“Three Harpies.”
Exill’s whisper echoed softly as he unslung his bow and lightly nocked an arrow. Envy nodded and moved up to take position by the passage entryway, shield raised at the ready. Exill let loose and saw the arrow thump softly into the outline of the first harpy. The next arrow was immediately nocked and drawn with practiced ease, but the projectile only managed to pierce the wing of the second harpy who had leapt from the ledge.
‘I’m still not good enough to hit them once they are alert.’ Exill exhaled in frustration as he slung his bow, picking up the spear, “Let’s pressure the fallen one, please watch my back.”
They advanced warily across the floor of chasm, the last remaining harpy shrieking as it harassed them. Exill approached the wounded beast who had broken its wing in the fall. It flopped around in both anger and pain, and was dispatched from a distance with a clean thrust. The remaining harpy continued to screech, harassing them but refusing to commit.
“She’s a clever one, lets collect the bodies and move on.”
They harvested the two downed monsters while covering each other and crossed the floor of the chasm into the next passageway. Exill was in front scouting, for he made less noise than his armoured companion.
“Two Spriggans.”
‘Looks like we’ll have to sharpen her sword again...’ Exill thought whilst observing the two monsters that resembled stick insects with long angular branches for limbs. They were smaller than Treents, but their bark was still tough and easily dulled weapons made of lesser metals.
“I’ll handle the one on the left.”
He leapt out and charged at the bewildered spriggan. Its torso contorted away from his lunge and counterattacked by whipping him with its long limbs. Their strikes would sting and leave welts against unarmoured foes, but it was not lethal. Perhaps it was thanks to [Monk’s] increased damage resistance, but he was able to shrug off most of their strikes. The trick to taking them down was to split their heartwood, resembling a tough knot of wood in their chest. He had achieved it once before by impaling it deeply then twisting the spear to split its heart.
Exill was repeatedly whipped as the lithe monster dodged his attacks. A feint was performed to the left then lunged, finally impaling the mass of writhing branches. Splitting the heartwood, Exill turned around to see Envy observing him with a condescending smile. Her opponent had been dispatched with the first strike.
She didn’t need to say a word to express her opinion of him, the cold, ruthless eyes conveying it all. However, none of her disdain filtered over the Party’s emotional connection. Strangely enough, he hadn’t felt an ounce of emotion from her since they entered the Labyrinth, not even a hint of exhilaration during combat.
‘I know the Party is active since I can sense her direction, but how cold-blooded do you have to be, to not leak a hint of satisfaction after dispatching a monster?’
He warily glanced back as he field dressed the Spriggan by chopping off its smaller branches. They would only snag against the passage walls on the way back and were worthless.
“Let’s head back, today was just a warmup exercise.”
Envy carelessly shrugged in response, and they returned to the portal room, wary of the remaining harpy while crossing the chasm, but it had either disappeared or thoroughly concealed itself. Dismissing the party, they entered the afternoon sunlight and the two made their way to the Guild.
***
Exill placed the Harpy wings, talons and spriggan boughs on the guild counter. Iris inspected them and subsequently slid 52 Denars across the heavily scored worktop.
“That would be 24 Denars for the harpies and 28 for the spriggans.”
“Thank you Iris, how is Grundle by the way?”
“Ah! I paired him up with another young recruit. They are a good team!” Iris had a lot of questions to ask Exill, but the pressure exerted by the Vampire made her strangely reluctant to approach him.
The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.
“Well, that’s good to know, please send him my regards, I’ll see you tomorrow.” Exill palmed the coins into his pouch before Envy could touch it. The pair returned home to the Inn and Exill ate dinner downstairs while Envy sharpened and maintained her new sword. He tentatively tasted the spicy grillock stew. It was a type of fish that was commonly found in the freshwater streams near Ark around this time of year.
He had expected it to smell and taste fishy but was pleasantly surprised by the light flavour that complemented the spiciness. After the Wheyr tail soup, this had to be his next favourite dish from the Innkeeper, he had a suspicion that one of the man’s jobs was [Cook].
“Thank you, that was excellent.”
The Innkeeper merely raised the back of his hand through the doorway in acknowledgement from outside. Exill climbed up to the room with a large basin of heated water to see Envy sitting at the end of the bed, having finished maintaining her weapon.
“I’m hungry too.”
“Soon, you can wash first.”
He lowered the basin on the floor and took a short walk around the Inn, returning to the room after a period of time. He found Envy sat cross-legged on the bed, patting her hair dry with a towel.
“Erhem...”
Exill cleared his throat to indicate it was her turn to leave, but she glared at him for a few seconds followed by a condescendingly mocking tone, “Why? Does my virgin master need some privacy to scrub his little dick?”
Exill blinked.
The woman didn’t need to like him, but he had expected a modicum of civility considering the fate she had been rescued from. Not to mention the incredible debt and litres of blood that had been sacrificed to nurse her back to health. A slow flush of outrage began to creep up his neck, and he stammered the first thing that came to mind.
“I need you to leave... or I won’t feed you today!”
“Tch, a coward and a weak virgin.” Envy threw her towel in distaste and shouldered past him, slamming the door behind her. Exill wiped himself down quickly, still shaking with embarrassment and anger.
‘What is up with that woman?’
The behaviours he had seen so far were difficult to organize and interpret. ‘She tries to seduce and manipulate me. Intimidates and drives away those close to me. Finally, mocks and derides me. What is she hoping to achieve?’
Exill stared at her with a calculating gaze when she returned. Unfortunately it was time to feed her, whether he liked it or not. Rolling up the sleeves of one forearm, he knelt on the floor, arm extended out. Envy similarly kneeled in front of him but hesitated in front of the proffered limb.
“The blood tastes better when it’s closer to the heart.” She lied.
It was technically true, but the difference in taste was marginal. Simply put, she didn’t want him looking down at her with those inscrutable green eyes while she lapped at his vitality. It made her self-conscious and vulnerable. It felt like… he was doing her a favour, and that she should be grateful for it. Thankful to the man who owned her.
“So what do you want?” Exill asked warily, wondering if this was finally the moment she would kill him. Envy ignored his question and looked yearningly at the bed then lead him to the stool. He had forbidden her from feeding on the bed after she had let a few drops of blood fall, staining the mattress. A humiliating blush rose when she remembered the stern lecture and afternoon spent washing the sheets.
Envy pushed him down on the stool and straddled him, quickly unbuttoning his tunic.
“W-what are-”
“Stay still.” She whispered while lifting his clothes off and bit lightly into his neck. Now she was the one on top and in control. ‘I don’t have to look into those unsettling eyes of his,’ the satisfied thought swept through her.
She squirmed lightly while feeding, her body pressing against his. Exill initially panicked when she latched onto his neck, but the press of her body and heavy breathing gradually woke something within him. Envy inwardly grinned as she felt something hard press up against her.
‘All men are the same, and this one is no different.’ After a few minutes, Envy sated herself and sealed the wound on his neck with a satisfied kiss. She couldn’t help herself and threw one last jab at the man who owned her.
“Master just needs to say the order to... help with his release.” She whispered enticingly while sliding her hand slowly down towards the thing pressing against her.
“Why do you hate me so much?”
Envy stopped.
“Even as you touch me, I can sense your distaste...” Exill furrowed his brows, “Why would you put yourself through that, and what have I done to earn your anger?”
Her initial shock turned into outrage that blossomed in her fiery eyes as she pushed him back, “Hate? A slave to her master? Sure, you may act nicer than the previous ones, but you are no different from the rest of them because you control me.” She emphasised the last three words by poking at his temple, trying to drill it into his brain. As if that wasn’t enough, she spat on his face, with a mixture of disgust and disdain.
Exill calmly wiped the stringy spit away from his cheek and asked deliberately, his young face unfittingly serious, “Then what do you want? What do you dream of doing?”
She stared at him in disbelief and began to laugh hysterically at the thought that a mad man had purchased her, “Slaves aren’t allowed to have dreams!” she hissed.
She paced the room, but her outrage was far from over, “You asked me what I want, and I want this to stop. I want this nightmare to end.” She bit the last words off with a haunted look on her face.
Several breaths passed as Exill absorbed her statement, his gaze fixed on something only he could see. Rising to his feet, he walked towards the equipment dumped haphazardly in a corner of the room. Seeing Exill approach his spear, Envy leapt for her sword.
“Stop.” He channelled mana into the command and the Vampire ceased all movement, sword trembling in her hand as she tried to resist the order.