Valkyrie's Shadow

Winter's Crown: Act 2, Chapter 6

Winter's Crown: Act 2, Chapter 6

Chapter 6

The Vampire Brides stood aside and lowered their heads as the new female came forward, her steps sounding over the cobblestones.

Is this their ‘Mistress’?

Ilyshn’ish peered at her from where she crouched warily. Glancing to either side, she figured that she could still escape – there were no discernible weapons or tools that she thought could snag her if she dashed away and flew off, though the dress that the approaching female wore smelled extraordinarily valuable. Perhaps it had some magic that could ensnare her.

“Miss Lupusregina,” one of the Vampire Brides said, “this one attempted to escape.”

“That so?” The figure replied casually, “Guess we can’t have that, can we…but weren’t these Frost Dragons all flaccid? The one here’s looking pretty feisty: which one’s this, anyway?”

“Number Nineteen,” another Vampire Bride replied.

“Number Nineteen?” Miss Lupusregina stroked her chin, “I thought we only had eighteen? Don’t tell me they’re getting busy already.”

“Yes we did, Miss Lupusregina,” the last Vampire Bride nodded and gestured to Ilyshn’ish with a pale hand, “and no, they’re not. This one arrived less than an hour ago, guided by another from the mountains in the north.”

“Hmm,” Miss Lupusregina gave Ilyshn’ish an appraising look, “so, uh, is this like a bonus…or a spare?”

Something about the way she said spare sent another shudder through Ilyshn’ish.

She began plotting how she could escape again. On one side, the road led into a gate in the wall that marked another section of the city. The other led into the cleared section where she could easily fly out of. Her thoughts were interrupted when another figure appeared in the shadows of the building complex, partially hidden by the walls.

If Ilyshn’ish was something like a Human, she wouldn’t have even noticed her there, but, as she was a Dragon, it did nothing to conceal the figure from her. Dragons possessed Blindsight, which made one aware of a large area around them. It was through not just her vision, but through vibrations in the air and ground, smells, heat, pressure and the presence of magic – all of her already keen draconic senses coming together to paint a precise perception of her surroundings and its occupants. Even a disturbed current of air brushing lightly over her snout would alert her to someone in the vicinity.

Ilyshn’ish would have ignored the newcomer but for the odd appearance it presented. At first, she thought it was another individual who was clothed similarly to the one that came before, but four large, chitinous, limbs extended from its back. There was some sort of small, squealing humanoid whelp gripped at the end of each, being waved about haphazardly in the air. Four smaller whelps clutched to the figure’s torso, supported by silken strands of some sort.

“Eh? Spare Dragon?” It said excitedly in what Ilyshn’ish thought was another female voice, “Can I get some of that, big sis Lupu? Lord Ainz had the ones he killed harvested for parts and I didn’t get to try any.”

Ilyshn’ish’s focus went between the two. They were siblings? As far as she could tell, they weren’t even the same species.

Miss Lupusregina looked over her shoulder, examining the newcomer with her squealing attachments.

“Mmh…if you’re feeling hungry, Entoma, maybe you shouldn’t be babysitting?” She said, “I don’t know what’ll happen to you if big sis Yuri does a headcount after she gets back and you’re three kids short.”

“I-I’m not hungry,” Entoma replied, “I just want to save some for later. I’ve never had the chance to taste the Dragons from around here. Anyways, if you’re done visiting with Lady Nigredo, you’d better get back to Carne before you get into trouble again.”

“This was for work, ya know!” Miss Lupusregina protested, “Those Runesmiths are moving in and new buildings are being raised for them, so I had to ask Lady Nigredo to redo all the counterdivination wards. Ah~ I don’t wanna walk…I know: can you call Lady Shalltear? This’s her mess to clean up anyways – maybe I can bum a ride~”

Ilyshn’ish couldn’t really follow what they were talking about, but the part about eating Dragons made her want to run away. They were acting so casually in front of her, however, that she feared that some spell or ability would be unleashed against her the moment she tried. Why would anyone even talk so casually in front of a Dragon? Maybe it was because they were so strong…but even the strong could be overturned by powerful attacks, of which Dragons possessed aplenty. She had slain a fair number of overconfident opponents this way.

A void opened in the air between them, something Ilyshn’ish had never seen before. She stared at the new sight, trying to make sense out of its existence as it manifested into a circular opening of some sort. A small figure came out from the void, roughly the height of a Quagoa and dressed in expensive clothing. All of the heads of the beings nearby – including those of Miss Lupusregina and Entoma – lowered in the presence of the new arrival as she fully emerged.

With pale features and glowing, crimson eyes, Ilyshn’ish decided it was something like the Vampire Brides that stood nearby…but she couldn’t sense how strong she was. Maybe this was the ‘Mistress’ that her mother spoke of? She examined the new arrival carefully: she was smaller than the others, yet incalculably powerful – Ilyshn’ish at least had a sense of how strong Miss Lupusregina and Entoma were.

“You said there was trouble here, Entoma,” the new Vampire said as she looked around, “but I only see one Dragon?”

Ilyshn’ish twisted around to see where the other Dragons had disappeared to. They had scattered out of range of her Blindsight as soon as the portal appeared. She looked up and saw a tail vanish back into the hoardings on the wall containing the pens. She knew that those of her kind were fast, but that was certainly a lot faster than usual – even Hejinmal had vanished without a trace.

“Yes, Lady Shalltear,” the strange, eight-limbed figure replied. “Just that one over there. If you’re going to kill it, may I please have a bit?”

Entoma’s words prodded Ilyshn’ish into making herself scarce. She darted away…except that, after a few steps, she couldn’t. She looked behind her to see the fourth Vampire gripping her tail. There wasn’t even any sense of effort being placed into maintaining her grasp: if anything, Ilyshn’ish felt more like she was pulling against some immovable obstacle – as if her tail had been tied to a whole mountain. Lady Shalltear’s voice sounded from behind as she continued to hold onto Ilyshn’ish.

“Hmm…what’s the reason for all this commotion anyways?” Lady Shalltear asked with no discernible sign of strain.

“Number Nineteen refused her accommodations, Lady Shalltear,” answered the voice of a Vampire Bride. “She then tried to leave before completing the standard orientation and training. Something about going somewhere else.”

“I see,” Lady Shalltear said, and her eyes met one of Ilyshn’ish’s own. “Where is this ‘somewhere else’ you planned to go? Are there more Frost Dragons, perhaps? If you are not one of the original eighteen, then maybe there are more you would like to show us?”

Ilyshn’ish ceased her panicked scrabbling over the cobbled road, which had been torn apart in her struggles.

There were other Frost Dragons in the Azerlisia Mountains, but they had become slaves of the Frost Giants. The rest of the Frost Dragon population had simply flown away to other parts of the wide world instead of joining her father, Olasird’arc, in his bid to consolidate power in the glacial range. Ilyshn’ish tested the hold on her tail again, with no more success than before.

With Lady Shalltear voicing her apparent interest, a vague scheme arose in Ilyshn’ish’s mind: she could have this powerful Vampire remove the pesky Frost Giants by exploiting her desire to find more Frost Dragons. Ilyshn’ish would then escape at a more opportune moment and have the entire range to herself.

“I can lead you to the other Frost Dragons, in exchange for–”

Ilyshn’ish felt herself leave the ground, suddenly twirling over the Vampire’s head as she was whirled around and around by her tail. She was just as suddenly released, and the few dozen Demihumans watching from the northeast threw themselves to the ground as she hurtled over their heads. Hitting the surface of the lake in the middle of the city section, she skipped over the water twice before ploughing to a stop. The large wave she created washed under a few Lizardman huts on the shore nearby and doused their fires.

They hissed in annoyance at her. Why was no one afraid of Dragons in this miserable city?

When the world finally stopped spinning, Ilyshn’ish found Lady Shalltear over her floating form. She flipped over and made to dive into the water but, before she could get very far, she felt a hand grip the base of her neck. The water disappeared from beneath her, and she landed limply on the muddy shore nearby with a splat.

“I didn’t like the way you said that,” Lady Shalltear’s voice floated down from above her again. “Honestly, I had some hope that at least one of you might be at least half as excellent as the vassal I recently picked up, but it appears that all of my luck went into drawing her. What makes you think you’re permitted to take that tone of voice with me, hm? By what right do you believe you have to bargain? I thought the message finally sunk in when Lord Ainz turned two of your number into crafting materials, but perhaps the third time’s the charm…”

“Ainz…” Ilyshn’ish coughed up a mouthful of water.

“Haaah?” The Vampire’s voice dropped an octave.

“Lord Ainz Ooal Gown,” she cleared her voice. “Once I meet with him, he will father a powerful brood with me. Then I will have his favour – and you…you will pay for this…”

There was a long pause after Ilyshn’ish’s words, and she smirked to herself inside. This stupid Vampire realized just how much trouble she was in now, but there was no taking back what she had done.

“...what did you just say?” Lady Shalltear’s voice was deathly quiet.

“I said–”

Ilyshn’ish hurtled through the air again, smashing into the north wall. The world blacked out, and when she came to again, the Vampire was standing in front of her head.

“Was it this mouth from which spouted forth such ridiculous words?” Ilyshn’ish felt a pinching pain as the Vampire’s left hand reached down between her jaws, “This tongue? Know your place, worm!”

Crimson eyes flared brightly on a face that warped far more than it should have been able to. Ilyshn’ish felt her tongue being stretched out of her mouth. The shaft of a glaive appeared, gripped in Lady Shalltear’s right hand; its long, wicked, blade pulsing with vile darkness. The Vampire glanced up at it briefly, and an equally wicked grin appeared on her face.

“She has the right idea, I suppose,” she said. “All of you misbehaving reptiles should simply have their tongues pinned to the ground. How fitting that I have the weapon I’ve chosen for her on hand.”

Ilyshn’ish twitched, then she squirmed and writhed as she desperately tried to come free. But the fingers pinching her tongue were a merciless vice, and the evil-looking blade angled down, inching ever closer. The Vampire’s unnaturally wide smile stretched and grew.

“I see you’re quite excited over the prospect of being stuck here for weeks,” Lady Shalltear purred to the accompaniment of Ilyshn’ish’s laboured breath. “Mare doesn’t have any rain scheduled for the area around E-Rantel for the next little while since the crops of grain are ripening. It will be very hot on this side of the Demihuman Quarter, and Frost Dragons just love that sort of thing, don’t they? Maybe we can even cook those eggs in there before they give you any more insolent urges – I wonder what the nobles around here would pay for hard-boiled Dragon eggs. It should be an extraordinarily rare delicacy, yes?”

Monster.

The Undead were evil creatures, Ilyshn’ish knew, but it was only now that she understood just how evil they were. Why had Hejinmal led her to this horrible place, to be tormented by this exceedingly cruel being? A low sob left Ilyshn’ish’s throat, followed by another. Why was this happening to her? What had she done to deserve this?

Her forlorn display only seemed to entice Lady Shalltear all the more, and Ilyshn’ish could only stare wide-eyed through panicked wheezing as the polearm slowly entered her mouth. The edge of the blade touched her tongue, and she convulsed violently as the dark energy of the weapon wracked her body. A wail of exquisite draconic agony echoed over the rooftops.

Ilyshn’ish thrashed and writhed in mind-rending pain; her screams bouncing off of the city walls multiple times before rising out into the night sky. It wasn’t until she had rolled over quite a few times that she realized that the grip on her tongue was gone. She tested her mouth for blood: it appeared that the glaive did not actually cut into her, but the horrific sensation still pulsed through her body. A feeling of wrongness fell upon her; a sense of dread that seeped into her very being.

Through her pain-addled senses, she looked around and saw Lady Shalltear standing above her nearby, wiping her fingers with a pristine silk handkerchief. The warped features of the Vampire’s face had vanished; returned to the appearance that was not much different than those of other humanoid creatures. Ilyshn’ish whimpered in terror as Lady Shalltear turned her bright crimson gaze down at her, a glow of satisfaction over her face.

“Ah, that was so refreshing,” Lady Shalltear said cheerfully. “Ludmila has an excellent sense for these matters, surely. I wonder how amazing it would feel if I went all the way…well, if ever you are feeling defiant, please feel free to let me know. I will be most delighted to oblige you again.”