Chapter 49 : blood-red eyes.

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There were sounds of activity and shouting as every guard in the area moved towards the sound of Yubelluna's explosion.

"Clarissa! How much further!" I demanded, sprinting at the head of our group.

"Forty feet!"

Ten steps after she'd said that, we came to another left turn. This time the arrow was practically parallel to the wall.

The three of us flew down the left passage, shouts and footfalls approaching from behind and ahead of us.

I saw a door set into the right wall of our current hall. The arrow above Clarissa's hand was pointing right to it.

A contingent of guards was charging down the hall from the opposite end, trying to beat us to it.

"Yube, the door!" I yelled, conjuring two spell circles to pull a flaming wall of Hellfire into being in front of us.

I thrusted my arm forward, propelling the wall traveled down the hall with a blast of Wind.

I caught a glimpse over my shoulder of Clarissa throwing a handful of small animal carvings towards a group of guards coming up behind us.

A spark of magic later and the knuckle-sized carvings enlarged to the size of their actual animals and animated.

Wooden birds, cats, dogs, raccoons and more carved into the oncoming guards with magically-enhanced talons, claws and teeth.

While Clarissa and I stalled, Yubelluna managed to get to the door. She placed her hands against each of the three hinges and blew them apart, destroying the lock once they were in pieces.

The door fell inward, creating a path for us to enter through.

As she turned to motion us through, a shadow peeled off the wall next to her. It elongated into a humanoid shape and lashed out towards her with a gleaming piece of sharpened metal.

I moved to assist her, but I wouldn't make it in time. I had never been more thankful as I was at that moment for insisting Yubelluna increase her physical combat skills.

When I first made her my queen, I'd told her she had to take up some form of physical combat.

She had excelled at her chosen form, but it was drastically outshined by her explosive magic; it rarely saw use. It saw use then.

Yubelluna spun around the blade, slapping the attacking arm with her open palm as she did. Planting her foot, she stepped into a punch that connected with the shadow's stomach region.

A spell circle ignited around her fist and the shadow exploded.

This was why Yubelluna had chosen to study various forms of martial arts. It made use of her queen strength and allowed her to use her explosions in creative ways.

Dodging, closing the distance, making space, delivering explosive blows – Yubelluna's magic let her do it all.

With the shadow dispatched, Yubelluna began firing explosive orbs and concussive waves down the halls, allowing Clarissa and I to move towards the room.

The moment we were across the threshold, I spread chains of hardened Hellfire all over the open doorway and wall to fortify our position.

Clarissa dumped a sparkling yellow powder into her hand and launched it forward with a spell circle.

The powder clung to the gaps between my chains and expanded, sealing us into the room.

"Who are you?" a young, frightened voice said from behind us.

We all turned and were saddened by the sight waiting for us.

We hadn't seen much of the manor; what little we'd seen of the basement was enough for me to see this room was special.

Instead of the wooden floor of the store room or the cobbled stone of the hallways, this room was tiled.

Marble floors weren't the only domestic feature. An oak dresser and bookshelf along the west wall.

A bed and washbasin on the east wall. The large, oval rug in the center of the floor.

One might mistake this room for a bedroom were there not floor to ceiling iron bars inlaid with glistening flecks of silver set every three inches from wall to wall, separating the room in half.

This was a gilded cage. There wasn't even a door to the cage – only enough room for someone to reach through the bars.

The young woman within looked terrified of us, and because of our entrance, I couldn't blame her.

She had blonde hair; blood-red eyes. She was dressed in a plain, tan dress as she huddled as far into the corner as she could, holding a hand mirror up defensively between her and us.

Holding my hands up placatingly, I slowly approached the bars and said, "We're not here to hurt you.

I want to help you, but I don't have a lot of time." As if to prove my statement was true, the ground shook under the force of a mighty impact.

The vampires were trying to get through the barrier Clarissa and I had made.

Ignoring the commotion behind me, I looked the young woman in the eye. "I am not going to do anything unless you want me to.

If you want to stay here, I won't try to take you, but I can get you out of here. Do you want to leave?"

The girl's eyes turned suspicious and she growled, revealing two unnaturally pointed teeth at the top of her mouth. "You're devils! Why would you help me?"

I'd risked a lot to get this meeting, I wasn't going to jeopardize it by lying. "I want you in my peerage. I swear to you, I will not abuse your power like-"

"Liar!" the girl screamed, throwing her hand mirror at me. "You're only here so you can use me!"

The barrier behind me dented inward. I was running out of time.

"How can I convince you I'm telling the truth? I want to reincarnate you, but I will not enslave you."

Tears fell from her red eyes as she said, "Then give me your blood. Blood is truth. That's why you won't–" she cut off, her eyes wide as I shoved my arm through the gap in the bars.

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