[https://i.imgur.com/sfHqwWT.jpg]
A short while after Drac left, a large man hurried into a young lady's room. In a dark room, Marina’s face was lit by the warm light of little flames within her fingers. Her stern face turned soft as she saw her protector. Bob held up a hand and an amber light leaked.
“No, just rest. By the sight of you, you really need it.”
Bob dropped his hand, grabbed a chair nearby, and sat down with a huge sigh.
"Woah, there; don't break the chair. I’m already paying for this room.” Marina said as she giggled, hurting her rib.
Bob kissed his teeth and asked, “How?” while pointing to her injury.
“Bug bastard was too damn fast. Knock me off my feet and into the wall. The next thing I knew, some old man was tending to me. And don't worry, Drac was by my side.”
Bob nodded.
“Those bugs! So ugly. So massive. So amazing. And so fucking many!”
Marina flicked her flames and candles around her room came alive, revealing numerous chests and luggage.
“I burned them by the hundreds and Drac was slicing them apart like pie; you should've seen us!”
“We should go back.”
Marina's smile went away.
“What?”
“We should-”
“Back to where!?” Marina exploded with rage.
Bob pursed his lips. His large, calloused hands ruffle his light brown hair.
“Back to your people. One last time.”
Angry eyes looked away in guilt.
“Brutus.”
The priest shuddered at the name.
“Cease this talk. I deem it a waste of time.”
Bob bowed his head.
“Yes… My lady.”
Marina looked at her guard from the corner of her eye.
“Bob. You must understand. I'm not here to just have fun but to also learn about my new home.”
Bob's stone face dropped. Sadness ladden his thin lips.
“The moment I stood on this land, it became my new home. There is no going back.”
Bob sat up straight. His face was stone once again. “As you wish.”
“Of course it is. And my new wish? For you to go to sleep. You look like a walking corpse.”
The priest stood up from a creaking chair. With a wave of a glowing amber hand, Marina was healed.
“Oh, fuck off.”
A nod and a grin and the priest left to rest.
“Wait! Before you go…“
“Drac is dealing with our enemy.”
“Oh…” Marina curled up with her knees to her body.
“Don't fret, my lady. He has help.”
Bob closed the door, leaving a worried girl alone in the candlelit room.
A beetle shouts a bloodcurdling scream. A man in black pulled a searing hot sword out of a black carapace-covered back. Drac's breath is heavy from Soulflame—his sword was heavy in his hand.
“Once again. What is your goal?”
“TO RIP THE MUSCLE FROM YOUR BONES!!”
Too Vague. Stab him a bit more. Like I taught you.
They are growing back again.
I will sort that out.
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Drac's lightning-marked copies chopped regenerating limbs. The human beetle's screams echo in the woods. Birds fly in the distance.
“Let's change the question. Why?”
The beetle answers with a blood-filled smile. “Why not? You humans are so tasty. Your meat is so juicy and your souls! Oh, so delectable. Hehehehe”
“So the hundreds, maybe thousands, of lives sacrificed today because we taste good?!”
Halen giggled.
“The poultry you humans eat. Do you feel the same sympathy?”
Something goes cold in Drac.
Drac lifted the blade.
“I see.”
Drac used the last of his aura to cover his sword in a raging storm of white flame.
A slash and red blood splashed.
Another.
And another.
Again and again, his sword struck Halen. Screams become cries for help. Cries to stop.
Drac! Enough!
Copies join in, cutting the beetle piece by piece.
I said. ENOUGH!
Before Drac swung again, a hand grabbed his wrist.
“I said stop. Calm. Down.”
Drac whipped his head around and Hood stood behind him with a disappointed look.
The sight of Hood shook Drac from his fervour. Drac looked around.
“The mind space… Hood, I don't know what's got into me…”
“It's been a wild two months. Experiences like what we have gone through can affect people differently. Just keep yourself in check.”
Drac eased his forearm from Hood's grasp. “Sure. I will be careful.”
Hood, with quick hands, pulled something from Drac's back.
“I felt a pull. What was that?”
“Pressure point. I figure you should be less tired.”
Drac nodded before fading back into reality.
“Not just a trickster but a liar too!” Said Axton by Drac’s tree. A wooden sword rested on his shoulder as he stared at Hood's hand.
Hood opened his palm to reveal a piece of paper. Ripped from a book.
Hood sighed. “Fuck’s sake.”
Drac opened his eyes, back in the woods in the dark of night. A firepit caused his shadows to dance. A bloody mess of hacked meat and black shell covered the grass. A beetle whimpered as Drac held up his blade. A third copy held his hand back.
Drac looked backward, shocked.
“How…”
“End it.” said Hood as he dispersed into flecks of light.
Drac looked back at Halen as he writhed in pain. Drac breathed deeply. With an exhale, he lowered his Heilong to Halen's neck.
“Sorry… master. I… failed…you…”
YOU HAVE DONE WELL. REST.
Drac’s aura flowed around his sword. In a smooth motion, a head was cut off. Drac turned around. A golden frame mirror stuck in the ground twinkled with a firelight.
“Tough nut to crack, your minion was. Maybe you can answer my questions.” Drac said as he began walking towards him.
HAHAHA. I MUST ADMIT HUMAN, YOU GAVE ME QUITE THE SHOW. AS A PRIZE I WILL GIVE YOU AN ANSWER TO ONE OF YOUR QUERIES.
Drac walked closer to the mirror. His copies disperse behind him. His breath was heavy and painful. Muscles all over stung with exhaustion. Ribs rubbed together with every step forward. The mirror comes closer into view.
It looks like the mirror at the Stalwart compound.
KODOKU.
Break it.
Under his feet, Drac felt a rumble.
YOU SHOULD BE HONOURED TO HEAR MY NAME, HUMAN. MOST BECOME MINE BEFORE HEARING IT.
The rumble moved the grass.
Quick!
I am running on empty.
On your waist!
Drac remembered, put his sword in its sheath and reached under his jacket. Buckles clinked, and a flower-engraved pistol was unholstered.
Finally.
Drac tuned himself to the gun in his hand. Another hand went into his jacket to pull out a round bullet. He loads the barrel by dropping the aura-infused bullet in the hole. Already full and charged, he aimed at the mirror. The pistol whirred in Drac’s hand and a rumble shook the ground.
MY POOR HALEN. SO STRONG AND LOYAL. ALWAYS DID HIS JOB WELL. GOT YOUR FULL ATTENTION.
Drac fired. His arm recoiled so hard that his body almost followed. Blowing the wind aside, Drac’s bullet headed straight for the demon in the mirror.
Something flew down and crashed into the ground in front of the mirror. Dust wafts away at the beat of insect wings.
“Sorry, I am late, Master.”
Large insect wings beat from a long brown and worn rain jacket. A grey waistcoat and trousers look clean. A white blouse accented the look. Bare feet stood in the crater. A young tralorian face with dark, messy brown hair made him seem too human, except for two long antennae poking from his head and inhuman compound eyes. A right hand hid in their raincoat pocket, and a left hand held a bullet.
Damn it…
SHOULD HAVE PICKED A BETTER TARGET, A HUMAN.
Insects rush out of the woods in their thousands. Drac sensed something. Auras. So large and mighty, he could feel it without aura sense.
SURROUNDED WITHOUT ANY HELP. OUT OF AURA. WHAT A PROBLEM YOU’RE FACING YOUNG ONE. BUT IT DOESN'T HAVE TO HURT.
JUST SUBMIT.
BE MINE.
Drac looked up at the starry sky. Stars twinkled above as carnage reigned below. What a beautiful sight.
Drac unsheathed his sword. He reversed it close to his chin. With a finger, he pulled down his sweater mask.
“Fuck off. I am ugly enough.”
YOU!! NO WONDER YOUR SOUL LOOKS SO FAMILIAR! I WANT YOU EVEN MORE!!
Drac's eyebrows perked at that.
KILL THE BOY. MAYBE WE DO HAVE OTHER USES FOR HIS SOUL.
“As you command, my master.”
Black flame flowed to the bullet, condensing in the small metal ball. A flick of the fingers, the ball barreled towards Drac, dividing the air and destroying the grass and soil.
Drac squared up, readying himself to block what he could not. With nothing but a sliver of aura, no aura can protect this body, and no Murus can help him. No speed. No enhanced reflexes. No pulse. Nothing.
The bullet explodes in dust and black flame. And Drac is still alive. Surprised, he checks his body for any missing parts. Drac looked in front of a sliver sword gleaming in the firelight. Fiery hair bounced subtly in the wind.
“Hero or not, you're still a dumb kid.”
WHO DARES TO INTERRUPT US?
A swing with two hands blasts away the wind.
“Brenna Gifaw. Chaperon for my idiot brother’s stupid friend.”