The eerie sound of droplets plopping down one by one into a depth of an unknown liquid echoed across the room.
A room.
An expansive room large enough to have the echo reverberate. When she opened her eyes, she was on a thick slab of concrete. Unusual patterns sculpted into it. Like she was lying on an altar. Like she was a sacrifice.
She couldn't remember how she got here at first. Her mind was hazy, a muddled feeling of being underwater or perhaps the sensation of drinking far too much the night before.
Her eyes fully opened, she took in her surroundings. A large room like she suspected, Pillars with similar sculpted designs as the altar she lay on. A few torches illuminated the space, casting the room in a dark umber glow. She stood up, her feet unsteady against the ground. There, the scent hit her at full force, bitter and coppery.
Blood.
Perhaps that was the moment where she should've been scared. But Aletia hardly ever cowered in such circumstances. She questioned whether she had gotten abducted. It seemed probable in retrospect. Though she knew she had scarcely any enemies that would target her now of all times. She padded towards the pillar. To get a better look at the sculptures. Maybe it would yield a clue to where she was.
Etched into the stone, creatures with wings, large gaping maws baring fangs and a whip-like tail. Nothing she had ever seen in Novantian architecture. But it resembled the almost depraved art of those that worshiped the Nocturnal Saint Mordier. Impossible, that would mean that I'm in Lorant...
Lorant of all places. A nation devoted to worshipping the Patron Saint of Death. A nation of vampires.
Isolated, an island just on the cusp of the South of Novantia. It was difficult to imagine that she wound up there of all places. Then again, it was just purely her speculation.
She tried to recall the events that led up to her 'kidnapping.' It came hazy and disorientating.
She was in Port Valor. One of her annual trips to inconspicuous towns across Novantia. Something she agreed to do only for Cecia's peace of mind. The loyal knight fretted over the smallest things, insisting that staying within the vacant halls of the Marquisate was 'unhealthy.' If it were anyone else, Aletia would have turned her nose up at the request and melted into her chaise further. However, those emerald eyes sparkled with a pleading akin to a dog that had been cooped up for far too long. So she relented. Begrudgingly.
Port Valor, draped in a sheet of white snow as the Winter season hit full force. The distant clanging of the bell signaling boats entering the harbor just before the salt of the sea crystallized. An odd place for a so-called trip for peace and quiet but Aletia figured that Cecia must have her own reasons for coming here. It was far enough from the capital to not have to worry about any aristocrat. Perhaps that's why Cecia suggested there.
She pulled her hood tighter around her face, it would do her no good for the common folk to recognize her. There had been a time where portraits of her face had been sold around by patriots and firm supporters of the Imperial family and sure, only those who could afford paying for an image of a royal should have had the means to know her face, but the signature and distinct amethyst eyes would be a dead give away for her lineage now.
Cecia walked next to her and kept a three pace distance from Aletia. Still showing etiquette even in disguise.
It should've irked Aletia. It would have back then but now, she preferred the formalities. The sense of distance in those three steps. She shook her head. Focused on the passersby instead of her companion.
And strange passersby they were. A group of three people. Black hoods like hers, talked in an inscrutable manner in the alley beside a tavern. But what was more odd was the way they lingered, the stiffness in their postures, the way they looked around as if expecting someone to catch them.
As if Cecia could hear her thoughts, she spoke abruptly.
"Probably petty thieves congregating."
"I didn't know thieves wore uniforms."
"Black hoods are hardly uniforms. You're wearing one too."
"And I have something to hide," Aletia retorted, her gaze fixed on the group.
"Your highness, if you stare any longer at them, they'll notice and retaliate."
"I'm so scared," Aletia couldn't hide the apathetic drawl of her voice.
"I advise caution. Those in desperate circumstances are particularly dangerous."
Aletia snorted, shaking her head, strolled past the 'petty thieves.' Her interest was brittle and Cecia’s scolding had shattered it. But before Aletia walked away fully, she turned her head to look at the group one last time. Watching the mouth of one man in the hood. The shape of his lips as he uttered words she couldn't hear. A long sentence. An incantation. The world slowed to a glacial pace. Time froze as each flick of his tongue and clench of his teeth formed words strong enough until...Boom!
Through the snow, burrowed out in the open, a wolf like beast with bared teeth and a body grotesquely improportionate to its own head. A mouth large enough to snap on someone's skull but a body capable of slamming against the tavern. It roared, penetrating the very air of Port Valor. Cecia immediately jumped in front of Aletia, her sword drawn and her eyes narrowed on the beast.
"We need to evacuate now!"
She shouted through gritted teeth, apprehensive to fight the fiend.
Aletia didn't need to be told twice, she backed away. Ready to break out in a sprint. Her legs, however, failed to cooperate. Fear? No. Curiosity.
The incantation spoken to summon a beast. It should be impossible to have that much power. And yet standing before her, huffing hot puffs of air that dissipated in the winter atmosphere, undeniable was a summoned beast.
Too big to be a wolf. Too unnatural to be an animal.
Magicae?
A scream interrupted her questioning. People began to scatter away from the beast in hopes of survival. The group that summoned the creature seemingly have fled. The last sight: the dusky fabric disappearing in the direction of the ships.
Even as soldiers who were coincidentally drinking at the tavern responded first, they were smacked away unceremoniously. The sickening thud and crunch of bodies hitting concrete accompanied the screams of commoners fleeing.
"That way, Cecia!"
Aletia took off in the direction of the group responsible. There had been whispering. Of odd attacks from beasts. Chalked up to breeding season or migrating patterns. But of course, there were the theorists that claimed terrorism or revolution.
And Aletia agreed with those conspiracies now.
Cecia's eyes widened until her eyes practically bulged out of her skull before taking off after Aletia. "Your highness, no! This is dangerous!"
"You'll kill them before they do anything, Ser Cecia. Don't make me doubt your capabilities."
Cecia growled and hastened at the provocation.
There, just about to board a ship with no discernable sails, the group responsible tensed. One reached for their own weapon, however, Cecia attacked faster. Slicing the person's arm, the tendon splitting enough for the dagger to fall from their grip. She kicked the person in the chest and they fell backwards into the icy depths of the sea. Another came at Cecia, teeth bared and axe drawn, felled as soon as Cecia struck their leg.
The man who had uttered the incantation, opened his mouth for another spell and a dagger flew straight to his shoulder, his words croaking into a screech of agony.
Aletia stood, poised still in the throwing position before she strode up to the man and removed her dagger without a second thought. He screamed more intensely as blood sputtered out of the wound.
"Now then...shall we talk in a more civil manner?"
Cecia panted beside her, the group all strewn on the dock, writhed and whimpered.
The roars of the beast faded into a dull silence, the Royal Navy arrived to propagate the monster.
A smug grin curved Aletia's lips before the man spouted one more word through gritted teeth, "Vaskir."
And everything dimmed to a blurry image. The white of the snow, the ring in her ears before her head thudded against the wooden paneling of the dock.
Knocked out.
Comments (0)
See all