Alissa rolled as Vinny came crashing down, narrowly avoiding a swipe from his dagger-like nails. “Hit me. Hit me,” she yelled to Peregrine.
Aiming his quill, Peregrine obliged, blasting the end of her sword with fire magic.
Vinny flattened on the ground as the funnel of flames zipped over top of him.
Crimson Leaker turned from bright blue to orange, fire engulfing the whole sword. “Fucking awesome,” she declared, running full speed at Vinny, who was still on the ground. She down thrusted the sword near the middle of his back. Before it plunged into his flesh, he flipped over quickly as a cat and grabbed the blade with both hands, screaming—seemingly more so out of rage than pain—as smoke rose from his fingertips. The smell of burnt meat filled the air. With his superior strength, he took Alissa for a ride by flinging her, and her sword, to the side.
Peregrine jumped over Alissa’s tumbling body. He positioned a blast at Wendell’s shield, to which the Defend class deflected the fire toward Vinny, chasing the vampire with it as he scampered away.
Poor Radu was not so lucky this time. Before he could react, the fire from Wendell’s shield hooked him, while his brethren ducked out of the way. He went up in flames, his remains crumpling to the ground in a pile of dust and bone fragments. WEAK hovered in the air above the result.
On the bright side for the heroes, Wendell went up a level!
Too busy paying attention to supplying Wendell with fire, Peregrine was blindsided, getting squeezed into the tightest headlock he’d ever experienced, not that he’d been on the receiving end of many. He struggled to breathe. A hot, stabbing pain in the back of his neck did little to alleviate that problem. A cigarette fell to the ground next to him. Prick.
“I could snap your neck, if I wanted to. Relieve you of your burdens. I would enjoy it. But you’re needed in this realm. Against my nature, I want you to succeed.” Vinny released his hold and shoved Peregrine to the ground. A second later, a fiery blade wedged into his forearm. His health bar dropped to around sixty percent.
Vinny kicked Alissa in the gut, doubling her over. He yanked his arm away. This time, BLEED stuck, crimson running out of his wound like a slow-flowing stream.
Wendell smashed Vinny in the face with his shield, knocking the vampire off his feet.
This is when Peregrine noticed something peculiar. On Wendell’s arm, and Alissa’s, a symbol glowed green, showing through their sleeves. He recognized it from before. It was the same trinity knot that glowed on The Morrigan’s dress when he had met her in the graveyard. He looked at his shoulder to discover the same thing happening to him. What did it mean?
“Enough,” Vinny shouted, now scorched and bleeding. His eyes widened, then changed to a dark pink color. “We are done brawling. We have nothing but respect for each other.”
Peregrine found himself slack-jawed, unable to move. He agreed with Vinny’s words. Fighting was tiresome. Why should they fight allies? Then he was shaking his head, trying to clear the cobwebs. “What the hell happened?”
“We came to a truce,” Vinny suggested. “You were about to be on your way.”
“Wait a minute.” Wendell pointed to the hallway. “What about all those people? You’re going to release them.”
Vinny laughed. He adjusted his hair, wincing every time his fingers touched his head. His health bar was slowly refilling. “None of you beat me one-on-one.”
“Which means?” Alissa asked.
“Which means we ain’t having that discussion. A deal is a deal.” Three bottles of Elixir of Life appeared in his hands. He tossed one to each hero.
Peregrine reluctantly drank his, as did the other two. They shouldn’t accept help from a monster. He stuffed the empty bottle into his inventory.
Vinny snapped his fingers. Two vampires ran to his broken throne and propped the broken pieces together, holding them in place. Vinny plopped on top, letting his leg dangle over the thick arm. “You think I’m evil. Vile. A monster. Wanna know something? You and I … we’re not so different.”
Alissa scoffed. “Says the vampire who’s got a prison full of people to drain the blood out of.”
“That Elixir of Life you three need to consume to heal. Do you know what it is? It’s not soda pop. It’s blood.”
“Bullshit,” Alissa said. “Why would we believe you?”
“Because, loudmouth, I hold true to my word. I might be a vampire now, but I wasn’t always. In a previous life I was a regular guy who loved fixing cars. My parents raised me to never lie. And I honored their guidance. I kept my morals when I first came here. Then The Morrigan arrived. She killed me and turned me into this … thing. Happened to everyone in this room. Nobody asked for it. Why the hell would we? The realm was perfect before those floozies came. Want to know what else besides monsters didn’t exist in this realm before them? Elixir of Life. The Morrigan created it from the blood of the dead. Blood is life. Blood restores life. To keep yourselves living, you consume the blood of the innocent. Sound familiar? Ring any bells?”
Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.
For the first time in a while, Alissa kept her mouth shut.
Peregrine’s stomach churned. He wanted to make himself throw up. The elixir hadn’t tasted like blood. It didn’t slosh in the bottle like it was blood. Did drinking it make them as wicked as the vampires? As the monsters they killed? And they did kill, just like monsters. Would he become one?
“We didn’t know,” Wendell whispered, shaking his head.
“Of course you didn’t,” Vinny said. “You think she would tell you? She hid it. Just like she hid your synergy skills. One of them doesn’t want you to succeed. Heck, I don’t know that the other two really do, either.”
“They turned this whole realm into a slaughterhouse,” Peregrine said.
Vinny shifted to a normal position. “Bingo.”
“But why?” Peregrine asked.
“Million dollar question, champ. I can’t fathom what goes on in the head of those crazy bitches. All this could be for their own amusement. Maybe the two really do want to defeat the one. All I know is … all three need to die. You will be the ones to kill them.”
Alissa laughed. But it wasn’t sarcastically, or in a mean spirit. It sounded like the result of someone strong, cracking. The complexity of reality finally coming to a head. “Fat chance. How do we kill three beings that are capable of creating life, and all that shit?”
Vinny leaned forward, elbow on his knee, resting his chin on his fist. “I don’t know. They’re at the top. Level 99. You can’t beat them with your current stats. But you’ll get there. Every monster you kill, and every boss you slay, you’ll level up. You’ll find more weapons. There’s more magic out there. The three of you need to become one. Use your synergy. What I do know is that monsters battle each other. We’re in this cave for a reason. There’s stronger monsters that we don’t need to be tussling with. Use it to your advantage. The bosses all need to die. But if The Morrigan is kept alive, I believe they’ll just restart their game. I don’t have proof, but I feel it. Kill the bosses … then kill the one. Leave the other two for last. If the worst one is dead, it will stop the creation of evil.”
Peregrine absorbed the information. Part of him still wanted to burn Vinny to the ground, taking the whole cave with him. But the vampire was right, they weren’t strong enough. They’d be dead before they started. He wanted to rescue the humans. It was the right thing to do. But they weren’t going to. They physically couldn’t.
Nobody moved.
“I know you want me to hand the people over,” Vinny said. “But I’m not going to. Truth is, I don’t want to die again because I don’t know what will become of me if I do. We need their blood to survive, just like you do. Keep in mind, I was a person once. I still have those caring instincts inside, but the monster I’ve become is stronger. A monster's instincts are to kill. We contain them as best we can but, at the same time, we want to live. I gave you powerful weapons, and taught you about your true potential. I’m allowing you to walk out of this cave with your necks intact. In return, I ask that you allow us to keep our elixirs. Down the road, when you’re strong enough, feel free to come back and dust us all. I’ll try to stop you, of course. But you’ll overcome me. I don’t welcome death. I’d rather live long enough to see this realm restored.”
***
The trek through the forest was quiet. Walking past the tear-filled eyes, hearing the cries for help, feeling the desperate grips, had been far worse. If they had tried to help and failed—which was certain—death would’ve still come for those people. Coming back stronger, and rescuing who was left, was the best choice to put an end to it. It was becoming more and more clear that it was impossible to save everyone.
Peregrine imagined he’d never get over it. Abandoning those people would haunt his dreams and fill his waking moments with misery.
Branches whapped them in the face. Vines caused them to stumble. Giant logs created obstacles. They didn’t bitch. They didn’t moan. They walked on, battling the occasional mob of mutant grasshoppers and chittering squirrels. It was enough to get Peregrine and Alissa to their next levels. The two synergy skills also increased to level 2.
That evening, they reached the northeastern edge of the Always Forest. It took a few tries but, after gathering wood, Peregrine was able to use his quill to make a roaring campfire, giving them a false sense of security to sleep with. Would it really keep enemies at bay? Likely not. But the warm glow, and comforting crackles, were enough to grant a much-needed deep sleep.
The next morning, the heroes took a dip in the portable cleaning station and glossed over their stats.
[Peregrine]
[Creative Level 7]
Attack (Strength & Speed & Agility) 7
Defend (Block & Absorb & Withstand) 7
Creative (Magic & Durability & Adaptability) 11 [+5]
Weapon - Burning Heart
Weapon Creatives - Fire
[Alissa]
[Attack Level 8]
Attack (Strength & Speed & Agility) 12 [+3]
Defend (Block & Absorb & Withstand) 8
Creative (Magic & Durability & Adaptability) 8
Current Equipped Weapon - Crimson Leaker
Weapon Skill - Bleed
[Wendell]
[Defend Level 7]
Attack (Strength & Speed & Agility) 7
Defend (Block & Absorb & Withstand) 11 [+1]
Creative (Magic & Durability & Adaptability) 7
Weapon - Life and Times
Weapon Skill - Coat of Arms
After checking stats and cleaning up, they pointed themselves in the direction Vinny had told them, to find The Magician. But first, they needed to cross where none of The Morrigan’s “cheap ass toys” had survived before; The land of the banshees.
