"Hey Ash… Ash!" Inks said as she increasingly rocked me awake in the dimming afternoon sun.
"Yeah…" I responded with emotionless exhaustion.
"Damn, you stay up late?"
"Yeah…"
"Eh, it happens. Anyway, if you act fast then you can get in the queue before everyone else, so have you drunk from anyone recently?"
"T-Teia…"
"Well that's one down I guess-"
"I hurt Teia…"
"You did?"
"YES I FUCKING DID! OF COURSE SOMEONE LIKE ME WOULD HURT HER!"
"How much blood spurted from her? Did she scream in pain or something?"
"N-not much… she didn't…"
"Then she wasn't hurt."
"That's besides the point! I. HURT. HER."
"Eh, it happens."
"IT HAPPENS? WHAT SORT OF BULLSHIT IS THAT? IT DOESN'T FUCKING HAPPEN! IT SHOULD NEVER HAVE HAPPENED, but then I… I don't know what came over me…"
"Is she annoyed at you now?"
"I… I just don't think I can look her in the face now…"
"Eh, you'll live."
"But that's the problem, isn't it? I'll LIVE with the mistake I made, like nothing ever happened in the first place. To be swept under the rug and have it resurface some other random day when some random idiot detective shows up and weaponizes it against me!"
"So?"
"All that and the only thing you have to say is 'so'? Are you really that-"
"Well if that did happen, then what'd happen to you?"
"Well obviously he'd send me to jail for my crimes!"
"And what would your crimes be?"
"Hurting a girl! Obviously!"
"Was she howling in pain or went unconscious?"
"I bit into her! Isn't that a crime!"
"You do realize you're saying that in Vampire territory? Kind of comes with the-"
"AS IF I WANTED TO BE A FUCKING VAMPIRE YOU DISMISSIVE BITCH!" I roared.
…
"You wanted her to continue," the Voice slided in, "You wanted to let the guilt melt right in and define you. At least then you would be a visible person. Then again, being visible is rather dangerous, isn't it?" the Voice snarled back into the mists of my mind.
"I-is something the matter, Master Ash?"
The tense air melted as Diana stared in through the door, her wingtip clutching close to her heart.
"Oh, Diana! Good timing! Has Ash drank from you recently?"
"N-no, he hasn't, not recently."
"Well I've only got a few hours before the queue for the bloodstone ritual… thingy… so if you could do it quickly then we can get it over with."
"I-I understand, Lady Seraien."
"By the way."
"Yes, Lady Seraien?"
"How good does it feel when Ash does that to you?"
Diana blushed profusely at the thought, hiding away embarrassed by Inks' brazen question.
"See," Inks said, turning to me, "You aren't bad at it."
"Inks. Please just go."
"Fine, I'll be down the hall. Just don't take too long, alright?" Inks smirked as she made her way out, letting Diana walk in after her.
I was still in bed at this point, but I had fallen asleep in last night's attire so it wasn't like I had to get dressed, especially with how cold it was looking outside.
"Fucking Inks…" I sighed.
"This was about Teia?"
"Yeah…"
"I see… If I may, she is perfectly fine, but I don't think that would make you feel any better to know, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah, it doesn't," I confessed, "She's probably thinking that she's the problem, while I'm thinking that she's thinking that I'm thinking that it's all my fault."
"It shows you care about her."
"But what if I'm stifling her? Suffocating her under my own desire to help her?"
"At least you're being aware of the fact that you could be." Diana said as she sat down on the bed.
"What… should I do about it?"
"When the time comes, gather up your courage and ask her."
"Diana, you're being too reasonable."
"I'm sorry, Master Ash, but she is my sister after all."
The taste of Diana's blood still roiled in my mouth as Inks and I made our way to the Ritual Room. Inside the room though, was King Vladimir.
"It is good that you have completed this, Lady Seraien, although I fear the… fermentation of the product might not line up with how my fellow commanders are planning things."
"Is there… anything I should know at this moment, my Lord?"
"I must head out for Gryfonia for arrangements that must be done in person, so I fear I must leave the castle in the hands of Regent Janus almost directly after I finish my business here."
"If I may, my Lord, I was more interested in-"
"We are to be sieged, Lady Seraien."
"Shit…" Inks blurted out, "Forgive my language, my Lord. Mouldy bread and sailor biscuits isn't something I look forward to.
"I take no offense, it is the duty of a King to sail through times like these. What of you, Ash?"
"Sir?"
"Yes. Between Captain Hertz and Lady Seraien, I cannot blame you for having problems with both."
"N-no sir, I-"
"You slew Igrin Deit, didn't you?"
"That's not what Hertz said-"
"Hertz has a habit of that which I am more than disapproving of. 'Keeping morale high' he calls it, not realizing that he is in fact degrading morale and trust as a direct result. There is a reality, Ash, and to deny the dire of our situation only stems those who may change that tide. Likewise do Demons like Lady Seraien here have a perverse interest in the truest of truths, leveraging such facts against the ignorant and cautious like a thorned whip. The two are rather incompatible, and my order looking back on it was… arguably ill-advised. If you so wish, after this, I can free you from both."
"M-My Lord, what about his academic studies? Ash is a great student, and I'd prefer to keep it that way if at all possible." Inks visibly sweated as she stammered.
"You'd keep that promise?" I asked.
"A-Ash?" Inks swung her head back to me, "What about the books? Your studies!"
"Lady Seraien, must a man learn the rapier to defend his home?" Vladimir queried before returning to me, "While Lady Seraien's rather extensive collection lies in her own volition, I know that there are more than a few instances in which more dexterous hands would be required, something I feel one like you would feel more at home in."
"Thank you, sir."
"Now, to business then. Lady Seraien, your recommendation?"
"Uh… Dagger across the palm, give it a good squeeze, and I think I have some… Oh, forgot the bandages."
"Oh well." Vladimir shrugged. In a single motion, as if he was nothing but the observer of a mechanical process, he unsheathed his dagger and slid it across his palm.
"Over the pit, not the bowl!"
"Oh, forgive me. You should have been more clear."
My eyes rolled in their sockets at their sudden lack of competence.
"RAISE THE PORTCULLIS! MAKE WAY FOR KING VLADIMIR!"
The chains grated and the drawbridge lowered. On top of a Black Mare whose hooves clocked against the wooden drawbridge, King Vladimir left the castle.
Only an idiot wouldn't see him go, and an entire congregation had gathered to see the King leave his own castle on the brink of war. Most would take this as a poor omen, to not have the final diplomatic nonsense be done several months ago, but War is War, as Vladimir had said, and in War nothing ever goes as planned.
But Vladimir's promise… was something I wanted to keep.
The foggy afternoon crept in and I felt that this would be perfect weather to train in. There was something in particular I wanted to try out, but I'd need to suit up in full plate and I didn't really want to ask Hertz for help getting into one. Something that Vladimir said had really amplified my opinions on Hertz, the thought of him lying about me killing the Pontiff making my fists clench in rage. I was angry, furious at him. That fury was a liability, and I would need to control it as much as I could to survive.
The torch I had set up in the middle of the courtyard flickered and crackled obliviously as I swam with my thoughts.
I needed to train, I thought with a sigh. Gathering one heavy calming breath, I refocused on the torch. Taking a few steps backwards and carved a line in the ground, I retook my previous position and manifested my Shadow. I braced my feet against the ground just before my Shadow fled before the light, the force dragging me backwards like an opening parachute.
I stayed upright this time and looked down at my feet.
I'd undershot the line by maybe half a foot or so, but it was close enough for my purposes. Furthermore, it had honestly been quite a bit of fun. Now, how far did the bike slide back again?
I set the line quite a bit further this time. It was going to be a lot of force this time around, so I strapped a coif to my head this time in the very probable event that I got sent careening across the courtyard and got a faceful of dirt.
I braced myself and took a quick look back to see where the line was again. The fog made it hard and it took me a good second or two to see it. I focused on the torch more and this time really let my Shadow fear the light. My Shadow went full sail this time, and I was practically thrown back by the force I'd severely underestimated.
I dismissed the sail quickly, but I had easily shot past the line.
I slid across the ground on my back and managed to slow down just at the start of the torch-lit battlement stairs.
"Amshy, what the fuck are you doing?"
I looked up. There was Artyom, Gareth and Captain Hertz.
"Training, sir."
"Are you training with a Leshen on how to survive being thrown?"
"It's Shadow magic, sir." I said as I lifted myself off the ground and patted dust off my winter clothing.
"That's no Shadow magic I know of."
"Shadow retreats from light, so I thought that if I could somehow manage that I'd be able to do something with it." I said, pointing up to one of the torches along the battlement.
"Yeah, and what happens if the light isn't in the right spot?"
"I'll reposition-"
"You can NEVER reposition, not against Rats. Too many of them at once. You need to lock down in one place and hack as many as you can." Hertz asserted. "You should have been working on something to kill Rats with."
"I tried to, sir, but-"
"Shadow magic is notoriously non-lethal, it can't reach the same arcalux value that Fire or Lightning can achieve. Shadow magic is a joke." Gareth declared.
"The fuck's arcalux?" Artyom questioned, the whole conversation clearly too complicated for him.
"It's the magical version of lux, a measure of light. Arcalux is just a measure of magic." Gareth explained.
"So Amshy's been wasting his time then." Hertz sighed.
"That's not entirely true, I was the only one who was able to kill Igrin after Gareth started puking out the mana potion."
"Who's Igrin? That entire fight is a complete fever dream to me." Gareth asked.
"See! He can't even remember the fight after having a mana potion! If I didn't assassinate the bastard then we wouldn't be alive right-"
"I thought Natalie'd fuck the virgin out of you, but somehow you're still complaining like a little bitch."
"The squirrel, right?" Gareth chimed, "That's cruel, sir."
"Captain, even I think that's a low blow."
Something inside me boiled over. "Could you please not talk about her like that! You were the bastards who set her on me in the first place!"
"AMSHY!" Hertz roared, his stern glare silencing me. There was a fury inside of him that was only a second away from beating me to an inch of my life.
"You two, go." Hertz ordered with a quiet simmer before looking back at me with a snarl. "Amshy, you come with me."
The air in the tunnels beneath the castle was damp and heavy. The long spread of torches made it feel even more ominous than it had any right to be on a 'normal day', but keeping up with the Captain's silent and furious pacing made the omens feel very intentional.
Hertz had a plan for me at the end of this tunnel, and the only thing I could do was receive it.
There was a door, a locked wooden door. Hertz racked the latchet doorbell twice.
"Opki!"
"Y-Y-Ye-Yes, my Lord?" a frail voice hailed from within.
"Open this door."
"Y-Yes my Lord!" it panicked, keys jingling behind the door.
The hunched humanoid opened the door, a cloak hiding every feature except its face, and even that was hidden behind a wooden mask, of which only half was illuminated by the sparse torchlight. Opki bowed its head twice to me in forgiveness for being seen, and twice to Hertz.
Hertz walked in without regard for the infirm thing.
A smell wafted into my nose, a smell of… rabbits?
I looked around and saw the massive construct in the corner of the room. It was a rabbit cage, but it wasn't for a single or even a couple of rabbits. It was a breeder's cage, and there were dozens of plump, brown rabbits of all ages that were quietly ravaging through a stack of hay to their heart's content. There were other hay stacks in here, more than enough to last through the winter.
"Amshy," Hertz sternly ordered, "Through here."
There was another locked door, this time with iron bars through a viewing port. Unlatching a key from the wall, Hertz unlocked and motioned me through.
I entered through without a word-
The door slammed behind me, Hertz quickly paddling the lock back together.
"CAPTAIN! WHAT THE FUCK! WHY THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING THIS!" I roared through the iron-bars.
Hertz stopped before Opki, "He is a criminal. He does not get out unless I say so, is that understood?"
"Y-Y-Yes my Lord…" It bowed.
"HERTZ! CAPTAIN HERTZ YOU FUCKING PIECE OF SHIT! LISTEN TO ME GOD DAMN IT!"
Hertz closed the other door.
He had just… locked me up.
I collapsed with my back against the door.
W-Why… Why had he locked me up?
"It's obvious, isn't it?" the Voice mocked, "This is where you belonged all along…"