Chapter 62. Chased

They had lost a few clan members, but the raids had proven successful. Every day, their pursuers fell further behind, and after nine days of chasing them through the Vale, they had escaped.

Several banshees followed the ship as flying escorts as it weaved through the starry darkness of the Vale. It wasn’t just about security. The ship was crowded.

Abe had been directing them based on the memories he held of the Vale—a map of the stars that was expanded every time he took hold of a deathly orb. The artifacts held with them the memories of their journeys, and a well-traveled one could fetch a far higher price than a virgin orb.

Unfortunately, the domain wasn’t where he believed it to be. His memories were cloudy and confusing, but he was certain they had traveled to where he believed it was.

Souls bound to a domain could always form a tether, assuming they had enough energy to do so. However, if that link was broken, so would their ability to easily travel to and from that domain.

An uneasy feeling stirred within Abe. He still didn’t understand much, but the fact that he couldn’t feel the domain's presence was bad. The only cause could be that something happened while he was gone.

“Who could have threatened Miss Nia?” He mouthed. It was too hard to believe. To Abe, she seemed undefiable. A true power of the Astral and deathscape that could challenge the likes of living and unliving gods alike. And his imagination struggled to comprehend someone taking what was hers from her, even if he had witnessed a greater power and domain like Old Silveroot’s.

But alternative plans would need to be made quickly. He might have grown stronger and had a small army accompanying him now, but the Vale was still dangerous. Not to mention the deathly energy being burned by the ship. Ducats might not be of immediate concern, but he didn’t mean to recover the energy spent on their travels.

This was usually done either by owning a Well or A source of energy at the heart of domains or scattered across the realms. They funneled both deathly and dreamer energy from the world of the living and could be harnessed to fuel the energy needs of great lords and their armies. Without them, gathering rods could also be constructed. How effective they were depended on their location. Though a single rod would never compare to a Well, there were places that stacked so many of them that they produced huge amounts of energy for consumption. An example of this was Lantern. Where the rod farms funneled huge quantities of both dreamer and deathly energy for consumption by those who lived there. However, even if the city basked in as much energy as Lantern did, it was still just a shardworld. And because of this, it was relatively poor. If not for the commerce and organizations that set up headquarters there, it would never have been possible to justify all the trade ships that brought huge stores of energy into the city and sold them. But you’re able to pay a premium; someone is willing to provide a service.

“So, done brooding?” Viara said as she stepped to Abe’s side at the helm. “We’ve been searching for this missing domain for days now. Don’t you think it’s time we made alternative plans?”

“It has to be here…”

“It is,” Viara rolled her eyes. “You just can’t see it, and we both know what that means.”

“But how? How could she just lose her domain?”

“We’ve both heard the rumors of a vampire war, Abe. Don’t you think there’s a chance that it’s involved somehow?”

“Someone came and conquered her land?” Abe turned to Viara.

“Something like that. Embrace it, I say. You gained your freedom, lover boy.”

“She’s not dead.”

“Then where is she?”

“I, ahh,” Abe clenched his jaw. He had no answers. He couldn’t explain the feeling he had. She was right about the domain; that much seemed obvious. A ghostly tether bonded him with Nia, and despite failing to find the words to describe it, he believed with all his heart that she was still alive.

“Fine,” he muttered after a long pause. “For now, we divert our course. Send your clan warriors out into the Vale. Find us a shardworld to set down on.”

“For you to claim?” Viara asked, her brow provocatively arched. 

“For now, at least. It doesn’t have to be big or rich in resources. Just somewhere we can set down and conserve deathly energy while figuring out the next move.”

“Good enough for me,” Viara smiled and turned, swirling a finger about her head to call over her banshee raiders.

What does this all mean, Nia? I know you’re alive out there somewhere. What happened to the domain? The manor?

Three days went by as they navigated the Vale. Their raiders covered twice as much distance as the ship itself did each day, scouring the stars for a new home. The section they were in was relatively weak and, as such, couldn’t house the strongest denizens of the Vale. But snooping around the homes of others still came with risks.

No one was looking for a difficult fight. Enough lives had already been lost, and Abe’s thoughts had been adrift for weeks now. What they sought out didn’t have to be abandoned, but at least inhabited by weaker beings.

On the forth day they found a promising rock. Holding a temperate climate, it was mostly covered by evergreen forests and a hilly landscape. Deathly energy was quite strong for the poorly contested island, and rich enough for their needs. 

A small settlement sat at the island core. Runaway abominations. The constructs of a corpse surgeon. Their misshaped, patchwork bodies were known for having all kinds of unexpected weapons shoved and sewn on, and while they weren’t the strongest undead creatures, they could be surprising.

As they neared, battle groups were formed. Abe would lead his ghouls and skeletons into the heart of the abomination camp while the banshees would lay down fire from above. 

Kilik and Viara split the banshees into two groups, each leading one. Since the other elders had died, there was not much choice. At some point, new elders would be elected from the clan. A means of balancing the clan’s decision-making. But that would wait until their position had found more secure footing.

“Just let us know when you’re ready to begin the attack,” Viara said.

“Be ready,” Abe replied, stepping to the edge of the ship as it floated within meters of the floating rock’s edge. They were a good hundred meters or so above, but the defenders would have means of attacking flying enemies. Even if this island had never seen a real threat come its way, someone would have. It was impossible to lay claim to a shardworld without the means to defend it. That was why they needed to take the battle to them rather than try to siege them out. Not that Abe was worried. He was far from being convinced to lord over his motley crew, but he wasn’t about to leave the heavy lifting to them either. His strength was far beyond what one would expect of a wight, and as such, it made sense for him to lead the attack and cause as much damage as possible, even if he wasn’t in the mood for it.

“On my count, we attack. 1… 2… 3–”

******

“Stunning, really beautiful,” Katiana clapped as she lay between barely dressed, muscular forms on a plush couch. “Do a twirl for me,” she added with a spin of her index.

Collared and dressed in revealing silks, Anita bit her lip and did as she was commanded. Hollering undead creatures cheered from the sidelines of the impromptu runway. 

The sickening display had been part of weeks long celebration held in Nia’s hold manor and the surrounding grounds. Katiana had second floor hallway turned into her the runway for her little games, and sat at the end of it, cheering them on.

Ricky had been afforded a little more decency as the long-time caretaker of the building. The shield he had put up held them out for almost a week after landing and enraged Katiana that she had been held back from her prize. But when it finally fell, she had decided that a valuable asset wasn’t worth wasting, even if it had boiled her blood.

“Come on, girl, don’t pout,” Katiana laughed as a scowl bent Anita’s lip. “I’m sure one of these brutes will mount you later if you’re going bored.”

“Yeh, meee,” grunted a big bald, bucktoothed abomination, shaking his head like an inmate at an insane asylum. “Gimme, gimme.”

“Not you, Jerkin,” Katiana grimaced. “Not even I’m so cruel as to throw my uneaten meat to a savage like you.”

“Ahh?” The bobbing Frankenstein bent its head in a mixture of confusion and insult.

“You heard the Mistress,” hissed a beautiful man with flowing silver hair beside her. “Don’t make me cut your ugly tongue out.”

The abomination cowered, melting back into the crowd of jeering undead.

Please, Abe. If you’re involved in this madness somehow, please come for me. I cannot bear it any longer. A thin line of tears traced Anita’s cheeks as she turned for the insane vampire lord, and dozens of eyes watched her hungrily.

She knew she couldn't survive in this hellhole much longer. Not her mind, at the very least.