Chapter 17

She nodded and bowed slightly “Thank you for your understanding and the information you have provided.” he nodded, accepting her thanks. The information was after all not known to many, its use to a Bloodmage immense, doubtlessly birthing more of them if it got out. “You didn’t mention the time you awakened...how long has it been?” she stayed silent for a minute “I’ve been here for a long time. Fighting...killing...” he didn’t pry too much. “That explains the feeling I get about you...you’re pretty powerful aren’t you?” he didn’t wait for an answer “Will you explain to us what you’ve found out so far about the empire of Usir once my companions are here?”

Eleonora nodded “I will, if you promise to keep the Bloodmagic a secret and erase my bounty once we’re back in Duneswatch.” he thought about it and nodded “I will decide later if you’re really trustworthy but consider the bounty erased. And by the way Bloodmagic doesn’t feel different than any other magic and most are only identified by the corpses around them. Can you show it to me again? I’ll tell you if I can tell.” she complied and activated more of her magic, her tattoos glowing slightly.

“You! You’re an internal!?” the king looked truly surprised for the first time in their conversation. “What about it?” she asked “Aren’t there internals and externals in every school of magic?” thinking about what she read in the books Jonathan had provided. After calming down a little the king continued “Normally you would be right but there are exceptions...or so I thought. I’ve only ever heard of external Bloodmagics, strengthening one’s own body and abilities with it is unheard of...at least to me.” he thought for a while “This is great for you though, nobody will suspect you to be a Bloodmage...I only made the connection because of what you told me and the color of it is familiar to me. I’ve also seen guards using similar auras but they were simple magics, not tied to an element. If you keep it to yourself and don’t start shooting tendrils of blood out to kill your enemies you will only be detected by people who have actually fought against Bloodmages….not many of those out there I imagine.”

A smile grew more and more on Eleonora’s face as she listened to the king’s explanations. “I can’t even shoot blood...” she said as she remembered the small blob she shot in the sewage systems of Dunewatch, which had completely exhausted her. “You should be able to but it will be very very inefficient..at least if what you tell me about your internal use is true.” she nodded “It is, you’ll probably be convinced if you see me fighting.” she grinned and he returned the gesture “Oh I’d love to...an internal Bloodmage...” he gathered himself again after a couple minutes.

“We won’t be back to Duneswatch in a while though I have to tell you. The way is a long one and we cannot return without...well something.” his answer wasn’t an issue to her “I do not plan to leave here until every single corrupted is dead.” he blinked at her “You’re aware there are probably thousands all over this city and the villages beyond?” she nodded “There should be a couple hundred thousand remaining in Isindur, although I have killed many.” he choked on her statement “Hundred thousand?? There is no way this city can hold that many.” she shook her head “I’m not talking about this city...the capital of Usir...Isindur, it’s located inside the mountain. And that is where most of the corrupted are.”

The king nodded as he swallowed visibly. “You’ll explain once Lucien is here. I like you though girl and I believe you’re not dangerous. At least not to the people of Duneswatch and the empire.” he couldn’t fully tell but the king had met many people in his lifetime and he got good at reading them. The girl before him had gone through a lot, more than anyone her age should. Her heart seemed in the right place to him though and he could appreciate the humor. He was sure she left some things out but that just convinced him even more. ‘All Bloodmages except him..and now her...had been arrogant idiots, consumed by their power.’ he thought.

“Two more people should arrive sometime tomorrow so there is no danger tonight. I will sleep now, it’s been a while. Do what you will Eleonora.” he checked on Selena again and then closed his eyes. Her green ones didn’t leave him until she too was taken by sleep. She didn’t need much anymore and could go for at least a week without it but that didn’t mean she didn’t enjoy it...especially since her nightmares disappeared. Although she did miss her fluffy companions this time.

Her eyes shot open as she the noise reached her ear. ‘People fighting’ she threw a small rock at the king who immediately shot up. “Seems your friends have arrived...and they’re in trouble.” She got her halberd and jumped through the hole in the roof she’d noticed the night before. Selmar reached her side as she stared into the distance. Two people were holding off four corrupted. One giant man with a massive shield and sword and another man with a sword and smaller shield. “Let’s go then.” she said as she jumped off the roof, rushing silently towards her foes.

The king was startled by her sudden action but then smiled “Too long has it been, since fighting was a joy instead of a drag.” he said as his magic flared up and he jumped down. She reached the two men that were on the defensive and immediately sliced one of the monsters in half. She took another’s leg off before evading a third one. The two men were surprised but quickly joined her as they slashed at the beasts with their swords, the fight now even. Selmar arrived and plunged his greatsword into one of the creatures just as Eleonora finished another one with a stab through its torso. The last beast was overwhelmed by the two new arrivals after they circled it and removed all its legs.

Selmar nodded towards her and then greeted the two men. “Peter and Wallis. I’m glad you made it. Let’s first get to our shelter.” they nodded while giving her unsure side glances yet thankful for the rescue. The king didn’t explain her situation to the men as he asked about his companions still in the city below. Apparently Alice would make four runs a day now, meaning everyone would be here in three days time. ‘That’s way too long of an awkward situation...and he doesn’t seem to want to explain my presence until everyone is here...’ Eleonora though before she had an idea “I’ll be mapping more of the valley for a while, is that alright?”

The two men were confused, thinking she had an ability to hide herself similar to Linda. Selmar simply nodded. “Do as you wish.” And so she did. Eleonora had no intention of mapping more of the valley, there were people now ‘Something different is finally happening!’ she realized that she had fallen into a rhythm in the past two years. It was certainly not a bad life and she enjoyed the fighting and killing, the cuddling with her wolves and the scavenging in the old city but something new was something new and she couldn’t wait to meet all of those people. ‘To think I’d want to meet people...’ she thought as she slashed through two corrupted that were alerted to her running. Their halved corpses were still falling as she attacked another one that hadn’t even noticed her before.

She progressed through the valley at a high speed, sometimes turning around to kill the beasts she’d alarmed. “Ah here it is...” she whispered as she finally found the way down to the city below. It was nearly five hundred meters of steps on a slope. And it was crowded with corrupted. ‘I can’t kill them all here. Never show your true power until absolutely necessary.’ she remembered what Mike had taught her and then shouted down the steps “Oyyy fuckers!!” the sound traveled a great length because the steps were set in a tunnel. Most of the corrupted reacted instantly, running in her direction. Some that didn’t hear her reacted to the movement of their companions, following behind at a slower pace.

Eleonora started running, not caring about the sound she made, occasionally dodging a claw that emerged from the snow below her, still shouting as she went ‘Might as well clear as many as possible’ she thought as she reached the frozen lake, the sun reflecting off of its surface.

The black haired woman stopped and turned around. A mass of monsters was about to add another to their silent army. She took a step towards them, tattoos started to glow wherever armor or clothes didn’t cover her body. The ice already fighting to hold her weight started to crack from the immense power. “...The night is dark...” nearly two hundred corrupted were closing in on her as she finished her mantra “...for here I come.” the girl vanished as the ice cracked where she had been a second before. Emerging in a spray of blood, a whirlwind of blood followed her as her halberd cut through dozens of the monsters, killing and maiming as she went. Evading the uncountable claws around her she pierced and stabbed wherever she found an opening, the corrupted unable to scratch her.

It took her nearly an hour to kill the two hundred beasts and another half an hour to hunt down the stragglers that lost her in the chaos. “I’m getting better. Clearing the center might only take another year at this stage...or even less if I progress more.” she stopped and looked at herself “OH! Not a scratch, been a while since I managed that.” she said as she looked out on the field of blood before her. “Now how do I hide this...oh...I have an idea” she slammed the ice with her halberd a couple times before she jumped up in the middle of the carnage that painted a part of the lake crimson.

She landed, a burst of energy leaving her weapon as the smashed it into the lake. A loud grumble could be heard before the ice around her started to crack and break. “Time to leave.” she jumped away as the ice gave under her, swallowing the corpses she left behind. She needed another hour to throw all the remaining corpses in the hole she created and afterwards went back to the steps.

She ran down, her tattoos not glowing anymore. At the end she found another couple dozen corrupted. Her power back at its maximum she alerted as many of them as she could before running away with them to a secluded part of the city below. Stopping on an open plaza she turned around again. Snow was falling and the whole city was covered by a white film. The only color being the red of Eleonora’s magic and the skin of her enemies.

Readying herself in a stance she’d learned years ago from Mike the first corrupted reached her. Her halberd blurred, stabbing cleanly into the beast’s torsos, leaving them dead with a single blow. She moved backwards in ingrained steps as she avoided a complete surround. She lead the beasts around the statue in the middle of the plaza their mass decreased slowly, more and more corpses left behind. She finished the last twenty with a charge towards their midst and a flurry of strong blows and slashes of her weapon. One of the beasts managed to cut her arm as she couldn’t evade all the six claws that came her way.

“So close to a new record...” she said as she killed the last of the beasts with a stab to its limbless body, looking at her arm that had already healed. “Oh well, there’s plenty more...” Eleonora went back to the tunnel.