The mist swarmed their senses the deeper they ventured into the Foglands. They spoke in tense whispers, and hand signs, and navigated through the hanging perspiration by following tree marks leftover from Ellie’s first visit.

After three tense hours of walking, Seth could make out the foggy outlines of the ruined temple. It loomed over the tallest trees, its true size hidden behind layers of fog. His heart skipped at the sight of it.

“It looks more like a fortress than a temple,” Brick whispered, mirroring his thoughts. “What pagan god was that monstrosity erected to worship?”

“What does that matter? It’s either dead or long gone anyways,” Sera said in a low voice. “Talking about a dead god isn’t exactly good luck when we’re minutes away from facing whatever is inside.”

She regarded the structure with a contemptuous stare, “with our luck, we’ll probably end up fighting some demon worshipers or a cult.”

“Uvu help us,” She murmured and kissed her silver rosary.

“That’s just ridiculous. There’s nothing in there,” Seth muttered under his breath. Her fear, though justified was nearly rubbing off him.

Ellie had scouted the place, she would have mentioned it in her report to the General if there was a secret cult of some forgotten god lingering. Even though he was cross with her, he trusted her to be truthful with the General. The irony of that was not lost on him.

“Perhaps,” Hanson said regarding the structure himself. His words carried an uncertain chill to it that drew every team member’s attention.

“What do you mean by ‘Perhaps,’” Brick asked in a near whisper. They were deeper in the fog lands now, even the giant spoke with care. The vampires were not the only things they had to fear. Hanson’s next words drew the attention of all present, even Ellie.

“There is an old story about the temple and the fallen god it belongs to. He was different from any other fallen vampire god.”

“Different how?” It was Ellie who asked this time.

“He never ascended.”

“What?” Sera whispered, aghast.

“That is...impossible.” Seth shook his head and agreed with her. It was impossible. All blessed ones born with magical talents, even ones as vile as vampires could ascend, with enough time and mastery of magic. Godhood precluded Ascension. One could not become a god if they never left the earthly plains.

Thousands of years ago, it was all blessed ones cared about. You gather enough power and knowledge, prostrate yourself before the Gaia, the Godmother with an offering, and if you’re judged worthy, you ascended and become a god. If she was displeased, however, you were scourged from the earth. After the Great War began, the blessed ones dwindled over time, and now only sorcerers belonging to the orthodox and unorthodox towers pursued godhood. There hasn’t been a new god in over 800 years, much less a god who chose to remain behind.

“His name was Malleck the Gorger, King of blood mages,” Hanson said, his voice somber. He gazed upon the structure with a look Seth quite couldn’t place.

“He was the only half-blood vampire who almost ascended. His followers were all vampires and were rumored to be so devoted, they commissioned dozens of temples across Vraphen while he was still on Gaia and sacrificed thousands of humans, vampires, and beasts as tributes to him.”

“Blood god?” Seth whispered. It sounded like something wet nurses of a border village would come up with to frighten little children. He had read about all 12 gods of Vraphen, and he had never heard of this ‘Malleck.’

It seemed almost ridiculous, but from what little he knew about Hanson, he was unsure if the man had the agency to tell a joke, much less lie, unlike someone he knew.

“What happened to the blood god?” Seth asked with some hesitation.

“He died like all greedy mortals before him who reached too far and failed to achieve godhood,” Hanson said.

“His offering of ascension to Gaia was a new race. Legend has it that his creation was born with all affinity for all magics, had a lifespan of 500 years, and the physical strength of an Elder Dragon. They were born with no minds, so they were the perfect vessels to carry out Gaia's will.”

He smiled before he continued, “ It is said that Gaia was so angry when she saw what he made that she struck him and wiped out everything he ever touched from her surface.”

“That included his worshippers, disciples, and all those who practiced his otherworldly magic” he added after a brief silence.

His words brought more questions than fear. Blood magic? He’d never heard of such things before. Why didn’t Gaia just kill the Gorger before he rose to power? The scriptures say she can see the past, present, and future of all she touched and created. Surely, she would have known. Seth turned to the emerging structure in the distance. The question that plagued him the most had nothing to do with the goddess’s motives.

“I didn’t even think any being except Gaia could create life?” he asked Hanson.

“I’ve never heard of such a thing too, and even I read the holy scripts growing up like every other snot-nosed kid in Mormon,” Brick spoke up. It would seem he was not the only one who questioned Hanson’s story. He guarded the rear of the team with his axe and shield, with both his eyes fixed on the spinning fog to their rear. “I mean no offense, Junior knight Hanson, but I know a tall tale when I hear one.”

Hanson smiled. “I suppose the story of the blood god could be a lie,” he admitted. “The woman who raised me was rescued from a harvest camp when she was younger.”

Seth regarded the man with some pity at hearing that. Harvest camps were concentration camps where vampires kept captured empire citizens that lived close to the borderlands and prisoners of war. They herded them with the intention of either turning them into blood bags, or half-bloods vampire soldiers.

They scraped their minds with foul magics until it was bare and raw, and poisoned them with vampire venom from a powerful Vampire Lord. Those unfortunate enough to survive are buried in tanks of blood and alchemical sludge and come out monstrous beasts ready to rip into the very men and women who've taken an Oath to protect them.

“She heard all sorts of stories, some of them might be entirely made up, but that hardly matters, now does it?”

Seth glared at the man deep down and admitted that perhaps he'd underestimated him. He could tell a joke, a very twisted one.

“Of course it does,” Seth's voice came out more calm and measured than he felt inside.

“Whatever is in that Ruin is going to try to kill us. It scarcely matters whether they are the last followers of a fallen god or the Vraphen army leadership,” His words drew the full attention of the rest of the team once more, and he waited until their eyes were pressed on him before he continued. “We have prepared as best we could, and entertaining doubt at the very last moment will only serve to weaken us and strengthen the enemy.” His eyes touched Sera’s, and it shone with a dangerous light.

“Besides, we have more immediate things to worry about."

He raised his hands and fired a bright red ray into the fog, and a shrill scream called out in response. "Like that.”

“What was that?” Ellie called out, her eyes tracing the direction of the scream. “Ellie, Brick, check it out,” she ordered. They both darted toward the noise.

“There are more hiding in the mist. They need support,” Hanson casually said.

“Seth, let’s go,” Ellie said and Seth followed after her.

Seth unsheathed both blades and weaved through the mist with calculated steps, pushing his senses to the limit. He’d been forced to train his other senses after they started taking missions that brought them deeper into the fog lands, all teams did. When he was sure Hanson was out of earshot, his anger bubbled out of him.

“Don’t bother denying it, I know you planned this,” he whispered harshly. “I even understand why you did. I only care that you didn’t tell me before you approached the General.”

“We should discuss this Later, Seth,” she said, her voice wooden. “This is hardly the time or place.”

“Don’t avoid the question, Ellie,” he growled, causing his Sister to regard him for a second before focusing on the fog again.

You were drunk,” she said, her voice indifferent. “The information I acquired was time-sensitive. I had to report to the General immediately. The opportunity was too good to pass up.”

He scoffed at her excuse. “You could have said something. If you did, I would have told you it was too risky even if I was drunk. You heard what Hanson said, the Night army’s vampires might not be the only thing we’re dealing with.”

“You believe his ridiculous story?” she said. “I taught you better than that Seth. He was telling it to prove a point. I scouted the temple myself. The scout wore night army armor, and we have runed weapons, armor, artefacts, and the element of surprise. We will win, and get our runes, regardless of how Judgement goes.” Her voice peaked with the last sentence. She was enjoying herself?

“He might not give us the runes,” his voice was barely a whisper. “It’s a stupid, ridiculous risk, and what about Brick and Sera?” he demanded. “They’ll hate us when they figure it out.”

“I know men and women who received Runes from the General. I have given this a lot of thought, Seth,” she briefly met eyes with him.

“As for Brick and Sera, they could not be trusted with this information,” she said, her voice icy. “Sera would have run to her priests, and Brick wouldn’t have been able to keep his mouth shut. You know how he loves to boast.”

I have saved them from what I went through.” Her icy blue gaze fixed on his, burning bright. She seemed almost alien

“Eleven whole years, Seth,” she said. “I will not spend another minute scraping for runes if I don’t have to. I did what I did for us.”

He opened his mouth and closed it. He didn’t know where or how to start. He didn’t recognize her. Her desire for runes had consumed her. He hadn’t seen the anger in her eyes since the years they spent at Copeland after her first service.

Seconds later they come upon the silhouettes of Brick, and Sera standing by the body of a downed beast. Just as they were about to reach them, Ellie heard a low snarl behind her, and her battle-hardened instinct flared. She fell into a deep crouch and rotated several paces to the right, with her rapier drawn, its tip in front of her.

Seth also went on the offensive and turned to face the foe with a devastating horizontal cut. His attack bit deep into the chest of the approaching beast and swept it off its feet. It tumbled in the air, and Seth sprung forth and buried his blade in the creature’s skull as soon as it touched the floor.

While Seth worked, Ellie thrust forward through the fog. Her blade punctured the skull of the second beast lurking behind the first. Sera drew two daggers and whipped them to her flank, and Brick raised his shield to stop a wide scratch he must have sensed closing in. Seth and Ellie doubled back until they touched back with Sera and Brick, and held up their guards as the fog peeled back to reveal their attackers, all three of them. They were gangly humanoid creatures with ash white skin, long limbs with black poisonous claws at the very end, dripping black ichor. Their ears were large, their jaws low-hanging, and their teeth blackened. They were familiar.

“Blight ghouls,” Ellie growled.

“I thought we got them all,” Seth said. They and several other scouting and hunting team spent months last year combing through the outer edges of the Foglands, hunting for the beasts. They were a pest during battlefield clean-up, often clinging hard to the remains of the dead.

They were half-blood creatures born of the unholy towers of Vraphen; what were leftover of humanoid creatures who failed to become Half-bloods hybrids and Dhamphyrs-- the main portion of Vraphen’s fighting force.

“Clearly, some survived,” Ellie said. “We need to take them down quickly and silently. We won’t make it to the clearing if the Vampires know we’re coming.”

The three remaining beasts snarled as though in response. Two hung from high trees, and the third circled slowly.

Ellie gave an order and the team burst into action. Brick hurled one of his axes at one of the beasts hanging from the treetop, and Sera took down the second one with an arrow to the chest. Ellie struck down the lurking beast with three precise jabs to the chest, and a final one to the neck. It gurgled blood as it slumped to the floor. In an instant, the enemies were all dead, but the Ravens still remained on guard. They’d heard footsteps approaching.

“The noise, it brought something.” Seth spied something lingering in the fog.

“Fuck,” Brick’s words mirrored his thought, and Seth felt a wave of fear overtake him. The silhouette was humanoid! It must be a Vampire guard drawn by the noise of the battle. The silhouette strode gracefully through the precipitation, its proportions engorged slightly by its armor.

“Fuck!” Seth muttered. Sera's entire body quivered, her bowstring taut, and Brick unsheathed his second axe and palmed it nervously, while Ellie squinted at the approaching figure. The Silhouette called out.

“At ease,” its voice was familiar. “It’s just me. And no need to worry, you got them all.” Hanson said, emerging from the fog. He walked over to the body of the beast Sera took down and flicked aside his cloak as he fell to his knee to inspect. Seth went near mad from the shock.

Sera and Brick lowered their weapons first, and some time passed before Seth sheathed his, his hand still jittery from the reveal. His focus shifted to Hanson, who was studying the creatures.

“Come closer,” he urged. “It seems that we might have lost our advantage,” He turned over the body of a ghoul to reveal a complex system of runes scrawled on the back with Shadow Magic.

Seth's squinted to read the unnatural patterning. The letters were night black, written in tight blocks, instead of the natural circles of the elemental runes he was familiar with.

These were different. They snaked and churned like smoke or mist. His pulse quickened as he studied more, but the runes remained a mystery to him, much like the patterns of the barrier.

“Shadow runes,” Sera hissed.

"Things just got a whole lot more complicated,” Brick added.

“I have never seen these before on any blight ghoul we’ve faced,” Ellie said slowly, a hint of doubt hanging in her voice. “It could mean anything.”

“It’s a tracking rune, I think.” Hanson narrowed his eyes, inspecting the rune further. “This means the other beasts might also have it.”

Brick kicked over the body he’d taken down to reveal a similar pattern. “Fuck me,” he cursed.

Seth and Ellie turned over the remaining corpses, and they were the same.

“They know we’re coming,” Hanson said.