Talesworn

Chapter 53 - Gravebait

Piper stretched languidly in her bed, luxuriating in the feel of the soft sheets against her skin. After spending weeks sleeping on hard rocks, the inn’s mattress felt heavenly. If she hadn’t had plans today, she would have happily spent the rest of the morning in bed.

I suppose I can sleep for a few more minutes.

Rolling over, she adjusted the pillow under her head slightly. With a sigh, she closed her eyes. Then her [Ambush Detection] blared a warning.

“If you poke me with that stick,” she said, her voice muffled from the pillow. “I’m going to throw you in the horse trough outside.”

“How do you always know?” Ophelia exclaimed. “Is that some sort of demon skill?”

“Keep your voice down,” Piper said, rolling onto her back. “These walls aren’t soundproof, you know.”

Her friend shrugged. “If anyone overhears me, they’d just think I’m kidding.”

“We don’t know anything about this place,” Piper said. “Maybe it’s against the law to call someone a demon here. You remember how the tailor reacted when she saw the moonstone around my neck? She practically had a fit and kicked us out.”

Ophelia giggled. “I thought her eyes were going to bulge out of her head. Anyway, I still think she didn’t like your Infernus medallion. I bet she got bored going to church or something.”

After the woman’s reaction at the tailor’s shop, she stopped wearing both of her necklaces. Until she knew more about the Arissian Empire, she wasn’t going to do anything that could offend anyone. For now, her Infernus medallion and moonstone were safely hidden under her mattress. Her warm, comfy mattress.

She briefly considered trying to go back to sleep. But she also knew that her friend would never let that happen. Once Ophelia was up, she expected everyone else to be up, too.

“Come on,” Ophelia said, poking the thick covers with her stick. “Let’s go get some breakfast before it’s all gone.”

Piper pushed herself up and blinked at the bright light. Once she was a wealthy wayfarer, the first thing she’d do is find a room with proper shutters. The ones in her room barely fit the frame, and bright beams of sunlight pierced the gloomy room like lances.

Stretching, she patted down her wild hair before standing up. She walked over to the small table holding a basin of water.

Rinsing her hands off, she splashed some on her face before running her fingers through her hair.

After arriving in the city, she’d changed her hair back to its natural color—at least its natural color from Earth. Now she supposed her real hair color was a lustrous silver. But unless something went catastrophically wrong, no one in the city would ever see that.

As she attempted to tame her wild mane, she added a comb and a mirror to the list of things she’d like to buy. More often than not, her hair was a rat's nest on top of her head. And she didn’t like that one bit.

After visiting the Wayfarer Aspirant’s guild, she was going to hunt down a comb to buy. And she would also see how expensive mirrors were, though she suspected they cost far more than she could afford.

Ophelia came to stand next to her and grinned from ear to ear. “Do you know what today is?”

“The day you learn to become a farm wife?”

Piper’s [Ambush Detection] didn’t save her this time as a stick jabbed into her side. “Hey, that actually hurt!”

“You deserved it,” Ophelia replied. “Now, what day is it again?”

“The day you start your sword training.”

Her friend practically squealed with delight. “Thank you so much for finding someone to train me.”

“If you’re going to be an adventurer, you need to learn how to fight.” Piper had also been searching for someone who could teach her martial arts, but so far, she hadn’t found anyone. In any battle, her claws and tail were going to be her greatest assets. However, until she knew how to fight, she was always going to be at a disadvantage against a skilled opponent.

At the thought of fighting, she moved over to the wall where Gorebark and her quiver were hidden by a [Veil of Lies] with [Enduring Casting] on it. She’d been trying to learn a new spell to hide her weapon’s true nature, but so far hadn’t had any luck. Unfortunately, her illusion spell only worked on something stationary. So, it wouldn’t work when she was carrying the bow around.

In the meantime, she’d purchased some rawhide and string to cover the more demonic parts of her weapon. Her free time over the last few days had been spent cutting and shaping the material to hide Gorebark and the creepy human face on her quiver. It wasn’t perfect, but at least she could bring them out in public if needed.

Piper cancelled the illusion and then retrieved her bow. There was a linen gag stretched across the demonic face’s mouth. She couldn’t exactly have it talking while she was out during the day. However, she wasn’t cruel enough to leave it gagged all the time.

Pulling off the gag, she regarded her bow. “I’m going to try to find a quest today. If it’s outside of the city, I’ll bring you along with me.”

Gorebark sputtered, sticking out its wooden tongue. “I can’t breathe with that thing on!”

She rolled her eyes. “Both of us know that you don’t need to breathe.”

“Well, that may be true. But what you’re doing to me is inhumane. It's torture being locked up in this room while so many fat pink apes are walking around outside. If you just let me kill a few, I’ll probably reach level 3.”

She raised her eyebrow slightly. “Are you that close?”

The bow wiggled up and down in her hand in its best attempt at a nod.

“I’ll be back soon,” she said. “Then maybe we can get you to level 3.”

Gorebark gave a dramatic sigh. “Back to the gag?”

“Back to the gag,” she repeated. “But only for a bit longer.”

Piper returned her bow to its hiding place and then wrapped her cloak around her shoulders. A slight smile played across her face as she inspected her new clothing. The fabric of the dress was of the deepest sapphire blue, and the long skirt pooled around her new boots. The bodice was a little tight for her taste, and it laced up with a silver cord.

To finish off her outfit, she wore a long black cloak and supple leather boots that reached up to her knees. She’d splurged a bit on the footwear, but it was so much more comfortable than what she’d worn back on the farm.

Plus, after spending the last few years wearing hospital gowns, snuggies, and baggy peasant dresses, it was nice to look good for once. Not that her outfit compared to what even moderately wealthy women wore in town.

In her travels, she’d seen women showing off black silk dresses, with all the stars of the night sky shimmering within the material. Another woman she’d seen had been wreathed in flames that didn’t consume her garments. It seemed like half the women in town had illusionists working for them to make their clothes stand out.

I might be able to make a bit of extra money if I learn an illusion spell to enhance clothing.

Meanwhile, her friend had picked the plainest clothing possible at the second tailor shop they’d visited. Ophelia had steadfastly refused to wear a dress and had instead chosen simple tunics along with breeches for her outfits. Her friend had also found a barber to cut her hair shorter, leaving it hanging in a cute bob slightly above her shoulders.

“Come on,” Ophelia said, bouncing from foot to foot. “I don’t want to miss him.”

“I’m coming, I’m coming.”

Piper checked that her quiver was attached to her belt and then strung her bow. Finally, she recast [Truth Shroud]. If anyone used [Identify] on her, it would show:

Human, Level 35

Hunter (Poor), Level 27

She silently thanked Raz Kalma—the knight that she’d encountered in the Black Pyramid—for pointing out the error in her illusion. It had been a miracle no one had noticed before then. However, she hadn’t been in many situations where anyone could see her class. Only someone with an evolved [Identify] skill could see anything beyond race.

For what must be the hundredth time, she considered changing her class. The last few days had been spent trying to choose one that would get her into a wayfarer aspirant group, but also not draw undue attention to herself.

Finally, she’d settled on the hunter class. It would allow her to use her [Archery] skill, while also being somewhat attractive as a semi-combat class. Hopefully, she’d made the right choice.

Piper had wanted to find Lukas and ask him about classes in the empire. But it was like he’d disappeared off the face of the planet after they arrived in Kalmyros. No matter how much she looked, she couldn’t find any sign of him.

She walked over to the door and turned the handle. The second she swung it open, Ophelia was out of the room like a shot and racing down the hallway. Her friend descended the stairs two at a time and disappeared from view.

Piper followed her friend more slowly. As she descended the stairs, the delicious aroma of frying bacon and baking bread filled her nostrils. Her stomach rumbled at the thought of the delicious food awaiting them.

When Piper reached the main floor, she spotted Ophelia already seated at a table in the corner, looking eagerly at the kitchen. Most of the chairs around the tables were filled with a motley assortment of travellers, aspirant hopefuls, and less prosperous merchants.

Piper threaded her way through the dining room before arriving at Ophelia's side. Flopping down on the hard chair, she waited for the innkeeper, Iris, to arrive with her breakfast. A minute later, the tall woman with wild red hair appeared.

Without a word to either of them, the innkeeper dropped two wooden plates on the table. They were heavily laden with bacon, cheese, buttered chunks of bread, and fried potatoes.

The potatoes were a nice addition, and something that Piper hadn’t encountered during her time living in the Bloodveil Empire. She didn’t know if they didn’t exist across the mountains, or they just weren’t eaten in Alderwick. Either way, she needed to find someone to make French fries for her—they’d been one of her favorite foods back on Earth.

“This is so good,” Ophelia said with a mouthful of potatoes. She was shovelling in the food like she hadn’t eaten in a month.

Piper took a bite of the bread and frowned slightly. While there was no question the food was good at the inn, it paled in comparison to what she’d eaten back on the farm. Maybe it was just nostalgia, but she didn’t think anyone could bake as well as Ethel.

The thought of Ophelia’s parents made her renew her vow to level up as quickly as possible. As soon as she was powerful enough to brave the Black Pyramid again, she was going to return to check on the farm. Though she trusted Justina to look after Alfred and Ethel.

“Done!” Ophelia cried out, making some of the others at the table stare at her.

“Did you even taste the food?” Piper took another delicate bite of the bacon.

“Where’s my sword tutor?” Ophelia said, pushing herself up.

Piper scanned the room, finally landing on the thin form of Andreas in the far corner. According to him, he was a down on his luck wayfarer aspirant. But he possessed a sword and had shown her a few moves before she hired him. And most importantly, she could afford his asking price.

Their money supply had been dropping steadily since they’d arrived. While the inn was relatively cheap, their new clothing and equipment had been shockingly expensive. Already, she’d gone through half of her silver.

She pointed at the poor man, who was eating in peace—something he wasn’t going to be doing much longer. “He’s over there.”

Her friend bounded across the room and began to pester the man, showing him her various moves with a stick. One overly enthusiastic lunge struck the man’s plate and sent potatoes scattering across the tabletop. The others sitting with him bellowed with laughter, while Andreas shot Piper a dirty look.

Shrugging in return, she returned to eating her meal. For what she was paying him, she deserved a chance to let her many stick bruises heal.

After eating, she took her and Ophelia’s plates to the kitchen. She left them on the counter, as the innkeeper was busy trying to salvage some bread that she’d burned the bottom of. Then she walked over to Andreas, who was shielding his food with one arm.

“I’ll be back later today,” she said. “Do you mind training her until then?”

Andreas dodged a stick thrust from Ophelia and frowned. “Is today the day?”

Piper nodded. “I’m going to sign up as a wayfarer aspirant.”

“Why not reconsider?” Andreas asked. “There’s plenty of work for archers in the Iron Host. I can’t watch over your sister if anything happens to you.”

“Nothing is going to happen to me.”

“Wayfarer aspirants are called gravebait for a reason.”

“What?”

“Gravebait,” Andreas repeated. “Haven’t you ever heard that term before?”

Piper shook her head.

“Most never survive past their first day.”

Ophelia jabbed Andreas in the ribs, making him grunt. “Piper is the best. She’ll be an adventurer in no time.”

“I’ll be fine.” Piper twirled a strand of her dark hair around her finger as she chewed over the man’s words. While she knew being a wayfarer aspirant was dangerous, she didn’t know that most never made it past their first day. What would happen to Ophelia if she died?

“Many others have said the same thing,” Andreas remarked darkly. “If you change your mind, we can try to form a lance and hire out our services to the army. There’s plenty of work to go around with the redcap spring raiding parties coming down from the mountains. They might need some soldiers for the upcoming campaigns against the undead as well.”

“What about the dark elves?” she asked, remembering Lukas having mentioned them.

“Sure, if you want to die,” Andreas laughed. “Unless you think you can take down a level 10,000 immortal.”

Her brow rose at the man’s words. Every day, she learned the world was even more dangerous than she could have imagined. If she ever encountered a dark elf, she decided that she was going to run in the opposite direction.

As another stick attack descended toward Andreas, her hand shot out and caught it. “Be nice,” she said firmly. “I don’t want to have to find you another tutor.”

Ophelia rolled her eyes before nodding.

Piper stepped forward and drew Ophelia in for a big hug. She squeezed her friend tightly, feeling a bit jittery about becoming an aspirant. For someone who had faced down vampires, demons, and dread owls in the mountains, she was surprisingly nervous.

Releasing her friend, she gave a slight smile and then turned to leave the room. As her dad always said, you had to stay positive. Before nightfall, she should have completed her first quest, and be well on her way to becoming a full wayfarer. After all, what could possibly go wrong with easy starter quests?

Chapter 53 - Prologue

A powerful spring storm battered the seaside fortress, with the torrential downpour lashing the ancient stone walls, and the roar of thunder making the foundation tremble. The squall howled impotently against the steadfast structure before swirling around it and gusting across the open plains.

Elissa looked up from her writing as the shutters rattled in the window. Above, she could hear the steady patter of rain on the roof. Another boom of thunder made her start, and she pressed a hand against her chest. After living for most of her life in the desert, she felt she would never get used to the storms on the Thalorion seacoast.

A knock on the door made her push the parchment aside. “Yes?”

The door creaked as it swung open, revealing the youthful face of Sister Calista. “The Abbess wishes to speak with you, Sister Elissa.”

“Tell her that I’ll be there shortly.” She picked up her quill as she prepared to finish writing the death warrant for a heretic. “I just need to finish up something first.”

Calista bowed her head. “I will inform her you will be along shortly.”

Elissa returned to her document. The most important thing she’d learned about sentencing heretics to death was that every piece of evidence had to be perfectly recorded. Otherwise, some local lord or mayor would complain about her burning one of their people without evidence. The ordeal of dealing with local authorities was so very tiresome.

She wrote the last few lines before she reached over and took a pinch of sand from the dish on the desk. Then she sprinkled it across the document to absorb the excess ink. Lifting the parchment, she shook off the sand before rolling it up and placing it in her pouch.

As she rose from her seat, another boom of thunder made her jump. With a nervous laugh, she shook her head. Thankfully, no one was here to see her foolishness. After all, she had a reputation to keep. And a woman’s reputation was everything in the Dawnward Host.

Elissa glanced around to make sure everything was in place in her cell. Her bed was perfectly made without a single crease. And her few meagre possessions were safely locked in the trunk at the foot of the bed. Satisfied that everything was in order, she departed from her room.

Walking down the corridor, she nodded to the other nuns as they hurried past. All of them wore the red robes of the host. Though hers bore the golden thread of an inquisitor; a position she was quite proud of.

She arrived the stairs at the end of the corridor and descended until she reached the bowels of the fortress. A slight smile played across her lips as she heard the moans and cries of the heretics locked within. Any who would dare blaspheme against the Undying Emperor deserved their fate.

The cry of a familiar voice made her brow furrow. As she listened, a righteous fury flooded through her veins. Had one of the sisters started the interrogation without her? That simply wouldn’t stand.

Storming through the narrow corridors, she stopped in front of an ironbound door. Raising her fist, she hammered on it until it swung open to reveal Sister Imilce holding a hot poker. Like her, the young woman had come from the arid lands far to the south and had the same dark hair and eyes. However, she wore only plain robes without the golden threads.

Elissa pushed past the taller woman. With a single glance, she took in everything in the room; she noted the brazier of glowing coals, the man suspended from the ceiling by iron chains, and the numerous burn marks on his chest. The sight of his wounds filled her with fury.

Spinning around, she thrust a finger in Imilce’s direction. “What have you done?”

The younger woman recoiled, lowering the poker slightly. “I thought I could get a confession from him before you arrived. This was only to make your task easier, sister.”

Elissa snatched the hot poker from the woman and stalked over to the entrance. Once there, she leaned it against the wall before rounding on the nun. “If we do not follow the imperial law, then we do not walk in the emperor’s grace. No heretic may be tortured into confessing. The law is very clear on that.”

“But we already know that he did it,” she complained. “Why not just burn the heretic like he deserves?”

“Because we are members of the Dawnward Host,” Elissa snapped. “I will not suffer a fool who thinks herself above imperial law. Understood?”

Imilce nodded tersely.

“Good.” Elissa took a deep breath. “Now, did the alleged heretic say anything to you?”

The dark-haired woman shook her head. “He insists that he’s innocent.”

Elissa walked over to the man and then circled around him. He was nearing forty and had patches of grey at his temples. Unlike so many others with apprentices, he had kept himself fit and had a sharp jawline. Even with the immense amount of pain he must be feeling, he remained unbowed and defiant.

“Now, Nicholas,” she said, stopping in front of him. From her pocket, she fished out the death warrant she’d just signed. “In my hands, I hold your death warrant for possessing the symbol of a false god. If you confess, I promise to grant you a painless death.”

The man glared at her with pure hatred in his eyes. “I have done nothing to deserve death.”

“The evidence is irrefutable,” Elissa continued, tapping the rolled-up parchment against her hand. “Numerous witnesses have come forward stating that you worship a false god.”

“I’m a good citizen of the empire,” he said. “I would never worship Infernus.”

“I would ask you not to use a false god’s name in my presence. And as I said, numerous people have come forward stating that you worship a false god. Why would they lie about such a thing?”

“The simplest reason of all,” Nicholas growled. “Greed.”

Elissa arched her eyebrow. “Explain.”

“Manos, the man who accused me, is a competitor of mine in the city. He planted the symbol of a false god at my forge. And he paid others to make accusations against me. It looks like his plan worked, since I’m here and he has no competition now.”

“Interesting.” Elissa brushed back a stray strand of dark hair. “Do you have any proof of this?”

“My apprentice caught him sneaking into my forge a fortnight ago,” he said. “The boy didn’t see what he was doing, but he would testify to that.”

Elissa turned to Imilce. “Have we questioned his apprentice?”

The younger woman frowned before hurrying over to a nearby table. She sifted through a pile of parchment before lifting one to read. “Yes. It says Nikos claimed a competitor had been in the forge days before the guard found the symbol of Infer—, I mean, of a false god.”

“This is why we do not torture heretics before a confession,” Elissa said. “I believe this man may be innocent of the charges brought against him.”

At her words, Imilce gulped noticeably. The payout for false imprisonment and torture under imperial law was quite large. And she would be punished severely if the order had to give a large sum to their prisoner.

“For now,” Elissa continued. “Release Nicholas from his bonds until this Manos fellow can be questioned. I’m sure I’ll get to the bottom of the truth quickly enough.”

“As you wish, sister.

“I will leave you to handle this for now. The abbess has summoned me to her quarters.

“Yes, sister.”

As Imilce swiftly worked to release the chains holding up the man, Elissa departed from the jail cell. She retraced her steps to the staircase leading to the upper floors. Once there, she took the steps two at a time. While the fate of her prisoner still hung in the air, she suspected that heresy didn’t burn in his heart. However, she wouldn’t know for sure until she could speak to his competitor in town.

Elissa reached the floor with her own quarters but continued upward. As she climbed, she could feel the steps swaying slightly from the powerful winds buffeting the fortress. A flash of lightning glowed through the arrow slits, illuminating the many magical items mounted on the walls. No heretic caster could reach this floor undetected.

She reached the top level and walked the short distance to the abbess’s door. Raising her hand, she rapped lightly on the wood.

“Come in,” a faint voice said from inside.

She turned the iron handle and swung the door open. Inside, was a cell not much different from her own. The room contained a narrow bed, a wooden trunk, and a writing desk with a candle burning on it. A casual observer would never know this room belonged to the leader of their sacred order.

Penelope, the abbess, rose unsteadily from her chair and smiled at Elissa. She was ancient even for an upper-realm mage. Her face was lined like a map showing the many roads of the empire, and her thinning grey hair was cut close to her head.

But while Penelope outwardly appeared as a doddering old woman, a suffocating power radiated off of her. There were some in the order who believed she was nearly level 10,000. However, none would ever be so rude as to use [Identify] on their commander. And she certainly wasn’t going to tell anyone.

Elissa bowed her head. “What may I do for you, Abbess?”

“May I offer you something to drink?” Penelope shuffled over to her writing desk. “I had one of the other girls bring up some tea.”

“No thank you, abbess.”

Penelope poured some tea into a wooden cup, steam rising off the surface and disappearing in the air. Then, the wizened woman brought the drink up to her nose and inhaled deeply. “Are you certain you don’t want some?”

“Perhaps later,” Elissa said. “I was told you needed to speak with me?”

“You need to stop and enjoy life sometimes,” Penelope said, settling down on her chair. She took a sip of the tea before continuing. “Otherwise, you might find it has all passed you by.”

“I’m happy doing my duty for the emperor.”

“Yes, you are quite good at that. It’s actually the reason I summoned you. There has been a rather concerning report of heresy in Kalmyros. The local augur claims she has sensed a powerful infernal caster in the city.”

Elissa gasped, her eyes widening. Most of the heresy she’d investigated involved people secretly worshipping a false god. But to use the power from the ascendant realms was the greatest of all affronts to the Undying Emperor.

“Yes, it’s quite concerning,” Penelope said. “To use such power in the empire is the gravest of heresies. Even though the city is at the edge of the empire, it must be reminded that it is still part of it. I wish for you to travel with all haste to the city and hunt down this caster. Once you find them, make a spectacle of it. A public beheading followed by a burning should suffice.”

“While I am honored to be chosen, I have many other active cases…”

Penelope waved her wrinkly hand. “I will have another inquisitor take them over for you.”

“But I have critical knowledge....”

“Then you will write down the evidence for your replacement.” Penelope tottered to her feet and placed the steaming cup aside. “The empire is beset on all sides by enemies. Every day, more territory is lost. Every day, more aspect beasts pierce the veil. Yet it is our faith in the Undying Emperor that holds the fraying empire together. The heretical caster must be stopped at all costs. Do you understand?”

Elissa nodded. “I will carry out the emperor’s will.”

“Excellent,” Penelope said. “I have arranged a ship to take you and Imilce to the city. It will leave at first light tomorrow.”

“You wish for me to take Sister Imilce?”

Penelope nodded. “Imilce is impetuous but will make an excellent inquisitor someday. Take her with you to the city and teach her how to sniff out a heretic.”

“I will prepare to depart immediately, abbess.”

As she turned to go, the old woman raised a hand to stop her.

“Oh, there’s one more thing. The order’s most ancient augur swears that she sensed a demon close to Kalmyros. However ridiculous that sounds, I wish for you to investigate. If by some remote chance a demon has pierced the Veil, send word for the Sainted Host.”

“As you wish.”

Elissa turned and left the room. She gently closed the door behind her as she entered the corridor. As she walked, she couldn’t help but shake her head at the thought of a demon hiding in an imperial city. None had been sighted for at least a millennium, and it had been decades since even an infernal caster had dared use their wicked magic within the borders of the empire.

Still, she would do her duty. First, she would find the heretical caster. Then she would search the city for a demon. Though she knew no such creature existed.

Which was good for the residents of Kalmyros. If a demon was discovered, the Sainted Host would descend with the Undying Emperor’s wrath and leave only ashes in their wake. No matter what, they couldn’t allow the taint of infernal knowledge to spread within the Arissian Empire.

Chapter 52 - Epilogue

Ethel dropped the bundle of sticks at her feet and watched as Alfred dragged away a charred timber from the longhouse ruins. A contingent of the Crimson Guard had brought them back to the farm the previous day, and they had immediately launched into the job of rebuilding the farm.

Thankfully, the work would be done long before winter arrived, and the gold coin she’d found in her saddlebag should buy more than enough provisions to last until spring. It would even allow them to replace all the animals, with plenty left over to save for the future.

She smiled as she reached down to cradle her belly. The swell of her stomach was just beginning to show. It wouldn’t be long before they had another addition to the farm. But she’d hadn’t told Alfred yet. She hadn’t wanted him to worry during their time in the mountains.

Alfred rubbed his shoulder and then lumbered over to her side. He wrapped an arm around her waist before leaning in to give her a peck on the cheek.

Ethel pursed her lips. “Do you think Piper and Ophelia are alright?”

The big man shrugged. “I imagine they gave the vampires the slip at the Black Pyramid. They should be arriving in the Arissian Empire by now.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“I trust Piper and our daughter.” A big grin spread across his face. “I bet you Ophelia is going to be the best adventurer the land has ever seen.”

“I hope you’re right…” Her words trailed off as she heard the faint sound of drumbeats. Was the duke returning already? She didn’t know whether that was a good or bad sign.

Ethel walked over to the middle of the courtyard and peered up into the hills. A moment later, she was joined by Alfred. Both watched for any sign of the duke’s forces, their work momentarily forgotten.

Finally, a banner appeared on the hilltop, and they heard the sounds of trumpets and fifes. The procession marched down the hill, with the red cloaks of the Crimson Guard leading the way. They would arrive at the farm soon.

She waited with bated breath, unsure of what news awaited them. What if something had happened to their girls? What if they hadn’t made it to the Black Pyramid? As she waited, her worries piled up until she was wringing her hands.

“They’re fine,” Alfred said, reaching around and drawing her tight. “You’ll see.”

Ethel pressed her lips together but didn’t reply. She closed her eyes and sent a prayer winging up to Infernus that her husband was right. Over the last few days, she’d been doing a lot of praying. This one time, she hoped that her god answered them.

The bannerman marched past their farm without even looking in their direction. Then came the duke’s Crimson Guard, followed by rows of mounted soldiers. Finally, she recognized the other Crimson Guard she’d encountered in the cave bringing up the rear. Two of them detached from the column and rode in her direction.

Justina pulled up a short distance from them before leaping from her saddle. She approached them and curtsied. “I bring bad news…”

It felt like Ethel’s heart stopped as she lifted a hand to touch her chest. “What happened?”

“The demoness took your daughter deep within the Black Pyramid.” Justina paused as she seemed to be considering her next words. “Our lord bravely followed them inside, but we believe he perished. Our later scouting efforts found no trace of your girl. We believe she crossed the pyramid with the demoness and entered the Arissian Empire. Know that I will not rest until I find a way to return your daughter to you. This I swear.”

Ethel almost swooned with relief. Her husband had been right—Piper and Ophelia had made it across the mountain and into the Arissian Empire. And she knew Ophelia would be fine with Piper watching over her.

“Thank you for trying,” she said. “We will miss our daughter dearly.”

“Very dearly,” Alfred added.

The woman pulled out a money purse and poured a pile of silver into her hand. Then she counted out ten before handing them to Ethel. “I hope this helps rebuild your farm.” With the money delivered, she turned to leave before stopping.

Justina looked over her shoulder. “Did you always know she was a demoness?”

“How could simple peasants have known a demoness was in their midst?”

The ridiculously tall woman drew in a deep breath. “Was she truly evil?”

“Who?” Ethel asked, feigning ignorance. She felt she was in dangerous waters and didn’t want to admit anything.

“Never mind,” Justina said. “If you have need of anything, send word to me. The duke has left a contingent to keep an eye on the Black Pyramid. However, if the demoness ever returns, I will lay down my life to protect your farm.”

“You have our thanks.”

“Yes,” Alfred said, drawing her in closer. “However, I doubt we’ll see her again.”

“Regardless, I will check in on you regularly.” Justina returned to her horse and in one lithe motion remounted. Kicking her heels, she sent the horse cantering away. A moment later, her companion holding a crossbow followed.

Alfred sighed. “It’s going to be a bit lonely without them around. At least Ophelia will have the life she always wanted.”

“It might not be that lonely.” Ethel looked meaningfully at her belly before she beamed at her husband.

His eyes widened as he stared at her belly. Then he drew her in for a crushing hug as he whooped with joy.

“Not so hard,” she gasped. “The baby…”

“Oh, right.” Alfred took a step back; a grin plastered across his face. “This is the most wonderful day. Why don’t we head into the village to celebrate? We could even buy some ice cream…”

Ethel nodded. “I think that’s a wonderful idea. Piper would have liked that very much.”

*****

Astaroth stood on the raised stone podium in the depths of the fortress and gazed into the portals. He was awaiting the next arrival he would guide on their path to infernal knowledge. So far, none of them had done quite so well as Piper. However, he had high hopes for the next one.

With the weakening veil and the failing Dragon Aegis, many more mortal races were arriving in the Infernal Realm. After millennia, the path was once again open.

He raised a bony hand but then froze as he felt the presence of an approaching noble. Fighting down a sigh, he lifted his gaze and awaited Malkazar.

“Hey skinny,” the demon said as he appeared in the room. “Keeping busy?”

“Most definitely, my lord.” Astaroth bowed his head. “What may I do for you?”

“I was wondering how our friend Piper is doing?”

“I’m afraid I haven’t caught sight of her since she left the Black Pyramid. However, I have informed the local cults to keep an eye out for her. Though such actions may be pointless in the face of dealing with an illusionist. She can assume any face or gender she wishes.”

“I have a feeling she’ll keep the same face.”

Neither spoke for a minute, and the silence dragged out between them. Finally, Astaroth glanced over at the lord. “Is there anything else I can do for you? I am really quite busy.”

“Come on,” Malkazer said. “Wasn’t that fun in the pyramid?”

“I did my duty as you requested.”

“You need to have more fun with your work.”

“Like becoming an adventurer named Raz Kalma? A child could see through such a simple anagram. Why in the world did we intervene on her behalf, anyway?”

“I needed a closer look at her.”

“And?”

The corners of Malkazar’s lips curled up as he pulled off his wide brim hat. His dark hair spilled out, hanging down to his shoulders. “Do I have your word you won’t tell anyone else?”

“And incur your displeasure? If I had lips, they would be sealed.”

“I may have used a little [Soul Identify] on her during that skirmish in the Black Pyramid. Wasn’t it a neat trick sneaking us through the portals when the defenses activated?”

“Very neat,” Astraroth said dryly. He still had no idea where this was going, and he felt the arrival of another mortal soul was imminent. He needed to hurry this conversation along.

“Now I don’t know if I should tell you.” Malkazar wiped a spot on his hat with the sleeve of his robes. “You don’t seem very excited.”

“I’m simply overflowing with anticipation.”

“Here’s the interesting thing… she’s part of Elaraxa’s brood.”

“A member of the great dragon’s brood survives?” Any boredom Astaroth felt instantly vanished at Malkazar’s words. “I thought…”

“We all did, skinny. But apparently Elaraxa hid at least one of her eggs during the last days of Thronefall.”

“If that is true, then the dragons may be returning to the world. However, why would they choose this moment after all this time?”

“That’s what worries me.” Malkazar placed his hat back on his head. “My best guess is that with the Dragon Aegis failing, an old threat is returning.”

“Surely you don’t mean Delphyne, the Great Devourer.”

“I’m afraid so.” Malkazar walked over to Astaroth and reached up to poke him in the chest. “My fellow nobles will never believe it, but you’re a pragmatic one. I’m going to need your help in keeping that girl safe. Because virtually everything in this realm is going to want to kill her. I trust I have your discretion?”

“I will guard your secret with my life.”

“Good, because the last demon who betrayed me was turned into a rug. He’s still alive, but I can tell you that he’s not very happy.”

“I shall endeavor to avoid that fate.”

“Excellent.” Malkazar lifted his hand and snapped. As he did, a vampire tumbled out of a portal. “I have another favor to ask of you. Would you mind finding somewhere to torment this guy for all of eternity? I resurrected him after he arrived in our realm. Since he nearly ruined myplans, I was thinking about staking him out in the wasteland and letting hellhounds endlessly gnaw on him. But feel free to use your imagination.”

Without another word, Malkazar disappeared, leaving Astaroth alone with the cowering man. He floated over to inspect the new arrival.

“I… am a vampire lord!” the man shouted, his voice quavering. “I demand to be released immediately.”

“I’m afraid that is most impossible,” Astaroth replied. “Your name is Ransford, is it not?”

The man bobbed his head. “I have powerful friends who will free me!”

“None can reach you in the Infernal Realms.” Astaroth easily picked up the man between his fingers. “Now, let’s get you to the nearest Arachthul’s den. Since you probably aren’t familiar with the species, they’re a wonderful mix of spiders and bears. I will let one slowly devour you for a few centuries, while resurrecting you each morning, as I ponder a better fate for you.”

Astaroth ignored the man’s screaming, his thoughts turned elsewhere. If Piper truly was part of Elaraxa’s brood, then it changed everything. As one of the few demons left from before Thronefall, he still held a deep loyalty toward his Mistress. And if Piper was her daughter, it was his sworn duty to protect her.

At Piper’s current pace of leveling, it wouldn’t be long until she returned to the Infernal Realm. He would need to gather allies and prepare. Because the fate of all the realms may rest on Piper’s shoulders.

Chapter 51 - Arrival

Piper stood on the barren hilltop and gazed down at the city of Kalmyros far below. Situated on an island in the middle of a river, the city had thick walls snaking around the perimeter, and a sprawling expanse of buildings on the shore banks. The road winding through the dusty valley was jammed with wagons and throngs of people.

“Welcome to Kalmyros,” Lukas said with an enormous grin. “Truly, I never thought I’d see my home again.”

“It’s huge!” Ophelia exclaimed. “There must be a million people living there. Is it the biggest city in the empire?”

“It’s one of the smallest,” Lukas replied. “But it’s an important trading hub, with the fae lands to the south and the undead war in the north.”

Piper crossed her arms as she stared down at the city. It had been a long time since she’d been around so many people, and honestly, she wasn’t looking forward to it. She’d gotten used to her idyllic life on a remote farm.

Then, almost by reflex, she pulled up her character sheet to examine it before traveling down to the city.

Piper Ashcroft

Race: Shadeling, Level 44

Class: Deceiver (Epic), Level 40

Attributes

Strength – 125

Dexterity – 70

Stamina - 60

Vitality – 30

Perception – 30

Swiftness - 70

Magic - 200

Mana - 750

Mana Regeneration – 750

Free Attribute Points - 0

Racial Skills (5/10)

·         Demonic Blood, Level 33

·         Demonic Fury, Level 1

·         Demonic Intellect, Level 8

·         Tail Strike, Level 12

·         Quick Claw, Level 12

Skills (10/10)

·         Ambush Detection, Level 5

·         Animal Caretaker, Level 5

·         Archery, Level 17

·         Cooking, Level 6

·         Enduring Casting, Level 11

·         Identify, Level 10

·         Hunting, Level 10

·         Running, Level 12

·         Stick Wielder, Level 1

·         Subterfuge, Level 10

Spells (5/10)

·         False Face, Level 10

·         Truth Shroud, Level 16

·         Umbral Terror, Level 5

·         Veil of Lies, Level 14

·         Wraithskin, Level 5

After emerging from the Black Pyramid, she’d allocated her 160 free attribute points. She’d added 15 to Perception, to increase it to 30. To her surprise, it had helped with her Hunting skill quite a bit. Then she’d placed 7 in Swiftness, to bring it to 70.

The rest she’d placed into magical attributes. More than ever, she was going to need her illusions. To start with, she’d added 68 to Magic, which brought it up to a nice even 200. Hopefully, not many people would have a Perception high enough to see through her illusions. Next, she placed 35 points into Mana and Mana Regeneration to give her 750 in each.

Reading over her skills, she noted that only her Hunting and Subterfuge had increased since leaving the Black Pyramid. The first skill had increased rapidly because she’d been hunting game almost non-stop to feed them. As for Subterfuge, she suspected it was increasing because she was hiding her true nature from Lukas.

At the thought of him, she turned to the young man. “And you promise to keep my secret?”

“You saved my life and kept us fed during our trip through the mountains,” he said. “I would do anything to repay my debt to you.”

“Make him buy us some ice cream,” Ophelia whispered. “Lots of ice cream.”

“Do you think you could recommend an inn for us?”

“I assume you’d like something cheap?”

Piper nodded. She still had a gold piece in her pouch on her belt. The other one she’d hidden in Ethel’s belongings before she fled from the Crimson Guard. Hopefully, the money would be enough for Ethel and Alfred to rebuild their farm when they returned to Alderwick.

At the thought of them, she said a quick prayer to whoever was listening that they were both safe. But she trusted that Justina would watch over them. While she doubted that she and the ridiculously tall woman would ever be friends, Piper knew she was honorable. And she believed the vampire would keep her word.

Lukas ran a hand through his hair. “I would recommend the Dancing Gnome Inn. It’s outside of the main walls, and as non-citizens, you won’t draw too much attention to yourselves there.”

“Do they have real gnomes?” Piper asked hopefully. The one thing she’d wanted to see since she’d arrived in this world was real fantasy races. At least ones that didn’t want her dead like the redcaps.

“I doubt you’ll see any gnomes there,” he said with a laugh. “Most of them live in the far north. But you never know. A few occasionally come through Kalmyros.”

“I don’t suppose there are any cat people?”

“Beastmen?” Lukas shook his head. “Their filthy kind are confined to the west… for now at least.”

The young man’s expression turned serious. “Would you like some friendly advice?”

Piper nodded her head.

“Become a Wayfarer as soon as you can.” He turned to stare at the city. “I was born here and love this place, but I doubt it will stand much longer. The undead encroach closer every day, and the dark elves are moving up from the south. If you can, become a wayfarer to earn citizenship. Then you can go anywhere in the empire. Somewhere must be better than here.”

“Wait!” Ophelia exclaimed. “The city is going to fall, and you didn’t tell us? While we were walking through the mountains for over a week, you never thought to say, ‘Hey, the city is about to be overrun by crazy zombies and evil elves?”

“It never came up.” Lukas shifted his heavy backpack. “I’m sure there are many things you haven’t told me about yourselves. Now, I need to report to the wayfarer aspirant’s guild. I hope our paths cross again someday.”

Piper hurried forward and drew Lukas into a big hug, which seemed to surprise him. But after a second, he returned it with gusto. Then she stepped back, blushing slightly as she thought she might have overdone it. She watched the young man set off down the hill in the direction of Kalmyros.

Ophelia picked up a stick from the ground. “What are we waiting for? I’m pretty sure you owe me two ice creams. And they’re right down there waiting for us.”

“I do, don’t I?”

“Come on!” Ophelia set off at a jog down the hill, her cloak flapping in the gentle breeze.

Piper checked to make sure her bow, Gorebark, was concealed in the blanket she’d borrowed from Lukas. A smile flickered across her face as she watched her friend race toward the city. The last week of traveling through the mountains had returned much of her friend’s spunk. It probably helped that Piper had taken down plenty of birds and mountain goats to feed the three of them. Having a full belly made everyone feel better.

She took off at a sprint to catch up with Ophelia, her mouth watering at the thought of ice cream. It felt like it’d been a lifetime since she’d tasted the divine creamy treat. And in some ways, it had been. She hadn’t had any since she’d been reborn on this world.

I so need to find bananas somewhere. Then I can have a banana split.

Racing past Ophelia, she winked before slowing slightly. Together, they jogged down the rest of the hill, passing Lukas, and headed across the farmland toward the city. From there, it took them over two hours for them to reach the town outside of the walls.

The buildings at the edge of the town loomed over them, with most of them standing three-storeys tall, and the upper floors overhanging the street. The tall structures hid the sun and gave the road a vaguely tunnel-like feel.

As they entered the town, a few heads turned in their direction, but no gazes lingered on them. Only when an older woman looked at her before sniffing did she realize the state of her clothing. Demon claws had torn at the fabric, her healing spells had singed the edges, and numerous weapons had pierced it. Feeling self-conscious, she drew her cloak tightly around herself to hide her exposed skin.

A glance over at Ophelia showed her clothing wasn’t in much better shape. After they found a place to stay, they needed to locate a tailor. She hoped they sold pretty dresses here. While she’d never been much into fashion, she was a bit tired of wearing plain peasant clothing.

After wandering around for a bit, she smelled the delicious aroma of roasting meat. Exchanging glances with Ophelia, they changed direction and headed in the direction of the scent.

Darting through the crowd, they stopped at the entrance to a vast market. Stalls with brightly colored fabric crowded an open square, and they offered every kind of food a person could imagine.

There were plump birds roasting on spits, baked pies, dried fish and slabs of meat. But it was someone cranking a handle on a bucket that caught her attention. She’d visited a heritage village once with her dad, and she knew that was how ice cream was made.

Fighting down a girlish squeal, she raced over to the vendor. Then she fished a gold piece out of her pouch and slapped it down on the table. “Two ice creams, please!”

The short, balding man eyed the coin. “I don’t want no trouble with the guard. Take your stolen coin elsewhere.”

“It’s not stolen,” she said indignantly. “I earned this.”

“Oh yeah? Doing what?”

“I… sold an aetherstone.” Piper felt her skin prickle as the man used [Identify] on her. Thankfully, she’d taken the knight Raz Kalma’s advice and added a rarity to her farmhand class.

“Sure, a farm girl and her unawakened sister went into the mountains to retrieve an aetherstone. And I’m a member of the Sorrowguard.”

“We did!” Ophelia exclaimed. “Now give us our ice cream.”

Piper could only watch in horror as the man moved on to another customer and dished out a delicious-looking bowl of ice cream. She couldn’t believe that she was so close to achieving her dream, only to be thwarted by her lack of small denomination coins.

Grabbing the gold piece, she stuffed it back into her pocket. Maybe once they found the inn, they could find someone to change the money. Then they’d come back and buy ice cream—from another vendor.

“But… the ice cream,” Ophelia said forlornly. “It’s right here!”

“We’ll find the inn first,” she said. “Then we’ll come back for the ice cream.”

Ophelia reached toward the ice cream as Piper dragged her away.

Shaking her head at her friend's dramatics, she had to admit she felt the same way. She’d been dreaming about ice cream for almost two years. When she returned, she was going to buy giant bowls for both of them.

They navigated through the packed streets, narrowly avoiding a richly appointed horse-drawn carriage, and having to duck into an alleyway as a patrol of armored men marched past. Only when they passed the food market again did she realize they were going in circles.

Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Do you have any idea where you’re going?”

“Not really…” In hindsight, she probably should have asked Lukas for better directions. But after living near Alderwick for almost two years, she wasn’t used to big cities. She would have to find someone who knew the way to the inn.

She took a step forward but froze as she felt something brush against her money pouch. Without thinking, her hand shot out and caught a young girl’s hand. The girl wasn’t much younger than herself, but she was painfully thin and much shorter. Her clothing was little more than rags that looked like they were held together by pieces of string and grime.

“How-how did you do that?” the girl stuttered. “You’re only a farmhand…”

Piper shrugged. “Lots of practice on the farm.”

“I’m sorry…” the girl babbled. “I was just hungry.”

An idea suddenly occurred to Piper. “Do you know this city well?”

The girl bobbed her head up and down. “Like the back of my hand.”

“Tell you what,” she continued. “If you help me find a few things, I’ll buy you dinner and some ice cream.”

“No tricks?” The girl eyed her suspiciously. “You’re not going to turn me into the guard?”

“I don’t even know where the guards are,” Piper laughed. “But my friend and I are completely lost.” She realized she was still holding the girl’s arm and released it.

The girl stumbled back, rubbing her wrist. “You promise?

“What’s going on?” Ophelia asked, her gaze darting between them. “Was she trying to steal our ice cream money?”

“Something like that.” Piper turned back to the girl. “Do you know where the Dancing Gnome is?”

The girl nodded.

“Oh, and what’s your name?”

“Most people call me Wisp.”

“Alright, Wisp. Will you take us to the inn?”

Ophelia glared at the girl. “I can’t believe we’re asking directions from a thief.”

Wisp hurried off into the crowd, making the others run to keep up. The diminutive girl led them across a stream filled with waste, moving past an open-air animal market, before finally stopping in front of a ramshackle building with the picture of a Dancing Gnome hanging out front.

Piper pressed her lips together as she took in the inn. A few of the shutters were hanging off the windows, while vast swaths of the roof were missing roof tiles. The paint on the wooden walls wasn’t in much better shape, with pieces curling off in long strips. According to Lukas, it was supposed to be affordable, and she could see why. The place was a dump.

Wisp played with her dirty hair. “Remember, you owe me a dinner.”

“Are you alone?”

“I don’t need anyone.”

Piper raised her brow. Since she had no idea how to respond, she crossed the muddy road in front of the inn and pushed open the front door. Inside, she was greeted by a room full of long tables, with a roaring fire on the far side. Only a handful of people were seated, and none of them turned to look in her direction.

After a minute, a woman bustled out of the kitchen and hurried over to them. She stood unusually tall and had wild red hair. A touch of flour was on the tip of her nose. “What can I do for you?” she asked, wiping her hands on her off-white apron. “Are you looking for a room?”

“Yes, and some food if you have it.” She paused as she pulled out the gold coin. “Can you make change for this?”

The woman snatched the coin and then bit it. After a second, she pulled out a purse from beneath her dress and counted out 11 silver pieces in her palm. She offered them to Piper. “My name is Iris. If you need anything, let me know. And I’ll take one silver for my trouble since this money is probably stolen.”

Ophelia’s eyes almost bugged out of her head. “A whole silver piece! That’s outright robbery. Is everyone trying to steal from us here?”

“It’s a deal,” Piper said, taking the money from the woman’s outstretched hand. Though she felt the price of one silver piece for changing money was a bit steep, at least they had some spending cash now. Plus, the woman hadn’t made a big deal about it likely being stolen.

The woman crossed her arms. “It’s one copper a night, with a second one if you want food and drink.”

Handing back one of the silver pieces, she received 46 copper pieces in change. The woman handed her a key before pointing upstairs.

“Your room is the first on the left.”

Piper gripped the key tightly as they crossed the room. Climbing the stairs two at a time, she arrived at an ironbound door. She slid the key into the lock and turned it. The door swung open to reveal a room with two narrow beds.

“Our own room!” Ophelia squealed as she ran over and jumped on the bed. “I can’t believe we’re going to be adventurers.”

Piper walked over to the other bed and settled down. A little smile played across her face as she watched Ophelia bounce up and down.

As she looked around the room, she was struck by the fact that they’d actually done it; they’d reached the Arissian Empire. Tomorrow, she could start on the path to becoming an adventurer. It sounded like there were a fair number of steps in the process, but she was confident she could do it.

But right now, all she wanted to do was go downstairs and collect Wisp before celebrating the end of their journey. And she couldn’t think of any better way to do that than with a big, heaping bowl of ice cream.

Chapter 50 - Blood and Infernal Flames

Piper stood silently for a moment after the strange knight had departed. With a shake of her head, she leaned down and gripped her quiver; then, she began to feed a steady stream of mana into it. Soon, new arrows were rapidly appearing inside the quiver.

Though the demons had momentarily withdrawn, there was no guarantee they wouldn’t return. And she wanted to be ready for whatever they encountered in the next room.

The silence was broken by Ophelia crying out in alarm. The young woman groped around on her belt before her gaze snapped over to the door where Raz had disappeared. “That jerk stole my sword!”

“Are you sure?”

Ophelia nodded her head vigorously. “When he bumped into me, he must have taken it. I’m going to get it back!”

Piper sprinted forward, intercepting her friend. While Raz had said the demons were leaving, who knew how long that took? The room beyond the door could still be overflowing with creatures birthed from nightmares. There was no way she was letting Ophelia go in there. “Realistically, why would he steal your sword? Are you sure you didn’t drop it?”

“What, am I a mind reader or something?” Ophelia snapped. “This whole thing was probably just so he could steal my angel blade. Now let me go!”

“He saved us from the demons,” Piper pointed out as she held her friend back. “And even if you caught up with him, what would you do? The demons were afraid of him. Demons. It’s not like we could force him to give it back.”

Lukas nodded his head in agreement. “I believe he belonged to one of the religious hosts. They are tasked with hunting down heretic casters from the ascendant realms. He may even have been a grandmaster. There’s no way we could compel him to do anything.”

“I want my sword back!” Ophelia shouted, hands curling up into fists at her side. “I was going to get a warrior class for sure with that thing.”

“We’ll get you another sword,” Piper said quickly. “Right now, we need to get moving. And you heard the knight. There’s a vampire on our trail.”

She then turned to Lukas. “Is there a place where we could make a stand against a vampire? Somewhere where I would have an advantage with my bow?”

The dark-haired young man scratched his head as he frowned. “Beyond this room is a catwalk with a great portal beneath it. Perhaps if you managed to knock your pursuer off…”

Piper didn’t like the idea of fighting on a bridge. There was as much chance of her being knocked off as the vampire. Plus, it wouldn’t give her much room to launch stealth attacks from her bow. She planned to abuse her new spell [Wraithskin] as much as possible. “Isn’t there anything better?”

“The rooms beyond are barren. There is no cover, though they are quite large.”

“That would be perfect,” she said. “I can use my illusions in there.”

Piper finished creating the last of her arrows and then set out at a jog across the room. She kept her pace slow to allow the others to keep up. Ophelia looked beyond exhausted, with dark circles under her eyes and terribly pale skin. Meanwhile, Lukas had a red ring around his neck where the demoness had choked him with a chain, and each breath wheezed in his throat. Neither of them was in any shape to run.

I wish I could use my healing abilities on others.

Every few paces, she glanced over her shoulder to make sure they weren’t being followed. The knight had mentioned an approaching vampire but hadn’t said which one. Though she couldn’t be sure, something in her gut told her that it was Ransford. But she knew that she was just as likely to be facing one of the other Crimson Guards.

Piper reached the obsidian door leading to the next room, and swung it open, revealing a room thrumming with power. A metal catwalk stretched across a domed area. As she stepped onto the walkway, she glanced over the railing to see the portal that Lukas had mentioned.

In the darkness far below, a shining magical gateway stretched across the width of the room. Its surface shimmered like the surface of a pond, and through it she could make out vistas from the Infernal Realm. At least she assumed it was the Infernal Realm. Each landscape possessed the same two suns she’d seen during her visit. But the locations it displayed varied wildly from what she’d experienced.

There were frozen lands covered in ice and what looked like insectoid demons marching across the tundra. Then the view switched to a fetid marsh, with frog-like creatures lurking in the foul water. She watched as a land of twisted iron appeared, with steel automata prowling the jagged wasteland. Finally, she glimpsed the blasted desert she’d visited during her awakening.

Piper wanted to stay and watch to see what other landscapes awaited her during her next visit, but she didn’t have time. The vampire could be right behind them. With a sigh, she hurried after the others, who had continued across the catwalk.

By the time she reached Ophelia and Lukas, they had almost reached the far door. Together, they hurried across the remaining stretch of the metal bridge before stopping in front of a demonic face carved into the obsidian. As she reached out to touch it, a familiar voice made her spin around in horror.

“My lovely,” Ransford called out across the cavernous room. He gripped his magical sword, but strangely wasn’t wearing his cloak or armor. His hair had only begun to grow back after being burned and had formed a layer of peach fuzz on his head. “I have come to take you home.”

Her heart skipped a beat at the sound of the wretched man. Immediately, images from that terrible day on the farm came flooding back, making a cold sweat break out on her skin. For a second, it felt like she couldn’t breathe. Then her resolve hardened.

I won’t let him hurt anyone ever again.

“Go,” Piper shouted, pushing the door open. She popped her head into the room to make sure no demons awaited them on the far side before waving her companions through. “I’ll hold him off.”

Ophelia crossed her arms. “I'm not leaving you again.”

“I’ll catch up in a few minutes,” she said, forcing a smile. “I promise that I can handle him.”

Her friend’s expression wavered slightly.

“I can’t fight him properly with you around.”

“Fine,” Ophelia said. “But now you owe me two ice creams.”

“Deal.”

Piper nocked an arrow and moved to stand in the center of the catwalk. Then, she hurriedly brought up her character sheet. After her desperate battle against the demons, she had a lot of points to allocate. And not much time to do so.

Piper Ashcroft

Race: Shadeling, Level 36

Class: Deceiver (Epic), Level 32

Attributes

Strength – 125

Dexterity – 56

Stamina - 48

Vitality – 30

Perception – 3

Swiftness - 41

Magic - 132

Mana - 575

Mana Regeneration – 575

Free Attribute Points - 60

Racial Skills (5/10)

·         Demonic Blood, Level 30

·         Demonic Fury, Level 1

·         Demonic Intellect, Level 8

·         Tail Strike, Level 9

·         Quick Claw, Level 10

Skills (10/10)

·         Ambush Detection, Level 5

·         Animal Caretaker, Level 5

·         Archery, Level 13

·         Cooking, Level 6

·         Enduring Casting, Level 11

·         Identify, Level 10

·         Hunting, Level 3

·         Running, Level 12

·         Stick Wielder, Level 1

·         Subterfuge, Level 2

Spells (4/10)

·         False Face, Level 10

·         Truth Shroud, Level 16

·         Umbral Terror, Level 3

·         Veil of Lies, Level 8

·         Wraithskin, Level 1

Since she doubted that she’d be able to use her bow to take down Ransford—due to his skill that deflected arrows—she decided to focus on physical attributes.

Piper quickly placed 14 points into Dexterity to start, to bring it up to 70. Then she placed 12 into Stamina to make it a nice round 60. Finally, she placed 22 points into Swiftness, before dumping the last 12 into Perception. She didn’t think Ransford had any illusion spells, and she had [Ambush Detection] to warn of attacks, but she’d rather not be caught off guard.

With her points allocated, she waited for the Blood Lord to approach within bow range. No matter what, she was ending this today.

She was going to make sure that Ransford didn’t leave this room alive.

****

Ransford stalked forward, his blade drinking in the room’s shadows. He felt uncomfortably exposed without his armor; the foolish duke having stripped him of it after Justina staggered back into camp. The ancient whore had immediately started throwing around wild accusations that he’d tried to murder her on the mountain.

Why can’t the duke see that I’m the victim here? He thought to himself. I’m the one who had to endure a disloyal bitch in my Crimson Guard.

His actions toward Justina had been nothing more than punishing a disobedient servant. If anything, the duke should have been happy with him for trying to get rid of the bitch. Their lives would all be much better without her around. 

How Justina had survived the plunge, he hadn’t the faintest idea. The shaft into the mountain must have been at least a kilometer deep. And he’d stripped her of any blood she’d had on her person. She should have splattered at the bottom like a rotten tomato thrown against a breastplate.

Then a terrible thought occurred to him. Justina must have possessed a hidden reserve of blood.

Ransford snarled as he realized what had happened. A disobedient bitch like Justina must always keep spare vials of blood on her person. She must have known that someday one of her superiors would tire of her insolence. She’d tricked him into pushing her down the shaft so she could go crying to the duke.

That bitch, he mentally seethed. I’m going to enjoy killing her when I’m done with the demon.

Taking a deep breath, he focused on the demoness standing at the far end of the catwalk. None of that mattered at the moment. Once he was done here, he could take his revenge on Justina and that troublesome peasant family.

Unsurprisingly, the duke and his men had been too cowardly to accompany him into the Black Pyramid. The advance scouts had reported a vast force of demons crowding the entrance. The bastard hadn’t even allowed him to wait until nightfall, so he could fight at his true potential.

Ransford had been forced into the Black Pyramid at spearpoint—a supreme indignity—and given a chance as a forlorn hope. If he returned with the demoness’s head, then all would be forgiven. However, if he failed, he would be publicly staked.

When he’d crept into the Black Pyramid, it had been eerily silent. The rooms had been vacant, aside from some demon corpses. If the demons had been here, they’d recently departed. He’d been relieved that nothing stood in his way of his mission to find Piper.

Not that he had any intention of killing the beautiful young girl. No, she was the ideal plaything for him. He’d cut off the head of the other disfigured peasant girl, add some horns from the dead demons, and then claim that she was their real quarry.  

Recently, he’d come to realize that Piper truly was the perfect girl for him. Thanks to her illusions, she would remain forever young. And she could heal anytime he accidentally became a little too rough with her. Of course, he’d have to cut off her hands and feet to ensure she couldn’t escape. But after that unpleasantness was dealt with, she would give him centuries of delight; all without aging a day. She would look so lovely in the fancy dresses he kept back at his manor for his many young female friends.

Ransford licked his lips at the thought, a thrill of excitement shooting up his spine. Oh yes, he would capture this demoness. After she was immobilized somewhere safe, he would return to Duke Albrecht with the other girl’s head. Then, he would figure out a way to smuggle Piper back to his manor.

He barely reacted when the demoness disappeared from view behind one of her pathetic illusions. After fighting her on the farm, he knew all of her tricks. She would be stuck in the same position, most likely preparing to fire some arrows from that disgusting bow of hers. The girl may have fooled the others with her level, but he’d fought her in the past. She was pathetically weak.

Ransford activated [Sanguine Aegis] and prepared for the inevitable arrow speeding toward him. He wasn’t disappointed as a ribbon of blood shot out and deflected a missile over the side of the railing. He pretended to yawn as he marched forward.

“Is that all you have, my lovely? Just your old tricks?”

Another arrow was deflected away, and then another. This truly was pitiful. How had the Crimson Guard struggled to capture such a predictable creature? If the Duke had allowed him to go after the demoness, this all would have been over a long time ago.

Lunging forward, he drove his sword through the illusion. But he frowned as his blade struck nothing but air. He peered around the shimmering wall to find the far side empty. Where had the demoness disappeared to?

His thoughts were interrupted as a searing pain erupted in his side. He staggered away, holding his stomach as blood poured out of a deep wound. At first, he’d thought that an arrow had struck him, but [Sanguine Aegis] would never allow that to happen.

He glimpsed a blood-covered tail disappearing back into the illusion. Apparently, the lovely demoness had learned some new tricks. Not that they would work against him.

Ransford activated [Crimson Renewal] and his wound sealed shut. He would need to use his skill sparingly, as the duke had taken his void pouch. He had but a single vial of blood on his belt to heal himself after the battle.

Something raked the back of his leg, sending him to his knees. His eyes widened as he tried to stand up, but his muscles refused to obey. How deeply had the demoness cut him?

“Fight fairly!” he cried out. “Enough with your ridiculous illusions.”

But Piper didn’t answer him as he directed the last of the fresh blood in his veins to heal his leg. Staggering to his feet, he launched a series of strikes behind him. However, not a single blow landed.

He snarled again, swinging his sword around him in an attempt to keep the demoness at bay. The narrow catwalk should ensure she couldn’t approach too closely without being struck. All he needed was one lucky blow to end this fight.

I need to find a way to dispel her illusions. Why can’t I even hear her footsteps?

Ransford stood with his sword held in the guard position, while he strained to hear any sound. Something would give away the demoness’s position. And then he would strike. Her illusions couldn’t possibly be foolproof—not while she was moving around.

He staggered forward as something pierced his shoulder. Then he felt something tearing into his back. As he tried to spin around, his legs gave out, and he collapsed to the ground. He desperately activated [Crimson Renewal], feeling his spine click back into place. How could Piper be strong enough to sever his spine with her claws?

As he used the last of the blood in his system, he grabbed the vial from his pouch and poured the contents into his mouth. Gulping down the blood, he directed it to heal his deep wounds. Any plan of capturing the demoness alive had vanished from his mind. She was turning out to be far too dangerous for that.

If he were going to survive, he needed to kill her fast. He was quickly running out of the ability to heal.

Ransford dropped his gaze to study his blood spatter on the floor. While she may be able to hide herself completely, she couldn’t hide the blood dripping from her claws. He noted that the crimson trail led directly to the railing of the catwalk a few paces away.

Pretending to head in the opposite direction, he took a few steps before spinning around and bringing down his sword with a mighty swing. The blade bit deeply into something meaty. Then, the illusion cloaking Piper shattered into motes of light, revealing his sword buried in her chest. The blade had sliced straight through her shoulder and rested slightly above her breast.

The demoness looked at him with a shocked expression on her face. Her clawed hands tried to heave the blade free, but he twisted it, making her cry out. A smile crept across his face as he watched her struggle to get free.

Ransford narrowly dodged a tail strike, feeling it whizz past his face. He let out a nervous chuckle as he applied force to his weapon and drove the demoness to her knees. From that position, she shouldn’t be able to reach him with her deadly tail.

“My lovely,” he sighed. “If only you had submitted to my will, we could have had centuries of fun. It’s such a shame that I have to kill such a beautiful young woman. However, all is not lost. Perhaps the duke can be persuaded to let me bring your friend back to my keep. For her own protection, you understand.

Piper raised her hand, her dark eyes boring into him. A trickle of dark blood leaked out of her plump, wonderful lips.

“Your pathetic illusions won’t help you now,” Ransford chuckled. “How will you disappear when you’re impaled on my sword?”

“I hope you see the worst things possible,” she gasped, blood bubbling up in her mouth.

Something hammered his mind, making him jerk back slightly. Then he heard the soft patter of footsteps on the catwalk behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, he spotted a group of young women marching toward him. And he knew everyone of their faces.

“No,” he cried out, stumbling back. “You’re all dead!”

He ripped his weapon free from Piper and brandished it at the mob of girls. “You can’t be here!”

As he spoke, the girls drew daggers and continued to advance on him. Now he could see the many cruelties he’d inflicted on them. The cuts, the bruises, and the tear streaks on their grimy faces.

“We’re going to take your manhood,” they whispered in unison, their voices ghostly and indistinct. “You’ll never touch one of us again.”

“No!” Ransford screamed. He turned to run, but his path was blocked by another group of young girls. He swung his sword, but the blade passed harmlessly through them. Were they ghosts come to exact revenge on him?

Ransford felt their tiny hands grabbing him, wrestling away his weapon. He tried to fight back, but they possessed impossible strength. He was pinned down on the walkway as two of them tugged down his pants while the others stood ready with their knives.

With a scream, he kicked with all his strength. His foot struck something solid, and the force launched him backward. As he soared over the edge of the catwalk, he twisted and caught the railing.

At that moment, the vision of all the girls he’d loved cracked slightly, and the voices faded away. He blinked in confusion before the reality struck him—he’d been bewitched by the cursed demoness. With a snarl, he started to climb back onto the catwalk when an arrow caught him in the throat. The impact made him lose his footing, and as he tumbled into the pit, he barely caught the edge of the catwalk at the last second.

Hanging there, his feet dangling in the air, he felt another arrow tear through his throat. He desperately tried to activate [Crimson Renewal] but nothing happened. He was out of blood. His body screamed for air as he clung to the railing far above the shimmering portal.

Then he heard footsteps on the catwalk. He glanced up to see the demoness staggering toward him. Her tail rose behind her, taut and coiled like a serpent.

Ransford opened his mouth to plead for his life. He would offer her riches beyond her wildest dreams if she spared him. His eyes widened in horror as nothing came out except for a gurgle. The barbed tail descended, severing his fingers holding the walkway. Then he was falling, tumbling through the air before he struck the shining surface of a portal. A searing heat blasted his face before the darkness claimed him.

****

Piper collapsed to the ground, her bow tumbling from her limp fingers, and she activated [Demonic Blood] to finish sealing her gaping wound. A terrible stinging sensation spread through her torso, and she felt her bones and skin knitting back together.

After a few seconds of healing, she’d exhausted the last of her mana. While she’d repaired the worst of her wound, it would take many more activations of the racial skill until she was completely restored.

Congratulations! You have slain a Vampire, Level 391.

A significant bonus to experience has been granted for slaying a higher-level creature.

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 37.

….

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 44.

Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached Level 33.

…

Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached Level 40.

Dragging herself over to the edge of the catwalk, she looked down at where Ransford had disappeared. After casting [Umbral Terror] on the Blood Lord, she hadn’t expected him to almost launch himself off the catwalk.

Luckily, his reaction to the spell had given her the chance to kill him. Based on his incoherent screams, whatever he had seen had terrified him beyond reason.

“That was cold,” Gorebark said. “You killed the bitey guy like a chump.”

“Are you seriously complaining about me killing someone?” she wheezed. “And it’s not like he didn’t deserve it.” Trying to draw in a deep breath, she felt a stabbing pain in her chest. There was still something seriously wrong with her lungs. She would have to be careful until her mana regenerated, and she could cast [Demonic Blood] again.

“Why’d you take so long to kill him? You should have turned him into a pincushion while he was flopping around like a fish out of water.”

“I was a bit busy trying to get my arm to work,” she retorted. “You know, after taking a huge sword to my chest?”

With one last glance down at the portal, Piper used the railing to drag herself to her feet. She set out at an agonizingly slow pace in the direction the others had gone. They still had a pyramid to cross, and she wanted to hunt some game before the sun set.

Hopefully, this would be the last obstacle they encountered on their path to the Arissian Empire. Because she was beat up, exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to sleep for a week.

Chapter 49 - The Last Light in the Abyss

A monstrous harroth demon loomed over Piper, its armored skin glistening in the harsh red light. The creature’s mouth yawned open, revealing rows of dagger-like teeth. It let loose a deafening roar and then swung its four arms ending in talons at Piper.

Piper groped for an arrow, only to find her quiver empty. To her side lay another injured harroth, its chest slowly reforming where her [Demonic Mark] had exploded. If she could just concentrate her fire on a single demon, she might be able to kill one. But as soon as she knocked one down, another dozen appeared to take its place.

All she’d managed to do was slow down the mob of creatures in the minutes since Lukas had disappeared with Ophelia. She could only pray to whoever was listening that they’d made it safely out of the pyramid.

While she’d been fighting the harroths in the vanguard, dozens of other demons had slipped around to cut off her escape. She spotted furry spider creatures, demons wrapped in chains, and others that looked like oversized frogs blocking her retreat.

As the harroth’s taloned limbs descended, Piper threw herself to the side. One of the sharp tips caught her shoulder blade and sent her tumbling limb over limb. Her bow flew from her hand and disappeared among a group of shadeling’s feet, who were milling around a portal.

Piper scrambled back to her feet, feeling hot blood pouring down her back. She quickly activated [Demonic Blood], the heat making her clothing smoke. Then she readied her claws and raised her tail as the huge demon stomped after her.

As Alfred often liked to say, she might as well be a mouse fighting a mammoth. But then again, a mouse didn’t have her tricks.

She cast [Veil of Lies] in front of her before repeating the casting on all sides. That should at least hide her from sight for a second.

Then she raised a hand and cast [Umbral Terror] at the closest harroth demon. A series of notifications popped up, but she dismissed them as she watched the result of her spell.

The harroth demon shook its head, then turned and galloped away from her on its hoofed feet. The demons behind it couldn’t get out of its way fast enough, and dozens of imps were crushed as the harroth stampeded away.

Now that she had a brief reprieve, she focused on one of the notifications she’d received.

Congratulations! You have learned the spell Wraithskin, Level 1.

A demon hidden by wraithskin can move unseen in even the most hostile of places. This spell conceals the caster completely, hiding footprints, and muting any sound she may make.

Piper’s eyes widened as she read the message. She didn’t know why she’d learned this spell now—perhaps it had something to do with casting [Veil of Lies] all around her. But she remembered how effective the spell had been when concealing the shadeling she’d fought in the Infernal Realm.

Hope blossomed in her chest as she cast [Wraithskin]. This was how she was going to get out of here alive. While the demons were busy trying to recover from the harroth crashing through their ranks, she would slip away.

Her spell snapped into place, and the world outside of the [Wraithskin] blurred slightly. At her disappearance, the demons went into a frenzy, with many of them charging toward where she’d been standing.

But Piper was already moving. She hurried toward the exit, a slight smile playing across her face. Once again, she was grateful that she’d chosen the deceiver class.

She’d almost reached the door leading out of the room, when a demon who was the same species as her guide, Astaroth, appeared and blocked her path. Her heart sank as the towering, eyeless demon grinned at her before it snapped its fingers.

The force of the snap sent her tumbling back like a leaf caught in a hurricane and annihilated her [Wraithskin] illusion. She was left lying crumpled on the floor, in full view of the thousands of demons crowding the room.

As she pushed herself up onto all fours, she was finally hit with the cold reality of what was going to happen. She was going to die here. The Black Pyramid was going to be her tomb, and her body was going to be mounted on that grisly wall. Even when she’d sent Lukas off with Ophelia, a tiny part of herself had expected she’d find a way out of this situation.

However, she knew there was no escape now. The demon standing in front of her radiated power so oppressive she could barely breathe. If she tried to cast another illusion spell, the demon would simply dispel it. And there was no way she could outrun the surrounding mob of creatures.

I don’t want to die.

Piper stared up at her doom as one of the harroths raised its massive hoof to stomp on her. But even as it did, she groped for the knife on her belt. She would fight until her last breath. Nothing would ever make her give up.

Raising the knife, she braced it so that it would drive into the bottom of the creature’s foot. Then she closed her eyes and waited for the end.

An end that never came.

After a moment, she cracked one eye open to see a knight in shining armor parrying the harroth’s foot with his sword. In his other hand, he clutched her bow, Gorebark.

Piper blinked and shook her head, uncomprehending of the scene in front of her. Was the knight another adventurer exploring the Black Pyramid? Had Lukas run into the man and sent him to help?

With a shove, the knight toppled the harroth like a felled tree and let out a hearty laugh. “Take that, you foul demon!” Then he brandished his shining blade at the advancing demons, making them shy away. The demons formed a wide circle around them, giving her saviour a wide berth.

“My fair maiden,” the man said, handing back her bow. “I have come to rescue you.”

“Thank you?” Piper said, with confusion still reigning in her mind. How was anyone powerful enough to make the demons retreat at the mere sight of them? As far as she knew, even the Crimson Guard feared to come into this place.

The man offered her his mailed gauntlet. Once she took his hand, he helped her to her feet. “That’s an interesting bow you have there. I’m a bit of an archer myself. But the downside of a legendary weapon like the one you possess is that it sends out ripples of infernal magic for leagues when used. It would make you incredibly easy to track—if you were worried about that sort of thing.”

“It would?” Piper exclaimed before facepalming. No wonder the Crimson Guard had been able to find her over and over again—usually right after she used Gorebark. She was practically sending up a flare for them.

She paused as she felt her skin prickle.

“That's odd,” the knight murmured. “There’s no rarity associated with your class when I used [Soul Identify]. It’s almost like an incomplete illusion spell. No matter, I’m sure it’s just an anomaly in the Holy System.”

Piper swallowed, her blood running cold, as she realized she’d screwed up her [Truth Shroud]. No one had told her that higher tiers of [Identify] could see class rarity. Hopefully, the knight who the demons feared didn’t realize she was one herself.

The man gestured at the far door. “Shall we leave this place?”

“What about them?” She gestured at the wall of demons blocking their path.

“Those evil creatures? They won’t trouble us if they know what’s good for them.”

The knight pointed his sword at the clone of Astaroth, who had dispelled her illusions. “Out of my way, skinny.”

The gaunt demon simply nodded before floating away and disappearing into the crowd.

Piper’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head. Who was this man? What was going on here?

While holding her hand, the man led her toward the door, and the demons parted around them. As they moved, she grabbed the edge of her quiver and channeled mana into it. When the demons finally came to their senses and charged them, she wanted to have plenty of arrows.

But they reached the door without incident. The demons stood frozen in place, watching them intently. None of them even moved as the knight opened the door and then gestured for Piper to walk through.

She gasped in shock as she entered the next room. On the far side, a female demoness with chains swirling around her body had Lukas strung up in the air. Meanwhile, Ophelia was brandishing her glowing angel sword at the creature.

Piper immediately drew an arrow, but the knight grabbed her wrist and shook his head. The man stalked forward and raised his own blade.

“Unhand that boy, you chain witch!”

The demoness’s eyes widened slightly, and the chains wrapped around Lukas snaked back to her body. The young man was freed and unceremoniously dumped onto the floor. Once there, he clutched at his neck as he gasped for air. Then the chain demoness retreated, inclining her head slightly.

Piper raced over to Ophelia, who hurriedly sheathed her blade. She opened her arms for a hug but instead received a bonk on the head from a stick. Where the stick had come from, she had no idea. It was as if her friend could conjure one like magic.

“How could you send me away!” Ophelia stormed. “If you thought you got poked a lot in the past…”

Piper rubbed her forehead and scowled. “I was trying to save your life.”

Her friend pointed at the chain demoness standing nearby. “Great job with that.”

“I didn’t know there was going to be a demon in the next room!”

“Whatever. I’m never forgiving you.” Ophelia crossed her arms before softening slightly. “Unless you buy me some ice cream.”

“It’s a deal.” Piper wanted to smile, but the incredibly dangerous demoness standing only a few paces away was filling her with too much anxiety. Why wasn’t it attacking? Until a few seconds ago, the infernal creatures had been in a frenzy at their presence.

Piper pointed at her new companion. “This is…” she frowned. “I’m sorry, but I didn’t catch your name.”

“I am the great knight, Sir Raz Kalma.” He gave them a deep bow with a flourish. “At your service.”

“I don’t like him,” Ophelia said. “What’s he even doing here?”

Piper elbowed her friend. “He’s saving our lives.”

Ophelia narrowed her eyes and glared daggers at the knight.

Lukas struggled to his feet. “Are you a member of one of the religious hosts, Sir?”

“Nothing so mundane.” He puffed out his chest. “I’m an adventurer. A smiter of evil, a battler of demons, a pusher of harroths, and a wooer of fair maidens.” At his last words, he winked at Piper. “Don’t you have a handkerchief to give me to show your favor?”

Piper simply shrugged. “I don’t seem to have one at the moment.”

“No matter.” Raz sheathed his sword. “We’ll just simply say that you owe me one. And I always collect on my debts.”

“I see…” Lukas rubbed his throat, his gaze darting over to the chain demon. “Shouldn’t we flee this place, sir?”

“Not just yet.” He waved at the demoness. “Begone foul creature! We have things to discuss.”

The demoness rolled her eyes and then stalked out of the room, leaving the three of them alone in the long corridor. As they stood there, the walls shifted, turning from stone into what looked like wood. Then they changed again, sprouting black plants with floppy red leaves.

The knight thrust a hand in her direction. “I believe Piper has something to deal with first before we depart this place.”

“I do?”

“Yes, you do. There’s a particularly annoying vampire on your trail. I see tragedy in your future if you don’t deal with him before leaving this structure.”

The mention of vampires made her blood run cold. Had they actually followed her into the pyramid? But then she realized there was an army of demons standing between her and the vampires. There was no way they could reach this room alive.

“I doubt they’re going to get past the demons.”

“Those unpleasant creatures are departing as we speak,” Raz replied. “The portals are a defense mechanism in case certain celestial beings ever attempted to invade this place. Any summoned demons can remain here for a short time.”

“They’re leaving? Piper said quickly. “That means the vampires are going to catch up with us. Can’t you help?”

“I’m afraid my work here is done.” Raz patted Piper on the shoulder. “But there’s only one of those pointy-toothed jerks coming this way. I have full faith that you can deal with him.”

“Please!”

“I’m afraid you’re on your own for this one.” With that, Raz turned on his heel and marched deeper into the pyramid. As he walked, his shoulder bumped Ophelia, making the young woman stumble and curse. But he didn’t slow his pace, and his armor clanked as he disappeared through the door, leaving them alone in the ever-shifting room.

“That guy was a jerk.” Ophelia said, rubbing her shoulder. “And totally weird.”

Piper could only nod her head in agreement. But regardless, he’d saved them from the demons. And for that, she was grateful.

Chapter 48 - The Demonic Horde

Piper watched as Lukas advanced on the imps, a portal tearing open at his side. From within, a slimy brown humanoid plodded out before taking up a position in front of the caster. The summoned being stood there, with gooey chunks sliding off its body before plopping to the floor. It looked disgusting.

“Is that poop?” Ophelia whispered. “I think that’s a poop monster.”

“It’s not a poop monster,” Piper muttered before pausing. Who was to say that a poop monster didn’t exist in this world? Though she imagined anyone who summoned such a creature wouldn’t be very popular. Unless it was used to fertilize farmers' fields.

Just to be certain, she used [Identify] on the creature.

Summoned: Mud Elemental, Level 41

This was followed by a notification.

Ding! Your skill, Identify has reached Level 6.

Piper exhaled with relief at reading that it was a mud elemental. She’d seen the creature in battle earlier but hadn’t thought to ask what it was. Any further thoughts on the subject were interrupted as the imps spread out to attack. They were going to strike the elemental from both sides at once.

She drew her nocked arrow back slightly as Lukas moved to intercept one of the infernal creatures. He clutched a staff with both hands, which seemed like a woefully inadequate weapon against a demon.

The battle began in the blink of an eye, with the elemental sending a geyser of mud at the closest imp. The force sent the diminutive creature tumbling back, but it quickly found its footing, and the ground almost seemed to tremble around its feet. Then it launched itself forward.

Piper immediately recognized the imp’s skill from her time in the infernal realm. It moved impossibly fast and shot right through the elemental, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. The summoned creature splattered across the floor before disintegrating.

Her brow rose at how easily the imp had defeated the elemental. Based on their levels, she’d expected it to be a somewhat fair fight. Did all demons receive 10 attribute points like her? For some reason, she thought the imps would be far weaker than herself.

If that was true, then Lukas was facing two demons who were vastly more powerful than himself. She didn’t have time to do the math, but they must have at least four times his attribute points—if not more. She had to help.

Without hesitating, she drew back her bow and launched at arrow at the imp advancing on Lukas. The demon swatted it aside, sending the arrow clattering along the floor. Then it turned its attention back to Lukas.

“I thought I told you to stay out of this!” Lukas shouted.

“Did I forget to mention that I don’t listen very well?” She ignored her mounting worry that the imp had so easily deflected her shot. What would she do if she couldn’t use her bow?

Drawing back again, she loosed another arrow; this one soared forward and landed with a meaty thud in the imp’s leg. The demon let out a screech as it plucked the arrow out. Then its leg glowed white hot as the flesh repaired itself.

Oh great, she thought to herself. This one has the skill [Demonic Blood].

The fight had just gotten a lot harder. Now, she’d have to wound the imps enough to drain all their mana. She could also inflict a brain injury or decapitate them and hope that would work. Her own skill had stated it couldn’t heal those types of injuries.

As she nocked another arrow, Lukas and the imp came together to exchange blows. He swung his staff, but it just sailed over the imp’s head. Then the demon replied with a series of precise slashes, forcing the young man back.

Any one of the demon’s attacks could have dealt a fatal blow. However, it was easy to see that it was enjoying itself. The creature smirked as it toyed with Lukas, feinting attacks, and cackling as he leaped back. It was like watching a cat with a doomed mouse.

Piper decided to throw away any attempt at trying to disguise herself as a farm girl. If they were going to get past the imps, she would need everything in her arsenal. She hurriedly cast [Veil of Lies] to hide Lukas.

The young man jerked to a stop as a shimmering wall appeared in front of him, but then quickly seemed to clue in. He stood completely still as the demon raised its bulbous nose to sniff the air. Then he began to fall back toward Piper.

As Lukas retreated, she kept casting [Veil of Lies] to conceal his new position. Based on the demon’s growls and their frantic bounding motions back and forth, it appeared they couldn’t see through her illusions. Hopefully, she could use her spells to get them through the rest of the structure.

Then a bright light appeared behind her, shining like a beacon. The illumination grew until it was blinding, forcing the imps to shield their eyes and stagger back. Piper turned to see the source of the light and saw that Ophelia had drawn the angel’s sword. The blade glowed with righteous burning fire in her hands.

The vast structure reacted immediately to the blade's presence, and the surrounding room quaked. From deep within the pyramid, came the sound of deafening gongs, and the grinding of giant infernal engines. Portals appeared on both sides of the room. From within, a trickle of demons began to spill out.

“I don’t think it likes your sword,” Piper called out. “Maybe you should put it away before we all get killed?”

“Less talking,” Lukas shouted, gesturing at the retreating imps. “More running!”

Piper realized that the imps were fleeing. Apparently, they feared the blade. Though the harroths, shadelings, and other massive demons pouring into the room didn’t seem to share their terror. Had they been summoned to deal with the angel blade?

Now wasn’t the time for questions, and she sprinted across the room. Her long strides quickly ate up the distance between her and Lukas before blowing past him. But then she slowed to allow Ophelia to catch up.

“Oh boy,” Gorebark cried out. “You’re in trouble.”

“Tell me something that I don’t know.”

“Do you know that there’s a demonic noble approaching? He’s going to be here any moment.”

“Oh crap.” She keenly remembered her quest from the Infernal Realm; the one that had warned that if she failed, she would be dragged down into the Abyss by the 13 demonic nobles. Why was one of them here?

As they raced across the room, she couldn’t help but wonder if it would have been safer to face the vampires outside. So far, the arriving demons were milling around aimlessly. But it wouldn’t be long until they locked onto them as the target.

“I knew you weren’t really a peasant,” Lukas shouted as he ran, his breathing ragged. “And what was that weapon?”

Ophelia tapped the short sword at her hip. “I sort of borrowed it from an angel.”

It almost looked like Lukas’s eyes would bulge out of his head. “Angels are real?”

Piper nodded.

The young man looked thunderstruck, but any further questions were cut off as a harroth demon stomped toward them. Piper pushed Lukas forward and released a barrage of arrows at the lumbering creature.

The third arrow struck it in the face, and then [Demonic Mark] detonated. The explosion sent the harroth reeling back, its four arms waving wildly. But the burned skin quickly reformed over its exposed skull. The creature charged forward, swinging its scythe-like claws at her.

Piper ducked low, barely avoiding being sliced in half. She backpedaled away, watching as the other two raced toward the far door. She would fight a rearguard action until they had escaped. Then she’d have to find a way to join them.

She released a steady stream of arrows, nocking and loosing as quickly as she could. As she did, [Demonic Marks] continued to explode against the harroths in the forefront, sending them crashing into each other. But she didn’t receive any kill notifications. For the first time, she realized how frustrating it must be to fight against her. No matter what she threw at them, they just kept healing.

Then a wave of imps charged forward, crying out unintelligible war cries. Her arrows slammed into their ranks before exploding and sending their broken bodies flying.

Congratulations! You have slain a Wasteland Imp, Level 37.

A significant bonus to experience has been granted for slaying a higher-level creature.

More notifications rapidly followed as bloody chunks of the imps rained down on her. She ignored most of the messages except for her rapidly rising levels.

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 34.

…

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 36.

Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached level 30.

…

Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached level 32.

Spinning around, she released an arrow at a shadeling charging at her. It struck the demon's throat, making it reel to the side. In case it had the [Demonic Blood] skill, Piper followed her first shot with a second arrow through the eye socket. The demon dropped limply to the ground.

Congratulations! You have slain a Shadeling, Level 25.

With another rapid shot at an approaching harroth, she turned and bolted for the exit. Thankfully, she was able to keep ahead of the demons, as many of them were slow, lumbering creatures. She reached the far door and slipped through it before any of her pursuers caught up.

Once she was on the far side, she was reunited with Lukas and Ophelia. Together, the three of them heaved against the black stone door until it began to swing on its massive hinges. A moment later, the great door boomed shut, cutting off the roars and screams of the demons on the other side. Almost immediately, the door began to shudder as the horde reached it.

“Can the demons open the doors?” Piper panted. Even with her improved attributes, she was exhausted.

“How should I know? I’ve only been here once.” Lukas waved in the direction of the room they’d just crossed. “And that didn’t happen last time.”

Piper pushed herself off the door and examined the new chamber. The floor, walls and ceiling all looked like they had been constructed of clear glass. And beyond was a spectacular galaxy filled with sparkling stars.

She took a half step forward, but then froze as what looked like a Viking warrior appeared behind the glass. He had one missing eye, a golden helmet, and wore primitive furs while holding a steel axe. The warrior regarded them for a moment before fading back into the darkness.

Then, a massive squid jetted by the glass, and fixed its glowing eyeball on them. Its tentacles were wreathed in flames, and it had burning runes carved deep into its flesh. The many wounds wept dark blood, which dripped down its body before evaporating. As the warrior before it, the squid disappeared into the galaxies beyond.

“What the heck was that?” Ophelia exclaimed. “I don’t want that thing eating me.”

“Many scholars believe that the first gods are chained here,” Lukas intoned. “Some believe their essence powers this place.”

“Chained gods?” Ophelia continued. “Demons? Whose idea was it to come in here again?”

“We need to keep moving,” Piper said quietly, ignoring her friend’s question. With every passing second, she was questioning her decision to enter the Black Pyramid. Fighting the vampires would have been far preferable to what she’d encountered so far.

She took off at a steady pace, running across the room. As she moved, more and more strange creatures appeared to watch them. One was sinuous like a snake, with crystal teeth and a transparent body. Within its stomach, a dozen suns burned. Another was almost humanoid, but its chest had split open to reveal a burning furnace within, its head concealed by black smoke.

Each one was more bizarre than the last, and they were watched by a crown of worms, a harpist with a thousand arms, and a tree with fruit shaped like eyeballs. Hundreds more of the strange creatures crowded in until the galaxy beyond had become blotted out by their twisted bodies.

“Why have they all come?” Lukas whispered. “Only one appeared to watch my group while we crossed this room.”

Once again, Piper didn’t answer. Either they didn’t like her presence, or they were reacting to the angel blade. Regardless of which was true, they needed to leave this place as fast as possible. Who knew what would happen if one of the creatures broke through the glass?

As they reached the far side of the room, the door they’d entered through burst open. It appeared that the portals had continued to disgorge demons. Now, there were hundreds of creatures crammed into the chamber. With a roar, they spilled out in a wave of gnashing teeth and flashing claws.

Piper hastily used [Identify] to see what they were facing. But all her skill received were question marks. The new demons were all at least 200 levels above her.

Ding! Your skill, Identify has reached Level 7.

….

Ding! Your skill, Identify has reached Level 10.

Normally, it was never a good sign when a skill went up that quickly. But this time, she knew exactly how screwed she was. She didn’t need a rapid bump in levels to tell her that.

They reached another obsidian door with a demonic face in the center. Using all her strength, she barely managed to open it a crack for them to slip through.

Once they were on the far side, she tried to shut it, only for the face to begin to shriek. Then it swung wide open for the approaching horde of demons.

“We have to stop it!” Lukas shouted. “Help me push it closed!”

Even with the three of them struggling against it, they couldn’t even slow the opening door. Piper glanced back, seeing a virtually empty room behind with nothing but a stone throne at the center of it. There was nowhere for them to hide. And she doubted her illusions would work against high-level demons.

“Go,” she shouted, pushing Ophelia. Then she turned to Lukas. “Get her out of here. I’ll hold them off as long as I can.”

“I’m not leaving you!” Ophelia cried out. “I can’t…”

She took her friend’s hand. “Please don’t make this for nothing.”

Tears streamed down Ophelia’s face as she drew Piper into a fierce hug. “I won’t lose you. I’m staying right by your side.”

Piper pointed at Lukas and shouted, “Take her!”

Without argument, Lukas grabbed Ophelia and dragged her across the room. Though the young woman flailed against him, there was nothing she could do against someone who so vastly out leveled her.

Piper watched her friend disappear through the far door and rubbed her eyes. “I’m sorry,” she whispered before turning back to the oncoming horde of demons. She knew this was the end for her. But if she could buy the others just a bit of time to escape, then it would be worth it.

Chapter 47 - A Wall of Horrors

Piper impatiently tapped her foot against the ground as she watched the duke’s forces draw closer. Soon, they would be within range of the spellcasters if they didn’t get moving. But it seemed like her new friend Lukas wanted to turn himself into a human pack mule before entering the Black Pyramid.

The young man had spent the last few minutes racing around the camp and stuffing all manner of strange items into a massive backpack. When he lifted it to his shoulders, it stretched from his lower back to well above his head. She had no idea how he didn’t tip over from the weight.

“Do you really need all that stuff?” she asked slowly. “How are we going to run if we need to?”

“This is everything I own,” he retorted. “If I lose all of this stuff, I might as well let the demons eat me.”

Piper fought down an exasperated sigh. However, she couldn’t begrudge Lukas for not wanting to lose all his earthly possessions. The only things she owned in this world she carried on her person, and she would never give them up. On her belt was the knife in a sheath that Alfred had carved himself. And around her neck hung the Infernus medallion given to her by Ethel, along with the moonstone that Ophelia had presented to her in the barn.

Then again, her keepsakes didn’t look like they weighed as much as a cow. And they certainly wouldn’t slow her down if they had to run from demons inside the Pyramid.

With one last glance at the duke’s forces, she grabbed Lukas’s hand and dragged him toward the entrance to the Pyramid. She ignored his protests while she glanced around to find Ophelia. After a few paces, she stumbled to a stop, as she spotted her friend over by the fire busily cutting a piece off the sizzling bird’s leg.

“It’s not cooked!” Piper cried out. “Leave it!”

“I’m just going to eat a bit…”

“You’ll get sick!”

“Fine,” Ophelia harrumphed before sheathing the blade and sprinting after them. But it was obvious from her expression that it wasn’t fine. And it was also clear that Piper would be hearing about this for the next few days. Assuming any of them saw another dawn.

Piper jogged to the entrance of the Black Pyramid, with Lukas and Ophelia at her side. The entrance was large enough to fit the entire village of Alderwick in its mouth. But it quickly narrowed, and they were presented with three openings constructed of what looked like black obsidian.

Lukas rubbed a hand down his face. Then he pointed at the rightmost one. “I think that’s the way.”

“You think?” Ophelia exclaimed. “You don’t know?”

“I was a little preoccupied when I left the pyramid,” he shot back. “The adventurers had just been slaughtered, and I was running for my life.”

Piper started to reply, but then the notification she’d been dreading popped up in her vision.

Congratulations! You have slain a Human, Level 60.

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 32.

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 33.

Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached level 28.

Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached level 29.

“Oh, no…” She could only stare at horror at the writing. The young man she’d cast [Umbral Terror] on, must have met his end within the Pyramid. She’d killed yet another person.

Ophelia’s expression softened as though she could sense her friend’s emotional turmoil. “What’s wrong, Pip?”

Piper glanced over at Lukas, who was watching her quietly. How would he react if she told him that she’d killed his companion? They had been fighting each other, but she didn’t know if they were close. Still, she didn’t want to lie and then stumble across the body of the young man inside. That would only make things worse.

“I just got a notification…” She trailed off to let the implication hang in the air.

“For the guy who threw the knife at you?” Ophelia replied derisively. “I hope a demon ate his genitals.”

“Ophelia,” she replied with shock. “You shouldn’t say that.”

“He tried to kill you!”

She gestured over at Lukas. “They might have been friends.”

The young man shrugged—at least as much as he could with the massive backpack on his shoulders. “I won’t mourn him.”

Piper twirled a strand of hair around her finger. While none of the others seemed overly concerned about the loss of the young man, she would carry his death heavily. “What was his name?”

“His name?” Lukas repeated with a quizzical look.

“Yes, his name. I don’t ever want to forget him.”

“You shouldn’t burden yourself like that…”

“I want his name,” she nearly shouted before lowering her voice. “Please.”

“It was Demetrios,” Lukas said softly. “Son of Orion.”

Piper repeated the young man’s name several times in her mind, committing it to memory. She would remember his death forever and use this memory to ensure that she never accidentally hurt anyone again. Next time, she would be far more careful in casting her spells.

Ophelia poked her back. “Umm… the soldiers are getting awfully close.”

“Right.” Piper shook her head. There would be plenty of time for self-recrimination later. They still had to escape the duke and cross the Black Pyramid. And with every second they delayed, the duke was drawing nearer.

“Nice,” Gorebark muttered. “You’re finally taking out some humans. I mean, you didn’t use me, but still, it’s a step in the right direction.”

“Shut up,” she said vehemently. “I don’t want to hear another word from you.”

“Did-did your bow just talk?” As Lukas spoke, his gaze fell to her quiver, and his eyes widened. “Is that a human face?”

“It’s from a monkey,” she replied quickly. Not that her lie sounded much better, but hopefully she wouldn’t be seen as a crazed serial killer. Instead, she would just seem like a lunatic who killed monkeys and made gear from their corpses. Much better.

Piper examined the doors. “Which one did you say again?”

“I’ve heard of those animals,” he said, a look of relief washing over his face. “Some dwell in the mountains not far from Kalmyros. Why would you make your quiver from one of their faces?”

“It’s a long story. Now, which door?”

After a brief pause, Lukas pointed a finger at the door on the right. The entrance was easily twice her height, and two carts abreast could enter with room to spare. She was still having trouble comprehending the sheer scale of this place.

“I’ll take the lead,” she said, nocking an arrow. “Try to stay behind me.

“I think that I should take point,” Lukas said. “My level is far above your own.”

Piper wanted to argue with him, but if she said too much, she might reveal her true nature. Instead, she gestured for him to go first. As he slid around her, she noticed he kept glancing down at her quiver. Before they arrived at the Arrisian Empire, she really needed to come up with a way to hide her demonic weapons.

They continued down a perfectly smooth corridor, and as they walked, aetherstones sprang to life to light their path. The gems gave off an eerie red glow, though numerous slots were empty. In the past, it seemed that many of them had been stolen.

Lukas looked at her over his shoulder. “How did you activate them?”

She shrugged helplessly. “I don’t know?”

“We had to bring a moonstone containing a spell to turn them on when we arrived.” It looked like he wanted to say more, but instead he just continued forward.

Piper knew her act as a farm girl wasn’t going very well so far. Not only had she shrugged off a dagger to the shoulder, but she’d also cast a powerful fear spell. And now she’d activated the demonic aetherstones lining the walls.

As they passed one of the gems, she surreptitiously leaned down and tried to pull it free. But just like the ones in the tunnels under the mountain, it was securely fastened to the wall. Perhaps if she had some time and a hammer, she could get it loose.

“They’re almost impossible to remove,” Lukas said, catching her in the act. “I tried it myself not too long ago. I’ve heard with the proper enchanted tools you can get one out, though.”

She didn’t reply as they kept moving down the corridor. Before long, they arrived at a massive black stone door that had been left slightly ajar. A face had been carved in the center of the door, and as they approached, its eyes focused on them.

What is with demons sticking faces onto everything? She wondered to herself. Are there actually souls trapped in there, or is it some kind of magic?

If she remembered, she’d have to ask Gorebark about it later. Not that her bow had been overly generous with sharing information, but he might be open to explaining his origins. Then again, Gorebark might just make a story to amuse itself.

“Beyond here is… bad,” Lukas said. “Are you sure you want to go in there?”

Piper nodded her head, steeling herself for what lay beyond. But before she went anywhere, she needed to allocate her new attribute points.

Since leveling up… accidentally, she’d received 40 new attribute points. Most likely, she was going to need her spells to get them out of here alive. So, she swiftly placed 10 points into Magic. Then she split the remaining 30 points between Mana and Mana Regeneration. That brought both of her mana-related stats up to 575.

I hope that will be enough.

With her points allocated, she took a deep breath and slipped through the door and into the chamber beyond. She’d prepared herself for many things, but what greeted her still shocked her to the core.

The room was about the size of a football field, with vaulted ceilings, and a floor that swirled with power. But it was the walls that drew her attention—they were covered with thousands of human corpses. By the looks of the bodies, many of them had been here for years, possibly even centuries. The ones near the bottom were little more than skeletons clad in rusted armor. Meanwhile, the ones at the top looked far fresher.

Her heart skipped a beat as she caught sight of movement on the far side of the room. A pair of imps were dragging the body of Demetrios into place near the top. They were going to inter him in this ghoulish room forever.

“Demons!” Lukas whispered. “We should retreat immediately.”

“Is there another way through the pyramid?” Piper replied in a low tone. The last thing she wanted was for the imps to notice them. Thankfully, they seemed fully engrossed in their grisly job.

The young man shook his head, a few curls of his dark hair falling over his face. “At least none that I’m familiar with. This place is a maze.”

“We may not have a choice but to go through them.” Piper hurried back to the door and peered outside. As she feared, dozens of the duke’s soldiers had taken up positions near the ruined campsite. All of them bore bows and crossbows.

At the sight of her, one of the armored women called out. “Demon! Come out and face the duke in honorable single combat!”

She retreated and hurried back to the others standing behind the door.

“What did they say?” Lukas asked.

“Nothing,” she replied quickly. “And we have no choice but to go through here.”

“We don’t stand a chance against the imps.” Lukas licked his lips. “I might be able to distract one while we run past, but there is no way I can handle two.”

The imps didn’t look too different from the one she’d fought in the Infernal Realm. And that one had been relatively easy to defeat even with her low level. But then again, looks could be deceiving in a world with classes and attribute points. Somewhere out there might even be a man-eating bunny biting off people’s heads.

And I don’t even have a Holy Hand Grenade.

A smile flitted across her face as she remembered watching her dad’s favorite movie with him. She hadn’t understood all the humor, but she’d loved how much he’d laughed. That was why they had watched it over and over again.

Piper realized with a start that the others were giving her a strange look. Obviously, this wasn’t the situation to start reminiscing about her past life. She needed to focus on the imps.

Since the demons would realize they were here at any moment, she decided to use [Identify] on them. Maybe they wouldn’t be as dangerous as Lukas claimed. Regardless, their best chance of survival was still going through the imps.

She activated [Identify] and read the notification.

Summoned: Imp, Level 41

The second one wasn’t much higher.

Summoned: Imp, Level 45

Piper had never seen anything with the title summoned in front of it before. She turned toward Lukas. “What does summoned mean?”

The young man looked horrified. “You used Identify on them? Now they know we’re here! We must flee immediately!”

“It’s not safe out there,” Piper said, grabbing Lukas’s arm. “We have no choice but to fight the imps.”

“What did you see outside?” Ophelia asked, her features pale. “Is it the Crimson Guard?”

“No sign of them yet,” she replied. “But there are lots and lots of soldiers with bows and crossbows.”

“Are vampires as bad as they say?” Lukas pried her fingers off his arm. “I’ve only heard stories.”

“Worse!” Ophelia said. “They love to feed on boys with dark and curly hair. In fact, they’ll probably take their time eating—”

Piper interrupted her friend with an elbow to the side. “Most of them aren’t very nice.”

Lukas took a deep breath. “I suppose we have to attempt to go through the demons. My elemental will handle one, while I try to fight the other. If I fall in battle, try to escape while they’re busy mounting me on the wall. The next chamber doesn’t have demons, and you can shut the door. At least it was empty when we arrived. You might be safe in there for a while.”

As he finished speaking, he turned around, and his face paled slightly. During their conversation, the imps had clambered down from the wall and were advancing on them. Each of them clutched a familiar-looking dark blade in their hands.

Piper couldn’t help but be impressed by the young man. These infernal creatures had wiped out his party only a short time ago, but he still planned to face them bravely. And on top of that, he was willing to give his life to protect two girls he’d just met.

Piper raised her bow, preparing to fire. But she stopped when Lukas shook his head.

“I’ll handle them on my own,” he said. “As a wayfarer aspirant, it’s my duty to protect those without combat classes.”

For a second, she considered arguing with him. But then she stepped back and gestured for him to proceed. If he got into trouble, she could always step in and help. Until then, she would keep up her disguise as a farm girl.

Chapter 46 - A Doomed Expedition

Lukas held up his hands to the blazing fire, trying to dispel the chill of the previous night. Every day they were trapped here, he grew weaker, and the cold felt more biting. Already, his clothing was hanging off him like he was a scarecrow. If they didn’t find a way back through the Black Pyramid soon, they would starve to death.

Unless the dread owls take us first.

For once, the birds hadn’t returned last night. Every sundown since their wild flight from the pyramid, the birds had come after dusk, taking many of their group. Now only he and his companion Demetrios remained.

“This is your fault,” Demetrios raged from across the fire. “What sort of incompetent idiot leads us to the wrong side of the pyramid?”

Lukas fought down a sigh. “I was running from the demons, the same as you. This is where the corridor led us.”

“And thanks to you, we have no way home.” Demetrios stood up and kicked a rock. It skittered across the hard ground before striking one of the cairns they’d built for the fallen aspirants. “We’re trapped on this cursed mountain, with no food, no water, and no way home. May the Undying Emperor curse you and your family for eternity.”

“Do you think your anger is helping?” Lukas rose to his feet. “Philemon swore he spotted a great bronze gate further down the valley. We should at least try to reach it.”

“Do you honestly believe anyone lives out there?” Demetrios waved his arms at the valley. “Is there a clan of dwarves waiting behind it with a steaming meal for us? Nothing would dare live this close to the pyramid. It’s probably a relic from before Thronefall.”

“Then what would you have us do?” His voice rose slightly as he spoke. “Wait here and die?”

“I’ll make sure you die first,” Demetrios spat. “I never should have come here. It was you who convinced me.”

“You wanted to become a wayfarer as much as I did.”

Demetrios thrust a quivering finger in Lukas’s direction. “I have a real combat class. What are you? A pathetic mage who can summon a lump of mud?”

Lukas was about to reply when an impossible sight greeted him. Over the rise, a pair of farm girls appeared, with one of them clutching a strange bow. Neither looked old enough to have even awakened.

Both the girls look gaunt and exhausted. The blond-haired one had a terrible scar on her face and almost reminded him of a walking corpse. Meanwhile, her companion with dark hair wore tattered clothing. They’d clearly had a rough time.

Still, how had they survived the monsters dwelling in the mountains to reach this place? Even more perplexing was that they carried what looked like a leg of a dread owl. There would be more than enough meat on it to feed them for days. Assuming they wanted to share it.

His brow rose further in surprise as he used [Identify]. The younger of the two clearly hadn’t awakened—he received no result for his skill. But the class of the dark-haired girl only deepened his confusion.

Human, Level 10

But then a string of notifications sent alarm bells ringing in his head.

Ding! Your skill, Identify has reached Level 12.

…

Ding! Your skill, Identify has reached Level 14.

Immediately, he knew this girl was dangerous. Perhaps even the most dangerous person he’d ever [Identified]. He’d been too busy running from the demons in the pyramid to use [Identify] on them, but no monster he’d ever encountered had ever given him more than a single level in the skill. Something was seriously off here.

“Hello,” the dark-haired girl called out. “Would you mind if we shared your fire?”

“And breakfast,” the younger one added. “Preferably bacon, eggs, and bread if you have it.”

Demetrios stepped forward, a pair of daggers appearing in his hands. “Do you think we’d share our food with a pair of peasants if we had any?” His gaze dropped to the dire owl’s leg. “If you give us that meat, we might let you leave with your lives.”

“You’re welcome to share our fire,” Lukas called back, ignoring his companion. The last thing he wanted to do was get on these girl’s bad sides. He still couldn’t tell if the dark-haired one was dangerous, or if there was another party hiding out there somewhere. Either way, his best bet was to remain friendly with them.

“I’m happy to share the meat,” the girl replied. “But I can’t let you take it.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Demetrios reared back and hurled his dagger with the power of a skill behind it. The blade rocketed forward, but somehow the girl twisted her body impossibly fast and took the dagger in the shoulder. It would almost certainly have been a fatal wound if it had struck her chest.

At the sight of his companion trying to murder an innocent girl, something snapped inside of Lukas. He cast [Summon: Mud Golem] and an opening to the Earth Realm tore open beside him. A shambling elemental standing almost half his height waddled forth before stomping toward Demetrios.

Without even pausing, Demetrios spun around and hurled a blade in Lukas’s direction. The first one he’d thrown had already reappeared in his hand from the use of another skill.

Lukas cast [Mud Shield] and a swirling disc of sludge appeared in front of him. It didn’t completely stop the dagger, but it altered its course enough to miss him. As he lowered his shield, his eyes went wide as he saw Demetrios leaping toward him with both daggers raised to strike.

I’m going to die.

He’d already made peace with the fact that he probably wasn’t going to escape this cursed place with his life. That he was never going to achieve his dream of becoming a Wayfarer. But now that he was staring down death, he realized he wasn’t ready yet.

Right before Demetrios landed his blow, a jet of mud hammered the young man from the side. The stream of slimy liquid sent the young man flying through the air. Demetrios struck the hard ground and rolled for a few paces before coming to a stop.

Lukas breathed a sigh of relief as his Mud Elemental finished using its skill. Then he watched as it plodded forward, unleashing a series of mucky blows on the prone form of Demetrios.

For a second, it seemed like the elemental was going to win. But then without warning, it exploded, sending sludge flying out in every direction. The battered form of Demetrios strode through the corpse of the elemental, his blades spinning in his hands.

With his summoned creature defeated, Lukas had no choice but to retreat. He desperately wracked his brain for ideas as he picked up a staff to defend himself with. How could he stop a Blade Spinner like Demetrios with his limited spells?

“Enough,” the young woman shouted, surprising both of them.

Lukas turned to see her striding forward. Was she really going to get involved in a fight between two people with combat classes? Everyone with a profession class knew not to do that in the Empire. That was a good way to get a person killed.

Unless she’s a far higher level than she seems.

But apparently Demetrios still hadn’t realized that something was off about the girl. He charged at the young woman, his blades flashing in the light. Right when he was about to strike her, she raised her hand and pointed at him. He stumbled to a stop and then started to shriek.

Demetrios dropped his weapons and turned and fled. Straight toward the Black Pyramid.

“Wait,” the dark-haired woman called out as he ran blindly into the entrance. “Stop!”

Lukas watched Demetrios disappear inside the pyramid, his fate almost certainly sealed. While he’d mourned the loss of the other Wayfarer Aspirants who had accompanied the party of adventurers, he wouldn’t mourn Demetrios.

“I didn’t mean to…” the young woman said, looking distraught. “I just wanted him to stop fighting.”

“What’s your name?” Lukas asked, leaning against his stave. “Mine’s Lukas.” The use of mana had drained what little strength he had left. His limbs were trembling from the exertion. And probably from the adrenaline coursing through his body.

“I really didn’t mean to do that…” She trailed off as she shook her head. “My name is Piper and this is Ophelia.”

“Way to give out your real name,” Ophelia said with a chuckle. “Like I said, best disguise ever.”

“I’m tired and hungry,” Piper complained. “Give me a break.”

Lukas relaxed slightly as the young women exchanged words. The way they talked almost certainly proved they weren’t monsters in disguise. Still, he couldn’t understand how the one seemed so powerful.

He suddenly remembered her wound and hurried over to the pack containing the first-aid kit. Throwing open the flap, he gathered bandages, some healing herbs, and a potion left over from one of the adventurers. He was pretty sure they wouldn’t be needing it now.

Returning to Piper, he hesitated. “I… need you to take off your shirt.”

“Excuse me?”

“So, I can dress your wound,” he hurriedly explained. “I need to stop the bleeding.”

“Oh, that.” She smiled a brilliant smile at him. “It was barely a flesh wound.”

“But I saw it sink into your shoulder…” He frowned. Only those from the upper and ascendant realms had healing powers to shrug off an injury like that. “I really think I should inspect the injury.”

“Honestly, it was nothing.” She pushed past him and headed toward the fire. When she found an iron spit, she made a happy little noise. Then she set about cutting off pieces of the meat from the bird leg she held.

Lukas watched in confusion as she started to cook the meat. Within a few minutes, it was sizzling above the fire. “Are you sure you’re alright?”

Piper nodded before sitting down on a boulder. She leaned down to rub her leg and let out a gasp. Then she looked up at him with the bluest eyes he’d ever seen. “Do you know the way through the Black Pyramid?”

Lukas nodded. “But there’ are probably a dozen demons between us and the other side.”

“Are you from the Arissian Empire?”

He nodded again.

The young woman bit her lip. “How did you get through in the first place, then?”

“I volunteered as a porter,” he replied. “It was my job to carry the supplies and any loot the adventurers might find.”

“You volunteered to go in there at your level?”

Lukas bristled slightly at her words. He was already level 55 in his race, and 47 in his class. For someone barely 16, that was more than acceptable. He wasn’t flying up in levels like the children of nobles and rich merchants, but he was doing alright. He held up his iron aspirant badge. “I would earn 50 tallies for going with them.”

Piper blinked her eyes at him.

“Don’t you know what tallies are?”

She shook her head. “I’m from a farm over the mountain.”

“You’re from the Bloodviel Empire?” he exclaimed. “How in the name of the Undying Emperor did you get here?”

“It’s a long story. So, what are the tallies?”

“To become a Wayfarer, you have to earn a certain number of tallies based on your rank. Since my class is uncommon quality, I have to earn 150 tallies.” As he spoke, the delicious scent of cooking meat began to waft around the campfire.

Ophelia stepped forward. “Is that how you become an adventurer?” she asked excitedly. “Or is that another name for an adventurer?”

“It’s one step on the path.” He sat down across from Piper, his stomach rumbling angrily. It had been days since he had last tasted real food. He could probably eat the entire bird’s leg on his own.

The sound of drums and trumpets made him turn his head. What now?

Piper surged to her feet and stared down the valley. Then she spun around to look at the Black Pyramid. “We need to get going, and you should probably come with us.”

“Into the pyramid? You’d never make it across.”

“If we stay out here, we’re going to get killed for sure.” Piper hurried over and grabbed her friend’s hand, dragging her away from the fire.

“But the meat!” Ophelia wailed. “I didn’t get to eat any of it.”

“What’s going on?” Lukas demanded.

“Those drummers are accompanying a vampire duke who’s been chasing us for a while.”

“A vampire is chasing you?” he said incredulously. “What did you do?”

Piper shrugged her shoulder. “He doesn’t like humans. Are you coming with us?”

Lukas looked from the Black Pyramid and back to the valley where an armored host had appeared in the distance. With a curse, he began to gather his stuff. If he had to choose a slow death at the hands of a vampire or a quick one by a demon, he would choose the demon every time.

Chapter 45 - A Spark of Hope

Piper stayed up through the rest of the night, directing the trickle of regenerating mana to her injured leg. She’d even been forced to remove her pants to prevent them catching on fire from constantly using [Demonic Blood]. But she was surprised at how long the healing was taking. The damage must be more severe than usual. 

When her bones finally reformed, it was nearly dawn. Only then, with the pain lessening and the fog lifting from her mind, did she pull up her notifications.

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 21.

….

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 31.

Ding! Your class, Deciever has reached level 17.

….

Ding! Your class, Deciever has reached level 27.

This was followed by a flood of skill and spell notifications.

Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached Level 24.

….

Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached Level 30.

Ding! Your racial skill, Quick Claw has reached Level 10.

Ding! Your skill, Ambush Detection has reached Level 5.

Ding! Your skill, Archery has reached Level 12.

Ding! Your skill, Archery has reached Level 13.

Ding! Your skill, Identify has reached Level 5.

Ding! Your skill, Hunting has reached Level 2.

Ding! Your skill, Hunting has reached Level 3.

Ding! Your spell, Umbral Terror has reached level 3.

Ding! Your spell, Veil of Lies has reached level 8.

Even though she’d nearly been turned into bird chow, she was happy with the gains she’d made. Pulling up her character sheet, she realized she had a ridiculous 280 free attribute points to allocate.

Piper Ashcroft

Race: Shadeling, Level 31

Class: Deceiver, Level 27 (Epic)

Attributes

Strength – 76

Dexterity – 51

Stamina - 48

Vitality – 30

Perception – 3

Swiftness - 12

Magic - 22

Mana - 320

Mana Regeneration – 195

Free Attribute Points - 280

Racial Skills (5/10)

·         Demonic Blood, Level 30

·         Demonic Fury, Level 1

·         Demonic Intellect, Level 8

·         Quick Claw, Level 10

·         Tail Strike, Level 9

Skills (10/10)

·         Ambush Detection, Level 5

·         Animal Caretaker, Level 5

·         Archery, Level 13

·         Cooking, Level 6

·         Enduring Casting, Level 11

·         Identify, Level 5

·         Hunting, Level 3

·         Running, Level 12

·         Stick Wielder, Level 1

·         Subterfuge, Level 2

Spells (4/10)

·         False Face, Level 10

·         Truth Shroud, Level 16

·         Umbral Terror, Level 3

·         Veil of Lies, Level 8

As the dawn light bathed her position, she considered where to place the points. She’d been pretty satisfied with splitting her points between physical attributes and magical ones so far. But after her encounter with the Crimson Guard—who’d shattered her illusion—she realized she desperately needed to increase her Magic stat.

To begin with, she placed 100 points into Magic. That brought the stat up to 122, which should hopefully prevent anyone from seeing her true nature. When she reached the Arissian Empire, she didn’t want anyone to learn that she was a demon.

Next, she placed 36 points into Mana and 61 points into Mana Regeneration. Since each point allocated to the stats actually gave her five, that brought both of them in line with each other to a total of 500 points. With her racial skill, [Demonic Blood] so reliant on mana, she wanted to be able to regain it faster after a battle so she could heal her wounds. Also, her improved mana pool should also allow her to cast [Umbral Terror] twice before running out of mana.

Once she was happy with her magic stats, she turned her attention toward her physical ones. She still had 119 points remaining to distribute. Right off the bat, she placed another 49 points into strength. Until she learned how to fight, most of her battles were going to be decided by brute force. She was pleased to see her Strength sitting at an impressive 125 when she was done.

Then she placed the remaining points into Dexterity and Swiftness. After seeing how fast the Crimson Guard had moved back at the cave, she knew she needed to keep improving those attributes. So, she placed 5 into Dexterity and 29 into Swiftness, bringing them up to 56 and 41, respectively.

Gazing at her stats, she realized she was probably far above anyone back in the village. As she calculated her total stats, she was shocked to see she had a total of 630 attribute points. That meant she was now equivalent to a regular level 200 human, with a class at 200, and a secondary one at 200. She imagined the math was never that neat in reality, but if she was being chased by anything other than immortal vampire warriors, she could probably deal with them.

Then she remembered Justina taking an arrow to the face during her battle against the redcaps. Just because she was becoming stronger didn’t mean she couldn’t be defeated. A good example had been her experience the previous night. The dread owls weren’t nearly as powerful as other opponents she’d faced, but they’d almost overwhelmed her with sheer numbers.

However, she always had an ace up her sleeve—not that she wanted to use it again. If she activated [Demonic Fury], it would give her a massive boost in power. It would double most of her physical attributes, which might even allow her to compete with a vampire.

But she would only use [Demonic Fury] in the direst of circumstances. The last time she’d activated it, she’d felt a presence in the back of her mind. A terrible, ancient presence that had urged her to commit atrocities. Unless she had absolutely no other choice, she would avoid using it. Especially when she was around Ophelia.

With her free attribute points allocated, she unsteadily rose to her feet. She tottered for the first few steps before she got used to her new hip. The boulder had really done a number on her leg. She was immensely grateful it hadn’t struck her chest, or it may have been lights out.

Piper walked over to the edge of the rock field and gazed out at the towering Black Pyramid. She furrowed her brow as she spotted smoke curling up from a twinkling blaze. Was that a campfire? Had the vampires somehow cut off their route already?

She quickly realized that couldn’t be true. If the vampires were this close, they would have simply attacked her during the night. Someone else must be at the Black Pyramid, though she had no idea who they were. Could they possibly be from the Arissian Empire?

As hope blossomed in her chest, she hurried over to Ophelia. “Wake up,” she said softly. “We need to get moving.”

“Just a little bit longer,” her friend groaned. “I’m so tired.”

“There’s a camp not far from here. Maybe they have breakfast.”

“Breakfast?” Ophelia shot up, her eyes roving across the landscape. “Where?”

“It’s right in front of the Black Pyramid.”

“Why didn’t you say so?”

Piper turned slightly when [Ambush Detection] blared a warning in her mind. She was about to spin around when she realized why it had activated. Instead, she just rolled her eyes as a stick poked her in the back.

“You’re getting soft,” Ophelia laughed. “Must be your old age.”

“You’re going to be the same age as me in a few weeks,” she replied. “Does that mean you’re going to be old, too?”

“Whatever.” Ophelia yawned and stretched. “It’s your birthday soon as well. You’re always going to be older than I am.”

With a shake of her head, Piper set out toward the Black Pyramid. But after a few paces, she stopped and examined one of the dread owl corpses. It had only been a few hours since she’d killed them. The meat should still be good.

Taking out her knife, she set about severing the leg from one of the birds. Then she cut away the breast and offered it to Ophelia.

“If you think I’m carrying that gross thing, then you’re out of your mind.”

“If they don’t have breakfast to share, then we need something to eat,” Piper explained. “This shouldn’t taste too different from chicken.”

At least I hope, she mentally added. Are awakened birds even edible?

There were so many things she wished she’d asked Alfred in the past, but a part of her had always thought he would be around. He’d taught her a lot about hunting and survival. However, she was starting to worry it wasn’t enough to survive in the mountains.

With a dramatic sigh, Ophelia took the dread owl’s breast and wrapped a spare piece of linen around it. The material looked suspiciously like the one they’d found in Justina’s bags. How many things had Ophelia borrowed from the woman?

They set out at a slow pace, the footing treacherous among the boulders. As they moved, the sun continued its ascent in the sky, though its rays did little to warm the surrounding air. About halfway to the pyramid, ominous black clouds began to blow in from the east. She silently prayed they would avoid another snowstorm.

Ophelia cursed as she slipped and landed on her rump. She frowned as she struggled back to her feet. “I can’t wait until I awaken and get a class.” She paused in the act of getting up. “Which realm do you think I’ll go to?”

“What realms do farmer’s wives come from again?”

“Not funny!” her friend cried out. “I’m going to be an amazing combat class, and you know it.”

“Like a milkmaid?”

“That’s it! I’m going to poke you again, foul demon.”

Piper couldn’t help but giggle at her friend’s antics. They may be tired, exhausted, and stressed from being pursued, but at least they had each other. And sometimes that was enough.

They continued walking for over an hour, and Piper had to slow her pace to let Ophelia keep up. The lack of food and water was really beginning to affect her friend. She hoped that whoever they encountered at the Black Pyramid would at least let them cook their meat over the fire.

What would happen if the people they encountered weren’t friendly? They were coming from a vampire-ruled empire. At best, they might not want to have anything to do with them. At worst, they might attack them on sight.

With her vastly improved strength, she believed that she could protect Ophelia from most threats. Unless of course one of the people by the campfire was a spellcaster. She still had no idea how to counter someone throwing a fireball at her aside from hiding behind illusions. But that wasn’t a long-term solution.

“Do you mind giving me a hand?” Ophelia gasped as she tried to climb over a jagged boulder.

Piper jogged over to her friend and slipped her arm around the young woman’s waist. Then, they continued onward, with her partially supporting Ophelia’s weight. She really needed to get some food into her soon.

As they crested another rise, she spotted a campsite right below them. It looked like at one point there had been at least half a dozen tents, but most of them had been shredded. Near a roaring fire, two young men were hunched forward, holding their hands toward the flames.

She quickly realized there had been a battle here recently. Blood was splashed on the rocks, and four rock cairns had been constructed at the edge of the camp.

Piper took a second to recast [Truth Shroud]. To ensure they wouldn’t see her as a threat, she changed her race to Human, Level 10, and her class to Farmhand, Level 8. Then she tied it off with [Enduring Casting].

The fact that she didn’t receive any classes from using the spells helped her relax. Apparently, the Holy System didn’t think there was any danger to her from the young men below. She had to admit that that was a nice change.

Then she double-checked her [False Face] before she decided to alter her hair slightly. In the blink of an eye, her hair changed from blond to dark brown. If the vampires happened upon this camp, she didn’t want them to be able to identify her from her looks.

Not that the Crimson Guard would likely rely on anything so mundane as asking if anyone had seen her. She was sure their scout had an amazing power to track her movements. But there was no point in making it easier for them.

“Is now the time for a new hairstyle?” Ophelia asked. “When there might be breakfast waiting for us?”

“It’s called a disguise.”

“Yeah, no one will ever figure out who you really are.” Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Best disguise ever.”

Piper ignored her friend’s teasing and set out for the camp. This might be her first encounter with someone from the Arissian Empire, and she wanted everything to go perfectly. All that stood between them and freedom now was the Black Pyramid. And she was hopeful that the young men knew a way through it.

More Chapters!

I just bumped up the advance chapters to 6 for the Aspirant Tier, and 12 for the Wayfarer tier. This means that the tiers with be two and four weeks ahead of Royal Road respectively. I'm hoping to add more chapters in the near future, since you're all so awesome.

And once again, thank you for your support. It means a lot to have so many people supporting my story.

Chapter 44 - Eyes in the Darkness

Piper stood on the barren mountain slope, watching Justina stride away from them. The woman had bidden them a terse farewell before leaving. She could tell the vampire was torn by her decision to abandon Ophelia, and for a second, she feared that Justina would renege on their deal. But after a tense few moments, the woman had stalked away into the gathering darkness.

Alone once more, they set out in the direction of the Black Pyramid. Both of them were hungry and exhausted, and neither spoke on the journey. After a few hours of navigating the field of boulders, the sun dipped behind the peak, making it too dark to travel.

Piper found a sheltered overhang and flopped down onto the hard rock. She ran a hand through her hair and yawned. It had been almost two days since she had slept, and aside from a stolen sweetmeat given to her by Ophelia, she’d eaten almost nothing. At first light, she was going hunting. There must be some birds around here.

Ophelia collapsed beside her and gazed up at the stars. “Do you think my mom and dad are alright?”

“I’m sure they’re fine.”

“But what if Ransford…”

“The duke is a good man,” Piper said firmly. “He won’t do anything to your family.” While she hadn’t met the duke personally, everything she’d heard about him led her to believe what she’d said was true. “Plus, Justina is about to kick Ransford’s butt.”

Ophelia giggled. “I wish I could see that. You know what? I wish that I could do it after what he did to me.” The younger woman was silent for a few seconds before she continued. “Do you really believe I’ll be an adventurer someday?”

“With your deeds? I bet you’re going to be way more powerful than me.”

“Thanks, Pip.” Ophelia squeezed her hand. “Why don’t you get some sleep? I’ll take the first watch.”

Stifling another yawn, Piper nodded her head. “Don’t let me sleep for too long.”

Piper rolled onto her side before resting her head on her arm. Even with her thick cloak, the hard rock dug into her body. She thought for sure she would never fall asleep in such uncomfortable conditions. Then she blinked her eyes and slipped into a deep slumber.

It felt like she’d only been sleeping for a few seconds when she felt something shaking her arm. Opening her eyes, she saw her friend leaning over her.

“Wake up,” Ophelia whispered. “There’s something out there.”

Piper sat straight up, groping around for her bow. Her fingers found the smooth wood of the grip, and without thinking, she activated [Infernal Bowstring]. A dark red string instantly appeared between the ends of the bow, her mana dipping slightly.

“What is it?” she breathed. “Is it the vampires?”

Ophelia shook her head and pointed out into the darkness. A short distance away, large round eyes glinted in the moonlight. Then more appeared, watching them intently. There must be at least a dozen creatures out there in the darkness. A haunting hoot confirmed their identity—they were facing dread owls.

Without moving too quickly, Piper attached her quiver to her belt before drawing an arrow and nocking it. She cast [Veil of Lies], making both of them disappear behind a wall of rock. Hopefully, the birds were too stupid to realize it was an illusion.

After her battle with the ooze, she still had 60 attribute points to allocate. She briefly considered dumping them all into magic. If there was ever a time to make sure her illusions would work, it was now.

But a flurry of hoots announced she wouldn’t have to time to place her points. She heard claws clicking on the rocks as the birds rushed toward them. Either they were too smart to be fooled by an illusion, or they were planning to search the overhang until they found their prey.

“Stay behind me,” Piper whispered. “And only fight if you absolutely have to.”

Ophelia nodded her head as she drew her gleaming angel blade. The metal pulsed in the darkness, and a golden script briefly flashed along its length. Her mouth was tight, while her face appeared pale in the moonlight. For all her bravado, she was still just a 12-year-old girl facing monsters.

“Oh, and make sure you don’t touch me with that thing,” Piper said, pointing at the short sword. “I really don’t want to fight a curse while I’m facing the owls.”

“Do you really think I’m going to stab you in the back by accident?” Her friend said indignantly. “I’m not a klutz.”

“Just be careful.” Piper tightened her grip on the bow, her heart hammering in her chest. Not for the first time, she wished that Alfred were here. He always seemed so unflappable in the face of threats, almost like an unmoving rock. Plus, his skill with an axe would come in handy right about now.

One of the dread owls strode closer and shocked her with its appearance. The head and plumage superficially resembled the birds of prey on her world, but it had long legs like an ostrich. And each toe ended in a wicked-looking talons. While the legs had grown, the wings had shrunk to the point where it must be impossible for the birds to fly.

As the dread owl charged toward her hiding place, she used a quick [Identify] on the birds. The result made her relax slightly. The birds might stand nearly twice her height, but at least the lead one was only level 76.

She drew in a practiced motion and released an arrow; it soared through the air and struck the dread owl in the chest. But the creature barely registered the impact and increased its pace. She hurriedly launched another arrow, this one lodging in the bird’s wing.

Her third arrow was released when the creature was only a dozen paces away. The bow’s skill [Demonic Mark] activated and blew it apart in an explosion. The shockwave nearly knocked her from her feet as she was showered with bits of feather, bone and blood.

Congratulations! You have slain a Dread Owl, level 76.

“Ewww,” Ophelia cried out. “Can’t you shoot them further out?”

A series of notifications crowded her vision, and she dismissed them quickly. She could deal with them at the end of the battle. Assuming she survived.

Piper set her jaw and drew another arrow. The spectacular death of their comrade hadn’t deterred the other birds. They were charging en masse directly toward her illusion. Apparently, they weren’t as stupid as they looked.  

Her bowstring twanged as an arrow surged toward the closest dread owl. This one struck its neck, sending it tumbling forward head over heels. It skidded to a stop along the stony ground. Then, she received another notification.

Congratulations! You have slain a Dread Owl, level 68.

“Two kills?” Gorebark said, “What’s the special occasion?”

Somehow, she must have struck something vital in the owl’s neck. Or perhaps it was the magic damage from the [Infernal Bowstring] skill. But it was rare to kill something of this level with a single shot. At least that’s what she’d heard from Alfred in the past. She hadn’t defeated many monsters without using [Demonic Mark].

As another dread owl drew near, she cast [Umbral Terror] and watched most of her mana drain away. But it was worth it as the bird went screaming away from her. She hurriedly nocked another arrow before sending it soaring into the darkness.

This one tore a tuft of feathers off before shooting right through the oversized bird and striking a boulder behind it. How small was the bird’s body under all those feathers? That should have easily struck its hip.

Biting her lip, she aimed again as the dread owl leapt into the air. She released just as it came down, hammering her with its beak. The sharp tip tore through her flesh and made her cry out in pain.

She activated [Quick Claw], her claws raking across its neck. Blood sprayed out, soaking her, as she kept clawing. In a cloud of feathers, she received the death notification.

Congratulations! You have slain a Dread Owl, level 78.

Gasping for breath, she pushed off the surprisingly light bird only to watch as another dread owl skidded to a stop about ten metres away. It raked the air with its talons.

Her brow rose with confusion before she realized that it was using a skill. A second later, searing agony wracked her stomach as deep wounds split open. Grimacing with pain, she responded with an arrow, the tip finding the bird’s oversized eye.

Another kill notification appeared.

Congratulations! You have slain a Dread Owl, level 56.

But even with four owls dead and another feared, more continued to emerge from the darkness. How many would she have to kill before they retreated? Were they going to try to overwhelm her with sheer numbers?

Piper pushed down her growing fear and released arrows as quickly as she could. Another invisible strike tore through her thigh, sending her tumbling to her knees. But she fought on. She activated [Demonic Blood] feeling her wounds begin to heal. She also had to pat her clothing as it smoldered from the heat.

A bird emerging from the shadows behind her set off [Ambush Detection], but she was too slow to react; the bird hammered her arm with its beak. She cried out in pain, the bow tumbling from her suddenly limp fingers. As Piper raised her tail to strike, Ophelia rushed at the bird with a cry.

The young woman swung her sword; the glowing blade sliced through feathers, flesh, and then bone. When she finished her strike, the owl’s head tumbled from its shoulders. The bird’s body wobbled around for a second before collapsing to the ground.

Piper raised her eyebrow, and Ophelia nodded in reply, a look of grim determination on her face.

Turning back to the other dread owls, she realized they’d stopped a short distance away. As she scrambled to retrieve her bow, she watched as a larger one pushed its way to the front of the group. Its feathers almost seemed to be made out of stone, and dust drifted down from its limbs with every step.

She used [Identify] and her heart sank.

Dread Owl, Level 115

This one was far more powerful than the others. And based on its appearance, it had an earth affinity. She doubted this one would be easy to defeat, especially since she was almost out of mana. And it was only trickling back in drips and drabs.

Slowly rising to her feet, she waved Ophelia back. Her friend didn’t have her improved physical stats to avoid whatever was coming.

As if in response to her thoughts, a boulder began to form in the air above the dread owl’s head. The rock started to spin, attracting other pebbles and dirt as it continued to grow.

Piper raised her bow and loosed at the dread owl. The arrow streaked out, but an earthen wall appeared in front of the bird to block the shot. She fired two more in rapid succession, her [Demonic Mark] detonated and blew the earth apart. But it was too late.

The bird jerked its head forward, and the boulder sailed toward her position. She tried to dodge, but it smashed into her leg and spun her around. She heard crunching bones, and then she was falling. The ground rushed up to meet her, and she grunted as she slammed into the rocky soil.

Rolling onto her side, she struggled to retrieve another arrow from her quiver. As she did, the dread owl advanced on her, another boulder taking shape above its head. She hastily loosed, but her shot fell short because she couldn’t draw the bowstring far enough while on the ground.

She pushed herself into a sitting position, trying to ignore the agony radiating up her leg. It felt like everything from her ankle to her hip had been crushed. But she couldn’t give in to the pain. Otherwise, she and Ophelia would end up as a meal for these overgrown owls.

Gritting her teeth, she lined up another shot. But this time she focused on the boulder. When she’d fired before, the wall of earth had only protected the caster and not the large rock it was forming above its head. Hopefully, it couldn’t extend the protective spell any higher.

Piper loosed, and as expected, a defensive wall burst out of the ground. But it wasn’t high enough to protect the boulder. Her arrow glanced off the growing rock. She then released another weak shot, striking her target before her missile deflected away.

Just as the dread owl released its spell, her third arrow sailed toward the spinning rock and struck it on the top. The resulting blast sent the boulder hurtling down, and with a shriek, the dread owl was crushed flat by its own spell.

Congratulations! You have slain a Dread Owl, level 115.

The rest of the dread owls stared at the slain member of their pack for a moment before turning and fleeing into the darkness. Piper was left sitting on the ground with a crushed leg, a partially healed arm, and numerous other cuts and scrapes covering her body.

While she was out of mana, at least she’d survived. And she’d gained a huge number of levels in the process. Now she just had to hope that her mana regenerated enough to heal herself before the vampires caught up with them.

Chapter 43 - A Glimpse of Salvation

Piper pushed Ophelia behind her protectively as she raised her hand to cast [Umbral Terror]. In hindsight, it had probably been a bad idea to save Justina. But she would never have been able to live with herself if she had murdered a defenceless woman in cold blood—even if that woman was a bloodthirsty vampire.

Justina stopped a short distance away and lowered her weapon slightly. “What are you?”

“I’m a human,” Piper said, and wavered slightly. “I know I don’t look it, but I really am.”

“Drop your illusions,” the vampire commanded. “All of them.”

“I’d really rather not.” Right now, she appeared as a level 601 shadeling demon. That was probably the only thing giving Justina pause at the moment. As long as the vampire believed she was a high-level demon, she had a chance of walking out of here alive.

Justina seemed to chew over her words before she nodded tersely. “As you wish. Now, why didn’t you kill me while you had the chance?”

Piper shrugged. “Because you saved my life in Alderwick. And you tried to protect my friend, Ophelia, back in the cave. I guess I thought I owed you.”

“But you’re a demoness…”

“And? Just because I look like a demoness doesn’t make me some kind of monster.”

“Demons lie,” Justina said harshly. “This is all some sort of trick to gain my confidence. What do you want from me? Do you plan to use me to infiltrate the empire?”

“All I wanted was to live on my farm in peace,” Piper replied bitterly. “I didn’t want to infiltrate the empire. I didn’t want to trick anyone. But then your friend, Ransford, showed up and tried to kill my family and drink my blood.”

“I don’t understand. Why would a demoness want to live on a farm?”

“Thank you,” Gorebark crowed from her grip. “I’ve been saying that for months. She should be out there terrorizing humans and trying to take over the world.”

“You’re not helping,” she whispered out of the corner of her mouth to her bow. “Now shut up before I gag you again.”

Gorebark chuckled. “I’d be a pretty bad demon if I helped you come to a peaceful resolution.”

The tall vampire sighed and lowered her sword slightly. “Give me the girl, and I’ll allow you to leave in peace. I still suspect your motivations, but you did save my life. However, should we meet again, we will meet as enemies.”

Ophelia popped her head over Piper’s shoulder. “There’s no way I’m going with you.”

“Has the demoness bewitched your mind?” Justina raised her brow slightly. “Why would you want to remain with a fiend from the abyss?”

“Because I’m her best friend,” Ophelia shot back. “Or is that too hard for a jerk like you to understand?”

“Can you guarantee her safety?” Piper asked quietly.

“I most certainly can…” The vampire trailed off before shaking her head. “Actually, that may not be completely true. I am currently at odds with Ransford. Though I believe the situation will be quickly rectified upon my return.”

Piper suddenly realized that Justina hadn’t jumped down the shaft of her own free will. At first, she’d thought that it had been some sort of suicidal attempt to reach them. But instead, it looked like Ransford had tried to murder the woman.

A massive chunk of ice tumbling from the shaft in the ceiling interrupted them. The frozen mass struck near the lava pit and shattered into a thousand shimmering shards.

Justina held up her hand as Piper took a step backward. “I summoned the ice to slow my fall. There may yet be pieces within the hole, but it was not meant as an attack against you.”

Piper exhaled with relief. For a second, she thought the vampire was summoning some sort of powerful attack from above. Though if she’d used the ice to slow her descent, it explained how she’d survived the fall. While Crimson Guards were supposedly tough, she couldn’t imagine one surviving a straight drop of almost a kilometer. Then again, who knew what higher levels were capable of in this world?

After a deep breath, Piper continued, “If you can’t promise that Ophelia will be safe, then she’s staying with me.”

“The duke will eventually catch up with you,” Justina said plainly. “The safest option is for her to accompany me out of the mountain. Regardless of what you claim to be, you cannot stand against the might of the duke. He will slay you. And your… friend may be caught in the crossfire. If she truly is your friend, then tell her to come with me.”

The thought of Ophelia dying because of her felt like a knife driving into her heart. She would do anything to keep her friend safe. But she didn’t completely believe that she would be safe with the ridiculously tall vampire. “Tell me what happened to you first. How did you fall down that hole?”

Justina furrowed her brow. “I was betrayed by Ransford. However, once I leave this place, I plan to have my vengeance.”

“And what if my friend gets caught in that crossfire?”

“Umm... excuse me,” Ophelia said. “Why is everyone acting like I don’t get a say? I’m going with Piper, and that’s that. I’m almost 13, you know.”

“Neither of you will make it across the mountains.” Justina lowered her sword further. “The Black Pyramid stands between you and the Arissian Empire. Only the very strongest individuals have any chance of surviving its dangers. I’m not aware of anyone making it through in at least a decade.”

“I’ll find another mountain pass,” Piper countered. “The pyramid can’t block all the routes.”

“You have no idea how large it truly is.”

“What is the Black Pyramid?” Piper asked. “And why is it blocking the mountains?”

“I thought if anyone knew it would be you.” Justina shrugged. “No one knows why it was built. It had already stood for millennia when my kind arrived on the shores of this land. All we know is that the entire structure is swarming with summoned demons. Everyone who has attempted to explore its depths has disappeared without a trace. However, there is a corridor at the bottom that leads across the mountains to the Arissian Empire.”

“Why can’t we just go through there?”

“Because the corridor has numerous high-level demons blocking the path. And no matter how many you slay, a dozen more will take their place. Even I wouldn’t survive for long in there.”

Piper’s heart sank at the mention of high-level demons. While she’d grown much stronger, she had no illusions about defeating even a single demon in combat. Even if she only faced imps, they’d probably overwhelm her in short order.

She turned toward her friend. “Maybe you should—”

“Nope,” Ophelia interrupted her. “I’m going with you. You promised that we were going to be adventurers together. Remember?”

“I remember.” Piper smiled softly and shrugged her shoulders. “I guess that means she’s staying with me. We’ll just have to find a safe route through the Black Pyramid.” While others may have had trouble crossing the pyramid, she doubted any of them had her illusions. She might be able to traverse the entire structure without being noticed.

“Until we leave this place, I will strive to make you change your mind,” Justina said. “But right now we should depart with all haste. If you would be so kind as to do the honors?” The vampire pointed at the door where they’d first entered the room.

“There are probably about a hundred oozes waiting for us out there,” Piper replied. “Plus, an angry mob of vampires. I’m going in the opposite direction.”

“Very few of those chasing you are vampires. Most of them are human auxilia.”

“I thought humans couldn’t have combat classes?”

“Certain… exceptions are made at times.”

“Well, like I said, I’m going this way.” Piper pointed at the bronze door behind the melting wall of ice. “You’re welcome to stay here or come with us.”

“It looks like I have no choice but to accompany you,” she said. “These doors have remained unbreached by my kind for centuries. If I remained here, I would likely be entombed for eternity. Will you tell me the secret of how you managed to open them? The archaeologists and inscribers in the capital would be most interested in exploring this place.”

Piper could have lied, but she decided there was no harm in telling the truth. “I just touched my hand against them, and they opened.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she winced slightly. What if the vampire decided to cut off her hand to use it like a key? Then again, Justina didn’t seem the type.

At least I hope she’s not the type, she thought to herself. She might not be as cruel as the other vampires, but humans are still nothing but cattle to her.

“Interesting. And you still claim that you’re not a demon?”

“I… was reincarnated a short while ago in a demon’s body,” she said haltingly. “Before that, I really was a human girl.”

“You lie,” Justina hissed, her mood suddenly changing. “If that was true, then it was the hand of Infernus that brought you here.”

“I don’t know if it was Infernus,” Piper said defensively. “It just said a god wanted to summon me to this world.”

“If Infernus was able to pierce the Dragon Aegis, then we face the end of all things,” Justina said. “However, it is far more likely that you are simply lying to me. Which means I can’t trust a word you’ve said. Yet your actions don’t seem to reflect a cruel nature. What should I do with you, Piper?”

“You could always let me go?”

“I refuse to believe your reincarnation story. However, you did save my life. I will allow you to leave this place unchallenged. Still, I believe the young girl would be better off accompanying me once we find a way out.”

“I’m not a little girl,” Ophelia piped in. “Like I said, I’m almost 13.”

“Very well,” Justina continued. “This young woman would be better off accompanying me.”

Piper motioned to the wall of ice blocking the door. “Could you do something about that?”

Justina waved her hand, and the ice vanished. One second it was there and the next it was gone. There wasn’t even any sign of it melting. It was as if it had never existed.

As Piper marvelled at the powerful spell, she decided that she was going to learn everything she could about magic when she reached the Arissian Empire. There had to be a library there where she could read about how magic worked. Just think of the deeds she could get if she learned more about the mechanics of casting.

Justina spent the next few minutes gathering up her things that had been scattered during Piper and Ophelia’s search for blood. The woman moved with the speed and grace of a geriatric turtle. But then again, she had been a vampire pretzel only a short while ago.

Once Justina had her possessions tucked away in her many pouches, the three of them approached the great bronze door.

Piper pressed her palm against the surface, and it swung open to reveal a broad hallway beyond. A line of aetherstones sprang to life and bathed the corridor in harsh red light. Luckily, no mob of oozes awaited them.

Piper stepped aside to allow Justina to lead the way. While the vampire had claimed she would let her go, she still didn’t completely trust the woman. Plus, it was probably always a good idea to keep a vampire in front of you. That way you could see a bite coming.

Clearly, Justina felt the same way and didn’t want to have her back to a demoness. The stalemate dragged on for nearly a minute before the vampire finally threw up her hands and marched down the corridor. She continued onward, throwing furtive glances over her shoulder.

Striding after the vampire, Piper froze when she heard a crunch. She glanced in the direction of the sound, only to see Ophelia taking a bite out of one of the sweetmeats that they’d found in Justina’s pouch.

“Is that my treat?” Justina glowered at the young woman.

“Maybe…” Ophelia replied with a full mouth.

With a shake of her head, Justina spun around and continued down the hallway. As she walked, she mumbled something about ‘humans’ under her breath.

Piper rolled her eyes at her friend.

“What?” the young woman said. “I was hungry.”

The corridor ended abruptly at another door, with a simple picture of glowing spheres carved into the bronze. When the doors swung open, they revealed a room with hundreds of black stone rings floating near the ceiling. A narrow walkway spanned the room over what looked like a bottomless pit. In the depths, she could hear the sound of something moving around, its claws scraping on the stone.

They hurried across the walkway—none of them looking down—and kept a safe distance from the floating rings. One disk moved to hover above Piper, but then it simply drifted away. If they had served some purpose in the past, they seemed to be inactive now.

Beyond the room with the walkway was another corridor. They continued on for several hours, moving through rooms with images displaying the outside world, rooms with chairs positioned in front of darkened spheres, and a vast chamber with a throne at the center.

Some of the areas showed signs of damage, while others were in pristine condition. But they didn’t see a single other demon corpse. Which was strange since so many remained near the entrances. Perhaps the winners of the battle had disposed of the dead.

Or maybe something ate them, she thought as she remembered the sound of claws on stone. And maybe it's still hungry.

Finally, they reached another great bronze gate. This one was completely blank; the surface smooth burnished brass. But just like the other entrance, the walls here were covered with paintings of an immense black dragon and its many worshippers. Hopefully, that was a good sign.

Piper moved to open the door, but Justina reached out to stop her.

“Once we leave this place,” the vampire said. “I cannot guarantee that should we meet again I will remain friendly to you. My loyalty is to my duke, and if he orders me to slay you, I will obey. However, I will tell him about our interactions. Perhaps his mind can be swayed.”

“I won’t hold my breath,” Piper said, before adding. “But thank you for trying.”

Justina nodded and stepped back.

Piper raised her hand and pressed it against the door’s surface. The machinery creaked as the gate began to rise, and brilliant sunlight flooded into the room. Beyond was a valley choked with boulders leading to the most massive structure she’d ever seen.

Between two towering mountain peaks, someone had constructed a colossal pyramid. The structure’s pinnacle was lost among the clouds, and the walls shone like black glass. Lights twinkled from the thousands of openings dotting its surface. The sheer scale of the building was almost incomprehensible.

But they had done it. They had reached the Black Pyramid. And behind the colossal structure was the Arissian Empire and their salvation. Now, all Piper had to do was figure out a way to get through it alive.

Chapter 42 - An Unexpected Guest

The sound of a scream made Piper jerk upright, and Ophelia, who had been sleeping on her shoulder, slid down to her stomach. She gently pushed her friend off before rising to her feet. Someone was in the room with them. The scream was followed by the crash of metal and a meaty thud.

Frowning, she hurried over to the edge of the alcove. She scanned the room and spotted a figure lying a short distance from the pool of lava. Where had they come from? Both doors to the room remained sealed. Had the vampires found another way inside?

“Ophelia,” she hissed as she recognized the blood-red cloak and shining armor. “We need to leave. Right now!”

“Just a few more minutes,” the young woman groaned. “I don’t want to get up yet.”

“The Crimson Guard are here!” she cried out. “We need to run!”

At her words, Ophelia sat straight up, her blond hair sticking out to the sides. She peered around blearily, with an alarmed expression on her face. “Where are they?”

“I think one just jumped in through the roof.” Piper continued to watch the Crimson Guard, but they still hadn’t stirred. Of all the things she’d been worried about, she hadn’t thought that the vampires would jump in through the shaft in the ceiling. She knew they were powerful, but based on how deep they were in the mountain, the shaft must be at least five hundred metres straight down.

Then again, Alfred believed most of the Crimson Guard were well over level 1000. And she suspected that being a vampire conferred a lot more attribute points than being human. So maybe they could survive an insane drop like that.

Ophelia hurried over to her side and stared out across the vast room at the unmoving Crimson Guard. Without a word, she sprinted in the direction of the vampire.

“What. Are. You. Doing!” Piper cried out. “Have you gone crazy?”

“She looks pretty mangled,” her friend called over her shoulder. “I’m going to roll her into the lava to finish her off.”

“You’re going to do what?”

“I told you, I’m going to roll her into the lava. Come and help me so you can get some levels. Just think how many levels an immortal vampire would give.”

Piper rushed after her friend and grabbed her shoulder. “What if she’s not that badly hurt?”

“Look at her,” Ophelia scoffed. “Legs aren’t supposed to bend that way.”

Piper glanced back at the vampire—recognizing her as the one she’d faced in the cave—and realized every bone in her body must be broken. And for some reason, she wasn’t healing. In fact, she might already be dead. Since she’d splattered against the floor, she hadn’t moved a muscle.

“We can’t just kill her.” Piper pressed her lips together. “It’s not right.”

“Why not?” Ophelia stopped and placed her hands on her hips. “If she gets back up, she’s probably going to kill you. And I’m not going to let that happen.”

Piper was shocked at her friend’s ruthlessness. Justina had fought to save Ophelia from what she thought was an evil demoness. And the vampire had saved Piper from Ransford when he wanted to suck her blood at Alderwick. There was no way they could hurt someone like that.

“We should try to help her,” Piper said, biting her lower lip. “It’s the only right thing to do.”

“Fine. You try to help her while I roll her toward the lava. I’m doing this for you.”

“I didn’t ask you to do this.”

“I know you didn’t…” Ophelia’s words petered off as the vampire stirred. Apparently, she wasn’t quite dead yet.

“Blood…” Justina moaned, her speech weak and broken. “Blood…”

“See,” her friend said. “She wants to suck my blood. I’m never letting that happen again.” She rushed over to Justina, and using her feet, she began to roll the vampire toward the bubbling pit of lava.

Justina let out a cry of pain with each jostling movement, and her eyes rolled up into her head. Her face was covered in blood, and her skull had an unhealthy-looking dent on the side. Meanwhile, her limbs encased in the armor were bent at impossible angles. It was doubtful she would survive for long even with her insanely high level.

As Ophelia moved the vampire closer to the edge, Piper reached out to stop her. She had to at least try to help the vampire. She refused to act like what they expected from a demon. No matter what, she couldn’t lose her humanity.

“We need to find a way to save her,” Piper said. “I won’t let you kill her.”

“She wants to hurt you,” Ophelia exclaimed, regarding her with big blue eyes. “I won’t let anyone hurt you. Ever!”

Piper paused, feeling genuinely touched by Ophelia’s words. She reached out and rubbed her friend’s arm. “Alfred wouldn’t want you to do this. No one your age should have to kill someone.”

“I can do it!” the younger woman said fiercely. “I’m not afraid.”

“If it comes to it, I’ll do it myself.” She pointed across the room to the alcove. “Why don’t you wait over there in case something goes wrong?”

Ophelia crossed her arms and raised her chin slightly. “There’s no way I’m leaving you.”

It was clear from her friend’s stance that she wasn’t going to change her mind. And experience had shown it was useless arguing with her.

All Piper could do was fight down a sigh as she approached Justina. She noticed that the vampire’s eyes had reopened, and she had sweat beading on her forehead. “Do you need blood to heal?”

The vampire’s head moved almost imperceptibly in a nod.

“Do you have any on you?”

The vampire’s head bobbed slightly again before she let out an agonized groan. Once more, her eyes rolled up into her head. This time, her breathing became more ragged, each intake of air making her chest rattle.

“Help me find the blood.” Piper leaned down and began to rifle through Justina’s things. The woman had a surprising number of pouches on her belt.

“Are you serious?” Ophelia said. “This is such a bad idea.”

“She saved me once, and I owe her.” She stopped and brushed back a stray strand of hair. “Maybe this will help convince them to stop chasing me.”

“Yeah, right,” Ophelia muttered, her hands poking around in a leather bag. She pulled out a piece of linen and unwrapped it. “Oh… sweetmeats!”

Piper raised her brow. Apparently, even vampires had a sweet tooth. Though she had a feeling cavities would be far more dangerous for them. Did they have fang dentures for older vampires?

Shaking her head to dismiss her ridiculous thoughts, she returned to the task at hand. After a few minutes, they’d found a surprising amount of food on the vampire’s person. And a bit of coin in a purse. But besides that, they hadn’t found a single drop of blood. Why wouldn’t a vampire have any blood on them if they needed it to heal?

Ophelia dumped out the last pouch, sending metal cubes scattering across the floor. “That’s the last of it. No blood. I guess we push her into the lava now.”

“Rin…” Justina gasped, regaining consciousness once again.

“Rin?” Piper repeated. “What does that mean?”

Justina’s eyes turned toward a white aetherstone mounted on a ring on her finger. She continued to bounce her gaze from it and then back to them.

“Ring?” Piper said, finally catching on. She knelt, inspecting the ridiculously gaudy piece of jewelry. Was there blood inside the gem somewhere? Or had Justina meant something else? Could the vampire use the aetherstone to refill her mana and then heal?

Reaching her fingers forward, she gasped as they passed straight through the gem into a space beyond. She snatched her hand back but then realized she was fine. At first, she’d been worried it was some sort of magical trap. When she did it a second time, she felt the shape of a glass cylinder inside.

Piper pulled out a vial of blood from the ring, marvelling at this new type of magic. Was the ring some sort of Bag of Holding? Did all the vampires have them? If so, where could she find one for herself?

Since Justina was in no condition to drink on her own, Piper pushed the woman over and then leaned her head back. She placed the vial of blood against the vampire’s battered lips.

“Are you sure…” Ophelia backed up a step, looking anxious.

“I’m sure.”

“This is crazy,” her friend muttered darkly. “You know this is crazy, right?”

Tipping forward the vial, Piper poured the crimson liquid into Justina’s mouth. Thankfully, the vampire was able to gulp it down, because if she hadn’t been able to drink, then she probably would’ve died.

Once the vial had been emptied, Piper hurried back to her friend and pointed at the far door. While she owed Justina for saving her life, it didn’t mean she had to wait around to be captured. The sooner she put the massive bronze door between them, the better.

They were nearly halfway across the room when she heard a shout.

“Wait!”

Piper slowed her pace and turned to look back at Justina. As she did, she could see the vampire’s limbs straightening themselves. It wouldn’t be long before the woman was back on her feet. And she didn’t want to be here when that happened.

“Please,” Justina continued in a softer tone. “I only wish to thank you.”

“No need,” Ophelia called out, running backwards and looking at the vampire. “We’re good.”

“I wasn’t talking to you.” The vampire stumbled to her knees. “It’s a bit hazy, but I seem to recall you trying to push me into the lava.”

“You’re the one who wanted to kill my friend,” Ophelia shot back. “You deserved it.”

“Less talking,” Piper said, pumping her arms. “More running.”

They broke into a sprint, the door growing closer with each step. Now, they just had to pray that it worked. Because if it didn’t open, then they could be in serious trouble. She also had to hope that no more oozes waited for them outside. While the monsters didn’t seem able to access the forge, that didn’t mean they hadn’t infested every corridor running through the mountain.

When they were only a few paces from the door, a wall of ice erupted in front of them. The glistening pillar shot up to the roof, forming an impassable wall.

They were trapped.

Piper spun around, her anger flaring. She’d gone out of her way to save the Crimson Guard, and in return the woman was still trying to capture her. What would it take to prove that she was human? No matter what she looked like, she wasn’t a cruel demon.

“I said I wish to thank you,” Justina said, striding toward them. Her armor must be magic as well, because the dents were smoothing out as they watched. “That wasn’t optional.”

Piper quickly ran through her spells in her head, preparing to cast them at the approaching vampire. In the past, [Umbral Terror] had proven especially effective. She would lead with that and follow it up with a flood of illusions. Justina had shown that she couldn’t easily see through them.

 “Save the vampire,” Ophelia said, her voice tight. “It’s a good idea you said. I told you that vampires are a jerk pie, with a jerk crust, and a jerk filling inside.”

Despite their dire situation, Piper couldn’t help but giggle at her friends’ words. Though it might have sounded a bit manic due to her current stress level.

“Now,” Justina continued, her sword leaping to her hand. As it appeared, the shadows in the room almost seemed to pour into the blade. “What should I do with you?”

Brief Announcement

Going forward, new chapters will be released on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. I had hoped to keep up the daily release schedule a little longer, but I've been rewriting the end of the first book pretty intensively. However, I'm going to start increasing the number of advance chapters on Patreon.

Thankfully, there shouldn't be any lull between the books. After Chapter 52 (the tentative epilogue of this book), I have enough material to launch right into Book 2.

And once again, thank you everyone for your support. I truly appreciate it.

Chapter 41 - Forge of the Demons

Piper watched as the river of ooze poured out of the ceiling shafts before separating into distinct creatures. She counted at least ten of them. The monsters sloshed against each other, recoiling from the touch of their brethren as they crammed into the narrow corridor.

She raised her bow but then scowled as she lowered it again. Even with [Demonic Mark] there were too many to take out before they overwhelmed her. Plus, her healing ability probably wouldn’t work if she were stuck in an ooze’s stomach being digested.

“Let’s go,” she said, reaching out to grab Ophelia’s hand. “We need to get out of here.”

Gorebark angled its head back to regard her with its dead wooden eyes. “Was that killing a onetime thing? Should I not get my hopes up?”

“There’s too many to fight.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she wondered why she was arguing with a bow.

With her friend in tow, Piper raced over to the door with the rock monster smith in relief. She tugged off her gloves and touched the warm metal surface. Thankfully, this door was in better shape than the one at the entrance and easily swung open. Beyond, she was greeted by a room the size of a hockey coliseum.

At the center of the room, a pool of lava glowed in the dim light. The air reeked of sulfur and burning metal. Enormous forges, far too large for a human to use, dotted the room. In front of the forges sat anvils with glowing runes etched into their surfaces. Dangling down from the ceiling hung numerous chains and other metal contraptions she couldn’t identify.

Unlike the hallway, there were no bodies or damage in this room. Whatever had attacked the mountain hadn’t made it this far. Or the smiths had been evacuated before the battle had reached this room.

Ophelia wrinkled her nose. “This place reminds me of the time the pigs got sick.”

Piper raised her eyebrow.

“They had terrible diarrhea,” Ophelia explained. “I hid for an entire week, so I didn’t have to muck out their pen.”

Piper couldn’t help but giggle at her friend. Ethel must have been furious at being left alone to clean up the pig poop. But the more she heard about Ophelia on the farm, the more she realized her friend wasn’t cut out for a life as a farmwife.

“At least it’s nice and warm in here,” Ophelia continued. “Do you think we can stay for a bit?”

Shaking her head, Piper set out across the vast room. Neither of them carried any supplies. The longer they stayed in this place, the weaker they’d become. They needed to find another way out of the mountain so she could find some game to hunt.

I wish Alfred were with me, she thought. He’d know exactly where to find birds and large game.

Meanwhile, her track record for hunting was spotty at best. If they somehow managed to elude the vampires, she wasn’t sure they wouldn’t starve to death before reaching the Arissian Empire. The second she thought that, she ruthlessly pushed it down. She would just have to learn how to hunt mountain goats and whatever else lived up here. Then everything would be fine.

As they neared the center of the room, the aetherstones ensconced in the ceiling activated, and the forges sprang to life. There was a clanking from above as the chains started to move. Smoke began to billow up from the forge while an opening appeared in the ceiling. The lava at the center of the room roiled before beginning to spin in a circle.

Piper coughed as the smoke swirled around her body, making her eyes sting. With Ophelia’s hand in her grip, she hurried toward the center of the room. On the far side, she could make out another great bronze door.

Behind them, the other door had swung shut, hopefully holding off the oozes. Though she suspected they would find another way into the room. The shafts they used to travel must run through the mountain. However, if they made it into this cavernous place, she’d have a much easier time picking them off with her bow.

Ophelia stumbled to a stop and rested hand hands on her knees. “I… need to rest.”

Piper glanced back at the doors, expecting the oozes to appear at any second. “We should really keep going…”

“I can’t.” Her friend looked up at her with bleary eyes. “Please.”

Pressing her lips together, she nodded. This probably wasn’t the safest place to take a rest, but at least it was warm. And that’s probably what Ophelia needed the most.

She scanned the room until she spotted an alcove on the far side. At least it should shield them from any errant chains or other things moving around the room. She pointed at it, and her friend nodded in reply.

The pace she set was far slower than before. She could have carried Ophelia, but she had a feeling that if she kept doing that, they weren’t going to be friends much longer. Instead, they leisurely walked across the room, which made her antsy. All she wanted to do was rush through the mountain until she found another way out.

Once they reached the alcove, they found it filled with human-sized furniture. Or in this case, demon-sized. Seemingly, not everything working in the forge was the size of giants. And even more exciting, they spotted what looked like a sink.

Nestled in the corner was a basin with a metal pipe sticking out of it. As Piper neared it, water sprang out of the tap in a clear stream. She touched it with her finger, finding the water cool to the touch.

“Is that water?” Ophelia hurried over. “I’m dying of thirst.”

Piper held out her hand to stop her friend from scooping up a handful. “We don’t know if it’s safe.”

“What, do you think it’s some kind of demon water?”

“What if it is?”

Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Even demons need water, right?”

Piper nodded her head.

“Then it’s probably safe to drink.”

Piper thrust her finger through the stream of water and brought a droplet up to her lips. She sucked it off her finger and waited. Nothing happened. Just to be sure, she activated [Demonic Blood]. But when no mana drained to indicate the water was toxic, she stepped back to allow Ophelia to drink.

Her friend cupped her hands and guzzled down the water like she hadn’t drunk for a month. Only after nearly a dozen handfuls did she finally step back and sag against the wall. “Now if only we had some sweetmeats.”

“Or ice cream,” Piper said before adding, “Especially now that we’re in a warm room.”

“I’d love some of my mom’s bread.” Ophelia licked her lips. “Fresh off the fire and slathered in butter.” The younger girl’s stomach rumbled, making them both laugh.

“I’ll find something to hunt when we get out of here,” she said. “There must be some birds nesting up here, or maybe some goats.”

“I wouldn’t mind some roast goat…” Ophelia trailed off as she yawned. “I’m still frozen. Do you mind if I lean on you?”

Piper settled down next to her friend and lifted her arm as the young woman rested her head on her shoulder. Within seconds, Ophelia was sound asleep. For several minutes, she watched her friend's peaceful slumber.

Turning her gaze back to the cavernous room, she decided she would let Ophelia get a few hours of sleep. If anything hostile approached, she would have plenty of warning. For now, she just wanted to let the young woman rest.

Justina stood a safe distance away from the bronze gate as mages swarmed around the entrance. The robed figures took turns hurling their repertoire of spells at the entrance. Yet every spell simply bounced off the metal; the infernal warding’s still potent after so many millennia.

It wouldn’t be long before the duke arrived with his retainers. And she desperately wanted to report some good news to him. Not only had she allowed the demon to escape, but she’d also allowed it to capture an innocent young girl.

As she watched another mage step forward, she paced back and forth. Every second they took to get inside meant another second the demon could be torturing the young girl. At this point, there was no other explanation than the pale-skinned demon was taunting her.

The infernal creature had made her look like a fool after tricking her into believing it had disappeared into the mountain. Then, while she’d been distracted, it had returned and abducted the peasant family’s daughter. She didn’t know why it wanted the young girl, but she knew it had to be for some dreadful purpose.

I will cut off that monster’s head myself.

The image of the girl’s distraught parents would forever be burned into her memory if she didn’t save their daughter. She’d returned to where she’d left the family, only to find the mother sobbing and the others missing. Apparently, the demoness had returned and taken the daughter. Her husband had pursued the foul creature into the raging storm, but she’d remained behind to seek help.

When she’d found the big man a short time later—blundering around in the storm—he’d been half frozen. It had taken Virgil and Augustus to drag him back to the camp. And only with a promise that she’d find his daughter and return her to them unharmed.

Virgil, who was seated on a rock nearby, shook his head. “You’re going to wear a groove in the stone if you don’t stop pacing.”

“What else would you have me do?”

“Stop pacing?”

She grumbled at her companion’s words and resumed her pacing. As she did, she noticed the approach of Ransford. He was the last person she wanted to deal with at the moment.

Ransford hurried over, stopping a short distance from them. He waited until Virgil had risen from his feet and they had both saluted him before speaking. “As usual, I have outdone myself. In my search for the demoness, I have found a way into the mountain.”

“You did?” Justina said, hope blossoming in her chest. “Where is it?”

“There is a way inside on the mountain slope.” He pointed at a plateau close to the peak, where smoke had appeared nearly an hour ago.

“But the human scouts climbed the mountain when the smoke first appeared. They saw nothing but a smooth shaft descending straight downward. Even with all the ropes we possess, they wouldn’t reach.”

“Do you always trust the word of a human over a vampire?” Ransford asked. “With their inferior senses and minds?”

“What did you see that they missed?” she asked, pushing down her revulsion for the lord.

“I spotted handholds cut into the side of the shaft. The climb will be challenging. However, gifted individuals such as us should have trouble reaching the bottom.”

Virgil shouldered his crossbow. “What are we waiting for?”

Ransford held up his hand. “I’m afraid I must ask you to remain here. If the demon reappears with her awful bow, they will need your crossbow and keen Perception.”

“Are you sure?” He looked at Justina askance. “My place is at your side.”

“He’s right. The auxilia will need your crossbow,” she said. “Should we find a path inside, I will return to gather you and the other Crimson Guards. Then we will make our way down into the mountain and slay that cursed demoness.”

“Do you doubt your lord?” Ransford snapped. “Regardless, the two of us should be more than capable of sending that demoness screaming back into the abyss.”

Justina bit back her retort as she checked the straps on her equipment. The demoness had already proven they would need the combined forces of every powerful vampire to bring her down. However, in case the demoness reemerged from the gates, she wanted the Crimson Guard here to face the monster. At least until she confirmed this wasn’t a wild-goose chase.

With Ransford in the lead, they set out at a blindingly fast pace. Their incredible physical stats meant they could move far more quickly than a human, even in the daylight when only a quarter of their physical stats were active.

Together, they bounded up the mountain, leaping from rock to rock, and scaling sheer walls with ease. It took nearly an hour for them to reach the opening belching black smoke. Until recently, it looked like a round bronze cover had sat over the hole. However, some mysterious force had made it swing open, exposing a shaft that descended straight down for hundreds of meters.

She moved closer to the edge and peered inside. But she couldn’t see the handholds that Ransford had spoken of. Were they further down?

As she turned around to ask, her [Crimsonsense] blared a warning in her mind. She reached for her sword, but her reactions were sluggish under the daylight sun. She cried out as a blade tore through her neck, severing her artery.

Blood poured out of the wound, but it took a lot more than that to put a vampire down. She grabbed her sword hilt, attempting to draw it when another blade drove into her armpit. As it did, her entire body seized up, and she toppled forward like a felled tree.

What’s happening to me? Why can’t I move?

After a second, Ransford flipped her onto her side. She looked up to see the disgusting man leering at her. “Did you think me so stupid as not to realize what you were doing with the peasant family? Did you think I wouldn’t see that insufferable smirk on your face as that woman tried to manipulate me?”

Ransford smirked. “Little did you know I was manipulating you the entire time. Now that the peasant family has restored my reputation, they shall pay for defying me. Once this is over, I will return to their farm to feast on them.” While he was speaking, he began to roll her toward the opening into the mountain.

“It has come to my attention recently that I can’t trust you,” the lord continued. “However, the duke will never allow me to stake you. So, you will become yet another casualty of the demoness. When we arrived, we found her climbing out of the shaft. While you fought valiantly, you were ultimately overwhelmed.”

Justina tried to open her mouth to speak, but nothing came out except for a squeak. What magic was immobilizing her?

“Are you trying to talk?” Ransford chuckled. “I’m afraid you’ll find that quite impossible. I originally purchased this magical dagger to slay the duke. However, it’s just as effective on someone like you.”

He pushed her right to the edge, but then stopped. “I almost forgot.” He reached down and ripped the void bag from her hip. “If by some miracle you survive the fall, I wouldn’t want you using this blood to heal. Now rot in the darkness, forever forgotten.”

Justina screamed mentally as she was tipped over the edge. She felt the blade being ripped free by Ransford and then sensation rushed back to her limbs. But it was already too late as she plummeted into the shaft. On the way down, she crashed into each stone wall, feeling bones snap.

The last thing she saw was a cavernous room with a pool of lava before the ground rushed up to greet her. And then she felt nothing.

Chapter 40 - The Gates to the Mountain

Piper reached the great bronze door and unceremoniously dumped her friend on the ground. She tugged off her glove with her teeth before pressing her bare palm against the metal surface. For a moment, nothing happened.

Please, please let this door work like the other one.

The soldiers were rapidly closing in on them, and she didn’t know what she would do if the door didn’t open. In the distance, she could hear the faint sound of drums and trumpets. The duke and his Crimson Guard were approaching.

“Come on,” she whispered urgently under her breath. “Open already.”

Then, as if in answer to her prayers, the door slowly began to rise into a slot in the ceiling. Unlike the smooth motions of the other one she’d encountered, this one was jerky, almost like the mechanisms were broken. The door ground to a halt about halfway up but still gave them more than enough space to enter.

Piper ducked down and motioned for Ophelia to follow. Her friend was sitting in the snow, looking around with unfocused eyes. As she watched, the girl began to tug off her clothing. What was she doing?

“I’m so hot,” Ophelia murmured. “Aren’t you hot?”

With a glance over at the charging soldiers, Piper grabbed her friend and dragged her inside. They had only seconds to close the door. She could figure out what was wrong with Ophelia once they were safely inside.

Reaching up, she touched the door again. There was a grinding sound, and it began its shuddering descent. But it wasn’t moving nearly fast enough. The soldiers would reach them long before it closed. She had to buy them some time.

Piper ignored Ophelia tearing off her clothes and unslung her bow. She didn’t want to kill anyone, but maybe she could injure them. An arrow to the knee would certainly slow them down.

“Finally!” Gorebark cried as she gripped it. “Some action!”

She drew an arrow and loosed in a practiced motion. The arrow soared out and slammed into a man’s hip. The force of the impact spun him around. She winced at missing his knee. But at least she’d taken him out of the fight.

As two others stopped to help the injured soldier, she updated her calculations to three soldiers out of the fight. Only another twenty to go.

She nocked another arrow, but then a crossbow twanged. Out of nowhere, a bolt appeared and slammed into her shoulder. She didn’t even have time to cry out before the bolt exploded; she was sent tumbling backward until she slammed into the stone wall.

Sitting up woozily, she shook her head to clear the stars from her vision. When she glanced down, she was horrified to see that her shoulder had been shredded. Apparently, Virgil wasn’t playing around anymore.

Piper activated [Demonic Blood] and a stinging pain spread through her shoulder. The skin glowed like metal heated on a forge before the wound healed shut. As a nice little side effect, she felt a pleasant warmth spread through her body.

Outside, the soldiers had slowed, many of them readying their own bows. But she’d succeeded in slowing them down. The door had continued grinding downward, and it would close in a matter of seconds. And none of the soldiers were close enough to follow her inside.

With a boom, the bronze door thumped against the floor. Immediately, they were plunged into inky darkness. The sounds from outside disappeared, being replaced with the dull thrum of distant machinery.

Piper didn’t move, every muscle tense, waiting to see if the door would reopen. As the seconds stretched out, she relaxed slightly. Either they didn’t want to open it and eat an arrow to the face, or they couldn’t open it.

Now all she needed was some light. Once again, as if in reaction to her thoughts, aetherstones flared to life along the corridors, though there were great gaps in the illumination. As light flooded the corridor, she realized a great battle had taken place here.

The stone floor was deeply scarred from what looked like enormous claw marks. And hundreds of imp bodies were piled almost chest high in the tunnel. Many of the spaces where aetherstones should sit had been gouged out, almost as if a great hand had scooped them out of the rock wall.

But none of that mattered right now. She had to figure out what was wrong with Ophelia. While she’d been dueling with the enemy archers, the young woman had stripped down to her small clothes.

Piper hurried over, untying her cloak, and draped it over the girl’s shoulders. But her friend simply shrugged it off. “What the heck are you doing?”

“I’m too hot,” Ophelia mumbled. “This place is like a furnace.”

“Are you crazy? It’s practically a fridge in here.”

Ophelia stumbled forward, steam rising from her body. If anything, the young woman should be freezing. Why was she complaining about being too hot?

A memory tickled at the edge of Piper’s mind. During one of her disease flareups, she remembered watching a survival show with her dad. During the show, a crazy guy had been camping in the northern Canadian wilderness during the winter. Honestly, who wanted to do something like that?

But she vividly remembered him saying feeling hot and undressing was a symptom of hypothermia. Did Ophelia have that?

If so, how could she warm her friend up? She didn’t have any wood or anything with which to start a fire. And her friend was determined to strip naked. Then, a crazy idea popped into her head.

Piper rushed over to Ophelia’s side. Using her far superior strength, she pinned the younger girl in place and wrapped her cloak around both their bodies. Then she ripped her dagger free from its sheath. Even in Ophelia’s addled state, her eyes widened at the sight of the blade.

But Piper’s dagger wasn’t for Ophelia. She plunged the weapon into her forearm. Pain exploded up her arm and almost made her yelp. However, this was the only way she could think of to help her friend.

Wrapping one arm around Ophelia, making sure to keep her injured one far away, she activated [Demonic Blood]. Her arm glowed as heat flooded through her veins. As the wound healed shut, the surrounding air warmed noticeably.

For the next few minutes, she held Ophelia tightly, hoping the heat from her racial skill would be enough to thaw her friend. If this didn’t work, she didn’t have a backup plan. Why hadn’t she gathered more supplies before departing?

“I’m-I’m freezing,” Ophelia stuttered.

Piper nearly sagged with relief at her friend’s words. “It’s because you’re almost naked, you lunatic.”

“Why… why did you take off… my clothes?” Ophelia’s teeth were chattering so badly she could barely speak.

“You think I took them off?” She gaped at the young woman. “Why in the world would I do that?”

“You’re the one who dumped me in the snow. Is this all revenge for poking you once or twice?”

“Once or twice!” Piper exclaimed. “I’m pretty sure I have permanent bruises from your stick attacks.”

“I didn’t know demons were so soft.”

Piper ignored her friends’ barbs and brought her in for a hug. She closed her eyes and squeezed her tightly. Then she leaned back, her cloak falling to expose her arms. “You should really get dressed.”

“Oh really? You think I should get dressed in winter? How did you get so smart?” Ophelia grinned, but the mirth didn’t reach her eyes. Her skin was waxen, and she looked exhausted.

“Yes. Otherwise, the sight of you is going to scare the demons down here.” 

“If I had my stick right now, you’d so be getting poked.”

While Ophelia gathered up her clothing, Piper stood to inspect the room. The walls at the entrance had numerous carvings on their surface depicting species of demons she’d never seen before. And as always, a black dragon sat at the center of them all.

She moved over to the corridor and examined the imp corpses. They looked similar to the ones she’d encountered in the Infernal Realm. Unlike the harroth, they didn’t look decayed at all. In fact, if not for what she’d heard about demons, she would have assumed most of them had only died recently.

Glancing over her shoulder, she noted that Ophelia was pulling on her sweater. She opened her mouth to speak when a loud boom reverberated through the room. Someone was trying to batter their way in here. Had the duke finally arrived?

They exchanged glances, but neither of them said a word. Together, they headed deeper into the tunnel. After a few steps, she noted that her friend was struggling to walk, so she offered her hand. They gripped each other tightly as they picked their way past the piles of demon corpses.

After walking for a short distance, they arrived at an intersection with three bronze doors. The first one had what looked like a rock monster hammering on an anvil. The second one had an image of monstrous demons bound in chains. And the last one had a pool of liquid carved into its surface. Above the pool hung hundreds of humans, their blood draining down into the basin.

“I’m thinking demon with the hammer?” Ophelia said, her eyes wide.

Piper nodded her head. There was no way she was going into the other two rooms. While she believed most things down here were long dead, she didn’t want to take any chances. And she certainly didn’t want to see a lake of blood.

Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Intellect has reached level 8.

She ignored the notification and extended her hand to touch the door with the smith on its surface. But she froze as she heard a slurping sound from the tunnel behind them.

Spinning around, she was confronted by a foul black liquid dripping out from some sort of ventilation shaft in the ceiling. As she watched, a torrent of the fluid poured out and slowly solidified on the floor. It was a monstrous ooze.

Piper froze, hoping that it wouldn’t notice them. But it immediately began to creep toward Ophelia. The thing had to be at least twice the size of the one she’d fought back at the farm. And it looked a lot meaner, if that was possible for a gelatinous monster.

She used [Identify] to decide if she should attack or run.

Black Ooze, Level 76.

The creature was a much higher level than herself, but her demon stats gave her the edge. She should be able to take it down without too much trouble.

“Let me guess,” Gorebark said. “You’re not going to kill that either?”

“That’s where you’re wrong,” Piper replied, unslinging her bow. The dark fluid made it impossible to see the ooze’s core, but she didn’t need to when she had [Demonic Mark]. Her arrows would splatter the creature against the walls.

She nocked and loosed quickly, the arrow punching straight through the ooze. I hope that counts as a hit, she thought to herself. Or this will be a more difficult fight that I thought.

Her second arrow made the ooze jiggle with what she assumed was fury, and it increased its pace. “Get behind me,” she called out to Ophelia. “This might… explode the ooze.” But as usual, her friend ignored her warning and raced forward.

Piper fought down her frustration as she was forced to lower her bow. Apparently, Ophelia hadn’t learned anything during their last fight with an ooze. Did she want another scar on her face?

Ophelia drew her shining short sword and slashed at the creature. The blade sizzled as it passed through the gooey body, carving off a massive chunk. Then the young woman danced back to avoid the pseudopod counterattack before ducking behind a pillar.

Once Ophelia was clear, Piper raised her bow and launched her third shot. When it struck the ooze, the bow’s [Demonic Mark] detonated with a deafening boom. The creature exploded as if someone had stuck a piece of dynamite inside a bowl of Jello. The black liquid sprayed out and covered the walls in sticky chunks. Luckily, only a few drops landed on her.

Piper quickly used [Demonic Blood] to counteract the acid, and her mana drained slightly as her burns healed. Then she glanced over at Ophelia to make sure she was alright. She breathed a sigh of relief to see the pillar had protected her friend.

Notifications flooded her vision as the contents of the ooze’s body dripped down the walls.

Congratulations! You have slain a Black Ooze, Level 76.

A significant bonus to experience has been granted for slaying a higher-level creature.

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 18.

…

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached Level 20.

Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached Level 14.

…

Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached Level 16.

This was followed by more notifications.

Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 23.

Ding! Your skill, Archery has reached level 9.

Ding! Your skill, Archery has reached level 10.

Ding! Your skill, Archery has reached level 11.

Ding! Your skill, Identify has reached level 4.

“I got the kill notification,” Ophelia cried out. “I’m going to get so many levels when I awaken. This is awesome.”

“You could have gotten yourself killed,” Piper said, realizing she sounded just like Ethel. “I could have handled the ooze.”

“I know you could because you’re amazing. But I needed some more deeds. It’s only a few weeks until I awaken, remember?”

“So, you can kill stuff,” Gorebark remarked in a dry tone. “There is hope I won’t forever remain a level 2 bow.”

Ophelia turned back toward the door and raised her hand again. But then she heard what sounded like running water coming from the ceiling. She looked over her shoulder to see dozens of oozes pouring out of the shafts.

It looked like the one she’d killed had friends. And they seemed pretty ticked off by what she’d done.

Chapter 39 - Out of the Fire and Into the Frying Pan

Piper hurried away from Ethel and her family, doing her best to hold herself together. But after only a few steps, she felt tears streaming down her face. The biting wind immediately froze them on her cheeks. She tried to scrub them away but gave up after a few tries.

Trudging through the snow, she continued down the mountain pass. Already, she could feel her extremities freezing, though she could always use her [Demonic Blood] to warm herself up. It would just become a question of whether the storm or her mana lasted longer. And she didn’t have much mana left after defending herself in the cave.

The vampires she’d face had moved impossibly fast, almost too fast to follow. If the one with the crossbow had attacked her instead of dragging Ethel and the others out of the cave, she wouldn’t have stood a chance. He would have killed her without breaking a sweat.

Thankfully, Justina had kept her distance after she’d used [Identify] on Piper. She’d been in such a hurry to cast [Truth Veil] that she’d screwed up and only given herself two classes. But it must have appeared real enough to at least make the vampire wary.

Even then, she’d barely managed to survive Justina’s ice spells. She still ached from dozens of partially healed wounds where she’d been impaled. If one of the icy spikes had struck her head, it would have been lights out.

As she slogged her way through the gorge, she felt her resolve weakening. It would be so easy to use her spells to hide until the duke and his men had passed. Then she could follow Ethel back to the farm and return to her life there.

But she knew that was nothing but a foolish fantasy. Her mere presence would put them all in danger. The one thing she was learning about this world was that she would always be hunted as a demon. At least until she grew too powerful to challenge.

Which meant she needed to level up and fast. They may think that the demons in the past had been dangerous, but she would eclipse all of them. She would become the most powerful demon ever to walk the land. Even if she had to evolve into a gigantic black dragon.

Gorebark shifted on her back. “Still not killing, I see. You are by far the worst demon I’ve ever met.

“Shut up,” she snapped. “I don’t want to hear it right now.”

“Oh, touchy. Don’t tell me you miss those ugly pink apes.”

Piper didn’t respond as she continued to march forward. She really needed to figure out a way to conceal her weapon’s true nature. As long as she carried the bow, it would always mark her as a demon.

A faint voice on the wind made her slow. Had someone followed her from the duke’s camp? When she’d left, no one had even been looking in her direction. And most of the soldiers had been heading up the mountain to surround the cave.

She strained to hear anything over the howling wind, but after a second, she gave up. It must have been a figment of her imagination.

Taking another step, she heard the noise again. But this time, she could clearly make out her name. Someone was calling out ‘Piper’ in the storm. The only question was whether they were friend or foe.

Piper hurried over to a crevasse and wedged herself inside. She peered out through the swirling snow, trying to make out her pursuer. In the distance, she could barely make out a vaguely humanoid shape stumbling forward. It was covered in a thick layer of snow and impossible to tell if it was male or female.

“Piper!” the familiar voice of Ophelia called out. “Where are you?”

Her mouth dropped open at the sight of her friend. What was she doing out here in the blizzard? And where were her parents?

The thought of something happening to Ethel and Alfred made her chest tighten. They’d seemed safe when she’d left. Had something changed?

Piper rushed out of the crevasse and hurried over to her friend. When she reached Ophelia, the girl gave her a weak smile and sagged into her arms.

“It’s a little cold out,” Ophelia whispered, her teeth chattering. “I don’t suppose you have a fire?”

“What are you doing here?”

“You’re my best friend. I couldn’t leave you.” Ophelia produced a stick from under the blankets and poked Piper gently. “And I want to be an adventurer. You know that.”

“Your parents will be worried sick!”

“They’ll be fine. My mom will just say that you kidnapped me or something.”

Piper rolled her eyes. “You know that makes things worse for me, right? Now they’re chasing a demon that kidnapped a girl. As if they didn’t hate me enough already.”

“It’s not like they’re going to catch you. Everyone thinks you’re still in the cave.”

“How can I be in the cave if I just kidnapped you?”

Ophelia opened her mouth to reply and then shut it. “Oh…”

“We need to move fast.” Piper glanced up to see more shapes moving through the snow. The soldiers were already on their tail. And there were a lot of them. Justina must have returned to Ophelia’s parents to find their daughter missing. It wouldn’t have taken her long to put two and two together.

“Come on,” she whispered urgently. “We have to keep moving.” The soldiers were almost within bow range already. Or worse, spell range. She had no idea what level they were, but she was pretty sure none of them were low level.

Piper led the way, breaking a trail through the deepening snow so Ophelia would have an easier time. But after only a few kilometers, the younger girl began to struggle. They wouldn’t be able to make it much farther without resting. And even worse, her friend’s lips had started to turn blue.

Piper knew she should send Ophelia back. She knew that where she was going was far too dangerous for a girl who hadn’t awakened. But a tiny, selfish part of herself really didn’t want to lose her only friend. And she was deeply touched that Ophelia had risked her life to come with her on her journey.

They continued on for another hour, barely keeping ahead of their pursuers. Periodically, they passed ancient ruins, and half a dozen other bronze doors. The tunnels must run through the mountain like a warren. But while the tunnels offered potential safety, she didn’t want to risk becoming trapped in them. What if there were no way out?

After a few more kilometres, she had to slip her hand around Ophelia’s waist to help her keep moving. If they didn’t find shelter soon, then her friend was going to be in trouble. The last thing she wanted was for Ophelia to come down with hypothermia.

Glancing back, she wondered why the soldiers hadn’t caught up with them. As Ophelia faltered, their pace had steadily slowed. Then she came to a sudden realization that the soldiers weren’t trying to catch them. Most likely, they were only shadowing them until someone more powerful arrived. That meant she was quickly running out of time to find a way to escape.

She could try casting [Veil of Lies] and try to conceal them from their pursuers. But there was no guarantee that they wouldn’t have someone with them who could see through her illusions. Alternatively, she could try to attack, but she had a feeling she’d lose badly against battle-hardened soldiers.

I’m going to have to try to enter the mountain.

Piper checked her [Truth Shroud] and upped her level a bit. Hopefully, that would prevent an overly courageous soldier from attacking her until they reached another bronze door.

Ding! Your spell, Truth Shroud has reached Level 16.

“I feel funny...” Ophelia said, her teeth chattering like branches rattling in a winter storm. The younger girl leaned against a boulder before sliding to the ground. “I think I just need a second to catch my breath.”

Piper shook her head. But even she was starting to feel tired. “We can’t stop. Come on, I’ll carry you.”

Wrapping her arms around Ophelia, she dragged her friend back to her feet. Above them, the sky was lightening with the coming dawn. The snowfall had also slackened, with only a few flakes lazily drifting down around them.

“What is that?” Ophelia exclaimed. She wobbled slightly as she thrust her hand out at something in the distance.

Piper followed her friend’s gesture to see a massive bronze door nestled against a cliff face. It superficially resembled the others she’d seen, but this one was far larger. And instead of dragons, it had the unmistakable shape of a demon carved into its surface.

“I have no idea,” she breathed. “But I don’t think we should go inside. We’ll find another door with a less scary image on it.”

“Are you kidding?” Ophelia muttered through blue lips. “Just think of all the treasures hiding in there.”

“It has a huge demon carved into it. Do you really think anything in there is friendly?”

Ophelia shrugged before crossing her arms and stamping her feet. “What other choice do we have?”

Piper chewed her lip as she glanced behind them. The group of armored men had stopped a short distance away. Some of them fingered bows, while others gripped swords. For the first time, she realized they looked nervous.

Are they afraid of me?

Maybe it was time to try something to see if she could buy them some breathing room. She’d never pushed the limits of [False Face] in the past. Was there a way she could appear larger?

“Stay here,” Piper said. “I’ll be right back.”

“Where are you going?”

“I want to try something.”

Piper cast [False Face] and pictured the fallen harroth demon she’d seen in the tunnel. While she remained the same height, she could feel the illusion expanding around her. Her feet became cloven, while her arms transformed into muscular limbs ending in long talons. Then her face became rounder, with beady eyes appearing, and her mouth expanding to show dagger-like teeth.

Ding! Your spell, False Face has reached Level 7

….

Ding! Your spell, False Face has reached Level 10.

At the sight of the horrifying demon, the men stumbled back, with a handful of them breaking and running. She grinned at the sight of them fleeing, but it quickly died on her lips as a familiar Crimson Guard emerged from the shadows.

Virgil shouldered his crossbow and then held up his hand and muttered a word. A spell raced out from his fingertips and slammed into Piper.

As the spell struck her, the illusion shattered around her like glass, revealing her true shadeling self. Though strangely enough, the sight of her horned visage sent even more men running. She felt mildly insulted by that. How was she scarier than a hulking harroth demon?

“Stand your ground!” Virgil roared. “The duke is approaching and will slay this foul demon in hand-to-hand combat. But remember, the girl must be brought back safely!”

Piper spun around and raced back toward Ophelia. She threw her friend over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes and then raced toward the massive doors. “We’re doing your idea.”

“Are you crazy?” Ophelia cried out, kicking wildly. “Put me down!”

“We don’t have time,” Piper replied, breathing hard. “I have to reach the doors, open them, and close them before they can reach us. And you move about as fast as a three-legged turtle.”

“I do not!” her friend huffed. “Anyway, you’re awakened with like a million points in Swiftness. That’s practically cheating.”

Piper lengthened her stride, hearing shouts from behind her. Over the soldiers’ cries, she could hear the clear commands from Virgil ordering them to catch up with her at any cost. Did that mean that if she managed to open the doors and slip inside, they wouldn’t be able to follow?

At least she hoped that was the case. While Ophelia hadn’t been able to open the doors, it might not mean that others couldn’t. For all she knew, someone had to be awakened to open the magical doors, and there was nothing special about her.

But she would never lose them in the barren mountain pass with daylight coming. Any illusions she cast would simply be dispelled by that jerk Virgil. She had to try something different.

As she neared the towering doors, she prayed to whoever was listening that whatever was inside wasn’t more dangerous than the vampires chasing them. Otherwise, she’d just be jumping from the frying pan into the fire.

Chapter 38 - Two Paths Diverged in a Blizzard

Ethel stood outside the cave entrance, the wind whipping through her hair. She drew Ophelia closer to her, trying to shield her shivering daughter from the cold. Inside, she could barely make out the exchange between Justina and Piper.

She blinked her eyes rapidly as she overheard Piper claiming to have bewitched her family. But even with her best effort to hold back her tears, one escaped and rolled down her cheek. She understood exactly what Piper was doing—she was taking all the blame for everything that had happened. The young girl was sacrificing herself for them.

Alfred leaned forward, his shoulders heaving. Both knew they were going to lose Piper. There was no way she could stand against two Crimson Guard. It would all be over soon.

Patting her husband on the shoulder, she ruthlessly suppressed her own emotions. What Piper had done would be for nothing if the Crimson Guard came out to find them in mourning. They had to stay strong.

A few minutes later, the tall vampire woman strode out of the cave, her face pinched. She was followed by the other vampire, with a crossbow slung over his shoulder.

Justina glanced over at Ethel, and her expression softened. “I must ask your forgiveness for not avenging your daughter. The demoness escaped through a door, which was magically warded. The magic is… considerable. However, the duke has an augur accompanying him who may be able to open it. There is still hope that we will catch the foul demoness.”

Ethel did her best to hide her joy at hearing that Piper had escaped. While they may never see her again, at least she was alive. Though she knew her family’s fate still hung by a thread. “Thank you for saving us,” she said, curtseying to the vampire. “I owe you a great debt.”

“You owe me nothing,” Justina said, waving her hand dismissively. “The empire should keep all of its citizens safe from the terrors in the night. To allow a demon to infiltrate our borders is unforgivable.”

When Ophelia opened her mouth to reply to the vampire, Ethel tightened her grip on her daughter’s arm. She also shot her a sidelong glance. A single wrong word could end them all. Thankfully, for once in Ophelia’s life, she seemed to get the hint and closed her mouth.

Alfred stepped forward. “As my wife said, we owe you a great debt of gratitude. We had no idea there was a demon among us.” He paused, his voice cracking. “Do you know what happened to my daughter?”

“Olive?” Justina shook her head. “I do not know. However, based on my limited knowledge of demons, it’s safe to assume that she's gone. The empire will of course compensate you for your loss. We should always protect our citizens.”

Ethel knew the Crimson Guard’s words were a lie. Or at least a major exaggeration. It was true that the Crimson Guard dealt with the most serious incursions and threats in the kingdom. But most of the time, the humans of the empire were left to fend for themselves. Something made more difficult by the fact that they were forbidden from taking combat classes.

She tried to reply, but her chattering teeth made it impossible. The vampire woman seemed to notice and gestured at the cave.

“I will watch over you if you wish to warm yourself by the fire and get dressed in your winter clothing. Also, I would recommend packing your things.” Justina turned to the male vampire. “Send up a flare for the duke. We must surround this cave to ensure the demoness does not escape.

“As you wish, commander.” The man stepped away from the group and raised his crossbow. A moment later, a brilliant bolt shot toward the heavens. It burst into sparkles of light that dispelled the night and spread across the sky. Even through the heavy snow, it would be visible for kilometers.

Ethel nodded and hurried back inside. As she did, she glanced over at the massive bronze door. Earlier, she’d awoken to find Ophelia and Piper gone. Her heart had been in throat before she spotted them further down the tunnel, poking around a monster’s corpse.

Normally, she would have chastised them both. But she didn’t see any immediate danger. And the sight of Ophelia in the oversized helmet had almost made her giggle. She truly would have made an excellent adventurer.

A small part of her almost wished that Piper had taken Ophelia with her to the empire. Her daughter wasn’t destined to be a farmwife. She would suffocate under the monotony of cooking meals, darning socks, and spinning wool. While Ethel loved taking care of her family, her daughter would never be happy with the same life.

Yet now she would have no other choice. There were few options for humans in the Bloodveil Empire. While a handful of humans managed to rise to the rank of adventurer, they were few and far between. Her daughter would have no choice but to become a farmwife now. Assuming they all survived what came next.

While she was packing their things, Alfred came over and squeezed her hand. Then he leaned in close and pecked her on the cheek.

“I love you,” he whispered. “Always and forever.”

“I love you more,” she responded with a grin.

Alfred winked at her. “I know.”

Holding out his arm, he motioned for Ophelia. Their daughter hurried over and hugged them tightly. Tears streamed down Ethel’s cheeks as they all held each other.

A few minutes later, she heard movement outside the tunnel entrance. When she turned to look, all the color drained from her face. Outside stood Ransford, with a foul expression on his face.

“Ah, I see you have captured the collaborators,” he snarled. “Well done, Justina. Now what should we do with them?”

Ethel’s mind whirled as she tried to think of a plan. Already, she could feel her husband tensing beside her. She quickly realized there was only one way out of their current situation.

Curtseying low, she bowed her head. “Welcome, my lord. I must thank you for trying so valiantly to save us on the farm. Your heroism knows no bounds. To fight such a powerful demon even after your men had been slain was a true act of bravery. My family will be eternally grateful to you.”

“What now?” Ransford looked flummoxed before his expression changed. He puffed out his chest and strode around like a mating terror bird. “Oh yes. That was quite brave of me, wasn’t it? Fighting a demon on my own?”

“The bravest,” Ethel agreed. “I will be happy to tell that to the duke as well.”

A grin flickered across Justina’s face before it disappeared. She must realize what Ethel was doing.

“Yes, I suppose that would be helpful,” Ransford said. “Not for my reputation or anything. Simply so the duke knows what he’s up against. He won’t want to hear me sing once he knows how brave I am.”

Ethel tried to hide her confusion at the lord’s words. The duke was making Ransford sing? Why in the world would he do that? She shook her head slightly to clear her thoughts. “Would you grant me a boon, my lord?”

“Anything,” Ransford replied. “After all, you are under my protection. And I did valiantly save you.

“Please allow my family to return to our farm.” She did her best to look scared, which wasn’t too hard since she was standing in front of a man who had tried to murder her recently. “Now that we know a demon is loose in the hills, we want to be somewhere safe. And we have to mourn… our daughter. Do we have your permission to return to our farm?”

“And you will tell the duke that everything that happened was a misunderstanding?”

“Of course, my lord.”

“Excellent. Most excellent.” Ransford clapped his hands. “This is how you inspire your people, Justina. Through acts of bravery. The people of Alderwick will always be loyal now that they know I’m protecting them.”

Justina stepped forward. “I have offered to help pay for the rebuilding of their farm.”

“Yes, yes,” he replied with a wave of his hand. “Give them all the silver they need to replace their animals and grains. But I do hope they will spread the word of my generosity in Alderwick.”

Ethel’s eyes narrowed at the lord's words. Something had changed about him since her encounter with him on the farm. It was almost as if he were afraid of something. Was the duke displeased to learn about what Ransford had done? Was that why he was so keen on her spreading the good word about him?

Regardless, she wouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. This opportunity meant that her family could survive and return to their old life. And based on Justina’s expression, she didn’t think they would face any future repercussions.

As Ransford pulled Justina aside and spoke to her in low tones, Ethel returned to packing. She shared a glance with her husband, whose face looked stony. She knew that expression well. He was upset that they were leaving Piper behind. But they had no choice. There was nothing they could do against the duke and his forces.

“Are we really going home?” Ophelia whispered, looking down at her boots. “What about Piper?”

“Shush,” Ethel said, glancing over at the vampires. Thankfully, neither of them appeared to have heard her daughters’ words. “She’s resourceful and will find her way back to us someday.”

“What about being an adventurer?”

Ethel smiled warmly at her daughter. “In the last year and a half, you’ve fought with a demon, fled from vampires, and wielded a magic sword. If that doesn’t give you an amazing adventurer class, I don’t know what will.”

“Does that mean…?”

“Yes,” Ethel said with a sigh. “I’ll worry about you every day, but I’ll try to get you special dispensation to let you choose a combat class on your awakening. However, you’ll have to serve the vampires. And only a handful of humans are allowed to apply every year, so your chances are slim.”

“I wish I could have gone with... you know.”

“Me too.” She touched her daughter on the nose before repeating, “Me too.”

Once they had finished packing the horse, they led the animal through the entrance. Outside, the storm was still raging. How did the vampires expect them to travel in these conditions?

“Allow me,” Justina said. She raised her arm, and a bubble of complete calm formed around them. Then the snow on the ground shifted to the side, forming a dry path. She must have powerful ice magic from the Water Realm. Perhaps even some spells from the Air Realm, as no wind stirred inside of the bubble.

To light the way, Justina activated a white aetherstone on her ring. It cast a cone of light in front of them, illuminating the path down to the mountain pass. Below them, they could see dozens of soldiers swarming up the slope. And hundreds more were moving through the pass.

After leading them to an overhang, Justina lowered her ring. “I apologize, but I must inform the duke of what has occurred. However, you should be safe here until I return.”

With that, the tall vampire turned and marched off into the night toward a waving banner that had appeared in the mountain pass.

Alfred pointed at a circle of boulders a short distance away. “It might be warmer over there.”

Ethel followed her husband, and they stopped behind a colossal, toppled stone. She pulled out another blanket and handed it to Ophelia. Her daughter wrapped it around herself and pulled it tight before snuggling into her father.

They watched as more soldiers and camp followers arrived at the pass, many of them looking half dead on their feet. Even those with powerful classes had trouble traveling at night through a snowstorm. The new arrivals hurriedly began to erect tents and light fires in the desolate pass. Soon, they were completely surrounded by the duke’s followers.

A young woman broke off from the group and hurried over to them. She had long dark hair and the sharp features of a vampire. Had she been sent by Justina to check on them?

The woman stopped and glanced around before kneeling in front of Ethel. “Are you alright?”

Ethel’s mouth dropped open as she recognized the voice. “Piper?”

The young woman smiled. “It’s me.”

“But… but… how?”

“I had to make sure you were alright,” Piper replied. “During my fight with Justina, I opened the door but instead of going inside I slipped out of the cave. I waited there to make sure they weren’t going to hurt any of you.”

Alfred stood up and drew her into a bear hug.

“Piper!” Ophelia squealed before clamping a hand over her mouth. Thankfully, in the din of the camp, no one had heard. “Did you come back for me?”

Piper shook her head, her voice breaking slightly. “I only came to say goodbye.”

“Don’t talk nonsense,” Ethel said. “All you have to do is cast your illusions and we’ll slip out of the camp together. They’re looking for you inside the cave, not out here.”

“I heard that they promised to help you rebuild your farm,” Piper said, looking down at her feet. “I can’t take that away from you again. But I promise that I’ll find a way to come back someday.

“No way,” Alfred growled. “I’m not letting you cross the mountains on your own. That’s what you’re planning, isn’t it?”

“My magic isn’t strong enough to hide all of you,” Piper said. “Especially the horse.”

“We’ll just leave the horse behind,” Alfred countered. “We’ve already eaten most of the food it was carrying, anyway.”

“What about the other supplies?” Piper stood up, glancing around the camp. “There’s no time to argue. Someone is going to see me and start asking questions.”

Ethel’s hand shot out and grabbed Piper’s wrist. “Please don’t do this. All you need to do is hide for a bit and then come back to the farm.”

“I can’t,” Piper said. “If I did that, I’d only put you all in danger again.”

Standing up, Ethel drew her into a hug. “Please reconsider. I can’t lose another daughter.”

Piper sniffled as she returned the embrace. “I love all of you. And I’ll see you again soon.”

With that, she hurried off and disappeared into the darkness. Even though she had promised to return soon, Ethel doubted she would see her again in this lifetime. Though she truly hoped that she was wrong.

“I should have gone with her,” Alfred said bitterly. “It’s not right to leave her to fend for herself.”

“Why didn’t we go with her, Mom?” Ophelia asked from her cocoon of blankets.

“She doesn’t think she could keep us safe,” Ethel replied softly, staring off to where Piper had disappeared. “And I hate to say it, but she may have been right.”

Chapter 37 - Even the Swiftest Hare Cannot Outrun the Fox's Hunger

Piper drew her bow back and prepared to fire at the Crimson Guard. She needed to get three arrows off as fast as possible to activate [Demonic Mark]. If she could just knock the vampires away, they might have time to retreat into the tunnel. Hopefully, the vampires wouldn’t be able to get the door open.

But as she loosed, red tendrils shot out from Justina and knocked the missile aside. She keenly remembered Ransford using the same skill on the farm. Did all vampires have anti-missile skills?

“Wait!” Justina cried out as she held up her hand. “I only wish to talk.”

Alfred scowled at the woman. He gripped his axe in one hand, and was using the other to hold himself up against the wall. “Your master said he wanted to talk before he tried to murder my wife and child.”

At those words, Piper’s gaze shot over to Ethel, who had a tight expression on her face. She’d never heard about what had happened that day. Had Ransford said he’d only wanted to talk before feeding on them?

“His actions were deplorable,” Justina said softly. “That is why I wish to talk to you.”

“Speak fast, blood drinker.” While Alfred was injured, hatred burned brightly in his eyes.

“I will pay to rebuild your farm,” Justina said. “I will also replace any animals that were killed in the… altercation.”

“What’s the catch?” Alfred took a step forward, his axe held at the ready. “There’s always a catch with your kind.”

“I ask only that you testify against Ransford.”

Piper watched the exchange, ready to attack at any second. But she doubted that she’d have any chance against the Crimson Guard. When she’d fought Ransford, she hadn’t been able to harm him. It was only through tricking him into drinking her blood that she’d managed to drive him off. She’d have no chance against two high-level vampires.

“So Ransford can find a way to kill us before the trial?” Alfred shook his head. “If you feel bad about what happened, allow us to go on our way. We’re headed to the Arissian Empire, and we’ll never darken your door again.”

“How do you plan to get past the Black Pyramid?”

“What’s that?” Alfred asked, confusion momentarily flitting across his face.

“You don’t know?”

“No, I don’t. Care to explain?”

“Unless you’re particularly skilled at fighting against demons, the way is closed to the Arissian Empire.”

Piper’s ears perked up at the mention of demons. Were there more of her kind living in the mountains? But that didn’t make any sense. If they were as dangerous as everyone said, why hadn’t people eradicated them already? And what was the Black Pyramid?

“The way is blocked?” Alfred almost seemed to sag. After a moment, he continued, “Do you promise to keep my family safe?”

Justina smiled, exposing sharp fangs. “I give you my word that no harm will come to your family. We’ll wait here until the storm has passed and then take you to Duke Albrecht’s Camp. It’s only a few kilometres from here.”

Ophelia drew her looted short sword from its scabbard with a hiss. The silver weapon pulsed in the dim light as the golden filigree glowed. “I won’t let you stop us. I’m going to be an adventurer in the empire!”

Once again, Piper raised her bow. If her friend attacked the vampires, she had to be ready to support her. No matter how futile it seemed.

“Put that down this instant, young lady,” Ethel snapped. “Have you lost your mind? I will not have you trying to fight a Crimson Guard.” A spoon immediately appeared in her hand before she looked over at Justina and blushed. The spoon just as quickly disappeared back into wherever she hid it.

Justina raised her eyebrow. “Do all your children possess pre-Thronefall weaponry? How interesting.”

“I honestly couldn’t tell you,” Ethel said, a dark expression on her face. “This is the first time I’m seeing it.” She hurried over and grabbed Ophelia’s wrist. Ignoring the girls’ protests, she forced her to sheath the glowing blade. “I apologize. My daughter knows better than to raise a weapon against a member of the Crimson Guard.”

Alfred sighed and leaned his axe against the wall. “Can I offer you the hospitality of my fire?”

“Wait!” Piper cried out. “We’re not giving up, are we?”

“We tried our best.” Alfred looked more tired than she’d ever seen him in the past. “Even the swiftest hare cannot outrun the fox’s hunger.”

“Let’s take them out,” Gorebark whispered from her hand. “I’ll shoot the shifty-looking guy in the back, and you claw out the lady’s eyes. Ready? On three…”

Justina’s ears twitched slightly, indicating she had probably heard Gorebark. But she didn’t react, and instead came over to warm her hands by the fire. Turning slightly, she looked at Piper. “Would you mind sharing your story about how you came by such a unique weapon?”

“I found it,” she lied. “It was in a tunnel similar to this one near the farm.”

“How interesting. I had always believed the tale of a great demon falling there to be a myth. Yet if legendary weapons exist in the ruins, there may be truth to the tale. I will have to notify the archaeologists in the capital.”

“You have archaeologists?”

“You know that word?”

Piper nodded.

“Not many peasants know of that profession. Your mother has done a wonderful job educating you.”

“I know a lot of things,” she replied.

“Like illusion magic?” Justina said, the firelight flickering in her eyes as she regarded Piper. “Last time we met, you looked… different.”

Piper mentally winced as she recalled how she had made herself look like the Crimson Guard woman. The only reason Justina probably knew she was the same person was because she was holding Gorebark. Otherwise, she looked completely different from that night.

“It was quite resourceful leading the redcaps to our camp,” Justina continued. “I assume you needed to clear out the pass to escape into the mountains?”

Piper nodded her head. There was no point in denying it.

“I believe we could use a human as resourceful as yourself. Now, if you would please show me your true class and level? No one here truly believes that you are a level 10 farmhand.”

“I suppose so….”

She cast [Truth Shroud] and changed her class to illusionist and level 21. As she did, a flurry of notifications appeared.

Ding! Your spell, Truth Shroud has reached level 7.

…..

Ding! Your spell, Truth Shroud has reached level 15.

She had to stop herself from gaping at the huge jump in levels. The Holy System usually only rewarded you when you were facing significant challenges or threats. And if it thought her casting was worth 8 levels, she was in serious danger.

“As I thought,” Justina grinned. “Now, if I may see your bow?”

The Crimson Guard stepped forward with a smile on her face, her hand outstretched, when suddenly her companion surged forward. He grabbed her armor and yanked her back while shouting something in an unfamiliar language.

The air around Piper warped as the man held up his hand. Her illusion shattered, exposing her true demon self. For a second, everyone stood frozen, and then the cave descended into chaos.

Justina recoiled as she stared at the demon in disbelief. All this time, they truly had been hunting an infernal creature. A quick glance over at the family showed that they looked just as horrified. The cursed demon must have bewitched them.

She suddenly realized the truth was far worse. Before setting out, she’d checked the imperial census. The family had two daughters—one named Ophelia, and the other named Olive. The foul demon must have murdered one of the family’s children and taken their place.

What the demon had planned to do, she had no idea. But by sheer bad luck, Ransford must have accidentally revealed it when he attacked the farm. Now the demon had fled into the mountains to escape with the family.

Justina suspected the creature wanted to use the peasants as hostages or human shields. Regardless of the reason, all she knew was that she had to save them at any cost.

“Take the family,” she shouted to Virgil. “I will hold off the foul demon myself. I owe it for the redcaps.”

Beside her, Virgil surged forward and snatched the young girl first. Almost too fast to follow, he dragged her out of the cave before sprinting back inside to grab the parents. They briefly tried to resist—likely under the demon’s spell—but they had no chance against someone 900 levels above them.

“At last you are revealed,” Justina snarled, drawing her blade Shadowdrinker from her belt. “Now I shall send you howling back to your realm, demon.”

“I don’t want to hurt you,” the demon said in a young girl’s voice. “Please just leave us alone.”

“And allow you to suck the souls out of an innocent family? I think not.”

“Please…”

Strangely, the pale-skinned demon looked visibly distraught. While Justina had never encountered one before, she hadn’t thought demons possessed any emotions. Shaking her head, she dismissed the act as another trick.

She activated [Greater Identify] to see what they were dealing with. The resulting notification staggered her.

Shadeling Demon, Level 601

Deceiver, Level 488

Infernal Nun, 271

This made the demon far more powerful than any that had stalked the land since Thronefall. The sheer number of attribute points it must have was almost mind-boggling. Though she didn’t understand why it only had two classes instead of the three it should have had. And why was no class rarity shown?

Is this another trick?

She surged forward, swinging her blade at the demon, and cursed as it disappeared behind an illusion. What was taking Virgil so long? She needed his scouting skills to dispel the illusions. Until he returned, she was fighting blind.

The sound of a boot scuffing on the floor made her spin around. Somehow, the demon had gotten behind her. She launched a series of precise strikes with her blade, hoping to get lucky. But her weapon found only empty air.

“Show yourself, coward!”

“I don’t want to fight you!”

“Because you’re afraid of meeting your end.” However, she doubted whether even the duke’s entire force could defeat a demon of this level. They may need to call in every available soldier and adventurer to end this threat permanently.

The demoness reappeared at the end of the corridor next to the great bronze doors. This time, she gave an evil laugh, though her expression looked forlorn.

“Those foolish humans never knew I was a demon,” the creature called out. “It was so easy to trick them with my spells. All this time, I was totally evil, and they bought it. They didn’t have a clue that I was a demon.”

“You monster! Tell me what you did to their daughter!” Justina cast [Frost Spike] and a pointed cone of ice formed in the air before launching at the demon. She grimaced as the horned creature side-stepped it easily. Her skills had become dull from not facing a proper opponent for decades.

The demoness laughed again, her voice cracking slightly. “I… will return for them.”

“You will never lay a clawed finger on them again. I will place them somewhere far from your foul reach.” Justina cast [Frost Spike], but this time, dozens of frozen missiles surged through the air and slammed into the demon. Her smile faded as the demon’s skin glowed like lava, causing the ice to melt, and the wounds to seal shut.

This cursed creature can heal itself instantly?

Justina raised her blade and charged forward. She needed to end this threat here and now. As she surged toward the creature, the demoness raised her hand. She prepared to dodge a spell when a dark entity slammed into her mind.

Terrible whispers tormented her as horrifying images filled her vision. She dropped to her knees, her blade tumbling from her suddenly limp fingers. All around her, she could see monsters slithering out from cracks in the walls. And then Ransford appeared, leering at her as he tapped a thick club against his palm.

The whispers grew louder, speaking of ancient terrors and twisting her mind until all she could do was scream. The surrounding world faded away until she stood in a blasted land under two burning suns. More creatures took notice, slithering, crawling, and oozing in her direction.

Her screams reached a crescendo as one of the monsters grabbed her shoulders. She tried to shake it off, but it had an iron grip. Fumbling for her dagger, she froze as the visions shattered, and she found herself staring into the worried eyes of Virgil.

Justina glanced around the corridor to find it empty. At the end of the tunnel, the bronze door was slowly shutting. The demoness had escaped, but at least she’d saved the family.

“I must inform the duke,” Justina rasped, her throat raw from screaming. “The demon exists and is the greatest threat to face the Empire in centuries.”

Chapter 36 - Ancient Enemies

Piper stopped a short distance down the tunnel and squinted at the darkness. While the fire behind them cast a flickering light, it didn’t penetrate far into the corridor. Would all of their exploration plans be defeated by a simple lack of light?

I wish I still had the aetherstone.

At her thought, a string of gems embedded in the walls about chest high flared to life. They bathed the tunnel with a harsh red glow and illuminated a tunnel that must be at least a kilometer long. But it wasn’t the tunnel stretching off into infinity that caught her attention. It was the bodies lying near the entrance.

Ophelia took a step forward. “Is that…”

Piper nodded her head. “It’s a demon.”

The monstrous body of a demon lay slumped against the wall. How it had even fit into the corridor, she didn’t know. Even sitting, the creature's horned head was pressed up against the ceiling. It had four arms, each of them ending in scythe-like talons, and its feet were cloven. Dozens of weapons were sticking out of its desiccated ribcage, including a golden spear.

“And those are...”

“Angels,” Piper whispered. “Real life angels.”

Around the demon's corpse lay three humanoid bodies with feathery wings. They wore resplendent golden armor, though it was battered and torn from their encounter with the demon. In their hands, they clutched silvery swords.

“He was my best friend,” Gorebark sniffled from her back. “I can’t believe he’s dead.”

“Really?” Piper’s eyebrows shot up.

“No, not really.” Gorebark chuckled. “You think I know all the demons out there? This big guy was a harroth, though. They’re usually used to break the enemy lines. Very big and very mean. I’m surprised those fragile, feathered guys could bring it down.”

Piper’s mind raced at the revelation that there were angels in this world. Though she probably shouldn’t be surprised, since demons existed. Were the two races mortal enemies? If she stumbled across an angel, would it want to kill her?

As Piper pondered the implications, Ophelia raced over and poked one of the angels with her toe. “These guys look like they just died, don’t they?”

“You shouldn’t do that,” Piper said quickly.

“Why not?” Ophelia shrugged. “They’re dead, aren’t they?”

Biting her lip, she shook her head. “It just feels wrong. Aren’t angels special in this world?”

“I guess so? I never listen to anything about Infernus and his holy host.” Ophelia bent down and picked up a silver sword. She grunted as she gave it a test swing, the weight almost pulling her off her feet. “Look at this thing! I bet it’s magical.”

“I think we should leave,” Piper said. “This feels wrong being in here.”

“But think of all the treasures we could find in this place,” Ophelia said as she dropped the sword with a clatter. Bending down, she unsheathed a short sword from the fallen angel. The size seemed far more appropriate for her. “One of these could probably buy me a suit an armor. Mom would have to let me be an adventurer then.”

Piper walked over and looked down at the sword Ophelia had dropped. The blade shone with a dull light, almost as though magic burned within the metal. And the hilt was inlaid with delicate golden filigree. For a moment, she was reminded of the strange golden container she’d seen in the tomb where she’d awoken.

Bending down, she grasped the hilt before crying out in pain. The second the weapon touched her hand, her flesh began to sizzle. She dropped the sword and clutched her wrist.

Gorebark snickered. “You know, you really shouldn’t have touched that thing.”

“Where were you a second ago?”

“Are you alright?” Ophelia rushed over and took her hand. When she peeled back Piper’s fingers, she revealed blackening skin.

“I think it’s an anti-demon weapon,” Piper gasped. She quickly activated [Demonic Blood] as the blackness began to spread up her arm.

Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 7.

Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 8.

Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 9.

Piper’s eyes widened as her racial skill [Demonic Blood] warred against the weapon’s curse. She’d barely touched it, but the magic was trying to kill her. How powerful were the enchantments on the blade?

Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 11.

……

Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 17.

Her mana was rapidly dropping, and the blackening skin was see-sawing back and forth on her hand. For a second, she was worried that her skill wouldn’t be able to stop the curse, or whatever had afflicted her, before she ran out of mana.

“What can I do?” Ophelia cried out. “Should I get Mom?”

Piper gritted her teeth and shook her head. Already, she could feel the rot eating at her hand slowing as her racial skill began to win out. But now she could understand how the angels had taken down the massive demon. The horned creature had nearly a dozen of the blades sticking out of its chest along with a golden spear. It never would have been able to heal from all of those wounds.

Ding! Your racial skill, Demonic Blood has reached level 22.

With a gasp, she uncurled her fingers to see they’d returned to normal. In the future, she’d have to avoid any weapons that looked like they had come from angels. Stopping the corruption creeping up her hand had taken every drop of mana she had.

“I think you should sheath that thing,” Piper said, pointing at the weapon in Ophelia’s other hand.

“Oh, right.” Ophelia gave her an embarrassed grin. “I’ll go grab the belt from the angel.”

Piper stepped back and gave her friend a wide berth as Ophelia unbuckled the sheath from the angel’s waist. She watched as Ophelia tugged and pushed on the fallen angel until she finally managed to drag the sword belt out. Then the girl buckled it around her own waist.

Once the blade was safely covered, Piper picked her way around the angels and over to the demon. She searched the corpse for anything useful, but the demon didn’t have anything on it. Not that it would need weapons with the massive talons protruding from the ends of its arms. The thing looked like a tank.

“I want to see if I can grab an aetherstone.” Piper walked over to the wall and inspected the closest glowing red stone. She didn’t spot any enchantments like those that covered the angel’s weapons. But that didn’t mean they were safe to touch. “On second thought. I’m going to let my mana regenerate a bit first before risking it.”

“How long?”

Piper shrugged. “As long as it takes.”

Ophelia screwed up her face, clearly wanting to explore further. But after a few minutes, she just started to poke around the angels. She must have found some interesting trinkets, because she shoved a few things into the pouch on her belt.

Piper waited until about a quarter of her mana had regenerated—all the while shooting glances back at Alfred and Ethel to ensure they were alright—before she hesitantly tapped the gem with the tip of her claw. Recoiling, she waited to see if anything happened. But when nothing did, she grabbed onto the aetherstone.

Unlike the one she’d taken from the tomb, this one refused the budge. She wiggled it back and forth, but nothing happened. Frowning, she briefly considered using her knife before discarding the idea. Who knew what would happen if she damaged an aetherstone?

Defeated, she leaned back, gazing longingly at the immense wealth embedded in the wall. If she could pry out just a few of the gems, she could set them up in luxury in the Arissian Empire. Maybe Alfred would know a way to remove them.

At the thought of Alfred, she turned to Ophelia, who was wearing an oversized angel helmet. “You know that was on a dead person.”

The younger girl shrugged. “So what? It’s not like they’re all gross.”

Piper had to admit her friend was right. While the demon looked like an ancient mummy, the angels appeared to have only just died yesterday. How long had they been entombed down here? And more concerning, were there more around? They probably wouldn’t like a demon wandering into their base, or whatever this place was.

“We should head back.”

Ophelia lifted the golden helmet to peer out at Piper. “Can’t we go a bit further?”

“We can’t leave your parents without anyone on watch.”

“Come on,” Ophelia pleaded. “Nothing is going to be wandering around in that snowstorm. They’ll be completely safe until we get back.”

Piper briefly considered pushing deeper into the tunnel, but then shook her head. “Maybe tomorrow if your dad agrees.”

Her friend let out a huff before pulling off the helmet. She placed it beside the fallen angel and then started to walk back toward their camp. After a few steps, she stopped and chewed on her lower lip. “What about my short sword?”

“We’ll wrap it in a blanket when we get back. That should at least hide it for the time being.” While Piper didn’t want to get into trouble for disobeying Alfred and Ethel, it wasn’t everyday you found an angel’s weapon. It might come in handy when Ophelia became an adventurer.

Together, they crept back to the campsite at the mouth of the tunnel. When they passed through the door, Piper touched it, and it silently swung shut behind them. Then she hurried over to her bedroll and sat down.

Looking up, she spotted Ethel’s irises glittering in the firelight. Swallowing, she averted her gaze to look at the cave entrance. How did parents always know when you were doing something wrong? Not that Ophelia had been overly quiet. But at least they hadn’t woken Alfred up.

Piper continued to watch the snow driving outside, a sense of weariness descending over her like a cloak. Beside her, Ophelia had laid down and was already snoring like a rhino. She was amazed that such loud sounds could come from such a small girl.

Her thoughts turned back to the demon in the tunnel. From what she’d heard, it’d been centuries since anyone had seen a demon in the Bloodveil Empire. How long ago had the angels and demon died fighting in the corridor? Did the angels have some sort of special ability where they didn’t decay?

At her thought, she was surprised to see a new notification.

Ding! Your racial skill Demonic Intellect has reached level 7.

If simply thinking about demons and angels increased her skill, she would have to do some serious studying when she reached the Arissian Empire. There must be books out there somewhere about the ascendant realms. If she could figure out a way to earn enough money, she might even be able to buy a small library.

The thought of reading again filled her with excitement. Fantasy books and anime had been her only companions during the long nights in the hospital after her parents had fallen asleep. She would kill to have the chance to read again. Did they have novels in this world? Or was it all dusty books about farming?

She was about to rise to her feet when she heard a faint sound from outside the cave. Straining, she listened for the noise again. But after a minute, she relaxed when she didn’t hear anything.

Just when she was about to dismiss it as a figment of her imagination, she heard it again. It was the unmistakable sound of something scraping against rock.

Leaping to her feet, she grabbed her bow and slung her quiver around her waist. Then she nocked an arrow and kicked Ophelia awake before heading over to Ethel. She gave the same treatment to Ethel, only gentler.

As the blond-haired woman sat up groggily, Piper held up a finger to her mouth to indicate silence. Then she moved over to Alfred and prodded him with her toe. The big man immediately sat up and reached for his axe.

Piper took a step forward and watched the darkness intently. Someone was out there, slinking around the cave entrance. Had the redcaps found them again?

Her heart sank as two figures emerged from the gloom. Their plate armor shone in the firelight, and they wore unmistakable blood-red cloaks. The Crimson Guard had caught them at last.

Chapter 35 - An Icy Wind

A single snowflake drifted lazily down from the dark sky before landing on Piper’s outstretched tongue. She pulled it into her mouth with a slight smile. Her dad had often wheeled her outside so she could enjoy the first snowfall of the year. And every single time she’d stuck her tongue out to catch the snowflakes.

She turned her attention back to the trail and looked up at the steep cliff walls on either side. Nothing grew here, and boulders were strewn about as if an angry giant had tossed them at travelers. Knowing this world, that might actually be true.

“Gather as much wood as you can,” Alfred barked from the head of the line. “This is going to be a nasty storm.”

“It’s just a bit of snow,” Piper replied, receiving a glare in return.

“A storm in the mountains is nothing to scoff at.” Alfred bent down to pick up some ancient-looking deadwood. Where it had come from was anyone’s guess. “We need to find shelter immediately, or we’re in trouble.”

Piper pressed her lips together before nodding. In the depths of the winter, they had taken refuge in the longhouse with a roaring fire and the animal’s body heat to keep them warm. She hadn’t thought about how bad a storm would be in the open. Why was it snowing in the spring, anyway?

Slowing to a stop, she picked up a handful of kindling. While there were no living trees here, there was a surprising amount of deadwood. Had something happened in the past to kill all the vegetation?

“I don’t see anywhere to shelter,” Ethel said worriedly. “What if we build a fire and try to wait it out?”

Alfred shook his head. “A strong snowstorm will snuff out a fire in an instant. Everyone spread out and see if you can find a crevasse or anything else to protect us from the wind.”

Ophelia sprinted forward, poking her stick into every opening she could find. Not that any of them would be large enough to fit the entire group and the horse. Still, she seemed to be enjoying herself.

While the others searched the immediate area, Piper strode over the wall and pulled herself up the sheer cliff face. Only a few months ago, she never would have even been able to scale it. But it was amazing the difference that physical attribute points made. When she made it home, no jar lid would ever defeat her again.

Once she reached the top, she gazed out across the mountain slope, searching for a place where they could ride out the oncoming storm. She spotted an overhang that might work, and then a cluster of tall boulders. They were arrayed in a shape that almost made them look manmade.

Finally, her eyes landed on a cave opening far up the mountainside. The mouth yawned open, with the entrance lost in layers of shadow. Outside the cave stood two pillars of shining white stone. It was the best option that she could see. She just didn’t know how they were going to get the horse up the steep slope.

Cupping her hands around her mouth, she shouted down to the others in the narrow pass. When she had their attention, she pointed up the cliffside. “I see a cave up there.”

Alfred shielded his eyes and scanned the cliff face. After a few seconds, he dropped his hand and motioned for the others to follow him.

Piper strode back to the cliff and spun around. Placing her hands on the edge, she lowered herself down to a foothold before making her way down. She dropped the last distance and landed lightly on her feet.

“Like I said, you’re a pink ape,” Gorebark said from her back. “You’d never see a demon climbing around like that.”

“I’d be careful,” she said sweetly. “We don’t have enough wood for the fire tonight.”

“You wouldn’t!”

“Try me.”

Gorebark muttered something under its breath before falling silent. A few threats went a long way in keeping the demonic bow in check. Though she’d have to figure out something more permanent when they reached the Arissian Empire. Ethel and the others had grown used to Gorebark, but she doubted anyone else would be as understanding.

I really don’t want to be burned at the stake for having an evil talking bow.

Piper broke into a jog to catch up with the others, who were seeking a path up the mountainside. After a short distance, they finally found a narrow trail that the horse could navigate. Even though it took Alfred and Piper pushing the animal to get it up the first part.

Once they were past the rock face, the rest of the climb was relatively easy. As she walked, she realized the ground was covered with broken masonry. Her earlier assessment of the cluster of rocks not being natural had been right.

By the time they reached the cave opening, the snowstorm had begun in earnest. Tiny flakes swirled around them, creating an impenetrable white curtain. A biting wind had also sprung up, the powerful gusts making her cloak flap wildly.

Glancing up, she inspected the stone pillars standing guard on either side of the entrance. With a start, she realized that, ages long past, they must have been statues. Nearly all the features had been worn away, but the vague shape of a humanoid was still evident.

But now wasn’t the time to marvel at ancient statues. No matter how much her dad would have geeked out about them. If only he could have come here with her—he would have loved all this ancient stuff. Then again, if he were here, it would have meant he’d died on Earth. She preferred him back home, hopefully healthy and happy.

Piper stepped into the cave and stomped her boots on the floor to remove the snow. Then she shook off her cloak. The last thing she wanted to do was let the snow melt and soak her clothing. If there was one thing that Alfred had drilled into her over the winter, it was that wet clothing killed in cold weather.

“What in the name of Infernus is this place?” Alfred grumbled. “I don’t like this one bit.”

Piper looked up from her clothing to see a perfectly formed corridor stretching out in front of her. The walls and ceiling had perfectly smooth surfaces, while the stone floor transitioned into a mosaic with burgundy and black tiles. While everything outside looked ancient, this all appeared to have been constructed recently.

Further down the corridor was a massive bronze door. Like the rest of the cave, the doors didn’t show any sign of wear. On its surface was a decorative relief, showing a burning flame in the center of eleven circling dragons. Arrayed around the dragons were hundreds of fantastical figures with impossible body shapes.

“Alright, this is pretty cool,” Piper breathed. “We so have to explore this place.”

“I’m with you, Pip,” Ophelia said, her stick held at the ready.

“We’ll do no such thing,” Ethel said sternly. “We’ll make camp near the entrance and stay far away from that door. The second the storm passes, we’re leaving. I’d rather not encounter whatever lives in there.”

“Listen to your mother,” Alfred grunted as he slumped against the wall. His face was pale, and sweat dotted his forehead. He still hadn’t completely recovered from the blow inflicted by the redcap. Though at least Ethel had found some ashenroot to dull his pain.

Piper pointed at the dusty floor. “There aren’t any tracks. I don’t think anyone has been in here for a long time. It wouldn’t hurt to at least look inside.”

Ethel’s spoon appeared in her hand. “Don’t make me tell you again.”

Piper held up her hands and took a step back. Smacks from Ethel’s spoon never hurt, but they were a warning sign that she should stop whatever she was doing. Even if in this case there could be amazing treasures waiting behind the door.

Ophelia sidled over to Piper. “I say we check it out after they fall asleep,” she whispered out of the corner of her mouth. “There’s probably all kinds of amazing stuff in there.”

“Don’t think I can’t hear you whispering,” Ethel called out as she laid down a bedroll.

“I said I can’t wait to fall asleep,” Ophelia called back.

Piper giggled as Ethel glared at her daughter. Normally, she didn’t go along with Ophelia’s schemes—especially after the disaster with the ooze—but she really wanted to see what was behind that door. It was almost as if something was calling out to her from the other side.

After a few minutes, Alfred pushed himself up from the wall and set about making a fire. He placed a few sticks in a pile and then removed the embers from a special box. Blowing on it, he soon had a crackling fire going.

“Piper,” he called out. “I want you to try to find some more wood outside. However, don’t stray too far from the entrance.”

Nodding, she wrapped her cloak around herself. Outside the opening, the snow was almost blowing vertically. Drawing a deep breath, she plunged back into the storm. The wind howled past her and cut right through her woolen clothing as if it weren’t even there.

Piper stumbled through the quickly mounting snow, searching for any sign of firewood. A short distance from the entrance, she spotted a dead tree. It was lying on its side, and the limbs were cracked and split. The tree must have fallen a long time ago.

Piper spent the next few minutes breaking off branches, and some of the thinner limbs. Once her arms were full, she staggered back to the entrance. There she dumped the wood before heading back out. She might as well grab as much as she could.

It was during the third trip that a squall of snow momentarily blinded her. When the eddying snowflakes finally passed, she was left completely disoriented. With mounting worry, she stumbled around in the snow, searching for the entrance to the cave.

Where the heck is it?

After a few minutes, she finally spotted the glow from the entrance and exhaled with relief. She’d been heading in the opposite direction. As she stumbled back, she couldn't help but think about what would have happened if she hadn’t glimpsed the firelight. They probably would have found her frozen solid the next morning with icicles on her nose.

Piper dumped the wood at the entrance and hurried over to the fire. She held out her hands to warm them, her teeth chattering.

Ethel looked up from preparing some dried meat. “What happened out there?”

“It was nothing,” she said, her heart still hammering in her chest.

“I know when something is wrong with you…”

“I just got turned around,” she said quietly. “I almost didn’t find my way back.”

Ethel turned and hit her husband’s arm. “Didn’t I tell you we shouldn’t send her out there alone?”

“We needed the wood,” Alfred said gruffly. “If it makes you feel better, I’ll do the next trip.” He tried to stand up but stumbled and had to catch himself against the wall.

“You’re in no shape to do anything,” Ethel said, worry etched into her features. “You know that I’m more than capable of fetching some wood.”

“And if you run into a yeti?” Alfred gently pushed his wife away as he settled down. “What then? You don’t have any combat skills.”

“I really don’t mind grabbing the wood,” Piper said quickly. “Now that I’m warmed up, I should be fine.” But her chattering teeth betrayed her words.

The blond-haired woman tugged on her braid before rising to her feet. She walked over to one of the packs leaning against the wall and retrieved a rope. Then returning to Piper, she deftly tied it around her waist. “This will let you find your way back. I’ll hold on to this end while you’re out there. I’m sorry to ask this of you, but we only need a little more wood to get through the night.”

Piper tested the rope before nodding. With a deep breath, she dove back into the storm. This time she moved faster, collecting all the wood she could carry. With a massive stack in hand, she followed the rope back to the cave.

When she reached it, she hurriedly dumped the wood and rushed back over to the fire. It felt like she was chilled to the bone. Why the heck didn’t her clothes do anything to stop the wind? Usually, they were more than adequate when they were on the farm. Why was it so much colder up here?

After she’d defrosted, she accepted a bowl of meat and cheese from Ethel. They ate in silence, everyone exhausted from their day. But she couldn’t help but keep glancing over at the door. Something was calling to her from inside.

When Ethel and her husband headed outside to take care of their business, she slipped over to Alfred’s bedroll. She placed the wooden carved figure underneath the blanket and then hurried back over to where she’d been sitting. Since the farm burned down, she hadn’t had the opportunity to get Alfred yet. Hopefully, learning the little figurine had survived would improve his mood a bit.

The big man returned a minute later with his wife and plopped down heavily on the bedroll. He grunted and fished around underneath it before pulling something out. At the sight of the figure, he let out a belly laugh. “I can’t believe this thing survived. I thought for sure it had burned on the farm.”

Piper grinned at him. “I couldn’t let the game die after all these years.”

Alfred toyed with the figure before glancing over at his wife.

Ethel crossed her arms and glared at him. “Don’t you dare try to stick that in my bedroll.”

“I’d never even dream of doing that,” he said with a mischievous grin. “Now hurry up and go to sleep.”

Ethel watched him with narrowed eyes. “Remember, I sleep lightly. And my vengeance is terrible.”

Despite her words, it wasn’t long before Ethel slipped into a deep slumber. And Alfred immediately leaned over to place the wooden figure behind her back. When she inevitably rolled over, she would be lying on it. For the first time since they’d left the farmhouse, the big man fell asleep with a grin on his face.

Piper waited until both of their breathing was steady before she rose to her feet. Across from her, Ophelia was doing the same thing.

“Are you ready?” her friend asked in a whisper.

Piper nodded before they headed deeper into the cave. When they arrived at the doors, she was shocked at how immense they were. If they were solid bronze, they must weigh more than a house. How were they supposed to open them?

Ophelia rushed forward and tried to shove them open. The doors didn’t budge. Then she threw her shoulder against it, but still nothing happened. “Of course they’d be locked.”

Stepping forward, Piper pressed her hands against the door. The metal warmed at her touch, and the doors swung open easily to reveal a long corridor beyond. The walls had familiar paintings of dragons on them. For a second, she felt a sense of déjà vu from the place where she’d first arrived in this world.

“How did you do that? Ophelia whispered.

Piper could only shrug. And with a glance back at Alfred and Ethel to make sure they were still asleep, she crept into the tunnel. She wouldn’t go very far, but she had to see what was down there. Maybe if she were lucky, she’d even find some answers to why she was in this world.

Chapter 34 - Terrors in the Night

The sound of redcap war cries echoed through the narrow mountain passes, the voices seemingly coming from all sides at once. A javelin soared out from the darkness and struck the rocky ground; it skittered along until it came to a rest at Piper’s feet.

In one smooth motion, she drew her bow and released. The arrow sailed out toward where the javelin had originated, and she was rewarded with a pained yelp. But no notification appeared, so she’d only wounded the redcap.

“Nice shot,” Gorebark cried. “Take that, you ugly mortals!”

A screaming redcap charged out of the inky blackness, its spear held above its head. With no time to loose another arrow, she swung her bow around like a club. The upper limb smashed into the creature's face. The redcap reeled to the side before she lashed out with a kick to send it tumbling to the ground.

“Hey!” Gorebark shouted. “You know I’m not a club, right?”

She ignored the demonic bow as she quickly used [Identify] on the attacking redcap and was horrified to see the result.

Redcap, Level ???.

Ding! Your skill, Identify has reached level 3.

In the past, Alfred had mentioned that if she ever encountered something with question marks for its level, then she should run for her life. It meant that whatever she was identifying was at least 200 levels above her own.

These weren’t the low-level redcaps she’d faced in the forest. These were powerful warriors and mages. And she could already see the difference as the redcap staggered back to its feet. Her blow had barely fazed the creature.

Alfred charged past her and swung his axe down at the creature. The head bit deeply into her attacker’s shoulder, making it squeal with pain. He ripped it free and brought it down again, only for the redcap’s hand to shoot out and catch the haft. A shocked look passed over Alfred’s face before the redcap backhanded him away.

Piper ducked as Alfred sailed over her head. She couldn’t imagine how high the redcap's Strength was to send such a big man flying with a single strike. She heard both Ethel and Ophelia cry out as Alfred landed heavily on the ground, but she couldn’t worry about him right now. She had to deal with this powerful redcap, or they were all dead.

Since she probably couldn’t win using brute force, she decided to try something different. She held out her hand and cast [Umbral Terror]. Her mana drained away at a shocking pace, leaving her with almost nothing remaining.

At first, she thought the spell had failed. The redcap only slowed its pace, glancing around at the darkness quizzically. Then it started to scream. The creature howled and stumbled back as if it were beset by monsters on all sides.

With another howl of pure terror, it tossed aside its weapon and turned to flee. It scrambled across the uneven, rocky ground, rushing through two other redcaps that had appeared. The new arrivals were knocked aside like pins and toppled to the ground.

Ding! Your spell Umbral Terror has reached Level 2.

Piper thought fast and decided to try something risky. She canceled [False Face] revealing her true demon self. Then she cast [Truth Shroud] and shot her level up to 600. Hopefully, the other redcaps would think the one she’d cast [Umbral Terror] on had fled because it had realized it was facing a powerful demon.

As the other redcaps picked themselves up from the ground, they stared after their fleeing companion before turning back toward Piper. But this time, they were confronted by a level 600 shadeling demon. At the sight of her, the redcaps scrambled back, and retreated a few metres before stopping.

Piper held her breath, her skin prickling as the creature used [Identify]. She really hoped that this was going to work. Because if it didn’t, she was out of ideas. And worse, she was completely out of mana.

The redcaps turned and bolted away, calling out in their guttural language. As they did, the warcries died down before ending completely. The only sound was boots scraping on rocks as the redcaps disappeared back into the night. Within a few seconds, silence reigned in the mountain pass.

Piper exhaled and sagged with relief. There was no way she could have won against creatures with such high levels. If her plan hadn’t worked, she would have been screwed.

With her heart hammering in her chest, she hurried over to Alfred’s side. Already, Ophelia and Ethel were helping the big man to his feet. One side of his face was beginning to swell, and his eyes darted around as if he were drunk.

“What happened?” he muttered. “Did you kill it?”

“I may have tricked them with a spell.”

Alfred focused his unsteady gaze on her, and she felt her skill prickle again as he used [Identify]. He guffawed before grimacing with pain. Raising a hand to his face, he touched it gingerly. “A level 600 demon? Well done, Piper.”

Ethel gave her a tight smile. “It was a very clever thing to do.”

Piper beamed at the praise, feeling a little proud of herself. Her class might not be the most powerful one around, but at least it gave her unique options in a fight.

Stepping forward, she offered Alfred her hand. But the big man just waved her off.

“I’m fine,” he said. “That damn thing was strong. Might need a minute to recover, though.”

As Alfred tried to regain his balance, Ophelia walked up to Piper. The girl leaned in uncomfortably close and stared directly at Piper’s face. “I haven’t seen you as a demon in ages. Your horns are way bigger. Has anything else changed? Is your tail poisonous now? What about your claws?”

Piper reached up to touch her horns. Strangely, they did feel bigger. Were they going to keep growing until she resembled a mountain goat? As the three of them stared at her, she began to feel uncomfortable. She really didn’t like her demon side being exposed. It made her feel like she weren’t really human.

Glancing over at her mana, she willed it to refill faster so she could cast [False Face] again. But thankfully, Ethel must have sensed her discomfort and shooed her daughter away.

“Leave poor Piper alone,” Ethel said. “How would you like it if she drew attention to one of your features?”

Ophelia crossed her arms. “What could she possibly say? You tell me every day that I’m the cutest girl in the empire.”

“Just leave her alone.” Ethel sighed. “Understood?”

Her daughter rolled her eyes before stalking over to a boulder. She flopped down and crossed her arms, looking annoyed.

Alfred glanced over at his daughter and shook his head. But the motion nearly made him stumble, and Ethel had to grab his arm to steady him. “It’s too dangerous to stand around jawing,” he said groggily. “The redcaps will be back soon with more of their friends. We need to keep moving.”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Piper asked. “We could rest for a bit.”

“I’m fine,” Alfred said firmly.

Piper pressed her lips together, not sure if she believed him. Instead of worrying, she decided to scan the darkness for any sign of the redcaps. But she couldn’t make out anything in the gloom, and all she could hear was the chirping of crickets. It seemed like the redcaps had disappeared into thin air.

Alfred took the lead again, with Piper bringing up the rear. Her ears strained as she listened for anything moving in the dark. As they walked, the first moon rose over the mountains. Its icy surface glistened and cast a blue light over the valley.

Her eyes darted around, searching for any sign of the redcaps. But there was no trace of the warband. Though with the number of caves and rock formations dotting the mountains, there were hundreds of places they could hide.

Gorebark turned its face slightly. “You going to start killing stuff someday? That redcap would have given us dozens of levels. Are you some sort of pacifist demon?”

“How the heck am I supposed to kill something hundreds of levels above me?”

“Keep shooting arrows until it stops moving. It’s not a difficult concept. Remind me again, are you simple? You were dropped on your head as a child, right?”

“Do you want the gag again?”

“The truth hurts, doesn’t it?”

Piper rolled her eyes and continued to watch for any movement. The redcaps may have withdrawn, but apparently there were still dread owls out there. Though she kept imagining them as cute, fluffy giant owls. The truth probably didn’t match what was in her head.

After a short distance, Ethel took the lead with a club in hand. Meanwhile, Alfred fell back to walk beside Piper.

“What was that spell you used?” he asked after a short while. “I’ve never seen anything like that before.”

“It’s called Umbral Terror,” she replied. “It bombards a target with its worst fears. I saw another demon in the Infernal Realm use it to take out an entire castle.”

“Scary stuff,” he muttered. “Any other tricks up your sleeve that I don’t know about?”

Piper shook her head. “Just what I’ve shown you in the past.”

They walked in silence for a few minutes before Alfred spoke again. “I grew up in these mountains, you know.”

“You did?”

“Aye.” Alfred gingerly pressed on his swollen face and grimaced. “I know many of these passes like the back of my hand. My pa was a lumberjack in a camp not far from here.”

Piper looked around at the barren landscape.

Alfred chuckled almost as if he could read her thoughts. “There’s a valley on the other side of the mountain with a river running through it and the most ancient trees you've ever seen. Even a few awakened trees that give magic lumber.”

“Trees can awaken?” she asked incredulously.

“Some even start walking,” Alfred said. “Let me tell you, it’s hard to put down a 100-metre-tall tree that can chase you and cast spells.” He was silent for a moment before continuing. “However, I’ve never been all the way over the mountains. No one in the camp ever had. I can get us most of the way to the Arissian Empire, but I don’t know the passes that will lead us to freedom. I guess I was hoping you might have a skill to help us. Any sign of wings growing on your back yet?”

Piper reached over her shoulder but felt nothing on her shoulder blades. Not even nubs like her horns when she’d first arrived in this world. While she’d seen many demons with wings in the Infernal Realm, the shadeling she’d seen hadn’t had any. But maybe she could grow them someday.

“I didn’t think so,” Alfred continued. “Ah well, Infernus will provide for us. I have faith in him.”

“I’m sure we’ll make it no problem.” Piper said. “My dad said you always had to stay positive, no matter how bad things looked. We’ll make it to the Arissian Empire.”

Alfred reached over and ruffled her hair. “You’re a good girl, Piper. I’d have been proud to call you my own. I hope you’ll stick around long enough to help me start a new farm when we reach the far side.”

“Just try to stop me,” she said with a grin.

With another wince, Alfred moved his jaw back and forth. “We probably should have bought a few more healing potions before setting out.”

In hindsight, he was right. While she had the ability to heal herself, the others didn’t. Why hadn’t she used her gold coins to buy a few more potions from the healer in town? Everything had happened so quickly, she hadn’t even thought of it.

Alfred headed back to the front of the line, marking the end of their conversation. She continued to walk along, keeping an eye out for any threats, but she didn’t spot anything as the second moon rose. Its surface was dusty red, almost like Mars back home.

They kept marching through the night as the moons travelled their path overhead. Only when the first rays of the morning sun were peeking over the mountains did they stop at a clearing near a mountain spring.

“We’ll camp here for a few hours,” Ethel announced.

Alfred walked over to the spring and leaned on his axe. “It probably would be best if we kept moving.”

Ethel crossed her arms. “You’re injured, and the girls are exhausted. I’ll take the first watch while you all sleep. Plus, maybe I can find some wild ashenroot growing for your injuries.” When Alfred opened his mouth to argue, a spoon appeared as if by magic in her hand. “I’m serious. Don’t argue with me unless you want to get whacked.”

Alfred shut his mouth, but grumbled as he moved over to the horse and began to unload it.

A slight smile played across Ethel’s face before she pointed the spoon at Piper and Ophelia. “I want both of you to set up the camp. Understood?”

All Piper wanted to do was collapse onto her bedroll. Her eyes felt gritty from lack of sleep, and her limbs were leaden. She really needed to add some more points to Stamina and Vitality in the future if she was going to keep having sleepless nights.

However, there was work to be done, and the faster she did it, the sooner she could sleep. She dragged herself over to the horse and took one of the sacks from Alfred. Then she began the process of setting up the camp. Hopefully, nothing would bother them again today so they could all get some rest.

****

Justina strode out of her tent at the sound of a commotion. On the far side of the camp, she heard shouting and the unmistakable guttural tongue of the redcaps. Were the creatures truly foolish enough to attack a fortified camp of the Bloodveil Empire?

Popping back into her tent, she grabbed her sword and quickly belted it around her waist. Hurrying outside, she nearly bumped into Augustus.

As she tied up her dark hair, she asked, “Are we being attacked?”

“No idea. I was going to check myself.”

With Augustus at her side, they rushed through the camp, the other Crimson Guard falling in at her side. By the time they reached the edge of the camp, the disturbance had died down. She arrived to see a few of Duke Albrecht’s personal bodyguard holding down a redcap warrior.

The warrior was screaming and frothing at the mouth. It kept yanking at its captors, desperately trying to escape. Its eyes were wild, reminding her of a terrified beast's, and it kept muttering the same words over and over again.

“What’s happening?” she asked the nearest soldier.

“The damn creature just ran straight into our camp. Something scared the Abyss out of it.”

The crowd that had formed around the redcap parted slightly as a man appeared in purple robes. Justina had never seen him before, but she recognized the ceremonial robes of an augur. They were one of the strangest classes in the empire. An augur could detect magic or cancel it out but couldn’t cast any spells of their own.

The augur approached the redcap and leaned down to touch the creature’s forehead. He had to yank his hand back as the creature snapped its yellow teeth at him. A guard grabbed the redcap's head to hold it still, and the augur tried a second time. This time, he placed his palm against the creature’s forehead.

“I sense powerful infernal magic at work here. We must be close to the demon.” The augur’s hand glowed brightly, and then the redcaps’ eyes cleared. He motioned to the assembled guards. “Question it to find out what it knows. Tell it we’ll spare its life if it has information we can use.”

Justina frowned and used [Greater Identify] on the redcap.

Redcap, Level 345

Drunken Pugilist, 199

Javelineer, Level 108

Stormlancer, 48

Her frown deepened as she read the information. How could a peasant family have driven off such a powerful opponent, even with a legendary bow? If the girl was this adept with the weapon, she should be recruited into the human auxilia for the empire. She could prove to be an invaluable asset.

“A bow did that?” Augustus muttered as if he were thinking the same thing.

Justina turned to Virgil as the redcap was led off. “I’m going to scout with you tomorrow,” she said. “Something doesn’t add up here, and I want to be the first to contact them. They shouldn’t be too far ahead of us now.”

“What do you want to do when you reach them?” Virgil asked.

“Right now, I just want to talk,” she replied, gazing down the mountain pass. “I have many questions that I need answers to.”

A Brief Update and a Big Thank You

Firstly, I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone supporting me here. You're all awesome. And I'm blown away by the level of support I've already received.

Secondly, I wanted to announce that I finished writing the first book today. It's currently 52 chapters long, though that might change slightly with editing. But the first book is officially done.

And finally, I'm going to have to slow down the pace of releases in the near future. I'm hoping to wait until Chapter 50, but I might have to do it earlier depending on how writing for Book 2 goes. However, I plan to increase my backlog for everyone here (the goal is have 20 chapters ahead, with that number growing over time.)

Once again, thanks for supporting me. And I've got a huge journey for Piper planned out, so I hope you'll stick around for the next dozen or so books. :)

Chapter 33 - That's Not a Redcap. THAT's a Redcap.

“Finally,” Piper exclaimed as she read her new notification. At her feet lay a plump bird with an arrow through its breast. “It took long enough.”

Congratulations! You have learned the skill Hunting, Level 1.

Moving through the trees like a deadly predator, you have learned to hunt all manner of beasts. This skill gives you a bonus to tracking, stalking, and weapons related to hunting.

Learn this skill? (Yes/No?)

Piper clicked ‘Yes’ but then received another notification.

Please choose an existing skill to remove to continue.

Biting her lip, she pulled up the list of her existing skills. Which one should she get rid of?

·         Ambush Detection, Level 4

·         Animal Caretaking, Level 5

·         Archery, Level 8

·         Cooking, Level 6

·         Enduring Casting, Level 11

·         Gardening, Level 1

·         Identify - 2

·         Running, Level 12

·         Stick Wielding, Level 1

·         Subterfuge, Level 2

There was no way she was getting rid of Ambush Detection, Archery, Enduring Casting, or Identify. Those were all way too important to consider. She also quickly crossed off Subterfuge—though she didn’t really know how it worked—and then Running.

That left Animal Caretaking, Cooking, Gardening, and Stick Wielding. She knew that Stick Wielding was almost useless, but she didn’t want to give up one of her two combat skills. Who knew when she might need to use it in a fight? And Alfred had said that skills could sometimes evolve.

Which meant she had to choose between Animal Caretaking, Cooking, and Gardening. Her current situation made it an easy choice. With the horse to take care of, and Ethel needing help with the cooking every night, the only one she didn’t need was Gardening.

Plus, when they reached the Arissian Empire, she doubted that she’d settle down on a farm again. She didn’t know if it was Ophelia’s influence, or her desire to become stronger to protect those she cared about, but she really wanted to become an adventurer.

With a deep breath, she selected Gardening and felt the knowledge being ripped from her mind. The aftereffects made her slightly woozy, and she hoped that she’d never experience losing a high-level skill.

As she bent down to retrieve the bird at her feet, she spotted a flash of movement in the bush. Glancing to the side, she caught a glimpse of Ophelia sneaking up on her through the scrub brush. Her friend’s attacks had become incessant on the trail over the last few days; it was time to teach her a lesson.

Piper flipped up her cloak’s hood to hide her features before casting [False Face]. She molded her head to become larger, and her skin blotchier. Her claws transformed into long talons, and her teeth became oversized and yellow. When she was done, she looked just like a redcap.

Ding! Your spell, False Face has reached Level 6.

It was a nice bonus to gain a level in the skill, which must mean she’d done a good job of making herself look like a redcap. She grinned as Ophelia drew closer, the girl’s boots crunching on the gravel. Still, she didn’t turn around.

“Got you, foul—” Ophelia’s words cut off mid-sentence as Piper spun around, exposing herself as a redcap. The girl let out a bloodcurdling scream before spinning around and sprinting away. The young woman ran as if hellhounds from the Infernal Realm were on her heels.

Piper’s laughter died on her lips as Ophelia kept screaming and disappeared around a boulder. She winced, starting to think that maybe she’d taken it too far. “It was just a joke,” she called after her friend. “It’s me, Piper!”

But it was already too late, and Ophelia was gone. She hurriedly recast [False Face] to return to her old self before chasing after her friend. This was probably going to end badly.

Her fears were confirmed a second later when Alfred rushed down the trail with his axe held ready.

“Piper!” he called out in his deep voice. “Where are the redcaps?”

“Umm… the redcap was sort of me.”

“What are you talking about?” Alfred furrowed his brow. “She thought you were a redcap?”

“I… sort of cast a spell to look for one,” she said quickly. “But it was just a joke.”

Alfred lowered his weapon and facepalmed. “Did you really think it was a good idea to do that while we’re in redcap territory? What were you thinking?”

“She’s been attacking me non-stop,” she complained. “I just wanted to teach her a lesson…”

“You need to think before you act, girl. I’ve never been so disappointed in you.” Alfred turned and headed back toward their camp, which was hidden behind a ring of massive boulders. As he walked, he muttered darkly under his breath.

Piper blushed and kicked a stone. She’d only meant it as a joke. Why hadn’t Ophelia found it funny? It’s not like a redcap could have put on her clothing. Surely, her friend should have realized it was only an illusion.

Looking up, she spotted Ophelia fleeing from the camp. She heard Ethel calling after her daughter, but the girl didn’t slow her pace.

Piper continued to watch as Ophelia climbed the slope until she reached an outcropping of rock. Once there, the girl sank down and buried her face in her hands. Her shoulders heaved as she sobbed.

At the sight of Ophelia crying, she felt a surge of guilt. She’d gone way too far pretending to be a redcap. But her friend had always seemed fearless. If anything, she thought that Ophelia would have tried to brain her with her stick.

Piper scooped up the dead bird with one hand, and with her other she lifted the hem of her cloak. Then she started to climb the rocky terrain toward Ophelia. She wasn’t sure if her friend would want to talk to her, but she had to at least try.

She quickly reached Ophelia, who sat up at her approach. The younger girl scrubbed her eyes and averted her gaze.

“I wasn’t scared, you know,” Ophelia said, her voice cracking. “I knew it was you all along.”

“I know you did,” Piper smiled. “How come you didn’t hit me with your stick?”

“Because I’m weak and useless,” Ophelia blurted out. “What could I possibly do against a redcap?”

Piper was momentarily taken aback by her friend’s outburst. She’d never heard her talk that way before. “Are you kidding? You’re the bravest girl I’ve ever met.”

Ophelia gave a harsh laugh. “If that’s true, why do I keep seeing his face every time I close my eyes?”

“Whose face?”

“Who else? That vampire lord. He laughed at me when I tried to escape. There was nothing I could do to stop him. Just like I couldn’t do anything against the redcaps.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “I wish that I were brave like you.”

“I’m not brave,” Piper said softly. “I was scared every second when I fought that vampire jerk. And I was terrified of the ooze. Anyway, you haven’t even awakened yet. How are you supposed to stop someone before you get your amazing warrior class? I bet if you had awakened, you would have kicked the vampire all the way back to Alderwick.”

Ophelia laughed and scrubbed at her eyes. “I just feel so useless. There’s nothing I can do to help any of you.”

Piper held up the arrow impaling the dead bird. “You could always pluck this for me.”

“No way.” Ophelia screwed up her face at the sight of the fowl. “I meant like fight the vampires.”

“It’s only a few months until you awaken. I bet that you’ll get a better class than any of us.”

“Do you really think so?” Her friend looked up at Piper with hope-filled eyes.

“You’ve faced down a vampire lord, fought the king of the oozes, and hunted a demon. Those have to give some amazing deeds for your awakening. I bet you’ll get one of the upper realms for sure.”

“Maybe you’re right.” Ophelia sniffled. “Do you think I’ll be a shadow warrior?”

Piper had no idea what that was, so she simply nodded. “You’re going to be the best shadow warrior ever. Or a farm wife. Either one.”

Ophelia slapped her playfully. “I am not going to be a farm wife. Promise that we’re going to be adventurers together?”

“Pinky promise.”

Her friend frowned. “What does that mean?”

“Here, I’ll show you.” She extended her pinky finger and hooked it with Ophelia’s little finger. “It’s an unbreakable promise from my world.” She tugged her finger and smiled. “Now it’s complete.”

Ophelia flung her arms around Piper and drew her into a big hug. “Thanks, Pip.”

A lump formed in her throat at being called ‘Pip’. That had been her father’s special nickname for her back on Earth. With everything going on, she hadn’t thought about her parents for weeks. But she desperately wished she could see them again.

That’s just another reason to grow stronger, she thought to herself. I’m going to protect Ethel and her family and learn to make portals to Earth.

Piper disentangled herself from her friend and patted her lightly on the back. At least Ophelia didn’t look upset anymore. She wasn’t back to her old ‘stick-poking self’ but at least she wasn’t crying.

“Redcaps!” a voice drifted up from below.

Rising to her feet, she peered down to see Alfred waving his arms at them. She cupped her hands around her mouth and called back down. “It was just me.”

In response, Alfred frantically pointed into the distance.

Piper frowned and turned in that direction. As she did, her heart skipped a beat. In the distance, dozens of redcaps were boiling out of a cave and heading in their direction. The creatures let out cries as they shook their strange spears above their heads.

She exchanged a quick glance with her friend and then together they raced down the slope. Their haste almost caused a mini avalanche as pebbles bounced down around them. By the time they reached the camp, they were covered in fine dust.

Alfred and Ethel were busy stuffing everything into the packs on the horse. A half-cooked rabbit lay abandoned over the fire, but there was no time to retrieve it.

Ethel glanced up at the sun, which had nearly set behind a mountain peak, and wrung her hands. “Do we dare travel at night?”

“We don’t have any choice,” Alfred said gruffly. “We’ll have to risk it.”

“But the dread owls…” Ethel trailed off. “Without a fire to keep them at bay...”

“It’s that or fight—” Alfred clamped his mouth shut before turning to his daughter. “There’s nothing to worry about. We’re going to be fine.”

“Give me a weapon,” Ophelia demanded. “Let me fight.”

Without argument, Ethel handed her daughter a knife. That alone showed how desperate the situation was.

Gorebark twisted its head to get a better look at Piper. He’d been unusually silent lately—probably because she kept threatening to gag him. “Ohh... dread owls. Those sound fun. I bet I’ll gain a few levels from killing them. Where are they?”

Piper didn’t like the sound of dread owls, but she liked the idea of dying to redcaps even less. She took a second to unstring her bow and then cast [Infernal Bowstring]. The dark red string appeared a second stretching across her weapon.

Then she checked her quiver. She was down nearly half of her arrows. Thankfully, the quiver's ability allowed her to create new ones by using mana. Though she hated wasting her mana before a fight. In the future, she’d have to make sure she was always topped up.

She fed a trickle of mana into the creepy quiver—the ear on the outside twitching—and watched as the arrows replenished themselves. Within a few seconds, she had a full quiver of arrows.

“Let’s move,” Alfred barked. He slapped the rump of the horse to get it going and hurried along the animal’s side.

Piper took up a position near the rear, constantly glancing over her shoulder. If the redcaps caught up with them, she could hopefully drive them back with a few well-placed arrows. But she didn’t like their odds of escaping the creatures on their home turf in the mountains.

Chapter 32 - Gathering Forces

Justina grimaced as she drank from the flask of blood, the cool liquid making her freshly regrown teeth ache. Once she had taken a few more sips, she opened the intricately inscribed pouch on her belt and dropped it inside. The flask disappeared into the shining portal as if it had never existed.

As she closed her void pouch, she glanced around the ruined farmstead. She and Augustus had spent an entire day here to allow their wounds to heal. With the survivors of the redcap raiders lurking in the hills, they didn’t dare travel until they were fully recovered.

“Rider coming in,” Augustus grunted from nearby. Already, he was picking up his halberd and readying a spell.

Justina turned around and shielded her eyes from the rising sun. In the distance, she could make out a horse galloping in their direction. She gripped her sword hilt and drew a sliver of steel from the sheath. But after a second, she let out a breath of relief and slammed the sword back in. The rider wore the unmistakable cloak of the Crimson Guard.

“Isn’t that Lucius?” Augustus grumbled. “Shouldn’t he be on the way to Stout Oak Keep?”

“Something must have happened.”

They waited in silence as Lucius galloped in their direction. As the man neared them, he jumped from his saddle and raced over to them. “I’m glad I caught you,” he said. “I was afraid you would have already reached the mountains.”

“Why are you here?” Justina demanded. “Didn’t I order you to ride to the duke with all haste?”

“That’s a funny story,” he said, lifting his visor to expose his youthful grin. “I ran into the duke a short distance from our camp. It turns out one of his augurs sensed a demonic presence while he was out hunting. He’s on his way here now and should probably arrive before midday.”

Justina’s brow rose. “What of Ransford?”

“That’s the funny part,” Lucius said with a chuckle. “The duke ordered the craven fool to set out immediately to slay the demon. He’s a short distance behind me with the others.”

Justina scowled at the news. She had planned to capture the girl and any surviving members of her family to get their testimony. But if Ransford was nearby, he would order her to slay them without mercy.

“You’re not smiling.” Lucius’s grin faded.

“It… complicates things,” she said with a sigh. “Should we break down the camp?”

Lucius shook his head. “The duke wants to gather all our forces here.”

Justina nodded and rubbed her jaw. She always hated regrowing teeth. They usually ached for weeks afterward as they pushed the old teeth aside and jockeyed for position. If only she had some ashenroot to dull the pain. It would make it far more tolerable.

Augustus paused in the process of packing his bed and walked over to the nearby smouldering campfire. He tossed some sticks onto the embers and blew on them. If they weren’t leaving, there was no reason to extinguish the fire.

Lucius glanced around at the ruins of the farmhouse before his gaze landed on the nearby crater with a deep trench leading to it. “What in the name of Infernus happened there?”

“We’re still trying to figure it out.”

“Don’t tell me there really was a demon.”

“Our current theory is that a farm girl living here found a pre-Thronefall bow in the ruins,” Justina said. “When Ransford arrived for a little snack, she had a surprise waiting for him.”

Lucius slapped his knee. “Isn’t that something? The bastard thought he could eat a family and ran smack into a legendary weapon. Infernus must have had a hand in that.”

Justina gave him a slight smile. “I feel there is the hand of a god in there somewhere. Also, I would ask you to show Ransford due respect. He is still our lord.” She’d allowed her subordinate to disrespect their liege, as her own opinion of the man had fallen after seeing what had happened on the farm. But she couldn’t allow it to continue.

“He’s a jumped-up bard,” Lucius sneered. “He doesn’t deserve our respect.”

“The emperor gave him a lordship,” she said firmly. “It is our duty to serve him until such a time as we can prove he’s not worthy of our service.”

“Oh, I see.” Lucius winked at her. “We’re going to show Duke Albrecht what he did. Got it.”

“We’re going to follow our orders.” Justina brushed back a stray strand of her dark hair. “Nothing more, nothing less.”

Lucius shrugged. “I guess it will just be a coincidence if what we find gets him publicly staked.”

“Something like that.”

With the conversation ended, she walked over to the fire and grabbed a round log she’d retrieved from a nearby shed. She settled down on the flat surface to wait for Ransford.

Not even an hour had passed when three horses followed by a dozen pack animals plodded onto the farm. In the lead was Lord Ransford, a look of pure disdain on his face as he inspected the farm ruins. Behind him was Virgil, holding the lord’s banner with an image of a keep and lute emblazoned on its surface. And bringing up the rear was Cassius.

Justina rose to greet her lord. She thumped a hand against her chest and inclined her head. Then she waited for Ransford to return the salute.

Ransford leapt from his horse and landed lightly on the hard dirt. He gave her a half-hearted salute, barely touching his chest before he walked over to the crater. “Do you see the demon’s handiwork now? I bet you won’t dare question me again.”

“I see it, my lord.” She fought down the urge to grind her teeth, as that would be far too painful in her current condition.

Ransford spun around and narrowed his eyes. “I see scars on your face. Did you fight the monstrous demon as well?”

“We encountered a raiding party of redcaps in the hills, my lord.” She dropped her hand from her chest. “They have been dealt with.”

“I assume you sent the vermin scurrying back to their burrows?” Ransford shuddered. “Truly disgusting members of the fae. I don’t know why their cousins haven’t wiped them out.” He whirled around. “Now, who’s going to set up my tent and fetch me a goblet of blood?”

Lucius began to grumble, but shut his mouth when Justina glared at him. Averting his gaze, he hurried over to the packhorses.

She understood his annoyance—most Blood Lords travelled with a retinue of servants—but it wasn’t their place to complain. The lord enjoyed ordering his bodyguards to do menial tasks for him, and it was their duty to comply.

Of course, it was usually a bad idea to anger someone whose job it was to keep you alive. Numerous Blood Lords in the past had enjoyed tormenting their Crimson Guard. And all of them had met grisly ends. However, Ransford was freshly turned and likely knew little of their history. Either he would learn quickly or end up like the others.

I wouldn’t mind seeing him staked in the town square.

Justina motioned for Augustus and the others to help with the unpacking. If the Duke wouldn’t arrive until later today, it was likely they were staying the night here. While all vampires could see perfectly during the night, the same couldn’t be said of their mounts. They would have to travel during daylight hours at the start of their journey.

Moving between the horses, she helped to unload the tents and other equipment. Thankfully, the blood was all stored in void pouches; otherwise, they’d be carting around enormous barrels of the liquid. The void pouches also had the added benefit of keeping the blood fresh, so they wouldn’t have to keep feeding on humans.

In the old days before void storage, they’d had to travel with processions of human slaves and feed on them every night. But slavery had been abolished in the empire centuries ago, and the more humane blood rent had taken its place.

The camp was almost completely set up when she heard trumpets and drums in the distance. She paused in what she was doing and watched as a procession emerged from the forest. At the front was the banner of Duke Albrecht, with an image of a kraken devouring a castle. Then behind them rode the musicians, beating on drums, blowing trumpets, and playing fifes. After them were the legions of servants, soldiers, and hangers-on that accompanied the duke. Finally, came the man himself in resplendent golden armor and surrounded by his Crimson Guard.

The Duke cantered to the front of the line and reared up as he reached Ransford, who had emerged from his tent with a goblet in hand.

“My lord,” Ransford said, giving a fawning bow. A bit of crimson liquid spilled out of his goblet as he bowed low.

“Get up, get up,” the duke said. “I don’t want any of that ridiculous ceremony in my presence.”

“As you wish, my lord,” Ransford said with a slimy grin. “It is an honor to be in your presence.”

“Yes, yes.” Duke Albrecht jumped down from his mount and then strode over to Justina. “It’s so good to see you!” he roared, grabbing her arms. “I wish your father were with me.”

Justina smiled warmly at the duke. He was an old friend of her father’s, and they’d known each other for centuries.

“It is good to see you, my lord,” she said. “How was your trip?”

“None of that my lord stuff from you,” he said gruffly. “My name is Karl, and I expect you to use it.”

“As you wish… Karl.”

The duke slapped her on the shoulder. “That’s better. Now what’s this I hear about a demon?”

“I believe you should talk to my lord about that.”

“Oh, right.” He spun around and thrust out his hand toward Ransford. “Tell me everything you know about the demon. I was hunting aspect beasts not far from here, but nothing compares to hunting a demon. That’s a trophy I want on my wall.”

Ransford straightened up and lifted his chin slightly. “She is quite powerful, Karl—”

The duke held up his hand to stop Ransford. “My title is lord, and I expect you to use it.”

Justina wilted slightly as Ransford scowled at her. She would pay for that slight later. In fact, she had a feeling she was going to be doing something unpleasant like latrine duty tonight. But she also noted that Karl had seen the scowl.

“As I was saying… my lord,” Ransford continued. “The demon is quite powerful. She presents as a little girl, but she possesses a weapon that must be legendary at least. And she is an expert in illusions.”

Justina frowned. “You never said anything about illusions.”

“Didn’t I?” Ransford shrugged. “I must not have thought it was important.”

Justina chewed on her lower lip. If the girl could cast illusions, then it might explain how she had slipped away from Augustus. Her job of finding and catching the girl had suddenly become much more difficult.

“Beyond that, what can I say?” Ransford held his hands out. “She’s a demon with unbelievable power.”

Karl walked over and poked Ransford in the chest with a mailed fist. “And just what were you doing around little peasant girls? I hope you’re not stirring up a rebellion on me. Such a thing would displease me greatly. I know you were one of the emperor’s favorites, but he’s not here in this province.”

Ransford blanched visibly. “I was merely protecting a peasant family.”

“I know all about your hired thugs,” Karl said. “Before you try to lie about what happened, know that I have numerous spies in Alderwick. I heard that you threatened to eat some peasant girls not too long ago. And I know that you attacked this farm. But something went wrong, didn’t it? I still don’t know if you discovered something interesting or merely endured an embarrassing defeat at the hands of some peasants. However, my augur swears up and down that he felt a powerful infernal presence nearby.”

Justina watched the exchange and fought down a smile as Ransford almost seemed to deflate. She’d always liked Duke Albrecht. He was a fair and just man—the complete opposite of her current lord.

“Now, if we discover a demon in the hills,” Karl continued. “Then all is forgiven. However, if it’s anything else, your future doesn’t look bright. Regardless of how well you managed to soothe the emperor with your lute in the past.”

Karl clapped his hands together. “Now, how about a song? It’s been a long day, and I haven’t had a minstrel to perform for me in ages.”

Ransford pointed at himself. “Do you mean me, my lord?”

“Who else?” Karl settled down on a log near the fire. “Unless Justina wants to join in? I’ve always enjoyed the song about the vampire homeland.” Duke Albrecht was one of the few nobles who hadn’t come from Urkalla across the ocean. He’d been a king in these lands when the first vampires had arrived and had bent the knee in exchange for a duchy and being turned.

Justina bowed. “I’m always happy to sing for you, Karl.”

“But… but… I’m a lord,” Ransford sputtered. “I don’t sing anymore.”

“Not even for your duke?” Karl raised an eyebrow.

“I-I suppose I could this one time.”

Ransford hurried over to his tent and reemerged a moment later with his lute. He plucked at the strings while humming a few chords. Then he moved to stand in front of the duke, his features pinched.

Justina took up a position next to Ransford. After clearing her throat, she began to sing the song of their homeland. As she sang the first verse of the song, many people around the camp stopped what they were doing to listen.

By the moon’s pale dying light,
I recall the hills of night,
Where my people’s song once lingered in the air.
But the rivers now run dry,
And the crows have claimed the sky,
Oh, my homeland, I can never wander there.

Ransford joined her in the chorus, with his own voice. While she was renowned as an impressive singer, she paled in comparison to her lord. His voice was like that of the angels from the Celestial Realm.

O land of shadowed stone,
O hearth I called my own,
Your silence haunts the marrow of my soul.
We crossed the storm-tossed sea,
But you still bleed through me,
Forever bound, though I no longer hold.

As their voices rose to the sky, she knew that now Karl was here, everything would be alright. They would find the peasant girl and save her family. And then she’d be rid of Ransford for good.

Chapter 31 - Passage to the Dragonspine Mountains

Piper crept through the pine forest with Alfred at her side, an arrow nocked on her bow. They were closing in on the redcap’s camp, and all around them were the signs of a hasty departure. She stepped over an abandoned pack before picking her way through scattered cooking implements. At the center of the camp, a thin wisp of smoke still rose from the remains of the campfire.

She continued onward, wincing as she stepped on a dry stick. How long would it take for the Holy System to give her some sort of woodcraft skill? If a big bear of a man like Alfred could move silently through a forest, then she should be able to as well. The system definitely wasn’t fair sometimes.

Alfred shook his head at the noise and then continued forward. His own bow was held at the ready, and he could nock and loose in a split second. The man’s archery skill must be incredibly high.

“It looks like you’re right.” Alfred stopped and poked a discarded sack with his toe. “They must have fled before dawn.”

“Do you think they’ll be back?”

Alfred nodded. “Most of the redcaps were likely young warriors looking to gain levels. Their family members will swear vengeance against whoever did this to them. There will be war in the mountains.”

Piper swallowed nervously. The last thing she’d wanted was another angry group of high levels trying to track her down. Her plan had seemed perfect in her mind, but she was learning there were a lot of unintended consequences to her actions.

She walked over to a nearby crater and realized it must have been where Gorebark’s [Demonic Mark] had detonated. An unpleasant smell lingered in the air, and she could make out the remains of the redcap she’d hit.

“Do you think they know I did this?”

“Ahem,” Gorebark said. “I believe this was all my doing. Unless you can make magic arrows explode?” When she didn’t answer, the bow continued. “I thought not.”

“Does that thing ever shut up?” Alfred asked, giving the demonic weapon the side-eye.

“Only when I gag it,” Piper replied in a fake cheery tone. “Something I’m thinking about doing right now.” She fought down a grin as the bow clamped its mouth shut. While she could keep it gagged permanently, she needed the bow on her side.

After a moment, Gorebark started talking again. “I guess you don’t want to hear about my new skill, then? That’s too bad for you.”

Piper knew it was bait, but she couldn’t resist learning about what the new ability was for her bow. With a defeated sigh, she turned Gorebark so she could look him straight in his wooden eyes. “Alright. Out with it.”

“Out with what?”

“You know what,” she whispered urgently, glancing over at Alfred, who was looking more annoyed by the second. “What new skill did you receive?

“Oh, you mean when I leveled up? Something I probably should have done months ago? But you just had to stuff me in the rafters of the barn, didn’t you? Do you know how hard it was to watch those plump and stupid cows wander around below and not be able to kill any of them? It was torture! Torture, I tell you!”

“I’m sure you’ll have plenty of things to kill soon,” she said darkly. “Now tell me already.”

“After killing the redcap, I reached level 2,” Gorebark said. “Now I have the skill [Infernal Bowstring].”

She raised her eyebrows. That didn’t sound nearly as good as [Demonic Mark] which had a habit of blowing up her enemies. Not that she liked the aftereffects, though. The nearby crater—with what looked like hamburger meat scattered along its edge—was the perfect example of that.

“How does it work?”

“All you have to do is feed some mana into me to summon a bowstring,” Gorebark said. “It will scale with your level to provide more power to your draw and will give your arrows magic damage.” Gorebark gave her a wicked grin. “Feel free to lavish me with praise now for being so amazing.”

Alfred placed the end of his bow against the ground and leaned on it. “That’s not a bad ability, you know.”

“It’s not?” Piper replied. “It sounds pretty basic to me.”

“It’s going to be hard to keep our bowstrings dry in the mountains, with all the rain and melting snow. It would be handy to have a bowstring you could summon at any time.”

Piper decided to try the new skill and took a moment to unstring her bow. Then she lifted her weapon and focused on the [Infernal Bowstring] skill. After a second, she felt a concerning amount of mana pouring out. In fact, it felt like a torrent. How much did the spell use?

Her mana solidified into a bowstring made of crimson sinew on the bow. She gave it a test pluck and felt immense resistance. Assuming she was strong enough to draw it, she could probably launch arrows an incredible distance with the new skill.

“That’s a lot of mana!” she gasped, checking her character sheet. “You should have warned me it took so much.” Summoning the bowstring had cost her more than half her mana. And while they were in no immediate danger, she didn’t like being that low.

Gorebark stared at her with a flat expression. “Did you not hear me say it used mana? Are your horns growing into your ears or something? If you would get rid of that ugly pink ape illusion, I could check to make sure you don’t have any manure in your ears.”

“I am not ugly!” she retorted. “You take that back!”

“I’ve seen demons who had been melted into puddles of flesh and organs, and they were all more attractive than that hideous illusion you’re wearing.”

Piper knew she should ignore the bow’s insults, but being called uglier than a melted demon stung more than she cared to admit. Before Gorebark could say anything else, she stuffed the gag back into its mouth. She would remove it later when she’d calmed down a bit.

“It’s about time,” Alfred grunted. “I don’t know how you listen to that thing.”

Piper shrugged helplessly. “It has information that I need.”

“If only you’d gone to the spirit realm,” he muttered. “No one ever came back from there with evil talking bows.”

Piper wanted to reply that the bow had been useful in holding off Ransford, but she knew that Alfred was just worried about her. She was starting to become a bit concerned, too. The Crimson Guard—immensely powerful and ancient vampires—had been fearful of her bow. What if they were right, and it was corrupting her in some way?

But right now, she needed its power. Once they crossed the mountains and reached the safety of the Arissian Empire, she could put away the bow until she learned more about it. There must be someone she could ask about the weapon there—preferably someone who wouldn’t immediately burn her at the stake for being a demon.

After poking around the camp for a few more minutes, Alfred waved over Ethel and Ophelia, who were hiding in a nearby copse of trees. The woman and her daughter emerged with the heavily laden horse.

Piper watched as the two of them neared their position, and she rolled her eyes as Ophelia casually tried to circle around her back. As usual, her friend was clutching a stick. If Ophelia didn’t get the stick wielding skill when she awakened, Piper would be shocked.

Ignoring the [Ambush Detection] warning, she waited for the imminent attack. Then she felt a stick jab her in the ribs. She knew with her vastly improved stats, she could easily have stopped Ophelia. But her friend deserved to get her sometimes.

“I got you, foul demon,” Ophelia crowed. “I’m definitely getting a demon hunter class when I awaken.”

Ethel placed a hand on her hip. “Not unless you can cook meals and tend to a farm with it.”

“I told you that I’m going to be an adventurer!”

“Over my dead body.”

Piper smiled as she watched them bicker. The more Ethel pushed her daughter, the more Ophelia wanted to become an adventurer. And Piper was pretty sure anyone who battled an ooze—with little more than a kitchen knife—was going to get a pretty great combat class in the Spirit Realm.

“…just for that, I’m taking a berserker class.”

“Oh no you’re not!” Ethel said, her voice rising slightly. “They don’t have any defensive skills.”

“When you’re as good as I am, you don’t need them.” Ophelia slashed the air with her stick. “I get Piper all the time, and she took out that vampire lord.”

At the mention of Lord Ransford, the mood of the entire group soured. Ethel’s face darkened, and Alfred’s expression fell.

“Enough,” Alfred said. “We don’t have time to stand here flapping our gums. The longer we delay, the closer the Crimson Guard get.” Without another word, he set off up the hills leading to the mountain.

Ophelia scowled and marched over to the nearby patch of grass. Once she reached it, she hacked at the long stalks as if she were cutting down a horde of redcaps.

Piper didn’t know what to say—her own thoughts returning to that terrible day on the farm—and instead followed Alfred. If he ran into anything, she wanted to be close by to help. Not that anything dangerous should be near the redcap’s camp. According to Alfred, they would have hunted any aspect beasts or awakened animals in the area.

A few seconds later, she heard Ethel sigh and glanced back to see the woman moving to corral her daughter. Meanwhile, the horse stood there in the middle of the clearing, looking bored. For an animal that had been through so much recently, it sure didn’t look bothered by it.

Piper continued across the rocky ground until she reached the far side of the clearing. A narrow path wound its way up the hill, the trees becoming sparser as the elevation rose. It wouldn’t be long before they left the forest completely.

She marched up the trail, pausing periodically to make sure that Ethel and Ophelia were keeping up. While she was having little trouble with the rough terrain, she probably had more physical attribute points than both combined.

Their little group continued up the mountain for the rest of the day, the sun crossing the sky before beginning its descent. Soon, the hike turned monotonous. At first, she’d been worried they would run into redcaps or other dangerous creatures. But when they didn’t encounter so much as a bird, she quickly grew bored.

Piper decided it was a good time to level up. She pulled up her character sheet and examined it.

Piper Ashcroft

Race: Shadeling, Level 17

Class: Deceiver (Epic), Level 13

Attributes

Strength – 66

Dexterity – 51

Stamina - 20

Vitality – 30

Perception – 3

Swiftness - 2

Magic - 17

Mana - 245

Mana Regeneration – 120

Free Attribute Points - 50

Racial Skills (5/10)

·         Demonic Blood, Level 6

·         Demonic Fury, Level 1

·         Demonic Intellect, Level 6

·         Quick Claw, Level 9

·         Tail Strike, Level 10

Skills (10/10)

·         Ambush Detection, Level 4

·         Animal Caretaking, Level 5

·         Archery, Level 8

·         Cooking, Level 6

·         Enduring Casting, Level 11

·         Gardening, Level 1

·         Identify - 2

·         Running, Level 12

·         Stick Wielding, Level 1

·         Subterfuge, Level 2

Spells (4/10)

·         False Face, Level 5

·         Truth Shroud, Level 8

·         Umbral Terror, Level 1

·         Veil of Lies, Level 5

Her skill and spell levels had been steadily rising, though she really needed to cast [Umbral Terror] the next time she got a chance. In the battle with the redcaps, she hadn’t dared use it in case it consumed all of her mana. Hopefully, they could find an easier target for her to practice on in the mountains.

Piper returned to her character sheet and tried to decide where to place her 50 free attribute points. After testing Gorebark’s skill [Infernal Bowstring], she’d realized that she needed to increase her mana.

It wouldn’t hurt to increase her mana regeneration either. The battle against the redcaps had shown her that fights wouldn’t always be quick and dirty. And if she found herself in a similar situation in the future, it would be game over if she ran out of mana.

After mulling over her options for a few more minutes, she placed 5 points into Magic, 15 points into Mana, and an additional 15 points into Mana Regeneration. That left her with 25 points to play with.

She immediately added another 10 to Strength, simply because her new bowstring was difficult to draw. Plus, she secretly liked being strong. Who knew when it might come in handy again?

Then, to finish, she placed 5 points into Vitality and 10 into Swiftness. It didn’t hurt to make her body stronger and more resilient. And in her mind, increasing her Swiftness was a necessity now every time she leveled up. There was no way she would ever neglect that stat again after almost being caught by the redcaps.

When she was finished, she noted that her Mana sat at 320 and her Mana Regeneration was 190. She would have liked it to be a bit higher, but it would have to do for now. That was the problem with hybrid classes—she couldn’t just concentrate on a couple of stats. But it seemed to have worked well for the powerful shadeling demon in the vision she’d witnessed.

As she was busy leveling up, they’d arrived at the mouth of a mountain pass. The dense forest had transformed into a handful of stunted and twisted trees. Soaring snow-capped mountain peaks towered on both sides of the corridor, and a biting wind gusted down the slope, making her cloak flap around her shoulders.

Alfred walked over to her and placed a large hand on her shoulder. “Through there is the Dragonspine Mountains. And beyond that is the Arissian Empire.”

Piper stared down the pass and couldn’t help but feel a sense of foreboding. She knew almost instinctively that there was something ancient and powerful dwelling among the peaks. All she could do was pray that they wouldn’t meet it.

Chapter 30 - A Cave Full of Silence

Piper crept deeper into the cave, searching for the illusion she’d cast to conceal the alcove. Her teeth were chattering so loudly she was worried the sound would wake the others. All she wanted to do was climb under a thick woolen blanket and curl up into a ball. But first, she had to find the darn spot where the others were hopefully still asleep.

After searching for a few minutes, she released her [Enduring Casting]. A short distance away, the cave wall shimmered to reveal the alcove. She let out a sigh of relief and tiptoed inside. Once she had passed the horse, she recast [Veil of Lies] and tied it off with [Enduring Casting].

Then she remembered that she’d changed her appearance. The last thing she wanted was for Ethel and the others to awaken to find a stranger looming over them.

She cast [False Face] and formed the image of her old self in her mind. After a second, the illusion took hold and molded her features into the young woman with blond hair again.

The horse lifted its head slightly as she cast her spell. After a moment, it laid back down. She exhaled with relief and slumped against the wall. She groped around in the darkness until she found her blanket and the animal pelt that Ethel had given her earlier.

Gathering the warm covers, she was about to lie down when she saw eyes glittering in the darkness. Across from her, Alfred was sitting up and watching her intently. Not knowing what to say, she stared back for a second before lying down on the hard floor. She pulled the blanket tightly around her and rolled over. But she could still feel Alfred’s gaze boring into her back.

She lay there for a few minutes, her mind replaying the events of the night. Not only had she survived the redcaps, but she’d escaped the Crimson Guard as well. Either she had incredible luck, or someone was watching over her.

Is the god who summoned me somehow helping?

Before she could dwell further on that idea, she raised her hand and yawned. Pulling the blanket tighter around her body, she tried to stop the chattering of her teeth. After everything that had happened, she was exhausted. But she doubted her wet, and half-frozen body would let her sleep.

I’ll just try to rest my eyes for a second.

Before she knew it, someone was shaking her awake. She jerked upright, her blankets falling off, and she peered blearily around the gloomy cave. Rubbing her eyes, she stretched and yawned. Thankfully, her clothing had dried during the night, and she’d warmed up nicely.

Standing over her was Ophelia, stick in hand as usual. “Do all demons sleep in? Or is it just you?”

“Just me,” she said with a smile. “I need my rest to recover from your attacks.”

Ophelia giggled and swiped her stick through the air. “Imagine what class I’ll get for hunting a demon? It’s guaranteed to be epic at least.”

Ethel paused in the act of loading the horse. “You’ll take a farming or cooking class, and that is that. I won’t have my daughter running around as an adventurer.”

“I’m allowed to take any class I want to in the Arissian Empire.” Ophelia crossed her arms and pouted.

“You’ll take what class we tell you to take,” Ethel continued, stuffing a blanket into one of the saddlebags. She paused with it halfway in, and her mouth dropped open as Piper rose to her feet. “What happened to your dress?”

Piper glanced down, and the memory of the redcap raking its talons across her chest came rushing back. Her dress was torn, and she had angry red scratches underneath. It was only through sheer chance and her last-second dodge that the talons hadn’t seriously wounded her.

Alfred walked forward and patted his wife on the shoulder. “We’re not talking about it.”

“We’re not?” Piper asked. She was sure that Alfred was going to give her an earful.

“No, we’re not,” Alfred grunted, his brow descending dangerously. He looked seriously pissed off. “Because you won’t like what I have to say.”

Ethel simply shrugged and returned to packing. On the rare occasions when Alfred grew angry, she usually gave him a wide berth. And this looked like one of those occasions.

Piper twirled a strand of blond hair around her finger. She couldn’t remember ever seeing Alfred this angry—not even after the disaster with the ooze. But once she told him they were safe, he’d probably understand.

“The pass is clear,” she said, stepping out of her blankets. “We can make it through now.”

“I suspected as much,” Alfred replied, without meeting her gaze. “Will you be coming with us?”

Piper frowned. What sort of question was that? Why wouldn’t she be going with them? “Of course I am,” she blurted out before shrinking back slightly. “Don’t you want me to come?”

Alfred shrugged his broad shoulders. “Since you do whatever you want, I expected you to choose your own path.”

“I want to stay with you,” she said, a lump forming in her throat. When she’d gone out to lead away the redcaps last night, she hadn’t thought Alfred would react like this. If anything, she thought he would be happy. “I had a plan, and it worked…”

“I’m sure you did.”

Ethel looked from her husband and then back to Piper. She wrung her hands in front of her, clearly not knowing how to react. After an agonizingly long minute of silence, she retrieved something from the bag. “Why don’t we all have some breakfast?”

“I’m not hungry,” Alfred grunted, walking out of the alcove. Without slowing, he stepped through the illusion into the cave beyond. His footsteps echoed against the walls and then faded away.

Before Piper could say anything [Ambush Detection] blared a warning in her mind. Almost by instinct, her hand shot out and wrenched the stick from Ophelia’s grasp.

“Hey!” the girl protested. “That’s not fair.”

She handed the stick back as Ethel scolded her daughter. Had she ruined things between her and Alfred? Why couldn’t he see that she’d done this to save them? Was he just upset that it hadn’t been him? Was he jealous?

Piper couldn’t believe that someone like Alfred would be jealous of her power. He’d saved her life in the past—why couldn’t she do the same for him?

I have to talk to him.

Lifting her blanket from the floor, she wrapped it around her shoulders and stalked after the big man. She passed the deeply grooved walls and quickly reached the mouth of the cave. Glancing around, she spotted him standing on a stump and gazing down the hill.

She walked over to him, but he didn’t even acknowledge her presence. “I had to do it,” she said, preparing herself for an argument. “You know that.”

“Do you really want to have this conversation?”

“Yes!” she said, crossing her arms.

“Fine. How many people have you killed?”

Piper was taken aback by his question. What did it even have to do with anything? “I… don’t know.”

“How many redcaps did you kill last night?”

“Just one,” she said, staring at her feet. “Why does it matter?”

Alfred climbed down from the stump and let out a deep sigh. He suddenly looked very tired. “How old are you, Piper?”

“I’m 13 and a half.”

“Do you know how old Ophelia is?” When Piper didn’t respond, he continued. “She’s almost 13. And do you know how many people she’s killed?”

“Zero,” Piper said softly.

“Exactly.”

“So what?” Piper shot back, feeling her anger begin to rise. “Are you jealous of my power? It’s not my fault you took a farming class.”

Alfred gave her a pitying look, which made her even angrier. “Do you honestly think so little of me?”

“Then what’s your problem?”

“I’m afraid of you losing your humanity.” He tugged on his beard. “You may have been human once, but you’re a demon now. And you carry around a cursed bow on your back. Are you absolutely certain that you’re not losing yourself to your demon side?”

She opened her mouth for a retort but then stopped. What if Alfred was right? The old Piper never would have gone off alone to fight Redcaps. And she barely felt bad about the men she’d killed on the farm. She thought it was because she’d convinced herself that they’d deserved their fate. But what if it were something else?

“I love you like a daughter,” Alfred continued. “You may be in a demon’s body, but you’re still just a girl. No girl should have to do what you’ve been doing. I want to keep you safe. I want to protect your humanity. Do you understand?”

Piper nodded her head, the lump returning in her throat. How could she have thought that Alfred was jealous of her power? He’d just been worried about her going off to fight the creatures alone.

“I don’t really remember killing them,” she said softly. “It’s all just a blur in my mind.”

“Who? The redcaps?”

“No, the men on the farm. I used a new skill, and it sort of took over. Afterward… I didn’t like what I’d done. But the redcaps deserved it. They were talking about turning me into a slave. And they would have raided the village if they hadn’t been stopped!”

The big man stomped over to her side and drew her into a hug. He wrapped his big arms around her and squeezed her tight. “Promise me you won’t do anything so dangerous again without talking to me first.”

“I promise,” she sniffled. “I thought I was helping.”

“We would have figured something out,” he said gruffly. “However, I don’t want you to think that you’re in this alone. Understood? I’ll always stand by your side when it’s needed. If we’re going to get across those mountains, I’m going to need your help anyway. There are dangerous beasts prowling the valleys.”

She nodded again.

“Come on,” he said, patting her back. “Let’s get some breakfast. This is going to be a long day.”

Together, they returned to the cave. When they neared the alcove, Alfred frowned as he patted the wall. “Where is that cursed opening?”

Piper dropped the illusion to reveal the hidden space. She slipped past Alfred and headed toward Ethel, who was handing a hunk of bread to her daughter.

“Is everything all right?” Ethel asked, looking up. When both of them nodded, she returned to slicing the bread. She then handed pieces to both of them.

Piper bit into the bread ravenously, never having felt so hungry before. There must be some sort of link between mana usage and food. Every time she used a large portion of her mana, she felt starved the next day. She’d have to ask Ethel and Alfred about that later, though she didn’t think either of them needed mana for their classes.

Piper wolfed down the bread and then accepted some cheese and finally a piece of dried meat. More than anything, she wanted to ask for another helping. But she didn’t want to be selfish and take more than the others.

Though apparently, she didn’t need to ask, as Ethel must have seen the longing in her gaze, and handed her another thick slice of bread. She quickly gobbled it down before sucking the crumbs off of her fingers.

While they ate, Ethel finished packing up their camp. Then she took the horse's reins, and with her daughter, guided it outside.

Once Ophelia had left, Alfred turned back to Piper. “Is there anything else I should know about last night?”

“Umm… I ran into the Crimson Guard…”

Alfred raised his brow.

She shrugged her shoulders helplessly. “It wasn’t on purpose.”

“I’m sure,” Alfred muttered.

“But they were really nice. The woman saved me from the redcaps that were chasing me.”

“What exactly was your plan last night?”

“I was going to lead the redcaps to the Crimson Guard camp. You should have seen it. I even made myself look like the vampire woman. Once they were fighting, I was going to disappear and come back here.”

“Not a terrible plan,” Alfred grunted. “Still too dangerous for my taste. In the future, you need to trust me.”

“I will,” she said quickly. “I promise.”

“What happened to the vampires?”

She shrugged. “Maybe they went back to their camp? The last I saw them, they were pretty badly beaten up. I’m not even sure if the woman survived.” As she spoke those words, she felt a sense of guilt wash over her. She had left Justina to face the redcaps alone after the vampire had saved her life. But she’d had no choice.

“No redcap could take down a Crimson Guard,” he said. “We need to get moving before they recover. We’ll have a day, possibly two, before they’re on our trail again.”

Piper wasn’t sure if Alfred was right. She didn’t see any reason why the Crimson Guard would come after them. But she wasn’t about to say anything. Right now, she was just happy that Alfred was talking to her again.

“I don’t understand how you lost the girl,” Justina said, wincing slightly as pain radiated down her jaw. The redcap’s arrow had pierced her cheek and taken out a few of her teeth. While [Crimson Renewal] sped along her healing, it had cost her most of the blood supply she’d brought. And regrowing teeth always took longer than any other sort of injury.

“The damn girl just disappeared,” Augustus said. “I’m telling you; she was there one second and gone the next.”

“How is that possible? Are you not a highly trained Crimson Guard?”

“She must have been an illusionist.”

“I used [Identify] on her…” Justina trailed off and held up a hand to her cheek as the pain flared once more. If she encountered the survivors of the raiding party, she would make them pay for all the injuries they’d inflicted on her. At least half of them had fled after she’d decimated their numbers with [Crucible of Frost]. However, the village should be safe now that the foul creatures knew it was protected by a Crimson Guard patrol.

“I did, too.” Augustus said. “She showed up as a level 10 farmhand to me. What did you see?”

“I saw the same thing.” While she wanted to reprimand Augustus for losing the girl, he was a highly skilled member of the Crimson Guard. Even in the driving rain, a normal girl shouldn’t have been able to elude him. She pounded her fist down against her palm. “We need that girl!”

“Should we send for Virgil?”

Justina tapped her foot against the ground. Virgil was the tracker of the party and the only one with a high Perception attribute. If she wanted to get the girl’s testimony against Ransford, then she would need a tracker.

However, Ransford had ordered her to only return once she had the demon’s head. She couldn’t disobey a direct order. “We continue into the mountains,” she said. “Once we’re both healed, we’ll pick up the girl’s trail. I know these mountains well, and there are only a few places where she could go.”

“As you command.” Augustus reached up and massaged his neck. Then he slumped down onto the chair across from her. “Did you notice how much the girl looked like you? Do you have cousins in this area?”

Justina was briefly taken aback. She hadn’t noticed any resemblance of the girl to herself. Though now that Augustus mentioned it, she had looked like she was from Urkalla, the ancient vampire kingdom across the ocean. “I doubt either of us have any relatives here. Did any come over on the invasion fleet with you?”

Augustus shook his head. “I was the last of my line by the time we decided to leave the Doom.”

“I only had my father left by the end,” she said softly. “I wonder why she looked Urkallan?”

“Let’s find her and learn why.” Augustus rose to his feet. “Would you mind taking first watch?”

Justina nodded. Her companion hadn’t had any sleep, and his injuries were far worse than her own. He deserved to sleep for the rest of the day. Assuming he could get any rest inside a tent with the sun beating down on it. Few vampires could.

She watched the big man depart her tent and returned to mulling over the puzzle of the girl they’d encountered. There was something off about the entire thing, but she didn’t know what. Hopefully, she’d figure it out before she caught up with Piper.

Chapter 29 - Blood in the Thunder

“I’m so going to die,” Piper whispered to herself as she dodged behind a tree. “This is bad. This is really bad.”

Her heart was pounding in her chest, and she was fighting down a rising tide of panic. As she stood behind the tree trunk, she cast [Veil of Lies], concealing herself from her pursuers. She watched a group of redcaps rush past, hooting with excitement. In the distance, thunder rumbled, the leaden skies threatening to storm.

In hindsight, she’d had more than a few holes in her plan. The first part had worked perfectly. She managed to make the entire raiding party of redcaps chase after her. However, the second part had failed spectacularly. One of the redcaps could move through the shadows and kept popping up in front of her to prevent her retreating.

That meant she couldn’t make any progress toward the Crimson Guard’s camp. Every time she tried to lead them there, the redcap with the shadow class appeared in front of her and forced her to change course. Right now, she was headed away from the farmhouse ruins.

She took a second to catch her breath and tried to think of a new plan. It sounded as if the redcaps were all around her. Some of them were beating the brush with their weapons—what looked like a combination of a sickle and staff—while others held torches. It was clear they were trying to flush her out.

As the line of redcaps approached, she pressed her lips together. At least one of them would walk straight into her hiding spot, which meant they’d learn about her illusions. She needed to move before then.

Dropping to all fours, she crawled down the hill. She froze as she dislodged a pebble, and it skittered down the incline. But after a second of holding her breath, it didn’t seem like any of the redcaps had heard; they were too busy making noise themselves.

Piper continued for a short distance until she reached another path. She didn’t recognize this one, but it seemed to head in the direction of the farm. She set off at a trot, trying to remain as quiet as possible.

Rounding a hairpin turn, Piper stumbled to a stop. Standing directly in front of her was the Crimson Guard. In the lead was the statuesque woman with dark hair she’d modeled her current [False Face] on.

But Piper hadn’t done the woman justice with her illusion. The vampire seemed to almost have a supernatural beauty. Her skin was pale as polished marble, and her eyes shone like garnet lit from within. The vampire wore only simple robes but held a longsword that pulsed with an ominous dark light.

Behind the woman was a mountain of a man who might even have been larger than Alfred. He was clad in full plate mail and held some sort of spear with a blade on top of it. He grumbled at the sight of Piper, but the woman held up her hand to silence him.

Piper took a step back, her eyes wide with terror. At any second, she expected them to see through her illusion and cut her down where she stood. The power radiating off the vampires was oppressive—far more than what she’d felt from Ransford.

“Wait,” the woman said, thrusting her hand out toward Piper. “I mean you no harm. My name is Justina, and this is my companion, Augustus. May I ask your name?”

“Piper,” she replied without thinking. Immediately, she winced at giving her real name. What if they were looking for a Piper? With everything going on, she wasn’t thinking clearly.

“Did you see anything in the hills?” Justina asked softly, kneeling so she could look Piper directly in the eyes. The woman was ridiculously tall. She was like a beautiful giraffe wielding a sword. “Maybe a monster or a spellcaster?”

Piper glanced over her shoulder, hearing the sounds of pursuit growing closer. “Some redcaps attacked my family,” she said, thinking quickly. “We tried to hide in the hills, but they found us.” Every fiber of her being was telling her to run, but that would only make the Crimson Guard more suspicious.

Justina rose to her feet and gazed up the hill. “Do you by chance know what happened to the farm below?”

“I’m not from around here,” Piper lied. “But maybe it was the redcaps?” As she talked, she broke into a cold sweat. If they found out who she was, they would probably execute her on the spot. No matter what, she couldn’t admit that she used to live on the farm.

The tall woman took a step closer and gently placed a hand on Piper’s shoulder. “You can tell me the truth. I promise no harm will come to you.”

Piper pushed off the woman’s hand and took a step back. “I don’t know anything…”

The woman gave her a look—almost one of sympathy—then lifted her sword with both hands. “We can speak after I’ve dealt with the redcap threat. I promise you that I don’t condone what happened on the farm. If Lord Ransford broke the laws of the Empire, I will see him brought to justice. Do you understand?”

Piper nodded, feeling suddenly off balance. Apparently, the Crimson Guard weren’t here to execute her after all. But a moment later her fears returned tenfold as she realized they probably thought Ransford was lying. After all, who would believe him that he’d run into a demoness? If she could keep her true nature hidden, she might actually come out of this alive.

Justina opened her mouth to speak, but a redcap leaping out of the bushes interrupted her. The woman responded with an almost casual swing of her sword, decapitating the redcap with a single blow. A second later, its severed head and body fell to the ground with a wet splat.

Another redcap quickly met the same fate as Justina stalked forward, her blade singing through the night air. No redcap could stand against her as she marched up the mountain, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake. It was like she was dispatching vermin and not fae warriors.

As Piper trailed after the vampire—being pushed along by Augustus when she slowed—she couldn’t help but marvel at the power displayed by the Crimson Guard. Piper had thought she was strong, but she wouldn’t last a second against Justina. This was a level of power she’d never encountered before.

Piper followed Justina, looking for her chance to slip away. So far, they hadn’t seen through her illusions. But she really didn’t want to test her luck. She had a feeling Justina wouldn’t feel so protective toward her if she found out she was a demoness.

As they walked, the heavens opened up above them. A peal of thunder shook the hills, followed by a blinding lightning strike. Fat raindrops poured down from the clouds, quickly soaking Piper to the bone.

In the driving rain, the three of them rounded the bend in the trail and ran smack into the entire force of redcaps arrayed in battle formation. Piper quickly realized that Alfred had been wrong—there were far more that 25 of them. In fact, there looked like there were at least 50 of the creatures.

At least this will give me a chance to escape.

Piper doubted even Justina and Augustus could handle so many redcaps. They would quickly be overwhelmed, but hopefully not before they killed most of the creatures. It looked like her plan was going to work after all.

“Stay behind me,” Justina ordered. “I promise I will keep you safe. Even if it costs me my life.”

Piper frowned at Justina’s words. As she did, she felt herself wavering slightly. The memory of a helmeted female vampire stopping Ransford from eating her back in Alderwick came rushing back. Had that been Justina? Did she owe this woman her life?

She shook her head to clear her thoughts. No matter how Justina was acting toward her now, everything would change the second they discovered she was a demon. Her only goal was to escape and reunite with Ethel and her family.

Piper reached up and tapped Justina on the shoulder. “I have an archery skill,” Piper said. “I can help.”

Augustus glanced over as she unslung her bow from her back and then did a double take . “What in the name of Infernus is that thing?”

“I found it in the ruins?” she said lamely. There probably weren’t a lot of legendary bows with demon faces lying around in this world. But it was the best lie she could come up with at the moment.

“Found me?” Gorebark sputtered. “I’ll have you know—”

The demon bow’s words were cut off as she clamped a hand over its mouth. She gave them an uncomfortable smile. “It… does that sometimes. I have no idea why.”

Justina frowned. “I feel immense power from that bow. If I were you, I would discard it immediately before it corrupts you.” She exchanged a look with Augustus. “Perhaps the bow is the reason for what we found at the farm?”

Augustus merely nodded in reply.

There was no more time for conversation as the redcaps advanced on them. The creatures had picked an open space on the hill so they could come at them from three sides at once. She doubted even the Crimson Guard could hold off so many.

Augustus stepped forward and swung his weapon, sending a scything gust of wind across the hill. It struck the first rank of redcaps and sent them tumbling like leaves caught in a gale.

Justina immediately followed Augustus’s spell with her own attack. She slammed the hilt of her sword down, and spiky columns of ice erupted from the ground. Nearly a dozen of the redcaps were impaled by the frozen barbs.

With a deafening cry, the redcaps charged forward in a boiling mass of bodies. They crashed over them in a wave of claws and slashing weapons. The Crimson Guard moved with precise motions, their weapons cleaving through armor and limbs.

Piper added her own fire to the mix, making sure her arrows never struck the same target more than twice. The last thing she needed was for the Crimson Guard to see her bow’s ability. They already didn’t like her weapon. What would happen if they witnessed the bow’s skill, [Demonic Mark]?

Ding! Your skill Archery has reached Level 8.

A charging redcap nearly reached her before Justina cut it down. The woman nodded at Piper and then threw herself back into the battle. The Crimson Guard were skilled, but they weren’t untouchable. Both of them were racking up injuries at a staggering pace.

One of the redcaps leaped onto Augustus’s back, stabbing with its dagger into the space between the helmet and breastplate. The creature plunged its blade into the vampire again and again before Augustus managed to reach back and rip the redcap free. With shocking strength, he hurled his attacker against a nearby tree, where it struck with a sickening crack.

Piper loosed another arrow and struck a redcap in the knee. Bodies were piling up around them, but none of the redcaps seemed to care. If anything, they were becoming more aggressive. The creature’s eyes had become wild and round, while saliva frothed at their mouths.

Justina lurched back, with an arrow protruding from her cheek. She thrust a hand toward Augustus. “Take the girl to safety!”

“I will not leave you, commander,” Augustus grunted, holding a hand against his throat. Already, his wound was visibly healing.

Is that a vampire racial ability? she wondered. I wonder if it works like [Demonic Blood]?

“That’s an order!” Justina snapped. “I’m going to cast Crucible of Frost.”

With another grunt, Augustus grabbed Piper’s shoulder and dragged her away from the fight.

Piper was pulled down the path, the man’s grip like iron on her shoulder. As Piper rounded the trail corner, she glimpsed Justina one last time. The woman had flows of ice spinning around her, while dozens of frozen spikes formed in the air. Then a flash of lightning illuminated the mob of redcaps rushing toward the vampire before the darkness returned.

After a few steps, Augustus finally released her and took the lead as they headed down the hill. Though he was only a few metres away, the torrential downpour had almost completely obscured him. This was her chance to escape.

Piper cast [Veil of Lies] and disappeared from view. With the illusion cloaking her, she plunged into the forest away from Augustus. A second later, she heard the vampire cry out with surprise. But she was already casting another [Veil of Lies] to hide her new position.

Ding! Your spell Veil of Lies has reached Level 8.

For a few seconds, she heard Augustus blundering around in the brush, most likely looking for her. But the sounds became fainter until they faded away completely. Just to be safe, she cast [Veil of Lies] again and headed back toward the cave.

“Nice job,” Gorebark commented. “You gave that do-gooder bloodsucker the slip. Now if only you had managed to kill at least one of those lowly redcaps.”

Piper didn’t reply and continued on her path. She was shivering with cold by the time she reached the cave entrance, but at least she had succeeded in her mission. At least partially.

The redcaps had been removed from the mountain pass, but the Crimson Guard were still a threat. Now, all she had to do was sneak back inside and pretend none of this had ever happened.

Chapter 28 - The Best Laid Plans of Demons and Redcaps

The dead leaves crunched under Piper’s feet as she moved in the direction of the redcap’s camp. She didn’t know the hills as well as Alfred, but she knew most of the major trails. And if she was right, the redcaps were camped near the entrance to the largest mountain pass.

At least she hoped that’s where they were. It was hard to tell just from glimpsing their campfire smoke from a distance. What if she couldn’t find their camp in the darkness?

The last thing she wanted to do was risk ticking off Alfred and have nothing to show for it. She had a feeling he would forgive her if she managed to deal with both of their problems. But who knew how he would react if he caught her sneaking back into the cave with nothing to show for it?

She paused as she heard a rustling in the bush. Standing completely still, she slowly drew an arrow from her quiver and nocked it on the bowstring. As she did, her eyes scanned the dark forest. But after a few minutes, when she didn’t spot anything, she continued on her way.

As she moved through the trees, she cancelled her spell [False Face], exposing her true demoness self. Her spell shimmered as her skin transformed to an alabaster white color. The hair swaying at the side of her face became silver, and her horns once again reappeared—far larger than she remembered.

For a second, she considered approaching the redcaps in her demon form. Maybe she’d get lucky, and she’d scare them off. But that meant the Crimson Guard would still be right on their heels. If she was going to reach the Arissian Empire, she needed to deal with both groups of enemies.

She allowed her Mana to nearly refill—a small portion being used by the [Veil of Lies] back at the cave—before she cast [False Face]. But this time she didn’t choose to look like her old self. Instead, she changed her hair to coal black and made herself look older. While she’d only seen the Crimson Guard woman from a distance, she hoped she looked close enough to fool the redcaps. The armor wouldn’t be as easy to replicate, but she had a plan for that.

Ding! Your spell False Face has reached level 5.

She raised her eyebrow slightly at that. Apparently, trying new faces also granted her levels. She’d have to play around with that later. She could even play a trick on Ethel and make herself look like Ophelia. The thought of Ethel’s expression when she saw two of her troublesome daughters made her smile.

Now that she’d finished altering her appearance, she tied her spell off with [Enduring Casting]. It would remain active until she cancelled it. For now, she looked vaguely like the Crimson Guard woman. And that should be enough for her plan.

Her path took her up a rocky slope, past stands of scraggy pine trees, and over a sharp ridge. In the distance, she spotted the flicker of flames through the bare trees. That must be the redcap’s camp. Now all she had to do was use her bow to draw them out and then lead them toward the Crimson Guard below. If all went well, they would eliminate each other.

“Redcaps, huh?” Gorebark said. “Not bad from an experience perspective.”

“You know about redcaps?” Piper thought her bow wouldn’t have any knowledge of the world. Perhaps it could help her plan her attack. “Do you have any advice about attacking them?”

“I know exactly what you should do.”

Piper waited a moment for a response. When none came, she said, “Well?”

“Stick the pointy bit of the arrow into them.” Gorebark chuckled at his own joke.

“Very helpful,” she said, rolling her eyes. “If you don’t have anything useful to say, why don’t you be quiet?”

“Because I don’t want to?”

“Well, you’re going to get me killed if you don’t shut up.”

Piper fought down a sigh when Gorebark didn’t answer, and she resumed creeping forward. As she neared the edge of the trees shielding the fire, she lifted her bow slightly. She scanned for any redcaps but didn’t see any in the dancing light. Were they all sleeping?

She settled in almost like she was hunting game with Alfred and kept watch for any movement. At least one of the redcaps must be awake. No one was dumb enough to sleep in the hills without someone on watch.

Piper pressed her lips together and squinted her eyes. There must be someone on watch duty. Were they really so confident raiding Alderwick that they didn’t keep anyone on sentry duty? Weren’t they worried about monsters?

After a few minutes, she finally spotted a figure moving through the trees. It stopped a short distance from the fire and crossed its arms. She could barely make out any details of the creature, but at least it looked shorter than her.

Piper would have liked to use [Identify] on the redcap. However, if she did, then it would feel her gaze and know someone was close. She didn’t want anyone heading her way until she was ready.

Now that she’d found the sentry, she cast [Veil of Lies] on herself, focusing on changing the image of her body. But instead of trying to make it look like she was invisible, she visualized a suit of armor with a red cloak. After a few minor alterations, it looked like she was wearing the gilded armor and red cloak of the Crimson Guard.

Drawing back the arrow, she peered down its length. She aimed her shot at the shadowy outline of the redcap sentry. For a second, she hesitated. This was a living, breathing humanoid. This wasn’t like facing a demon or a lion. When she loosed, she was likely going to kill someone.

But then she reminded herself that the redcaps were planning to raid the village. They were going to kill defenceless farmers and steal their herds if she let them. They deserved everything she had planned.

“Yes,” Gorebark whispered. “Kill them all. Send their souls screaming down into the Abyss.”

Ignoring Gorebark’s creepy words, she loosed and watched her arrow soar through the darkness. A second later she released another, and then a third. She was rewarded with a yelp, but before the redcap could react, the other two arrows struck the creature.

A boom shook the trees as [Demonic Mark] triggered from the final arrow. The blast sent a gust of wind hurtling past her, and a handful of dead leaves drifted down from the surrounding trees. Almost immediately, the camp erupted into chaos.

Congratulations! You have slain a Redcap, Level 45.

A significant bonus to experience has been granted for slaying a higher-level creature.

This was followed by more notifications.

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached level 16.

Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached level 17.

Ding! Your class Deceiver has reached level 11.

…

Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached level 13.

Ding! Your skill, Archery has reached level 7.

Piper heard shouts and screams, and dozens of figures appeared in the dim light. She briefly considered firing another arrow, but she’d stirred up the hornet’s nest enough. Now was the time for the second part of her plan.

Trying to sound haughty, she called out, “The Crimson Guard will never allow you to attack these lands. I will slay every last one of you.” She wasn’t sure if the vampires really talked that way, but it sounded right to her ears. Once she was sure the creatures had gotten a good look at her, she took off running down the mountain.

“Wait!” Gorebark shouted. “Where are you going? You haven’t even killed them all yet!”

Piper ignored her demonic weapon as she half-slid, half-ran down the slope. An avalanche of pebbles skidded around her boots, but somehow, she managed to keep her footing. Alarmingly, the sound of redcaps was rapidly growing closer.

She’d thought for sure she could outrun them in the darkness since she knew the area better. Maybe she should have put some points into Swiftness after all. It sounded like they were going to be on top of her any second.

The sudden appearance of a redcap in front of her made her stumble to a stop. The creature almost seemed to have sprung out of the shadows. Crap, did it have some sort of shadow class? If that were true, she was in serious trouble.

Without thinking, she swung her bow at the redcap. She ignored Gorebark’s protests, her weapon sailing over the creature’s head as it ducked. The damn thing was fast. Way too fast.

Piper barely dodged her attacker’s talons as it swung its hand at her. A follow-up strike raked across her shoulder, making her cry out in pain. The redcap chuckled at her reaction, circling her like a hyena sizing up a meal.

For the first time, she got a good look at the redcap. The creature was like a monster spawned from nightmares. It had a hunched back, a ridiculously oversized head the size of a pumpkin, and greyish flesh. Perched on top of its greasy hair was a ratty woolen cap dyed the color of blood.

As it watched her, the creature’s mouth split open into a wide grin, displaying uneven yellow teeth. But it was its hands that concerned her the most—the fingers ended in long dark talons like an eagle’s.

I have claws, too, she reassured herself as her plan began to fall apart. And I know how to use them.

She needed to deal with this redcap before the others caught up. Otherwise, she would never reach the Crimson Guard. At least not before she was overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Even with all her tricks, she knew that a fight against a mob of redcaps could only end badly for her.

Piper quickly made sure that [Truth Shroud] was active and that it was showing her as a level 10 human. Hopefully, the redcap would underestimate her like the men on the farm. Not that she wanted a repeat of that fight—the images still haunted her mind.

Backpedaling away from the redcap, she slung the bow over her back. At this short of range, she wouldn’t be able to shoot any arrows anyway. Then she used [Identify] on the creature.

Redcap, Level 66

Ding! Your skill, Identify has reached level 2.

Piper quickly tried to figure out if she had any chance against the redcap. At level 66, it probably had a second class. That meant it must have close to 150 attribute points, which was way lower than her total. Then again, it had used some sort of shadow magic. It might have a rare class, which changed everything. Her best bet was to try to escape.

“Where others?” the redcap said in a halting speech, like it was struggling with the language. “Where vampires? I smart. Know you not kill Bloodstitch. Tell and I let live. You become slave.”

Piper shuddered at the creature’s offer of slavery, reinforcing her opinion that the redcaps needed to be stopped. She was doing the world a favour by wiping them out with her plan. They all deserved to die for what they were planning to do to the villagers below.

Instead of answering, she sprang forward. The redcap didn’t move, instead raising its hands as if to grab her. But instead of catching her, he was bowled over by her momentum.

The redcap’s eyes widened with surprise, clearly not expecting the power behind her leap. It grappled at her, but she knocked away its hands. Before it could recover, her fist slammed into its face, snapping its head back.

As the redcap toppled to the ground, she tried to jump past. But somehow the creature’s hand caught her ankle. She yelped with surprise, her motion coming to a sudden stop and making her face plant into the hard ground. A rock struck her temple, and for a second, she saw stars.

Piper pushed down the pain and kicked at the redcap grasping at her feet. Her foot struck something meaty, and the redcap let out a howl of pain. Then suddenly she was free from its grasp. She stumbled to her feet and raced away, not giving the redcap a chance to recover. She had to keep moving.

As she ran, she heard more redcaps closing in from every side. For the first time, fear started to seep into her mind. Her plan was failing, and she had almost no hope of reaching the Crimson Guard before she was caught by the redcaps.

Her only hope was to keep running and pray to whatever god had brought her here that the redcaps couldn’t see through her illusions.

A loud boom wrenched Justina out of a deep sleep, and she rolled over in her cot, her hand finding the hilt of her sword. In one fluid motion, she rose from bed, the blanket falling from her body. She listened intently, awaiting another sound of magic being cast. But as the seconds stretched out, she heard no follow-up to the first spell.

She rubbed a hand down her face and tried to dispel the cobwebs of sleep. One of the curses of being a vampire was being unable to sleep during daylight unless they were deep underground. And while someone of her level only needed a few hours at a time, she still required sleep.

Once she was fully awake, she strode out of her tent and spotted Augustus standing nearby with his head tilted up toward the hills. He held a halberd in one hand, and his armor gleamed in the dancing light of the fire. He glanced over as she approached.

Justina stopped beside him. “What did you hear?”

“Magic of some sort,” he muttered. “Unbelievably powerful magic at that. I could feel the ripples from here.”

She raised her eyebrow at that. Most Spirit Realm magic could barely be felt when a person was standing a few paces away. Only something from the Upper or Ascendant Realms could be sensed from this distance. That meant there was an incredibly strong spellcaster in the hills.

Was Ransford telling the truth about encountering a demon?

Justina took a half step forward as another boom echoed across the hills, followed by another one. There was a battle being fought up there. The question was, who was fighting it? As far as she knew, there were no patrols in the area. Were the town militia fighting a redcap incursion? Or had an aspect beast crossed the veil?

“We must find the source of that magic,” she said. “Give me a moment to retrieve my weapons.”

“But your armor…” Augustus said.

“There is no time,” she replied. “There is a battle being fought in the hills, and most likely, citizens of the empire need our help.”

“Might I remind you that we don’t know who’s fighting?” Augustus’s frown deepened. “For all we know, a hydra is eating a feast of redcaps right now.”

Justina paused at her companion’s words before shaking her head. It was her sworn duty to protect the citizens of the empire. Something powerful had intruded upon the lands near Alderwick. She would find out what it was and stop it if necessary.

No matter what she encountered in the hills, she felt confident they could defeat it. Unless Ransford was telling the truth and a demon truly had crossed over the veil. But if that was the case, then she would meet her end with honor, as befitted a Crimson Guard.