I pull the door open and am rewarded with the sight of worried looks. Well, three worried looks and one bored one. Ra’hel doesn’t care, apparently. And to think I almost had sex with her. My life or death doesn’t even matter to her. Tsk tsk.

Quinn, Honey, and Mordai greet me with their weapons raised. To break down the door, presumably. Nevasca and I step through, the door closing behind us. In front of me, the trio back up to allow us space to enter the chamber, but they don’t lower their weapons.

“Snowflake, is that you?” Quinn is the first to speak, her sword unwavering as it points towards my throat.

“Yeah? Why wouldn’t it be?” I reply, confused. “Also, did you guys get shorter?”

Honey snorts at that. She can be a little sensitive about her height sometimes. With a wave of her hand she creates a long flat pane of water, then freezes it.

“Have a look,” Honey says.

I glance in the makeshift mirror and am taken aback by what stares back at me. Sharp, protruding bones lay right beneath the surface of my face. The face looks like mine but… sharper. Long pointed ears are where my perfectly normal and rounded human ears had resided. I bare my teeth at the ice and see fangs. Not just the slightly sharpen teeth I had gained after my first evolution, but legitimate flesh rending canines.

My hand reaches up to touch my new face. Underneath the skin of my arm is corded muscle, bulging through. With every motion, I can see exactly how the muscles move. I trace the muscles with my finger tips and cut myself. Are those fucking claws?! I have claws and fangs now. Holy shit. I watch the cuts mend themselves at a rate visible to the naked eye. I look at Mordai, but he shakes his head. He isn’t healing me.

I close my eyes and sense what is happening inside my body. The Monster Core pulses with more power than ever before, but there is something else… I sense the wounds in my arm being healed. I follow the Source expenditure to find out where it is coming from. At first it seems to be the wound healing itself, but I search deeper to find it is a new energy in my body providing the sustenance. Following that energy leads me to my blood. My blood is full of Source? Source that I didn’t purposefully provide? That is very strange. Maybe it has to do with my blood feeling like it was being burnt away?

I open my eyes to study the ice and look my body up and down, to find that I have elongated. Before I was just barely as tall as Quinn. Now I am a few inches taller than her, but unfortunately, I am nowhere as tall or as buff as Mordai.

At least I’ve taken a turn for the handsome. I mean, like in a scary sort of way. Rippling muscles, sharp jaw line, and a big smile. I’m tall now. That is a huge bonus. I have natural weapons now. My claws aren’t so long that they will get in my way when I try to hold things. All in all, not bad.

“Tell us what happened,” Honey, ever the pragmatic one, asks.

“I may or may not have almost got turned into a Vampire,” I say. I see no point in lying. There are no lies I can make up that will explain physical changes so obvious. “There was this guy named Charles. He was really nice and said he just wanted to have a chat. We had a glass of wine, but apparently, it was his blood? I was supposed to turn into a Vampire but somehow I resisted.”

They all look at me like I’m a freak, even Ra’hel. Especially Ra’hel. Again, with the look of disgust. But, they must’ve believed me because they lower their weapons.

Mordai shrugs and says, “That is way too weird to be a lie. Besides, as long as you are in full control, it doesn’t matter. We have all sorts of Demon spawn around, including me. Nothing wrong with being a Vampire. But… Why did he let you leave, alive?”

“Like I said,” I reply. “He was a nice guy.”

Quinn and Honey nod their hesitant assent, but Ra’hel still looks disturbed. She slithers over my direction, her tongue flickering in and out. After a moment, a look of relief washes over her features. I’m pretty sure I heard her say ‘Still weak and still alive. Dead things taste gross.’ That would be weird though. I mean, no one else reacted to her saying that, so I must be hearing things.

I ask Quinn how they knew I was alive after so many hours. Standing on her tippy toes, she kisses me on the cheek and informs me it is a mechanism that comes along with being in a party. They knew I was alive, they just needed to confirm I was in control of my own body.

Crisis adverted, Honey and Quinn, lead the way through the next door. Deemed a liability after the last incident, I am regulated to being protected in the middle of the formation.

The next room is another big one. It looks like some sort of ballroom. Big windows display the full moon outside in all its glory. A large chandelier hangs down from the ceiling, giving the room a sophisticated feeling. There are a few other doors around the room, leading who knows where. The doors slam shut behind us, blocking off any escape.

At the far end of the room is something that hold all our attention. A large pair of double doors are wide open, spewing forth a steady stream of Death Knights. With synchronized movements, they build a formation. Guardians crouch on the frontline, with overlapping shields they present a united front. Behind them are two layers of Rangers, crossbows leveled over the heads of the Guardians. They are set up to fire volleys of bolts in waves, no doubt. Through their dense formation, I can barely see behind them, even with my new-found height. Glimpses of black robes confirm my suspicions. They have Lich support as well.

Even with Quinn, Honey, and Mordai being over levelled for this area, I’m not sure we can take them. I mean, these are obviously well-trained soldiers. Not the standard Dungeon creatures I was expecting. Numbers and training have been known to make for deadly situations. Did Charles decide to wipe us off the face of the planet? Maybe I crossed some sort of line in the sand? Maybe he just wants to destroy traces of his failure to create a new Vampire?

At Honey’s command, we ready our weapons. Nevasca, her form now much larger and more bestial, settle in beside me.

‘Not big enough to ride yet,’ I lament. She looks at me reproachfully, as if she can sense my thoughts. Now sporting one crystal blue eye and one blood red one, her gaze is unsettling.

“Why didn’t you just get purple eyes?” I whisper at her, sending images to match the words. She huffs at me, as if telling me I’m an idiot. I flash my fangs at her and ruffle her fur. Poor Nevasca, so much fun to tease.

A large group of flapping shadows comes bursting through the double doors behind the Death Knight formation. They gather in the center of the room, spinning in an imitation of a tornado. Almost as soon as the tornado of fluttering shadows extends to the ground, the tornado bursts. The shadows race to the corners of the room, melting back into the darkness from which they came. Where the shadow tornado had touched down, stands a man. My blood sings a song of recognition.

He stands fearlessly in the middle of the room, clad in elegant black armor with a basket hilt rapier at his side. His long black hair is in a ponytail, contrasting his pale skin and red eyes. His armored hand waves at Honey and Quinn who are standing in the frontline, using the same motion one would use to flick away a fly.

“I wish to speak to my brother,” the pale man says, with an arrogant tone. “Move aside.”

Shield and staff in hand, I slip between Quinn and Honey before they can stop me. I walk to the center of the room, ignoring the calls to return behind me, and stand opposite the man. The closer I get, the stronger the feeling of resonation grows. Not as strong as it was with Charles, but strong nonetheless.

“Brother,” he calls to me, with a slight bow. “Father insisted that I come greet you. My name is Henry, one of your elder brothers.”

“A pleasure to meet you, Henry,” I respond politely with a bow of my own. “My name is Snowflake and you may call me as such. May I ask why you are blocking our way?”

“Straight to business brother? So be it,” Henry says, looking a tad disappointed. “Father has decided to grant your request to travel and adventure. There is, however, a condition. You must first prove your ability to survive. Father refuses to lose one of his children so easily. Besides, you must not bring shame to our family name.”

Alright. Alright. Not bringing shame to the family name. Surviving. These are both ideas that I can agree with. Just a couple problems.

“Henry,” I say. “How do you plan to test my ability to survive? And, uh… Charles never mentioned what the family name is.”

“Please refer to Father with more respect,” Henry snaps. Composing himself, he continues. “Von Vordaray. Your name, from hence forth, is Snowflake von Vordaray. Defend yourself from me for 10 minutes and I will let you and your friends go. Begin.”

With that declaration, Henry draws his rapier and advances. He cuts an imposing figure stalking forward, blade in one hand, shadows emanating from the other. The shadows rise up and twirl around his body, in a strange sort of dance. I send Nevasca back to the others. This is a trial for me, and I must pass it alone. I think.

She growls her disapproval, but obediently stalks away. She must not feel any bloodlust coming from Henry. Or she is just confident in my ability! Probably the bloodlust thing.

I take my stance. Legs spread, shield forward, and staff at the ready. Running source through my staff, I draw water from the air, shape it into a spear head, and freeze it. Preparations made, I stalk forward, circling away from his rapier wielding hand. Once within range, I strike with my spear, thrusting toward his chest. Constantly attacking will force him to always be reactionary, or so I thought.

Tendrils of shadow unlatch from his arm, creating a web of shadow my staff/spear gets entangled in. Without advancing, Henry examines my spear head.

“Pathetic,” he passes judgement on my handiwork. “Your blood burns with Source, I can sense another form of it in your chest as well, but you decide to pull it from the air around us? Use your gifts properly and try again.”

With a flick of the shadows, my spear head is destroyed. Henry watches me, patiently waiting for me to continue. My mind races to figure out how to do as he suggests. A whole new application of Source! Every opportunity to get stronger is a good opportunity.

I am not familiar with the Source in my blood, so I stir the energy in my Core instead. The energy is more wild than I remember. From it I can feel a strong desire to destroy. The feeling reminds me of a wildfire in a forest. Destroy the obstacles in front of you and use them to fuel your own growth. Use that growth to burn down the next obstacle, becoming stronger in the process. The concept is the same, but the desire feels… bloodier.

I cycle the energy through my body, as per usual, feeling my muscles strengthen. Different from the times before, I feel like I’ve hit a ceiling. It doesn’t matter how much more of the energy I add; my physical body is not improving. I’ve hit a threshold of some sort. About 30% of the Core’s energy, I’d say. Any more than that, doesn’t do anything.

I channel the remaining 70% into my staff, feeling it grow warm in my hand. Again, I summon water in the form of a spear head, but this time I try something new. I summon more than I need, then will it to become a smaller shape. The water struggles against me, the process is unnatural. Fueled with enough energy, however, almost anything can happen. The very concept of magic proves this. At my command the water becomes denser. The liquid is practically solid at this point, but I’m not done. I drain the water of energy, causing it to freeze. Unlike before, I do not simply recall the energy I used to create the water. Instead, I will the wild, untamed energy in my possession to steal away every ounce of Source it can from the ice forming at the end of my staff.

In my ignorance, I had thought that water is water and ice is ice. There isn’t much you can do to change it. But now, something different has been built from my efforts. Cold radiates from the spear head, freezing the moisture in the air, causing a mist to form. With a swipe of my new weapon, I slice one of Henry’s shadows in half, dispersing it.

“Thank you for the advice, brother.” I grin, showing my fangs. “I’m ready now.”