My (Monster?) Hero Life

Kace's group had a similar experience to the heroes party. Once they found themselves on solid ground again, their first reaction was to spew their guts out. Kace looked around at their surroundings. Immediately noticing the not so subtle differences in the two worlds.

For one, the sky was pitch black; the three moons in the sky only reflected a small amount of light down to the surface of the planet. As far as the eye could see, there was only black rocky ground that formed ranges of steep spikes that rose high into the air like thin mountains.

The area was completely void of any vegetation. A piercing shriek drew Kace'stion to a silhouette flying in front of a cloud. The large bird figure had four pairs of wings. Aside from that, any other details were too difficult to make out.

This place felt like the perfect place for a nocturnal predator to survive. A gasp from Sophia startled him. Turning to give her an annoyed look, he discovered that she was staring intently at something.

Crossing the distance between them, he looked at what appeared to be an ordinary rock on the ground. Even checking it from various angles failed to reveal what she could possibly find so enthralling about it.

"What's the big deal about the rock?" He ventured when he realised that she was not going to say anything on her own.

Sophia only stammered in response. The words failed to roll off of her tongue. Raven raised an eyebrow and sighed. He had noticed it as well but had secretly hoped that Sophia would not.

"It's a territory marker." Raven finally responded in her stead.

"What's that?" Kace asked with a confused expression on his face. He felt better about it when he realised that Grugda appeared to be just as clueless as he was.

"It's covered with a spell that only allows vampires to see the sigil inscribed on it. They were used to mark out the territories of the various nobles within the vampire hierarchy. Before you ask that one, in particular, has Her Highness, Queen Sonja's mark imprinted on it." Raven explained with a tone full of doom and gloom.

Kace realised why such a discovery would mean a lot to Sophia. For one, she would be able to confirm whether her mother and more importantly, her race were still alive. On the other hand, it could also mean walking straight into another prison sentence for her.

"You know the choice is yours," Kace said to her, which briefly gained him her gratitude. Right before he crushed it again. "But you know, we're lost. We have barely any food. No shelter. And no way to return home, so I know what choice I hope you make."

The smile he flashed her was full of fake innocence. Nevertheless, Sophia was aware that their current predicament was indeed dire. Without a source of information, it was highly unlikely that they would be able to survive for long. With a heavy sigh after weighing the possible outcomes, she began to lead them in the direction that the marker pointed her in.

Captain Raven was in an even worse mood than Sophia. He was in no way inclined to put himself at Sonja's mercy after the way she had played with his life and his feelings. What felt like two or three days to their own body clocks passed as they made slow progress along crooked paths.

Due to the constant darkness, it made it difficult for them to accurately judge how much time had actually passed. Mr Thomas came to the rescue more than once with his backpack. The man seemingly managed to pull an endless supply of rations from it. Kace was positive on more than one occasion that the pack had to have been emptied by now.

Every now and then they would catch a glimpse of a creature's shadow in the distance. However, whatever they were, they did not seem keen to take on multiple opponents just to try and scavenge something to eat.

"How much further is it?" Kace asked Sophia for the umpteenth time. His patience was really starting to wear thin.

"Another day? Maybe two? For all, I know only half a day may have passed since we arrived here. For one thing, I don't even know if the timescale the marker gave us was based on our time or this world's time." Sophia sighed as her own frustration was beginning to show on her usually perfect face.

Kace was about to argue with her when he caught sight of what he assumed was their destination in the distance. Even from this distance, his eyes were telling him that the city had its back situated against a cliff. It seemed to be a mirror image of the city where they had found Sophia.

Kace's excitement peaked though, as he noticed a critical detail. There was actual smoke rising from the chimneys of the homes. That could only mean one thing. The city had a living breathing population. Well not literally since they were undead.

He shared this news with the rest of the group, quickly whipping them into a frenzy at the thought of some warm food and a comfy bed. Almost everyone's mood immediately elevated a few notches, almost everyone. Sophia and Raven's mood identically plummeted upon the realisation that they were definitely going to see Sonja again. It was a situation neither of them wanted to encounter.

With a mixture of high spirits and escape plans being formed, the ragtag group quickly descended from the position. Kace was eager to meet the queen in person. Hopefully, her character was not as questionable as her daughters' was. 'At least there's a good chance Ill finally make a bit of progress with this damn quest.' Kace thought with anticipation.

"Ah, fuck!" Raven yelped as he looked slightly embarrassed. His hand caressed his inside jacket pocket absentmindedly. "Sorry guys. It seems she already knows that we are here."