The piercing scream sent chills down Rick's spine. The first thought that flashed through his mind was Dia. The healer had been in the Lord's library doing research and was just as trapped as they were.
"Hold it!" Kiara's grip halted him before he could reach the door, spinning him to confront her steely gaze, the orb of light she’d summoned casting long shadows around them. "You’re going nowhere. We need to get out.”
"I can't shadow jump; the mansion’s protections have been raised. I doubt you could teleport him out without a key," Eva chimed in, her tone tense. "Our best bet is to hunker down and wait for the enchantment to run its course. It shouldn’t have the energy to run for more than a few hours, less if the Orcs try to break in.”
As if on cue, there was a loud bang from the outside, and it was quickly followed by more. Rick's thoughts raced. Kiara had the power to push her agenda if she wished, and no one could force her hand. His jaw tightened, eyes scanning the room in a flash. "This place isn't safe," he declared, gesturing at the only door leading out of the room. "We need Dia. If anything happens, she can help keep us alive."
Kiara remained unyielding. "I didn’t have a choice with the tribe, but I cannot risk someone else finding out what I am."
"Then morph into someone else when they're not watching," he retorted. "Take Monica's form."
The succubus released him, recoiling with a scowl. "Her!?"
"This assault can't be a mere coincidence, happening just when Monica's absent," he argued, moving towards the door again. "Clock’s ticking."
Grumbling, Kiara traced invisible patterns in the air before reluctantly nodding and starting to disrobe. "Fine," she snapped, her speech polished and precise. "But not a soul hears about this."
Rick watched as Kiara began her transformation, an expression of discomfort etched across her face. Something about the shift appeared wholly unnatural to her, like she wasn’t meeting some criteria or it was more taxing than the other times she’d seen her change. Her long blue hair gradually shifted to a short, snowy white, her pale skin took on a tanned hue.
Then came the size, her clothes creaking in complaint, and then breaking as she grew taller and bulkier. He watched Kiara's lithe curvy figure morphed into a muscular and lean body. Her hands transformed, now covered in white fur with black stripes, gaining wicked sharp black claws while her legs followed suit. The golden eyes shifted to blue, her horns shrinking and then replaced by the ears that’d moved to their spot.
There was something deeply wrong about the form she’d taken. It had a distinct “attempt” to look similar to Monica, but it failed to any level of scrutiny. It was unnerving, in an almost guttural way.
The not-Monica glared at him, pulling up the shreds of her dress with a very Kiara-like sigh and working to wrap them around her chest. “I liked this dress,” she said, almost sullenly.
Rick couldn't help but wince at the sight. "It'll have to do."
"What do you mean it-!?" Kiara bristled, her glare quickly replaced with a grunt. "Monica not understand," she added in a deeper voice, rolling her eyes with exaggeration.
The sight of the taller, bulkier doppelganger was strange, but Kiara's unchanged voice made it all the more jarring. She pulled Rick away from the door, hunching over to step through. "Monica not sorry."
"Uh, your tail..."
His gaze fixed on the leathery black, spade-tipped appendage.
“Ignore it.” She stated flatly, her mood lowering further.
Eva clasped Rick's shoulder, reeling him back in, and handed him a wooden box. "If anything goes awry, break this. Just… not near us, if you can avoid it," she said solemnly, her words heavy with meaning. The maiden's face immediately contorted into a grimace. "Please, be careful."
Rick, Kiara, and Eva crept cautiously through the house, their footsteps echoing in the long, stone corridors. The magical glow-stones that usually illuminated the passageways had gone dark, leaving them to rely on the dim light Kiara had summoned. Shadows stretched out before them in every direction.
Kiara led the group, with Rick close behind pointing the way, guided by the bond that pulled him toward Dia. He could feel her presence almost like a physical force. Eva, with her ability to see in the dark, trailed behind, always looking over her shoulder to make sure nothing was following behind.
The darkness seemed to swallow them, amplifying every creak and groan of the ancient building. Rick's heart pounded in his chest. There was some comfort to be found in the calmness the others felt, Kiara and Eva possessed far better senses than him, they could more clearly tell that at the very least their immediate vicinity was safe.
Though they remained just as nervous and just as watchful.
Kiara's light did little to dispel the oppressive atmosphere, casting only a weak, flickering glow that seemed to taunt Rick’s eyes, the oppressive black lingering right at the edge and around every corner. The distant banging on the outside protections was like a heartbeat, drumming against their feet.
“There’s blood.” Eva muttered, pointing ahead, and Rick could only imagine it’d been their guest who had been attacked.
By what or whom, though, he wasn’t sure. Rick's breathing grew more rapid, his mind conjuring up terrifying images of what might be lying in wait. His grip on the wooden box tightened, his knuckles turning white.
Rick kept thinking of Dia, feeling out the bond. She was nervous but determined, safe, yet unsure for how long. There was a distinctive panic to the emotion, like a rabbit trying to hide from a snarling wolf.
A door creaked open, and a figure stepped out. She had pale hair and dark skin, clad in leather armor, the stranger wielded a bloodstained blade. Everyone froze as the newcomer's gaze darted from Kiara to Rick and back to Kiara, eyes widening in shock. The maiden hurried back, slamming the door shut.
“Enemy,” Kiara snarled, not moving an inch, glaring at the door as if she could see through it.
"That was a Dark Elf!" Eva whispered behind Rick, pulling him away from the door, her voice quivering with a hint of fear.
"Quiet!" Kiara snapped through gritted teeth, shooting a glare as she pressed her hand against the door. "Stay here." She shoved the door open and charged in.
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A barrage of red beams struck her, but Kiara pushed through. She lunged at the nearest Dark Elf, her poorly-concocted roar mingling with a scream as the Dark Elf swung her sword. The blade sliced into Kiara's skin, but it didn’t go any deeper, the metal merely grazed her flesh, leaving just a red angry mark. “THREE HERE!” The dark-skinned maiden screamed.
"You chose the wrong curse," the succubus hissed, gripping the blade against her body while using her free hand to slash at the warrior's throat with her claws. The Dark Elf crumpled, clutching her neck as blood pooled around her. The maiden croaked out, trying to speak and failing.
Kiara moved in to finish her off, a wave of disgust washing over her. "You can come in," she announced, flicking the blood from her claws. With a short sigh she recomposed herself and threw a wink at Rick. "Your idea to impersonate the big cat was useful. She tried to put curses on me that would’ve crippled a Tigress. Not much luck against a Succubus."
Rick surveyed the scene, taking in the details. There was another body there, lying not too far away from the door. It seemed their guest, Miss Donohuei, had either lost her way in the manor when the lights went out, or the Dark Elf had captured her and brought her here before killing her. In either case, the outcome was the same. The woman lay on the floor near the door, a pool of blood forming beneath her head.
"A guest has perished under our watch. Not a good sign," Eva grimaced, tearing her gaze from the human woman to focus on the Dark Elf's body. "But this is even more worrisome."
"I didn't know there were Dark Elves in Sinco,” Rick frowned.
"There shouldn’t be," Eva replied ominously. "Dark Elves and their kin sided with the rebels during the uprising. They were driven from the kingdom."
"Call it what it is. They were slaughtered. No kingdom that enslaves maidens merely 'asks' them to leave." Kiara kicked the Dark Elf's corpse. "If these came out of some grudge, I doubt we'll convince them that Rick isn't siding with the kingdom, but—"
Both their heads snapped toward the door and they leaped into action. Eva grabbed Rick and darted for the room's only other exit, Kiara following closely, sweeping her light toward the door they'd initially entered. As it swung open, the spell flared with blinding light, eliciting several shrieks from beyond.
They slammed the door behind them, Eva hastily shoving furniture to barricade it with an ease that looked completely out of place with her small frame. "I heard four."
"Six," Kiara corrected, pulling Rick along. "We can't fight if they’re in groups. If they figure out what sort of curse to hit me with, things will get complicated."
They continued their mad dash, breaking into another corridor. Behind them, they could hear their pursuers hacking away at the door. Approaching the next intersection, they were about to turn right when Kiara yanked them in the opposite direction. "There's more of them," she hissed, glancing over her shoulder into the darkness. "They're spread out everywhere."
Rick nodded grimly, attempting to navigate the labyrinthine corridors of the fortress-turned-mansion. The layout's intentional complexity made it even more challenging to determine which path to choose, a clear design choice to give advantage to the defenders. One that was proving bothersome.
His thoughts focused on Dia. He could sense her growing panic, he wasn’t sure exactly what was going on, but she was shaken. They needed to reach her—and fast.
"More ahead," the Fledgling whispered under her breath, and Kiara released her grip.
"Silence," she commanded, her next step failing to touch the ground as she took to floating. She hoisted Rick off the floor by his shirt, her gaze locked on the darkness ahead.
In two seconds, Kiara pushed him against the wall and lunged past the corner with a burst of purple energy with Eva hot on her heels. He couldn't see the action, but he heard the wet crunch of bone shattering and a single scream. "WHITE CLAW!" It wasn't a cry of horror or fear; it was an alarm, a soldier's desperate attempt to relay a shred of information before their death.
The scream was followed by a gurgling splash and a thud.
"It's safe," Kiara whispered, hands moving fast to finish off the maidens.
The wave of disgust followed, and Rick had to guess that, as a Succubus, she didn’t find these emotions very palatable.
There had been three Dark Elves this time, and blood was everywhere. Rick's focus shifted to Eva, sensing pain from her. The Fledgling was doubled over with her hand hovering over her stomach. Fresh blood flowed between her fingers as she leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.
"They took her regeneration away, they knew what she was before even looking at her," the Succubus said, reaching down to the smaller woman. Her glowing hands caressed the wounded area. "I can't fully remove the curse. It'll wear it in a few minutes."
"I'll make it," Eva grunted, pushing herself off the wall with unsteady steps.
"You're going to slow us down."
The sound of banging on the exterior walls had stopped, leaving a long silence.
"Then carry her," Rick snapped. Kiara bristled, her eyes narrowing. He met her golden gaze without flinching, daring her to refuse, his hand caressing the tiny box Eva had given him. "We’re not leaving her behind. Let's meet up with Dia, she's—"
Another shriek made Rick's blood curdle. He recognized the voice, and it was accompanied by an explosion through their bond. Pain. He nearly toppled over, feeling something pierce his stomach. It wasn’t dulled like Eva’s, this was sharp, raw, and filled with a visceral sense of powerlessness.
There was no more time to think; he broke into a sprint, only to be stopped dead by Kiara's hand. The Succubus stared at him intently. "Either you stick with us, or I knock you out and lock you somewhere they won't find you. Her life is not as important as your own," she stated with unyielding severity.
Despite her harsh words, the maiden picked up Eva under her arm and the lead, her tail wrapping around Rick's wrist and tugging him along. He could barely keep up.
Twice they had to swerve in another direction to avoid encounters, and twice they had to turn right back the way they came. Kiara's ability to detect their assailants was keen enough to prevent impossible situations, but Rick had a feeling they knew the manor's layout better than the trio did. Because if there were that many enemies within the mansion, they would've been surrounded and overrun by now.
The thoughts were pushed aside when they burst into the library, and the emotions he could sense from Dia shifted from pain and determination to horror the moment she realized he’d come.
There were a dozen individuals there, but Rick's gaze locked on the two in the center, surrounded by shelves and shadows.
Dia stood, one arm holding a sword, the other pressed firmly against her side, a green glow revealing the healing magic she used to mend herself. Her healer's dress was torn in countless places, exposing injuries that had already been patched up.
Opposite her was... a monster. It was humanoid, perhaps two meters tall, but its body lacked muscles or skin. Instead, writhing green tendrils and leafy vines slithered and contracted with a mind of their own, pulsating irregularly, and ever shifting. The creature loomed over Dia, its only human-like feature being a head with fair skin and patchy blond hair and the face of the Archangel.
"Rick, get out!" Dia's shout turned to a shriek as the hulking figure slapped her aside with a glowing fist. The Rapha crumpled to the floor.
But before he could react or think, something that wasn't himself hammered against his mind. Fear. It wasn't just apprehension or caution; it was terror, a panic that gripped his bones and froze his body in place.
He turned to the source.
Kiara stood motionless, pupils shrunk to pinpricks, breathing rapid and shallow, her face pale as chalk.
"I don’t know how you’ve survived, but I prefer it like this." The monster spoke at the Succubus with a churning voice, her expression darkening. “You won’t beat me this time.”
Rick's gaze shifted to the others in the room, trying to decipher the words. Had the monster met Monica before? All around them Dark Elves stood, armed and looking equally apprehensive about the blond as Eva and Dia. The power in the air tingled against his skin, as if they were ready to pounce either the monster or them.
Rick suspected that if he turned around, he'd find more enemies through the door they'd entered.
They'd been herded here.
The blond monster laughed, but the sound stopped when her focus fell on him. The humor died, rage slowly boiling to the surface, the vines writhing madly, contorting her into a mass of green tentacles.
"You."
The emotion behind that single word was thick. It was anger, fury, and terrifying determination.
It was murder.