The chapel room where Harry fought the Flayed demon was empty. The body was gone, and so were the remains of Captain Walls. Blood still stained the stone, smeared and dark, pooled in places and tracked across the floor where men had dragged things out.
Harry gave them a brief description of everything that had happened.
Stan was eager to use his new skills and spells to search but found nothing.
They decided to search the tower before going down to the caverns.
The first floor was a kitchen and larder. Cold hearth. Soot on the stone. Pots stacked along one wall, a few left soaking where someone had abandoned them days earlier. Shelves held grain, dried meat, jars of fat and preserves. Stan checked behind the barrels and under the tables. Jo opened cupboards and storage chests.
Nothing hidden. Nothing dangerous.
The second floor was a lab. Benches lined the walls. Glassware, burners, racks of tools, notes scrawled in a tight hand. Barrels and jugs packed tight, some sealed, some crusted with old residue. Pumps, clamps, coils of tubing. Cedric stayed at the stairs, keeping watch. Stan searched but found nothing of interest.
The third floor was the top.
It was a bedroom, laid out much like the one under the crypts. Heavy bed. Trunks against the walls. A wardrobe and a small table with half-burned candles and scattered papers.
Against one wall stood a wine cabinet with a dozen bottles inside, different shapes and seals. A silver comb and mirror set rested on a side table. In the center of the room stood a large carved marble bathtub, a dark ring of grime showing it had not been cleaned in years.
One door stood open to the balcony. They stepped outside to search but all they found was the view. They could make out the silhouette of the distant mountains, black shapes against the night sky. Below, roads lead away from the village in several directions. The widest headed north, directly toward the mountains.
They stood there a moment, taking it in.
- Jo: Nema says we have to go to the mountains. The next dungeon level is the forest.
- Cedric: We will be fighting the beasts the soldiers say attack the village in the winter.
- Harry: That sounds too simple for this dungeon.
- Cedric: True.
- Harry: Have you tried asking anyone what’s outside the village?
- Cedric: I spoke with Jack. He gave vague answers about other villages. Of a far away city. But when pressed he got confused and changed the subject.
- Stan: Same with Maddie and Toby’s little nursemaids.
- Jo: What kind of name is Cecily Rose?
- Harry: What?
- Toby: The villagers only know their part of the dungeon. It’s not their fault.
- Cedric: Toby is right.
- Harry: Let’s get back to work. There’s still something I’m going to need help with tonight.
Back inside the bedroom, Stan searched and found a hidden compartment in the back panel of the wardrobe. Inside sat a locked chest. He knelt, muttered a few words under his breath, and the lock clicked open.
The chest held coin. Five gold. A hundred silver. Copper stacked thick and heavy, five thousand exactly. There was also a map. It marked a single point at the base of the mountains that appeared to lead into a hidden pass. A single key was folded with it.
They split the coins, set aside Toby’s share, and Stan put everything else of value into his inventory.
After that, they went down to the caverns where Harry had fought Korven. All the bodies were gone, Korven’s, the Desiccants, and the two villagers. At the base of the stairs, Stan found a secret door. His spell failed to open it, but the key from the chest fit cleanly, and the lock turned.
As the door opened, torches flared to life on their own, spilling light into a small antechamber and a long tunnel running north.
Harry stepped through first.
The moment he crossed the threshold, a message appeared.
:: System: Congratulations, you have completed Level Two of the Chambers of Attrition. (+100 XP)
:: Class: Vampire Level 2 (1701 / 4,000)
Harry called the others in. Each of them received the same message and bonus XP.
They searched the room and the start of the tunnel and found nothing else waiting for them. After that, they went back for Toby, lifting him on his litter and bringing him through so he could complete the level and claim the experience. They gave Toby his share of Korven’s coins and carried him back down to the village.
Jack led them to the soldiers’ barracks and what used to be Jeffrey’s house standing apart from the rest. He turned it over to them and promised that Toby could use it as long as he needed.
Once they were settled, Harry took Jo and Cedric to the edge of the village. A small cottage sat there with a solid shed beside it. The shed door had been reinforced, extra brackets and bars had been bolted to the outside.
They went in. A single cow stood in the center of an open space. Hooks hung from the ceiling. The floor was stained dark brown with old blood. A long wooden table ran along one wall, knives set on pegs above it, different lengths, different shapes.
Jo stopped a few feet into the room. “I’m guessing the house outside is the local butcher?”
“Yeah,” Harry walked over to the cow and laid a hand on its head. “I’ve never been comfortable in rooms like this.”
She looked around again. “Why are we here?”
“Jo,” Harry waved her over, “have you taken a look at the animals in the village?”
“No, not really.”
“Take a look. Tell me what you think.”
“If you want a cow expert, you should ask Toby.”
“Humor me.”
Jo shrugged and stepped closer. She checked the hooves. Leaned in to look at the teeth and took a long lick across the face for her trouble. She circled the animal, crouched, stood, shifted angles. Her brow furrowed deeper with each pass.
Finally she straightened and looked back at Harry. “That’s the healthiest animal I’ve ever seen.”
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“Exactly,” Harry said. “And they’re all like that. Every pig. Every chicken.”
Cedric frowned slightly. “Perhaps the Dungeon Aspect finds it simpler to replicate perfection.”
“Yeah,” Harry scowled. “That’s what System thinks too. You’ve never heard of anything like this?”
Cedric exchanged a look with Jo and lifted one shoulder. “I do not recall any song or tale that mentions the quality of the livestock.”
Harry nodded. “Fair enough.”
“So,” Jo stood to face Harry, “why are we in a slaughter shed with a cow?”
Harry gave a brief smile, then it faded. “I have a problem. I haven’t been able to use any of my abilities.”
Cedric stiffened. “What happened?”
“Korven set a trap. I ended up corrupting my own blood. When I try to use an ability, all I get is pain.”
Jo studied his face. “What do you want us to do?”
“I need to do some tests.” He stepped close to the cow again and rested a hand on her neck. “And at some point I’ll almost certainly have to drink her blood.”
Cedric shrugged. “Sir Harold, you are a vampire. That is a fact I have already accepted.”
“Same,” Jo said.
“Alright,” Harry said. “I need two things from both of you, and one thing from you, Jo. First, I need you both to go outside, bar the door, and do not open it no matter what you hear until I calmly ask to be let out.”
Jo raised an eyebrow. “And the other thing?”
“Afterward,” Harry said, “I’m hoping you’ll be willing to do some butcher work. Just enough that we can leave it hung up.”
Jo nodded once. “Not a problem.”
After they went out and Harry heard the bars drop into place outside the door, he checked his meters.
V: 106 | TM: 4%
System, are you ready?
:: System: Affirmative.
He used his wardrobe function to remove his gear and sat down in one corner of the room. He started by trying to Mesmerize the cow and was hit with waves of pain. When it had passed, he checked his messages.
:: Skill [Mesmerize]: Failed (cost: 1 vitae)
V: 105 | TM: 5%
Dammit, when that bastard was hitting me with that aging spell I was getting years worth of rest.
:: System: It appears each vitae generated was contaminated the moment it was added to the corrupted pool.
Yeah, that’s what I was afraid of. So either this is permanent, or I need to get the corrupted portion down low enough that I can add enough all at once to dilute it.
:: System: And that is why you are currently locked in a shed?
Affirmative. Before I started leveling, if my vitae got below 25% I could go into an uncontrolled feeding frenzy. How low do you think I can go now?
:: System: Not only is your [Frenzy] skill higher but so is your [Willpower]. I estimate you should approach TM: 85% before you begin to lose control.
Alright, let’s do this.
:: System: On three?
Jerk.
He started to use his skills to burn vitae. Mesmerize. Identify. Speed. Over and over. Never strength. He did not want to risk putting a hole through a wall. It was slow and brutal, one point at a time, triggering the next ability as soon as the pain eased enough to let him focus. He considered cutting himself to use self-heal but rejected it just as quickly.
System was right. He reached TM: 75% without trouble but as soon as it crept over eighty, the urge to feed slammed into him hard and his focus snapped to the cow. She sensed it and retreated into the corner, eyes wide, not a sound.
Near eighty-five percent, messages started stacking. Successful Willpower checks, one after another. He leaned into it, more accustomed to the pain now, burning vitae faster, tighter, riding the edge. He might have been screaming. Or howling. He wasn’t sure. The pain helped. It cut through the hunger.
He dropped to all fours.
Fangs slid fully free. Drool spilled from the tips and dripped onto the floor as he crept forward, inch by inch, eyes fastened on the cow.
He tried to focus on his Blood Sense. The thread coming off of the prey was right in front of him. He reached to grasp it, spent a vitae on mesmerize. Pain.
His muscles trembled. Every fiber screaming to move, to feed. One more vitae spent.
His claws scraped against the packed earth floor. The cow's heartbeat thundered in his ears, each pulse a drumbeat pulling him forward. Another point into speed.
V: 9 | TM: 92%
:: System: [Willpower Check] failed.
He lunged.
When it was over, he slumped back from the carcass and checked his meters.
H: 270 .. 269 .. | V: 169 .. 168 .. | TM: 0%
It had been better than ever before. Like a man dying of thirst given the elixir of life. The blood had sung through him, pure and vital, every drop ecstasy.
System, don’t let me do that again. I think it could get addictive.
:: System: Duly noted.
Alright, here goes.
He pushed a point of vitae into speed.
It burned.
But it was bearable, and more importantly, it worked.
He cleaned up and dressed, then called Jo and Cedric back in. They worked quickly. The cow was skinned, cut, and hung with practiced efficiency. No one said much.
After that they returned to Toby’s room and rested until morning. Toby played for them, quiet songs and his Healer’s Lullaby. Harry felt the tension ease out of his shoulders as the notes settled over the room.
At dawn they said their goodbyes. Promised to meet again at Toby’s farm.
Harry, Jo, Stan, and Cedric went back to the tower and down into the tunnel. As they moved, torches flared to life along the walls, lighting the passage ahead.
Almost at once, they received a notice that Toby had left party chat.
They stopped. Exchanged looks. No one spoke. After a moment, they kept going.
They had been walking for about an hour when they reached a set of stairs leading up. The air changed as they climbed, warmer, carrying the smell of pine and damp earth. Birdsong filtered down from above.
The stairs opened into a small natural cave. Morning light spilled through the entrance, bright after the torchlit tunnel. They crept to the edge and looked out.
Beyond it lay a wide clearing surrounded by forest, only a few miles from the base of the mountains.
A shortcut like the tunnel under the crypts?
:: System: Affirmative.
In the center of the clearing, maybe a hundred feet away, stood a massive tree. At its base crouched one of the beasts the soldiers had warned them about. A hexapuma. It looked like a black and gray panther, but the size of a horse, its body supported by six powerful legs. It faced a pack of things Harry had never heard of and never would have imagined.
There were five of them. They had low, muscular wolf bodies carried on segmented spider legs. From the shoulders rose long serpentine necks that ended in broad snake heads, tongues tasting the air, eyes fixed on the cat.
Harry scowled. “Have you noticed how things always happen right when we show up?"
“At my father’s court they say the dungeon waits.” Cedric’s voice was quiet. “Frozen until adventurers arrive.”
Jo snorted. "Toby would have a story about it."
Stan squinted at the scene. “Why ain’t the cat runnin’ away?”
Harry reached out with his Blood Sense. There were more threads than the six creatures in front of them.
He pointed up into the branches.
“Look up there.”
High in the tree, half lost in shadow, they could just make out two more hexapumas. Smaller. Cubs by the look of them, pressed low against a thick branch, unmoving.
Jo’s hand slid to her bow. “What’s the plan, Harry?”
***
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