Chapter 22 - Blood-mist? 

Meanwhile at the dining hall. 

---Emilia's perspective---

The doors opened. A party of guards came in, heading right for the fridge. I guess they didn't notice me. I observed them for a while as they chatted loudly. They sat down on a table next to mine, one of them waved. 

"Ah, you're Emilia right?" A woman yelled. 

They put out beer on the table, one of them seemed to have some rank of the spell, storage, where he had stashed a keg. 

I nodded at her question. Ops, I should maybe smile. I think I have her a dead-stare. I smiled a bit forced, anxiously. But then I realised, Eeh, right... I'm a victim! No one will question a dead look on my face! Which made me pull of a smile naturally without thinking. They smiled back at me. Hehe, smile while you can. 

"We were told to stay put here until further notice after we'd had our food break!" 

"Yeah, so don't you worry. If any scary cultist come I'll protect you!" a pretty buff guy yelled out as he hit his puffed out chest, then he put on a smirk.

The lady sighed at his remark, stood up and hit him in the back of his head. 

"Ouch, hey?!" he rubbed the spot she'd struck. 

"Hah, you're just scaring her. Don't worry, I'll protect you from Sam if he gets to annoying." she smiled as she nervously stretched and flexed her arms. Maybe a slight blush on her. They both looked quite good. If it were different circumstances I'd be up for some fun. 

I giggled at their chatter. 

"Thanks for being so considerate. It is pretty scary right now after all." I smiled at them, blushing a bit as to add to the innocent look. Better to keep it up. 

"You want a beer to cool the nerves?" she asked me, pointing at her wooden stout. 

"No, thanks, I don't drink. But thanks very much for asking!" I said as politely as I could and bowed, then kept smiling at her. 

Emilias smile did look quite adorable, Aliciedra was thinking. The girl who smacked Sam and offered her a beer was named Aliciedra. She was a half-ent and came here recently actually. The Ents and half-bloods came to Reatown just the other year over the sea, as they used to live up north in the land the cultists now has claimed as their own. They fled on ships and sailed north. They passed the elven lands and arrived here eventually. They had heard about this place as they spied on the cultists back home and decided this was the country they'd want to live in, settle down in, fight for, pass on their knowledge too. So they sailed straight for us. Aliciedra had herself fought off an attack who tried to capture their boat and take them prisoner, but no boat was taken that day since the ships were all filled with well trained warriors! Prepared for just such an attack. 

"Alright then miss, let us know if we can do anything!" she raised her stout at me then sat down and resumed chatting with her friends. Or maybe coworkers is a better word. They might be her friends as well of course. One doesn't cancel out the other. 

Doesnt matter all too much I thought. 

Aliciedra looked human, though her hair wasn't human hair, it was made up of vines. Her skin had green spots all over at random places and leaves grew in her hair and at a few of the green spots, maybe three in total on her body, all the rest was in her vines or hair-vines. Otherwise she looked like any other girl. She was slim, fit and had quite big boobs so she was pretty popular among most people attracted to human girls. Judging by the way those guys are eyeballing her I bet she's done well. 

She was now in the peacekeepers, as she wanted to make use of her warrior training and make a difference. 

But as of this moment, she was glancing at Emilia with lust in her eyes. She couldn't help it for some reason. 

I noticed the girl glancing at me. I guess she thought something similar as to what I thought. About circumstances being different then we'd maybe have some fun. Haha, well, to bad you're on guard duty here. To bad indeed. 

I looked up. The red mist was in the roof unbeknownst to them. Waiting. I smiled to myself. 

Yeah, it won't matter the slightest in a bit. 

The door opened again, it was Bob. 

"Hey, we got some newcomers here. Nana saved them at the other sanctum." He said loudly so the whole room heard. The group that came in earlier all cheered and raised their stouts. 

"Really? Drinking already?" Bob shook his head. 

In came 1 catgirl, all cat. 1 hawkman and 1 hawkgirl, who were half-bloods. 

They looked pretty shaken up, with nervous smiles and twitchy limbs. They'd seen some stuff alright. I guess they were in the sanctum with the failed batches of experiments. 

"Oh, Bob, could you come over here?" I said, a tad more flirty than I had intended. Can't help it, I got all excited. 

"Oh sure Emilia!" he said with a joyful tone, held up his hand as to signal, just wait one second. 

"The food's in the fridge over there, help yourself to however much you want!" Bob explained to the newcomers and pointed with his other hand. They bowed toward Bob who smiled in return, then they turned around and went over to the kitchen. 

Bob started walking over to me. 

"What is it Emilia, everything alright?" he smiled as he closed in. 

"Can I play now?" the distorted voice asked, whispering, but the whisper was pretty loud so I would call it a whisper. Bob heard it and looked around confused as he put his hand on the hilt of his weapon. 

"Yes my dear, go ahead." I said with a big smile on my face. 

The mist dropped down from the roof behind Bob, standing between everyone inside and the exit now. 

"Ah ah ah ah! You're all mine! Let's play! AH ah ah ah Ah" the distorted voice yelled, laughing. Sounding overall sort of innocent in tone as if it was a kid really excited they were getting to play their favourite game.

Blood started flowing out of every opening their bodies had from all the guards at the same time, very very slowly, in a stream. The stream wete going straight into the red mist. 

"Whaa." 

"Stop!" 

"Why?!" 

Bob fell to the ground coughing and squirming. 

The guards by the table were coughing and pleading. They fell of their chairs, now squirming on the floor. 

I got up and walked over to Aliciedra. 

"Sorry." I said. And as I finished the word, I'd formed a hand with demonic magic around he neck with which I snapped it with. Maybe I'm going soft, I thought and walked over to the blood mist, leaving the others on the floor as they kept coughing while their blood slowly left their bodies through all their openings. 

As it had accumulated into a big ball, the mist shaped itself into the form of a human while still staying as a mist of blood. It laid its hand on the ball of blood, the ball disappeared into the blood-mist. Merging with it. "Ah ah ah, it feels kinda ticklish" 

I looked over at the kitchen. Weren't there.. 

"Oh, don't forget the ones hiding by the kitchen." I said casually as I pointed over towards them. 

They'd ducked behind the counter trying to not be noticed. 

"Ah ah ah ah, of course they'll get to play too." the shape held out it's hand open towards their location, and from hand shaped mist of blood three snakes formed who dropped down on the floor. Blood red snakes that was entirely made up of blood it seemed. It looked as if they were liquid, blood, with a thin see-through shell holding it all in place. Kinda fascinating what magic can create I thought. I wonder if some of the guards are inside them. 

They quickly slithered over to where the civilians were hiding behind the counter. 

A few screams were heard, then they were dragged out in the open with force by the blood snake-things. 

Two of the snakes had grabbed one each of them by their ankles who were still kicking and screaming as they were dragged out. It was the hawk-halflings, they tried to hold each others hands. Lovers perhaps. 

The other one was dragged out by the throat, the catgirl. She was scratching at the snakes tail, I think it counts as a tail? Anyway, which was wrapped around her throat. She was grasping for air. Amazingly strong things, dragging out full-sized demihumans like nothing even though just being small snakes that are entirely made out of blood. 

They were all dropped by the feet of the mysterious, now solid, red figure with a swirling bloody mist around it. 

It leaned down laughing its weird but innocent "Ah ah ah ah" laugh. 

"I know, I can do explosions too!" the red shape turned to me and looked with puppy eyes, as if asking its mom, caaan I mom pleeeaseee pleasee. 

I rolled my eyes and shrugged. 

"Eh, go ahead.'' 

"Yaaay!" 

The red shape snaped its finger and one by one, the snake things entered the demihumans. They were panicking now, touching all over their bodies and screaming. 

"Ah ah ah ah, look at them!" the red shape seemed to have a hysterical time. When it stopped laughing, it dried its eyes with a forearm. Then held out its hand. "Freeze!" it said. And the demihumans stopped moving as if they'd been frozen in place. They kept breathing and talking though, as they were still pleading for their lives. 

"Well, who ordered fireworks!?" The red shape looked at me smiling wide then snapped its finger. The demihumans started crying even louder. 

"I love you" the hawk-people said to each other. 

And shortly after that they exploded one at a time. Sending gore and blood everywhere in the building. 

I put up a barrier. 

"ugh, cmon. Gather this up that got on me please." My barrier had been covered. I saw mostly blood, then intestines, an eyeball and an arm, all on my barrier. If I'd remove it, it would surely fall down on me. 

The shape held out its hand, and all the blood that had gotten on my barrier or near me magically flowed over into the palm of it's hand. It dissolved the intestines, eyeball and arm to turning it into a red mist of blood. Merging with it. Sort of like there was a tunnel in the hand that magically vacuumed it all.

"I guess we're done. Let's go."

I sent a telepathic message to a handful of people. 

The message saying:

"Operation red riding hood stage 2 has been executed and done, moving on to prepare stage 3! be ready!" 

I got up, walked over to the shape that once again became a mist about the size of a human. I teleported us both away with a delayed teleporter, towards the Reatown castle

---as soon as Emilia and the blood mist had disappeared in the dining hall---

A small dark shape slithered inside after Emilia and the red mist had taken off, creating a tiny magical sphere on the ground before disappearing.