As I approached the building I saw a guard with a torch marching toward a crossing point with me. It was an older woman with silver hair and most of her light scars on the right side of her face. She called out a greeting, “See anything on the east side brother? I’ve got nothing on the northwest side.”

  Shaking my head, I kept my hood low as I grumbled, “Nothing, sister.”

  To my relief she just cursed and kept walking. Analyzing her I found that she was a level eight variant of the men I had already killed. Scanning the area surrounding us for any other nearby cultists and finding none, I turned to follow her. Stepping in close I wrapped an arm around her neck and drove the Ritual Dagger into her lower back, activating Slice to exacerbate the bleed. As I twisted the blade she managed to throw me off, drawing her own short blade and staggering as she turned to glare at me.

  She managed a weak cry for help, “Here!,” before I was on her again.

  The woman turned out to be somewhat stronger than her associates. As we exchanged blows, the majority of the telling ones mine, she started to stagger and cough missing key attempts to block my strikes. To end the exchange I rushed in close and drove my dagger into her stomach, throwing the wide eyed and gasping woman to the ground as she gasped in pain. I looted her and then hurried back into the vines to find a place amongst the shadows before she was even truly dead.

  Half an hour later, when I had killed four more of their guards, the commander who had ordered the search had his men fall back to the winery. Making a circuit of the concealing rows of vines surrounding the structure, I discovered that their commander had set two guards at every entrance. There even appeared to be a pair of guards on the upper catwalks of the larger warehouse peering out through windows and into the night. With Analyze I was able to identify that most of them were level seven and eight cultist guards while one was a level nine cultist pyromancer and the last, who I assumed was the commander, was a level eleven cult champion.

  There were ten of them remaining. Both of the guards on the second floor were level sevens and although I wasn’t sure how its formula worked hoped that the Eyes of Theodora would be an effective tool in bypassing them. It was going to be next to useless against the pyromancer and the commander.

  As I knelt there considering my options I spoke out loud, mostly to myself, “I wonder what this Lady of Flame did to these people. Everyone I have encountered has been a vacant eyed zombie-like thug.” The young woman I’d charmed in the cultist camp sprung to mind and I muttered, “Except that one.”

  Following an OpNet rabbit hole years ago had revealed the actual origins of the zombie creature were steeped in Haitian Vodou. Some anthropologists conducted research that suggested that at least part of the zombie myth came from the use of poisons to make disruptive citizens more amenable.

  Maybe this Lady of Fire was letting these people sip the hardcore hallucinogens and they had advanced from zealot to brainwashed with a little pharmacological push. Or, maybe this was a fucking video game and I was looking into it too much.

  A shout from the winery pulled me out of my idle thoughts, “If you set foot inside this building heathen, I will kill one of the vintners. Do not test my faith!”

  Sneering at the proclamation, I sighed and mused to myself, “Can I manage this whole attack without alerting any of them?” Considering the situation and the building itself I finally shrugged and smiled, “Gonna give it my best shot.”

  Making my way through the fields I hurried across the open space between the golden vines to a wall below an upper story window and started to scale it. At the second floor window I got a good grip and waited quietly. When I heard one of the guards patrolling the catwalk near me I lightly tapped the wall with my foot.

  When he did not bite I did it again. The second time I heard him pull his blade and advance toward me. When he got to the window and looked over the edge down at me I activated Charm and instead of the shout of alarm I expected the very stout and bearded cultist smiled and leaned down as he whispered with affection, “Hey babe.”

  Sighing, I grabbed him by the front of the tabard, yanking him out of the window. He just met my eyes the whole way down until his head smashed on the paved path beside the house in a blossom of brilliant crimson. Rolling my shoulders at the uncomfortable familiarity of the dead guard I hissed, “That is not getting fucking creepy at all.”

  Peering over the sill I saw the second guard making her rounds oblivious to the fate of her associate. I climbed through the window and onto the walkway. Looking down I saw the lower floor, wide and vaulted with two rows of heavy oaken barrels creating pathways through the chamber. People who could only be the vintner and his family were bound and kneeling in the center of the chamber guarded by a woman in robes with a bald head that was criss-crossed with the spidery glowing orange runes typical of the cultists. The man next to her was wearing heavy armor and carrying a vicious black flail with a heavy spiked head and a handle wrapped in red leather.

  Near them an older man and woman, a very young boy and a girl in her teens knelt on the floor between the kegs. Their arms were bound behind their backs and each of them was gagged. Each of them were the more typical denizens I had encountered before with long sharp ears and skin of varying hues of purple. The teenaged woman had much lighter lavender colored skin and thick black hair bound tightly behind her head with a missed curl hanging over her forehead. In comparison to the vintner and his wife she had much broader shoulders and hips and powerful muscular arms and legs. The pure physicality of the young woman was a testament to the difference between human and haithan physiology.

  The patrolling guard was making her way around toward me so I ducked my head and angled around the catwalks making my way to approach her from behind. As I did I let Lydia read out my notifications. There were a few notable developments:

  “You are now Trained in the Blades skill.

  Choose a Specialty: Heavy Blades, Light Blades, Medium Blades

  You are now Trained in the Light Armor skill.

  This skill does not have a specialty.”

  I locked in Light Blades as my choice for my evolution of the blade skills. I gained the following three abilities and skills:

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  “Light blade weapons derive 100% of their ability to hit and damage from the Agility statistic and your skill in Light Blades.

  You now gain +10% Essence efficiency while wearing light armor.”

  I also gained the Disguise skill for my attempts to mislead the guards:

  “Disguise

  Rarity: Common

  Requirements: None

  Training Level: Novice 1

  Key Ability: Charm

  Description

  Who is that masked Remnant?

  Quick Disguise: In less than a minute you can construct a suitable disguise using materials at hand. Seeing through the disguise is opposed by the viewer’s Spirit and any relevant skills.”

  In addition, I leveled from seven to nine. Taking Anaya’s advice, I ignored a prompt suggesting I choose between three class abilities, sending it back to the notifications as I reached the now slightly alerted guard. She had pulled her shortsword and was advancing on the last position her comrade had been seen. Slipping up behind her, I summoned my shortsword and ritual dagger into my hands driving the latter into her lower back and activating Slice.

  She stuttered and let out a hiss as I grabbed her by the forehead and yanked the serrated dagger across her throat. She fell to her knees and sputtered up blood as she struggled to stop it, the dark fluid spraying past her mailed gauntlets. Ignoring her as she slumped to the ground, I looked down to survey the guards at the exits and most importantly the leaders at the center. Thankfully the latter seemed to be distracted arguing with each other.

  I looted the wide eyed and dying woman before turning to survey all my remaining targets. Spotting a level seven guard on one of the exits I moved along the gangway until I was above her.

  Pulling out a copper coin I dropped it, letting it clink off her helmet. She looked down at it and then up with a confused look on her light scarred face. When our eyes met and I activated the Eyes of Theodora again her eyes melted into familiarity and her lips into a broad smile. She mouthed the word, “Hey,” as she pulled her sword. Offering a tight and uncomfortable smile I nodded to the man beside her. She winked, and then drove her sword into the man’s side without warning.

  The moment she struck the charm was broken and in her flat affected voice she stuttered, “I did not mean to…”

  Unfortunately for her the victim of her attack was not inclined to listen and yanked his simple two handed blade upward from his side in a bid to slash her. The attack caused her to tumble back to avoid it. The man boomed out a passionless, “Traitor here,” as he advanced on her.

  Chatter went up throughout the winery and other soldiers rushed to aid. With the growing confusion I moved to the center of the chamber on the walkway above the bound and gagged family. The heavily armored champion stomped down the aisle toward the commotion. He turned and glared from his helm at the pyromancer and continued out of sight. I angled to place myself above the agitated robed woman and with a softly announced, “Yolo,” rolled over the edge and dropped down onto her from above.

  Leading with my hammer I activated Thump and crunched it into the side of her head. She staggered away and turned to glare at me, clearly recovering far more quickly from the stun due to her higher level and stats.

  She screeched and raised her hands, filling them with swirling scarlet fire. I charged in and activated Slice as I swiped my dagger across her chest. This close I could see her eyes go wild and her mouth open to reveal swirling flames beyond. There was a deafening cracking sound as a bolt of fire blasted from her lips toward me.

  My HUD went black briefly.

  When my view flickered back into existence I shook my head realizing that my avatar was slumped against one of the kegs. Smoking tendrils of smoke were rising from the center of my chest armor. Seeing that my regeneration had halted I cursed.

  The pyromancer was screeching and charging me. Her mouth was flickering with flame and she was raising a sword made of pure fire. I activated Evade and rolled aside, coming to my feet to see another guard rushing down the aisle toward us.

  A strong voice called from amidst the prisoners, the girl had tumbled over and managed to get her gag free, “Cut me free and give me a sword!”

  Cursing, I hurled a dagger at the mage as she readied another fire spell. The dagger grazed her arm but did not disrupt the cast. Summoning another dagger I rushed to the downed girl and sliced her bonds, summoning a long blade I had looted from another cultist at my feet before sprinting on to meet the caster.

  The Pyromancer raised a twisted and blackened hand to loose a stream of fire at me. The lance of flame shot out toward me like a laser carving into my shoulder and causing me to duck to avoid losing a limb.

  When I finally reached her I stepped aside to avoid the guttering blade of flame and weaved the blades in my hand slicing into her chest and stomach. I ducked down to avoid a horizontal slash of the flame blade only to catch a flaming fist to the chin and stagger back and away from the now screaming woman.

  More guards were rushing to the aid of the witch and her… Where was the champion?

  Looking around for the armored warrior I was shocked to turn just in time to see the girl I had freed run him through and kick him to the floor with a surprisingly haughty statement, “Cultist trash.”

  Coughing, I tried to ignore my considerable damage as I said, “Alright then,” and charged back toward the pyromancer.

  Seeing the champion go down she had gone into a rage and in lieu of spells swiped her blade at me in a frenzy. My hammer and blade snapped up to deflect several strikes. When the witch’s stamina was expended and she was panting and staggering I dodged past a clumsy strike to drive my blades into her chest and let her lifeless body slump to the floor. Slinging her dark blood off my blades with a small flourish I rushed to meet a pair of guards charging to their now dead leader’s aid.

  Behind me the sword wielding girl had just dispatched another guard and was taking on two more deflecting their weapons like a master fencer. She moved with grace and obvious training. Her careful movements, deflections, and artful dodges somehow infuriated the flat and near emotionless soldiers.

  My health was low, and my regeneration had yet to reactivate. Swiping out at both targets I managed superficial slashes on them activating Slice with the last of my Essence. They recoiled under the hits and before they could fully recover I was within the reach of their their weapons and weaving strikes into their bodies.

  The Withered debuff fell into my notifications folder and my avatar’s movements became sluggish and inaccurate.

  Luckily for me, one of the men was already badly hurt and I was able to cut him down with a pair of quick slashes. At that the final guard turned to run and I chased after him, jumping onto his back and lodging my knife into his clavicle with a snarl before burying my fangs into his neck. As I drained the Essence from his body I felt the wounds caused by the pyromancer’s fire finally start to heal.

  Feeling a blade press to my neck in the midst of my feeding I dislodged my jaws and panted as I said, “I guess it wasn’t the greatest idea to give you a sword?”

  Feeling the tip of the blade tap nervously against my throat I remained completely still. The girl spoke through gritted teeth, “Why would a monster choose to help us, or were you planning on killing us all?”

  Rolling my shoulders I gasped wetly, “Can I stand up as long as I put my weapons away?”

  “No, I don’t think you will. Tell me why you are here.”

  Nodding, I smirked. My health and Essence were still low despite the blood I had just siphoned from the guard. The fire damage had really done a number. Well, if this is where I die…

  Glancing over my shoulder at her I took in the fierce young woman properly, for the first time.