Chapter 571: A Calculated Risk

  “I like what you’ve done with the place.” Holo glanced around the office. The walls were covered with various maps of the realms. Several books written in ancient languages were scattered over the desk.

  The office had once belonged to Elzri’s grandfather. It hadn’t remained relatively untouched until Melantha had moved into the manor and claimed the office as her own.

  “So, what did you want to talk about?” Holo asked as she closed the door behind her.

  Melantha turned around and gave her a flat look.

  Holo sighed, “Lily, huh? What is it? Is she sleeping with Loh?”

  “No, not yet at least, I think.”

  “Really?” Holo made a funny face. “Because that vampire was giving Loh these really strong ‘fuck me’ eyes. Like she would do anything Loh wanted her to, like anything. I find it hard to believe that someone like Loh could resist that. I mean, I only flirted with Loh a couple of times when we first met and she was already trying to bed me.”

  “You really enjoy fucking with people, don’t you?”

  “Only when they’re interesting,” Holo winked and sipped at her wine.

  “You sound just like Father.”

  “I do, don’t I? Huh. Either way, Loh struck me as the assertive type when it came to relationships. I’m surprised she is playing hard to get.”

  “The girl is clearly going through a difficult time. She just lost her grandfather, the only real parental figure in her life. She is still processing that. Do you remember what that’s like? The shock of death?”

  “Gods of death don’t shy from such things, it doesn’t affect us, rather we often delight in it. Our mortal half on the other hand,” Holo finished her wine in one swig. “The mortal half bleeds every so often.”

  Melantha sat down next to the fireplace and stared at the fire for a long moment. “Loh is in pain. I believe she is punishing herself. For what, I’m not quite certain yet. People grieve differently.”

  “Yes, but I know Loh. She is the kind of person to drown her pain in booze and women. The fact that she isn’t…” Holo tapped her fingers on the wall behind her, deep in thought. “She is changing.”

  “For the better or worse?”

  “I’m not certain yet. What I do know is that denying one’s own needs leads to people doing stupid things. Do you have any wine in here?”

  Melantha nodded towards her desk. “I have some Azurian rum in the second drawer.”

  Holo walked over and pulled out a bottle with a deep amber hue. She filled her glass and sighed in deep satisfaction. “Ah, you really have shit tastes.”

  “I like the cheap stuff,” Melantha shrugged unapologetically.

  “Because it’s what you grew up drinking, yes, I know. Humans and their taverns,” Holo shook her head. “I really need to visit the Azure Realm soon.”

  “Is that the Navigator Aspect within you talking or your penchant for drinking?”

  “Both. I’ll bring you back some real spirits, not this sorry excuse for alcohol.”

  “What does it matter? Neither of us can get drunk.”

  “It’s not about getting drunk or drinking whatever passes as piss beer these days. It’s about enjoying what you drink.”

  “I do enjoy what I drink.”

  Holo groaned. “You’re helpless. Speaking of which, where is Louise?”

   “The human girl with sad eyes?”

  “Yes. And she doesn’t have sad eyes, she’s just worried about Loh. The girl is helplessly in love with her.”

  “And Loh loves her too,” noted Melantha.

  “Are you certain? Loh has been avoiding the manor for days. I wouldn’t leave my lover alone after a large battle, would you?”

  “As I said, people grieve differently. Loh doesn’t want to allow herself the comfort of those close to her.”

  Holo narrowed her eyes. “And yet she’s been awfully close with Lily these last few days.”

  “That’s the problem.”

  “I didn’t take you as the kind of person who’d take any real interest in the Noir’s affairs.”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “For Stryg. You find him interesting. If the rest burned down, I don’t think you’d mind too terribly. In that sense, you are more like Father than I.”

  “I care.”

  Holo gave her a deadpan look.

  “I care enough that I’m here talking to you about Lily, aren’t I?”

  “Yes, Lily. What exactly is the problem again?”

  “She is a wraith.”

  Holo spat out her drink in a coughing fit. “Wh-What did you just say?”

  “Lily is not a vampire, she is a wraith.”

  “And you didn’t think to mention that earlier!?”

  “Is she really that dangerous?” Melantha glanced at the door thoughtfully.

  “No, don’t go and kill her. She isn’t dangerous per se, well she is, actually. But without her host nearby she may as well be an ordinary vampire, excluding her eternal beauty. If her host was in the manor even I would have sensed it.”

  “Then what exactly is the problem?”

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  “Have you met a wraith before?”

  “No, this is a first.”

  “Right, you were too young to have met them when they ruled the Ashen Realm. For a long time, the Ashen Queens and many of the nobility were all Bonded. King consorts, Dukes, various minor nobles, you name it.”

  “And it eventually led to their ruin, yes, I know the stories.”

  “But you weren’t there. You didn’t see how the wraiths toyed with their hosts. Wraiths are cruel and insatiable. They promise power and eternal youth, but they will feed off their host until they are nothing but husks.”

  “So we should kill Lily?”

  “No. Wraiths are old. They don’t procreate. They were created by ancient gods with a very unique combination of elemental life and death magic.”

  “Blood magic,” Melantha guessed.

  “The blood gods are long dead, courtesy of crossing the Calamities. Which means there are no new wraiths. If Lily truly is a wraith then it would do well to know exactly how old she is. Most of them were created in the Nexus Age, sometime in the last 1500 years, but she could be older, much older. The Age of Memory, perhaps.”

  “You’re saying she might have information that is useful to us.” Melantha’s tone rose somewhat in interest.

  “Yes, wraiths were notorious for hoarding secrets and knowledge. And it is well known they held no fondness for the Calamities. Unfortunately, they rarely revealed any secrets to anyone except their host.” Holo caught the look in her sister’s eyes and added, “Even under the threat of death.”

  “So you’re saying we should let her bond to Loh?”

  “Obviously not, she’ll feed off Loh until she’s a husk. No, we have to find her current host and ‘persuade’ them. They should be somewhere in the city. Wraiths never stray far from their host.”

  “I don’t believe Lily has a host.”

  “What? Of course, she does.”

  “Then why would she be after Loh?”

  “Before the host dies, the wraith is already searching for their next prey.”

  “That makes sense, except I didn’t see any tethers around Lily.”

  “You examined her with your Clarity magic?”

  “Of course. My eyes didn’t catch anything.”

  Holo furrowed her brow. “That is very odd. A wraith without a bond is almost unheard of.”

  “From what Lily told me it sounded as if she hasn’t had a host in years, perhaps longer. She’s been feeding off the pain from those around her. Particularly Elzri’s.”

  Holo shook her head. “She couldn’t have been bonded to Elzri. He wouldn’t have aged if they had been. And his health would have already started showing signs of decline from her feeding after all these years.”

  “Lily said Elzri had another in his heart. He couldn’t bond with her.”

  “Yes, that tracks. For a bond to first form, the host must not be in love.” Holo placed her hand over her chin, “If Lily really hasn’t bonded with anyone since meeting Elzri then she must be very weak. I didn’t even know it was possible for a wraith to go so long without a host.”

  Melantha shrugged. “She sounded picky to me. Talking about worthy hosts and whatnot.”

  “So after all this time, she suddenly finds Loh to be suitable?”

  “Yeah, she called Loh her Affinity.”

  “What? Are you certain?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Affinities are rare, very rare.”

  “A perfect bond, yes, I remember reading about it back at the Order. What exactly does it mean?”

  “A wraith’s soul is twisted, broken. An Affinity is a person whose soul’s shape fits just the right way into the wraith’s broken bits, kind of like a puzzle piece. A wraith would do anything to bond with their Affinity. This is good, possibly.”

  “How so?” asked Melantha curiously.

  “If we let Lily bond to Loh I’m certain she’ll be more than willing to cooperate with us.”

  “And why would we let Loh bond with her? Didn’t you say wraiths kill their hosts?”

  “Affinities have perfect bonds. A wraith can feed off their Affinity host endlessly without killing them. An endless supply of food so to speak.”

  “...So we’d be condemning Loh to an eternity being fed off that monster. Last I recall, you can’t break the bond unless you kill the wraith, and if the wraith dies, then the host’s soul is irreparably damaged,” noted Melantha quietly.

  “Which is why we should let the decision be Loh’s.”

  “Decision?” Melantha scoffed. “You see the way she looks at Lily, even if she doesn’t want to bed her, she clearly lusts after the woman.”

  “Wraiths were created to be persuasively alluring, especially towards mortals. It’s only normal for Loh to feel that way. But as you said, Loh hasn’t acted on her primal instincts.”

  “Because she is in pain.”

  “Because she is changing. Loh can make the decision for herself once she is aware of the circumstances.”

  “When do we tell her?”

  “We?” Holo laughed. “Loh hates to be controlled or manipulated, you can thank Elzri for that. If we tell her anything she’ll see it as just that, manipulation. No. For now we simply watch. If I’m right, Lily will reveal herself soon enough.”

  “What if Lily tries to force the bond on Loh? You said it yourself, a wraith will do anything to bond with their host.”

  “She won’t. Lily is aware that she has to play by our rules, otherwise she dies.”

  “And so long as she does play, we let her live…”

  “Mm. I think Lily told you everything she did because she was counting on the fact that we would come to this conclusion.”

  “A calculated risk… shit,” Melantha cursed. “She wanted this.”

  “A wraith indeed. Manipulative fuckers.”

  “There must be another way to get what we need out of her.”

  “Possibly. It will take time to find it, but I’m inclined to agree with you.”

  The hairs on the back of their necks suddenly bristled. They glanced at the window and then ran out the door.

~~~

  “When I saw the way Tauri looked at you back there… it was the same way she used to look at my brother. She loves you, Stryg, even if she’ll never say it.” Loh closed her eyes and let the breeze sweep over her. “...I already got in the way of her happiness once, I’m not going to do it again.”

  “Loh, I—” Stryg frowned and leaned over the balcony. “Is that…?” He narrowed his eyes. “Gale?”

  Loh followed his gaze and saw the aforementioned vampire walking beside a cloaked figure. “Stryg, what are you— wait!”

  He vaulted off the balcony and landed with a heavy thud, before breaking out into a run.

  “Dammit,” Loh muttered. Black mana filled her veins and shadowy limbs sprung from her back, latching onto the balcony railing. She jumped off and the dark tendrils softly dropped her to the ground.

~~~

  As Gale neared the gate the guards blocked her path with a crossed pair of spears. “No further. State your name and purpose.”

  “I am Lady Gale and I demand to see Lord Veres.”

  “We will inform Lady Noir of your arrival. If she grants you an audience, we will let you inside. Until then, you must wait out here,” said one of the guards, while his partner turned to inform another pair of guards standing behind the gate.

  “Enough,” said the cloaked figure beside Gale. The cloak fell away as the goddess shifted in a swirl of silver light and emerged as a massive wolf that towered over frost wolves.

  The guards shouted in panic as Lunae crushed the gate underneath her paw, the steel bending, and the hinges screeching as they were ripped off the stone wall. Defensive wards flared to life and exploded in colorful sparks, unable to handle the strain.

  The guards didn’t try to run and instead attacked Lunae. Their spears and swords skidded off her white fur harmlessly. The air dropped to a cold chill around the wolf goddess and the guards abruptly collapsed as frost-mist rose.

  “Mother Moon, stop!” Stryg called out.

  Lunae rounded on him, her teeth bared.

  Stryg paled. “Please stop?”

  She strode to him with a low growl, her every step shaking the ground.

  “Lunae…?” Stryg stumbled back.

  She stood over him, silver eyes narrowed to slits. He looked up at her and swallowed. Lunae opened her maw in one quick motion and picked him up by the scruff of his neck, careful not to pierce his skin.

  Loh arrived in time to watch in a mixture of astonishment and confusion as Lunae carried Stryg away. All he could do was dangle helplessly, eyes wide in panic.

  Melantha and Holo rushed out and spotted Lunae in the distance. They glanced at each other and dashed after her.

  “Loh!” Gale shouted angrily.

  She turned and smiled weakly. “Hello—”

  Gale struck her across the face.