Evelyn's pov
That afternoon, as I watched Marcus and Lina train the villagers' children, I couldn't help but feel proud. They were nothing like the group we had started with. At first, most of them treated training as a game. Now, their movements carried purpose. Their strikes had weight. Their spells had focus. If danger ever reached this village, they could stand and fight—not as frightened children, but as defenders.
In three months, my family, Marcus, and Lina would be leaving for the academy. But I knew the students we'd leave behind would become teachers in their own right. This village would endure. Perhaps even prosper.
That late evening, Sarah's voice brushed against my mind—sharp, urgent.
I've found something. A cave near the border to the barrens. The air stinks of blood. No beasts, no birds. Not even carrion dares linger.
I felt the weight of her words. Using Arthur, I gathered Alice, Adam, Jenny, and Alex. "We move. Now."
When we arrived, Sarah was waiting in the shadows. Even through Arthur's helm, I could see the tension in the set of her stance.
"Inside," she whispered, "a camp… almost like a village. There's an altar at its center. They're sacrificing the kidnapped."
Arthur's visor burned faintly red as he turned to Alex.
"You and Sarah—inside first. Clear the eyes. Cut the throats of their lookouts. Report back."
They vanished like smoke. Time passed, heavy and slow. Then, from the darkness, Sarah and Alex returned. Their blades were wet, their breathing steady.
"Surveillance is down," Alex said. Then his tone faltered. "But Arthur… most of them aren't vampires. They're humans."
Arthur's gauntlet flexed around his greatsword. His voice was low, heavy, merciless.
"Humans who serve vampires are no longer human. They are fodder. They've already chosen their graves."
Sarah added, her voice clipped and grim, "The ritual is close to completion. If we delay, more will die."
Arthur turned, his words sharp as drawn steel.
"Then we strike now. Sarah, Alex—you are the shadow. Carve their throats before they cry for help. Jenny, Alice—bows drawn, cover our advance. Adam, with me. We will be the hammer that breaks their bones."
He raised his blade, its edge shimmering faintly with Evelyn's infused healing light.
"No mercy. No hesitation. We end this."
---
The cave erupted in violence.
Sarah slipped ahead like a phantom, sliding her dagger across one man's neck before he even realized she was there. Another guard fell with an arrow buried in his skull, Jenny's shot guided by calm precision.
Inside the camp, chaos spread as Arthur and Adam stormed through.
"Adam—left flank! Cut them down before they scatter!" Arthur barked. His greatsword cleaved through two cultists at once, their screams drowned beneath the clash of steel.
At the altar, blood already spilled across the stone. A child cried as a cultist raised a blade.
"Jenny—loose!" Arthur ordered, and her arrow struck true, the knife clattering harmlessly to the ground.
We fought hard, but not fast enough. By the time we broke the ritual circle, forty percent of the captives were already gone. Their blood soaked the earth, feeding the foul pit at the altar's heart.
The surviving cultists were tied and bound, their faces hollow with both fanaticism and despair. They had thought themselves allies of vampires, expecting to be "rewarded" with eternal life. Instead, they had been pawns.
And then the pit boiled.
Something crawled free—a vampire, born twisted from the failed ritual. Its strength barely touched stage four, far weaker than the vampire king I once fought as a hero. Yet the cultists' faces lit with hope. They believed their king had risen.
Arthur stepped forward, blade raised. His voice was iron.
"This is no king. This is carrion."
He swung in a single arc, a slash imbued with healing light. The vampire screeched as the cut cleaved it in two, dissolving into nothing.
Arthur turned to the surviving cultists, his helm glowing faintly with crimson light.
"Look well. This is your salvation. You will face justice in chains, not as monsters."
They spat curses, but none resisted. Bound, they were dragged to their feet. Together, with the rescued villagers behind us, we began the march to the nearest town.
Sarah lingered at the cave's mouth, watching us leave. When the last captive was freed, she faded into the shadows once more, silent and unseen.