Fates of Grenora: Return of the Night

Aldrin watched the retreating Moon Elf skyships from atop ‌one spire used to teleport to the tethered landmasses above. Every now and again, the High Seer would peer back to the spire Aldrin stood upon. He didn't care as he watched them go but burned the High Seer's face into his memory. Once his sight could no longer make out the smallest of details of her face, he turned his attention to the natural stone battlements to see the Dark Elves rapidly gathering their dead and retreating back through the portals. He snarled, sounding more beast than man as he watched them flee after their brazen attack.

The defenders, the remaining paltry defense force of High Elves, quickly worked to reestablish order by coordinating where people were most needed, ignoring their fleeing enemies. Seeing that, Aldrin jumped off the spire and transformed himself into his swarm, using the smoke from the fires to mask his form. He saw groups of Adventurers, specifically those that could use water and ice spells, work to put out the little fires while the others saved those that were trapped.

He mentally let out a sigh as he overlooked the concentrated damage from the blitz attack, knowing the attackers were only here to draw him out. What worried him, even borderline scared him, was if that Moon Elf knew who and what he was, who else did. That question raced around his mind the most. He had a sinking feeling that his time for anonymity was ending, and he wasn't ready as he felt he should be.

"Where are we ‌with everything?" Aldrin asked through the Servant Strands that tied him to Jared, Pierre, and Evie.

"Just turned in the gem, now asking for where to find a Beastmaster," Jared was the first to reply.

"Brewing healing potions for the wounded," Pierre answered second.

"Evie?" Aldrin asked after waiting for a moment.

"Sorry. Helping put out the fires," she responded, sounding more distracted than the others.

Hearing their answers, Aldrin flew towards the gate they came from. "Head towards the gate we first arrived through when you can. We are done here," he told them.

"But what about everything else we still have to do? The Adventurer's Guild stuff?" Jared asked.

Aldrin mentally winced. "I am sorry, but we must leave as quickly as possible."

There were no responses after that, but Aldrin could feel faint disappointment emanating from Jared's strand. He hated ‌not being able to do what he wanted for them, but the revelation of the Moon Elves knowing him took precedence. There was no telling how much danger he was in and, by association, how much danger the others were in too. He didn't want to take a chance of another thing happening. For now, the mercenary town of Ebira was still their best shot at crossing the sea to get to the continent where the other Vampires fled too.

When he got to the gate where they first came in, the fires in the opposite direction had pulled whatever guards there were to help control the situation. Aldrin circled once, then twice from above, staying within a low-hanging cloud from a nearby landmass to remain hidden while he viewed with his predator vision for any hidden forms of life he couldn't see out in the open. There were a few people in the rocky abodes that were carved into the stony hilltops around the tower, but none were outside.

Without further need for surveillance, he flew down and reformed himself near the base of the tower where they first entered. He looked for his two vampiric warhorses and spotted them hunched over a corpse, blissfully munching away without a care in the world. He covered the distance in two steps, worried they had managed to harm someone innocent.

Flesh being torn mixed in with the grunts and groans of the warhorses didn't alert them to Aldrin's presence until he ripped away the corpse.

"Who in the fuck.." one of them said before looking up and standing stock still.

"Oh shit… it's the big man," the other whispered, staring wide-eyed at Aldrin.

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Recognition bloomed in Aldrin's eyes as these were considered creatures of the night he could communicate with thanks to his Skill. Realizing that, he couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle. "I understand you now, by the way."

"Hallix…" the one on the left whispered.

"Yeah, Drellix..?" the one on the right whispered back.

"What do we do?" Drellix whispered.

"If we don't move, he can't see us," Hallix replied and immediately went rigid.

"Hallix?" Drellix said

Hallix didn't answer.

"Hallix, you twat," Drellix hissed, worried about being left alone.

Hallix still didn't answer much, to Aldrin's amusement. "I can still see you," he shook his head with a smirk.

"No you can't," Hallix said.

"Are you serious?! You answer him and not me?!" Drellix cried.

"Yes," Hallix flatly replied and went back to being his version of a statue.

Aldrin was about to say something else then remembered the exact reason why he rushed over. He quickly spun around, looking for the corpse he ripped away from them and saw it a few feet away. Approaching it, he felt relief when he saw it was only a doe's corpse. More questions bloomed, the first one being, "Who has fed you?" He asked with a frown as he turned back around.

Hallix broke his statue act by flicking his eyes back to Drellix, who looked just as alarmed. "Some lady that was pink," Hallix answered, circling his hoof in the stony dirt, not daring to look Aldrin in the eye. Drellix wasn't any better as he promptly turned his head to the side, laying his ears flat as if to pretend to not hear and see him.

Aldrin gave them a look that threatened to turn them into meat. That resulted in the warhorses turning into two teenagers caught doing something bad by blaming and trying to out-talk each other. Aldrin held up a hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I can see you two are going to be bundles of fun," he dryly said to himself. "Was she gem encrusted? Pink hair and eyes?" He asked, finally looking at them again.

"Yes?" they both said in unison.

"Yes or no?" Aldrin demanded, tapping his foot with his hands on his hips.

"Yes!" they both said.

Aldrin sighed and slapped his forehead. "If it's not one thing, it's another. Good gods." He spat, then took a breath to calm himself. "Where is the carriage?"

"Over there," Hallix dipped his head in the direction behind Aldrin.

Aldrin looked for the carriage, seeing it neatly parked under an overcropping of rock, offering it shade and ready for an easy hitch. His suspicions grew, but then he remembered that the imp, Waesmenor, had enchanted it. Part of him became excited to see the new carriage but also wary of any hidden runes for spying. He would have to get Evie to do a once over whenever she arrived.

"You two!" Aldrin called for Hallix and Drellix.

"Yes, boss?" Drellix answered this time.

"Be ready to leave whenever the rest of the team gets here. For now, finish eating," Aldrin said, much to their elation that he felt over their bond to him. "Also, I am sorry for taking away your food. I thought…" he trailed off. "Well, it doesn't matter. The point is I'm sorry," he finished with a nod to them both.

Drellix was the first to nuzzle Aldrin. "It's alright, boss. We forgive you."

Hallix came in not a moment later. "Speak for yourself, Drellix. But yes, we forgive you."

Aldrin cracked a smile and patted their necks, careful to avoid their fiery blood manes. He stepped aside to let them finish gorging themselves as he went to see the carriage. On the outside, the carriage looked the same when they first got it, albeit the wood was now lacquered black, but as he stepped closer, his system chimed in the corner of his vision. Curious about what it could be now, he pulled it up, surprising him in a good way.

Thoroughly impressed with the enchantments on the carriage, he couldn't help but mentally applaud the imp. However, he would never voice his actual thoughts to the imp for fear of the imp exploiting or enticing him to something more. The favors attached to their gear upgrades and now the carriage enchantment only enlarged his worry about the favors the imp would call in. Regardless, he had to admit he owed the imp for the work he's done. Amid those thoughts, another system chime pinged in the corner of his vision, so he pulled it up.

Aldrin read that but decided that since this was going to be the mode of transportation for the foreseeable future, he wanted to name this as a group. Closing that off, he went to reach for the handle but thought better of it, unsure if he passed through the door, the spatial rune would activate and take him elsewhere. So he held off and decided to sit on the steps of the spiral tower. He briefly peered inside with his predator vision and only saw a handful of people, not enough to warrant his guard being up. With that in mind, he leaned back on the steps to stare up at the cloudy landmass chained to the top of the tower. Thoughts raced through his mind about everything he had learned from Xi Lin. He needed more direction. He needed more help than what Evie could provide currently. He needed a link to his Kin.

With a heavy sigh, he closed his eyes and whispered to the wind, "I'm ready."

There was a short breeze that ruffled through his hair he enjoyed. That joy was cut short when he felt someone enter the very edge of his sphere of awareness. He looked to see who and was pleasantly surprised to see the pink fae from Lor-Vold had come instantly.

She smiled brightly with genuine happiness in her eyes as she peered at him. "So you are," she whispered just as quietly, still smiling at him as if she had been there patiently waiting all along.