Alchimia Rex (048 & 049)

[BOOK 1][BOOK 2 START][PREVIOUS][NEXT]

AN: Double Update everyone!

[048] [Maze run]

The piercing scream sent chills down Rick's spine. The first thought that flashed through his mind was Dia. The healer had been in the Lord's library doing research and was just as trapped as they were.

"Hold it!" Kiara's grip halted him before he could reach the door, spinning him to confront her steely gaze, the orb of light she’d summoned casting long shadows around them. "You’re going nowhere. We need to get out.”

"I can't shadow jump; the mansion’s protections have been raised. I doubt you could teleport him out without a key," Eva chimed in, her tone tense. "Our best bet is to hunker down and wait for the enchantment to run its course. It shouldn’t have the energy to run for more than a few hours, sooner if the Orcs try to break in.”

As if on cue, there was a loud bang from the outside, and it was quickly followed by more of them. Rick's thoughts raced. Kiara had the power to push her agenda if she wished, and no one could force her hand. His jaw tightened, eyes scanning the room in a flash. "This place isn't safe," he declared, gesturing at the only door leading out of the room. "We need Dia. If anything happens, she can help keep us alive."

Kiara remained unyielding. "I didn’t have a choice with the tribe, but I cannot risk someone else finding out what I am."

"Then morph into someone else when they're not watching," he retorted. "Take Monica's form."

The succubus released him, recoiling with a scowl. "Her!?"

"This assault can't be a mere coincidence, happening just when Monica's absent," he argued, moving towards the door again. "Time's ticking."

Grumbling, Kiara traced invisible patterns in the air before reluctantly nodding and starting to disrobe. "Fine," she snapped, her speech polished and precise. "But not a soul hears about this."

Rick watched as Kiara began her transformation, an expression of discomfort etched across her face. Something about the shift appeared wholly unnatural to her, like she wasn’t meeting some criteria or it was more taxing than the other times she’d seen her change. Her long blue hair gradually shifted to a short, snowy white, her pale skin took on a tanned hue.

Then came the size, her clothes creaking in complaint, and then breaking as she grew taller and bulkier. He watched Kiara's lithe curvy figure morphed into a muscular and lean body. Her hands transformed, now covered in white fur with black stripes, gaining wicked sharp black claws while her legs followed suit. The golden eyes shifted to blue, her horns shrinking and then replaced by the ears that’d moved to their spot.

There was something deeply wrong about the form she’d taken. It had a distinct “attempt” to look similar to Monica, but it failed to any level of scrutiny. It was unnerving, in an almost gutural way.

The not-Monica glared at him, pulling up the shreds of her dress with a very Kiara-like sigh and working to wrap them around her chest. “I liked this dress,” she said, almost sullenly.

Rick couldn't help but wince at the sight. "It'll have to do."

"What do you mean it-!?" Kiara bristled, her glare quickly replaced with a grunt. "Monica not understand," she added in a deeper voice, rolling her eyes with exaggeration.

The sight of the taller, bulkier doppelganger was strange, but Kiara's unchanged voice made it all the more jarring. She pulled Rick away from the door, hunching over to step through. "Monica not sorry."

"Uh, your tail..."

His gaze fixed on the leathery black, spade-tipped appendage.

“Ignore it.” She stated flatly, her mood lowering further.

Eva clasped Rick's shoulder, reeling him back in, and handed him a wooden box. "If anything goes awry, break this. Just… not near us, if you can avoid it," she said solemnly, her words heavy with meaning. The maiden's face immediately contorted into a grimace. "Please, be careful."

Rick, Kiara, and Eva crept cautiously through the house, their footsteps echoing in the long, stone corridors. The magical glow-stones that usually illuminated the passageways had gone dark, leaving them to rely on the dim light Kiara had summoned. Shadows stretched out before them in every direction.

Kiara led the group, with Rick close behind pointing the way, guided by the bond that pulled him toward Dia. He could feel her presence almost like a physical force. Eva, with her ability to see in the dark, trailed behind, always looking over her shoulder to make sure nothing was following behind.

The darkness seemed to swallow them, amplifying every creak and groan of the ancient building. Rick's heart pounded in his chest. There was some comfort to be found in the calmness the others felt, Kiara and Eva possessed far better senses than him, they could more clearly tell that at the very least their immediate vicinity was safe.

Though they remained just as nervous, and just as watchful.

The darkness weighed heavily upon them, pressing down like a suffocating blanket. Kiara's light did little to dispel the oppressive atmosphere, casting only a weak, flickering glow that seemed to taunt Rick’s eyes, almost helping to highlight what he couldn’t see that much more than if he’d been blind. The distant banging on the outside protections was like a heartbeat, drumming against their feet.

“There’s blood.” Eva muttered, pointing ahead, and Rick could only imagine it’d been their guest who had been attacked.

By what or whom, though, he wasn’t sure. Rick's breathing grew more rapid, his mind conjuring up terrifying images of what might be lying in wait. His grip on the wooden box tightened, his knuckles turning white.

Rick kept thinking of Dia, feeling out the bond. She was nervous, but determined, safe, yet unsure for how long. There was a distinctive panic to the emotion, like a rabbit trying to hide from a snarling wolf.

A door creaked open, and a figure stepped out. She had pale hair and dark skin, clad in leather armor, the stranger wielded a bloodstained blade. Everyone froze as the newcomer's gaze darted from Kiara to Rick and back to Kiara, eyes widening in shock. The maiden hurried back, slamming the door shut.

“Enemy.” Kiara snarled, not moving an inch, glaring at the door as if she could see through it.

"That was a Dark Elf!" Eva whispered behind Rick, pulling him away from the door, her voice quivering with a hint of fear.

"Quiet!" Kiara snapped through gritted teeth, shooting a glare as she pressed her hand against the door. "Stay here." She shoved the door open and charged in.

A barrage of red beams struck her, but Kiara pushed through. She lunged at the nearest Dark Elf, her poorly-concocted roar mingling with a scream as the Dark Elf swung her sword. The blade sliced into Kiara's skin, but it didn’t go any deeper, the metal merely grazed her flesh, leaving just a red angry mark. “THREE HERE!” The dark-skinned maiden screamed.

"You chose the wrong curse," the succubus hissed, gripping the blade against her body while using her free hand to slash at the warrior's throat with her claws. The Dark Elf crumpled, clutching her neck as blood pooled around her. The maiden croaked out, trying to speak and failing.

Kiara moved in to finish her off, a wave of disgust washing over her. "You can come in," she announced, flicking the blood from her claws. With a short sigh she recomposed herself and threw a wink at Rick. "Your idea to impersonate the big cat was useful. She tried to put curses on me that would’ve crippled a Tigress. Not much luck against a Succubus."

Rick surveyed the scene, taking in the details. There was another body there, lying not too far away from the door. It seemed their guest, Miss Donohuei, had either lost her way in the manor when the lights went out, or the Dark Elf had captured her and brought her here before killing her. In either case, the outcome was the same. The woman lay on the floor near the door, a pool of blood forming beneath her head.

"A guest has perished under our watch. Not a good sign," Eva grimaced, tearing her gaze from the human woman to focus on the Dark Elf's body. "But this is even more worrisome."

"I didn't know there were Dark Elves in Sinco,” Rick frowned.

"There shouldn’t be," Eva replied ominously. "Dark Elves and their kin sided with the rebels during the uprising. They were driven from the kingdom."

"Call it what it is. They were slaughtered. No kingdom that enslaves maidens merely 'asks' them to leave." Kiara kicked the Dark Elf's corpse. "If these came out of some grudge, I doubt we'll convince them that Rick isn't siding with the kingdom, but—"

Both their heads snapped toward the door and they leaped into action. Eva grabbed Rick and darted for the room's only other exit, Kiara following closely, sweeping her light toward the door they'd initially entered. As it swung open, the spell flared with blinding light, eliciting several shrieks from beyond.

They slammed the door behind them, Eva hastily shoving furniture to barricade it with an ease that looked completely out of place with her small frame. "I heard four."

"Six," Kiara corrected, pulling Rick along. "We can't fight if they’re in groups. If they figure out what sort of curse to hit me with, things will get complicated."

They continued their mad dash, breaking into another corridor. Behind them, they could hear their pursuers hacking away at the door. Approaching the next intersection, they were about to turn right when Kiara yanked them in the opposite direction. "There's more of them," she hissed, glancing over her shoulder into the darkness. "They're spread out everywhere."

Rick nodded grimly, attempting to navigate the labyrinthine corridors of the fortress-turned-mansion. The layout's intentional complexity made it even more challenging to determine which path to choose, a clear design choice to give advantage to the defenders. One that was proving bothersome.

His thoughts focused on Dia. He could sense her growing panic, he wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but she was shaken. They needed to reach her—and fast.

"More ahead," the Fledgling whispered under her breath, and Kiara released her grip.

"Silence," she commanded, her next step failing to touch the ground as she took to floating. She hoisted Rick off the floor by his shirt, her gaze locked on the darkness ahead.

In two seconds, Kiara pushed him against the wall and lunged past the corner with a burst of purple energy with Eva hot on her heels. He couldn't see the action, but he heard the wet crunch of bone shattering and a single scream. "WHITE CLAW!" It wasn't a cry of horror or fear; it was an alarm, a soldier's desperate attempt to relay a shred of information before their death.

The scream was followed by a gurgling splash and a thud.

"It's safe," Kiara whispered, hands moving fast to finish off the maidens.

The wave of disgust followed, and Rick had to guess that, as a Succubus, she didn’t find these emotions very palatable.

There had been three Dark Elves this time, and blood was everywhere. Rick's focus shifted to Eva, sensing pain from her. The Fledgling was doubled over with her hand hovering over her stomach. Fresh blood flowed between her fingers as she leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.

"They took her regeneration away, they knew what she was before even looking at her," the Succubus said, reaching down to the smaller woman. Her glowing hands caressed the wounded area. "I can't fully remove the curse. It'll wear it in a few minutes."

"I'll make it," Eva grunted, pushing herself off the wall with unsteady steps.

"You're going to slow us down."

The sound of banging on the exterior walls had stopped, leaving a long silence.

"Then carry her," Rick snapped. Kiara bristled, her eyes narrowing. He met her golden gaze without flinching, daring her to refuse, his hand caressing the tiny box Eva had given him. "We’re not leaving her behind. Let's meet up with Dia, she's—"

Another shriek made Rick's blood curdle. He recognized the voice, and it was accompanied by an explosion through their bond. Pain. He nearly toppled over, feeling something pierce his stomach. It wasn’t dulled like Eva’s, this was sharp, raw, and filled with a visceral sense of powerlessness.

There was no more time to think; he broke into a sprint, only to be stopped dead by Kiara's hand. The Succubus stared at him intently. "Either you stick with us, or I knock you out and lock you somewhere they won't find you. Her life is not as important as your own," she stated with unyielding severity.

Despite her harsh words, the maiden picked up Eva under her arm, taking the lead, her tail wrapping around Rick's wrist and tugging him along. He could barely keep up.

Twice they had to swerve in another direction to avoid encounters, and twice they had to turn right back from where they came. Kiara's ability to detect their assailants was keen enough to prevent impossible situations, but Rick had a feeling they knew the manor's layout better than the trio did. Because if there were that many enemies within the mansion, they would've been surrounded and overrun by now.

The thoughts were pushed aside when they burst into the library, and the emotions he could sense from Dia shifted from pain and determination to horror the moment she realized he’d come.

There were a dozen individuals there, but Rick's gaze locked on the two in the center, surrounded by shelves and shadows.

Dia stood, one arm holding a sword, the other pressed firmly against her side, a green glow revealing the healing magic she used to mend herself. Her healer's dress was torn in countless places, exposing injuries that had already been patched up.

Opposite her was... a monster. It was humanoid, perhaps two meters tall, but its body lacked muscles or skin. Instead, writhing green tendrils and leafy vines slithered and contracted with a mind of their own, pulsating irregularly, and ever shifting. The creature loomed over Dia, its only human-like feature being a head with fair skin and patchy blond hair and the face of the Archangel.

"Rick, get out!" Dia's shout turned to a shriek as the hulking figure slapped her aside with a glowing fist. The Rapha crumpled to the floor.

But before he could react or think, something that wasn't himself hammered against his mind. Fear. It wasn't just apprehension or caution; it was terror, a panic that gripped his bones and froze his body in place.

He turned to the source.

Kiara stood motionless, pupils shrunk to pinpricks, breathing rapid and shallow, her face pale as chalk.

"I don’t know how you’ve survived, but I prefer it like this." The monster spoke at the Succubus with a churning voice, her expression darkening. “You won’t beat me this time.”

Rick's gaze shifted to the others in the room, trying to decipher the words. Had the monster met Monica before? All around them Dark Elves stood, armed and looking equally apprehensive about the blond as Eva and Dia. The power in the air tingled against his skin, as if they were ready to pounce either the monster or them.

Rick suspected that if he turned around, he'd find more enemies through the door they'd entered.

They'd been herded here.

The blond monster laughed, but the sound stopped when her focus fell on him. The humor died, rage slowly boiling to the surface, the vines writhing madly, contorting her into a mass of green tentacles.

"You."

The emotion behind that single word was thick. It was anger, fury, and terrifying determination.

It was murder.

[049] [Mirror Mirror]

The noble's library, a room brimming with rows of towering bookshelves. Sparse white orbs hung suspended in midair, providing the only light and casting long shadows that made what could be seen of the room less than half of its full size. Dia stood near the center, fresh blood staining the floor and shelves around her.

Rick, Eva, and Kiara remained by the entrance, the exit obstructed by Dark Elves. There were maybe a dozen others inside.

Even though they could likely overpower the maidens blocking their way out. Maybe.

In such a situation, it was natural for the most vulnerable individual to feel terror, maybe be paralyzed. It was mildly ironic that the panic gripping Rick's heart came mostly from Kiara. The transformed Succubus looked on the verge of making a run for it, only the very tangible and immediate threat of Rick's death anchoring her in place.

The strongest maiden within reach, the one capable of offering the most urgent assistance, was incapacitated, eyes glued to the blond monster that had stopped cold, the Archangel… if she could still be called that, breathed heavily, staring at Rick with body shaking rage.

"I will relish this," the maiden uttered, her frantic, unfocused eyes quivering, mouth twisted into a sneer. “It will be slow. I’ll kill you all, piece by piece.”

The words caused the Dark Elves to stir, concern flashed amongst the maidens as they shared looks. It was almost as if they were just as ready to jump the monster as they were to jump them. Though the one thing they looked certain of was that they had no desire to stop the monster before she was done with her revenge.

It was hard to think coldly.

Rick’s mind was trapped in a whirlwind of emotions. Kiara’s panic was the loudest, but Dia and Eva were no help either, the two maidens overwhelmed with concern and indecision. It was like having a crowd screaming into his ears, drowning out everything else.

Kiara's words resonated within him.

"I wish you had bonded with a psychic by now, she could help block things out. But this is the next best option. A place for positive and fun things to wash away the bad. A place of comfort."

Biting into his cheek hard enough to draw blood, the jolt of pain gave him a sliver of focus. Rick diverted his attention from the three maidens, seeking anything among the bonds that wouldn’t drive his heels into the floor.

It was easy enough to find.

Urtha was livid, enraged. Panicked too, but in a way that pushed for action, panic that couldn’t sit still in paralysis. The maiden awaited some event, but the fury within her resembled a volcano on the verge of eruption. He latched onto that, drawing it into himself, using the heat and feeding it into himself, burning away the terror, pushing it through him and to the others, making himself into a conduit for that emotion.

Kiara, Eva, and Dia inhaled sharply in unison and shifted their gaze from the monster to him. "Get ready!" he bellowed, extracting the box Eva had handed him from his pocket and raising it over his head.

The monster was quicker, her hand darting out and launching a vine from within her body that coiled around his wrist. The act had taken a split second, crossing the four meters of separation in the blink of an eye. "What's this?" the maiden snarled, the vine constricting with bone-crushing force and wrenching a scream from his lips.

Eva was the first to react, jumping between them and lashing at it with her claws. “Do it now!” The maiden held back a shriek as more of the vines shot out, piercing into her thigh and shoulder.

Kiara joined in, shoving herself into the vines and screaming, the touch of the vines burning against her body like a hot iron.

Rick hurled the box at the ground with all his might. Half-way down, the box opened to reveal two yellow glowing stones, shattering against the stone and becoming a pair of miniature suns in their own right.

There was something faintly concerning when he heard both the monster and Kiara scream at the same time.

A silent explosion of light exploded in every direction, engulfing the room in a shadow-scorching brilliance that destroyed all darkness. It was cold, seeping into his bones in a numbing chill.

All around him, he could hear bodies crumpling to the floor.

All but two.

Kiara was caught in a silent scream, having lost her transformation, smoke rising from every inch of skin as she clawed at her face. Next to her, the monster was in a similar condition, the tentacles having gone wild, contracting and expanding with sickening crunching sounds.

And then there was darkness.

Rick staggered back, his legs nearly buckling, his vision speckled and rendered useless. However, his ears functioned perfectly, the monster was still thrashing, shrieking, and destroying things in her wake. Twice he felt the threatening breeze of something having gone very close to his head.

"WHERE ARE YOU!?"

A beam of light streaked across a distant wall, and Rick realized he wasn't blind, but rather the room had been robbed of all light. He attempted to locate the others, but he couldn't sense anything through the bond.

He could barely feel the coarse wood of the shelves under his fingers. Everything was numb. Were the others unconscious? He couldn’t be sure, there was only the vaguest feeling that the bonds were still there, that they were alive, but there was nothing else.

The numbness at least made it easier to feel Urtha, the maiden’s panic had turned to iron determination. She was moving away, however, seeming sure of whatever course of action she was taking.

Another burst of light, and for a fleeting moment, Rick could see. He had nearly stumbled on Eva. The maiden looked to be in pain, though the injuries in her leg and shoulder had stopped bleeding.

Shaking her got nothing, merely the slightest twitch of a response.

He couldn’t let the monster get to the others.

Urtha was on her way, he was sure of it. He just needed to buy time.

And he prayed that the Dark Elves would not wake up before Kiara or the others did.

Carefully, as tentatively as he could while totally blind, he navigated towards the monster, hearing its location from the constant thrashing and screaming. She was in pain, but why she was conscious at all went beyond him. But… What could he do? Monica and Eva would have used the darkness to ambush, that wasn’t going to work. Dia would… fight? That couldn’t be right, he shook his head. Urtha would charge in as well. That left… Kiara.

The answer seemed to almost jump at him as he considered the question.

"You failed your lord."

He had dashed away the instant he spoke, and not a moment too soon, a crash had followed. "SHOW YOURSELF, YOU MURDERER!" The monster bellowed as she traversed the spot he had just vacated. In the darkness of the room, her glow betrayed her location, while leaving Rick invisible.

"You couldn’t even fulfill his last order."

Light seared through the bookshelf to his right, the brilliance almost blinding. He met eyes to the monster, every instinct in his body told him to move left. But a quiet soft voice insisted on going right. He followed the latter, just as the glowing monster had thrown herself to the spot to his left.

"You were a coward; you ran."

He broke into a hurried jog, the sound of his shoes masked under the thrashing and destruction of bookshelves.

"SHUT UP!"

He ducked and felt the shower of paper and splinters from the shelves, biting back a cry of pain. Something whistled past his head, smacking against a wall. "The other knights died for him. What does that make you?" He had launched into a full sprint now, fear of tripping overpowered by the terror of being crushed.

A flash of light streaked across the wall, but this one didn't simply vanish; instead, it seemed to cling to the glass of the locked window and illuminate the entire room with a sickening green glow. Rick scarcely had time to glance over his shoulder before a mass of glowing vines slammed him against the glass.

The monster stood there, breathing hard, shuddering uncontrollably, her arm stretched out to ensnare him, pinning his chest to the glass, suspending his feet in the air, and leaving his lungs barely able to withstand the pressure.

Only then did he see the full extent of the damage inflicted on her body. The mass of tentacles had been severely burnt, exposing bone and quivering remnants of blackened rotting muscle. The glow was stronger through the parts of her that weren't vines, dim enough to cast long shadows in every direction.

Her black eyes observed him with a crazed smile. "I know of your failures too, Richard." she proclaimed, advancing slowly, savoring the moment. "I heard all about you, about how you failed your students.” She spat the name, hoisting him up the pane of reinforced glass, unfazed by his desperate kicks at the limb. "Don't you see? I don't have a collar. But I'm not feral."

Rick froze.

The maiden’s smile widened further. "That's right," she laughed, lowering him just enough for them to be eye to eye. "Those filthy wildlings found some of your fellow outworlders. Bonding with Barry was so much fun."

Barry?

Rick’s mind raced, no, no, he couldn’t let himself be distracted, he drew from that anger that was drawing closer with every passing second. “You found a pureblood, and you couldn’t even save them.” He spat, snarling, kicking with renewed vigor. “Your lord would be disgusted with you.”

“DON’T SPEAK OF HIM!” She increased the pressure, his ribs creaked and Rick heaved.

“Stupid fucking nobility, obsessed with pureness of blood.” He sneered, still managing to kick at the mass of vines, however fruitless. “What would he’d say if he could see you?” His hand reached out, tapping the window. "You're a monster."

The maiden's eyes shifted from him to the glass, gazing at her reflection.

"Do you think your Lord Thorley would even recognize you?"

It was like witnessing a record scratch in real time, her black, pupil-less eyes widening slowly, mouth hanging open. Had she not seen her reflection until now? Or was there something else at play? Rick pressed on.

"Someone did this to you, didn't they? Turned you into this. Look at what they've done to you."

"NO! NO! NO!"

In a split second he found himself flying across the room. A shelf cushioned his fall in the same way that a fist would cushion one’s molars. The piece of wood toppled over, and he crumpled, groaning from pain that shot up his ribs.

"YOU DID THIS TO ME!" The monster stomped closer. "YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED HIM! YOU KILLED HIM!" Her vine-like arms swung in wide arcs, flinging shelves and books in every direction.

There was a high-pitched shriek, one he nearly mistook for tinnitus or the first signs of a concussion. But it grew louder with the library doors bursting open. His head turned to the source, finding a silver and blue figure rushing in a straight line towards the monster.

The Archangel looked about as shocked as Rick, staring at the Metalmouse that had done a full body-lunge with utter disbelief.

“What?”

The meter-forty tall streak of gray slammed directly against the monster’s face. Mousy ears swung wildly as her arms blurred. Wielding only two knives, the diminutive maiden let out a shrill battlecry, slamming her blade against her opponent with unrelenting speed. It was like watching some kind of maniacal, bloodthirsty sewing machine, landing dozens of blows within the blink of an eye, blackened blood spraying in every direction.

The Metalmouse’s objective seemed to attempt to dig her way into the monster’s body through turning everything in her path into shreds.

She failed in that task, though not for a lack of trying. The monster roared, flailing and flinging wildly, throwing the maiden off. The tiny maiden curled into a ball mid-air, the silver parts of her body revealed to be armor of some sort as she came to a stop against a shelf.

With only a wince of pain, the maiden uncurled and bolted towards Rick, clambering through the books and splinters like they didn’t present an obstacle. Behind her, the monster thrashed, arms flinging blindly in every direction, her face obscured by a layer of black ichor, her eyes gouged out and her mouth twisted into a wail.

Rafaella reached out for Rick. “My Lord, we-”

“Get the others!” He commanded between coughs, pulling himself to his feet on wobbly legs and stinging lungs. “They-.”

“We're helping them, my Lord.”

We? It was all the explanation she would provide. The maiden, petite as she was, had ample strength to hoist him up and assist him in limping towards the entrance. Behind them, the monster kept attacking at… something, seemingly following some sound in the opposite direction. A diversion? Who else was here?

Rick glimpsed a dozen swift figures, navigating through the darkness unfazed. As they moved further from the monster, their visibility waned, her attack's light being the only illumination within the library. Shadows that chittered among themselves in some unknown code.

Rick caught a glimpse of his three companions being carried ahead.

Then the library doors closed behind him, and there was only darkness.

“The Dark Elves…”

“If you kill, you are killed. If you trap, you are trapped.” The maiden at his side spoke resolutely, leaving no room for argument.

Leaving without at least a prisoner was far from ideal, but just getting out of there alive was the best he could ask for.

“Thank you.” He whispered between wheezes, doing his best to keep up even though every other step was a stumble. He couldn’t see where they were going, but the tiny maidens seemed completely unperturbed.

Then there were stairs, and rather than carefully guide him up them, he was bodily hoisted by three of them. “We must hurry.” The Metalmouse spoke before he could even complain. “The bad Orcs will be here.”

“The tribe, they’ll help.”

“You, not us.”

She didn’t add any more.

Abstently, he realized the sound of screams and pounding had come to an end. There was nothing else now, only silence interrupted by the hurried short steps on the stone floor. “Is that a code of conduct?” His ribs ached in protest, but he couldn't bear the silence, not in this absolute darkness, even as they stumbled up some stairs.

He could only hope the place they were taking him to wasn’t some sort of elaborate trap.

“It is honor.”

A light appeared ahead, dim at first, but growing. It was a room, a bedroom with an open window. Unlike every other window in the fortress, this one did not have the shutters locked down; it was open, with a conspicuous-looking rope tied to the edge. He saw the Mousegirls climbing their way out in single file without looking back.

Kiara, Dia, and Eva lay on the bed, still unconscious.

Kiara in particular concerned him. Not only had her transformation ended, the maiden had significant first degree burns spreading throughout most of her body, her breaths were shallow and pained. “She needs help.”

“We don’t know what help to give, my Lord,” Rafaella said, looking at the Succubus with a conflicted expression. “We aren’t healers.”

“Do you not know how to help with light burns?”

She shook her head. “Any serious enough injury or illness means going to a healer.”

Of course. A drawback of having such absurd power to heal things meant things like first aid were vastly less necessary than even his own world. “I need cold water and clean bandages, or at least boiled cloth.”

She hesitated, looking at the door, then at the window. “I-.”

“The tribe won’t know you were here.” Rick stated firmly. “I’ll keep it a secret.”

Her mouth closed, and she nodded, rushing to the window. While she was gone, Rick hurried to confirm Kiara’s condition. She’d been mostly naked, the clothes she’d worn hadn’t singed or burned, but her skin had deep welts, the redness covering almost every inch as if she’d taken an extreme severe sunburn all over.

But worst of all was the angry streaks that covered her left flank, the points where she’d touched the vines.

Rafaella popped back with a basket. There was a swath of white cloth and a jug with water. It’d have to do until Dia got back to her senses. Grimacing, he knelt and began to carefully lay the dampened bandages over every bit of reddened exposed skin. He hoped that magical burns followed at least similar rules to normal ones.

“You’re a good Lord.”

He glanced over his shoulder at the Metalmouse, the maiden was watching him almost hawkishly, gray eyes focused like lasers. His eyes turned to the three unconscious maidens. All three of them had nearly died, one of them didn’t look to be out of the woods yet.

“Not good enough.” He muttered under his breath.

There was the sound of stomping, Rick glanced over his shoulder, finding Rafaella gone along the rope. Turning to the door, he could hear the approaching thunderous steps, there was no doubt of who it was.

Urtha practically burst through the door, eyes wild and holding her fists ready for a fight.

The instant she’d confirmed the state of those within, she hurried to Rick, dropping to her knees right in front of him. “You’re alive.” Her arms were trembling, half-reaching out to him, but freezing in place. “You’re alive.” It was a mix between a whimper and a whisper, there was just so much relief washing from her that it was overwhelming.

And Rick could only ask himself why she seemed to care so much. But… he couldn’t deny her, he covered the remaining distance and took her head into his arms, pushing down the cynicism and wrapping her head in his arms. She needed to lean slightly further for the heights to fit.

“I’m alive.” He whispered the words, feeling her take deep heavy breaths, relaxing ever so slightly against him, fighting against the impulse of hugging him back with twinges of apprehension and fear. “And the others?”

“Clearing the place.” She declared with shaking breaths. “The Chieftess…”

He paused.

“What is it?”

“We found her.” Urtha’s voice trembled, she was shaken. “The… she has the vines.”

[BOOK 1][BOOK 2 START][PREVIOUS][NEXT]