TW: Blood, Gore, Injury, Violence
Nothing excited Victoria quite as much as the thrill of the hunt. The sound of her prey's feet splashing in the puddles and hitting the ground with their heavy thunk-thunk made her heart race wildly. She had always enjoyed the satisfaction of beast hunting. But hunting undead had taken on a new and wondrous thrill. Maybe it was just her desire for revenge that drove her to take down the undead as she did now. Over the years, it had become like a calling she could not resist—like a dog never being able to help but chase a rabbit. Once her prey was in sight, there was no resisting the call any longer.
Erratically, the vampire zigzagged through the streets in a desperate attempt to lose her in the maze of ramshackle debris and crumbling houses. Eventually, he led her to the edge of the district near the forest. He ran into the trees as fast as his legs could carry him. Victoria paused at the tree line to catch her breath. As much as she desperately wanted to catch the vampire, she had no idea how many more were potentially out in these woods. It would be foolish for her to just run headfirst into the woods without backup. She didn't even have Riven with her. As she heard the vampire running away into the woods, she spots several eerie blue lights glowing deep within the woods, leaving a sort of trail for the vampire to follow.
Backup or no, Victoria had absolutely no idea where she was. If she didn't take this chance, there was no telling if she'd have this opportunity again. Following the blue light, she started into the woods at a light jog. She drew her sword as she went, ready and waiting for someone to launch themselves at her at any moment.
Even though she could see well in the dark, the blue light made it hard to see more than a few feet in front of her. Relying on her hearing and sense of smell was not her preferred method of hunting prey at night. And with the bumbling idiot in front of her crashing his way back to his nest, hearing anyone else approach her would be near impossible.
Her heart nearly skipped a beat when a voice whispered to her over her shoulder as the blue lights made a circle around her. She turned in a circle, bringing her blade up in an arch to kill whoever was behind her. But her blade met nothing but blue light and empty air. She whipped around in another circle, desperately looking for the source of the voice. But she was alone in the forest aside from her prey that was currently getting away.
"Slay the vampires...." The voice whispered. "Slay the cult...."
The blue orbs of light made another circle around her before darting ahead of her, following the sound of the vampire getting away. Curious but now thoroughly on edge, she followed the light. The disembodied voice followed her, chanting the same two sentences over and over as she ran. Another light appeared in the distance, brilliant and golden--a bonfire, surely. She saw her target stumbling towards the flames, could hear his cries of a hunter in the woods as she closed the distance.
"Slay the cult..." The voice said one final time as the blue light finally dissipated. Unable to resist obeying the voice, she rushed forward.
Despite knowing she was running into a camp of vampires that could potentially be dozens strong, a strong excitement rose up from her chest. White flames danced to life down her blade and coated her hands. Her pulse quickened. His cries of a hunter in the woods hot on his trail were like those of a wounded animal just moments before the kill. She pounced from the shadows upon the vampire as he coughed and sputtered on the ground at the edge of the camp, driving her blade through his chest. Several people in the camp shrieked as Victoria withdrew her sword from his back and brought her dagger out of her boot to slit his throat.
"Good evening," Victoria said as she looked up at the crowd of almost two dozen vampires standing over her. She could see the white flames along her hands Despite the odds, the lack of any movement to retaliate on their part gave her a boost of confidence. Harold had been quite insistent on her not being reckless and destroying her new armor like she had with the last. She was definitely not getting out of this fight unscathed, though. There was no doubt in her mind.
"Good evening, indeed, Aemani," a man's voice answered. The crowd parted to allow him through. His black and silver cloak glinted in the firelight. "It seems we are blessed this evening, my children. Let us hope we do not upset our Queen as poor Igor had. Her wrath, it seems, lives up to the legends. You may know me as Master Ilerius, my lady. We are at your service."
"I am no queen of yours, undead spawn," Victoria spat. The overwhelming smell of undeath was sending her senses into overdrive. Her hands were beginning to tremble with anticipation. At this point, money meant nothing anymore. This killing would be purely for her own satisfaction. As badly as she wanted answers, the urge to kill was almost becoming unbearable. There would be more to fill in the blanks, she was sure of it.
"Oh, but that is where you are wrong, Aemani. But it is not your fault that you have yet to understand your purpose. My lord has been searching desperately for you when you were stolen away from us that fated evening. It seems that Lady Azra has brought you here as an act of providence. We mean you no harm, my Lady."
"You meant me harm the moment your cult burned my lands and slaughtered my people. You meant me harm the night you violated me and left me for dead in the woods," Victoria snarled. "Whatever purpose you had in cursing me this way is irrelevant. I am your scourge, fiend, not your queen. I will not rest until every last one of you lies dead at my feet, your lord included, Ilerius."
"Lord Lucaese chose you specifically, Aemani. There is no turning from the path you have been put upon. You will lead our people to glory. And when I reunite him with you, I will be rewarded." He smiled smugly at her as he slowly reached his hand down to the sword at his hip. Victoria found his confidence endearing, considering the fact that he would be dead in a matter of minutes.
The crowd shrieked again as a wall of blue flames surrounded the camp. In the panic, Victoria launched herself into the crowd, unable to help but laugh as she cut the crowd down. They had nowhere to flee and many of them were currently unarmed--like helpless sheep at the mercy of a wolf. The few that were armed leaped upon her ferociously. One managed to jab her dagger into Victoria's shoulder, and another that she'd left wounded on the ground stabbed her in the back of the thigh. The pain only seemed to make her rage boil over even more.
Those out of reach of her blade quickly succumbed to flames and vicious hexes that split skin and crushed bones, leaving them crippled on the ground. Any that attempted to brave the blue flames found that it would instantly burn away flesh and bone, leaving them howling in agony. Whatever its source was, she knew now that it was definitely on her side.
As Victoria turned to take in the chaos and find her next victim, she beheld the aftermath of her wrath. All that was left was a bewildered Ilerius standing amidst the chaos, blue flames dancing in his glowing golden eyes. He raised his blade at her, his hand trembling slightly. How sweet it always felt to see the terror of a predator becoming the prey.
"My dear Ilerius, that look of terror suits you." Victoria smiled at him as she tucked her knife back into her boot and wiped some of the blood from her face with her sleeve.
"Who are you to kill your servants with impunity? You may be Aemani but we have done nothing to offend you! Lord Alarie will not be pleased."
"You say that word like I should know what it means, or care about the supposed weight of the title." Victoria slowly started walking towards him. "Your lord may come and try to correct me himself. I do not belong to him."
"You are the Right Hand of Lady Azra, the harbinger of death and scourge of the living. You are our chosen one! Lord Alarie will see that you are properly punished and put in your place when you are brought before him."
Victoria laughed sharply. "I am the scourge of the unliving, and the only death I am the harbinger of is yours. If you truly think that your strength is greater than mine, then prove it right now."
Ilerius charged forward with a roar. Victoria matched his battle cry and rushed to meet him. Their blades met with a resounding clang. As they exchanged the next few blows, the blue flames moved in closer to them. Despite his fury, Ilerius seemed to realize that his strength was no match for hers. She toyed with him a moment, enjoying the feeling of his arms trembling with every deflection as he came closer and closer to inevitable defeat.
Knowing her victory was near, she brought her blade down heavily upon his. For a moment, his block held. But, his arms finally gave way and the tip of her blade grazed his leather vest. She backed him up to the flames, watching as his cloak began to burn away. With wicked delight, she forced him down to his knees and brought her face a few inches from his.
"I would let you go to warn your Lord that I am coming for him, but I believe your silence will be more than enough of a message."
"Curse you, Witch. You should have died with the rest of your people." He spat in her face.
"You're right, I should have." Victoria lifted her blade. With a swift motion, she cut off his head. The blue flames died out. She went to retrieve his head that had rolled away into the grass, wiping her face on her bloodied sleeve as she went.
"That was most impressive, if a bit violent. Well done." A voice said behind her.
Victoria paused. Perhaps whoever was behind the flames had finally decided to come out of hiding. "Yes, in part thanks to you. Now, what do you want?"
She turned around to await her answer and finally put a face to the flames, but found no one there, merely a ball of blue light. Frowning, she turned in a circle to look for whoever had summoned it. The ball followed her gaze, glowing brighter as the voice spoke again. "My mistake. I often forget I lack... corporeal form. You, though, seem to have acquired one. Fascinating."
"I... was born with a body," Victoria said, feeling incredibly puzzled. Was the orb the one that was speaking to her? "I'm a witch, one from Halaafin more specifically. You must be some sort of spirit, yes?"
"A fellow Halaani! From what I had gathered from this little coven, our people had been all but wiped out. I'm pleased to see that at least one of us still lives," The orb said cheerfully. "My name is Klenden Orzhov, or Klen for short. I should say it was before I... died? The nature of my current state is still a bit confusing even to me, but 'spirit' would probably be the closest to what I am. What confuses me more though is how one such as you came to be."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, people are only supposed to have one soul contained within their body. But you have two," Klen said. "You must be the 'host' I've heard Ilerius talk about! That would make much more sense. I didn't think that they'd actually succeeded."
"Host?"
"From what I've gathered here, the cult has centered itself around its leader and their Aemani--Right Hand in one of the ancient elven dialects, I believe. The Aemani was part of an ancient prophecy foretelling the binding of an ancient god to an undead body. They will supposedly be the one that will lead the undead to glory and domination over Ammoria as they did before our ancestors fled when Mount Murdu erupted over a thousand years ago.
"After seeing your display here in wiping out this group, though, I have doubts that their ritual has bound the correct spirit into your body. Either way, it is fascinating to see how stable it seems to be. The binding spell was very well thought out, even if it has backfired on the casters."
Victoria wiped her blade on her pants to clean off some of the blood before returning it to its sheath. She didn't like the turn this evening had taken one bit. Up until now, she had assumed the cult had simply used her as some sort of sacrifice. If what the spirit was implying was true, then this was only more fuel to the fire that her existence in life was an affront to the very gods. "So you're saying that I'm essentially a demonic abomination?"
"Oh, most certainly not! I would not have dared come near you if the spirit inside you was of demonic origin. No, the one you harbor is actually quite an honorable one, something very positive."
His words did little to bring her any comfort. Was this spirit the reason that she seemingly was unable to die? If her own death meant the death of the spirit, then she was essentially doomed to her current life for eternity. "I see. You seem rather knowledgeable about the cult and spirits. Who are you really? What are you?"
"Well, I'd be happy to tell you, but it seems that you were wounded in the fight. Shouldn't you tend to your wounds?" Klen flashed his light brighter, revealing the blood that had run down her leg and her back. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, she could feel the blade still sticking out of her shoulder. "I'm amazed you haven't noticed that until now."
"That tends to happen when I'm around the undead. Something just comes over me." Victoria pulled the dagger free, hissing as the blade dislodged. She threw it into the grass and pressed her hand to the wound. "I've had far more grievous injuries than this and been fine."
Klen hovered close to her as if inspecting her closely. "Remarkable. Absolutely remarkable. You are lucky to host such a benevolent spirit within you. How long does it take for you to heal from your wounds?"
"Something like this takes a minute or two. More severe wounds can take up to an hour. Broken bones take a few days at most. I assumed it was because I was cursed by the cult." Victoria lifted her hand away, revealing smooth skin in place of the knife wound. She glanced up at the stars and blew out a tired sigh. It would be dawn in a few hours. It was time to head back to the inn. "Thank you for the information and your help this evening, Klen. I appreciate it."
"May I ask you something before you go?" He asked as she turned to start collecting heads and tossing them into a sack at her hip.
"Sure."
"You seek to destroy the Hands of Death, yes?"
"That's the ultimate goal, yes."
"May I... accompany you on your quest, then?"
"What makes my quest so interesting to a spirit like you?"
"Well, they did murder me. And I have plenty of information about them that might be of use to you on your travels. Surely that makes me useful to you, yes? That and I require no sleep or food. And I take up no space so I'll never be in the way. And--"
"--You don't have to keep listing your uses, Klen." Victoria chuckled. "When was the last time you spoke to anyone?"
"I've honestly lost track of how long it's been. Why?"
"It shows. I don't see any harm in you tagging along, I suppose. An extra set of eyes on the hunt won't be too bad."
"Splendid! You shan't regret this, I assure you."
He continued to ramble on as she collected her heads and tossed them into the sack at her hip. Despite his assurance that she wouldn't regret her decision, she had a feeling that she might regret it just a little bit.