350: To Hunt And To Run

Mordecai had to admit that he was feeling just a bit smug about his plan working as well as it had. Svetlana had practically invited his command glyphs to demand action from her, and had supported the command to 'grow' as best as she was able. It was probably best that she hadn't managed to shatter her bonds, as then she'd be having to deal with everything herself, but it would still be a better scenario than any in which Dimitri won.

As for snatching that finger despite Dimitri's contingency, Mordecai had been counting on most contingencies having a threshold before they automatically kick in. Losing a single finger was usually below that threshold; while not exactly a minor injury, it was usually not immediately life-threatening. But if Dimitri had mentally triggered the contingency after Mordecai had his shadow bite off the finger, it would restore finger and ring alike.

So during Dimitri's moment of distraction, Mordecai had used two attacks and added a spell to the first shadow to numb the spot it struck. Dimitri hadn't felt anything when he lost his finger, and only then did his second shadow bite off Dimitri's hand.

The contingency had still tried to undo the damage to the finger, but the small gap in time had been enough for Mordecai to wrap his will around the finger and oppose that change in reality. Though that finger had some troublesome traits to it that he had not mentioned to anyone else yet — something to be dealt with as part of his hunt.

Now, how best to wake up Nikita... well, the solution was simple, he just needed to brace himself for the impact. He knelt down next to the woman and held his left hand out over her head, then made a claw with his right hand and cut deeply enough into his left wrist that blood splashed onto her lips.

He barely saw her move before her fangs were sunk into his wrist, followed instantly by an innate attempt at sensory overload. It wasn't so much an inducement of pleasure as an attempt to convert all sensations into pleasure, mixed with a mental pressure to surrender to the pleasure. Under the right circumstances, it could be a rather enjoyable enhancement to an experience, but these were far from those circumstances.

Mordecai grimaced as he fended off both effects and let her feed for a moment until her eyes started to focus again. While not a specifically designed feature, the mixture of heritages in his avatar created a fairly potent mix of blood and spiritual energy. "Release my arm, and we can go hunt down Dimitri together."

Nikita leapt away from him as her mind started to process the circumstances and landed in a slight, wary crouch. "What's going on?"

"I've removed a finger," Mordecai said as he conjured the digit from a storage ring, "along with the ring that was on it, but the rest of Dimitri is still running about. I plan to fix that issue while my wives are helping out Svetlana."

The grin that stretched across Nikita's lips could best be described as feral. "Oh. Oh, I see." She licked her lips thoughtfully, then shuddered at the traces of blood. "What exactly are you? I mean, other than an avatar; I've never tasted blood like yours."

He smiled and shrugged. "Let's just say, I have made a fairly unique hybrid. Now, about our hunt. Svetlana should be able to keep him from teleporting around, especially as she will have one more zone soon, but having two people stalking him would be better than one. Especially as I do not know how many more contingencies he has in place."

"Oh, I see... hmm." She frowned suddenly. "I smell your blood, and his, but there is something wrong in the scent. I just tasted yours and it's not there, so it must be in his."

"That is something I was beginning to worry about," Mordecai admitted, "but I don't have previous experience to compare his scent against, and if it is the sort of corruption I am concerned about, then at least he hasn't progressed very far." He sighed and shook his head. "Well, I might as well verify something."

Mordecai focused his will as he formulated the exact phrasing he would use, though part of him was hoping that his words would have no effect. "We do hereby disown Dimitri Igorek, declare him to no longer be any kin of Ours, and deny him any blood rights or inheritance that he might have gained from Us." A moment later, he felt a very faint sensation of a connection breaking.

"Damn it," Mordecai said. "I was hoping that he wouldn't be one of my descendants."

Nikita eyed him warily. "Why would any form of him gaining a magical corruption tie him to being your bloodline?"

"Because while mortal souls can become demons only after they die, fey souls can become devils while still alive. There was an... incident last year that retroactively rendered my bloodline that of a faerie king, and thus any of my descendants who had sufficient power of their own also awakened a fae bloodline."

She considered that a moment before saying, "If he has started on the path to becoming a devil, he must have fae bloodlines. But if he had fae powers when he was younger, he would not have been made heir to the Puritasi."

"Exactly. Unfortunately, that will not have reduced his power, but at least it has verified what we are dealing with. Now, Svetlana can keep you updated, and you can guide me to him. From there, you should stalk quietly while I flush him out. The rest we will have to improvise."

When Nikita nodded and turned around, Mordecai realized that she was still wearing the appearance that she had managed to draw from him. Kazue's green eyes and Moriko's elven features and dark hair were prominent aspects of that appearance, but what drew his attention now was that Nikita's hair ended in red and white tips.

He elected to not request that she change her appearance; Mordecai felt it wisest to not draw any attention to her appearance at all.

The two of them moved into the maze of tunnels that Dimitri had been using for his final stand, and Nikita quietly kept Mordecai updated about the changes Svetlana was making along the way. She couldn't block Dimitri off completely, as a way toward the core still had to be maintained, but she could slowly remove most of his other options, so long as neither he nor Mordecai were to close to a section that she wanted to edit.

Nikita pointed down a corridor when they were very close, and Mordecai nodded before moving in that direction. She headed down another corridor, her appearance becoming indistinct as she masked her presence and cloaked herself in subtle illusion.

Fully prepared and focused on the threat ahead, Mordecai assumed his ambassador form, then, after a moment's thought, summoned a pair of nine-ring blades in preparation for making a dramatic entrance. He paused, listening to seeming silence as he searched for the right rhythm, then he began to move.

Mordecai marched forward, blades chiming out a slow beat in time with his steps, and as he marched, he sang a wordless chant. The shape of his voice carried power and intent, amplified by the steady beat of his march. Dimitri's first attack was a lightning bolt that filled the tunnel, but Mordecai's blade slashed through it without missing a beat. The lightning split and streamed around him harmlessly while Mordecai continued forward.

Dimitri retreated as he threw a handful of rune-inscribed stones toward him. Mordecai's next step sent out a blast of air that knocked the stones away before they could explode. Every attack that Dimitri launched was met with a counter made in time with Mordecai's indomitable march.

This was one of the oldest forms of magic, a tradition developed by many early cultures that was never quite formalized, but was often the root of bardic magic. In some ways, it was a simple magic, but that could be as much strength as weakness. Mordecai had found one of the rhythms of the world and was co-opting it as his own. It also exposed his intentions and emotions to all the world.

He was here to perform a task and carried a grim determination to carry out Dimitri's execution. Mordecai would not allow himself to be stopped, for this was the way to restore balance and secure the safety of others.

"Don't you judge me, monster!" Dimitri hissed as his next spell launched a ripple of spatial distortions meant to rip and tear the spell's target apart. Mordecai twisted into a spinning jump as his blades flashed, deflecting the distortions while his feet maintained their rhythm along the wall and ceiling, before he dropped back to the ground.

Mordecai wove a sound of derision into his wordless chant; while Mordecai had caused at least as much pain and suffering with his war as Dimitri had caused during his dominion over Svetlana, Mordecai at least accepted and understood the nature of his sins.

Dimitri grew more frantic as Mordecai's slow pursuit continued, mixing spells and his dwindling supply of magic items at Mordecai to no avail. While some did manage to strike Mordecai, none made his step or rhythm falter. He was here to be Dimitri's doom, and he would not let any of Dimitri's struggles interfere with that goal.

The slow chase continued for nearly half an hour before it was interrupted. Dimitri had become ever more frazzled and desperate and had long ago stopped paying attention to anything else but Mordecai's advance. He dashed around a corner, and Mordecai heard a gasp followed by a groan. Or perhaps moan would be more accurate.

He could feel Nikita's presence now, so Mordecai drew his war dance to a gentle close and bowed slightly, giving respect to the spirit of the world that had lent its rhythm to him. Not that he had ever met a spirit associated with these rhythms, but the cultures that originated war dances and chants of this sort tended to believe they existed, and there was no good reason not to make the gesture when feasible.

Those final steps had also brought him to the corner that Dimitri had run around. Nikita had grabbed him and pulled him into her embrace as she sank her fangs into his neck. They were on their knees now, and from the way Dimitri's body was shuddering, it was clear that he was completely caught in her power.

Mordecai dismissed one of the blades and replaced it with the soul stone while he shifted back to his normal form.

In a way, it didn't matter if Dimitri died in her embrace; Mordecai's soul stone could still capture Dimitri's soul. But there were other reasons to not let that happen.

"Nikita," he said, "I want you to release him. I know of the addiction that takes a dhampir who kills through feeding, and it is far too late to avoid that for you, but that does not mean that you can not control the worst of it. Are you the monster that the Puritasi wanted to make of you, or are you the woman who can reclaim her house and forge new alliances? Because a monster who can not stop herself from killing also can not lead a noble house. At least, not lead it to anywhere but destruction."

Mordecai made no move to stop her; she needed to be able to do this on her own. Nikita shuddered and closed her eyes, then made herself release Dimitri, pushing him away from her as she fell back to collapse against the wall, gasping as she fought to contain her blood lust that had been so close to satiating itself on another victim.

"You did well," Mordecai said with a smile, then turned his attention to Dimitri, whose eyes were slowly focusing. Part of him wanted to say something, to give a speech of sorts that would let Dimitri understand what he had done wrong, but he crushed that impulse.

Instead, he simply channeled mana into the soul stone and said, "May your next life be better," before he drove his blade into Dimitri's heart. The stone flickered for a moment in response to the presence of a freshly available soul, before it matched the soul to the intent Mordecai was holding in his mind. Then if briefly flared before settling into a dim radiance. Mordecai double checked that the aura matched Dimitri's, then nodded, satisfied.

"Svetlana," he said as he stored the stone and his sword, "Please store all of his stuff. I would like to inventory it later with you, but not right now." Of course, he needed to move away before she could do that. Mordecai held out his hand to Nikita, who shakily took it to help her rise.

"That was difficult," she said softly as they walked away. "The rush of those final moments is so much more intense than the simple pleasure of feeding."

"I understand, and I won't tell you to never kill that way if you think someone is truly deserving of death. But if we are going to release you from your bond with Svetlana while leaving you with all your current power, I need to be sure I am not simply releasing a killer. You need to make sure you are more than that."

"And if I couldn't make myself stop?"

"He'd have died there, in your embrace, and I would still have captured his soul. But the breaking of your bond with Svetlana would have come with a new body, one that could not feed on blood. Perhaps even one that would reject meat that was not cooked enough, to ensure that the mental part of your addiction couldn't drive you to drink blood anyway."

She fell silent for a while before asking, "You know that I am planning on killing at least one person, yes? I may kill them this way, if it's convenient."

"I am not bothered by that, assuming your target is truly deserving. But you will need to satisfy part of your addiction; you will absolutely have to feed. The important part is to make sure that you can have partners who share themselves with you, because you can stop before you do them harm."

They continued talking as they made their way toward Svetlana's core, with Mordecai giving advice on how Nikita could train herself, but they were interrupted when Nikita stiffened. "Something's wrong with one of the others, someone named Moriko. She's making a straight path." A wall blinked out of existence at the far edge of Mordecai's normal aura.

Mordecai didn't ask questions; he simply sprinted, channeling mana and chi to amplify his speed.

When he dashed into the chamber, Bellona shouted at him, "Stop!" as she interposed herself between him and Moriko

He froze, a healing prayer already formed and ready to cast, but he knew better than to ignore an ally who was already on scene.

"When I tried to heal her," Bellona said softly, "she convulsed more; I don't know what's wrong with her, but simple healing isn't the answer."

"Thank you," Mordecai said with a slight nod before he knelt down at Moriko's side. If healing was making things worse, then there was no telling how bad Mordecai's spell would have made it. He had to figure out what was wrong with her, but was wary about using magic, so he focused on his other senses, listening as much as looking.

Disbelief and panic warred inside of him when he discovered the problem, which was when a terrified-looking Kazue told him, "Um, Svetlana says there's something really strange going on with her aura."

Mordecai rapidly went through his options and found only one acceptable outcome and matching actions. "Svetlana, I need a way out, straight up. Close it behind me so that I can maximize my speed. Everyone else, step away from me." Then he shifted his focus to his earring and sub-vocalized, "I need the fastest route back home, and I need a direct path to the core. Damage to me is acceptable, so long as I can bring Moriko through safely."

He scooped Moriko up into his arms and wrapped his aura around her to create a first layer of protection, and as soon as Svetlana had created a hole in the ceiling, he leapt upward, transforming into his battle form on the fly. Raw speed was what he needed, and as soon as Svetlana had started closing the tunnel behind him, Mordecai channeled fire, air, and lightning into the closed space beneath him, creating a shockwave that pushed him even faster until he was launched into the open sky.

Twisting to aim himself toward the lake that his core had directed him to, Mordecai began shifting his form again, this time to a new shape. The arms cradling Moriko grew into a protective shell that completely enclosed her, pressing her carefully against his belly as his form elongated and grew even more wings. Fire and wind ignited under his rearmost wings as he tore through the sky.

Mirror-smooth water caught his eye from a distance and was soon almost beneath him. Mordecai dove, accelerating into his own oncoming image, and crashing into it only to come crashing out of an obsidian mirror, located in a distant, ruined fortress on the Other Side. One that sat on the edge of the faerie realms and the darker realms beyond.

His entrance disturbed the creatures living there, which immediately began to chase him, but Mordecai paid no heed as he raced on, pushing himself away from faerie and into the realms overlapping with the void between worlds. After a quick check to ensure that he had a barrier of air surrounding Moriko, Mordecai slipped through to the mortal world and ignored how the breath was ripped out of his lungs.

Instead, he simply dove, guided by the directions his core was feeding him. Now for the hard part. Mordecai forged a cone ahead of himself, an invisible barrier of magic, chi, and will. It was a needle, piercing the atmosphere to keep it from slowing him down. Falling wasn't even fast enough; Mordecai was still forcing himself to accelerate as shockwaves rippled out along his path. He only stopped adding to his speed when his core told him too, and he folded his wings along his body to smooth his outline even more.

The beacon of his core was clear and directly in front of him, and he could only trust that the guidance he'd been given was correct; he was going far too fast to dodge around any structures.

As soon as he entered his territory, he knew he had it right. But for this, simply being in his territory was not enough. His body flashed passed Krystraeliv, the crystal tree only briefly visible, and plunged into a hole that had not been there when Mordecai had left home.

Thin, individual strands of spider web were the first layers of the deceleration net that had been crafted, and the number of fibers increased rapidly, along with strands of mycelium and tangled roots. Mordecai twisted his body slightly to ensure that when the tunnel began to curve, it was his back that took the gradual impact and the friction from sliding along the smooth wall.

Mordecai burst out of the tunnel and into the enlarged chamber for their core with still far too much speed, but there was one more element waiting. Satsuki caught him in a spell that brought him safely to a halt, immediately next to the core. He shifted away the shell covering Moriko to reveal her shaking body, and Satsuki carefully handed the core to Mordecai, helping him guide Moriko into curling around it until her forehead touched the crystal.

"It's alright, love," Mordecai whispered. "You're safe, you're home, we have you right here, you can let go now, you've done all you need to do. Let go and let us catch you."

Moriko convulsed as an agonized scream tore its way out of her, only to end in a sickeningly wet crunch.