B2 Ch. 43 Quid Pro Quo

At Amelia's announcement, the Queen scoffed, effecting a pained expression,

“Of course… A Crafting/Martial hybrid class.  I should have guessed from the name.   I have always been a little jealous of your kind’s ability to gain Experience from advancing your craft as well as combat-“  The Queen said, her lips quirking in satisfaction at the success of their experiment,- “Villars, did you bring the Extractor?”  She asked turning back to the subject, her smile growing in eagerness.

The Official looked up in distracted amazement as the Blood Weed withered and died on over the rest of his wounds.  It took him a moment, but then he registered her words and answered, “Yes, my Queen,”  reaching into the folds of his torn petty coat and pulling out the same device that had been used on them to take the blood tax.  He stepped forward smartly and presented it to her, and she took it in hand eagerly.

Turning to the Vessel, she activated the portion of the enchantment that bonded the two devices and called absently, “ Bring me a few of the most infected Guards.”  The rest of the room watched curiously as she approached the vessel and tapped the devices to its side, causing a ripple in the enchantment. “Hilbert, how is the stasis holding?”

“Unchanged my Queen.”  He answered his tone rising in an unstated question.

“Your majesty… If you don’t mind me asking, what are you doing?”  Amelia chimed in, watching as the Soceruss fiddled with a dial on the side of the Extractor.  Several Dhampire Guards shuffled forward, all looking much worse off than the Official. Their torsos had been protected enough, but many had infected cuts and bites all over their arms and faces.  It looked as if an army of ferril rats had assaulted them, which actually would have been preferable to reality.

“My dear,”  The Queen answered Amelia with a doting tone,  “ your method of transference with the Blood Weed is admirable and useful as it is its own transfer vector and storage all wrapped up in one solution.  But we are Vampires, and as soon as you thought of this idea, another more direct method occurred to me.”  She said, looking up from the device in her hands as its runes lit up in a pattern reminiscent of a cup being filled.

She then turned toward the injured Guards, and the senior most man came forward silently as she continued to explain, “You see, each Dhampire in our forces has a daily ration when on active duty, and that ration is doubled upon injury… This Vessel was marked to cover the guard's ration for a few days.  Now, Mr. Tillman, you have given me a way to pay out that ration and rid them of their taint at the same time.”  Seeming to understand her idea, the Guard presented the inside of his forearm to the Queen.

She laid the tip of the device against the Dhampire's skin, and instead of the runes filling up with light, the glowing Extractor pushed out its substance into the Guard’s body. He involuntarily shivered, as what looked like heat moved through his whole blood system, his wounds starting to sizzle and steam as the injection reached them, releasing that same noxious cloud.   Immediately the Corruption started to attempt and escape up into the ceiling, but the Queen gestured lazily at the gathering cloud of roiling black smoke, and blood manifested all around it in an opaque ball.  Then with a clench of her fist, the sphere collapses and disappearing with a pop soon after..

“There should be enough in this vessel to issue out hundreds of these Ability imbued rations, and grow enough supply of imbued blood weed that we can travel with some form of immediate treatment for our people…”  She said, turning towards Amelia and Tilly, her regal bearing slowly falling back into place now that a solution had fully presented itself to her problem.

“Now if you don't mind, those that I have kept in stasis are in our sacred chamber.  I would prefer it if you saw to them yourself, while I discuss the details of our future military arrangement with your man.”  She said, gesturing over to Ichiro.

“You will break the siege on our Faction?”  Tilly asked excitedly, wanting to be sure he understood what she was hinting at.

“Contrary to what the young Apprentice here has claimed,”  She said, raising her voice drolly as Hilbert winced in shame, “I have not been holding back my forces out of fear, or ignorance.  Our Faction, and our arrangement with peoples further into the land of the living, exist to curb the threat of the Horde.  We could never sit idly by and wait for them to ravage our lands and our people. But without a counter to this poison, my hands were tied.  I would have been throwing away all of my forces in one attack, which would have been foolish of me by any measure.”  Hilbert face screwed up in even greater discomfort over her shoulder, as she revealed the rationale behind her actions.  She seemed to sense his discomfort playing out behind her and her smile grew even more predatory.

“Give us a day or two to marshall our forces and march, we will be there as soon as we can.  We will work through the initial details, while you fulfill the last of your promise.  I am eager to see what future opportunities such an alliance can afford both our Factions.  But beware, what has shown up on your borders is far from the Horde's main strength and I am afraid the coming conflict will be decided over much more than a single battle.”  She stated, the weight of her words settling on every soldier in attendance.  Shoulders subtly shifted back, and brows lowered in understanding.  Till realized she was speaking to them as much as to him.

“In the meantime,” She continued, her tone lightening a fraction, “go revive the rest of my Knights.  Some of my best have been laid low by this sickness, and it would do our hearts well to have their number with us again. Villars, give Hilbert the tier two Extractor and set it to full a full ration allotment.”  She called, and the Official stepped forward, handing Hilbert the silvery enchanted Extractor that had caused Tilly such a headache earlier in the day.

“Now…Hilbert.  You will take my last errant Vigil Knight and our new ally to the Chamber of Repose.   Your judgment has been postponed, but I do not wish to see your face again without a company of restored Knights at your back.”  She dismissed, turning back toward the line of injured Guards.

“Yes, My Queen,”  he said, smiling in relief and taking the object from the Official.  Then as if his reprieve was time-sensitive, he waved urgently over to Tilly, gesturing to a cleverly hidden gap in the round table at the rear corner of the Hall.

As Tilly moved that way, Sir Micheal appeared waiting on the other side of the table as if by magic.  Tilly looked back to see the queen healing the worst of her injured Guards, and Ichiro stepping up for his audience with her. Amelia had wandered back over the the vessel and was collecting several samples of the Blood Weed and putting them in one of her pockets for later use.

“Well, that went better than I expected!”  Hilbert said in a low cheerful voice to Sir Micheal’s faceless helmet as Tilly joined them moving through the gap in the table.

“Yeah, about that.  You left out a lot of details when you were trying to talk us into coming here…”  Tilly muttered, giving the Apprentice a hard stare.

The subject of Tilly’s disproval smiled demurely and winked, “I knew it would work itself out somehow… Or at least it always has in the past.”  On Hilbert's other side, Sir Micheal shook his head slowly in disapproval as he moved toward the back wall.

“Enough about what is done, let us get onto what still needs doing!”  Hilbert chattered excitedly, gesturing to a small stone door Sir Micheal had just reached.

It was entirely made out of a dark Granite flecked with silvery granules of some other kind of rock.  Its surface was carved in a relief of a Knight kneeling with his sword pointed at the ground and a ring of coffins surrounding him.  The artwork reminded Tilly of something he might see in a catholic church.

“Just through here,”  Hilbert said lightly, as Sir Micheal pushed open the door.  The hallway beyond was pitch black, and the Knight moved into the darkness without hesitation.  Tilly sighed and followed as Hilbert closed the door behind them and then clucked in disapproval at the pitch-black state of their environment.

“My apologies!”  Hilbert huffed,  snapping his fingers.  A rosy pink light flared at the tips of previously unseen sconces and the small dark hall became slightly less ominous in the light of the flickering mana-infused flames.

Sir Michael continued to lead the way, seemingly unaffected by the presence or absence of the light. Eventually, they arrived at another stone door, covered with another life-like relief of a long-haired vampire Knight laying in the classic Dracula pose, with arms crossed over its chest.

Sir Micheal paused at this door and placed his hands against the stone, waiting. After a few moments, previously invisible markings started to glow all over the surface of the door, and it opened soundlessly on its own power.

The line of Mana torches continued into a large cavern-like structure and their glow illuminated lines of stone coffins arrayed around a large central edifice.   As Tilly’s head wrapped around what he was seeing, he noticed that the walls of the cavern were also broken up with hundreds of carved shelves, their contents hidden in the flickering shadow of the torches. He didn't have to work hard at guessing their contents.  This place was clearly a catacomb of some sort.

“Here is our resting place, eternal or otherwise.” Sir Hilbert breathed out reverently beside Tilly.  He sounded just like he had walked into his favorite bar, and Tilly couldn’t help but smile at his clear comfort in such an ominous environment.   At times it was easy to forget that the unpredictable Wizard’s Apprentice was also partially undead… Or fully, Tilly didn't really know how Vampires were supposed to be classified.

Sir Micheal moved forward into the lines of coffins and stopped at one with its lid askance. He shifted the stone slab to the side until it was completely open and turned back to the pair standing at the door.

“So you keep your… dead here? I mean… The ones that no longer exist, or-”  Tilly stumbled over his questions not quite finding the right terminology to make it clear.

Hilbert turned to him and smiled, his eyes glinting in the torchlight, “Yes.  Our original race, the Aos Si, has always enjoyed the feeling of being underground. It is where we are most at rest.  This became doubly true in our new forms, and we find great comfort in the presence of those who have gone before us.  Many in this room have passed beyond this Plane, but it is also where we have kept those who are fighting this Corruption, as you call it.”  Hilbert explained, waving an open hand toward Sir Micheal in a ‘please, you first’ gesture.

“Huh… Well, I guess that makes sense.”  Tilly said shrugging and moving through the lines of stone coffins. As he entered into their uniform ranks he realized that some were empty, others closed and a group, nearer to where Sir Michael stood, all had their lids half open.

As Tilly approached the coffin lying open at Sir Micheals's feet, he saw it held the body of a blond-haired Knight lying as if sleeping with both hands folded over a plane, well-kept Longsword.

“Good thinking, Sir Micheal! Young Constantine is a very good place to start.”  Hilbert said as he walked up next to Tilly.