Chapter 68: The Bathory Family[1]

The blood from his hand dripped down and splattered on the ground. Unlike the blood from sheep and cows his blood splattered in a pattern moved and formed a single pool.

And as quickly as it formed that the ground sucked it much more quickly. A frown formed on Xior’s face as his blood was sucked quicker than other blood. Was it because he was a human?

He thought as the cut on his palm closed and the ground became dry as if his blood never dropped on it.

He sat on a rock formation which felt as if it was carved that way and used as a place to sit. He was currently on the opposite side of the mountain, in front of him was a small patch of grass and after that was a beach which stretched to each side connecting with the main one.

Xior got up from it and walked towards the beach, the waves crashing against the sand slowly. It was peaceful, finally.

On the sea the water felt as if it rejected them, the waves rose to devour them and threw things at them one after the other.

His bare feet touched the soft sand and left an imprint, then the waves came and submerged his legs in water, washing away the imprints he left behind in the sand.

His long white hair which was now past his shoulders swayed with the breeze, for a moment he was lost in the serenity of the moment but then he heard the sound of a choir singing.

He looked behind him to see the imposing mountain and nothing else. Then he heard the same sound again, it felt muffled as though it was coming from somewhere below him.

He walked back and turned right towards the side of the mountain, apart from the sound of a choir he also heard the hissing of fire.

He followed the sound and moved along the side of the mountain, he stumbled across a place where the sound was loudest, the rocks in front of him also looked weird, as if placed here to hide something.

Xior opened his arms and hugged the boulder, with a heave he lifted it off the ground and put it aside, a gust of wind came out of the opening.

The smell felt like it was of rust but Xior knew what blood smelled like, it was the smell of blood seeping into rocks.

The path inside was a small one but he lowered his head and entered, he lifted a small fire on his finger to illuminate the path leading down.

As he walked further the sound of the choir started to become louder and louder, the spiral staircase he found kept going downwards for what felt like forever.

He walked silently so as to not alert anyone under there, the sounds had increased. He heard chatter of a market and people from down there.

Soon he heard the sound of two men just below from where he was, he stopped and moved to the side and found a very narrow path.

He squeezed his body and crawled through it, then he saw light and found an opening which showed him the area where he heard the two men.

It was a city, gothic spires went from the ground to the top of the cavern. It was vast and alive, a river of what seemed like blood flowed through the city and black stone bridges connecting parts cut from each other.

Lanterns hung all around, illuminating the city. They had a red glow due to blood infused into the mechanism.

The whole city smelt like fresh blood, then he looked at the top of the cavern. From areas blood dripped down into silos which threw the blood into the river.

Everywhere he looked people moved, cloaked figures with pale skin crossed the bridges while families also pale skinned crossed narrow streets and children ran around like normal.

But when one of the kids smiled in front of his friends, only then was Xior able to see the sharp canines which felt like fangs designed to suck blood.

They were all vampires, Xior moved further in the narrow path, the rocks tearing his skin apart but he kept on walking.

He came across what looked like a garden, he was confused about what to think of it as the trees and plants were all withered as if the moisture was sucked from them.

He saw cloaked gardeners who carried ladles, they scooped thick red liquid from barrels and poured it gently at the roots.

The plants shuddered, the leaves twitched and then they began to bloom flowers of black and red.

Their nectar dripped in steady streams and stained the soil underneath, and just like how Xior had seen so far the blood red nectar was sucked into the ground.

It was as if there was something underneath the ground which had been hungry for a millenia.

As he walked further down the path he saw a cathedral, it was the biggest building he saw in the city. It was carved out of black stone and the lanterns from before hung on the sides.

It was a gothic masterpiece, the towers around it stretched towards the top of the cavern.

At its base the ground sank into a shallow basin, it felt endless but he felt something was down there.

Priests in red clothes encircled the basin and chanted something in a low voice. Each of them carried a bowl of blood, which they poured carefully into the basin.

The liquid ran like a river into the basin, a crimson mist rose from inside the basin as more blood was poured.

Xior watched it all while thinking about what could possibly be down inside the basin. He sighed and moved back, the rocks punctured his skin and his blood splashed onto the rocks.

As he moved slowly he saw through the opening that the people had stopped walking. They looked at above themselves erratically as if they sensed something.

Xior then looked at his body and realized they probably smelled his blood. He quickly got out of the narrow path and went back up to the surface using the spiral stairs.

He covered the entrance with the boulder and walked back to their camp.

Becca and Alice were laying on the beach near their ship. Both of them had taken off their shirts and wore bras as they let their bodies get soaked in the sunlight.

Beatrice was busy training her reflexes using her tentacles, she moved them to hit her face and she blocked them with her own hands.

Meeka however sat around where the bonfire had been lit last night. She was deep in thought, Xior walked towards her and sat beside her.

“How are you holding up princess?” He asked, his voice was calm and soothing.

She looked at him, his white hair and his black eyes were slightly intimidating but he was opposite to that.

“Don’t call me princess, you’re challengers of the Tower. You’re not bound by rules and laws to call me that.” She replied her voice filled with a sorrow Xior couldn’t understand.

“Then what do I call you?” He asked.

“Just Meeka is fine, and about your question…I’ve been holding up fine ever since you and your group found me.” She said as she folded her arms. “If not for you guys…I don’t even want to think what could’ve happened to me.”

“I want to ask something I’m curious about.” Xior said and looked at her.

“Sure, go ahead. I was bored as I didn’t have anything to do.” She said and chuckled lightly.

Xior thought for a second and looked at the horizon towards the endless sea stretching in every direction.

“What do you know about Vampires?” He asked flatly.

“Vampires? Hmm, my father used to tell me stories that vampires lived in the far off lands beyond the sea.” She paused and looked at his expression stiffen.

“He said they were pale skinned with two sharp canines which look as if they were made to suck blood. They are also very brutal and ruthless.”

“I see, thank you for telling me that. But apart from it being a story told to kids…do they really exist?” He questioned.

“I don’t know about it honestly…but there were some weird things in the royal library, the catacombs of the previous emperors and in the official records of those emperors.”

She replied and put a hand on her chin, trying to remember anything else.

Xior smiled slightly, “you don’t have to think too much. It’s fine, I was just curious since this is the Tower and the ground seems to suck blood as if…” He stopped before he finished what he was going to say.

He got up without saying anything and walked towards Alice and Becca. He needed to tell either one of them but as he was near he heard them talk about how peaceful it was now.

He gritted his teeth and turned away, for now he would keep this to himself and find a solution for it soon.

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