Chapter 57: Pureblood Bloodkin
’Fuse them without the hide!’
Out of the hundred and twenty Vi killed, eighty were salvaged. Coupled with the hundred and forty he and the Guardsmen had slain in the deeper woods, there were now a total of two hundred and twenty bat corpses, their leathery wings limp on the massive heap.
Two hundred of them were used, fused with the hundred levitating soldiers without their thick black skins and as the process began, bright blue flames engulfed each pair, swirling upward like tongues of mystic fire. The glow of the flames was reflected in the eyes of the town folks, who had gathered silently, their faces lit with both fear and wonder, their eyes wide with anticipation of what would emerge.
One by one, the hundred levitating figures descended to the ground, their bodies slowly lowering as the flames began to die out. When the last wisp vanished, what stood in their place caused the townspeople to gasp aloud, one hundred new beings stood where ordinary men and women once floated.
Bloodkins.
Black wings unfurled from their backs, stretching wide with a rustle like silk in the wind. Their eyes now glowed crimson, and their skin had turned pale in an attractive way. Fangs peeked from their lips and claws extended from their hands, curved and deadly. Their physiques had bulked up, not heavily, as the Dreadclaws had, but sleekly, like predators born for speed and deadly precision.
Power hummed in the taut cords of muscle beneath their tunics. It was not the raw, brutal strength of juggernauts, but the coiled strength of hunters, quick, agile, and precise.
Yet, it would be a mistake to call them weak; their strength, while not overwhelming like the Dreadclaws’, was still formidable.
[You have successfully created a hundred Lowblood Bloodkin. A race with thirst for blood, great vision at night, flight ability and hollow bones which makes them lighter than they appear. Can heal once blood is consumed.]
Gasps rippled through the gathered crowd like a breeze through tall grass. Even the Bloodkins themselves looked stunned as they glanced down at their hands and bodies, as if unsure whether they still belonged to them. They had become something entirely different. Something more.
A few of the older ones staggered, overcome by the sudden vitality in their veins. Men who had been in their fifties or late forties now looked younger, stronger, with clearer eyes and tauter skin.
Those in their thirties had changed less dramatically, but their bodies seemed more defined, honed like forged blades.