Fates of Grenora: Return of the Night

Stepping out into the open from around the bend, he ordered, "Release them," which caused the two robed figures to turn around slowly.

The eerily precise movements of their actions unnerved Aldrin. He expected something witty in return, but only silence filled the space between them. The robed figures stood at equal height and dimensions, making Aldrin wonder if they were twins of some sort. His question was answered soon enough as they disrobed, revealing themselves to be made of shiny porcelain. They were devoid of a face, any identifiable marks, and moved with jerky steps at first before transitioning into smooth even steps.

"FINALLY! I can let off some steam!" Aldrin celebrated. Grinning to himself, he rushed in, happy to engage in a fight after a period of stagnation and espionage.

Both of them unsheathed porcelain-white daggers as they ran to dismember Aldrin. They met in the middle, Aldrin easily deflecting their strikes. The excitement soon turned to disappointment once he realized the Homunculi weren't going to be a challenge. One of them lunged at Aldrin's thigh while the other lunged for his head. He narrowed his eyes at the slow movements of the two. Noting that they moved smoothly but seemed they could only do one thing at a time, he took advantage of it.

He twisted his wrist, moving his sword to meet the dagger headed for his thigh, then he used his free hand to catch the other Homunculus by the wrist. The drone he had caught struggled to break free before cocking its smooth head to the side to stare. Confused by the sudden motion, he had no time to think as the other raced to tackle him, forgoing its dagger altogether. Aldrin rooted himself in place, bracing for the impact while still holding onto the struggling one. The drone knocked into him, forcing him to take a step back.

"This is like play-fighting with children," he deadpanned, disappointment lacing his entire demeanor. The one he held by the wrist jumped, placing both feet on his chest with little force as it wrestled with Aldrin's vice grip.

"Oh hell," Aldrin rolled his eyes.

He crumpled and shattered the wrist of the one he held before grabbing the other one that tugged at his waist by the head. Lifting it off of him, he stared at it, wondering if the Puppeteer could see him through their minions. He squeezed the porcelain drone's head, inflicting spiderweb cracks before he completely obliterated it, leaving one last drone that attempted to shank Aldrin with its dagger it picked up.

The blade bit into his stomach, causing him some discomfort. The drone left it there and punched Aldrin with its one remaining good hand. To Aldrin, it felt like he was being punched with a pillow, to say the least. He pushed it away, making it fly back into the cavern wall, sending an echoing thud when it flopped down. Walking over to it, he observed it for any surprise movements.

With none, he crushed its head as well. "There. No surprises," he dusted his hands.

Turning to face the chained prisoners, counting six, he led them out to the main cavern, slowly but steadily. He also grabbed the key to unlock their magical handcuffs off of one of the Homunculus' robes. Fiddling with the keys, his mind raced back and forth about removing the sacks over their heads. A part of him wondered if they would blab to anyone given what they went through, which seemed unlikely given the state they were in. He already put himself in unnecessary danger once he demolished the drones back there. Who knows who was on the other end or if they could see him? However, those questions were for another time and place.

Aldrin felt something skitter towards them from the cavern of the potential Undead. Closing his eyes, he focused on whatever rushed in their direction. What he thought was something small drastically changed into the size of a car. Snapping his eyes open, he looked back at the prisoners, seeing the subtle shaking wreck through their bodies.

None of them seemed to be fancily dressed like the first group he saw, but they were, instead, in tattered clothing. He guessed that these had been picked up off the street either forcefully or were offered something they couldn't refuse. Now, in hindsight, they likely came to regret that choice.

Slavery wasn't uncommon in the Queendom. It was more based on the area you were in, but the Queen had promised efforts to stomp it out, or so he thought. He didn't even want to begin thinking about the mental psyche of the Queen that let her people be enslaved and experimented on forcefully.

Soon the car-sized monstrosity presented itself when it came around the corner. The top half was a pale, bloated corpse that had eyes running down its torso, while the lower half of it all was a centipede. While he was used to seeing bloated corpses as Zombies; he was not used to seeing the rotten carapace of the bottom half. Its many black appendages reminded him of old locomotive pistons on the wheels as they moved up and down in rhythm. The Human primal urge in him screamed to run as it scuttled in a zig-zag line towards him. Even if he wanted to, he couldn't outpace the monster, as it finally came to a stop in front of him.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

Its many soulless eyes wandered over the entire group, searching for something until all of its eyes landed on Aldrin. Its top half leaned forward, adjusting for a better angle.

"Midnight Lord brings offerings to the horde? We hunger," it spoke in a multilayered voice in Aldrin's mind.

"No, not them, although I do have another offer," Aldrin replied.

"Speak. The horde will listen." It scuttled into a curling position, towering above Aldrin still as he fought back a shiver.

"A group of slavers use that tunnel," he pointed to the left, "you can eat those to grow your numbers."

"Anything that has a black sack over its head is off limits, but the rest are all yours. Do we have a deal?" Aldrin stood tall.

The Death Gorger's many eyes blinked one by one. "The horde grows," it conceded.

"Interesting," Aldrin mused to himself, reminding him to go back over his other Quest when he had the time to do so.

"Do you think the horde could expand these caverns to beneath the place they are keeping the other Zombies?"

All of its eyes veered around the cavern, scrutinizing every inch with efficiency. It made Aldrin's sense of danger tick up more by seeing the Undead in a new light.

"We shall," it said, before unwrapping itself and scuttling back around the corner.

Unsure of whether he made the right choices, he led the prisoners back the way he came from. He had to move the body of the former shopkeeper out of the way so that none would trip over his feet. Thinking of how to release the prisoners without exactly being seen is the part that stumped him. He could give them the key, but they also may have been beaten for moving, which would get him nowhere, either.

Thinking back to the time he could reform the upper half of his body in Shapechange with the bats, he wondered if he could do the same with his fog form. Deciding to test it out, he failed the first time because he let himself be too light, allowing the key to fall to the floor. He reformed so he could pick it and placed it in his hand again. The second time he thought of himself being more solid, which worked, but instead of the wispy smoke, he usually saw himself as he still saw bits of his skin.

The third time he found more success, he envisioned himself being swathed in his black fog but still solid enough to have shape and density. He felt himself constantly trying to sink or float into the air while trying to reform his body all at once. It skewed ‌his sense of balance, making him stumble forwards in order to stop himself from falling.

Smiling to himself for discovering a new aspect of his Vampire abilities, he then peered out of the shop window for anyone on the street. Seeing that it was empty, he rushed back for the prisoners, leading them out of the shop and away from any danger. Finally, feeling a suitable distance away, he assumed his new Shapechange fog form.

He removed the black silky sack, revealing the face of a blind old man, white hair stuck to his head struggling to grow back at the top, his white beard was scraggly with patches of hair missing in some areas. His olive skin was wrinkly and clung to his slightly hunched form. Once powerful hands were now nothing but brittle bone, and his clothes were browned and dirty from sweat.

"Are we there yet?" He frowned, adding more wrinkles to his forehead. "If I don't get my promised youth back, I'm throwing shit at you like I promised." He attempted to stand taller in defiance.

"You want to be here?" Aldrin asked in disbelief.

"They promised me I could see again and have my youth back," he smiled, showing a few missing teeth.

Aldrin yanked off the next one, who turned out to be a teenager no older than fifteen. He was thin, incredibly malnourished from his sunken face, deep blue eyes held the look of lifetimes in them, thin dusty blonde hair was matted down in need of a good wash, and sad of all, he looked like he was used to this. He didn't jump back in fright when he saw Aldrin's form either.

"Why'd they take you?" Aldrin asked the boy. His voice was raspy, and he couldn't go above a whisper.

"My family sold me. Needed the money more than me," the boy replied in a monotone voice.

Aldrin unlocked his magical cuffs first, making the boy's eyes go wide. "Free the others and get out of the city in the morning. Do not look back." He dropped the key into the boy's palm along with two Silver coins for each, making the boy's eyes grow even wider.

"Cheat them, and I will know," Aldrin said before fully shifting into fog and dispersing into the air. Reforming on a nearby rooftop with a clear outlook, he watched the boy unlock the rest.

Twin Wood Elves with dark green hair and deep brown eyes took their share of their coins and rain off before even saying where. Aldrin had noticed that their eyes had briefly passed over him before leaving. There was also a young woman with short purple hair who decided to stick nearby, her light blue eyes darting in every direction as if she was waiting for something bad to jump out.

The last one to be freed and given the coins was a seedy-looking man with slick black hair that Aldrin probably should not have allowed out of those cuffs. He rubbed his wrist and hands together, looking around at all the buildings he could see from the walkway they stood on. Giving a short wave to the remaining group, he ran off, jumping in the air once to click his heels together.

Aldrin felt a little better now that he had freed them and set them on their way with a little money, but deep down in his gut he knew it was only a matter of time before Lor-Vold was brought to its knees. He worried about the Undead getting stronger and smarter by the day, as they demonstrated with the Death Gorger. Worry coursed through him, thinking if set loose only on the intended target, would they stay or would it become another Vaultstrand?