Alucire stood proudly, and tall. His frame was large, muscular and demanding of attention. And although it was obvious the fatigue and strain the centuries of bleeding had done to him, he still gave off an aura of life and vitality. His skin sheened under the moonlight, and his golden eyes scanned across the room as he waited for Bart and Epim’s response.

“Miede, please. There’s a fellow trapped under the rubble, have your guard go dig him up, if you would. They’re still alive.” He was speaking of the Shade, of course. Miede took a moment of resistance, and feared that they would be defenseless without the brute. Alucire waved his hand, dispelling the notion. And although it pained her to do so, she gave the order and the Bloodsucker walked over to a pile of rubble, and began to dig through it. Alucire turned back to them, and bowed his head.

Bart motioned for Epim to speak first, he did not trust himself at the moment. The feeling of familiarity with his lord was too great, the memories of the castle while still fresh were being overpowered.

Epim nodded in assent, but he didn’t know what to say. The revelations of his blood being vital to the life of Duncire had struck him with trepidation. He had tried to believe in an outright rejection of the regality of Alucire; he had been dispelling any thought of the possibility that there had been validity to the state of the castle. But if it was true that the disease could spread, if it were true-

“Blood, it must have been blood!” Prose’s theory ran through his head, and he remembered his own distaste for it. He felt awful, at the idea that his personal curiosity superseded anything else.

“How did the Bloodsuckers here become feral?” The question came out of his mouth, all the same.

Alucire’s eyes narrowed, his body sagged and he spoke. “Ah… They…” He struggled with the answer, clearly trying to skirt around something as he searched for his words. His face gave away everything though, and Miede turned her head to the side. “Ahh…” He looked around the room, examining the rubble. Noticing various corpses of smaller Bloodsuckers around.``I promised to answer your questions, but it…” He took a deep breath.

“It is our shame, but the blame should be placed solely on me. To keep my son alive, I gave my blood. In arrogance, I believed we would dispel the curse before my vitality failed me. We sent you and your kind away, in fear and doubt of my son's sickness. It pains me to admit, we thought it may come from your kind.” He looked at Bart, the grief in his voice palpable.

“We were wrong, and over time brave members of your kind came to see us. But…” He looked to Miede, caressing her face with his hand. “Miede, may I?” She looked up into his eyes, and then looked at the two. The fury in her eyes that was so present earlier was now gone.

“Yes, tell them the truth. No matter what it may bring, if it is what you wish.” His eyes closed in pain, and he turned back to the two.

“But, we were wrong. We were wrong! The origin of the blight that afflicts my son came from something ancient, something neither my wife or I believed still existed. The source of a taboo art my wife practiced-” He grumbled. “That she now practices. Once we learned of that fact, she once again delved into the profundities of the art. She attempted to destroy the blight with the same art, but alas, it did nothing. It sucked the life out of our son in conjunction with the disease, it had no use… for our son. It was unfair.”

Miede grabbed him, silencing him. She looked to them, taking responsibility for the next portion of the story.

“While my husband may tell you he wishes to take responsibility, understand that he is protecting me. He was resigned to die with our son in his arms at the realization of the futility of removing the disease from our son. But, as long as we had my husband's blood, we could live together, though quickly he was close to dying. It would be a day, maybe two before he’d pass from the loss of his essence“

“Thus, the dark art. It could take away life, indiscriminately.” Her eyes looked down to the ground. “Therefore, I simply aimed at the general, and sapped life from the ground. I truly had no intent behind it beyond that.” Her tone had become flat.

Epim’s eyes flickered, as did Barts. The weakening of his people, the weakening of the very land. It had come from her.

“But your brave, stupid people. They came here time and time again. And once they were within the walls, they were driven mad by my art. They became wild, unrefined. I had a connection with them, as their owner they had had a natural affinity to me. When they were close, at least. They had snuck off and made the castle their home. I had decided they were more convenient that way.”

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

“Miede no!” Alucire spoke, wincing in pain at the thought.”

“If they left, they would reach the conclusion that we deserved to die! There was no option otherwise, since we fled here, we couldn’t expect outside the woods to help. And I had to be ready, he took more… and more… each time.“

Interrupting the conversation, the feral Bloodsucker had finished digging the remaining rubble. Standing tall, though its armor was cracked and beaten in every place it could be. Its eyes shined great white, as it looked the Bloodsucker in the eye.

Epim took a breath of relief, as did Bart. Alucire’s eyes went wide, seeing the thing for the first time. Miede looked on in shock. Remembering the force the thing exhibited. Thinking of the condition of her husband, if she did not act, it would all be for nothing. This was her original thought. But she was numb, and her husband's seeming resignation had made her apathetic.

The Shade promptly marched its way over and stood face to face with Alucire for a moment, then at Miede, and then walked behind Bart and Epim. It crossed its arms, and stood tall.

Alucire spoke now, his voice tired. “Don’t think of me as a victim, I stood in complacency. Our circumstance-'' One of the extendable arms and claws of the Shade closed to his neck, its eyes blazing with anger.

Alucire paused, examining the thing. Miede eyed the Bloodsucker, but it did not move. It was sniffing the ground, intently. She turned back, and noticed her husband's eyes, his posture had become steadfast.

“I stood in complacency. We deemed… an injustice to us was an injustice against the world. We sealed our gate, and we did not speak! It was your choice to leave the village, to brave the castle walls! You could have left, you could have-”

Epim took a step forward, eye to eye with Alucire. His scythe was not in his hand, his palm open by his side with the ring on it.

“What do you mean? You’re blaming them for their loyalty!?” Epim had seen the Bloodsuckers pride, their reverence.

“We had to live!” Alucire screamed back “Our son did not ask for this life. He-”

Bart roared. “We would have left if you asked it of us! But you betrayed us, you gave us no word! You who should have been honest more than anything else, you denied us that right! You turned to the occult before us? How daft!”

Alucire took a step back, a stunned look on his face. Miede’s eyes twitched, nearly faltering to the ground.

Epim stomped forward now. “Duncire was bitten, ravaged by the feral Bloodsuckers, and you taught him to allow it? You believed that was right!?”

“You wouldn’t risk your life before trying that!?” Epim snapped, his fist balled, but he did not strike forward.

Bart snarled. “Have you truly tried everything, you dolts!? Do you know of what our doctors would say, do you know what we would do if you needed help? Do not act a fool, Alucire! You chose your life over your sons! And you chose your husband over your son, Miede! “

Alucire stumbled backwards, the back of his hands barely catching his fall. Miede quickly advanced to his side. Her eyes were cloudy. The Bloodsucker approached, slowly. Its eyes were blind, and it used its hands to move. Its senses were significant, it was smelling the ground in detail, aware of the escalation and not acting, despite the mental order by Miede to at least return to her side.

“I… Chose my own life. I put it above his?” He said the words, stunned and confused. He sounded ghastly now, like a shell of a man. Miede cried silently, her tears running down her cheek.

“No, it is all too convenient to believe in that! They don’t know of our struggle. They refuse our past, our circumstances! If-”

Epim’s voice again demanded attention. “Are you aware that the Bloodsuckers still live in the Bewitching woods, waiting down at the village you gave them!? They live in the woods, trapped by mercenaries! And yet they still honor you, they still speak highly of you! They’ve been waiting for five hundred years! You’re just cowards!”

The room was sat into silence, Bart panting heavily as well as Epim, their outbursts taking their energy.

Alucire turned to Miede, a hollowed look on his face. He scanned her face, and she seemed to come to a complicit understanding. She nearly fell to the ground fainting at the thought of it. She hugged her husband tightly.

Epim and Bart looked down in silence. The sight brought them no emotion, their single minded pursuit of normalcy had cost the Bloodsuckers years of torment, they took no responsibility for such a thing. It angered them both to no end.

Epim spoke through it. “Even if your intentions were good, your actions aren’t that of a lord. You had no right to rule over others. Your blood may be special, but it is not noble by right.”

Alucire lowered his head. The truth of his actions hung over him. He was now submerged in guilt, and now he was wracked by the knowledge that he knew what to do. He looked at the angry young man, and at Bart, an ancestor of his long lost companions. He thought back to when he let them feast at the chance of life, with no thought to his own harm. Had fear really turned him to such an evil?

He turned to his wife, and spoke in that low voice. “Miede, he’s right.” It was a whisper. “It’s gone on for far too long.”

Her head hung low, her eyes dull. All the energy had drained from her body at the sight of her husband. There was no light in his eyes, they had gone dull. He turns to Epim, no longer holding his head high. The previous vitality was gone, and now there was only a man who had only now looked back at the long stretch of time before him.

“I’ve made a decision. We’ll go see Duncire, and we’ll end this long reign of solitude.” He said this sadly, his voice barely a wisp. “It’s best that he hears it from me. He’ll accept it, I’m sure.” For a moment, the light returned to his eyes. “He is gentle.”

Miede’s eyes now look to the Bloodsucker, which had turned its head up from its position on the ground. It had gone too long without answering her commands. She saw into its white glossed over eyes, and in its reflection she saw black, one that she had not seen since so long ago.

Alucire turned his head to Epim, a defeated smile rising to his face. “Will you allow us this?”

Epim nodded. He was unsure of how this would end, but he could no longer allow the castle to sit with an unknown lord. He would tell the tale regardless. He moved forward to assent, as an arrow pierced through his side and nearly into his heart.