Chapter 26

Name: Lavinia

Race: Demon

Class: Vampiric

Age: Immortal – 81days.

Crystal Essence: [Pink]- Lvl.8— 45.91ESQ

[Available Essence Points— 0]

Faith:30

Agility: 25

Intelligence:14

Perk: {Reais Smite}, {Blood Rush}, {Wave Shot}, {Crimson Blink}, {Inspect}

Soul Bond: Curse Marked; Master Henry Vanavil

***

Lavinia's arm regenerated in full. She spends days testing her strength with the arm, comparing it by lifting an often unwilling Jonn, heaving metal parts alongside goblins working at the wall and punching out with as much force as she could gather. Only once she was sure the arm had regrown right and perhaps even stronger does she start hounding Seraph for something to do, or rather, something to hunt.

It had begun to irk Lavinia that she was the only one out of the three without a shiny Crimson Crystal and her Soul Crystal's return to its usual place on her regenerated left arm only served to remind her of how much power she's missed out on staying in Corym.

To her surprise it doesn't take more than three asks to get Seraph off her chair and yarn to pay a visit to Ulx in his tower. Lavinia isn't the only one itching for a change of pace, Seraph was particularly sick of her probation and guardianship over Lavinia, even though the animosity she harbours for the Vampiric demon has started to wane over the weeks they spent cooped up together. A lot of her frustration came from her need to prove herself worth the same Essence tokens as Lavinia was.

Whatever that meant, both Lavinia and Seraph are disappointed when she returns without a permission for either of them to leave the city. Ulx does order the squad to help watch the wall and promises to have a mission beyond the walls soon.

And so Lavinia, Seraph and Jonn patrol the newly repaired wall alongside Pink Trirax squads and the goblins that seem to function as the city's general workforce and the Trirax's personal militia. Jonn happily explains that one of the Trirax's main responsibilities is construction, their TriBeams make useful welding tools for a city reliant on metal and that the goblins are a resource a previous Lord Crimson established.

Lavinia doesn't care for any of that though, the goblins made fierce fighters and are among the reasons she lost to Seraph that day and they've never interacted with her beyond the occasional grunt of acknowledgement when she helped haul for the walls reconstruction.

Glaring into the enchanting forest and longing for the demons that populate it, Lavinia steels herself against temptations to hop off the side of the wall and sprint away. If she wanted to, she could kill Seraph and Jonn before making her escape into the thick woodlands with a simple hop over the wall. It's a steep drop but with both her arms functioning again Lavinia sees herself scratching down its surface with her claws.

It's a pleasing fantasy; their deaths and the surge of Essence that would come with it— something tells her adding another level in her Crystal Essence will unveil new Perks— but that's all she allows it to be, a fantasy. Compared to Seraph, Jonn isn't so bad to leave alive and he brings her food too, but more than anything the absence of the GroveStaff stifles her thoughts of murder and mayhem.

THUUBOOHHMMM!

The Stelc's thunderous footfalls scattered her thoughts, rocks, and splashes mud and water from the swamp on onto the wall. Jonn sighs and gathers the cleaning tools each Trirax is provided and starts sweeping away the mess of weeds, dirt water and displaced rock. Up close the Stelc is a mountain towering above even their walls and each time it passes, completing its obsessive orbit around the city and through the forest, Lavinia's chest tenses and she readies her feet to jump, fearing it'll tip over from exhaustion and crush her.

Its body is marred with complex runes and sigils, similar to some of the scratches she's seen on the GroveStaff but far larger, circular and scarred into the massive demon's flesh— if it can be called that. Recalling what Seraph mentioned about demon scarring Lavinia can't help but wonder—

"Who did that to it?" She hollers over the creature's noises, pointing at the spot of flesh surrounded by the obsidian stalactites that stretch all the way under its belly.

Jonn looks up, "Ahh, the Stelc or as we call it, the world clock." He shakes his head with a chuckle, "It's not really a clock but it marks the start and end of the day for many here but most demons have forgotten the true meaning to its toil around the city. The Primes do use those runes to teleport items to other cities like Corym, either in Ruishia or on some other realm. There's a palanquin atop it's back too so it can be used in a fight. It's more ancient and powerful than most demons so we try not to piss it off."

He doesn't answer her question but the Primes using it for something at all supports Lavinia's growing theory that Ulx or some other Prime would understand how her curse mark works and maybe how to get rid of it.

"Hey guys!" Seraph calls, panting as she climbs up the rampart hatch albeit with the largest grin on her structured face. Jonn helps her up and Lavinia gathers around her with him to get the update— Ulx had called her to his tower after days of wall watching.

Brimming with mirth she announces, "He's got something for us!"

"A mission outside?" Jonn presses and Lavinia doesn't miss the slight hitch in his voice and the outright sigh when Seraph nods with vigour, "Pardon me if I'm not excited. What's the mission this time?"

Seraph doesn't let his mood get to her before she starts climbing back down, "I don't know, he wants everyone there before he spills so let's go!" She's down the hatch before anyone can respond.

Lavinia and Jonn look at each other, she grins and a shiver runs through him.