SHIFTING BLAME

When the ordeal was complete, many of the castle's rooms- kitchen, servant and guard quarters and even the dungeon- were splayed with crimson. Much of this red was accompanied by broken bodies and scattered entrails, empty terrified eyes and gapping mouths which had long ceased screaming. Everyone in the castle- from the lowest cleaning maid to the baron himself- had perished; Sage had made sure of it. She had even sent Nyx into the shadows to sniff out hidden paths and survivors. All potential witnesses had to be purged.

During the entire process she had used {Ghostwalk} in conjunction with [Flight] to avoid getting any blood on herself. Isaac on the other hand did not have the same luxury. He had dealt the killing blows to many of the castle's residents, which- considering he used a sword- needed him in close proximity to his victims. The end result saw him smeared in crimson.

His expression was one of pain; a clenched jaw with tightly pressed lips, scrounged cheeks and drooping whiteless eyes. There was anger there somewhere, but Sage could not be bothered to look closer.

"It's done," she said, feeling Nyx return to her shadow. "You can let them go."

Her words seemed like a puppeteer's scissors, the moment she uttered them he dropped his sword and fell to the ground like a stringless marionette. There was a clang as the corrupted weapon made contact with the floor, a slight distraction from the black armoured knight's knees impacting it. The act repeated itself with the ghoulish serfs in sight dropping lifelessly to the floor.

Gone was the knight's constipated façade, replaced by a void. The empty gaze of his black eyes now seemed like the windows to the Abyss than anything else. He was completely out of it, much more than he had been when he discovered he had become an undead. 

The bastard's emotional state was of no consequence to Sage, but to leave him pouting like a wounded beast could fuck up what happened next. Though, the townsfolk seeing his eyes was enough to throw any plan she had to quell the suspicions they might have developed at this point out the window.

"Put on the helm, will you?" she said to him. 

Fortunately, {Corruption} was able to repair corrupted armaments; it would have been a real hassle to require another helm minutes after they got this one. Also, one of the holes in the damn thing had been too close to the visor. Anyone with a good set of peepers would have been able to make out Isaac's eye through it.

"Now pick up the sack and let's get going," she ordered after he had covered his face.

The sack in question was a large brown bag sitting a short distance from them while sponging up the crimson pool on the ground. Occasionally it endured constant twisting and shape shifting as the delirious creature within fumed. Unfortunately for her, Sage's orders could get through to her even in her feverish state, rendering her unable to escape.

The castle yard lacked the concentrated crimson of the inside, but it was nonetheless there. The guards that Isaac had first engaged upon entering lay about the greenery with slit throats and opened guts. Plopped next to them were their bloodless pale companions with shrivelled skin; those who had just been released from the pale knight's ability.

Above the castle wall the wind wailed violently, a barrier of wrath keeping out the intruders. However, she could feel it weakening. In a few moments it would dissipate completely, allowing those it had kept out to enter.

"Prepare yourself," she said to the pale knight, her gaze fixed on the iron gates.

No sooner had the words left her mouth, when the wind ceased and the [Storm Barrier] vanished. Not a moment later there came banging from the other side of the gates. Something heavy was smashed against them with a force that seemed to shake the foundations of the castle walls. The banging repeated rhythmically, causing the gates to ever so slightly dent inwards. The folk on the other side would be through any moment.

Sage's eyes momentarily left the gates to sweep the surrounding, taking in the gory scene of butchered bodies and decayed corpses. There was little doubt that the ones trying to break in would not take it well. The murder of the baron as well as guardsmen and castle servants who were more than likely related to many of them, would elevate their blood to boiling point. Fortunately, she had already devised a way to offset that anger, a simple tale to direct it elsewhere.

Under the continued assault of the folk on the other side, the gates finally cave and swung open. Almost immediately, a crowd shuffled into the courtyard. Many were normal townsfolk dressed in casual clothes, some of which were spattered with various liquids and spices. Clearly, they had been in festivities before the alarm bell rang. At the head of this crowd were the town guards, all with their weapons raised. The mercenary duo from the inn was present as well. All their expressions were the furthest thing from friendly.

Fucking dammit!

She strained her eyes to catch the bastard responsible in the corner of her vision. If the fucker had let sleeping dogs lie, none of this would have happened! By now, they would have been out of the city and on their merry way to the next settlement. Memory of them would linger in the minds of the Timafolk; but only for a while, before time eventually being eventually swept it away. But nooooo… the arsehole had to fuck up everything with his holier-than-thou attitude! His actions ensured the two of them would be remembered not only for decades, but they would likely become a tale the townsfolk pass on to their descendants. Also, the death of a baron would not escape the Lethian aristocracy. News would definitely spread. 

"Was this your doing?" one of the soldiers asked, horrified eyes scanning the courtyard.

As brave as they looked when they entered, that bravado simmered after taking a look at the courtyard. Even the mercenary duo, who appeared confident in the beginning, shifted uncomfortably after eyeing the scene.

Can't I just kill them all? The thought flashed through Sage's mind. However, she quickly relented. 

The killing of everyone in the castle was a necessity if she wanted to keep their notoriety to a minimum. However, the wholesale slaughter of an entire town would be going overboard. She might have deemed eliminating all potential witnesses as necessary, but she had not been enthused about the idea. More murder was not the answer to this predicament, not if there was another way to solve it.

"Hey!" the soldier shouted with a nervous edge, likely due to the fact that she and the bastard had yet to respond. "Answer me dammit! Are the two of you responsible for all this?"

Before he could get any jumpier and possibly start an altercation that would most certainly get out of control, she sighed and took a step forward, psyching herself to get into character while making a point to ignore the sudden barrage of weapons shoved in her face.

"Well, I can see how this looks like," she began loudly, projecting a casual tone. She raised her hands and indicated to the surrounding while twirling in the process. She stopped on the Isaac, whose bloody appearance did not inspire the greatest confidence in their innocence. "But if you are willing to lower your weapons for a minute, I can tell you- or rather, show you- what happened. If you're willing to listen."

An uneasy shuffle went around the crowd as the guards and townsfolk looked at each other with uncertainty. However, a single voice cut through them before they came to a decision.

"Don't trust her. She's a witch!"

The male mercenary stepped in front of the crowd to address them. His female companion joined him. Both had their weapons up; while the guy had his sword pointed at Sage, the girl's bow was aimed to her side, presumably at Isaac.

"Her kind are vile and deceitful,' the female mercenary added. "Don't believe a word she says!"

"Oh, your words wound me deep," Sage responded sarcastically. "But I'll have you remember that I am an alchemist. Though I have to admit… I am not on the level of the Nutritionist who helped you improve your physiques."

The two opened their mouths in response, but no words came out. 

She stopped focusing on them to address the crowd once more.

"As I said earlier. If you give me a minute, I will tell you what happened and reveal the culprit. All I need is a moment and you can make your own conclusions afterwards."

The crowds shared looks among themselves once more before the guard in front glared at her and lowered his weapon.

"You have a minute," he spat.

The mercenary duo did not look happy with the decision, not that it mattered. She turned around and beckoned the pale knight to her. The arsehole in question approached with slow and sluggish steps that certainly raised a few eyebrows from the crowd. She wilfully chose to ignore it.

"Please excuse my knight's demeanour," she addressed the mob. "He is overwhelmingly distraught by the tragedy that just occurred; as you all are, I'm sure. Isen tends to lose his voice in these types of situations."

… and his voice would be gone until they left this place. The last thing she needed was for him to open his mouth and fuck up again.

She turned back to him and ordered, "open it."

Before the bastard stepped forward, not many had taken notice of the large sack being dragging along; now it appeared difficult to not fixate on it considering the its constant shifting while releasing animalistic growls.

It was still morning and the sun was hours from reaching the peak. The bastard was standing in the shade when he opened the sack, dumping a disoriented woman with ruffled hair and a blood-stained dress to the ground. Upon regaining her freedom, the woman jumped to her feet, crimson eyes looking around while rosy lips- which failed to conceal countless fangs- dripped with saliva. Her eyes finally settled on the crowd, her feral gaze causing many of them to take a few steps backs. When the woman raised her long-nailed hands and pounced, they could not hold back frightened shrieks. Fortunately for them, they were standing in the sun. The feral woman tried to reach them, but the moment her hands left the shade they burst into flames. Hurriedly, she retracted them with a pained howl.

"Since I stepped into this town, I have been hearing about a disease afflicting the youth," Sage chose this moment to continue. "I'll admit, I did not think much of it until some of you approached me earlier this morning to check on your ill children. I got my first suspicions upon checking the youngsters and realising the one thing they had in common was anaemia, which is caused by lack of blood. Obviously, none of the youths had any serious injuries, which meant the loss of blood was an intentional act by someone skilled enough to leave few traces. I had Isen asked around before we came to the conclusion of who the culprit was."

She raised her hand pointed at the howling vampire, whose hands had stopped burning; the wounds were visibly healing.

"This is the musician who came into town last month and holed herself in the castle at the request of the baron the baron. In actuality she is a vampire, an undead monster that preys on the innocent. This vile creature bewitched the baron and everyone in the castle, putting them under her spell so she could stay in the castle and conveniently harvest their blood! Even then, her appetite was unquenchable. Your kin who worked in the castle were not enough for her. In her insatiable thirst, she decided to target your children as well!"

As she continued, the pitch of her voice elevated. Raw emotion crept into it… anger. She was fucking furious at Isaac for this whole clusterfuck they had gotten into! However, as far as the crowd was concerned, she was mad at the vampire's actions. That worked for her.

"We came here to try and free the baron and everyone. But unfortunately, this monster caught onto our intensions and went on a murder spree. Blood is not only a vampire's food; it is also the source of their strength; they fling it at their opponents like a weapon." After saying this she lowered her head in a remorseful posture. "My apologies, we've tried everything in our power to stop her, but we failed to prevent her from killing everyone including Lord Ennard. It was an arduous struggle, but we managed to subdue her." She raised her head and looked at the crowd, hardening her eyes in the process. "Believe me when I say we wanted to end her for what she had done, but we stopped ourselves upon realising that- justified as our anger was- it was not our people that she murdered. It was yours!" she pointed a finger at the crowd. "She killed your kin, so it is only right that you be the ones to deal with her!"

Over her speech, the anger that pervaded the crowd when they first stormed the castle courtyard had risen severalfold. However, it was no longer directed at her and Isaac. Instead, the crowd's bloodshot eyes lingered on the feral vampire trying her best to stay in the ever-diminishing shade. The mercenary duo too had shifted their glares to the vampire.

Then, the lead soldier lifted his spear and charged forward with a war cry, plunging his weapon into the vampire's chest and being rewarded a shriek from her. The crowd followed his example. 

Although the vampire had a powerful physique, her delirium made it impossible for her to fend of the sheer size of the crowd as they hooked their weapons into her flesh and dragged her out of the shade.

"Get the horse and let's go," she muttered to Isaac, turning away from the spectacle.

Her departure from this place was long overdue. Even if she wanted to stay longer, the fact that they had been involved in what happened made it unfeasibly impossible.

It was best to sneak away while the crowd was venting their emotions. Also, Sage had not had enough time to prepare her story, which left it with a bunch of holes. People were stupid and would believe anything, especially in the heat of the moment. However, when the anger died down a rare individual would start making smart inquiries; like, how the corpses of the guards in the courtyard were not in the shade. Maybe this story would spread and catch the attention of a knowledgeable person, who would then come an explain to the townsfolk what vampires were and were not capable of, casting light on the nature of the disposed ghouls. 

When that happened, Sage hoped to be as far from Tima as possible. Hopefully, she would have gotten what she came to this land for and fucked out of Lethia by then.