046 BLUE BLOOD
The Deacon of Annubis staggered back, clutching her head as if two wills were warring inside her.
Damen didn't press the advantage.
Something deeper was happening here. He glanced from the snarling creature to Eryn, his gut telling him there was a secret between them.
"Mother… I found you at last!" Eryn cried. She dropped the force field and rushed forward.
The Deacon's clawed hand shot up to stop her. "Don't—stay back. My mind… it isn't fully mine yet."
Eryn froze, her eyes trembling with worry.
"Mother?" Damen blurted. "You're saying this thing is your mother?"
"Yes. Look at the amulet around her neck—it's hers."
"That's not proof," Damen argued. "The Blue Blood could've taken it from your real mother."
"No," Eryn whispered fiercely. "I can see her in those eyes. She's my mother."
Before Damen could reply, the Deacon's aura shifted. Her massive frame shrank, her jackal visage dissolving into the face of a woman.
"Mother!" Eryn sobbed, throwing her arms around her.
"Eryn, my dear… I'm so sorry I left you." Zalira Veyran's voice was soft, weary, and human.
"It's alright—I found you now."
Damen stared, dumbfounded.
Never in his wildest imagination did he expect Eryn's missing mother to be a Blue Blood monstrosity.
"What the hell is going on?" he demanded.
Zalira steadied herself and turned to him. "My name is Zalira Veyran. Eryn is my daughter."
"Madam Zalira… you were thought dead. Why are you here?" Damen pressed.
"Yeah, Mother—what happened to you?" Eryn added.
Zalira sighed, her eyes clouded with memory. "Years ago, during an expedition in this same mountain, we killed a Deacon of Annubis. On her corpse we found a gem—the Eye of Annubis."
"What about it?" Eryn asked quickly.
"At first, it seemed inert. Then I discovered that when fed with blood, it awakened. Wearing it granted me strength beyond human measure—faster, sharper senses, flesh that healed faster than it could be torn."
Damen's eyes narrowed. "That sounds like his experience with the Eye of Ra…", he thought.
"That sounds like a blessing," Eryn said hopefully.
Zalira shook her head. "At first, yes. But I grew greedy. Every fight, I fed it more blood. It awakened a hunger in me. A lust for blood and kill. Eventually… it twisted me."
Damen's stomach turned. "Twisted you how?"
"My body began to change. I could still return to human form at first… but with each transformation, it became harder. Your father covered for me, Eryn, whenever I lost control and went on rampages—when the monster's bloodlust consumed me."
"You… went on rampages?" Damen asked quietly.
Her voice broke. "Yes. So, I came back to this mountain, desperate for answers. My team followed me, but the hounds descended on us. One by one, they all fell. Only I survived… but only by drawing on the power of the Eye of Annubis. I began killing more, and drinking more blood. Until I couldn't turn back anymore."
"Couldn't turn back?" Damen gulped.
Her shoulders sagged. "That's when I became the Deacon of Annubis. I was not just wearing the Eye… but my body was consumed by it."
Damen's skin prickled.
He wanted to ask more about the Eye but held his tongue. If becoming a Deacon was considered a crime, that even the Veyran heiress's mother hadn't escaped it, what chance would he have if anyone discovered his secret?
He would be paraded as a freak and Inquisited like witches.
Eryn's sobs broke the silence. "Mother… I came here so many times. Why didn't you come out to see me? I thought you were dead. I was so sad and alone."
Zalira's face softened with pain. "I knew you were searching for me. I felt your expeditions enter the mountain. But I couldn't risk meeting you, Eryn. At any moment I could have lost control… turned into the Deacon and torn you apart."
Eryn fell to her knees, crushed.
"Why don't you care about me… do you know what I've been through looking for you?" Eryn cried angrily.
She had endured years of ridicule, called a fool for her obsession with these expeditions, and all the while her mother had been here.
Zalira lowered her gaze. "I'm sorry dear but I care for you… whenever I could. When you were most desperate, when you lost your teams… I was there. I carried you back toward the rescue parties, or to the portals. You never knew it, but I saved you in the shadows."
Eryn's eyes widened. "So that's why… every time I was left alone in this mountain, I somehow made it out alive. It was you who saved me?"
The truth settled over her like a weight and a balm at once.
Damen finally broke in. "So, what happens now?"
Zalira straightened. "Eryn, you must return to your father. You cannot remain here with me."
"But, Mother, I'll miss you…"
"I am not gone. You know that now." Her voice trembled with resolve.
"But I need time—to find a way to break free of this curse. When I can truly return to myself, I'll come back to Melrose City. Until then, you must go. The Veyran expedition will be leaving soon."
"How do you break free of the curse," Damen asked Zalira suddenly.
Zalira's sharp gaze lingered on him. "Come closer, boy."
He obeyed. She leaned in, her words a whisper only he could hear. "You've consumed the Eye of an ancient alien god, haven't you?"
Damen stiffened. "How… how do you know?"
Her lips curved in bitter knowing. "Your Blue Blood was raging during our fight and your Annunakin form was manifest. It was impossible not to sense it."
"Blue Blood?" Damen echoed.
"Yes. The source of all these powers. The blood of the Annunakins and the gods who walked the other worlds. It flows in you now."
"I don't understand…"
"Your strength, your speed, your healing… they are gifts of your Blue Blood. But those gifts come at a cost. Left unchecked, the blood will consume you. You'll become like me. A monster in service to your hunger."
Damen's throat tightened. "Then how do I control it?"
"Your blood bond is shallow still. Its hold on you is weak. But the more blood you feed it, the deeper its roots will run. One day, it won't be you controlling it."
"So, what then? I should avoid fighting altogether?" His voice was half anger, half despair.
"If that's what it takes to survive," she said, sorrow in her eyes.
Damen clenched his fists. "Damnit… this Eye of Ra isn't a blessing. It's a curse."
"There must be a way to control the Blue Blood," Damen pressed. "You've changed back before—from Annunakin form to human… I've seen it. Tell me how."
Zalira's expression dimmed. She hesitated, then exhaled slowly. "There is a way," she admitted.
047 LOOKING FOR THE HOUNDS' MURDER WEAPON
"But it's no simple path. You must train your mind—your psychic powers. Only a mind sharpened and disciplined enough can leash the Blue Blood. With enough mental strength, and with the right artifacts to support, you won't just restrain it… you can even bend it to your will," Zalira added.
"Psychic?" Damen almost laughed. "That's the hardest meta there is to master."
Zalira's gaze flickered across him like she was reading more than his face. "And yet… I can already feel psychic ripples in you. Powerful ones. Perhaps you've awakened them without realizing it."
"I have psychic powers now?" Damen asked confused.
"Not psychic powers but psychic will", she replied.
Zalira stepped back before turning toward Eryn, her hand brushing her daughter's cheek in farewell. "Take her back safely," she said softly.
Damen's brow furrowed. "Psychic will? When would I have…"
Then the realization struck him like a jolt.
He drew in a sharp breath. "Of course, my DemoCoin mining app. It's a manifest of powerful psychic energy", he told himself.
-----
After Eryn poured out her heart to Zalira, it was finally time to leave. She turned to Damen, her cheeks streaked with tears. "Damen, I'm ready. Let's go."
She brushed her teary face clean with the back of her hand.
Damen gave her a cheeky grin, pulled out his phone, and snapped a photo of Zalira.
Eryn's eyes widened. "What did you just do?"
"Relax. Just a remembrance," Damen said, half-smiling.
"You're right," Eryn whispered, and stepped forward to take her own photos with her mother. The moment was awkwardly tender, suspended between love and farewell.
Then they departed, winding through the cold tunnels.
A pair of shadow hounds lunged from the dark, but Damen's bone blades sliced them down before they could even snarl.
Eryn finally asked curiously, "Those blades… what are they?"
"My secret weapon," Damen said flatly. "Don't tell anyone especially those in your family."
"Alright." She smiled faintly, then leaned against him.
"What are you doing?" he asked, his brow raised.
"Thank you," she whispered. "Without you… I would never have found my mother."
Damen's sharpness softened. "I'm glad. But next time—don't be so reckless. If Zalira hadn't been protecting you, you'd be dead in this cavern long ago."
"I know," she promised. "No more recklessness."
-----
After a long upward trek, the glow of lights met them: the cavern housing the Veyran command post.
"Buddy!" A booming voice echoed.
Zairgid came running. "I thought you were in hell already—I was rehearsing your funeral notes!"
Damen shot him a look. "Buddy…" Then they hugged, laughter shaking off the tension.
Captain Green hurried over, guilt etched into his face. "It's my fault. I never should have brought you here. I—"
"It's fine," Damen cut him off. "I'm still alive, aren't I?"
Then Zairgid's voice erupted. "Wait—what the hell? Eryn Veyran?! You bitch, we found you at last!"
Captain Green stiffened. "Is it true? Did you find her?"
"Yes," Damen said smoothly. "I was running from the hounds when I found her. She'd hidden herself in a force field, so we waited it out together. Once the Blue Blood receded, we came back."
Eryn leaned closer, whispering, "Will they believe that?"
"They will…if you back me up," Damen murmured back. She smiled knowingly.
"Miss Eryn!" Fenyl rushed over, nearly stumbling in his haste. "Young Miss, we found you at last!"
"No, it was Damen who found me," Eryn corrected, taking Damen's arm gently.
"Ooooh…" Zairgid teased, grinning wide.
While Eryn was absorbed by her team's reunion, Damen slipped his phone out.
He scrolled to his favorites list and selected.
Name: Zalira Veyran
Rank: D
Strength: 29 | Charm: 18 | Meta: 280 | Command: 261 | Blood: 360 | Armor: 360
Zalira was still in the mountains and within range.
"She's okay", he murmured. He was checking on Zalira with his app.
But then he saw it—an option he had never noticed before.
Beneath Acquire… there was another button: Relinquish.
"What the hell?" he muttered.
He tapped it experimentally. Only one stat blinked active—Blood.
Curious, he pressed. At once, Zalira's Blood stat rose by one. He checked his own—his had dropped by one.
Blood: 189 | Armor: 190
His pulse spiked. "Damnit… this is the loophole."
With trembling hands, he tested the logic.
By killing Blue Bloods, his Blood and Armor stat would grow by one point respectively. But by relinquishing Blood away… he could siphon off the corruption of Blood stats while keeping the good part, his innate body armor, intact.
His lips curled into a grin. "I'm a genius."
By the time the expedition packed up and returned to the canyon, Damen reclined in the Humvee, exhausted. Outside, the desert rolled by in silence, while he slept.
-----
When Damen returned to Fort Myrone, he went straight to the training center.
The simulators flared to life around him, throwing wave after wave of digital opponents at him—mercs, beasts, assassins, soldiers.
To his shock, he cut through them like paper.
His movements were sharper, his instincts razor-fast. The Blue Blood had sharpened him beyond recognition. Every strike landed with surgical precision, every dodge was reflexive. Within hours he had assassinated nearly every opponent in the database.
When he finally stumbled out of the simulator pod, sweat dripping down his face, Captain Green was waiting.
"Damen," Green called, his tone low. "There's something I need to ask you."
Damen froze inside. "Did they find out about my curse?"
He forced a casual smile. "What is it, Captain Green?"
Green's eyes narrowed. "That time in the mountains… did you kill all those shadow hounds?"
Damen's stomach tightened. He hesitated, then shrugged. "Didn't your team mow most of them down with the rifles? I was so rattled, I barely remember the details."
Damen cursed under his breath. "Damnit. They came to me about it already."
Damen's pulse quickened. He remembered the fight and his bone blades tearing through the necks of hound after hound. If they knew about the bone blades… they'd lock him in a lab as a lab rat.
Lieutenant Kalmer stepped forward, disbelief etched on his face. "Damen… did you actually kill a shadow hound by yourself?"
"I… guess I did." He scratched the back of his head, playing shy.
Captain Green clapped his shoulder. "Don't downplay your merits. If you did, you deserve the credit."
Then his eyes hardened. "But there's one thing I don't understand. How did you kill them without an energy weapon? Without a weapon even? Your dagger couldn't sever the head of a Shadow hound."
Kalmer turned to Green sharply. "Wait—you didn't issue him one?"
"That was my oversight," Green admitted, then swung back to Damen.
"So, tell me, son—how did you do it? Kill the Shadow Hounds without an energy weapon?"
-----