Three people stood, dressed in dark military attire and masked with bloody bandages that covered every inch of their skin, leaving nothing exposed. Blood drudges. In front of them, they held down a woman in prostration, each bound and gagged. It was an open space, in a building of some sort, and it was dark. Only the most minimal amount of light diffused in the area.

"Oh my, are these for me?"

A tall lady smiled, a wide brimmed hat covering her slit scarlet eyes which glowed eerily in the dark. Though despite asking the question, the matre expected no reply, and none came. The drudges stood stock still, merely restraining their charges.

"You're quite pretty aren't you?"

So saying, she gripped the neck of one of the people in prostration, with an outstretched hand. A hand that was extremely pale, impossibly so. The hand, like the pale touch of death, she convulsed as tears streaked down her face, the only noise she made was a muffled cry of anguish. Their blood slowly drained and coalesced into scarlet orbs which soon added to the many already gently circling the matre.

It was only after several agonising minutes that she let go, leaving a pale husk on the ground, however contrary to ordinary expectations, the cadaver twitched and shivered, akin to some spawn of the Deep Dark.

The other two young women tried to shimmy away from the horrific sight, but they were held firmly in place, only able to wait their turn.

"Stand,"

The pallid cadaver languidly hobbled and pushed itself up immediately breaking free of its bonds with its newfound strength, standing on shaky legs. Its slit scarlet eyes shone, its sunken cheeks and bleak complexion a semblance of the youthful girl it was just moments ago.

*Grrr*

It growled, settling its eyes on the two living beings in the room. Gooey saliva dripping from its bloody jaw.

It was a ghoul, and a blood ghoul at that.

A servant of the blood race, which was very telling of the blood cult. They were nothing more than mindless beasts, with an endless thirst for blood and an appetite for flesh. If they were to be starved of such, they would quickly decay and die as no amount of food or substance would quench their thirst except for blood. The scene was harrowing, enough to make a veteran shiver.

"Stop," The matre commanded the ghoul and it restrained itself. It would not and could not disobey the blood race, especially not the matre. And so, resisting its instincts, it could only shift uncomfortably in place as it glared at its prey.

Slowly walking to the next in row, the matre repeated her previous action, licking her lips as she did so. By now, the final victim's face was thoroughly stained with her pitiful sobs as she begged to an unrequiting god.

Her prayers… They were not heard, as the blood cult gained three new ghouls to their ranks.

"Hmm, Aki should be awake by now," She tapped a finger on her chin.

"Call them over," She snapped her fingers and without so much as a word, one of the bandaged drudges left the room, swiftly moving to complete its assignment. Such was the essence of its existence. Coming back minutes later with two girls in tow.

"Aki dear, are you feeling better?" She uttered a voice of concern.

Nodding rapidly, the cat kin shied away.

"Fufu, that's good," she said, caressing the cat kin's stiff face. She noticeably seized up when she came into contact with the cold hands of the blood matre. "And Suzi, do you know what you did wrong?" Her cold eyes pierced through the aberration beneath the skin of little girls. Its appearance was warped, oozing an eerie dark blood in places, as silhouettes of twisted, contorted limbs shoved and threatened to protrude through its skin. It was quite obviously struggling to maintain the facade.

"Y-Yes, Matre!" It spluttered with a shrill voice, barely keeping a limb from protruding from its spine.

"Matre?" Her eyes narrowed, a chilling cold enveloping the aberration riveting through its spine, as it fumbled under the pressure.

"Yes, M-Matre Caedis!"

"Good," And as swiftly as it came the cold receded, enough to make one think that it was all imagined, but the slight frost coating the ground could not be falsified. Such was the powerful intent of the blood matre.

As the firm antisocordist she was, the fact that the aberration indulged in its desires before slaying the guards was a crime of the second highest degree. Just below that of treason. As a result of that bitter indulgence, the city was now aware of their presence before they were even able to form a proper foothold, and it was only a matter of time before enemies came streaming to them.

After all, even if the blood matre was strong, taking on the forces of an entire city was too much, something perhaps only the strongest of blood matres could do. However, despite the gravity of the crime, Matre Caedis still found it in herself to forgive the poor thing.

"It's okay, we're family after all, but be warned to not make that mistake again,"

Gulping, the aberration stumbled a sign of gratitude, "Thank you for your kindness, Matre Caedis,"

Sigh, what am I to do now? The matre mused to herself.

Contemplating for a moment, she glazed her eyes across everyone present. Three drudges, three blood ghouls, two kin, and herself, the matre. That was the total amount of forces that this blood cult branch currently had at its disposal. It was small. Too small.

Not nearly enough to hold their position.

She wanted to do things silently, but the mishap of one of her kin threw a wrench in her plans. However, there was another variable to the story.

The guards here are surprisingly capable, aren't they? She pondered.

Yes, that was so, to be able to deduce the identity of her kin and severely injure another was… disconcerting, to say the least.

"Perhaps the plans need to be accelerated," She rubbed her chin in thought.

How troubling. She didn't think such an easy assignment would prove to be so bothersome. Nonetheless, the world did not move according to one's own pace, and it was up to her to cater to the changes.

Right now, what the cult needed most was more bodies, more blood, more kin. In summary, what she needed was more combatants. More people to take the hits. And the ability the city guards showed was well above expectation, which forced her to make a move despite her urge to remain discreet.

But there is no reward without risk.

"How about we do something daring, shall we?"

She grinned, her eyes reflecting the subtle gleam of the dark altar behind her.

"Blood for the blood god,"

A glint flashed across it as if returning her chant.

Blood for the blood god…