Feralium – The Death Pit

  Derek and his group arrived at the cave entrance. Smoke still curled from the scorched earth.

  “What… what happened here?” Derek muttered, looking at the devastation.

  They ran inside. The interior was a ruin. Walls were smashed, and the surviving henchmen were burying the dead in heavy silence.

  “It looks like a battle took place here…” Mia observed, her eyes scanning the marks of fire and violence on the stone.

  Ogmar, one of the lieutenants, approached, limping badly.

  “What do you want here, Derek?”

  “Ogmar? What happened? Where is my uncle?”

  “We were ambushed…” Ogmar spat blood. “Your uncle is in his quarters. Go see him.”

  Ogmar walked away, defeated. Derek exchanged a worried look with Eryndor and Mia. They hurried to Krag’s private chamber.

  Inside, the stench of metallic blood and burnt flesh was overpowering. Krag lay on a makeshift bed, groaning in agony.

  “Derek…” Krag wheezed, his eyes wild. “WHAT DO YOU WANT HERE?”

  “We came for information… Uncle, what happened to you? To everyone?”

  “WHAT DOES IT MATTER TO YOU, YOU TRASH? GET OUT OF HERE WITH THIS RABBLE… I AM BUSY DYING!”

  “Uncle Krag… please,” Derek pleaded. “We will pay for the intel. We are looking for a target… Isaac. A King who returned. Anything…”

  Krag started to laugh — a wet, bubbling sound.

  “Get in line… I… I am going to kill that bastard… with or without a reward…”

  Mia narrowed her eyes, focusing on the cauterized wound on his shoulder. Lightning burns.

  “I understand…” she whispered. “Isaac was here. And he did this.”

  Everyone froze.

  “The little bitch is smart…” Krag sneered. “Yes… he was here. And we are going to kill him… and I am going to hang his head as a trophy… and piss on it every day.”

  The air pressure in the room dropped instantly.

  Mia raised her hand. Her eyes glowed a deep, menacing crimson. Her fangs extended.

  “Derek…” Eryndor warned, stepping back.

  “MIA! WHAT ARE YOU DOING? LET HIM GO!” Derek shouted.

  “You are garbage…” Mia hissed, her voice overlapping with a demonic echo. “Not even your blood is worth anything.”

  Derek and Eryndor tried to rush her, but Mia flicked her wrist. Their own blood betrayed them, freezing their muscles and pinning them against the walls.

  Krag’s eyes widened in terror. He tried to scream, but the blood in his veins began to boil.

  “No one here is going to help you,” Mia said coldly. “I am going to finish what Isaac started.”

  She clenched her fist.

  SPLAT.

  Every drop of blood in Krag’s body was violently expelled through his pores. He didn’t just die — he became a dry husk in a second. A red rain showered the room, pattering softly against Mia’s umbrella, which she had opened just in time.

  She kicked Krag’s dried, mummified face. It crumbled like dust.

  “All dead…” she giggled. “Hehe.”

  She lowered the umbrella, smiling sweetly at the terrified men. “Shall we?”

  Derek, released from the blood hold, grabbed her arm. He was shaking — partly from anger, mostly from fear.

  “Why did you do that? I am your leader… you should have obeyed me!”

  Mia pulled her hand away as if his touch disgusted her.

  “I do not belong to you, Derek,” she stated flatly. “I am only in this idiot group until it suits me. So… you are not my leader. And about your idiot uncle… he was already dead. I just… wanted to have some fun.”

  She turned and walked out of the room, her heels clicking on the blood-soaked floor.

  Derek stood there, staring at the dry remains of his uncle, realizing he was holding a monster by a leash made of thread.

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  The Cabin in the Woods - Unknown

  Isaac groaned, consciousness returning slowly. His body ached, but he was lying on something soft.

  He opened his eyes.

  He was in a bed. Next to him lay a woman. She was stark naked.

  “What…?”

  He tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in his ribs stopped him. The woman stirred, stretching like a cat. She sat up, the sheet falling to her waist. She wore a black silk blindfold over her eyes.

  “Hello, my dear…” she smiled, her voice like velvet.

  Isaac stared, confused.

  “Who are you? Why are you naked?”

  “Shhhh…” She placed a finger on his lips. “Calm down… calm down. My name is Freya. I am here to take care of you, my King. And as for being naked… it is to show you I have nothing to hide. No weapons to hurt you.”

  She touched his bruised ribs. A soft green light emanated from her hands, easing the pain. Isaac grabbed her wrist gently.

  “King…?” he rasped.

  “Yes… You are the great and powerful King of Olympia.”

  “I think you are mistaken…”

  “No, darling… I know it is you.” She leaned in close. “Because we have known each other since you arrived from the ancient, extinct Earth.”

  Isaac’s eyes widened. “You know about Earth?”

  “I took care of you, Isaac,” Freya whispered, stroking his cheek. “You were destroyed… broken by the knowledge that your planet was gone. So I placed you in the Temple, and since then… I have been with you.”

  Tears slipped from beneath her blindfold.

  “I was so devastated when I heard of your ‘death’…”

  Isaac, moved by her raw emotion, pulled her into a hug. Freya buried her face in his neck, sobbing softly.

  “The only thing I remember doing that night… was crying,” she confessed. “I was so furious with Aiko… with Mia… with Selene… All of those who were supposed to be responsible for your safety… and failed.”

  Selene? The name floated in Isaac’s mind, unfamiliar yet heavy.

  “But you are here… alive,” Freya pulled back, smiling through her tears. “It is a miracle. A hope for this fallen planet. The Powerful King who challenged Lyra… is alive.”

  They gazed at each other. The tension shifted from grief to something primal. The history between them, even if Isaac couldn’t remember it, was palpable.

  They kissed. It was desperate, hungry.

  Isaac gently pushed her back onto the pillows, hovering over her. He reached for the blindfold.

  Freya hesitated, her hand trembling. Then, she nodded.

  Isaac untied the silk knot. The cloth fell away.

  Her eyes were milky white. Beautiful, unseeing. The eyes of a warrior who had seen too much and paid the price.

  “You are beautiful,” Isaac whispered.

  Freya smiled, pulling him down.

  “Make me yours again… My King.”

  Feralium – The Bone Breaker Tavern

  The tavern was bustling, but the table in the corner felt isolated by a chill aura. Derek and his Renegades were drinking heavily, celebrating their survival from the ogres (or trying to forget the massacre of Krag).

  Mia sat by the window, staring blankly at the busy street below.

  Where are you, Isaac? she thought, frustration gnawing at her. I can't sense anything... Should I travel to Valoon to speak with Aiko? Hmm... bad idea.

  She lowered her head, sighing.

  “You seem distant in your thoughts…”

  Mia glanced sideways. Eryndor was standing there, holding a mug of expensive ale.

  “What do you want?”

  “Just to talk…” Eryndor smirked, trying to be charming. “Look… I brought you a drink. On me.”

  Mia stood up slowly. She walked up to Eryndor, looked him up and down with utter contempt, and leaned in.

  “What a pity… because I want absolutely nothing from you.”

  She walked past him, her shoulder brushing his, leaving him standing there, humiliated and angry. She went to the bar and ordered a glass of wine.

  As she waited, the tavern door opened.

  Two figures entered. A woman and a man, both wearing heavy hoods that obscured their faces. They moved with a predatory grace that Mia recognized instantly. They cornered a nervous-looking man at a back table.

  Mia’s eyes flashed red. She focused her hearing.

  ...information... target... where...?

  The conversation was too quiet, masked by the tavern's noise. The two strangers finished their intimidation quickly. The nervous man was left sweating and panting as the hooded figures turned to leave.

  Mia bit her thumb. A tiny drop of blood appeared. With a flick of her wrist, she launched the droplet across the room. It flew unseen, landing perfectly on the hem of the woman’s cloak.

  Tagged.

  The strangers left. The nervous man bolted from his chair and ran for the stairs.

  Mia smiled. She followed him.

  The man ran down the upstairs hallway, fumbling with his room key.

  “Bastards! I need to get out of here…” he muttered, terrified. “Monsters…”

  He opened his door and froze.

  Mia was already inside, sitting on his chair, legs crossed.

  “Who are you? What are you?” he gasped, backing away.

  “Why such a rush?” Mia purred. “I want answers… Who were those two?”

  “What? You can kill me… but I will never reveal them… Those people are not a joke…”

  Mia yawned, stretching her arms.

  “Sigh… I don't have all day… You will tell me. Whether you want to or not.”

  She opened her eyes wide. They glowed with a hypnotic, crimson light. She bared her fangs in a smile that promised both pleasure and pain.

  “Look at me.”

  The man’s will shattered instantly. His eyes glazed over.

  Downstairs, Derek looked around the table.

  “Where is Mia? Ery… where is she?”

  “I don't know where the little vampire went,” Eryndor grumbled into his ale.

  Derek frowned. “I'm going to look for her. Come on, Ery… she might be in trouble.”

  Eryndor sighed, rolling his eyes. “Fine, Boss.”

  They went upstairs. As they walked down the corridor, they heard strange sounds coming from one of the rooms. Moans. Heavy breathing.

  “Wait…” Derek froze. “That voice… isn't that Mia?”

  Eryndor’s face turned red with anger. “That little…”

  BANG.

  Eryndor kicked the door open. Derek rushed in, sword half-drawn.

  “WHAT IS THE MEANING OF—”

  They stopped dead.

  The hypnotized man was on his knees, crying tears of agony, massaging Mia’s feet. Mia was sipping a glass of wine, looking bored.

  “Ah… the idiots have arrived.”

  The man tried to kiss her foot in adoration. Mia kicked him in the face, laughing cruelly. She stood up, stepping on the man’s chest to walk over him.

  “Let’s go. We need to go after two people.”

  Derek and Eryndor looked at the sobbing, broken man on the floor, then at Mia.

  “What people?” Derek asked, confused.

  Mia stood toe-to-toe with Derek, her expression serious.

  “Two hunters from the Clan of Assassin Blades. They are on Isaac's trail. We need to reach him before they do… and if possible, kill them.”

  Eryndor paled.

  “Wait… Assassin Blades? Those who are professional killers since childhood?”

  “Yes.”

  “This is madness!” Eryndor shouted. “I've seen those people in action… they are monsters. They don't leave witnesses!”

  Mia’s eyes narrowed.

  “You are just a coward, Eryndor.”

  “I've had enough of you!” Eryndor lunged at her.

  “ENOUGH!” Derek roared, stepping between them. He looked at Mia. “Mia… lead us to them.”

  Mia smiled, a wicked glint in her eyes.

  “Good boy.”