One week later, at the gates of Fort Maria…

Snow, and snowflakes, could be seen falling slowly and gently from the midnight sky, silver and white like the moon and stars up above as though shed from the very heavens themselves. In tiny, yet pristine specks, they landed onto the frozen earth, piling and accumulating themselves upon the dourness of the serpentine road of paved stone leading out into the world beyond, that was already smothered in snow.

With Claire quietly solemn and by her side, dressed warmly for the winter in a mix of red cleric robes and plate armour, Elena stood before Eris and her Dullahan bodyguard, Ser Kuarloc. Their luggage had been prepared and loaded into the back of the horse-drawn coach parked just a few steps away, that awaited their embarkment for the journey down south into the Dread Expanse. And when the horses, one an earthly brown and the other white like the snow, neighed softly under the snowy moonlight, she could not help but think back to the skeletal steed she had forced into undeath to be ridden all the way here. Whose wretched body and undead soul, had been laid to rest under the holy ground blessed by the Central Church with the help of the devatas that lived here.

“Alas. It’s time to go, elder sister,” Eris stated, with a slight smile and a gentle nod. “I’ll say it here, that I’ll miss the conversations we had, and the… challenges, of your company.”

“Me too, little sis,” Elena said in reply, with a grimace of her own. “And, uh…”

Idly, and thoughtlessly, she scratched at the back of her red hood.

“Uh…”

“Sister, you seem to be at a loss for words.”

“Hey, niceties aren’t my strong suit, alright?” Elena barked playfully, before smiling sheepishly at Eris. “But what I wanted to say, is that…”

Bringing a hand balled up into a fist up close towards her lips, she coughed breathlessly, making a big and visible show of clearing her throat.

“Whatever happens next down there for us, I just wanted to say that you’ve been a good… friend. Really. Thank you, sister.”

“Yes,” Claire added, placing her gauntleted hands together in front her, before bowing deeply to both Eris and Ser Kuarloc. “Thank you.”

Mimicking Claire’s gesture with a flourish of her sleeved robes, Eris bowed in turn.

“The both of you have our Lady’s favour. And you have mine, as well.”

“Yeah, seems like we do, eh?” Elena remarked in reply, with a wolfish grin. “I’m glad.”

“Yes, indeed…” Eris answered, as her yellow-eyed gaze came to rest upon Claire. “This entire experience has been… interesting, to say the least.”

Elena nodded. She thought of the vials of mortal blood and red wine that had been packed into their luggage, that would hopefully be enough for the road. It was probably still too early to judge, but Claire had been taking well to her current diet of vintage spiked with blood, and it seemed like her satiation had yet to notice the dilutions being made to water it down further with wine. And at the very least, as per the words of the Dark Goddess, her beloved had yet to feast on the flesh of the dead.

It was good news, all things considered. Especially so, given the volatile nature of vampirism she had come to know all too well from many bloody and violent scuffles over the years. And now, she could only hope that something good would come from the audience with the Vampire Lord and Archon of Elicia, Lucid II, the last Death Knight of the Alyssian Empire of old. That she, this ancient fiend of Amon’s hierarchy of the undead like herself, who now reigned now as the Caliph of Oasis, would deign to share her secrets with her beloved. Even if such a request, especially from a Vizier of another Archon and a former Countess of the Alyssian Empire, would surely come at a price.

“Regardless, I keep the both of you in my prayers, as will Ser Kuarloc,” Eris added, taking a moment to gaze up at the metallic sheen of her Dullahan bodyguard, before looking at her guests one final time. “May Elicia preserve the both of you.”

“Right on,” Elena said, smiling as she began helping Claire towards the carriage that awaited them both. “May she preserve us all.”