I inquired with this…Ketal as to the whereabouts of the control room. With a crude sense of direction, I set off with Eshami in tow. The dim lighting of the halls sporadically flickered on and off.

We both cautiously traversed the innards of the ship as a thought gnawed away at me. “Eshami,” I called out to her, “Do you know what crimes the people on this ship were accused of?”

“What do you mean, Devon?” she asked.

“It’s a prison ship and a very large one at that. I don’t think the people here are simple pickpockets.”

But Eshami just gasped as she stared ahead with eyes as wide as dinner plates. As I followed her gaze, I spotted the figure that loomed at the end of the hall. The thing was pulsing and expanding, almost as if it was breathing. Blood flowed from it like tendrils and dripped to the ground.

Scarcely a moment were the drops of blood offered before they were soaked back up into the being to repeat the cycle.

I watched in horror as a being trapped within the tendrils stretched outwards in a desperate attempt to escape. It broke free for a second only to be caught and dragged back in. Despite the poor lighting, I could see the creature was being drained alive. Its skin quickly turned pale and shriveled before my very eyes.

“Help me….” the poor husk called out to me.

“Hang on, we’re coming to help!” I called out to the trapped soul as I readied my sword to fight.

“Careful,” Eshami warned, seeming to recognize the creature. “If it touches you it could very well spell the end.”

“Nothing a little razzle ‘n dazzle can’t solve,” I said with a wink and a hint at a previous endeavor.

Eshami rolled her eyes but complied. With a swift step forward she pointed an open palm to the beast and uttered a few arcane words. Her hand glowed with a brilliant light as it burst outwards with force. The blood beast shrieked and recoiled in pain. Several tendrils of blood pulled away from the trapped creature, which exposed much of its upper body.

I could now see it was a man trapped within the beast with only a few drops of life remaining. With a lunge, I stabbed my blade deep into where I thought the beast’s heart resided. With my offhand, I grabbed the man by the arm and attempted to pull him from the monster’s grasp.

Despite being weakened, the beast refused to let its victim go free. I struggled with it in a deadly game of tug-o-war, with neither side able to gain any ground. Then I felt a chilled slimy tendril of blood drop upon my shoulder. Instantly I began to feel my life being sapped away. My muscles weakened and shrank away, while my hair went grayer by several shades.

I mustered what little strength remained and channelled it into my sword. The blade burst into a brilliant fury of flames and threatened to engulf the blood beast.

Eshami seized the opportunity I created and expelled another blast of holy light into the monstrosity. This forced it to recoil back from the onslaught. I managed to retrieve my blade, and free the man from the bloody tendrils. His sunken frame breathed weakly as I dragged him across the floor to a safe distance.

Eshami retreated with me and cast a wary eye on the trail of blood left behind by the freed man. Slowly it began to ooze and slink its way back to the beast.

“I can help you…” the sickly man uttered.

I glanced at Eshami who met my gaze. “I only have enough strength left for one of you…”

I cast a glance at the blood beast which was starting to regain its form, and was likely to attack again, and then looked back down to the man at my feet. I was unsure what sort of aid, if any, he would be able to provide once healed, but my strength was also severely sapped by the beast.

Only one of us could be healed…

A special "Thank you!" to Bradan Writes Stories for his original contribution to the series (on which this chapter is based)