Chapter 12: The Malevolent Blood
Draven continued past the fields, travelling the same journey that he had done before. This time, however, he was not filled with anger.
Rather, he was disappointed.
He wondered what Odalys' motives were. And to head back to her same location, a place where he would certainly find her. It was like she had a death wish.
She seemed happy whilst I was inside of her. Why would she give that up?
"Tsk."
After a while, the estate finally entered his view once again.
The place still looked like a battlefield, with craters and corpses scattered about the place.
But Draven couldn't even afford to admire the scene. The compass was pointing towards the palace, and he had a feeling she was inside.
He made his way through a large building, following the directions of the compass, which seemed to lead him to the throne room. Where he had found her before.
What is she playing at?
Once inside though, there was no sight of her.
Yet the compass continued to spin in all directions, meaning that she should have been in that exact room.
...
Ah, I see.
Draven made his way over to the throne, and behind it was a trap door, similar to the one in his chambers, where his resting coffin was.
As he pulled the heaves of the trapdoor, its hinges groaned. It was not clearly used often.
Past it was a dark staircase which he slowly made his way down. Thankfully, his eyes were able to see in the dark, so he could make out where he was going.
The staircase seemed to go on forever, his footsteps echoing through the space, as a faint humming sound came from below.
Then finally, he reached the bottom.
And for the first time after awakening, his heart dropped in his chest.
Not because of fear. No.
It was because, for the first time in ages, he had laid eyes on something that he had never seen before.
It was a large underground room, large enough to contain the contraption that his stood before him.
It was some sort of large tube, and inside was filled with a strange blue liquid. Hooked to the tube were what seemed to be wires, but there were far too many to count.
And Draven could feel an energy flowing through them, something completely unfamiliar to him.
But what was most strange was the fact that Odalys's naked body was floating inside the tube, basking in its liquid.
What on Velhalla is this, and how did I not sense it's energy when I was here before?
Draven did not waste time, he opened his fingers and clenched his fist, cracking the tube's glass.
The tube then shattered, and from it spilt the liquids onto the floor.
Odalys followed afterwards, collapsing to the cold stone ground with a thump, but it did not take long for her to regain consciousness and rise to her feet.
"D-Draven." She said between breaths as she dripped with fluids, but the vampire lord did not wish to talk to her.
For the first time, he was filled with anger.
"What is this? Do you truly now mingle with unknown powers? This is outside of the Whiteyes way that you yourself created."
Once she made it to her feet, Draven inspected her on a deeper level.
She had changed.
Though her hair was still white and her eyes pink, her skin had begun to change.
It was no longer pale and, instead, had begun to shift into an unnatural blue, like the sky on a sunny day.
But that wasn't all, she seemed to be brimming with powers. Powers far beyond her capabilities.
"Not everyone is born like you, Draven... Not all of us are anomalies, able to forever rely on the powers of our own race. Some of us must reach outwards, for help."
She spoke in a calm tone, with no regret for her decisions. And it angered Draven further.
Many people had tried to branch out to gods and unseen powers to gain extra strength.
But such a contraption, Draven had never seen the likes of before.
"It's an abomination." His words came out of his mouth, without him even knowing.
"It is science. It's the weakest kind. A gift from the humans."
That confused Draven even further.
The humans were known to be the weakest clan of all.
They were the baseline for most of the other races, though without any powers. They had often relied on things like firearms and explosives to battle, but those were designed to be used against other humans.
This... This is something different entirely. Have we all overlooked the humans?
What have they been up to for the last thousand years?
Odalys noticed the shocked look on his face, and her lips twisted into a smile.
"I would have loved to stay in your chambers, Draven. The pleasure that you made me feel is something Otherworldly... But I could not risk being executed. Not when I had yet to try out my gift. Something I had been looking forward to for years. The liquid had not yet finished developing, but this position allowed me to wait no longer."
She looked at her arms, admiring her new skin. Her new form.
"But this... this will have to do."
Draven didn't speak the words aloud, but he had not planned to execute her. She would have made a good ally if he could develop trust in her.
But clearly, he was wrong.
A change began to happen in the air around Odalys's naked body.
A blue mystic energy began to swirl around her, and from it came a great magical pressure. Its power grew until it mimicked a tornado.
It was a power she had never had before.
"Well then," he said finally, over the loud sound of her new power. "Your decision has been made."
Draven, for the first time in over a thousand years, began to prepare a power of his own.
He could sense Odalys's new strength. He could no longer beat her simply by using Foresight and evasion.
This battle would require something further.
He placed the tip of his pointer finger inside of his mouth and bit it with a fang.
He increased the pressure until a drop of blood dripped from the cut.
Though unlike the other vampires, whose blood was a dark red. Draven's was different.
A bright blue liquid fell from his finger and began to spiral around him energetically, as though it had a mind of its own.
"The Malevolent Blood!" Odalys shouted atop the noise. "It's an honour to force you to use this."
Draven's face snarled with annoyance.
"Enough talking, foolish woman. Let us dance for the last time."