Piper watched as the river of ooze poured out of the ceiling shafts before separating into distinct creatures. She counted at least ten of them. The monsters sloshed against each other, recoiling from the touch of their brethren as they crammed into the narrow corridor.

  She raised her bow but then scowled as she lowered it again. Even with [Demonic Mark] there were too many to take out before they overwhelmed her. Plus, her healing ability probably wouldn’t work if she were stuck in an ooze’s stomach being digested.

  “Let’s go,” she said, reaching out to grab Ophelia’s hand. “We need to get out of here.”

  Gorebark angled its head back to regard her with its dead wooden eyes. “Was that killing a onetime thing? Should I not get my hopes up?”

  “There’s too many to fight.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she wondered why she was arguing with a bow.

  With her friend in tow, Piper raced over to the door with the rock monster smith in relief. She tugged off her gloves and touched the warm metal surface. Thankfully, this door was in better shape than the one at the entrance and easily swung open. Beyond, she was greeted by a room the size of a hockey coliseum.

  At the center of the room, a pool of lava glowed in the dim light. The air reeked of sulfur and burning metal. Enormous forges, far too large for a human to use, dotted the room. In front of the forges sat anvils with glowing runes etched into their surfaces. Dangling down from the ceiling hung numerous chains and other metal contraptions she couldn’t identify.

  Unlike the hallway, there were no bodies or damage in this room. Whatever had attacked the mountain hadn’t made it this far. Or the smiths had been evacuated before the battle had reached this room.

  Ophelia wrinkled her nose. “This place reminds me of the time the pigs got sick.”

  Piper raised her eyebrow.

  “They had terrible diarrhea,” Ophelia explained. “I hid for an entire week, so I didn’t have to muck out their pen.”

  Piper couldn’t help but giggle at her friend. Ethel must have been furious at being left alone to clean up the pig poop. But the more she heard about Ophelia on the farm, the more she realized her friend wasn’t cut out for a life as a farmwife.

  “At least it’s nice and warm in here,” Ophelia continued. “Do you think we can stay for a bit?”

  Shaking her head, Piper set out across the vast room. Neither of them carried any supplies. The longer they stayed in this place, the weaker they’d become. They needed to find another way out of the mountain so she could find some game to hunt.

  I wish Alfred were with me, she thought. He’d know exactly where to find birds and large game.

  Meanwhile, her track record for hunting was spotty at best. If they somehow managed to elude the vampires, she wasn’t sure they wouldn’t starve to death before reaching the Arissian Empire. The second she thought that, she ruthlessly pushed it down. She would just have to learn how to hunt mountain goats and whatever else lived up here. Then everything would be fine.

  As they neared the center of the room, the aetherstones ensconced in the ceiling activated, and the forges sprang to life. There was a clanking from above as the chains started to move. Smoke began to billow up from the forge while an opening appeared in the ceiling. The lava at the center of the room roiled before beginning to spin in a circle.

  Piper coughed as the smoke swirled around her body, making her eyes sting. With Ophelia’s hand in her grip, she hurried toward the center of the room. On the far side, she could make out another great bronze door.

  Behind them, the other door had swung shut, hopefully holding off the oozes. Though she suspected they would find another way into the room. The shafts they used to travel must run through the mountain. However, if they made it into this cavernous place, she’d have a much easier time picking them off with her bow.

  Ophelia stumbled to a stop and rested hand hands on her knees. “I… need to rest.”

  Piper glanced back at the doors, expecting the oozes to appear at any second. “We should really keep going…”

  “I can’t.” Her friend looked up at her with bleary eyes. “Please.”

  Pressing her lips together, she nodded. This probably wasn’t the safest place to take a rest, but at least it was warm. And that’s probably what Ophelia needed the most.

  She scanned the room until she spotted an alcove on the far side. At least it should shield them from any errant chains or other things moving around the room. She pointed at it, and her friend nodded in reply.

  The pace she set was far slower than before. She could have carried Ophelia, but she had a feeling that if she kept doing that, they weren’t going to be friends much longer. Instead, they leisurely walked across the room, which made her antsy. All she wanted to do was rush through the mountain until she found another way out.

  Once they reached the alcove, they found it filled with human-sized furniture. Or in this case, demon-sized. Seemingly, not everything working in the forge was the size of giants. And even more exciting, they spotted what looked like a sink.

  Nestled in the corner was a basin with a metal pipe sticking out of it. As Piper neared it, water sprang out of the tap in a clear stream. She touched it with her finger, finding the water cool to the touch.

  “Is that water?” Ophelia hurried over. “I’m dying of thirst.”

  Piper held out her hand to stop her friend from scooping up a handful. “We don’t know if it’s safe.”

  “What, do you think it’s some kind of demon water?”

  “What if it is?”

  Ophelia rolled her eyes. “Even demons need water, right?”

  Piper nodded her head.

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  “Then it’s probably safe to drink.”

  Piper thrust her finger through the stream of water and brought a droplet up to her lips. She sucked it off her finger and waited. Nothing happened. Just to be sure, she activated [Demonic Blood]. But when no mana drained to indicate the water was toxic, she stepped back to allow Ophelia to drink.

  Her friend cupped her hands and guzzled down the water like she hadn’t drunk for a month. Only after nearly a dozen handfuls did she finally step back and sag against the wall. “Now if only we had some sweetmeats.”

  “Or ice cream,” Piper said before adding, “Especially now that we’re in a warm room.”

  “I’d love some of my mom’s bread.” Ophelia licked her lips. “Fresh off the fire and slathered in butter.” The younger girl’s stomach rumbled, making them both laugh.

  “I’ll find something to hunt when we get out of here,” she said. “There must be some birds nesting up here, or maybe some goats.”

  “I wouldn’t mind some roast goat…” Ophelia trailed off as she yawned. “I’m still frozen. Do you mind if I lean on you?”

  Piper settled down next to her friend and lifted her arm as the young woman rested her head on her shoulder. Within seconds, Ophelia was sound asleep. For several minutes, she watched her friend's peaceful slumber.

  Turning her gaze back to the cavernous room, she decided she would let Ophelia get a few hours of sleep. If anything hostile approached, she would have plenty of warning. For now, she just wanted to let the young woman rest.

  Justina stood a safe distance away from the bronze gate as mages swarmed around the entrance. The robed figures took turns hurling their repertoire of spells at the entrance. Yet every spell simply bounced off the metal; the infernal warding’s still potent after so many millennia.

  It wouldn’t be long before the duke arrived with his retainers. And she desperately wanted to report some good news to him. Not only had she allowed the demoness to escape, but she’d also allowed it to capture an innocent young girl.

  As she watched another mage step forward, she paced back and forth. Every second they took to get inside meant another second the demon could be torturing the young girl. At this point, there was no other explanation than the pale-skinned demon was taunting her.

  The infernal creature had made her look like a fool after tricking her into believing it had disappeared into the mountain. Then, while she’d been distracted, it had returned and abducted the peasant family’s daughter. She didn’t know why it wanted the young girl, but she knew it had to be for some dreadful purpose.

  I will cut off that monster’s head myself.

  The image of the girl’s distraught parents would forever be burned into her memory if she didn’t save their daughter. She’d returned to where she’d left the family, only to find the mother sobbing and the others missing. Apparently, the demoness had returned and taken the daughter. Her husband had pursued the foul creature into the raging storm, but she’d remained behind to seek help.

  When she’d found the big man a short time later—blundering around in the storm—he’d been half frozen. It had taken Virgil and Augustus to drag him back to the camp. And only with a promise that she’d find his daughter and return her to them unharmed.

  Virgil, who was seated on a rock nearby, shook his head. “You’re going to wear a groove in the stone if you don’t stop pacing.”

  “What else would you have me do?”

  “Stop pacing?”

  She grumbled at her companion’s words and resumed her walking. As she did, she noticed the approach of Ransford. He was the last person she wanted to deal with at the moment.

  Ransford hurried over, stopping a short distance from them. He waited until Virgil had risen from his feet and they had both saluted him before speaking. “As usual, I have outdone myself. In my search for the demoness, I have found a way into the mountain.”

  “You did?” Justina said, hope blossoming in her chest. “Where is it?”

  “There is a way inside on the mountain slope.” He pointed at a plateau close to the peak, where smoke had appeared nearly an hour ago.

  “But the human scouts climbed the mountain when the smoke first appeared. They saw nothing but a smooth shaft descending straight downward. Even with all the ropes we possess, they wouldn’t reach the bottom.”

  “Do you always trust the word of a human over a vampire?” Ransford asked. “With their inferior senses and minds?”

  “What did you see that they missed?” she asked, pushing down her revulsion for the lord.

  “I spotted handholds cut into the side of the shaft. The climb will be challenging. However, gifted individuals such as us should have trouble reaching the bottom.”

  Virgil shouldered his crossbow. “What are we waiting for?”

  Ransford held up his hand. “I’m afraid I must ask you to remain here. If the demon reappears with her awful bow, they will need your crossbow and keen Perception.”

  “Are you sure?” He looked at Justina askance. “My place is at your side.”

  “He’s right. The auxilia will need your crossbow,” she said. “Should we find a path inside, I will return to gather you and the other Crimson Guards. Then we will make our way down into the mountain and slay that cursed demoness.”

  “Do you doubt your lord?” Ransford snapped. “Regardless, the two of us should be more than capable of sending that demoness screaming back into the abyss.”

  Justina bit back her retort as she checked the straps on her equipment. The demoness had already proven they would need the combined forces of every powerful vampire to bring her down. However, in case the demoness reemerged from the gates, she wanted the Crimson Guard here to face the monster. At least until she confirmed this wasn’t a wild-goose chase.

  With Ransford in the lead, they set out at a blindingly fast pace. Their incredible physical stats meant they could move far more quickly than a human, even in the daylight when only a quarter of their physical stats were active.

  Together, they bounded up the mountain, leaping from rock to rock, and scaling sheer walls with ease. It took nearly an hour for them to reach the opening belching black smoke. Until recently, it looked like a round bronze cover had sat over the hole. However, some mysterious force had made it swing open, exposing a shaft that descended straight down for hundreds of meters.

  She moved closer to the edge and peered inside. But she couldn’t see the handholds that Ransford had spoken of. Were they further down?

  As she turned around to ask, her [Crimsonsense] blared a warning in her mind. She reached for her sword, but her reactions were sluggish under the daylight sun. She cried out as a blade tore through her neck, severing her artery.

  Blood poured out of the wound, but it took a lot more than that to put a vampire down. She grabbed her sword hilt, attempting to draw it when another blade drove into her armpit. As it did, her entire body seized up, and she toppled forward like a felled tree.

  What’s happening to me? Why can’t I move?

  After a second, Ransford flipped her onto her side. She looked up to see the disgusting man leering at her. “Did you think me so stupid as not to realize what you were doing with the peasant family? Did you think I wouldn’t see that insufferable smirk on your face as that woman tried to manipulate me?”

  Ransford smirked. “Little did you know I was manipulating you the entire time. Now that the peasant family has restored my reputation, they shall pay for defying me. Once this is over, I will return to their farm to feast on them.” While he was speaking, he began to roll her toward the opening into the mountain.

  “It has come to my attention recently that I can’t trust you,” the lord continued. “However, the duke will never allow me to stake you. So, you will become yet another casualty of the demoness. I will say when we arrived, we found her climbing out of the shaft. While you fought valiantly, you were ultimately overwhelmed.”

  Justina tried to open her mouth to speak, but nothing came out except for a squeak. What magic was immobilizing her?

  “Are you trying to talk?” Ransford chuckled. “I’m afraid you’ll find that quite impossible. I originally purchased this magical dagger to slay the duke. However, it’s just as effective on someone like you.”

  He pushed her right to the edge, but then stopped. “I almost forgot.” He reached down and ripped the void bag from her hip. “If by some miracle you survive the fall, I wouldn’t want you using this blood to heal. Now rot in the darkness, forever forgotten.”

  Justina screamed mentally as she was tipped over the edge. She felt the blade being ripped free by Ransford and then sensation rushed back to her limbs. But it was already too late as she plummeted into the shaft. On the way down, she crashed into the stone wall, feeling bones snap.

  The last thing she saw was a cavernous room with a pool of lava before the ground rushed up to greet her. And then she felt nothing.