The fire crackled between us, fighting the cold wind that howled across the wall. The heat felt like a small miracle after everything that had just happened. My blood control had left my head pounding, my veins still faintly glowing where I'd overused them. The armor of condensed blood had long since dissolved, leaving only faint crimson stains across my skin.
Effie poked the roasting centipede meat with a sharpened stick. "You know, for a walking corpse, you sure eat like one too," she teased, flashing that mischievous grin that made me half-suspect she'd stab me in my sleep just for fun.
I looked up from the swirling ball of congealed blood resting in my palm, glowing faintly in the firelight. "You're just jealous mine doesn't need seasoning."
"Jealous? No. Horrified? Absolutely." She took a cautious bite of the meat, chewed for a moment, then grimaced. "Actually—no. Still disgusted."
I smirked faintly. "I could always share."
She pointed the stick at me like a weapon. "You try and I'm chucking you off this wall, pastey."
"Noted," I said, leaning back against the shattered remains of an old cannon mount.
The horizon before us was a strange kind of beauty. Massive crimson walls encircled the city below, their surface carved with faint, glowing veins. Beyond them, the endless sea — though calling it a sea felt wrong. The liquid shimmered like molten blood under the faint red sky, pulsing slowly as if it were breathing.
The silence between us was heavy, not uncomfortable but… watchful. The kind of quiet that made you aware that the world was listening.
Then something changed.
The waves moved, not in their lazy rhythm but in a violent heave. The entire ocean seemed to inhale. The blood tide swelled, bulging upward.
Effie frowned. "Please tell me that's not another flood."
I stood, every nerve on edge. "That's not water."
The surface split.
A massive tentacle erupted from the sea, black and slick with oily blood. It cut through the mist like a whip, slamming into the wall near us with a sound like thunder. The ground trembled. Effie stumbled backward with a startled curse—then screamed as the thing snatched her clean off the wall.
"EFFIE!"
I sprinted forward, adrenaline drowning out everything.
The tentacle was dragging her higher, lifting her toward the sky. Effie kicked and thrashed, summoning her memories— but the glow flickered, delayed.
She cursed through clenched teeth. "Agh— come on—!"
Her armor finally solidified around her just as I hurled the centipedes corpse into the creature's base. It hit with a satisfying crunch, spraying thick, dark fluid that steamed as it hit the wall. The monster screeched, the sound so deep it made the entire wall hum.
The tentacle twitched. Effie seized the moment. She grabbed a loose piece of the centipede's pincer from earlier and jammed it into the wound. The metal sank deep, slicing through the pulsing veins underneath.
The creature convulsed violently.
I could feel it — the blood inside it. Massive. Wild. Not like a human's. But still blood. Still mine to control.
I stretched out my hand, and that burning, instinctive pull answered me. The monster's veins pulsed, its life force roaring through my head.
"Let her go."
The blood inside the wound shuddered and constricted violently, forming a temporary knot. The tentacle snapped open like a whip under pressure. Effie fell, twisting midair, landing hard near the fire.
She groaned. "I'm never making fun of your creepy blood thing again."
"Appreciated," I muttered, panting. The energy drain was brutal — like I'd just sprinted for miles. I pressed a hand to my temple, vision blurring for a second.
Effie pushed herself up beside me, glaring down at the waves. "Tell me that was the only one."
It wasn't.
The water rippled again. Three more tentacles broke the surface, their black skin glistening under the crimson light. They slithered toward the wall like serpents, wrapping around the stone.
"We can't fight that here," I said quickly. "Too close, no room to move."
Effie glanced down the inner side of the wall — at the city below. A massive, ruined maze of black stone, half-buried in mist. But faintly, near the center, was light. Flickering torches. Movement.
"You're not seriously thinking—"
"Got a better idea?"
She glared. "You're insane."
"I've been told worse."
The wall shuddered as another tentacle slammed into it, cracking the foundation. Blood sprayed into the air like a rainstorm.
Effie grabbed my hand. "Fine! Let's do it your way, pastey!"
We jumped.
The air rushed past, the cold wind slicing against our faces. I reached deep inside myself, drawing out every drop of energy I could. The blood that lingered around the cracks of the wall pulsed at my call. It rose like a red mist, forming beneath us in a desperate cushion.
We hit hard anyway — but it was enough to survive.
I crashed through part of a collapsed rooftop, pain flaring through my ribs. The world spun in flashes of red and black. I tried to stand but the ground tilted sideways.
Through the haze, I saw Effie stumble to her feet, spear drawn, scanning the shadows. Her voice was faint. "Hey— you good—?"
My vision blurred. Then darkness swallowed everything.
When the Darkness Fades
I groaned. My throat was dry, my body heavy as stone. The smell of herbs, blood, and something metallic filled the air.
I blinked a few times until the world sharpened. Stone ceiling. A rough blanket covering me. A small fire flickering in the corner of the room.
Effie sat on a chair beside the bed, one leg crossed over the other, arms folded. Her hair was damp, tied loosely behind her head, and she looked like she hadn't slept in days.
"Morning, sunshine," she said dryly.
I froze for a moment, processing. My shirt was off. My torso was bandaged. Effie was sitting right there.
"Wait—" My voice cracked. "We didn't— you didn't— we shouldn't—" I waved my hands vaguely. "Please tell me you didn't sleep with me."
She smirked instantly. "Oh, absolutely did. Cuddled all night too."
My brain froze. "You—what—"
She tilted her head. "Relax, pastey. You were unconscious. I just dragged you here. You were bleeding everywhere. You're welcome."
I groaned, burying my face in my hands. "That's… comforting."
"Glad to help."
After a long silence, I managed, "Where are we?"
"In the castle," she said, leaning back on the chair. "You jumped off the wall, got smacked through a building, and decided to nap for three days straight. I had to drag your pale ass through half the city, fight off bugs the size of dogs, and convince the locals you weren't dead. You owe me."
I blinked. "Three days?"
"Yep."
"And you carried me?"
She shrugged casually. "I'm tougher than I look."
"Not denying that." I sat up slowly, ribs protesting. "How bad is it out there?"
Effie sighed and looked toward the cracked window. Beyond it, faint lights flickered in the streets, the shapes of twisted nightmare creatures moving between the ruins.
"You don't wanna know," she said softly. "The city's crawling with things. Nightmare creatures, scavengers… and people. Survivors. Some are armed, some are half-mad. The rest are corpses waiting to happen. But for now, we've got a room, food, and a healer that doesn't ask questions."
I leaned back, exhaling. The exhaustion crept up on me again, heavy and slow. "You stayed the whole time?"
She hesitated, then smirked. "Had to make sure you didn't die on me, pastey."
I looked at her — the way her face softened despite the sarcasm. "Didn't think you cared."
"Don't get sentimental," she shot back immediately, smirking faintly. "I just didn't wanna explain to whoever's in charge why some creepy blood-sucking weirdo bled out on my watch."
"Touching," I said.
"Shut up."
She threw a small pillow at my face. I caught it easily, chuckling weakly. For the first time in what felt like forever, it wasn't all dread and fighting and blood.
Just two tired people laughing at the edge of a nightmare.
Effie turned back to the window, pretending not to look at me. But I saw her smile.