Legacies of Blood

“What’re you doing here?” Resius asked as Elaina stepped into the room. He and Blackbarn had set up in a tower on the far end of the castle to do their work. The room looked oddly complete for arcane work despite how recently they’d taken the castle back.

“Just thought I’d come learn a thing or two,” Elaina lied. “See if there’s anything I can help out with.”

Resius regarded her skeptically. Elaina was a poor liar at the best of times, and they both knew it. “Uh-huh. Hoping to get a bit of a jump on the latest information for Royce, eh?”

Elaina pouted as she played dumb. “I mean, if it so happens that I do, would that be so bad?”

“You really ought to stay out of this, mate,” Resius cautioned her. “Just let them bring her in and get your answers then.”

Blackbarn shot them both a dirty look as he continued to mutter incantations over the crystal ball he had borrowed from the occultist. It had been placed prominently on a pedestal at the center of an arcane circle, glowing gently as it took in the magic offered to it by the wizard. The two of them went silent, not wanting to throw his concentration off.

“How’d you sleep?” Elaina whispered as they stepped back from the wizard’s work area.

“Better, for once,” the occultist answered, glancing at the amulet around his neck. “You should probably keep it, though.”

“No,” Elaina objected, shaking her head gently. “It’s alright. I wish I’d known, though. You should have told me.”

“Mm,” Resius grunted noncommittally. “I thought if we worked fast enough here, it wouldn’t be an issue.”

Elaina tilted her head to one side. “Is that what messes with your sleep? Demons?”

“Ghosts, actually,” Resius corrected her, clearly uncomfortable discussing such a private matter. “Restless dead in general. They’re drawn to me for various reasons. Spend all my nights with them injecting me with nightmares, trying to push me to end myself.”

Elaina’s eyes went wide with shock. “Gods! Everywhere you go?”

“Everywhere I go,” Resius confirmed. “Worse in places like this where the hauntings are heavier.”

“You’re not going to expand on that a little?” Elaina grumbled.

Resius shook his head again. Whatever it was that caused such a strange personal haunting, he didn’t want to discuss it. As much as the swordmage wanted to know more, she wouldn’t push him. It didn’t feel right.

“So what’s going to happen here?” Elaina changed the subject, nodding toward the pedestal.

Resius scratched the stubble along the side of his face absently. “Royce’s wards are stronger than he thought, but he’s still pretty confident he can penetrate them. The circle we put together is pretty complex and will show us where she is inside the crystal ball by the time he’s finished.”

“What if she’s just sitting in a room somewhere?” Elaina joked. “How will we know which room it is and where?”

Resius gave her an amused look and pulled a map out from his coat. “The symbols in the array correspond to directions, locations, and coordinates on this map, you git.”

Elaina grinned impishly. “Well, so long as I get to know before everyone else, that’s good.”

“You’d go against the Landgraf on this?” Resius asked, a look of concern crossing his face. “After what Royce pulled?”

The redhead’s demeanor shifted, becoming a little more defiant. “Elsebeth doesn’t hold any specific authority over me now that the contract is finished. All I want to do is hear Royce’s side of things. I owe her that.”

“You don’t owe her anything, mate,” Resius assured her. “Don’t let her get inside your bloody head.”

“She’s done a lot for me,” Elaina argued, her voice nearly raising above a whisper. “Of course I owe her.”

The occultist shook his head as he placed a hand on her arm. “Everything she’s done was either her job to do or had an angle. Don’t fall for it.”

“Stop,” Elaina warned, gently brushing his hand from her arm. “We can discuss it after I’ve brought her in. Jumping to conclusions now doesn’t do anyone any good.”

Resius nodded gently, taking a deep breath. “Alright, I suppose that’s fair.”

The circle around the pedestal began to glow brighter, with the symbols contained within the rings circulating the intensity of the brightness as Blackbarn finally began to narrow down the location. The occultist held up a hand and went over to one of the nearby desks to grab a pencil. Elaina watched as segments of the circle grew dimmer while Resius jotted down notes in a small handheld journal he’d pulled from his coat.

One by one, symbols were eliminated from the glow, locking in others that Elaina didn’t understand. As fascinating as it was, though, her attention was pulled away by an image in the globe that became clearer with each passing second. In it, she could make out the shape of the witch walking among the moss-covered trees of the swamp. She hadn’t gone to South Gate directly like Elaina had thought, which only raised more questions. As she walked, the swordmage began to recognize more of Royce’s surroundings, having personally been there in the past.

“Issat---?” Resius whispered, temporarily distracted from his notes.

“Yeah,” Elaina muttered, just as confused as the occultist was. Royce had found her way to the gargozu lair where she and Resius had first met. “Why is she going there?”

“You got me, mate,” Resius admitted, clueless as Elaina was about it. They hadn’t left any of the fiendish gargoyles in the lair alive. Even Namaznu, their leader, hadn’t been spared the wrath of the pair once they’d broken free. All of the treasure the creatures had horded in that time had been carted back to South Gate, leaving little of value for Royce to be interested in. “What did you tell her about it?”

“Not much,” Elaina admitted with a vague shrug. “We met there, we killed Namaznu after she tried to fuck me to death.”

The image in the crystal ball faded as the ritual reached completion, leaving the final few symbols to pin down her location glowing for a few moments longer before also fading away. Resius jotted them down quickly before bringing the map back to one of the tables.

“Do you have it?” Blackbarn asked, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow. “Tell me you have it.”

Resius didn’t answer right away as he continued to plot the coordinates on the map, which confused Elaina. “We already know where she is. We just saw it.”

“We have to ensure she wasn’t casting a false image,” Blackbarn explained. “If she’s aware of us breaking through her wards, that would be one way to respond and throw us off. Having multiple points of reference increases the difficulty of her throwing us off considerably.”

“Got it,” Resius announced, tapping the map on the table with one finger as he turned to face the other two. “It’s definitely the gargozu lair.”

Elaina and the wizard joined Resius at the table, looking down at the map that the occultist had drawn on. It gave Elaina a good idea of the most direct route to take were she to travel there on foot. If, for some reason, Myanna was unable to forestwalk her there, Elaina had a backup plan in place.

“Ah, that explains it,” Blackbarn muttered, motioning to the general area around the lair. “It’s much harder to track her down here in this area. She doesn’t leave much of a normal trail behind, horses will be next to useless on the terrain, and the magical interference adds an extra layer of protection. Any sort of teleportation would be a huge risk. It forces anyone going after her down. It’s also why the divination was more difficult than I anticipated.”

“Clever,” Resius remarked. “I wouldn’t have thought of that.”

“Witches are better at using the terrain to their advantage than occultists,” the wizard chuckled, patting Resius on the shoulder. “No shame in it.”

“If there’s magical interference there, then why doesn’t it affect her?” Elaina asked, ignoring the slightly annoyed look on Resius’s face at Blackbarn’s playful jab.

“She’s vishanti,” the occultist answered. “So it’s likely there’s some kind of spiritual resonance there she can get her hooks into in order to cut through the interference.”

“Exactly,” Blackbarn added, walking over to a pack placed on another table. He fished through it for a few seconds before producing a few scrolls and a book. “Before you take off to do something foolhardy, I have a few more things for you, by the way.”

“For me?” Elaina responded, a little surprised as she took the items from the wizard. She could tell by the gentle hum in her fingers that they were all magic. “What for?”

“Help you along with your studies,” the wizard responded. “We talked it over and thought it might do you some good to have a little more reading material. I’ll have everything I need while I’m here, so you can have my spellbook. I annotated it for you in a few places.”

“Yours?” Elaina gawked, glancing between the book and the wizard. “Don’t you need it?”

“I’ve started writing another one,” Blackbarn replied with a wave of his hand. “I’ve got more scrolls than I have use for, too.”

Elaina stared down at the book, running her fingers over the worn leather of the cover, set with metallic clasps to prevent it from coming open at inopportune times. Symbols she barely recognized adorned the center of the front cover and spine. For added security, the runes were set to inflict some harm upon any who tried to read the contents without permission. As she examined them, they appeared to be deactivated. “I don’t know what to say.”

“Say you’ll read it,” Blackbarn chuckled, closing his pack with a few swift motions.

“I will!” Elaina laughed in disbelief. “I won’t be able to stop myself. What are the scrolls for?”

“One-off spells,” the wizard explained. “I keep them as supplements for areas of magic where I’m weaker and spells that don’t see regular use, that sort of thing. That one on top, for example, is a Stone to Flesh spell.”

“Stone to Flesh,” Elaina repeated with a hint of disgust. “That sounds awful.”

Resius laughed a little at the swordmage’s reaction. “Flesh is a lot easier to cut through than stone, mate. It’s also surprisingly useful in the wild when you need a bite and ain’t got shite to eat.”

“Gross,” Elaina gagged as she imagined turning a large rock into an amorphous lump of flesh and cooking it over a campfire. She didn’t even want to imagine what manner of flesh the rocks became. There was no way it would be so convenient as to become beef or chicken.

“Those are some of the more creative uses,” Blackbarn continued, amused. “But normally, it’s just used to counter anything that turns flesh to stone, like the stare of a gorgon.”

Elaina and Resius exchanged glances, recalling the unusually grotesque sculpture that Namaznu had constructed from her various victims over the years. Each was a beautiful woman, nude and writhing against one another, forever frozen in stone at the head of the creature’s bed. The gargozu matriarch had intended to add Elaina to it when she was done with her. If Elaina could reverse the spell all of the women had been put under, that would be at least one good thing to come out of returning to the lair.

“We have to submit our report to the landgraf,” the wizard said, interrupting Elaina’s thoughts. “If you’re really going to attempt beating her men to the witch, you had best get going.”

“R-right!” Elaina responded, holding up the book and scrolls “Thank you again for this.”

The swordmage waved a final goodbye to them both before leaving the room at a speed just shy of a jog. As much as she wanted to curl up with the new materials for a few hours, it would have to wait until later. She grabbed a spare empty satchel on her way out and shoved everything she carried into it as she breezed down the hall.

Finding Azade’s guest room was much easier than she thought it would be. It was the only wing of the castle that had been cleaned and refurbished besides Elsebeth’s chambers. As she drew closer, Elaina also realized that there was a faint resonant buzz in the back of her mind that tingled as she drew nearer to the phyllomage. She wasn’t sure how or why, but it felt trustworthy. Sure enough, when she knocked on the chamber door, Azade was there to open it.

Elaina’s pulse came a little quicker at the sight of the woman, even though they’d had sex less than an hour ago. Azade’s beauty was captivating and more than a little distracting at the best of times.

“Come in,” Azade said quietly, stepping to the side and gesturing with one arm. Elaina was surprised to see Myanna sunning nude on the balcony opposite the door. Her warm, coppery skin practically glowed in the sunlight. The swordmage’s eyes lingered on her naked body, particularly on the fiend’s breasts, pierced through the nipples with large hoops set with rubies at the bottom.

“Did I interrupt something?” Elaina asked hesitantly as she glanced between them.

“Not this time,” Azade winked playfully. “Cuirizu are like plants. They need plenty of water and sun, which they take most of through their skin.”

Elaina nodded slightly as the cuirizu rose from the daybed on the balcony to join them inside. Somehow, her powerful presence was only heightened in her nude state, a fact that puzzled the swordmage as Myanna walked past her. “Do you have what we need?”

“Yes,” Elaina answered after clearing her throat. “There is a gargozu lair in the swamp she’s taken refuge in. Do you know it?”

Myanna nodded, holding her arms out to either side as the darkleaf corset leaped from the rack on the wall, wrapping itself around her torso in an instant. The boots and gloves followed immediately after. “I do. I should be able to get you there without difficulty.”

The swordmage breathed a sigh of relief. She had committed as much of the symbols in Resius’s notes to memory as she could, along with the exact location on the map, but Myanna, being familiar with the area, negated the need to hold them firmly in her memory any longer. “Excellent. So how do we do this?”

“We just need a similar tree to the ones we would find in the swamp, large enough to hold a doorway for you to step through,” Myanna explained, adjusting the tightness of the boots around her thighs. “Should be rather easy.”

“Would you like us to go with you?” Azade asked, taking a step closer to Elaina. “We could help you in case she attempts to flee again.”

The redhead’s heart beat harder in her chest as Azade’s delightful scent filled her senses. Having Royce and Azade in the same place at the same time caused her thoughts to wander as she imagined the warmth of their skin as she was sandwiched between them. Being completely enveloped by Azade’s insides while the witch penetrated her from behind was a fantasy Elaina knew was going to resurface several times in the nights to come.

“No,” Elaina said, struggling against the primal side of her that sought another phenomenal threesome with the phyllomage involved. “I should speak to her alone. I don’t want to give her any reason to be suspicious of me. I don’t want her to be on her guard when all I want to do is reason with her. Maybe I’ll be able to get her to come back and explain herself.”

“If that’s how you want to handle it,” Azade remarked skeptically. “In that case, I suppose I’ll see you when you return?”

Elaina’s lips spread into an eager grin. “Of course.”

Azade drew the redhead into an embrace that evoked a sense of carnal longing within Elaina. She became so wrapped up in the sensation of their bodies pressed together and the woman’s scent invading her senses that she almost didn’t notice the small collection of vials and reagents resting on the vanity near the window. One among them especially caught her attention due to its appearance. It was filled nearly to the brim with a white, pearly fluid that Elaina could have sworn was cum.

“We should be going,” Myanna interrupted, placing a hand on the handle of the chamber door. “Before anyone attempts to check in on you.”

“Right,” Elaina agreed, prying herself from Azade’s warm embrace with every ounce of will she had to spare. “Let’s go.”

Myanna led the way from the chamber and down the hall, offering Elaina a pleasant few of her exquisitely formed backside before she could catch up with her. The cuirizu moved with purpose, exacerbating Elaina’s struggle to keep up with her due to the cuirizu’s longer legs and stride. She said nothing as they stepped out into the bailey, glancing briefly in the direction of the nearest pair of guards. Neither took notice of them as they walked what must have been a regular patrol.

“Here,” Myanna said, gesturing toward a tall red maple at the bailey’s other end. With a quick gesture of her hand toward the trunk and a surge of magic, the cuirizu growled a brief incantation. “*Floreztandad!*”

The surface of the tree’s bark rippled gently like the surface of a pond. Before Elaina could ask what to do next, the cuirizu seized her by the wrist as she stepped into the tree’s surface. The sensation was similar to what she’d experienced with Royce’s realmshifting, a brief stretching of the senses between two points as her mind briefly existed in both. Beyond that, however, she experienced a strange familiarity that she couldn’t quite place. It was disorienting, but she was able to keep her footing when emerging from the other side.

They arrived in the swamplands at the foot of the rise where Willowridge was located. Elaina looked back at the castle through the canopy of trees as it loomed over the wetlands.

“Now, this one,” Myanna motioned toward a nearby willow, repeating the spell on it. “This will bring you the rest of the way. You’ll be close to the lair itself, so prepare yourself for whatever you may find there.”

Elaina nodded as she steeled herself. She didn’t expect a conflict with Royce or for there to be any remaining gargozu to contend with. She realized that she didn’t have a weapon to handle either situation if there was. Royce had taken her sword with her when she’d left. Getting it back would have to be a priority. If Trevik hadn’t been so likely to notice a missing sword, she would have been tempted to borrow one, but the risk of his raising the alarm was too great.

“How do I get back?” Elaina asked, glancing briefly back at the cuirizu.

Myanna lifted her chin, looking down her nose at the redhead. “Should you succeed, I’m sure she can handle your transportation. However, should you fail, you’ll have bigger concerns than your return. Indeed, you may not wish to return once the landgraf finds out what you’ve done.”

“I’ll come back no matter what happens,” the swordmage responded. “I’m not going to run away. I’m no coward.”

“Then why are you stalling?” Myanna countered, her red eyes moving from the swordmage to the willow that awaited her.

Elaina’s cheeks grew hotter as she scowled at the cuirizu defiantly. She wasn’t entirely wrong. Part of her was dreading a confrontation with Royce. The vishanti was the first woman she’d envisioned a future for herself with. Even if Royce had resisted the idea of such emotional attachment, Elaina had been sure she’d felt the same. Standing at the threshold of facing her again, she had her doubts.

Without offering an argument or counter, Elaina squared her shoulders, braced herself, and stepped through the rift in the tree.