VP | Ch. 11: The Ancestors Await You

As Diabla stalked towards the door, Nara trailed miserably behind her. She didn’t want to kill anyone; that’s why she chose Potion Maker as her class, not Vampire Lord. Judging by the latter’s class description, she could have been an absolute beast; an abomination of the night that could level the meek to dust. But that wasn’t her thing – and certainly not her aspiration.

As they walked, Nara looked out the window to the right and saw a flash of wings – bat wings. It seemed the hunting bats had returned from their escapade. Nara felt bad. She knew that they had been out all night and halfway into the morning trying to find food for her, despite her insistence otherwise. She made a mental note to return to the attic later, if only to show them some polite gratitude.

“Hold this,” Diabla said once they made it to the doorway. She handed Nara a small, tubular device, shaped almost like a hose or a flamethrower. It had a nozzle at the end of it. “Once he comes through the doorway, press the trigger. Got it?”

“Um… no. I do not got it,” Nara whispered harshly. “What’s going to come out of it? Am I going to hurt him?”

Diabla leveled her with a glare. “What about ‘kill my brother’ did you not understand? Of course it’s going to hurt him. Don’t be such a wuss. If you’re going to get anywhere in this world, you’re going to have to understand that it’s eat, or be eaten. Do you want to be eaten?”

After a moment of consideration, Nara mouthed no softly.

“Good. Now then, one, two, three…”

Before Nara could protest further, Diabla unclicked the lock and the door swung open.

“Go!” she yelled.

“Surprise!” a voice said, cheery as could be.

Nara screamed, pressing down on the trigger. A burst of liquid fire shot out of the weapon, spraying Diabla’s visitor with hot, molten flames. The heat was unbearable and the sound was like a jet engine, but she kept screaming and pressing for several seconds regardless, until Diabla’s hand finally curled around her own and removed her thumb from the trigger.

“That’s enough,” she said, annoyed. “Seems the brat thought this one ahead.”

Nara opened her eyes slowly, utterly petrified. What she saw in front of her was, to put it simply, Diabla, but with larger horns, a wickeder smile, and a birthday cake. Or more accurately, the corpse of a birthday cake. It was now a crispy, dripping mess, melting all over the floorboards.

Diabla’s brother cleared his throat. He seemed totally unfazed.

“Surprise!” he said again, grinning widely.

—

“You’re Hekat, right?” Nara asked, her hands knit nervously in her lap as she sat across the man on the couch. “She never told me your name, but I saw it written on some of the unopened mail she hadn’t gotten around to incinerating yet.”

Diabla was still scrubbing out the cake stains on her floor, swearing under her breath and occasionally sending mini fireballs in her brother’s direction, which, to her dismay, simply dissolved into his purple, flickering skin. Apparently, predicting his sister’s antics, he’d taken several Master Potions of Fire Resistance before arriving.

“At your service,” he said, giving Nara another winning smile. He had that TV presenter sort of grin, teeth as white as toothpaste. Well – not teeth, exactly, more like perfectly pointed triangles. “My full name is Count Hekat of the Shadow Abyss, disciple of Lilith.” He chuckled darkly, as if his own name gave him an amused kick. “But none of that demonic manners nonsense is required here. You can just call me Hek.”

Nara knew immediately that she would not be calling him Hek. She was far more committed to keeping her job than getting cozy with a demonic count.

“Nice to meet you,” she said, keeping her hand where it was in her lap.

“Likewise. Now,” Hekat craned his head towards his sister. “Diabla, enough of that – I’ll buy you a new floor if it’s that much of a bother. Come here and celebrate our Ascension Day, won’t you?”

Diabla stood slowly, her eyes burning with a passion that only existed in the depths of hell.

“Hekat, if it wasn’t for that potion, I would kill you where you stand.”

“Oh, relax. I’m not even standing,” Hekat sighed. Seeing that Diabla had no intention of doing as he requested, he huffed and reached into his bag. “Okay, I get it. Stubborn as ever, that’s my sister. Lucky for you, you won’t have to tolerate me much longer. I’m only here to do Lilith’s bidding, and then I’ll be out of your hair.”

At the mention of Lilith, the raging flame erupting from Diabla’s palms softened. Her face changed from abject fury to a more relaxed, tired demeanor.

“What does she want?”

Hekat smiled. From his bag, he pulled out a red, glowing orb, crimson magic swirling within it. Something about it completely absorbed Nara’s attention, pulling her spirit towards it like a leash with a choke collar. The magic within it seemed to have a pulse; it radiated in the interior of her own skull like a pounding migraine – badum, badum, badum.

“You’ve heard that one of the Ancestor Vampires has risen again, I’m sure?” Hekat asked his sister.

Nara’s ears piqued, her attention momentarily torn from the sphere. Ancestor Vampires? She had only heard about them once before from Diabla; their tombs apparently doubled as mines for blood crystals, an essential ingredient for Potions of Quenching Thirst. As for who or what they were, Nara had no clue.

All she knew was that there were apparently levels to vampirism. Ranks of power, so to speak. The first, Nascent, was what she was. The bottom of the barrel. A few ranks above her was Sanguinat, which was the rank of the vampire that Alessia was hunting. Besides that, she didn’t know about any of the other pegs in the hierarchy – or where, if anywhere, Ancestor might fit in.

“Naturally,” Diabla said, crossing her arms. Despite her calm tone, she had a concerned look on her face. “It wasn’t hard to figure out. The uptick in vampire-related deaths, the bloodmoons, the exponential growth in the bat population. But none of those are his direct doing, just consequences of his magic flowing back into the land. He’s still trapped in his stupid little cave, chained by the eternal curse. There’s no mortal in Kiv’ra powerful enough to break such a seal.”

“No mortal, yes,” Hekat smiled icily.

Diabla’s eyes widened. A dark, tense weight fell upon the room.

“I pray you aren’t serious, brother.”

“I can’t possibly figure out what you mean,” he said, grinning cheekily. “Whatever devilish things your brain is concocting – rid yourself of them. I’m only here to give a gift from Lilith to your new little apprentice here.” He gave Nara a terrifyingly affectionate look.

Diabla furrowed her eyebrows. “Her? How does Lilith even know about her? It hasn’t even been a week since I took her in.”

“Lilith has tendrils in many places. Sees far beyond the obvious. You should know that.”

Diabla scowled, looking chastised.

“What business does she have with a weakling like her, anyhow?” she spat.

“Well weakling feels a bit unnecessary —”

“We both know there’s something special about your apprentice, darling,” Hekat interjected. “A certain ability to walk around in the daylight, perhaps?”

Diabla went quiet, shocked.

Hekat turned to Nara once more, holding the orb out in front of her. Nara was once again gripped by its aura, unable to look away as he lowered it slowly into her lap.

“Go on, hold it,” Hekat urged her.

“Don’t hold it,” Diabla hissed.

Hekat turned his neck and glared at her.

“Do you really wish to interfere with Lilith’s will, sister? You know the consequences.”

Diabla bit her lip, the fire around her silhouette burning bright.

Nara looked between them, feverishly trying to decide. Ultimately, though, her mind couldn’t listen to reason – it was just too damn tempting, her entire body pulsating in expectation as she gazed into the orb.

Throwing caution to the wind, she grasped it. The effect was immediate; like being pulled into a wind tunnel, she felt her soul ripping at the edges as the sphere’s visceral energy overloaded her veins, pumping power into every last nerve and blood vessel.

She screamed.

You have absorbed an [Orb of Blood Incarnate]

Effects:

• Permanent +5% increase to Blood Magic potency
• New Skill Unlocked: [Tendril Strike]
• 300 XP Gained

Level Up! Two skill points gained.

“Very well done,” Hekat said.

As her body recovered from the rush of excitement, Nara’s eyes hovered over the barrage of notifications. Some new status effects, some experience, a level up; but most curiously, written in large, red, blocky letters: a new quest.

New Quest Acquired! The Ancestors Await You