UNFORGIVING MASSACRE

As night fell, I decided to float around by the ruins. As I waited, Clifford gave me access to the map Layondo had left on the table in the underground room. It was a poorly made map that Layondo further damaged with scribbles of notes. Nevertheless, I was able to comprehend the distance between us and North Star.

CLIFFORD

It's impossible for them to arrive shortly after your appearance.

He whispered to me as we sat in the underground room.

PAIN

Clearly, they had plans far ahead of my run-in with Isaac.

Clifford collected his thoughts before suggesting,

CLIFFORD

They likely left North Star the same night you ran in with Isaac.

PAIN

But that is only a two days journey.

CLIFFORD

Oh, forgot to mention that North Star employs airships. They have the largest ports, if I recall correctly.

He looked over at me,

CLIFFORD

Does the Fire Kingdom have airships?

Actually, I was unsure if they did.

PAIN

Not sure.

But I remember reading about airships, the cost of making them, and the amount of puries it costs to keep them running.

PAIN

If they did, I just never saw one.

CLIFFORD

They're pretty big. Hard to miss.

The sun dimmed, and we long left the underground room as Layondo began his walk toward Dagon. I floated above the ruins, watching him leave. Nobody saw him off as he sauntered through the refuge, receiving soft glances from his fellow vampires.

Meanwhile, Clifford tried to arm his fellow vampires for war but failed and caused a spread of fear and discontent. All the while, Clifford did his best to keep Mac from journeying west on her own, but as night lingered, his grip on her was loosening. Clifford then sought to gather a group, but Mac argued it would be problematic.

MAC

We already fight over the food we don't have.

She hissed at Clifford as I landed near them.

PAIN

Still arguing?

She jabbed her finger at me,

MAC

You don't understand the lengths North Star would go to kill us.

While I was waiting around earlier, Mac informed me in advance about hired bandits and mercenaries sent to the Western States during her time as a Knight. She was convinced they would have sent an army to rid the Western States of impurity if not for the mountains and natural barriers that barred off North Star.

PAIN

Sending a large force such a long way to clear out a small encampment of vampires? I think I understand.

MAC

Do you?

PAIN

Yes. What I do not understand is the distance and danger between here and the Western States. Why such a large number of vampires are struggling to fight off fiends in the west is beyond me.

She looked at me with disgust,

MAC

As if you're any better than any of us.

PAIN

Never said I was. You are a vampire; you said you two trained your vampor.

She was taken aback, and Clifford cocked his head in perplexity.

MAC

Vampor?

She snorted.

MAC

Right. You've only been a vampire for, I don't know, a day? How many times have you drunk blood?

PAIN

Once.

She burst into laughter.

MAC

Once!?

She straightened up, shaking her head while Clifford informed me,

CLIFFORD

We've been vampires for a while, and we did attempt to train our vampor, but we need lots of bodies, not one or two a month. To add to the difficulty, daywalkers need, what, three times the amount of rich blood than nightwalkers? With Lich, we only obtain our first set and sixty percent of our second set of vampor.

That did not feel good—to be laughed at due to my ignorance.

PAIN

Rich blood?

CLIFFORD

Rich blood is the amount of raw mana level the creature had. Kinans, bains, and ylguens have the most, followed by fiends, and lastly, animals—they barely have any.

I took in the information, realizing how weak they really were.

PAIN

Then, you are saying you and this lot of vampires are barely above kinans?

MAC

Now you understand! Without our weapons and armor, we're useless. And the rest of them?

She gestured and the ruins.

MAC

Besides Bone, Cloe, and Elizabeth, they're basically kinans with claws—

I spun around as signals from my black arachnid boomed in my head.

PAIN

We have visitors!

And we were far from ready as a magical barrier suddenly formed around the ruins. I had only one black arachnid since this area had been wiped clean of any animals by the vampires. I did have a dozen skeletons, but their accuracy depended on either my own vision or the vision of my black arachnid.

Fiery light lit up the dark sky as dozens of great balls of flame came soaring down toward us. Quick thinking set in motion; I covered my sword completely in hardened dirt, doubling its length before using Dominion Authority to send it spinning at high speeds through three balls of flame that threatened us, distorting their form.

The other balls of flames landed, causing an explosion to wipe out half of the northern parts of the ruins. I felt a few of my skeleton Slashers getting destroyed; my black arachnid toyed with death as it repeatedly healed from certain death by feeding off its victims.

I scanned through the woods, picking up a blob of heat signatures—

VOICE

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

Attack!

A voice screamed out.

VOICE

Ignore the skeletons!

My heart lurched at my throat, Mac took off east, and I did not blame her because she also saw the flurry of Fire and Health enchantments upon the soldiers' armor. Unfortunately, she crashed into the barrier and was forcibly repelled back into the sky. I grabbed her midair with Telekinesis—her left arm was burnt and pissing blood as I softened her fall.

They were upon us in seconds—Clifford blocked a sword with his bare hands and punched back the soldier with brute strength. I turned and thrust my staff into the ground, causing the ruins to quake beneath their feet—momentarily halting them.

BONE

No! Please!

I whipped my head toward the sound of Bone, wailing in fear. I watched from afar as he fled, throwing sporadic puffs of flames before he turned to flee—turning his back onto his enemy. The soldier's sword sliced deep into it. As Bone fell to the ground, the soldier did not let up and drove his sword down through him.

I jolted with pain and sickness—they killed him? A lump formed in my throat as my eyes stung with heat as I unconsciously burned away the tears. Why did it hurt to see him die? The memory of the Fire Kingdom began to torment me—old friends disappearing, Hugo, Nines, Locness—it was that damned curse again—killing those close to me.

But I did not know these vampires, I confessed to myself as I watched hapless vampires flee for their lives. So why does it hurt to see them die!? I stared unmoving at the horror before me. The blood-stained swords of the North Star glistened in the glow of the moon before it came down on those that begged for mercy. The stench of blood and sulfur tortured my nose. The heat and warm glow of a dozen raging orbs of fire fell down around me.

CLIFFORD

We have to move—

Warm liquid sprayed my face, waking me from my daze. I eyed Clifford, the tip of a broad sword protruding through his chest.

PAIN

Clifford?

I swallowed, refusing to believe what I was seeing. The soldier behind him grinned with triumph and withdrew his sword as Clifford fell to his knees.

CLIFFORD

Shit...

A ripping pain tore through my shoulder, and I was sent tumbling across the ground—smashing into an erected vine-covered pillar. I glared through my blurred vision at a giant arrow lodged into my right shoulder.

Clifford lay motionlessly ahead of me—hot tears clouded my sight as I ripped out the arrow. Mac! I reached out, commanding my staff back into my hand as I stood to find Mac.

A shimmer of metal in the moonlight glinted from the darkness of the woods, and I Quickstepped out of the way of a bolting arrow—its force shattering through the vine-covered pillar. I thought little of its destructive power—my eyes searching the fleeing bodies for a familiar face.

There! I caught her along the edge of the mana barrier—she was outnumbered and was fending the soldier's swings with her bare hands and arms. I charged toward her, but she fled in the opposite direction as she attempted to distance herself from her attackers.

A Knight intercepted me, jamming his sword into my gut. Enraged, I slammed my palm into his stomach and sent him into the sky with Telekinesis.

Mac screamed out in pain as Knight's sword ripped into her back. I pulled out the sword from my gut,

PAIN

Mac!

I commanded my sword with Dominion Authority and flew toward her. I did so in vain as she failed to evade a sword that sliced across her neck. I grabbed her, pulling her out of the soldier's consecutive swing, and it sliced across my left arm.

I landed horribly, and we tumbled—my back seared against the mana barrier, but I ignored the burning pain and slammed the tip of my staff into the ground. Like angled palisades, earthly spikes rose around us and halted our pursers. With tears blurring, I looked down at Mac—she choked, coughing up blood.

PAIN

No-no-no, please! Stay with me!

I sobbed, materializing a Tiny Vial of Health and placed it at her lips.

But she gave me a bloody grin,

MAC

Run...

PAIN

No... Please!

The red ooze of the potion dripped down the side of her face. I clenched my jaws in anger as her body became still under me. I do not want to be alone again... I wanted to say, but the knot in my throat held back my words. Hot streams of tears leaked dripped down onto her blank expression. I squeezed, crushing the glass vial in my hand—Why! I screamed internally as I reached out and halted a falling sword Telekinetically. Why does this hurt! I forced the surprised soldier toward me and stabbed my claws through his unprotected neck—his skin was sturdy, but blood was drawn.

The screams of the other vampires began to reach me. They were loud and horrific. The fear and pain in each one pounded my ears, fueling my rage. A slash tore into my back. I whipped around, slamming my staff into the soldier's face and unleashing a bit of stored mana of flames into his face.

I was outnumbered—surrounded—there were too many of them—and I was bleeding heavily. I ducked out of the way of a blade and slammed my palms into the ground. The ground shook and lifted me several feet above them. I leaped into the air and commanded my sword, but my vision blurred seconds later, and my mind waned.

I blinked awake—I was falling—losing focus on my sword. I grimaced and tightened my grip as I flew into the underground passage. I crashed into the low ceiling and tumbled into the circular room. Blood escaped my mouth and poured from my stomach as I rose on all fours.

I could hear my pursuers behind me—their steel armor clanking with each step.

Tears dripped into the soil as I dug my claws into it—the memory of them being slain kept repeating vividly in my mind.

I felt eyes on my back, and I turned to face their taunting smiles.

PAIN

I am going to rip your throats out.

I growled with conviction as I stood, but they only smiled softly in response.

I materialized a Tiny Vial of Health.

CONAN

I don't think so!

Conan, one of the Warriors, rushed me with his sword. Stashing my staff, I grabbed it—stopping it from stabbing into me. I glared into his eyes, now widened with fear, and I filled my vision with red as I beamed flames through his skull from out of my eyes.

COILER

Maiden's Blessings, Conan.

He prayed momentarily without an ounce of remorse as I downed the Tiny Vial of Health.

Coiler, another Warrior, armed with (Fire Affinity) Black Iron Sword, Fire whipped his sword to cast a stream of Fire.

I Quickstepped out of the way, and he and the remaining two Warriors gave chase, Quickstepping after me, turning this small room into a flurry of moving bodies. I relied on my Petty Body Control to barely dodge their attacks. Unfortunately, the pain in my stomach was not helping, causing me to move sluggishly, taking a few cuts and stabs.

I was backed against the wall, and they all rushed me. I slammed my hand back against the dirt wall causing earthly claws to spring out around me—shielding me. They avoided it and leaped out of the way, leaving me to stare in shock at the condensed sphere of flame Deno, the Mage, had concentrated within his palms.

Luckily for me, Deno was a second slower than my sword as it spun by him, slicing off his casting arm. His globe of fire expanded as he lost control. I forced whatever little mana I had into the wall and the ceiling, transmuting the ceiling into sand.

Flames washed over my body as the ceiling and stone ruins crumbled. Acting quickly through the pain, I grabbed onto my flying sword and escaped through the gaping ceiling.

I soared into the sky, materializing my staff and casting Water to wash over me. I welcomed the pain of mana burn as the water extinguished the fire from my body. The air was thick with smoke and filled with screams of fleeing vampires. I refused to look down, but I eventually did as tears began to resurface. With my Petty En Sight, I could see everything below; troops using affinity-enchanted weapons to set vampires on fire. The soldiers lauded the vampires' suffering—they watched them writhe in pain—killing and stabbing beseeching vampires without mercy or hesitation—toying with vampires who fled on their knees.

As I flew away, I caught sight of Layondo's decapitated head held at its hair by a massive armored gent—Solid, Kinan, Warrior/Knight/Sword Master—armed with two swords at his hips and was covered neck to toe in heavy silver plated armor bearing the North Star emblem upon his chest.

His blood-red eyes looked up at me, and we held an intensive stare until the expanding distance between us made it impossible. I looked away as I took myself higher into the sky until the air became a freezing bliss to my scarred and burnt skin. I briefly glanced down before soaring off in the direction of my hideaway. Recall Memory played with my emotions, filling me with despair and anger.

Landing before my lair, I forced my mind to focus on avenging them. I am going to take Clifford's advice... and do whatever I please! There was no rightful justice—no room for kindness among the plains! I knelt and punched a hole into the ground in my anger.

PAIN

Is war and killing the only thing we know!?

I shouted into the air as my eyes began to singe with heat and tears.

I placed my face into my palms and allowed my frustration to feed my hunger for revenge—feed my passion for seeking my own form of justice. Because the law of the land were rules created by those with power—so I needed power.