Legacies of Blood

The swamplands near the gargozu lair were very different from the last time Elaina had been there. Instead of a perpetual dreary rain, the sun shone in through the canopies of the tree, casting everything in a much brighter light. The water seemed less stagnant, and the atmosphere far less oppressive. A gentle breeze moved through, the leaves overhead, offering a sense of serenity for the swordmage as she made her way to the lair’s entrance. Without the fiendish taint pouring into the lands surrounding Willowridge, the environment seemed to recover rapidly. It was a promising sign amid the otherwise stressful circumstances she found herself in.

The chorus of insects faded as she crept in through the entrance. The swordmage wasn’t attempting to be stealthy; instead, she wanted to avoid slipping on the uneven rock with her muddy boots.

“Royce?” Elaina called into the dark. “I know you’re in here!”

“Elaina?” The witch’s voice responded from further in. A moment later, the vishanti stepped out from one of the corridors branching off the main chamber where Elaina and Resius had been kept. Without another word, Royce threw her arms around the swordmage before planting an enormous kiss on the side of her face. “I’m so glad to see you! I hoped you would find me, but I didn’t think it would be so soon.”

Staring at her with a stunned expression, Elaina took a moment to gather her thoughts. “You wanted me to find you?”

“Of course,” Royce laughed. “Maybe not here, specifically. I thought we might end up seeing each other in Tenebre Dontae.”

“We were supposed to go together,” Elaina muttered irritably. “You just took off without me.”

Royce stepped back and spread her arms defensively. “I know, but I’m a little pressed for time. I told you we had to move things along.”

Elaina waved a hand dismissively as she stepped further into the chamber. “Had you not decided to steal things out of the vault, perhaps you wouldn’t have to be in such a hurry.”

Royce’s expression shifted subtly, her smile becoming more brittle as she tilted her head to the side. “Elaina, it’s not exactly what you think. I’m not really able to explain everything right now, but you need to trust me.”

“Trust you?” Elaina scoffed. “You used me to distract Elsebeth so you could loot the vault, Royce! You lied to me and then took off with everything I own!”

The witch sighed as she turned away in frustration, walking over to one of the pillars where she produced Elaina’s pack. “I wasn’t going to keep it. But I didn’t want to leave it behind for someone else to get their hands on either.”

“You stole from the vault!” Elaina pressed, unwilling to let Royce sidestep the fact so easily. “You need to come back with me and make amends.”

“I’m not going back,” Royce laughed incredulously. “Do you have any idea how hard I’ve worked to get these things? Elsebeth has no real use for them other than a status symbol, but my people need them.”

Elaina’s expression grew more dour. “What possible use could the vishanti have with vampire artifacts?”

Royce hesitated, pursing her lips in thought before shaking her head. “It’s difficult to explain---.”

“Try,” Elaina interjected, placing her hands on her hips. “Because I’m trying to understand, and you’re not helping. Elsebeth has sent a search party for you. They scryed you out and they’re on their way here right now to take back what you stole. I’m the only one who seems to want to hear your side of the story, and you’re being evasive with me. Why do the vishanti need vampire artifacts?”

Royce sighed as she ran a hand through her hair. “It’s not for the vishanti directly. We need it to restore a semblance of order after the war.”

“Who’s we?” Elaina snapped, finally taking her pack from the witch to look it over. Her traveling gear was all present, as was her sword, safely secured in its scabbard and fastened to the side of the pack.

“Some people I work with,” Royce replied evasively. She held her hands up before Elaina could object any further. “I’m not allowed to talk about it. Otherwise, I would tell you. Secrecy is important for us to function.”

“Why?” Elaina growled, pulling the sword free of the pack to examine it. There was a certain comfort that came with having it in her hands again.

“Do you remember what I told you about all of the religious restrictions of the church?” Royce responded patiently. “It’s getting worse now that the vishanti have taken Tenebre Dontae back from the Black King. Now that they’ve got power back, they want to impose rigid doctrine on everyone again. The king hasn’t been cooperative, but he’s not exactly standing up to them either. We need a complete change in leadership. The Sophitians need to be weeded out of government before they dig in too deep.”

“This is some kind of revolutionary thing, then?” Elaina speculated. “You don’t think Elsebeth would be amiable to assisting you with that if you’d just asked?”

Royce let out an exasperated sigh, becoming frustrated with Elaina somehow not understanding. “She’s not vishanti, Elaina! Not only would she not understand, people wouldn’t accept it. We just ended an occupation from foreigners---non vishanti---the last thing anyone is going to want is people coming in from outside with solutions for our problems. It wouldn’t matter if Elsebeth had the best of intentions.”

“You don’t think she does?” Elaina objected, glancing around the room to see where the rest of their things were. She didn’t spot them right away, but she noted that candles had been lit further down the corridor that led to the matriarch’s chambers.

“Of course not!” Royce laughed in disbelief. “Don’t be so naive! Everything she’s done has been to take what she sees as rightfully hers and enrich herself. You ask me what use I have for this stuff, but what use does she have for it when she has so much more sitting in that vault? It’s practically ready to burst with the spoils of war. A war that has only been suspended due to lack of resources on either side. Now, she has the resources. What do you think she’ll do with it? Just... sit there?”

“I don’t know,” Elaina admitted quietly. There was some logic to what Royce was saying. There was an immense power vacuum in Zelmesca waiting for someone to fill it. As it stood, the landgraf might have become that person once they’d opened the vault. Even with the casualties she’d suffered, she’d effectively co-opted the Orbonne company to replace them. She had more than enough wealth to pay them and any other sellswords looking for work. “What are you even doing here?”

“I needed the magical interference to help stay hidden until I was finished with the shifting circle,” Royce responded casually. “After you told me about this place a while back, I knew it would have the resonance to get me back home faster.”

Elaina’s brows furrowed as she set down her pack, holding the sheathed weapon low at her side. “How?”

“I’m unfamiliar with spirit pathways here,” the witch explained. “Even if I had been, they’re all fucked up from the war and the rift. It’d be too risky to try and realmshift along one back home. But by using the spirits in this place to form a sympathetic link with a familiar location back home, I can create a temporary beacon of sorts to guide the shift.”

“That’s what you’re doing down there?” Elaina wondered, jerking a thumb back toward the matriarch’s chambers. She didn’t pretend to understand how the animist magic of the vishanti worked, but she didn’t feel comfortable with the idea of using whatever spirits would congregate in such an area to do magic. Resonance, the flavor or aura of magic in various places and things, was something she understood well enough to know that whatever type had formed in the gargozu lair was undoubtedly unclean.

“Until you interrupted,” Royce grumbled in annoyance. “But seeing as you’re here, you can come with me when it’s finished.”

Elaina felt her heart flutter at the idea that Royce still wanted her along, but it was tempered by the recollection of why she was here, to begin with. “You have to return what you took. You need to explain yourself to Elsebeth. I’m sure she’ll be lenient with you.”

“Why?” Royce chuckled. “Because you fucked her? Do you think she’s going to show me mercy because you and I are involved? If anything, that would just be more reason for her to be rid of me, wouldn’t it? So she could have you all to herself as her newest toy locked away in her castle?”

Elaina’s blood ran a little cold at the witch’s phrasing. “She’s not like that. She said it was up to me if I wanted to stay.”

“Ah, but she did make you the offer, didn’t she?” Royce pointed at the redhead accusingly before breezing by her to make her way down the corridor. “All that’s left is for her to remove anything that might give you a reason to leave, and your choice becomes clear, doesn’t it?”

Elaina scowled as she followed the witch down the corridor to the matriarch’s chamber. “You were the one that said it would be fine! You said I should be able to have sex with whoever I want!”

“Yes, sex,” Royce clarified as they emerged into the chamber. It was much how Elaina remembered it. Royce had lit various candles to work by, illuminating the now empty shelves and the ever present sculpture of women at the head of the bed, composed of the gargozu’s many beautiful victims. “Have a fun evening with her. Use her to satisfy your desires. Fuck her until she can’t walk straight, sure. But that doesn’t mean you should let it become more than that. Do you really want to be owned by another woman again?”

Elaina pouted, uncomfortable with how Royce framed her interactions with the landgraf. It felt like a deliberate mischaracterization of the woman she’d come to know behind closed doors, but there was enough doubt in her mind to prevent her from dismissing it outright.

“But why those artifacts?” Elaina murmured, trying to get back to the main issue. “They can only be wielded by vampires, so what use could they---?”

Elaina froze as the realization hit her. A subtle shift in Royce’s posture only confirmed the sudden understanding that had dawned upon her. “You’re working with vampires.”

The witch glanced at her as she went about inspecting the circle at the foot of the gargozu’s bed. Her refusal to answer was all the confirmation that Elaina needed. The swordmage stepped forward, jabbing a finger in the vishanti’s direction.

“You just got free of a vampire’s rule, and now you want to work with another!?” Elaina exclaimed. “How does that make sense? How is that more trustworthy than some outsider coming in to lend a hand?”

“I don’t owe you an explanation, Elaina!” Royce shouted furiously, her expression contorted with impatient rage that surprised them both. They stared in silence for a moment before Royce managed to compose herself. “But... I will still give you one if you just come with me. I can’t talk about it here, but if you meet my people, you’ll understand everything. I don’t want to leave you behind.”

“But you were about to,” Elaina remarked coldly, gesturing to the shifter’s circle.

“I thought I had to,” Royce argued desperately. “But I don’t have to now. Just come with me.”

Elaina shook her head slowly. “My sister needs the mirror of Oberon. She can’t have a family without it. It means everything to her.”

“Then take it,” Royce offered readily. “I just need the scepter. The mirror is a nice bonus and could make things a little easier, but if your sister just needs it to get her life back on track, fine. I can come back for the mirror later.”

The witch leaned over the other side of the bed and hoisted her pack onto it. After a brief moment of rummaging, she pulled the mirror from inside and tossed it casually onto the bed closer to Elaina. “It’s yours.”

“R-really?” Elaina stammered, her gaze fixed upon the mirror. It was old and slightly tarnished but unmistakably beautiful with the detailed filigree around the frame. The surface of the glass looked out of place in a way Elaina couldn’t quite articulate. “Just like that?”

“Just like that,” Royce answered with a wave of her hand. “It’s not nearly as important to me as the scepter, and if it’ll convince you that I want you with me on this, then by all means.”

Elaina frowned, torn between what she wanted and what she knew to be right. The scepter was still stolen property, and Royce had still lied and deceived everyone around her in order to obtain it. The swordmage wanted very much to go with her, to leave everything behind and let the landgraf sort things out. The scepter was just a possible bargaining chip for her with the Obsidian Court. It wasn’t as though it would be missed. The redhead chewed her lip indecisively.

“Elaina,” Royce pressed, holding a hand out to her. “I know I haven’t been honest with you. I did what I had to do for my people---to be free of this constant religious oppression we’ve had to endure. All my life, I’ve had to live on the fringes of society because the supposed gift from our goddess wasn’t the right one. I grew up a retch during a war because of the whims of a priestess. I’m not perfect. I’ve done bad things, but no one should have to go through that.”

Slinging the satchel from her shoulder onto the bed, Elaina heaved a sigh of frustration. “Why do you have to make this so complicated?”

“Why do you?” Royce argued, rolling her eyes. “I haven’t done anything wrong. All of the stuff in the vault was stolen by the Abyssals. It’s not hers.”

Elaina shook her head as she opened the satchel and placed the mirror inside. Even without focusing on the artifact, she could feel the intensely power magic residing within it, waiting for a chance to be put to use. Her fingers brushed against the scrolls inside the satchel, reminding her of the Stone to Flesh spell contained within the topmost one. “If you haven’t done anything wrong, why run? Why the secrecy? You could have told me, and I would have spoken on your behalf.”

“What’s that?” Royce asked, changing the subject as she nodded toward the scrolls in the satchel.

“Some stuff Blackbarn gave to me. One of the scrolls should be able to reverse the spell they’re under,” Elaina explained, holding up the scroll and using it to point at the twisted and erotic sculpture at the head of the bed. “Not that it’s any of your concern.”

“Don’t be that way,” Royce muttered apologetically. “Are you going to use it now?”

“I don’t know,” Elaina admitted, turning her attention back to the blonde. Her heart beat a little faster as their eyes met. She couldn’t help but feel a deep emotional and physical yearning for the witch as her attention wandered to the deep plunging neckline of her dress. “I was going to, but now I realize I should get some transportation for them first.”

“I can handle that,” Royce suggested, motioning to the shifter’s circle. “It should be big enough.”

Elaina regarded the witch coldly. “I don’t think they want to go to Tenebre Dontae.”

The witch tilted her head to the side, staring irritably back at the swordmage. “Fine! I’ll go back to Willowridge with you, alright? I can reconfigure the circle to bring us right there.”

The swordmage perked up in surprise. “You’re serious?”

Royce offered her a grudging nod. “Yeah. If you’re going to keep moping about it, what choice do I have? If you think she’ll understand when we explain the situation to her, I’m willing to give it a try.”

Baffled by her change of heart, Elaina threw her arms around Royce, pulling her into an embrace. No one had believed that she could talk her down and have her return peacefully, but she’d managed to pull it off. “Thank the gods! Thank you so much.”

“Yeah, yeah, " Royce grumbled, quickly snatching the scroll from Elaina’s hand. “Let me take care of this for you before you hurt yourself.”

“Excuse me?” Elaina asked with mock indignance. “You don’t think I can handle it?”

“Have you ever cast a spell from a scroll before?” Royce asked doubtfully, staring at Elaina expectantly. When the redhead wasn’t quick to respond, she nodded with a smirk. “That’s what I thought.”

Rolling her eyes, Elaina stepped aside to give Royce room to work. “Fine, do whatever you need to.”

Unrolling the scroll, the witch looked the script over a few times before clearing her throat. Reading aloud from the scroll, she focused her intent on the stone sculpture at the head of the bed. Elaina felt a strange pull toward the sculpture as the magic from the scroll unfurled itself. At first, it felt like a passing sensation, but as the stone surface of the sculpture began to shift, it returned with heightened intensity. She felt the mental fog beginning to creep in at the edges of her senses, somehow more thick and robust than it had been in recent memory. “W-what’s going on?”

Only then did Elaina realize that Royce was speaking in her own casting language rather than the one required of the scroll. As the figures in the sculpture began to take on ordinary flesh again, Elaina’s breath came swifter and more ragged. Her pulse quickened, and her heart felt like it would leap out of her chest. “Are you changing the spell?”

Royce didn’t answer, speaking the incantation of her spell much quicker instead. Elaina reached out, taking a firm hold of the woman’s shoulder. “Royce! What are you---?”

One by one, the women fell free from the fixture of the wall, nude bodies tumbling to the surface of the bed one after another. Elaina found it difficult to focus as seeing them piling atop one another pushed all other concerns from her mind.

Royce pulled away as her chanting concluded, brushing the swordmage’s hand aside. “I’m sorry, Elaina. I gave you a chance to come with me. I told you I was pressed for time.”

Elaina bit her lip as hard as she could, hoping to use the pain to reorient herself, but it wasn’t as effective as she had hoped.

“That’s not going to help you this time,” Royce explained a look of pity in her eyes. “I accounted for that.”

The women on the bed, now fully flesh and blood, began to writhe around as if possessed as they caressed themselves and each other. Elaina’s knees went weak as her breathing became more uneven. The erection in her trousers became almost painful within seconds. Whatever changes Royce had made to the spell affected everyone in the room except for the witch.

“I can’t let you stop me, but I don’t want to hurt you either,” Royce explained, stepping away from the bed and towards the circle. “Consider it a parting gift.”

Elaina drew her sword from its scabbard, the steel ringing as she struggled to pry herself from the writhing mass of women beckoning to her on the bed. Each one would have been a considerable distraction on their own, but all together, the swordmage feared she would have no chance. Royce jumped a step back, surprised by the weapon’s presence. “You’re going to fight me? After I just gave you what you wanted for your sister?”

“No,” Elaina murmured, her speech slurring the way it would after several drinks. “But I can’t let you go either.”

With what remained of her free will, Elaina poured what magic she could muster into the blade of her weapon and brought it down on the shifter’s circle. With the magic enhancing the power and edge of the weapon, the swordmage cut cleanly through whatever materials had been used for the circle as well as the stone it had been drawn upon. The small amount of magic used to prime the circle ahead of realmshifting was released, rendering the entire array completely inert.

Royce’s scream of frustration sounded far off as the sword slipped from Elaina’s grip. Behind her, the hands of the released women pulled her backward, pulling the clothing from her even as they laid her down on the bed. The swordmage’s eyes rolled around in her head as she felt the cool air of the chamber meet with her bare skin, completely nude and prostrate under the group. She could barely lift her head, unable to see where Royce was or if she had fled the room. All that mattered now was the woman coming into view, capturing her lips with her own as another pair kissed down her chest to points further south.