Ch. 2.14 | Red as Blood
PoV: Sanya
The inner ring of the adventurers’ Guild assembled after breakfast. Instead of eating in the main area, they did so in a meeting room in the back of the hall. Unfortunately, the only back door into the guild was through the kitchens, which went into the main room too. There was no avoiding walking through it.
So, Sanya and Mai had entered through the front, gazes and silence followed.
The stupid Fleshspawn rode on Mai's shoulders. This helped to turn some of the attention, which was nice, Sanya guessed.
Sanya was in the normal Spatial robes and the witch hat. The Speleothem tailor would probably be ready in a day or two. Mai's look contrasted with Sanya's, all bright colors and cavern fashion. It turned as many heads as the Fleshspawn, since most adventurers wore boring items—brown and gray tunics and trousers, robes, the such.
Anyway! Breakfast was eaten, and—
It seemed that the discussion wasn't quite over yet.
“Can I go with them?” Nadiyya perked up.
Aisha sighed. “I need you here, close to the hall.”
Nadiyya tilted her head. It was a quick, sudden, movement that reminded Sanya of a bird. It seemed she did not understand the reasoning behind Aisha's words.
“For quick contact whenever your animals see something. I want you here and safe, and not distracted by some dangerous quest,” Aisha elaborated.
“One of the Spatial mages can teleport m—rrp back in an emergency, or a note and a time bubbled bird—chirp—will be sufficient,” Nadiyya argued.
“Let's just have the six of us go,” Sanya suggested.
Aisha shook her head. “That is not happening. I need people here.”
“You have tons of reliable adventurers.”
“But they're not you.”
Sanya crossed her arms. Sanya thought of Aisha as a bit of a pushover. Yet, in matters like this, she was stubborn. She was playing it too safe, although tensions were on the rise, and there were issues all around Calderae. Throwing her five best pieces, and Lania, off to the west was probably a crippling strategic move if Zulfaqar found out . . . or the other portals? Not that the portals showed any semblance of sentience.
“We'd make a great party!” Mai said. “It'll maybe make us work quicker and put us in less danger.”
If anything, the inclusion of the others would just slow Sanya down, maybe. So, why had she advocated going with a group? . . . She wanted to be with more people. Mai was great. Mai was awesome. Yet, going into unknown territory just the two of them . . . Sanya felt . . . scared? Worried?
“I don't buy it, sorry,” Aisha did not budge.
“Actually, we do not have any non-mage classes except for Esmat,” Zahira said. “That's one unbalanced party.” According to Zahira, “unbalanced” was an antonym of “great.”
“Hi,” Lania said.
“Oh. I guess ‘vampire’ isn't a mage. Still—no warrior or anything. Nobody on the front to take the hits or scout.”
“Mages are all a party needs,” Sanya believed.
Her tried-and-true party consisted of a Spatial-Cosmic mage and a Spatial-Fleshweaver mage. That was all that was ever needed—more than enough, in fact. They filled the niches of: utility, utility, damage, and recent-healing. As of yesterday, Mai also had the Fleshspawn things. Which . . . could be useless. The extent of their powers were yet to be seen, popping for healing or otherwise.
Sanya had also learned a low-effort defense spell from Cosmic Summoning, called “[Primordial Crust].” Yeah, stupid name for a spell, but whatever. It would offer Sanya a shell that could take a hit or two before breaking. It did not require constant mana upkeep like some of the better shielding spells and was relatively simple. Shield spells went more complex than Sanya's current high-tier offensive spells and Spatial utility options. Once cast, it took hours to properly form to protect her, but was invisible, or rather, incorporeal. If it broke, she'd be defenseless for a bit.
Sanya did not plan on getting hit. She would destroy her enemies from afar, first.
“If only we had a quick means of communication,” Aisha grumbled.
“Birds!” Nadiyya exclaimed.
“Yeah, okay,” Aisha negotiated. “I want a bird with me at all times, and a pen and paper. The same for Sanya and her party. Then the six may go.”
Nadiyya's grin reached beyond the confines of her face and to the ceiling (exaggerated).
“I'll leave the Fleshspawn with you—emergency healing for anyone who needs it,” Mai said.
“Shouldn't you take it with you in case you get hurt?”
“I can just make another one!”
Aisha nodded, and that was it. Mai left the Fleshspawn with Aisha and said something to it, asking it to listen to her orders. Strange.
So, the group got ready to leave, teleported to Emergentia, and headed towards the red portal.
☆ ☆ ☆
Sanya cast [Starshot], and a wolf the color of blood flopped down and died on top of a rabbit corpse. The wolf's body dissipated into crimson juices (legally distinct from blood) and a crystal. Sanya picked up the crystal and vanished it into her [Pocket Repository].
The portal was now in sight, as were tattered and abandoned tents. The storm from yesterday had not been kind, leaving them little more than torn rags held up by posts.
The distance between Sanya’s group and the portal diminished, and they soon stood before the red gate.
“Th—the corpses!” Lania exclaimed.
Four tattered heaps of cloth and bone lay scattered around the doorway to another world. The bodies had been picked off to the bone, flesh and skin gone. The blood had probably been washed away the day before. These must have been the losses from the expedition. Did it hurt Lania to come back to this, to see them this way?
Was it a good idea to have brought her back here? Maybe she should be relaxing and kept safe back in Calderae. Perhaps she would have fought back against coming, if she did not want to go.
“Something did a number on them,” Zahira noticed. She turned towards Lania. “Was that you? Or the monster?”
Lania shook her head. “Something after.”
“The work of the wolves, then—I assume,” Zahira said.
Sanya spared a glance upward, where she saw the faint impression of a spider-web crack upon the sky. Hmm. No one had mentioned that.
Something similar had been at the first portal back at the academy. Was this a byproduct of new colors of portals? . . .
Sanya continued forward and stepped beyond the threshold without so much as another word. There was no point in lingering. There was no need to ask if the group was ready to enter.
They knew what they were here to do. Scouting out and observing what lay beyond was the first item on the list.
Sanya emerged into a world she least expected.
First, the sky—a red haze covered the world like a veil, no hint of any celestial objects beyond.
In Sanya's more immediate surroundings, derelict buildings rose up two or three stories high, jettied at each floor to preserve ground space. Sanya saw more wood on one building than she had seen in her entire life, even with each building being deconstructed to time. Sanya should clarify purposeful wood here, because trees had long since sprouted into towering bodies on the streets and inside buildings. Not a single leaf decorated the trees, and none layered the floor either.
There was no point in photosynthesis when there were no suns, it seemed.
Anyway, a dozen streets led further away from Sanya in all directions, lined by these strange buildings. Stone walls eventually rose up into the sky, even greater than Glorestra’s own.
There were more sights in the distance, too. Towering cliff faces, mansions and castles, and an ominous glow further beyond. Half of the city vanished into a wall of haze, which circled around a colossal area that Sanya sat near the edge of, that encompassed all of which Sanya could see. The ominous glow sat in the center, radiating and red (of course, why would anything in the red portal not be red?). Sanya wondered if that was the portal’s node.
Not a soul walked the streets of the city, and probably hadn't for many years. Well, no human souls. The bats fluttered in the sky, and the blood wolves prowled the ruins.
As for Sanya’s immediate surroundings, she stood on a large, raised platform of stone, in the middle of an expansive plaza. Pillars and other items of structure once stood here, now crumbled.
Sanya kind of regretted not dragging an Aeolian-attuned Elemental mage along, so that they could fly and scout the area better.
Why had Aisha sent them on a bit of a reconnaissance mission without one? . . .
Teleporting just wasn't the same. Sanya supposed she could throw herself onto a rooftop or something.
Well, she couldn't teleport, lest the backlash stab at her again. She wondered what Cosmic Summoning backlash was and why she hadn't felt it yet, if her Spatial backlash was this bad.
As for not having an Aeolian mage, maybe Nadiyya's bird could scout. Although that was supposed to be more for communication . . . Um. How would it leave, exactly? It could fly to the node easily enough, Sanya guessed.
The other five entered, appearing scattered around Sanya.
“Woah,” Mai breathed, taking in the group's surroundings.
The sight silenced everyone else, as they took in the time-worn and neglected city. What had caused it to be like this? Who used to live here?
Perhaps the city sitting up against an ominous red haze played a part in the answer to that first question. This entire area looked contained. Had the people relocated, or had they vanished entirely?
The Abyss—the land beyond the purple portals—was an empty copy of their own world, just cold and purple. So, what was this place?
Nadiyya squawked and made raven noises at her bird. It fluttered off.
Sanya watched its form become too far to point out. “Is that for scouting?”
“If that is what you c—crawrk—all the complex variety of actions Squawkles shall perform—mrrp,” Nadiyya said.
A bat descended onto their location, flying above the city, originating from the far distance. Sanya’s [Spatial Sense] makes it with a distinct mana signature from the monsters roaming the ruins or that had emerged from the portal.
Sanya watched as it arrived. Zahira and Mai turned, following Sanya’s gaze.
The bat dropped to eye-level at the edge of the platform. Sanya held her staff at the ready, as did the others.
Then, however, the bat transformed into a pale woman of silver hair and red eyes. She looked like an older version of Lania, in the sense of those shared traits. Their more subtle features diverged from each other. Their similarities must merely have been the marks of a vampire.
“We meet again, daughter,” the vampire gave a smug smile. “And her friends.”
“This is the ‘mother?’” Sanya felt atupid as soon as that came out of her mouth. That was evident.
Lania only swallowed nervously. Nadiyya nodded. She had been spying on this vampire, whatever label or title given to her. It still surprised Sanya that Nadiyya knew, could she see through the eyes of her animals or something? Or maybe the vampire's words had just made it clear.
“We should hurry somewhere nicer. The others too gone to realize the portal has opened will have smelled human blood by now, even this far,” the vampire said. “We can exchange pleasantries at my manor.”
The portal? Sanya glanced around. There was no portal here. It must have been by the node. Once a party entered a portal, they had to get to the node to leave, either by destroying it or simply exiting. It was weird that the entrance was not the same as the exit, but whatever. Unknown magic.
This plaza obviously had some significance. Had it been a teleporter of its own, before?
“Wh—Wha—” Zahira blinked.
“Take your time, dear. I am sure you can get your words out,” the vampire said.
“I'm sorry,” Zahira said. “You . . . I—you . . . Okay. You're a vampire—you prey on us. We just entered your domain, as intruders, and your first idea is to invite us into your home? . . .”
“Friends of my daughter are friends of mine. I support her choice of the people she surrounds herself with,” this vampire should win the “most unsettling warm smile” award. Sanya could not tell if she was genuine or not. “I should point out that you have a vampire amongst you right now. She has not eaten you yet.”
“I certainly made her try, squawk!” Nadiyya chirped.
Everyone looked at her. Lania flushed.
“Umm . . . In my—ow dreams. Definitely not in our new house. Ha . . .” Nadiyya dug her own grave.
“Nadiyya!” Lania protested.
The vampire squealed. “You're living with someone already? My, you are a charmer. I knew you were special when I saw you! You'll have to tell me everything!”
Sanya felt another entity brush against her [Spatial Sense]. Her attention snapped towards a street. She did not see it yet, but it would soon appear.
“Something is coming,” Sanya warned.
“Ah!” the vampire exclaimed. “That must be one of the others! I don't suggest fighting them, but you can turn into the first meal in a hundred years, if you want!”
How were things even supposed to live that long without food? . . .
“Can we take it?” Zahira asked.
Sanya shrugged. “Do you want to find out?”
“Is it going to be like you . . . before?” Lania turned towards the vampire.
“Yes. I believe this could be quite the show!”
Something large, red, and four-legged blurred down the street.
“Have fun!” The vampire turned into a bat and flapped into the air above them.
In an instant, the monster moved into the opened plaza.
Sanya noted that Esmat vanishes into thin air with an assassin spell. Lania cowered back.
Nadiyya tossed up a time bubble around herself.
Mai stepped closer towards Sanya, almost touching. Zahira came closer as well, but not nearly as much.
The thing moved so quickly that Sanya had trouble tracking it. The thing was now on the raised, stone platform that the group remained on.
“Nadiyya?” Sanya called. “Can you throw a slow bubble onto this thing? . . .”
In a flash, it pounced.
The thing looked like what the reports had said about the vampire now in the air—a large pig with legs sprouting out of its back, reaching out towards the floor with an extra joint.
Sanya could barely point her staff and begin an incantation when the monster made contact with her. Its body shoved against her with momentum and might of a-hundred-year-starved beast, finally having a chance of food.
Sanya hit the stone floor beneath her.
Her [Primordial Crust] broke. Motes of rock burst out from her back and onto the stone ground before dissipating into Cosmic mana.
She did not feel pain from that impact, at least.
Until the limbs of the monster tried to tear her open.
Hey, did this thing not want her blood? Why did it want to rip her to shreds? Maybe it wanted to incapacitate her, first?
“Sanya!” she heard Mai scream.
Ough . . . was that Sanya's blood?
Then, Esmat was there, swinging daggers at the monster. Their weapons found purchase in its side, massive wounds for such small weapons, thanks to their class.
The monster turned its attention to the next threat—Esmat. The weight lifted off of Sanya and left as the monster moved.
Where was Nadiyya? . . .
Sanya's vision swam. She tried to push herself up, groaning.
“Stop!” Mai cried. She took this opportunity to kneel next to Sanya. “[Flesh Memory]. I hope I ate enough for this . . .”
Barely conscious, Sanya focused on her [Spatial Sense], finding the location of the monster despite Mai's cute self taking up her blurred vision.
“[Starfall - Hasten Spell - Compact Spell].”
A meteor fell from the sky and slammed into the ground half a dozen paces away. The ground shook. Debris tossed into the air and fell down around them. One piece of stone from the platform hit Sanya in the head.
“Ow . . .”
“Your body is repaired but you're low on blood,” Mai reported.
“[Primordial Crust],” Sanya muttered, preparing her shield once more.
Sanya had the distinct feeling that everyone besides Mai—who was too busy trying to stop Sanya from dying—was staring at her with awe.
The vampire fluttered back down and transformed into her humanoid form. “Oh. That was one of the Vintilas’ kids. They are not going to be happy about that once they regain their capacity to think.”
What? What did she mean by that? Sanya had not just murdered a kid. She refused to believe that.
“Oh,” the vampire noticed Sanya's expression. “Do not feel so bad. The Ventilas are the equivalent of ancient great grandparents. The ‘kid’ was as old as me. Their taxes were absolutely extortionate.”
Mai ran up to Esmat and cast another Fleshweaving spell, exiting Sanya's field of view, which was mostly the hazy sky.
Sanya's [Spatial Sense] notified her of another entity. Then a second.
“Hey,” Sanya winced. “Can we get out of here?”
“Vampire lady!” Mai called. “How can we get to your manor?”
“I have a name, you know.”
“What is it?”
“Joia Lupa Calinichia, a pleasure to meet you,” she bowed.
Sanya pushed herself into a sitting position.
That was when she saw the crater. The monster had been pulverized into blood and flesh, if even that. Sanya stared at it for far too long.
Were vampires people?
They totally were—Lania was a person. This Joia Calinichia maybe was.
So was this Ventila person that Sanya had turned into mush.
Sanya swallowed.
This one had been violent. It had attacked her and she had defended herself. It was very far gone—a stark contrast to Thamina . . .
Yet, the vampire was starved and desperate, having endured a hundred years without food and losing its “humanity.”
“My manor is that one,” Joia pointed to a place of massive proportions. A building larger than even Glorestra’s palace or legislature sat on a hill that rose up beyond even this ruined city’s walls. “I hope you all can fly. Otherwise, the journey will be long and any other vampires will catch up with you.”
“Meet us there?” Mai asked.
“What?”
Mai bounded over to Sanya, taking her by the hand. “Everyone, to me!”
Sanya made sure to hold onto her staff.
“What are you doing?” Joia demanded.
“Teleporting to your manor, silly!”
Joia stood there, blinking. “Can you teleport me as well? It must save more time than flying.”
Mai nodded.
Soon, the seven of them were linked up. Mai pointed to Joia’s manor and cast [Organic Displacement].
The world vanished around them. Each individual got taken apart, reduced to their most basic parts, blinded, empty, and thoughtless for a moment. Not really there as they transferred through space in the blink of an eye.
Then—they got reconstructed at the designated location, while once more, as if that ordeal not even a heartbeat before ever happened
At least, that was what normally happened—or should have happened.
Sanya did not appear by the manor. She felt the basic, reduced presences of the other six vanish around her—no, five.
Esmat was here with her.