Blood Vine III

Thane watched Kayden walk away, his frustration heightened because he knew exactly what Kayden meant and felt, he had just wanted to avoid the responsibility of carrying the lives of children, if any of them died, their deaths would be on him, but unfortunately for him, he has a foolhardy friend that followed the desires of his heart.

"Wait, Damnit" Thane cursed as he took a step forward, Kayden turned back with a smile as he saw Thane following him, he knew Thane wouldn't abandon him, that's just the kind of person he was.

Lyda guided them down the mountain, she followed twists and turns Kayden would have never known, that was the thing about the natives in a human settlement, they knew more about their land than even the animals that lived there, Kayden was grateful to have her help, they avoided almost every wild animal that could have posed as a problem to them.

Soon enough they arrived at the village, the entrance looked eerie and quiet, there were no people around, neither did they hear the sounds of things that could breathe, both man and animal.

"Where do we go from here?" Kayden asked as he looked around for a way to walk in, she looked at them as though confused, then pointed towards the entrance.

"From the gate of course," she replied, like that was the obvious answer, Kayden looked at Thane, expecting some kind of explanation but all he could see was Thane holding his chest, trying not not laugh at the confusion of Kayden.

"They're commoners Kayden, don't expect them to apply tactics and strategies in such matters," Thane said as he walked past us towards the gate, seeing as there was no other alternative, Kayden followed after him.

"We are just getting the children and leaving, right?" Kayden asked Lyda once more for assurance, as much as he sounded so confident, he was very doubtful of the possibility of making it out of there alive, considering the circumstances.

As soon as Kayden stepped his foot beyond the entrance, the tension in the air shifted, it felt heavier, more sense, and suffocating, Kayden looked at Thane to see if he noticed and indeed he did, Lyda seemed oblivious to what they could observe.

Kayden stopped, turned, and walked back out, he felt the air was much lighter after he crossed the entrance, he stepped back in and nodded his head as though he was sure he wasn't imagining it.

"It can create its Domain," Kayden said under his breath, he was well aware of the kind of demonic monsters that could apply a domain.

"We must tread carefully, your essence," Thane said to Kayden, he nodded in understanding and began circulating his essence, he couldn't stop, not when in another monster's domain, with his hand on the hilt of his Odachi, Kayden carefully moved forward with the rest of the party.

They walked past different buildings and structures, all empty and abandoned, their doors wide open or broken. The entire village was a disaster, but not a single word was said among them. The only sounds that could be heard were the crunching of snow against their feet and the whirls of the wind as it blew past them, carrying the stench of death itself.

After a few minutes of walking, they had gotten past the outskirts of the village, Kayden began seeing body parts littered about, feet that had been dismembered, fingers littered about, and those of children were not unfound.

Kayden heard the soft breathing of something in the distance, he increased his pace and rushed to find what it was, he was sure it was a survivor, a few places ahead of him he saw feet poking out from under the snow, he walked up and saw the head of a young boy poking out, he was buried in the snow with just his head and legs out.

"Wait, Kayden" Thane called out.

It was pointless, Kayden had begun digging up the snow, and the boy was still breathing, if he could save this child, it would be worth it, he thought to himself, he pulled the boy out of the snow and realized something very wrong.

Although the boy was breathing, his torso had been split in half, and he thought it had been chopped off continuously, he bent down carefully and observed green vines slowly turning red which latched the boy's upper and lower body together.

"T...Thane" Kayden stuttered. 

Thane came right over and looked up at the nearly dead boy, the only thing that could be heard was the slow breaths coming from his lips, his eyes seemed dead, and so was every other part of his body, Thane looked away in disgust but Kayden held through.

Kayden dragged the boy by his legs once more, the vines that were latched onto his held body strengthened themselves, although they didn't want to let go, without a moment's hesitation Thane sliced the vines that held the boy's torso.

Blood spilled from the vines as it was cut clean, at the same time they could all hear the boy take his last deep breath before he passed, Kayden and Thane looked at each other while Lyda walked over to the young boy and closed his eyes.

"His name was Arius," she said softly then stood up and joined the two men.

"What do you think?" Thane asked Kayden, he wasn't as knowledgeable on monsters and anatomy as Kayden was who had spent the better part of his life, being a scholar.

Kayden sighed deeply while he held the bridge of his nose, "It's a damned Blood Vine" he said cursing at himself, he had underestimated the situation, he had gotten himself involved in something more than he could ever hope to handle.

"Blood Vine?" Thane asked confused.

"It's a rare species of Carnivorous Vines, they live off the life energy of other living things while also taking their blood for nutrition" he paused as he assessed the situation in his mind.

"It's a monster in the same class as us, a second-rank demon, it already has the ability to use mind control, domain, and possession and it can use soul essence," he said with a sigh.

Thane looked at Kayden for a few brief moments as he fully understood everything he had just heard, he sheathed his blade and looked at Kayden seriously, now he was really considering leaving this place, it didn't matter how he would feel about abandoning some children if he was dead.

"We have to go back Kayden, this is beyond us" Thane spoke with finality.

"But the children, please you promised me" Lyda held on to Kayden's arms and pleaded.

"Kayden, No!" Thane shouted, "We'll die here".

"The children, I'm begging you please" Lyda held Kayden as tight as she should while she cried, Kayden felt her grip on his arm and was surprised by her strength, her grip kept getting tighter and tighter.

She looked at him begging, but what he saw made his pull out his dagger latched at his waist behind him, he slashed at Lyda's hand at her wrist, taking off her hand entirely, he backed up to where Thane stood as he ripped of Lyda's hand that was still attached to him.

He watched slowly as the stump where he had sliced it clean began to grow again, green vines slowly grew out of the stump in her hand, forming a hand made of vines, he looked at the face of Lyda and saw vines spreading out from her eyes and cheek down to her neck.

"Finally!" 

Lyda shrieked, her voice not sounding anything like her own, "I have the body of a Cultivator" she spoke to herself.

Her eyes met with Kayden's and Thane's as a wicked smile crossed her lips.