The Price of Blood

Chapter 7: The Price of Blood

TW: Brief description of corpses

"Trus'Lis certainly has... changed over the years," Klen said as he and Victoria emerged from the woods and entered the Dark Quarter slums again. "What happened to this place?"

"What hasn't happened here? Fires, high crime rates, drug pushing, corruption—Tru'Lis is not a friendly place for the poor." Victoria shook her head and picked up the pace. She wanted to be one of the first to arrive at the keep to claim her bounty when the gates opened. Lord Gaimunth Greymoore's keep was only two hours away by foot. As much as she would have liked to grab Riven first and guarantee her spot in line, it would immediately tip off Favian that she wasn't being entirely honest with their deal. The sack at her hip, despite its enchantment, was practically bursting at the seams. He was a mage—a weak one but still able to sense magic and wield it to a certain degree. There would be no hiding how many heads she currently had. The price that he offered just wasn't high enough considering all the work that she'd had to go through to get them. He'd thank her later.

"Are you certain that there is no more room in the bag for the last one?" Klen asked. He padded alongside her in the form of a ghostly blue wolf, posing as a familiar. "Walking the streets with a severed head is... bound to draw attention, don't you think?"

"Anyone who gets close enough to see what it is will surely leave me alone. Besides, with you at my side, it makes who I am all the more obvious. I have a mixed reputation around here. Some praise me, but most fear me."

"That doesn't bother you?"

"They are right to fear me, even if I wish it weren't so." Victoria glowered. She was undead, even if she never hungered for blood. No one else knew what she was, but it was only a matter of time before someone discovered her. Thankfully, she wouldn't be lingering around Tru'Lis long enough to give anyone here that chance.

"If you say so." Klen walked on in silence, continuing to observe the city with a keen eye. But she could still see him side-eye the vampire head from time to time as they walked, obviously troubled by it.

"You're staring at it, Klen."

"I can't help it! You don't have any more room in that bag of yours? You fit so many in there already..."

"I'm sure it won't fit, Klen. And I don't have another bag to put it in. It's not like I enjoy walking around like this. But our friend here had it coming."

"You did kill all of his friends, to be fare."

"He should have had better friends than vampires. He shouldn't have been one himself." Victoria shrugged.

The young man's head she currently carried had leaped out from the shadows at her as she was collecting heads. Rather than killing him instantly, though, she had pushed him for information. Surprisingly, the boy knew a lot about the cult's movement in the area, insisting that this was where the majority of the undead in the area were camped. The best piece of information he'd had to say was that there was a group moving east, toward the Golden Coast and the capital province of Rhôze. On top of that, he'd had an amulet around his neck that he reluctantly told her identified him as an official member of the cult, and not an underling like many of the others. The same amulet around Ilerius' neck confirmed his account.

It was dawn by the time she could see Greymoore Keep through the early morning mist. The stone keep had six sentry towers arranged in a hexagon along the outer wall. The keep itself sat in the center, with four towers arranged along the main cardinal directions. The roof was made of black tile, and statues of gargoyles and other creatures gave the whole keep a very dark and foreboding appearance. As they drew nearer, she could see that the gates were still closed.