What Daniel expected to see was another boring room, or perhaps something easily defensible. Instead, what greeted him was one of the most twisted sights he had ever seen.

The cold stone was replaced by flesh - raw and bloody. Thick, dark veins surrounded the room like dark wires, both underneath the flesh and above it, stretching out from a woman who sat in the middle of the room. Every beat of her heart withered her flesh and drained her blood, which nourished the flesh that spread outwards like a plague.

Above her was a wicked metal contraption. Bands of dark steel surrounded a still-beating heart twice the size of Daniel’s head, metal spikes digging into it. He saw it squirming, desperate to escape its prison, but its shackles bound it too tight. Every time it moved, a stream of blood would pour over the woman’s head, rejuvenating her body.

Daniel took a step back, immediately conjuring his spirit shield. That was when Savira opened her eyes and looked at him. They were pitch black, and the moment he met her gaze, his blood ran cold. The intensity of her stare was like a drawn sword, ready to cut down anything that stood in her way.

Slowly, she stretched her arms, tearing off the veins attached to her body. Blood ran down her face, over the exquisite plate mail engraved with two wyverns, before it was absorbed by the ground. Savira was much, much younger than he expected her to be. Despite being the family head for at least five years now, she looked not a day beyond twenty.

Not a single scar or blemish marred her skin, but then again, he had seen her shed it fifty different times. Her raven black hair was playfully tied in a ponytail, a contrast to the stony expression she wore.

“Who are you?” she asked, her voice aggressive and powerful.

Daniel tried his best to stand his ground as she marched forward, but every time he looked at the room made of flesh, his confidence dwindled. His eyes darted left to right, trying to figure out which way he’d have to pass through the least amount of walls.

“Are you deaf or mute? Speak!”

She moved next to the doorway and stopped, her feet still attached to the bottom of the floor by a layer of flesh.

“My name is Daniel,” he responded, more by instinct than anything else.

“You must be stupid, and I am in no mood to argue with morons. Your name means nothing to me,” he could hear her losing her temper by the second. “Who do you stand with? Who do you represent? How did you come to find this place, and how come the guards didn’t kill you the moment they saw you? That’s what I meant. Now speak.”

Daniel took a second to compose himself. He was in no danger of being attacked for the moment.

“My name is Daniel, and I represent the church of Morvina. I’ll repeat to you what I said to the guards at the gate. My goddess has decided to show your plight to me in a dream, and thus I’ve searched far and wide for your family. I wish for nothing more than to help, but for that, I need to know more.”

There, he had gotten his speech out of the way and delivered it with as much grace as he possibly could muster. Unfortunately, it fell apart in just a second.

“You’re lying. I can see it in your eyes. One more lie and I’ll cut off your every limb. I’ll even let you hang on top of my halberd for ravens to pick you clean. You’ll be singing a different song then,” she said, revealing her razor-sharp teeth.

Daniel gulped, cold sweat running down his back. When he looked at her, it was like staring down a hungry wolf, ready to pounce on any weakness. He had thought that gazing upon two gods would prepare him for this moment, but it was tough to project a sense of strength when the other party could kill you in an instant.

“I swear that I mean no harm to you or your family, and I swear that I will help with any issues to the best of my ability.” He stuck to the complete truth this time. “I’m also not her spy, whoever she might be,” Daniel said, remembering the guard’s paranoia. It wasn’t only Xaviar’s request making him offer his help. There was also the bonus of making sure he survived this encounter.

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She went silent for a few seconds. He would be forced to reveal the truth if she asked him why, but out of anyone, Daniel believed that convincing her would be the easiest. There had to be some ancient family secrets remaining.

“What can you offer the Steelfords?” she asked, skipping a few steps in conversation. He racked his mind for an answer.

“I’m an exorcist of Morvina for one. Although I do not represent the entire church, I have important contacts there,” he said, not exactly sure how much weight Tavian carried. “I’m able to easily access the city, and I’m in talks with both the mages and Croelius’ church.”

His achievements weren’t much to speak of, so he kept it vague. Once again, everything was technically the truth, even if he was exaggerating certain bits.

“Although, once again, I can’t name anything specific without knowing the exact details,” he added upon seeing her fall silent.

“I do not trust you,” she said, dashing his hopes. His body tensed, ready for any confrontation.

“But, unlike others in my family, I am afraid of no one. Still, you may be her spy even if you are not aware of it. I shall only tell you what she already knows, no more, no less.”

Daniel solemnly nodded his head. “I’ll not spread this information to anyone that would use it for harm,” he said, choosing his words carefully. Then, he waited for her to continue.

“I’m no great storyteller, so I’ll just tell the facts. One day, a sorceress dressed in all black appeared before me, just like you did just now. Someone will give you her portrait when you leave in case you’ve seen her before. She was dangerous - that I could sense the moment I saw her. The amount of mana in her body was overwhelming, more than almost any wizard I’ve encountered.

Some sort of magic washed over me the moment she began speaking, but I resisted it. Looking back at it, I should have killed her on the spot. Alas, I decided to hear her out. She spoke of grand things, of how the city was corrupted and needed cleansing, of how every priest was tainted, and only through death could they be forgiven.”

She spoke with such anger that the entire castle began to rumble beneath her feet. Clenching her teeth, she continued.

“I rejected her then and there, but she smiled and told me she’d be back in a week. At first, I didn’t think twice about the issue. Then, some of the elders began to pester me, bringing up her points over and over again, doing their best to justify them.

“By the time the week had passed, the entire house was split on the issue. Ultimately, it was my decision to make, and I told her no. The bitch decided to kill us all then. Those same elders turned their blades on their family while she sat back, casting spell after spell. I managed to injure her, but she disappeared before I could behead her, shrieking curse after curse. Damned teleport magic.”

She paused to breathe, to calm down.

“Another week passed before we began to see the first symptoms of the curse. If not for my level, I would have perished first. Unfortunately, my brothers were not as strong as me. They began to mutate and transform in various ways. Lycen told me his eye had begun speaking to him, telling him to murder me. He said he could see the inside of his brain begin to melt, being replaced by a worm with the void in its eyes.

“For Marcel, it was much simpler. His body began to turn transparent, his limbs twisting to resemble something disgusting. Said that at times, he didn’t feel like himself anymore. Still, we clung to the hope of finding a cure. That was until one day, they completely succumbed to the curse, abandoning all humanity and slaughtering any that stood in their way throughout the night. That was also the same night we left the city.”

“Why? Wouldn’t it be easier to find a cure in the city? Or perhaps even track down the sorceress?” Daniel asked, finding a lull in the conversation.

“We hired every healer and mage that was trustworthy, but we couldn’t openly seek help. For being an exorcist of Morvina, you sure don’t know what they’re like. The moment any priest found out about the curse, the entire house would burn. With our family exhausted from infighting and battling the strange magic, it would be our doom.

“After all, it’s a bloodline curse. It’s easier to eliminate a single family than risk some madmen turning rabid and causing a massacre among innocent folk,” she sighed, looking him in the eyes. “Someone was bound to ask the wrong questions. Regardless, the situation is different now. Let them come - we’ll slaughter priests by the hundreds.”

Daniel pondered the situation. He couldn’t help but pity the Steelford family’s situation. Considering what had happened, they were faring better than expected.

“What about the sorceress?” he asked.

“It was like she vanished into thin air. No one we spoke to had seen her. In fact, it was like she had the entire city wrapped around her finger. Those asking questions would always silently disappear, and any mages that tried to help us would be found nailed to the walls, their hearts carved into roses. Just being around us put hundreds of innocents at risk,” she said in a fit of righteous anger.

For the first time, he truly regretted having even come here. No amount of knowledge gained from Xaviar would contend with the sheer danger he was in by simply asking around about the Steelfords. Still, he was in too deep now to back down, and if he managed to help them, he would have the support of an entire warrior family behind him. Of course, it was easier said than done.