Sacrifice Mage-Chapter 25: En-Thralled

I considered my options. Clearly, the half-vampire bastard had the ability to sense others of his kind. Continuing to hide from him was a pointless endeavour. I might as well be a termite hiding from pest control.
Confronting him was another option. The potentially deadly choice. Would Hamsik even recognize my face? Even if he did, would he believe me about Sacrifice, or would he be certain that I had been minion-ized by some Scarseeker into a Thrall and was just lying to save my skin?
Even with my newfound strength, I had a feeling Hamsik’s power still outstripped mine by a good degree. I could fight back, possibly enough to survive, but turning the confrontation violent would only lend credence to the belief that I was now a vampire for good too. Overpowering Hamsik to prove my innocence was a complete no-go too. I wasn’t
that
strong.
The last option was, of course, fleeing. I could run. He would give chase. Could I outrun the bastard long enough for the hour to pass and revert back to my regular self? No idea. It was probably my best bet, though.
So I turned tail and burst out the other end of the house. I didn’t even bother finding an opening. My heightened Power and Vitality allowed me to crash through the weak wooden walls with hardly any effort, my enhanced Agility making every step cover over a dozen feet at least.
And he was
still
faster. I could feel the way the air rippled when he launched himself after me. Maybe I ought to consider myself lucky that he hadn’t shot me from behind or something. But as he overtook me with surprising ease, all I felt was growing annoyance. How was this guy
that
quick? Was he in Gold already? I knew Escinca was, but the Elder was old.
Then again, I had no idea how old Hamsik actually was. Vampires were undying, after all…
The area I had just gotten trapped in was faintly familiar. I blinked. Had I just inadvertently turned around to go back the way I had just come from? I couldn’t care about it, though. My eyes were focused entirely on the half-vampire.
Credit to Hamsik, he didn’t immediately attack, even after I had thrown up my hands in a defensive posture. He was frowning at me instead.
“Is that… you, Ross?” he asked. I was pretty sure this was the first time he had used my name, and it sounded extremely weird. “Where’s the Scarseeker?”
I couldn’t relax, but I sighed all the same. “I didn’t find any Scarseekers, Hamsik. I just killed one of the Thralls. And in the process, I Sacrificed his heart to… well, to become
this
.”
“
Its
. Not
his
. Those things are monsters. They’re not people any longer. Referring to them as such is excusing their reprehensible behaviour.” He took a threatening step closer. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Where. Is. The.
Scarseeker
?”
I decided against commenting on the way he was purposely dehumanizing the Thralls, especially after my little violent heart-to-heart with the one I had killed. Evil monsters though they were, I still understood their twisted logic.
Ironic that the base motivation for the Thralls and for what the cult did and everything Hamsik had given me that lesson about stemmed from the same thing, really.
“The reward from Sacrifice lasts an hour total,” I said. “Almost half an hour has passed already, so if you give me some time, I can prove that I’m not lying.”
“You think I’m stupid?”
“I think you’re blinded by what you believe in.” My mouth curled on its own. “Like a stupid cultist would be.”
He snarled, one step away from attacking. “I should kill you just to shut you up.”
Maybe it wasn’t right to antagonize him, but I was done. I was tired. Despite the power from Sacrifice still flowing through me, I really didn’t want to be fighting anymore. Even if I had convinced myself earlier that I ought to make use of my current state and hunt down any remaining Scarthralls, if I really looked inside, I… just wanted it to be over.
“You could,” I said. “You could attack. You’d probably manage to kill me too. And then, when my corpse turns back to a human one in thirty minutes tops, you’d have to explain to the Elder why you let your own biases and rage blind you.”
Hamsik growled some more. He knew it wasn’t a trap. Knew I wasn’t luring him anywhere. If he could sense me, he could probably sense other Scarthralls too, and there was no one else around.
I took the opportunity to explain what had happened in a bit more detail, mentioning that I had made the bastard who had taken Aurier hostage pay. “What about the others? Did you and the guards get the rest of them? If not, shouldn’t we be going after them?”
Hamsik took a deep breath to visibly calm down. His eyes shifted away from me for the first time, trailing along the ground, along the other destroyed houses nearby. “
You
really did this?” His eyes focused on the patch of blood smoking away, the bits of bone and flesh still turning to ash, the last remains of my enemy. “You’re just an Iron-ranked human…”
He shook his head disbelievingly.
I raised my hands and twirled my claws. “I don’t think I could have killed the jerk without Sacrifice, but… yeah. I killed him.”
Hamsik closed his eyes for a long moment, before finally letting his shoulders droop. “The others are dead, as far as I know. We don’t have to worry about any of the attackers.”
“But there might be more of them who never came to the temple.”
“Yes, there might be more in the neighbourhood. In all of Ring Four.”
That was concerning, to say the least. Now more than ever it was imperative that we found the true source of the Thralls—the Scarseeker who was turning regular people into vampire minions. Unfortunately, Hamsik hadn’t been able to take any of them captive. The Thralls had no intention of getting captured alive.
He didn’t know how successful the guards had been, however, so there was still some hope.
As we walked on, I took a peek at my status. Quite a lot had changed since the last time I had checked it.
[ Ross Moreland
Profile
Race
: Human
Weave Access
: Full
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, the incident.
Universal Language Approximator [Sovereign I]
Paths
Path of the Newborn Star
: Iron V
Path of the Acolyte
: Iron V
Core
Mana Implosion
: [Unawakened]
General Attributes
Vitality
: Iron V
Power
: Iron V
Agility
: Iron IV
Path Attributes
Spirit
: Iron IV
Fervour
: Iron VI
Aspects
Gravity
: Iron VI
Infusion
Siphon
Sacrifice
: Iron IV
Windfall
Emulation
Time until Mana Implosion
: 6 days
]
Honestly, I didn’t
need
to see the changes in that fashion. Not after I had already seen the list of gains I’d had in all my Attributes, Aspects, and Paths. But the summary was nice. It was an excellent reminder of the growth I had accomplished over the last several days. Of all the growth I had claimed as mine since arriving at Ephemeroth.
Even more importantly, it was the only way I got to check how my core was doing. I blinked in surprise when I noted the countdown. Six days. Sacrificing the vampire’s heart had pushed it that far back. I had almost a week of time to deal with it.
I couldn’t get complacent, of course. Remaining vigilant and maintaining a constant lookout would be to my best interests.
But still. It
was
a relief.
It didn’t take us long to reach Captain Revayne. She was on her way back to the temple as well, her face buried in her book again like she had never lifted her head out of it. Her mood felt a little more cheerful compared to mine and Hamsik’s, but that changed when she saw me.
Before she could attack or do anything of the sort, before even I could defend myself, Hamsik stepped forward.
“Don’t worry, that’s just one of our cultists,” he said. “His version of Sacrifice is a little weirder than ours and when he fought a Thrall, he managed to Sacrifice its heart, which turned him into
this
. Temporarily, or so he says.”
That was a very succinct if slightly insulting summary. I wasn’t just saying it. The temporariness of my transformation was true.
Revayne frowned at us for a moment, and I wondered if we would need to work harder to convince her. But then she glanced at her book before her expression cleared. “You’re quite the oddity, Cultist Ross.”
“I sure
feel
like one,” I said.
It was nice we didn’t have to waste time convincing Revayne, though now I was curious just what that book of hers even was. She admitted that she had been successful. The guards had managed to capture one of the Thralls alive, with the restrained monster currently on his way to the guards’ cells.
“That’s great!” I said. “We can finally get to the bottom of whoever’s been causing all this.”
“That is my hope,” Revayne said. “But we shall see. These Thralls are dogmatically devoted.”
“Monsters,” Hamsik muttered in disgust.
No lie there. The Thrall I had fought had been a zealous believer too. Whoever had converted them into Thralls to begin with wasn’t just forcing them to become vampires.
Their beliefs, their very souls were being converted to their originator’s side.
Soon enough, we reached the temple, where things had thankfully calmed down. I was mostly just glad that my Sacrifice reward had finally run out, letting my body return to its original,
real
form. Back human again. I silently promised I was never again taking my simple mortal body for granted.
Revayne eyed me over her book. “You truly killed a Thrall on your own?”
I nodded. “It wasn’t easy but I did.”
“Impressive. You may be the first Iron to do so.”
I believed her.
Escinca and Aurier were very glad to see us alive and healthy. Hamsik and I recounted what we had gone through, while Escinca informed us of what had happened at the temple in return.
Although, it was already kind of evident in what we saw. Most people who hadn’t run in a panic or had been abducted by any of the vampires had been sequestered inside the temple for their own safety. The guards, Hamsik, and I might have all run off chasing the Thralls, but it wasn’t just Escinca and Aurier who had remained behind to guard everybody.
Gutran was there to help, as was Silhatsa. The other cults had stepped up too. Both the Sea Cult and the Wind Cult had remained behind, deciding to assist us in case any more of the Thralls reappeared. I was grateful to them.
Like me, the Earth Cult had run off. They had chased after the Thralls too, supposedly.
The Fire Cult had departed. At first, they had remained behind, but as soon as it looked like no further attacks were coming, they had left in a hurry as well. Though, in their case, they had rushed off their neighbourhood to make sure everything was alright, which I couldn’t really blame them for. Honestly, it was surprising the other cults hadn’t run off to their temples as well.
“We will need to address them,” Escinca said, indicating the people who still looked frightened and wary, despite our successful arrivals. “We will need to give them guidance.” His voice turned steely. “That is the duty of any cult.”
Revayne stepped up. “I may not be a cultist, but allow me to begin, please.”
At Escinca’s nod, she took centre stage. Several of the cultists from the other cults had approached to learn what was going on by then as well, but Escinca asked them for patience as Revayne started.
“Good people of Ring Four.” She had pulled down her book, though she kept glancing at it like her speech was written on its pages. “We have successfully defeated the terrible monsters who dared assail this wonderful gathering of the community. All the Thralls who assaulted us have either been killed or captured, and will prove no further nuisance.”
“Did you and the guards kill them?” someone asked, sounding belligerent. “Did you get them, finally? Took you long enough!”
Revayne wasn’t stymied by the man’s aggressive questioning. “It wasn’t just us. We had assistance from the cultists. We all worked together to stop the Thralls. At least, the ones who revealed themselves here. However, make no mistake that there remain several out there, hidden among your very selves. You must be cautious. You must be wary. You must—”
“This wouldn’t
be
an issue if you Pits-licking guards just did your damned jobs!”
It was the same man again. This time, even I was annoyed, and I wanted to go up there and slap the fellow. It was so easy to hide away while others took care of the difficulties.
But it wasn’t like he was completely baseless. There was a reason his anger was directed at Revayne so specifically. She
had
let things play out too much, had allowed them to go too far, all so she could realize her goal of capturing one of the Thralls to glean more information.
Credit to Revayne, she took the criticism well. “We are aware that our methods—that of mine and my fellow guards—weren’t ideal from the perspective of safety and survival.” She bowed a little, fist pressed to her heart. “I, as the Captain of the Guards, take full responsibility. Please rest assured that such an incident will not repeat itself while we are present.”
That apparently mollified the man enough that he just grumbled further without any more complaints.
Revayne went on to explain how the guards would escort people to their homes for now and that they would increase patrols to ensure that no one was caught by any other Thralls. She also mentioned how the capture of one of the Thralls had a good chance of resolving the core of the issue.
When she stepped back, Escinca addressed the crowd. He specifically thanked the guards for their assistance and service throughout the debacle first.
I shook my head with a smile. Shrewd old man. If anyone had any further complaints about the guards—legitimate or otherwise—they wouldn’t voice them now that Escinca himself had praised Revayne and her squad.
In truth, I didn’t
really
blame Revayne for her choice. The Thralls weren’t just mindless monsters. They were intelligent, and that necessitated an intelligent approach to tackling them.
Even Hamsik had waited until the right moment to strike, to attack the Thrall just an instant before he had caused irreparable damage.
“The cult stands with you,” Escinca said. “We will be there as the pillars we have been so far. This blatant and barbaric attack upon our temple, upon our peaceful gathering, will not go unanswered.”
“They’re
Thralls
,” someone in the crowd said. “How can we—how can
you
or any of us stand against Pits-cursed vampires?”
“We can,” Escinca assured. “We will. In fact, we already have. As Captain Revayne ed, several Thralls have already been killed. Not just by the guards, but by
us
. By people who live in Ring Four just like you.” Escinca turned to me, an encouraging but determined look in his eyes. “Isn’t that right, Ross?”
All eyes turned to me. I thought Escinca was going to refer to Hamsik, arguably the strongest ones among us cultists—though I had no idea how the half-vampire compared to Escinca himself.
But no. The Elder was looking straight at me.
I knew why, of course. It wasn’t hard to understand. These people needed belief that
they
could do it. I was more like one of them than anyone else here, save maybe Aurier.
With a little swallow that I did my best to hide from everybody, I stepped up.