modestly-sized establishment.
The group of three barely had time to react before Lania sank her fangs into Saif. She took a long drink. Then, his body fell limp.
Sword blades sang out from their scabbard. A mage brandished a staff.
“L-Lania?” Umm cried out.
The mage began to incantate something. Lania would not allow that in the slightest. Not a chance.
A heartbeat later, the mage was dead. Mmmm. So good. Lania knew it! Mage blood tasted the best and filled her up well. She could almost squeal with delight.
Lania grinned.
The swordsman jumped onto the table and crossed it towards Lania.
She twitched her head to watch him. His movements were slow, as if she had heightened reaction and awareness of the situation.
A breath later, the swordsman was dead, Lania's fangs sinking into his arteries and drawing out all of his blood. Compared to the mage, his blood tasted underwhelming. Sad.
The receptionist hid behind the counter. Umm took steps toward the hallway leading to the rooms, but frozen.
One of the lone individuals ran towards the door.
The third sat, still. His grip went slack and he dropped his mug against the table. Liquid spilled out and onto the table, dripping onto the floor.
He looked at the mug with fear, as if the sudden noise would draw Lania to him.
He would be right, then.
In a blink, his blood flowed through Lania.
The lone patron going for the door ran out.
In one pounce, Lania was at her back. She hit the floor, and Lania drained her dry.
She was still hungry . . . thirsty?
So, so thirsty . . .
Lania looked around the empty streets. Where could she get a filling meal? . . . It would take more than five humans to sate Lania.
She took off into the night, leaving the guild behind her. Leaving Umm behind, and the receptionist.
Which . . . might have been a mistake? The last thing she wanted was witnesses . . . Ah well.