The cavern the blood elf city occupied was the largest I’ve seen, with the city spanning its width. About half of the cavern floor was taken up by a small lake. Overall, the city wasn’t massive as far cities went. It couldn’t be. Approximately 10,000 people lived there. Vito said he had heard there were larger cities deeper within Tehomal where the caverns got much bigger.

I slipped over the wall surrounding the compound, which was situated to one side within the city, pushed back against the cavern wall. The wall wasn’t tall, but it was well patrolled. My timing was perfect, I jumped over just as two guards walked past each other. Then I stumbled when darting across the rampart, still not used to this body. Luckily, the guards didn’t hear me, and I stopped myself from falling. If I had fallen, they would’ve heard the impact.In my brief time on top of the wall, I noticed the compound beyond was patrolled by several other guards. Whoever was in charge took their security seriously. At the center of the compound was a three-story building with a dark tile roof, dark gray stone walls, and bloodred trimming It was the mayors residence, my target.

The grounds of the compound were covered in, to my surprise, hedges. They didn’t have green leaves, the instead they grew red flowers with light gray petals. As much as I wanted to, I did not take the time to stop and study them. There was also a fountain, which appeared to be flowing with blood. Not surprising given the location. There were many disturbing things in the city.

Don’t get me wrong, not all of it was messed up. But I had seen even more of the slave pens like those I remembered under Maltis, and the general market had stalls I wish I had never seen. The blood elves were the upper class in the city. They ran all the nicer shops and lived in the nicer districts. The dark elves and shadow elves lived under their thumb. I lost my inhibitions to killing them and had nothing against launching a crusade against the blood elves, well at least these ones anyway.

There was a shout of alarm that spooked me. I spun around the circle looking for who was shouting and saw an elf with black skin pointing at me. They’d spotted me. I sprang forward, my hooked hands scoring the stone as I scrambled up the side of a building.

I’d been looking around the city for two hours. Within that time, I focused on scouting any defensive buildings and troop locations.

There wasn’t anything that alarmed me. Vito was right. There was nothing overly powerful here unless there was something tucked away in the compound that I was crawling over. The tiles broke under my hard feet as I ran across the roof.

An arrow whizzed by my head. Along the roof in front of me another, smaller roofline started and in it was a window into the attic. I dove through it, allowing my nearly completely bone covered body to bash through the glass with no threat of being cut.

Landing in a roll, it took me a moment to scramble back to my feet. I could already hear shouting from outside and couldn’t afford any delay. As I ran for the door, I used my weight to break it open, or so I tried. Unfortunately, my mass was too small to have any major effect and so I ungracefully bounced off the door.

Approaching the door again, I allowed a second to assess, cursing my rushed folly. My sharp, claw-like hands made short work of the bolt I hadn’t initially noticed. Working my claws between the door and doorjamb, I braced both my legs against the wall, and pulled. The dark magic enhanced bone was stronger than it appeared, and after a second of effort, the door swung open and I fell back.

I wasted no time and ran out into the hall. It was pitch-black, but my big penetrated through it easily. Shouting came from outside and feet trampled the floorboards below me. The house would be awake in moments.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

I dashed down the hall, finding a set of stairs. They led to the second floor of an entry room. Elves with pale gray, black, or pasty white skin stormed in.

“There it is, get it!” an elf with pasty white skin shouted, wielding a trident pointed at me. His robes were dark red, just like his trident, and I sincerely hoped it was not a blood weapon. Vito had assured me they did not have the equivalent of blood weapons that we had seen before.

I dashed down the hall, reaching the fanciest looking doors and, assuming it was what I was looking for, pushed hard on them. The sharp talons on my feet bit into the wood as the doors resisted me. There was a cracking sound and it burst open.

A torrent of red magic hit me like a wave and hammered me back. My body was being ripped apart by the blood magic. At the corner of my eye, I saw elves already rushing down the hall. But before they reached me, the spell ended.

Seizing the moment, I launched myself inside. An elf with ruby red eyes stood there wielding a wand. He wore nothing more than boxers. The skin of his body was crisscrossed with scars. A scream drew my attention. Glancing over to a four post bed, I saw a woman clutching black sheets to her.

This was definitely the mayor of the town, caught unaware and unprepared. Yet by the magic he was building around him, he was strong, but not too strong for me to handle.

Knowing the futility of the fight, I did not target him. I lunged toward the bed. Part of my brain that still worked in those ways noticed the female elf was quite attractive. She tried to scramble out of the way, but I was upon her before she made it off the bed. The wicked talons that were my hands tore into her naked back.

Her screaming turned into a gurgle. As my lacerations punctured her lungs. I felt one of my talons hook around her spine even as my back legs tore into her thighs. I was about to yank back, severing her spine, when all of a sudden, her body seemed to melt from underneath me.

She twisted underneath me, the wounds I’d left in her back healing, and her spine flowing apart so my claws wouldn’t hinder her movement. I was stunned. The sight was horrendous, but also enthralling. I noticed then that her eyes weren’t red, they were and had slit like a cats. Black elegant horns curled out of her head as she wrapped her legs around my torso.

I realized too late that I’d been caught in some kind of charm. “What do we have here?” she asked in a seductive voice.

“I-I-I—” All at once, I was more aware of how attractive she was, aware in a way I hadn’t been before. My voice was off, this body not quite right.

“Who sent you, little undead?” she purred. I wanted to answer these questions that held promises of so much more. Which was just baffling in its own right and was probably the only thing that kept me from speaking. I struggled, trying to pull away, but she wrapped her arms around my neck as she pulled her legs tighter. “I assure you I can make even those long-since dead feel ecstasy. I’ll show you if you tell me.”

“No one sent me, I sent myself,” I responded before I could stop myself.

“And who might you be?” she purred, knowing she had me. I didn’t even know how she had me, but she did. “Are you a minion of that annoying vampire, little undead?”

“I-I-I’m—” I was fighting with every fiber of my being to resist.

“Please.” She pouted. “You tell me who you are, and we can even turn you into something more than just an undead.”

That made me pause. “I’m already living dead, I’m a lich,” I answered without thinking. “How can you create living dead?” The creation of living dead was not simple.

A spark of interest crossed her eyes as she let out a throaty laugh that was almost enough to enthrall me once again. “Little lich, as a demon, there’re many things I can do,” she whispered, a hint of promise flooding my mind.

Suddenly, as if having ice water thrown on my face, the enthronement shattered. I heard Damien yell in my mind, something I normally couldn’t do, “Get the fuck out of there, Ezekiel!”

Damien and Ilore had no doubt been fighting against her in the Mindscape. It wasn’t the same as a true psychic attacking. Seduction magics were some place in between regular magic and psionic energy.

I tried to shut myself off from her, but she was incredibly strong. I was vaguely aware of the room and the man who stood stoically watching. None of the people chasing me had dared to enter. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a flicker of movement. I glanced down and saw the succubus glaring at me. The flicker of movement caught my attention before a black demon tail darted toward my head.

Blinking, I came back to myself. I was sitting in a small room in Vito’s fortress. “What did you find?” Vito asked.