Chapter 416: Secrets & Discretion

“First Mother…?” Plum called out hesitantly.

The drow’s voice pulled Aurelia back from her memories of that fateful night 20 years ago. Aurelia breathed in shakily and tried her best to keep her voice from breaking. “...A child born under a new moon is considered an ill omen. I felt as if Lunae herself was rejecting me after I had broken my vows. I was scared. I was angry. I had lost everything, my station, my honor, my dreams… and I blamed a baby, my child.”

“I hated him for the simple crime of being born,” Aurelia laughed bitterly. “What Second Mother told you is true, she and Jahn fought off the hunters and Mothers while I escaped with Stryg into the forest. I didn’t know where I was going, I was in pain and delirious from the loss of blood. I was weak… and so lost. But when I looked into his little wailing face all I saw were my failures… I wanted it all to end.”

Aurelia closed her eyes tightly, “I gave him up. It was only for a moment, but I gave him up just the same. And that choice… I didn’t know it at the time but it would change everything.”

“What do you mean…?” Plum whispered anxiously.

“I may have given birth to Stryg but I lost the right to call him ‘son’ the night I gave him up. That role was taken upon by another.”

Plum frowned. “I don’t understand. You’re the First Mother, you raised Stryg yourself. Who else would dare call herself his mother?”

“You wanted me to give you a good reason as to why you should lie to Stryg about his parentage? I swore an oath that I would never reveal to Stryg that I was his mother.”

Plum shook her head in confusion, “You swore an oath? To whom?”

“To the being who took Stryg as her own. The Mother Moon, the ebon goddess Lunae.” Aurelia narrowed her eyes, “Is that ‘good enough’ reason for you?”

“W-What?” Plum’s face paled. “Y-You’re joking right?”

“I am the Favored of the Mother Moon and her faithful priestess, do you think I would dare joke about such a thing?”

Stryg’s body seized up and he groaned in pain.

“What’s happening to him!?” Plum asked frantically.

“His body is finally reacting to the pain of his injuries,” Aurelia noted. “It means he’s fighting to survive.”

Aurelia ended her healing spell and the white light faded from her fingertips. She gently placed her ear over Stryg’s chest and listened. The sound was still faint but now she heard two heartbeats instead of one.

“His first heart seems to have recovered,” Aurelia sighed in relief. Her shoulders slumped and she fell back. It felt as if a huge weight had fallen off her chest and she could finally breathe once more.

“First heart?” Plum furrowed her brow.

“...His chromatic heart,” she corrected. “It fell into organ failure but now it's beating again.” Aurelia brushed her fingers across Blossom’s white petals, “His cloak could only protect his body from so much. His flesh may seem fine but the falling debris broke most of his bones and ruptured his internal organs.”

Plum swallowed hard. “That sounds really bad,” she said shakily.

Aurelia nodded grimly, “It is. Chromatic magic’s healing prowess is limited. Stryg’s cloak is imbued with elemental life magic, which is far more effective but Blossom has its limits as well.”

“Then what are we going to do? We can’t just let him d—!” Plum bit her tongue. She couldn’t say it.

“Stryg will not die. So long as his second heart continues to beat his body will recover from most any injury given time.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Because anyone else would already be dead.”

Plum stared at Stryg’s face as he grimaced painfully. “How long is he going to be like that?”

“I’m not certain…” she admitted.

“Can’t you keep casting healing magic on him?”

“His body isn’t like ours. Whatever is happening underneath his flesh isn’t a normal healing process. If I continue to cast conventional healing magic on him I may do more harm than good.”

“So there’s nothing we can do?” Plum mumbled.

“There’s nothing more I can do. You on the other hand…”

Plum sat up at her words. “Tell me! I’ll do anything. Just tell me what I need to do!”

“Give him your blood.”

“Eh?” Plum blinked. “P-Pardon?”

“Stryg may not look it but he strongly inherited my vampiric nature.”

Plum’s eyes widened in shock. “Wait, you’re a hybrid?! You’re a half-vampire?”

“Less than half but my House’s bloodline is particularly strong. Stryg and I both possess several vampiric traits, including the ability— and need to consume blood.”

“Wait, wait. I have so many questions. If you’re some kind of hybrid, then that means hybrids can have children! And Stryg! He’s part vampire!? How is that even possible—? Ah.” Plum recalled the countless times Stryg had bitten people who had annoyed him. He had even bitten her on occasion. “Actually, I can totally believe it,” she said dryly.

Aurelia ignored her mumbling and grabbed Plum’s wrist. “Stryg’s blood consumption is something every vampire has and it should still work the same as any the rest of us.”

“What is that supposed to mean and what are you doing with my— OW, SHIT!”

Aurelia ran her forefinger’s claw across Plum’s wrist and slit it wide open. She held Plum’s wrist over Stryg’s open mouth and let her blood trickle down his throat. “Feeding will help with his recovery.”

“Then why don’t you just give him your own blood,” Plum complained with a grimace.

“Vampires cannot consume the blood of other vampires. We may only be part vampire but I rather not risk it. There, that should be enough.” Aurelia pushed Plum’s wrist away from Stryg and healed the cut with a simple white spell.

“I feel a little light-headed,” Plum said hazily.

“Chromatic healing spells are quite poor when it comes to regenerating loss of blood. Give yourself a few days, you’ll be fine.”

“T-Thanks, I guess?” Plum mumbled.

Stryg’s breathing relaxed somewhat and his body eased into a peaceful sleep.

“That should help,” Aurelia noted.

“Hey, are you doing that?” Plum asked.

The few drops of blood that had fallen to the ground were crawling away.

“Is that some sort of vampire ability?” Plum asked.

“No, it isn’t.” Aurelia stood to her feet and searched the ruined throne room for any threats.

The blood droplets pooled together and formed a beeline towards a particularly large boulder a dozen paces away. Green mana flowed into Aurelia’s hand and the boulder rolled aside with a flick of her wrist.

An armored mangled corpse was buried underneath the rubble. It was missing its left arm from above the elbow though there was no blood.

“That’s King Alok!” Plum said in recognition.

“…I wish I had killed him myself.”

“Careful! Don’t get too close. He was using some kind of powerful enchanted armor. It froze anything that got too close.”

Aurelia stared at the shattered parallel magestone on the right pauldron. “Whatever enchantment it was, it's gone now.”

Her eyes were drawn to the blood droplets slowly swirling around the sword hilt sticking out from the frost troll’s chest.

Isn’t this Stryg’s? Aurelia thought and pulled the sword from the corpse. She stiffened at the sight of the scarlet blade and the clear inscription etched on it.

“…Krikolm?” Aurelia muttered in awe.

“Wait, what did you just say? Because it sounds like you just said Krikolm,” Plum wanted to get a better look but she refused to leave Stryg’s side.

Aurelia smiled softly, “This little brat, I can’t believe he really found it. To think he’s had it with him all this time.” She walked back over to Stryg and placed the sword next to him.

“Hey, that’s the relic sword, but why is it red? And the sigils, they actually seem legible.” Plum leaned over and read the inscription, “It’s written in the Old Tongue, it says… Krikolm… WHAT!?? W-Wha? W-Why? How?!”

“My grandmother lost the sword in a battle with a dragon that had made its lair in Vulture Woods. I can only imagine it must have been that dragon’s skeleton you found in that serpent’s cave,” Aurelia said thoughtfully.

Plum rubbed her temples and closed her eyes, trying to process the last few minutes. “Let’s say that really is Krikolm and that one of the most infamous swords in the entire realm is lying not three paces from me, why would your grandmother ever have Krikolm in her possession? Did she steal it? How did she even find it?”

“She didn’t steal it,” Aurelia glared at Plum. “Krikolm was given to her by her mother just as she inherited Krikolm from her grandfather and so forth, as is tradition.”

“Tradition? Since when do goblins pass down legendary swords?” Plum chuckled. “You make it almost sound as if your grandmother was a V—...” She frowned. “You said you're part vampire? Was your grandmother by any chance a vampire?”

“No.”

Plum sighed in relief, “Oh, I see—”

“She was half vampire and half drow.”

“Huh?”

Aurelia crossed her arms, “She was a hybrid but that didn’t stop her from becoming the ruler of her House.”

“House…? As in a noble House?”

“One of the greatest in the realm,” Aurelia nodded casually.

“Greatest?” The blood began to drain from Plum’s face as she began to put the pieces together. She slowly glanced at Krikolm then Stryg and finally First Mother. “Who are you…?”

“I am the woman you do not wish to make enemies with under any circumstance.” Aurelia leaned forward with a cold glare, “So I trust I can count on your absolute discretion regarding all matters shared with you in this cave.”

Plum swallowed, “Yes, my lady.”