A sweet tangy scent filled the air as I poured a generous amount of cats tongue extract into the steaming water of the sunken stone bath. Having spent most of the day exploring the new temple, and communing with an endless stream of disciples, I was looking forward to a nice relaxing bath in the oversized tub.

Out of everyone I’d spoken to, the hardest conversation had been the one with Roswyn, who was traveling with Darius. Speaking to Darius through Roswyn meant I couldn’t see his expression, or hear his voice to accurately judge the guild leader's response to the information. Though he’d not responded much at all, beyond having Roswyn pass on that we’d discuss the matter in depth when he arrived at the temple's new location.

As far as I was concerned, there was nothing to discuss. Darius had no say regarding my actions as high priestess, and moving the temple had nothing to do with the guild. If Darius couldn’t understand that, then I wasn’t sure what I would do.

The disciples I accepted into the temple would be from various different guilds, and those guilds would not always be allies of the Eternia guild. Would Darius expect me to bar those disciples from learning, purely based on their guilds relationship with Eternia? I didn’t think it was fair to prevent anyone from gaining knowledge because of who they chose to associate with.

Then again, hadn’t I barred the disciples of the Dreadmere guild because of my personal bias? How could I say I wished to be impartial, when I was already showing I was not?

Reaching behind myself, I grabbed one of the tails partially floating behind me, shoving it under the water to ensure the fur was fully saturated before lathering it with soap. As I moved onto the second tail, my thoughts drifted to the issues which had been plaguing me since I’d first opened the temple in Airus.

Before she died, my mother had been working on implementing a course of study on paleo pharmacology to be taught at Geraldine university. After her death, the paleo pharmacology course was added to the university's curriculum, along with the Dr. Hemera Cole memorial scholarship fund. Unfortunately, due to a lack of popularity the course lasted only a short five years before being removed from the schools curriculum.

Growing up, I’d always been fascinated by the stories my mother told me of the famed alchemists whose discoveries were used as the foundation for modern science. As a child I dreamed of being such an alchemist, but in those dreams I’d been a famous grecian alchemist in the past of earth, and not in a fantasy world as I was now. More recently, that dream changed to one where I would attend Geraldine, and graduate to become a famed researcher, one day restoring the course my mother cultivated.

Now, I had a chance to reclaim those dreams. In Kaledon I could be the alchemist I dreamed of being as a child, and I could study paleo pharmacology in a way I’d never thought possible. In this temple, I could study the intricacies of historical alchemic formulas, and delve into the very foundation of pharmacology, while also sharing that knowledge with others.

I wanted this temple to be a bastion of knowledge, a place where any, and all could freely learn if it was their desire to do so. But if that was to be a dream I wished to bring to fruition, no one could be turned away, not even Dreadmere.

Which was something I feared would place me in a difficult position with my own guild, who weren’t exactly on good terms with the Dreadmere guild. Not that I wanted to be on good terms with Dreadmere myself, and I fully intended to refuse entry to Ge Hong through any means possible, but the elf wasn’t the only one studying alchemy in that guild.

I hadn’t forgotten what Trismegistus told me about the disciple who now possessed Egenor’s grimoire, or the need to find, and free Kelnose. According to Trismegistus, Finnic was with Ge Hong, and if I was going to extract him from the fraud’s clutches, I needed him in the temple.

With a sigh, I stepped out of the bath, wringing out the excess water from my twin tails before drying myself off, by expelling the heat of my inner flame through my skin. If only I could maintain my fire like this for longer… Then I wouldn’t need to use Pyr as a portable space heater. I mused as I tugged on the clean clothes I’d brought into the bathroom with me.

While Trismegistus was kind enough to provide magical heating for the interior of the temple, via a means I was yet to determine. Outside the buildings the temperature was below freezing, and extremely unpleasant. Something I should have considered before deciding to plop the temple down on top of a mountain.

As I left the bathroom with the intention of seeking out my private lab, a faint tugging at the back of my mind had my steps faltering. Turning my mental focus inwards, I searched through the metaphysical void looking for which of the disciples was praying, but none of the sparks pulsed with light, indicating they were calling to me.

Yet the sensation did not fade, instead it grew stronger until I realized it was the temple itself that was calling, and not a disciple. In my mind's eye, the temple appeared, and there in the passageway which led to the hall of origin, were three spheres moving further into the temple. Two of the spheres were a bright white, and the third a dark crimson.

“That's new,” I muttered, continuing past the door to the laboratory and down the stairs to the library.

After making my way through the library, I exited onto the balcony overlooking the hall of origin to see a pair of armor clad Tengu, and a bedraggled vampire standing near the entry into the hall. The spheres of white must be the Tengu, and the crimson Noctus. I concluded as I made my way down the stairs to meet the trio who were heading towards me.

“High Priestess Kadia, we bring the vampire as requested.” The winged man I vaguely recalled as Henry said, gesturing to Noctus.

Eyeing the vampire, I felt a surge of anger as I saw his gaunt features and soiled clothing. Noctus’s complexion was always pale, but now he appeared so thin, and sickly, I’d be inclined to mistake him for a living skeleton.

“Thank you. Please pass on my regards to High Priest Icarus,” I requested.

In response, the paladin inclined his head, before turning to walk away with his companion, leaving me alone with the vampire.

“You look like crap.” I informed him, though I suspected he already knew that.

“And you look like dinner,” Noctus commented, his voice coming out in a low raspy whisper, and his eyes locked firmly on my throat.

“I suppose that's true considering there’s no-one else here, and I’m guessing you’re not strong enough to travel to the nearby town, or willing to wait until someone else shows up.” I sighed, rubbing a hand over the side of my neck with a grimace. “Does it have to be the neck? Can we do the wrist instead?”

“I prefer the neck.”

“I prefer not feeding you at all,” I retorted, narrowing my eyes at him. “And certainly not until after you've had a bath. You smell like you’ve been rolling around in fecal matter.”

“That’s not far off,” he admitted, lips pressing into a tight line. “The Airus prison is quite lacking in hospitality.”

“Trust me, it’s not just the prison,” I grumbled, motioning Noctus towards the far side of the circular hall. “You can stay in the rooms designated for temple staff for now. Clothing wise, there isn’t much I can do. But my team is on their way from Bovia, so Rainy can fit you for something when she arrives. Darius should be here in a few days as well.”

After showing Noctus to a room, I made my way back to my own quarters, searching through the bags I’d left there for the letters Darius had given me to pass onto Noctus when I’d first left for Airus. I didn’t want to hang around waiting for Noctus to finish his bath, so retrieving the letters gave me the perfect excuse to leave.

When a good twenty minutes had passed, I returned to the room clutching a stack of letters, and one of my spare guild cloaks.

As I approached the door to Noctus’s room, it swung open to reveal the skeletal form of the vampire, wearing only a linen towel slung around his waist. Every rib of the vampire's torso jutted out against his pale skin, and his stomach was non-existent as his abdomen curved inwards towards his spine. Averting my eyes, I held out the cloak for him to take, listening to the rustling of cloth as he wrapped the cloak around himself.

“How long did you say it will take for others to arrive?” Noctus questioned, and I looked up to see him watching me with an intense gaze that sent shivers down my spine.

“A day, maybe two. There is no path up the mountain, so they’ll be leaving the wagons in Bovia, and trekking up on foot with Zosimos to guide them.” I answered.

Noctus nodded, a grim expression on his face as he moved away from the door, allowing me to enter the room. I did so hesitantly, as every fiber of my being screamed at me to flee from this creature in front of me.

“One feeding will not be enough, and I’m not sure I will be able to stop before killing you. The guards only gave me enough blood to prevent me going into a blood craze, and to dance around the restrictions on what is considered torture.” He warned as I followed him further into the room, and I began to regret my decision to let him feed, but a part of me knew I was partially at fault for his condition. Perhaps if I’d tried harder to free him, he wouldn’t be in such a bad way.

“How can this,” I seethed, waving a hand up and down his body. “Not be considered torture? Why didn’t the restrictions preventing torture, prevent them from treating you badly.”

“Clearly it wasn’t, as my requests to the gods to review my imprisonment went unanswered.” The vampire responded. “The trial was farce, everyone knows vampires can't feed on the unwilling, the geas which binds our race prevents it.”

“I didn’t know that,” I mumbled, under my breath, annoyed at the discovery of yet another thing that was apparently common knowledge to everyone but myself.

“You would if you paid attention to more than yourself.” Noctus hissed, and I froze in place. “You’ve been running around like a spoiled little princess since you got here. Expecting the entire guild to fall at your feet without doing a damn thing to earn it. You were in Airus for a week, and did nothing but run away with your tails between your legs! I waited every fucking day for you, yet all I got was the guards mockery over my own guilds abandonment!”

Eyes wide, I shook my head frantically as the skeletal vampire glowered at me. “I tried! They wouldn’t let me see you! Then I was barricaded inside the temple, but I stil…” I stuttered, the words ‘I still got you out’ catching in my throat.

‘But you almost didn't. You would have left him there, you even joked about it,’ a dark voice in my mind said, as tears burned in my eyes. ‘One annoying vampire is as good as any, right?’

“I’m sorry, I didn't...” I mumbled, unable to meet his gaze as my vision blurred with unshed tears. “I didn’t think you were in any danger, I mean, it’s not like it was a real prison.”

“Not real? You think this world isn’t real to us? This is as real as it gets for us!” The vampire snapped, and I peered up at him through my lashes, seeing his eyes blazing at me with fury.

I stared at him mutely, unable to speak as a strange aura of power swirled around me. The air felt thick, and I struggled to formulate a response as he glared at me.

“There’s almost seven hundred people in our guild. People who depend on us, who look to us to provide them safety from the scum that skulk about in these worlds. If our guild falls, they’ll be left without protection, left for filth like Dreadmere to take advantage of. You don’t know how good you have it. Darius, and Markion have sheltered you to the point of idiocy.” Noctus growled, a sneer on his lips as he jerked a thumb towards a pair of chairs in the corner of the room. “But they’re not here now, so it’s time to educate you on how things work in this fucked up virtual life we live. So sit the fuck down, and start listening.”