Chapter LIV (54)- Bloodsucking a Bloodsucker

At first, Kizu feared nothing happened. But after a torturous moment, the clamp of the monster's jaws on his neck slackened.

He released his grip on the knife and pushed himself away from the bloodsucking monster. Stumbling back, Kizu clutched at his bloody neck. The monster struggled as it raised a hand, flickering like a failing illusion. Kizu had buried Sojan to the hilt in its stomach. But if the monster bled at all, Sojan must have been drinking it all before it could spill. Not a drop seeped from the wound.

“Out of all the creatures,” the monster growled, not with its own rumbling voice, but with Sojan’s. “Thousands of fleshy species to choose from, and you chose something semi-incorporeal? Seriously?” The monster flickered again, the knife dropping a centimeter or two closer to the ground before its flesh solidified. It was almost as if… almost as if the blade and the bloodspawn were struggling for control of the body. “And don’t get me started on the blood in this thing. There’s some good stuff, sure, but it’s like eating something someone else has already chewed up. Do I look like a baby bird to you? And it’s mixed in with that same stuff you gave me last time. My complaints about that still stand, you know. It tastes foul.”

“I’ll get you a better meal,” Kizu promised, if only to quell Sojan’s endless stream of complaints. His own blood gushed under his fingers where he applied pressure on his wound. He was losing the resource rapidly. “But first we need a way out of this place.”

Sojan, still muttering his grievances, pointed a bone-white finger at the exit. A beam of white-hot flames slammed through the barrier, sending ripples of heat across the surface of the ice as it melted.

Kizu dragged Basil and Anata to the steaming hole. Using elemental magic, Kizu blasted the steam away from them as they crawled through the hole. Anata stared back at her father’s body as Sojan lurched it around, fighting to maintain control. Kizu wasn’t certain if Anata understood what exactly was happening, but she appeared even more catatonic than usual.

Sojan attempted to follow after them, controlling the monster’s body with jerky movements, but when he approached the edge of the room, the body disintegrated completely into smoke.

Thankfully, Kizu managed to snatch the blade off the ground and stumble down the tunnel before the mist reformed. Kizu scooped Anata up into one arm, his leg protesting at the strain on his brace, and hauled Basil up by the collar of his shirt. They ran.

Basil, thankfully, had made good on his promise to grow a new pair of legs, though he looked thin and gaunt from the effort. He was significantly less chatty than usual as they hurriedly hobbled up the path.

After a while, unable to keep up their pace, they slowed to a trudging walk. Anata managed to find her feet and walked for herself beside Kizu, though she continued to hold his hand in a death grip, unwilling to let him go. Kizu’s other hand pressed cloth against his neck. It was soaked in blood after only half a minute, but still better than nothing.

Kizu’s bond with Mort led them through a frigid maze of twisting passages. Basil kept an eye on the World Dungeon Atlas, which allowed them to easily circumnavigate the many traps and dead-ends along the way. Traps like the one that had nearly killed Kizu and Ione. He couldn’t help feeling bitter about Basil stealing the atlas, but this wasn’t the time for it. They likely had bloodspawn pursuing them. While the spawn might not know where they were going, it was unlikely they didn’t have means in which to explore the dungeon safely.

After two dozen turns, Kizu staggered and leaned against the wall. His neck was still bleeding. They had been trudging along for less than ten minutes and their run had lasted only half of that time, but he felt exhausted. The now familiar feel of blood loss threatened his consciousness. Only the throbbing ache of his mangled leg managed to distract him from the new pain in his neck. He tried to explain that to Basil when the changeling tugged on his arm, urging him to keep moving, only for his leg to give up on him entirely. It buckled, folding under his weight like wet origami. He was unconscious before he hit the ground.

Unconscious, but not alone.

“Hello,” Sojan’s voice boomed cheerfully inside him. It seemed to come from every direction. “Your friend inserted me into you, but you’re awfully low on blood right now. Barely anything left of you but skin and dry bones.”

Kizu tried to respond, but all he could manage was an internal moan.

“Don’t worry, don’t worry. I won’t drain you, Kaga Kizu. Please note, though, that I don’t think in my entire existence I have ever exercised this much restraint. I hate it. Consider yourself deeply in my debt. You promised me a better meal. I will hold you to that.”

And just like that, Kizu jolted back into awareness. His feet were moving under him, and he keenly felt the dagger jutting out of his back. He reached behind him and grabbed Sojan, yanking the blade out. It felt less like opening up a stab wound, and more like removing a wooden splinter from under his nail. Strangely enough, it didn’t even leave behind a wound. The flesh of his back remained as smooth as ever.

“You stabbed me!” Kizu accused Basil, brandishing the enchanted dagger.

“We needed to keep moving,” Basil said defensively. “Do I look like I’m in any shape to carry you? Besides, it helped! Your neck’s not bleeding anymore. It must have clotted the wound so you wouldn’t bleed out.”

Kizu reached up and touched his neck. He winced. Unlike Sojan, Anata’s father had definitely left its mark. Still, it was scabbed over. That quelled a bit of Kizu’s anger, but not enough to save Basil. He would have torn into him then and there, if he didn’t at that moment rounded a corner and stepped on Ione.

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“Hey! Watch it!” she snapped, lurching to her feet. It looked like she had been sleeping. Mort, who had been sleeping on her head, was flung off by the sudden movement and tumbled onto the stone.

Kizu stared at her numbly. He couldn’t help noting that the corridor looked like an absolutely abysmal place to nap, all frigid stone and not an alcove in sight. Anyone could have stumbled onto them while they were sleeping. In fact, he literally had just stumbled on them.

“Oh. It’s you.” Ione blinked, sitting back down. “We were wondering when you would turn up. Looks like you found Basil, too. And a very dirty looking girl wearing… is that an old potato sack?”

Mort leaped onto Kizu’s head and hummed. Kizu could feel the monkey’s relief mingle with his own.

“Glad you’re both safe,” Kizu said. “I’m sorry I was gone for so long.”

“I know why you went missing. But what about Basil? Did he get kidnapped? Fall in a hole? Get seduced by a pretty bloodspawn?”

Basil started muttering excuses, but Ione barreled over him.

“Actually, it doesn’t matter right now. Kizu, your monkey started chewing on my hair yesterday,” Ione complained. “We’ve been starving. Three days, and barely a cockroach to eat.”

“Three days?” Kizu said, a little confused. “I’ve been gone for weeks. I’m surprised you didn’t try to find your way back to the surface already.”

Basil gave him an odd look, then snapped his fingers and pointed at Anata. “Oh, I get it! You must have found her in a time dilation pod. That’s what Otochi meant when he said it would be more time for her than him.”

“Otochi? Time dilation?”

“You’ve been in some sort of sealed room, right? While you were stuck in there, time probably moved a great deal slower outside than it did inside. It’s an ancient enchanting method that’s been lost for centuries. There are a few pods that have resurfaced across the overworld, but nobody’s managed to reproduce them.”

“... Okay.” Kizu took a moment to process that revelation. It explained a few things, like the dreams he’d shared with Anata, but the implications of such an enchantment… More than ever, he regretted not studying the glyphs in that room further. “And who’s Otochi?”

“The Blood Lord we encountered,” Basil said reluctantly. “I, um, assume that must be him. I overheard his name while I was scouting.”

“What’s a Blood Lord?”

“Blood Lord?” Ione perked up, staring at Kizu intently. “I thought they were a myth. Or at the very least extinct. You actually saw one?”

“According to Basil. Ask him yourself.”

She pointed at a small hole in her earlobe. “Had to toss my earring. I don’t understand a word he’s saying.”

“Do we have the time to chat about this?” Basil cut in. “Grab some chalk and sketch us out another divination circle so we can find you sister. The sooner we’re moving, the better. We’ve put some distance between us and the spawn, but this is their territory. They likely know their way around. Denizens often don’t need maps to navigate.”

After months of practice, it took only a couple minutes to finish a divination circle with chalk. Unfortunately, it was as Kizu had assumed. It directed him to Anata, who stood just off to the side, watching him with wide eyes.

“It’s useless,” Kizu said glumly. “Anata interferes with the divination spell every time.” He had suspected it, but the confirmation still left him feeling hollow. “Anna probably isn’t down here. We might as well leave.”

Ione asked about Anata while they prepared to set out. Kizu gave a quick summary of what had happened after their separation, culminating in the revelation that Anata was his half-monster niece. That last bit, more than anything, sparked Ione’s interest in the girl. Kizu felt a bit relieved to see Ione coax Anata into riding with her on her giant lizard summon. The girl needed someone more sociable than him to ease her out of her shell, and not carrying her around freed him up to focus on the World Dungeon Atlas.

“It feels good to have my summons back,” Ione confided in Kizu, in between bouts of pestering Anata. “Three days of hiding without being able to cast a spell was miserable. Not only did I have to leave behind my earring, I had to break the enchantments on my clothes, too!” She paused. “Your method of concealing us is still working, right? It’s safe to use magic around you?”

Kizu nodded, to her visible relief. He felt a new wave of guilt over their their separation. Not only had Mort and her been stuck without a map, a guide, or any food, but they’d also been rendered completely defenseless by the lurking threat of bloodspawn. He did his best to put it out of his mind. Everything had turned out fine in the end - or at least, it would once they made it to the surface.

Ascending through the World Dungeon turned out to be a great deal easier and quicker than their descent. Ione passed the time by poking and prodding at Anata, who was looking progressively more and more uncomfortable under the summoner’s scrutiny. Basil hummed a multitude of tunes as he sauntered along. Kizu thought it sounded a bit off key, though. He suspected Basil was putting up a charade of ease.

Kizu couldn’t figure out what was going on with his roommate. He’d spent time down in the bloodspawns’ lair. When Kizu had stumbled into him, Basil had been strolling through the corridors of the lair seemingly without a care in the world. He’d only hopped into action once Kizu ran into him.

On the other hand, Basil had only ever tried to help Kizu - with the notable exception of taking the atlas. Even then, he hadn’t taken anything else. He appeared completely genuine about wanting to help. He had assisted his escape from the Blood Lord and even played a part in healing his neck. However, whenever Kizu tried to return to the subject of his disappearance, Basil danced around his questions with painfully obvious lies about scouting and surveillance.

Kizu finally stopped. He couldn’t do this. He couldn’t be questioning whether or not his ‘friend’ might turn around and stab him in the back at any moment. As much as he hated it, this was a necessary confrontation. He raised a hand to hold up Ione as well. It would be especially awkward with him needing to translate for Ione, but they couldn’t continue further with such a massive liability.

As he opened his mouth to address the issue, a harsh chime sounded. It sounded like a bell ringing in the distance. The echo reverberated down the tunnel, making a shiver run up his spine.

“Ah!” Ione cried out. Her giant lizard reeled back at the noise, nearly bucking Anata out from under its skin flaps. Only Basil’s quick hand, steadying the girl, saved the girl from being flung.

“Anything suspicious up ahead?” Basil asked, tucking Kizu’s niece back under the lizard’s skin flaps.

Kizu checked the atlas, scanning it for anything that looked like a trap.

“Nothing. There’s an enchanted trap down a tunnel parallel to this one, though. Might have been that.”

They pushed on ahead, even more attentive than before.

Unfortunately, not attentive enough.