Touch of Fate

Chapter 153: A Familiar Sight

Chapter 153: A Familiar Sight

All mirth disappeared from Mike's face. "Death can come in many ways, some more pleasant than others. I am well acquainted with your kind's regenerative abilities, and I can make this take an awfully long time, should I wish to. Now, I have a few things I'd like answers on. How long it takes to get those answers will influence how merciful I feel." His quiet, mana-infused voice echoed through the cavern.

Shuddering, the Vargul averted her gaze. "What do you wish to know?" She spat.

"Well, first and foremost. What is the ability you used to control the goblins?"

Glowering at him, she answered reluctantly. "It is called Harmonic Domination, a skill unique to certain types of vampires. With it we can influence the minds of lesser creatures and even direct their actions."

"You use extremely high pitched sound to accomplish this, correct?" Mike asked curiously.

The Vargul nodded submissively, before exploding into action, claws reaching for the offending mage in an effort to tear him into pieces. He had been expecting something along these lines, and had already prepared accordingly.

Barbed spears of obsidian erupted from the ground impaling Penelope in multiple locations, holding her suspended in the air. She screeched in agony and frustration.

"I told you. I'm quite familiar with your regenerative abilities. Speaking of which," He sent a wave of flame along the spears, searing her injuries shut around them, and eliciting a horrifying shriek of pain.

"Now, I still have a few more questions, so tell me, is your ability permanent? Will those affected by it remain as they are?"

Huffing in long gasping breaths, the Vargul fixed him with a look of rage, tinged with a great deal of fear. "It fades in a day or two, depending on how powerful the affected creatures are. Unless I renew the effect, that is."

"Alright, moving to another topic, how much contact do you have with others of your kind? Do you answer to any higher power?"

This elicited a pained laugh. "Do I look like a pure breed vampire to you? I'm a Vargul, an outcast who failed to make the transition properly. It is only by virtue of his mercy, that my sire has not yet tracked me down and killed me for the shame I bring him by existing."

"I fail to see why you would be such a shame. Although you may not be a true vampire in the traditional sense, you have achieved a powerful form while maintaining your consciousness. Surely that reflects well upon you."

Penelope gave a dry laugh that morphed into a grunt of pain. One of the spears was lodged slightly below her diaphragm. "That is the only reason I was allowed to live in the first place."

"What was your plan here? What were you trying to accomplish by taking control of a bunch of goblins."

She hesitated, before answering quietly. "I needed a supply of fresh blood to sustain myself. Once I acquired the Harmonic Domination skill it was a simple matter to turn this band of wandering goblins into a self-replenishing source."

"The evolved varieties?"

"I would shrug if the situation permitted it, but Goblin Warriors provide much more blood than their smaller cousins. Forcing them to train proved to be an easy way to force them to evolve." Penelope answered.

"So, creating a small army was secondary to providing a long term food source for you? Do you expect me to believe that?" Mike asked scornfully.

The Vargul scoffed, an unusual process due to her elongated jaws, "Believe it or not, it's the truth. Ever since I failed the transition and became trapped in this form," She growled in disgust, "I have hoped for nothing, and dreamed of nothing. All that awaits me is death, if not by your hand, then by another's in the future. It matters little."

"What of your sire? What can you tell me about him?"

She sneered, "You have no clue how vampire society functions, do you? Prospective vampires are watched for years, then approached quietly and given the offer of immortality. Should you refuse, a quick death follows, but if you agree, you are taken to one of their safe houses and stored until it is time for your transition. Normally, you wouldn't see your sire until it was time to conduct the rite. However, mine was different."

She paused then, eyes fixed on the floor. When she resumed, her voice had taken on a husky, emotional quality. "I still do not know his name, but he came to my cell, spoke to me, and calmed my fears. He was so gentle. When it came time for the transition, I thought I was prepared." A throaty chuckle followed, "What a fool I was"

It seemed like she was telling the truth. Either that, or she was a truly accomplished liar. He stared at the Vargul, feeling a fleeting sense of pity. Whether or not she chose to become a vampire in the first place, turning into a monster like this was probably a harsh blow. Although, it was hard to forget that she was a killer, even if it was in the process of defending her home.

In any event, it seemed as if this creature had no connection to whatever organization had tried to kidnap him. Or if she did, it had long ago separated itself from her.

"Very well, I have but one question left in need of answer."

Penelope simply looked at him, reacting only when he placed his hand on her head. "What are you doing?"

"I'm curious. Can this condition of yours be cured?" Mike asked quietly as his hand started to glow. Trying to push his mana into the Vargul's body, he immediately felt a powerful resistance, as if her very essence was trying to fight against his influence.

[Hm. It seems this state is considered unnatural somehow. I wonder]

Mustering every ounce of his willpower, he forced his mana through the resistance. The Vargul immediately began to writhe and screech in agony. Ignoring the slight pang he felt at inflicting this kind of suffering, he went on pushing, trying to identify the source of the strange sensation. The spear wounds were obvious, and as he worked his magic, he avoided them. However, there was some kind of pervading ailment that seemed to permeate the creature's very essence. It was this he attacked.

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At first the strange energy was probing, doing little more than brushing on the edges of awareness, but then it stabbed forward, burning Penelope from the inside. Agony swept through her very being, drowning out all other sensations.

She thrashed, screamed, did everything in her power to escape the pain. The taste of blood entered her mouth, and she couldn't tell if it was hers or not. The suffering reached a new level, and thankfully her consciousness finally fled.

The next time she awoke, it was unclear how much time had passed. She was lying face down on the cold stone floor. It hurt to even breathe, and she spent an unknowable amount of time building the energy to lift her head. Within the limited radius of her vision, she couldn't see any sign of the mage or his adventurer companions.

[Is he sparing me?]

She tried to bring one of her wings forward, and use it to push herself off the ground, but she was having trouble doing so. Her body felt strange, like it was no longer her own. With a fair amount of finagling, she finally managed to plant one hand onto the ground in front of her, and used it to lift herself.

... hand?

Her gaze focused on the copper-skinned appendage, unable to comprehend what was happening. Suddenly she recalled the words of the mage before the pain blotted everything else out.

[Could he really have-]

Something prodded her in the back, sending a surge of energy through her limbs. In a second she was halfway across the room in a fighting pose.

The mage was in the process of straightening, a soft, white glow disappearing from his outstretched finger. "How are you feeling? Any unusual sensations?"

Shaking her head, Penelope growled at the man. "What did you do to me? Why do I look like this?"

He chuckled at that, while staring off into space, as if he wasn't concerned about being attacked. "Well, I think I managed to cure you of your 'Vargulness,' for lack of a better term. Why don't you check your [Status] and see for yourself?"

Keeping an eye on the mage, she took a moment to follow his advice, gasping when she saw the results. "A True Vampire? How...how is this possible? There shouldn't be a..Who are you?"

"Let's just say, I'm a particularly skilled healer who had a theory he wanted to test. Anyway, I think the bigger question now is, what to do with you?"

Penelope felt a chill, "What do you mean? Are you going to" She could bring herself to finish the statement. Although, his words would have been more threatening if he was looking at her. For some reason the mage was still staring off into space.

"What? Do you think I'm going to kill you now? Did you not pay attention to your new title?" He asked.

She looked again, and saw it had changed.

"Familiar? What is this? What's going on?" Penelope asked, confused.

"Hm, this is a hard one to explain, since I'm not sure how it happened, myself. I suspect it might have happened when you took that chunk out of my arm during the healing process. As to the title itself, maybe a demonstration is in order."

He pulled a small, blue creature out of a pocket. It unfurled its wings revealing a tiny, palm-sized dragon. "This is Audra, one of my two familiars."

With a curious head tilt, and a slight squawk, the dragon clambered up the mage's arm, and seated itself on his head. It continued to stare at Penelope from its new perch.

Watching the display, his words finally clicked. "You mean.....I'm...but that's impossible, right?"

The mage was in the process of feeding his familiar a bit of dried meat, still staring off in a different direction. "Apparently not. If it makes you feel any better, I had no intention of binding you in this fashion. I have plenty of women troubles as it is. Speaking of which, do you mind...." He gestured in her general direction.

"Mind what..." Penelope looked down to see what he was talking about, and quickly realized that she was completely naked. It should have been embarrassing, but after spending years as a Vargul, and never wearing anything besides her own fur, she was nonplussed.

"What, does this bother you?" She asked, finding the idea of the powerful mage being bothered by nudity a little ridiculous.

"As much as I hate to admit it, yes. Even though I've been in this situation far more than I care to admit in the last few days, I am still a man." He replied, sounding disgruntled, before shocking her once more. A blanket appeared, seemingly pulled from a small bag that couldn't have possible contained it. He handed it to her, sneaking a glance out of the corner of his eye, not that she minded.

[An extradimensional item?]

"Here, wear this for now. Anyway, we were discussing what to do with you. Tell me, now that you are no longer a Vargul, will your kind look for you?"

Penelope wrapped the blanket around her shoulders, intentionally doing a poor job of it. "Maybe? I'm not exactly familiar with their methods. They've left me alone for the last few years, so perhaps they'll continue to do so."

Frowning while keeping his gaze fixed on her face, the mage continued, "Well, that's all well and good, but it seems were are now connected by a bond that I'm not entire sure how to break. As such, I can't exactly allow you to run free."

The thought was an interesting one. As much as she still held some aversion to the man who invaded her home, killed her minions, and caused her a great deal of pain, it paid to be sensible about these kinds of things.

She had no idea how the others vampires might react to her, but suspected that they wouldn't exactly be welcoming to a former Vargul. Indeed, they might feel the need to experiment to determine what allowed her to make the change.

So, to avoid that rather nasty fate, she would need find support to protect herself with. This mage was obviously powerful, and seemed to be well equipped, suggesting either decent backing or wealth at the very least. She could do worse as far as allies go.

Besides, if he proved too weak to serve her needs, she just needed to kill him.

"Alright, your the boss. What do you want me to do?"

The mage cocked an eyebrow, "Your surprisingly calm about this."

"You forget, I accepted an offer from a group of bloodsucking monsters which included centuries of servitude in exchange for eternal life. Then when I failed in my transition, I spent years hiding on he fringe of society, never knowing when they might decide to finally track me down and end me. So, serving a powerful mage like you is hardly the worst destiny I might have ended up with."

"Fair enough." He replied with a nod, "Alright, so what do I call you?"

She could tell by the beating of his heart that he was being dishonest for the first time since they'd met, but it was unclear what he could be lying about with that question.

"Penelope was my name as a human." She replied with a shrug.

"Not a very good name for a vampire though. Lacks the right kind of chutzpah, you know?"

"What?"

"You know, vampire women have to be named something like Victoria, Bella, or Catherine, you know something elegant but haunting. Ooh, like Selene. I loved those movies." The mage was saying animatedly.

She felt a strange internal click that she only ever associated with changes to her skills. Curious, she took a look at her [Status], and couldn't believe what it now said.

The newly christened Selene had but one question. "What in the hells?"

The mage gave her a funny look, seemed to concentrate for a second, then burst into an awkward laugh. "Um, that was unintentional, I promise. On the plus side, its a decent name?"