Aella walked into the city’s gate, holding a large bag filled with greens. She looked at the houses, “How long has it been?”

“Aella, wait for me!” Mira rushed after her, “We were supposed to go together.”

“You shouldn’t run, right?” Aella stared at her.

“Don’t worry, it’s not like a normal human pregnancy. As long as I drink enough mana potions, I would be fine,” Mira smiled, puffing her chest.

“I hope that’s right,” Aella smiled, “But you can’t keep drinking those potions, right?”

Mira sighed, “You’re right,” she tapped her head, “I can hear a faint ringing in my ears, and my body feels lighter than it should be. Not to mention, my stomach is quite restless.”

“Humans aren’t supposed to drink mana potions like that,” Aella looked inside her bag. She had three potions inside for Mira.

“When will Arad wake up? It’s been a month since he went to sleep.” Mira sighed, “Ever since Sena gave him the metal.”

Aella closed her eyes, ^Zephyr, how is he doing?^

***

Inside Arad’s lair, Zephyr flew between the tunnels until she reached him, staring with a passive face.

“Still the same,” She could see a massive black cocoon nested in the middle of the room. Arad’s body expanded before as he started evolving and hasn’t moved since.

^You sure? How many days has it been?^ Aella asked.

^Thirty-two days.^ Zephyr floated around Arad and sat on a flower that strangely bloomed beside him.

“His magic is still increasing,” The flower spoke, and Zephyr stared at her.

“You can sense him, Loci. Wasn’t there any change, no matter how small?”

“Psychic waves have been surging from him every now and then,” Loci replied, “Even I can sense the power of his mind. Whatever power he would get upon waking up, it’s going to relate to that.”

“Not like you’re certain,” Zephyr stared at her, “You aren’t a void dragon healer, are you?” Zephyr sighed.

“He’s a vampire, dominating people with the power of his mind should be a natural ability.” Eris walked into the room, standing beside Zephyr and Loci.

Zephyr stared at Eris with an exhausted face, “What vampires use is illusion and blood magic.” She flew to her face.

“You either use your blood magic to starve the victim’s brain so he starts hallucinating or show him an inclusion through magic, like the vintage of a lover or a friend.” Thud! Zephyr kicked Eris in the nose. “A woman is inclined to allow her lover to kiss her neck, isn’t she?”

Eris scratched her nose, Zephyr’s kick was so weak she almost didn’t feel it.

“Sounds like you experienced it,” Eris stared back at the flying pixie.

“Not me, one of my old mistresses fell to it. And thanks to that I was stuck with her in the service of a vampire for a thousand years.” She sighed.

“Is that vampire still alive?” Eris asked, hoping she could find and kill him to get his blood. It’s easier to get help for such a mission when it’s a personal enemy of the wind spirit.

“No, I burned him and all his spawns after my mistress died.” Zephyr smiled, “I made sure he’s….” She froze, glaring into the sky. “What in the hell?”

She flew, drilling a hole in the ceiling and flying out at top speed.

“What happened?” Eris glared at Loci.

“Aella lost Mira, someone kidnapped her.” Loci growled, “Three mages and one large fighter. They are running across the west side of the city while using an anti-magic item to prevent people from tracking them.”

“It’s daytime,” Eris growled, “Did you inform the others?”

“I’m doing that now,” Loci replied and a hole appeared in the wall, “Go, this will lead you to the sewers. Hurry.”

Eris nodded and rushed away.

Loci stared at Arad’s cocoon, “This is the second time,” She sighed, “Even though we killed them all last time,”

****

In the city, the fighter ran in the front, carrying the tied-in-a-bag Mira on his shoulder. “You better get that spell ready,” He growled.

“Shut up! It’s hard concentrating on magic while running,” One of the mages behind him panted, “This is a complicated spell,”

“I don’t care, the first team got annihilated by that elf woman. We’re dead if she catches us.” The fighter growled back at them, “Hurry before she puts your sorry asses in the ground,”

“We should find a place to stop or at least walk,” Another mage said, panting like a dog, “We can get the spell faster like that.”

“Sewers, there should be an entrance nearby,” The fighter replied, “But it’s guarded by the city guards,” He glared at the mages, “You need to carry the woman,”

“No need for that,” One of the mages pulled his wand, “A sleep spell is a simple one, I will knock them out,” He started running beside the fighter, “Lead us there,”

“Understood,” The fighter smiled.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Soon they reached the sewers, and the guards glared at them, “Who are you? Stop!”

“Excuse me! Do you know where I can find the blue church of the black cow?” The fighter said rapidly, drawing the guard’s attention to him for a second. The mage behind him waved his wand, sending a wave of soothing magic.

BAM! CLANG! The guards fell to the ground, fast asleep like babies.

Thud! The fighter jumped over them and opened the sewer’s door, “Hurry, ignore them.”

“We know!” One of the mages replied as he rushed after the fighter, “Let’s hope we can find a place to stop,”

“Start inscribing the spell,” The fighter glared at them, “We can’t stop or the elf woman would catch our scent. She’s like a dog, a well-trained one.”

****

Back in Arad’s room, Loci stared at him, “You’re still asleep, don’t worry, they will retrieve her.” Loci smiled, “And they shall have a lot of stories for you,”

As she said that, she could feel waves of psychic magic rushing from the cocoon. Far stronger than anything she had seen before. The threads of magic knitted like fabric, dancing across the sky and expanding faster than the wind.

“Are you waking up?” Loci got to hope for a moment, but that soon faded as she didn’t sense any physical change in the cocoon. He only radiated psychic magic.

****

As the kidnappers ran across the sewers, they rushed past a fat rat that the fighter noticed, “That’s a big one,”

“Now you’re getting distracted?” One of the mages growled at him.

The fighter stared at the mage, “That isn’t it, this is the first time I’ve seen such a big rat.” He looked forward, “Is the spell ready?”

“Not yet, we’re a third through.” One of the mages replied as he waved his wand.

The fighter looked to the side, spotting a door. “Is this one leading outside the city?” He stopped to open the door. 𝙚𝙙𝙤𝒗𝒆𝒍．𝒄𝙤𝙢

The mages didn’t comply but instead sighed in relief, they could finally catch their breath. Albeit unpleased with them being in the **-filled sewers.

The fighter slowly pushed the door open, wary of the possibility of guards standing on the other side.

As he opened the door, the mages shined the light inside. The fighter could see a strangely dark room with a single rat standing on a barrel in the middle, staring back at him with pitch-black eyes, menacingly.

“Another rat?” The fight gasped.

CLING! Suddenly, tens of red eyes emerged in the dark, sending shivers down the fighter’s spine. CLAP! He immediately closed the door, feeling the tens of rats smacking into it.

“Shit! A swarm of rats!” He growled, “We run away,” He started running, and the mages chased him.

“They are only rats. Can’t you deal with them?” One of the mages growled at him.

“I will fight an ogre while naked and unarmed before I fight another swarm of rats,” The fighter growled, “You attack one, and the rest start chewing on you, and they are infested with diseases.”

After running for a while, they reached another door, “By the gods, let it be filled with ** and not rats,”

He opened the door and saw a woman standing inside. “You came?” Eris smiled, conjuring a flaming spear in her palm.

“Shit!” The fighter slammed the door closed and glared at the mages, “Seal it the ** out!”

Arcane Lock One of the mages sealed it immediately with magic.

“Why the ** did you scare us?” He growled.

“That bitch is a vampire, I saw her teeth. How many monsters does this city have?” He started running away and the mages followed him.

Thud! The fighter stopped, and the same fat rat from earlier stood before them, cutting the way and standing on its hind legs.

“Damn it!” The fighter pulled his sword, swinging at the rat and cutting it in half.

He then stopped, staring at the corpse and sweating. “The hell is he smiling?” He couldn’t believe his eyes, the rat corpse was smiling.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAA!” One of the mages cried, screaming in pain as a massive rat bit his leg, dragging him away with to a full swarm of rats.

The mages watched in horror as the rats chewed on their friend.

“Run the hell out!” The fighter growled, “We need to get this woman to the master.”

The mages rushed with the fighter abandoning their friend.

***

The rats stopped eating the man, keeping him alive as the big one climbed on his chest. The man watched in horror with his tear-filled eyes and bloodied body as the rat smiled.

The rat’s mouth opened and closed, his eyes flashing purple, “Wh…” the rat gasped, shaking, “Who sent you?” The rat spoke, glaring down at the man.

“SPEAK!” The whole swarm said at the same time.

“And I shall spare your life,” The massive rat said with a grin.