Realm of Monsters - Chapter 661: Wraith
Chapter 661: Wraith
The scent of smoke filled the air. The windows were shattered by the explosion and a sharp ringing resounded in her ears.
“—ohnoir… El… oir… Elohnoir!”
Loh groaned and opened her blue eyes.
“Oh, thank gods, she’s awake,” Ismene sighed in relief.
Loh blinked repeatedly, her vision was blurred, and when she tried to sit up, the world swayed. “Ugh, my head.”
“I’ve got you.” Lily grabbed her shoulders and carefully helped Loh to her feet.
“What happened? Ismene, are you—?”
“I’m fine, child.” Ismene was still sitting on the bed, but she seemed relatively unharmed. “Elohnoir, you…”
“I’m fine. Just a couple of scrapes.” Loh rolled her shoulders.
“You’re bleeding,” Ismene noted.
“Huh?” Loh touched her temple, winced, and drew her hand away. The fingertips were dyed red.
“I told you to get down. Next time, listen instead of questioning me,” Lily growled.
“…Okay.” Loh stared at the vampire, surprised. She had never seen her angry. Lily was always aloof, relaxed even, as if nothing could bother her.
“Are you alright? Can you stand on your own?” Lily tore off the edge of her skirt and dabbed at the cut on Loh’s head.
Loh winced each time the cloth touched her wound. “Y-Yeah, I think so. I’m fine, trust me.”
Lily stared at her dubiously but let it be.
“What’s happening out there?” Ismene started to get out of bed.
“What are you doing?” Loh asked.
“What does it look like I’m doing?”
“You can’t fight in your condition!” Loh insisted.
Ismene snorted. “So, what? Am I supposed to just lie here in bed and wait for another explosion to kill me? Do you even know what’s going on out there?”
“I don’t…”
“We’re under attack,” Lily answered. “I saw several cloaked assailants climbing the walls right before they threw some kind of projectile at the mansion.”
“How is that possible? The wards should have stopped anyone from trespassing,” Loh said.
“There are ways to get past mortal arcane wards, none of them bode well for us. We need to get you two out of here,” Lily said.
“Is Vayu still here?” Loh asked.
“I believe he is still somewhere in the house,” Lily replied.
“We have to make sure he is okay— My parents!” Loh’s eyes suddenly went wide. “I need to find them!”
“Loh, wait. You’re the Lady of the House. If someone decided to attack this place, it’s most probably because they want you. We need to prioritize getting you out of here first,” Lily said.
Loh stared into her eyes. “…I’m not going to abandon my family, Lily. Not again,” she whispered the final words.
Lily sighed, “Alright.”
“What of Little Una and her family?” Ismene asked.
There was nothing little about the archmage Una, but the worry in Ismene’s voice warned Loh to comment on it. If anyone could survive this blast, it was definitely Una and Atlas.
“Lady Una left earlier this afternoon. Young mistress Unalla is still here, but I cannot sense Lord Atlas nearby,” Lily said.
“Sense?” Ismene asked with a cocked eyebrow.
“She does that. If Lily says he isn’t here, then he isn’t,” Loh said.
Ismene sighed. “Then we need to find Unalla. Someone hand me my cane.”
“I thought you couldn’t walk yet,” Lily said, though she still grabbed the cane hanging by the closet and offered it to the old woman.
“I’m not an invalid.” Ismene rummaged through her nightstand’s drawer, pulled out a small vial and downed it. “I’ll be fine with my cane, at least for a little bit.”
“Let me go first,” Lily said and cracked the door open. Smoke seeped into the room. “It’s clear.”
Smoke covered the ceiling. Large chunks of the wall had been blasted off and what little remained was now covered in flames.
Lily glanced around with a sharp eye. “We have to be careful, the people who did this are still out there. Loh, wait!”
But Loh wasn’t listening, she was running. She ran past the hall and down the stairs. There were no servant bodies strewn about. Most of them had probably gone to sleep by now. The servant quarters were at the back of the house. They should have been spared from the blast, or so she hoped.
“Vayu!” Loh spotted the young drow noble lying underneath some rubble. She rushed to his side and dragged his legs out from underneath the bricks.
“Loh…? What? What’s going on?” he mumbled, dazed.
“We’re under attack. Can you stand…?” The question died on her lips when she spotted the state of his legs. They were mangled and covered in blood.
Angered shouts rang not too far away. Loh’s head snapped up at the sound. She grabbed Vayu’s shoulders and dragged him into a corner. “I’ll be back for you,” Loh promised. She crept close to the wall and moved towards the sound of fighting. As she drew close, she stopped, and peered past the corner.
Several of the manor guards were fighting off a cloaked assailant. The man was tall, but he moved with the agility of an acrobat, smoothly dodging every sword that came swinging. His black cloak shimmered with an unusual blur and Loh found it difficult for her eyes to keep track of him.
The assassin drew a pair of long daggers and in a matter of seconds, he had taken down half the guards; the rest wouldn’t last long, Loh realized. With a deep breath, Loh summoned orange mana from her heart and channeled it through her veins. The world began to sway again and she held her head with a grimace. Her legs gave out and she fell over with a thump.
The sound of fighting and clashing died out. Loh lay on the floor, screaming internally for her body to get up, but the pain and vertigo left her limbs unresponsive. The floorboards creaked as the sound of heavy footsteps crossed the room ahead of her and turned the corner. The cloaked assassin loomed over her. His daggers dripped with blood. “Elohnoir Noir. Where is Unalla?”
“Hey! Over here, you big brute!” Ismene called out.
The man swiveled around, his cloak rippling like black water. Loh stared up at the man. He was right there in front of her, but her eyes somehow lost focus of him, and she couldn’t quite tell if he was still in front of her or a few paces away.
“Ismene, run,” Loh moaned weakly.
Lightning crackled around the assassin’s bloodied daggers. Ismene stared him down, unafraid, or at least she tried to; her eyes couldn’t keep focus on him either.
“Where is Unalla Noir?” he asked in a muffled voice.
“I’ll die before I let you near her,” Ismene spat.
He raised one of his daggers at the old woman in response. Lily jumped out from the shadows and leaped on the giant man’s back. She drew her own dagger, a small, thin, but sharp blade, and plunged it into his shoulder. He roared in pain and spun around, trying to shake her off. Lily held on tight, pulled out her dagger, and plunged it back in over and over again with quick, methodical repetition.
The assassin slammed his back into the wall and crushed Lily. She didn’t even flinch, only letting out a grunt as she kept stabbing him. Finally, he let out a weak moan and fell to his knees, and collapsed face-forward. Lily stumbled off him, her breathing ragged. She dropped her dagger and hurried to Loh’s side, “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”
“I’m alright…” Loh sat up and rested her back against the wall. She glanced at the assassin’s body, even now his cloak rippled like water, and she couldn’t quite tell where his body was. “What is that?”
“A very rare and unique enchantment. It distorts one’s own perception, making them almost impossible to hit. It also allows the owner to go unnoticed by wards and various forms of magical sight,” Lily explained as she searched Loh for injuries.
“Then how did you manage to hit him?” Ismene asked.
“I possess innate senses that you do not.” Lily glanced back at the corpse, “There is only one being capable of creating a cloak like this. The fact that this man has one implies we are dealing with an enemy whose very possibility I do not wish to even contemplate.”
“Who?” Loh asked warily.
Lily took a step back. “You have no new injuries, at least, good. What happened?”
Loh knew Lily was avoiding her question, but she let it go. “I was casting a spell. When I tried to channel, I couldn’t. I lost my balance and fell over.”
“Channeling magic requires clear focus. Pain and blood loss have always made that difficult. Especially a head injury like that,” Ismene noted as she hobbled over. “She needs rest.”
“I said I’m fine,” Loh frowned and tried to stand to no avail.
“Ismene’s right. You can’t fight in your current state, you can’t even stand. We need to retreat,” Lily said.
“They’re after Unalla, you heard him. I’m not abandoning her,” Loh insisted.
Lily stared at Loh, her expression unreadable. After a long tense moment, she spoke. “I can help you, but it’s going to affect you— us, permanently. This decision will be irreversible. Do you understand?”
Loh shook her head weakly. “Not really, but if you can help me protect Unalla, then I’ll do it.”
“Do you trust me?” Lily whispered.
Loh gazed into her eyes. She knew so little about Lily, save that she was older than she looked and kept her secrets close. Yet Loh saw something deeper in her ruby eyes; worry and affection. Lily was many things, most Loh did not know, but one thing she did know, was that Lily would not harm her, or so she hoped.
“For now,” Loh nodded.
Lily’s lips curled in a wry smile. “Good enough.” She cupped her hands over Loh’s face and put her forehead on hers. Their lips were centimeters apart. “Close your eyes. Relax. Let me in.”
Ismene watched on in wary silence as Loh closed her eyes. Lily leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. A fiery sensation filled Loh’s body and she opened her eyes to find Lily had disappeared.
“What is this…?” Loh stared at her own hands. A scarlet flame-like mist enveloped her body, an aura of power burning through her.
“I’m here.” Lily’s voice echoed in Loh’s mind.
“Where are you?” Loh glanced around.
“I’m here with you.” The scarlet aura flared. “We are one.”
“What did you do?” Loh asked as she marveled at the aura flowing through her.
“What’s going on?” Ismene asked, confused. “The vampire just crumbled away like dust. There is nothing even left of her.”
“She cannot see or hear me. Tell her I am fine.”
“I’m fine. We’re both fine. Lily, what did you do?” Loh pressed the question.
“Our souls have formed a permanent bond, allowing me to temporarily become one with you. I will explain more later. We must move quickly if we are to save your parents and friends.”
“What are you?” Loh asked.
“Your other half.”
A scream echoed in the distance. Loh’s heart dropped. She recognized the voice. “Mom!” She leaped to her feet and regretted it immediately as her head swam. She leaned on the wall to steady herself.
“Elohnoir, you need rest,” Ismene said worriedly, but the old woman could only watch as Loh fell to her knees.
“No, I’m okay. Give me a moment,” Loh grimaced.
“There is no time. Just hold on.”
The pain and vertigo abruptly disappeared, and the world snapped into focus. Loh blinked and looked down at herself, or so she tried. Her body moved of its own accord. She rose to her feet in one smooth, graceful motion.
“Elohnoir?” Ismene asked.
“Stay here and keep watch over young master Glaz. I’ll be back,” Loh and Lily’s voices vibrated in unison with each word.
Ismene narrowed her eyes. “You’re not Elohnoir.”
“No, I am not.” Loh’s blue irises had taken a scarlet hue. She spun on her heel and headed straight towards the shouting and clashes of steel.
