“Oh, fuck! Oh gods! Sionann! This is amazing! More! More!”

The way Fírinne was reacting to her first taste of blood was a little bit embarrassing. Dellia was similarly enraptured, but a lot less vocal- though the blissful look in her eyes combined with the way her body shivered with every sip was adorable. 

For her own part, Sionann was deliberately holding back from drinking it too fast. Even though they had only gathered two sextarii of blood from a single victim this time, and it was being split three ways, she still didn’t want to risk overdoing it. 

The blood ran out disappointingly quickly. Dellia expressed her dissatisfaction, but left for her own room after being promised more the next night. Fírinne… did not leave. She was wound up, and desperate to unleash her desires. Sionann certainly didn’t complain. 

The next night, they harvested two victims. Although they were all thirsting for far more, Sionann declared that the limit per night. For now.

Unfortunately, there was an announcement the following morning. They were informed about the recent activity of “blood cultists”, which was being investigated by the Vestals. It was considered possible that their activity was related to the murders from a few weeks prior, although the modus operandi was obviously very different.

 

“We’ll need to change our hunting grounds, that neighbourhood is probably being watched now”, Sionann said that evening, as she and Fírinne prepared to head out. “I’m also going to suggest again that we just kill someone. Dead men tell no tales.”

“Ehh… fine. I want to avoid getting caught more than I want to avoid killing people.”

They left Sionann’s room, and headed down the hallway. They kept silent, but weren’t particularly worried about getting caught- everyone was asleep by now. 

Or at least, they should’ve been. In this case, however, someone was awake, and was spying on them from behind a door that was slightly ajar. Given how dark the hallway was, only barely illuminated by a single candle at the far end (at the entrance to the washrooms), the spy could see only silhouettes, and they could not notice the ajar door. In theory. In practice, both of them had supernatural nightvision, courtesy of their darkness affinity, and could clearly see the beady eyes tracking them down the hall. 

They didn’t say anything, until they had left the temple (wreathed in shadow, obviously). 

“You saw her, right?”

“I did. We’ll need to be careful when we get back.”

“Minucia never liked you. I think she was actually even more opposed to your presence than I was.”

“Really? I thought she was only mildly put off by me.”

“She’s a good actor, but when I spoke with her in private, she’d always have bad stuff to say about you. That you were suspicious, only acting nice to trick people. Which, come to think of it, I guess you are?”

“Hmm. She might be unnaturally observant. Or just a racist who lucked into the right biases. Either way, if she’s spying on us, we’ll need to deal with her.”

“When you say deal with-”

“Introduce her to KG. Maybe we can repeat your experience with her.”

“I don’t really want a competitor, but fine.”

 

That night’s victim, conveniently, was already located inside an empty storeroom- empty due to the three inches of water the floor was submerged by. The local sewer had collapsed, and the senate had not approved the necessary funding to repair it- resulting in a relatively minor flood leaving the entire district inundated. The subsequent protests and riots had yet to stir the senate to action. 

Political dysfunction worked to Sionann’s advantage, as the empty buildings offered room to work, and their victim- presumably homeless due to the flooding- sleeping on a table, unwittingly offering himself up on a platter to the blood-hungry Vestals. 

He got off easy, in the sense that Sionann just cut off his airflow, causing him to suffocate in his sleep. Fírinne wasn’t completely comfortable with it, but did her part in the blood-draining process, pouring bowls into the jug they acquired as Sionann gradually hoisted the corpse into the air by the feet in order to provide a steady flow through the neck. 

Once they were done, they carried the corpse to the river, dropped it in, and pushed it towards the center so that the current would carry it away. The jug was sealed, and carried back to the temple. 

Fortunately, Minucia had evidently given up, and they were able to stash the jug without any issues, wake Dellia, and enjoy a quick cup before bed. Unlike eldritch energy, the power of blood refreshed the mind as well as the body, thus making up for a lack of sleep (technically eldritch energy could also be used to refresh the mind, but that would quickly cause irreversible insanity). 

 

Minucia did not confront them the following morning, or act any differently. Then again, Sionann hadn’t paid much attention to her before. She was someone who blended into the background, as it were. Unremarkable in mannerisms and appearance (other than her black hair being cut somewhat short), diligent in her training but not especially talented.

But, now that Sionann was alert towards it, she did notice Minucia paying more attention to her than others. A couple of times, she caught her piercing, cold gaze- which vanished as soon as their eyes met, so quickly she would’ve thought she was imagining it had she not known otherwise. 

It also became evident over the next few days that she was tracking their nocturnal movements, to some extent. Whilst making sure to avoid getting caught doing anything actually incriminating, Sionann allowed her to ‘overhear’ their plan to meet in the woods for an unspecified but presumably nefarious purpose. With any luck, that would be enough to get her to follow them. If not, they could figure out some other way of luring her in. 

 

Day 53: Watched Sionann and presumably Vestia leave the dorms last night. Had to sleep before they returned. I should follow them some time. 

Practised flame-throwing, still hurts my hands to keep it up for more than a few seconds.

Eel for evening meal. I hate eel. 

Day 54: Sionann never left the dorms last night, but I think I saw Vestia and Dellia sneaking into her room. 

Practised air shield, need to work on keeping it stable. 

They served orange carrots at the evening meal, couldn’t touch them, too weird.

Day 55: Sionann and Vestia snuck out again last night. Tried to follow them, but they had already disappeared when I left the dorm. Not sure where they went, maybe an adjacent dorm?

Practised smokescreen, getting the hang of it.

Pork sausages for evening meal. Sionann sat next to me, we talked about air magic. She’s pretending to be bad at it, but is actually highly skilled, I can tell. 

Day 56: Sionann again stayed in the dorms last night, again Vestia and Dellia joined in her room. Listened at the door, overheard them talking about doing something in the woods, unclear what.

Going to the Fey Wood now. Will follow Sionann from a distance. Keeping notes as I go.

 

-Reached Fey Wood at dawn. Sionann and Vestia show no signs of fatigue, despite late night. Seemed to be in a hurry, almost lost them. 

-Getting pretty deep into the woods now. Trees are closer together, underbrush denser. I haven’t been this deep before, but Sionann is obviously familiar with the area. They’ve only talked about innocuous nonsense so far- seem to be planning a meal. Vestia is apparently a big fan of orange carrots, Sionann sensibly opposed. 

-Following a winding path through the forest now. Overheard them saying they were ‘almost there’. 

-THEY WENT THROUGH THE BARRIER. THEY ENTERED THE FELL WOOD. Waved their hand, and a gap appeared in the barrier. They left it open. I think they know I’m following them, and intend to lure me in. What I should do now is return to Reme, and warn the Vestals about the sabotage. Which is exactly what I’m going to do. 

-They’ve tried to trap me. The path loops back on itself now; I ended up next to the barrier again. They must’ve had Dellia move trees around- which would take a lot of power, further confirming there is something wrong with all three of them. Have called my spirit, but it hasn’t shown up. Will send up a smoke signal, the Vestals will notice and rescue me. 

-Waited two hours, no sign of rescue. Going to burn a path straight through the forest. 

-There’s evil at work here. Burnt a path through the underbrush, only deviated around large trees, headed straight towards the sun- ended up next to the barrier again. They must think they’ve won. I can’t lose. I never lose. I’m not the strongest, or the prettiest, or the most magically talented, but I am the smartest. There’s always a way out. I DON’T LOSE.

 

[Do you think she’s realised she passed through the barrier hours ago?], Fírinne asked as they watched (courtesy of Kin-Galud’s scrying) Minucia angrily scribbling away at her notes. They couldn’t quite make out what she was writing, but her frustration was evident. 

[Given how careful she’s been about approaching the illusory barrier, I don’t think so], Sionann responded. [She didn’t react when we passed through it for real- disabling that entire stretch for a few minutes did the trick]

[If you’re done mocking her, could we get back to work? We don’t have all day], Dellia interjected. 

[Sure, sure. We only need to capture four more spirits, right?]

Correct. It has identified suitable targets already. The other seven are secured, and their corruption is underway. 

Sionann grabbed the bronze necklace of spirit subjugation, and they set off into the woods again. 

 

-They’re nearby. I can hear them. Laughing. Just because they’re better at everything else, they think they can outsmart me. 

-I’m going to burn everything. Whatever trickery they’re using, it won’t survive a full-scale forest fire. I can keep myself and my notes safe by directing the wind away from me. 

 

“Oh, we need to go to Minucia again. She’s setting more stuff on fire. Gotta help contain the smoke”, Sionann said, as they were making their way towards the final spirit. 

“She really doesn’t give up”, Fírinne commented, as they pivoted towards Minucia’s prison. 

“KG says she’s convinced herself that she can survive a forest fire.”

“What’s going to happen to her?”, Dellia asked- only slightly concerned. 

“It still depends on how she acts. There’s the easy way, and the hard way. I’m honestly not sure which one she’ll choose, at this point.”