Chapter 122

Chapter 122

Flashes of multi-colored light erupted from the planting rod, and over the course of minutes Riven’s guild hall came into fruition.

After moving around to the front of the building, it was just like the pictures. A large central tower was present over the main entrance where very thick, wooden double doors with enormous ringed knocker handles on the outside. The upper floors on the third level had balconies, each with a stone gargoyle depicted to hold them up on the underside. Metal barred fences of expensive design began encircling not only the garden of beautiful unholy-attuned flowers and chapel in the back with Jose’s tree, but also the slides and the front of the property too. The front contained a courtyard with a gate and a cobblestone road leading out to it, with a lot of empty space inbetween.

“Shall we?” Riven asked with a backwards glance at the others.

Fay picked up Genua’s chain and tugged the collared elf to her feet, winking Riven’s way. “After you, master!”

Riven blatantly ignored the succubus, walked up to the double doors and pushed. They opened with a slight creek at first, but then silently glided to a stop.

Lanterns, not lit by flame - but instead lit by yellow baubles of light - rested on a rather short main hallway leading into the much bigger greeting room that was at least thirty feet tall. On either side of the large, square, mostly empty room were large hallways with red carpets on top of wooden floors. A large spiral staircase with a guardrail was placed in the back-left corner of the greeting room, two large brown leather couches sat facing one another in the middle of the room, and tall glass windows halfway up the wall let in light in addition to the lantern’s magical glow.

Riven clapped his hands and gave a nod of approval. “Not too shabby. Spread out and explore everyone - and meet back in twenty minutes! While you’re at it, pick out a room if you’re living here. Fay and Athela - I think there’s a dungeon here somewhere. Find it and lock Genua up for me.”

“Yessir!” The succubus saluted and bounced on the balls of her feet excitedly, tail flipping merrily around before dragging the elf away in search of a staircase leading downwards.

Genua struggled with failed attempts to pull back, getting smacked hard in the back of the head by Athela and stumbling while becoming outwardly enraged. “You’re just going to dump me underground!?”

“Yup! At least for now anyways. You’ll maybe be given a chance to redeem yourself later.” Riven said with a salute and a wave, just as she was tugged out of sight and into an adjacent hallway by the two demons. “Now… let’s see what this place has to offer.”

The hallway to the right was shorter than the one on the left. Each room they passed was outfitted with very basic feather bedding, a small mirror, a nightstand, a closet, a glass window that had thick wooden shutters which could be locked, and a dresser for clothes. There was a communal toilet in the hall as well, likely to be in every hall by the looks of the layout, which had small power stones with storm-pillar affinities that powered the toilets and sinks.

“Pretty neat.” Riven said while turning the sink on and off again, and flushing the toilet. The toilets were a little different from the ones back home, and didn’t have a back to them. Rather they were just round, wooden bowls one sat on with piping that led elsewhere. “Any idea where the waste goes?”

Dr. Brass shrugged and adjusted his glasses while peering down into the bowl. “Maybe it dumps it all outside, or has a portal of some sort?”

“That’s as good a guess as I could think of. Maybe you’re right. When are you going to ditch the white coat?”

“Hmmm?” The old man looked down at his doctor’s uniform, then laughed. “Oh, this old thing? I think I’ll keep it. Maybe even repair it, the coat reminds me of back home before the world fell apart.”

Riven returned the doctor’s sad smile with a nod. “I get it. You doing ok?”

Dr. Brass slowly held up his hands to either side. “As good as one could get in a situation like this. I think I’ll be more ok whenever you turn me tonight, I’ve been looking forward to it for a while. But… have you thought about my need for blood as well?”

Riven straightened with a confused expression and walked out into the hall with the doctor in tow, stepping out of the way of Azmoth who was checking out a large supply closet with Gurth’Rok. “What do you mean?”

The two men started down the hall again, this time towards the larger door at the very end that was different from all the others - likely leading to something that caused this hallway to be shorter than the opposite one.

“I mean that you have Genua to feed on, but what about me?” Dr. Brass eventually said, stopping in the hallway and turning to meet Riven’s gaze. “I’m going to need someone to feed on regularly too.”

“Oh. That.” Riven gestured out a window in the direction of the fields. “You can go ask around to see if anyone wants to be a thrall. If they don’t, just talk to me and we’ll pick someone for you. It’d be better if they volunteered but one way or the other we’ll get it done.”

“Alright. By the way… I think you should consider talking to The Blood Moon Requiem again.”

Riven paused just as he was about to open the large door at the end of the hall. “What makes you say that?”

Dr. Brass sighed, then came to lean against the wall with his hands in the pockets of his white coat. “Look son. I realize you are angry about what happened-”

“Yeah I’m fucking angry.” Riven glared back at the doctor with an edge to his voice. “We were almost assassinated just two days ago man! Why would I think any other way?”

“Because you’re putting yourself in danger by not doing it.” Dr. Brass said flatly, unflinching as he met the gaze of the much stronger and younger man next to him.

There was a long drawn out silence as the two men stared at one another, and Riven took his hand off the door to match the doctor - putting his hands in his pockets while his staff floated next to him. “Allie told you about the malignancy points, didn’t she?”

Dr. Brass hesitantly nodded. “Yes.”

“She wasn’t supposed to do that.”

“She wanted my opinion, and I think it’s incredibly foolish not to ask.” Dr. Brass lowered his glasses and peered out from over the rims with a knowing gaze. “Just because you’re upset doesn’t mean you should pursue the path of the fool, Riven. After what Athela has said about your bloodline being solely found in the royals of The Blood Moon Requiem, it’s almost a certainty that they’d know more about these ‘malignancy points.’ The very name ‘malignancy’ does not give off good vibes, and accumulating more of them without knowing what they do is sheer stupidity. You may be angry if I say it, but you know it’s true. As indebted as I’ll be after you turn me, changing me and giving me the gift of eternal life when I’m on the precipice of ending this one: I feel like it is my duty to advise you against stupid, irrational ideas guided by emotions. Kathrine wasn’t even the one who tried to kill you and she was nearly off’d as well, so drop the grudge. You don’t have to be friendly with them, but at least use them to make sure whatever is happening isn’t going to harm you.”

Riven simply glared.

“Please.” Dr. Brass stated flatly, keeping their eye contact steady.

Eventually Riven’s shoulders slumped, and he gave a grudging grunt of affirmation. “Fine. But not yet, I want to make them wait for at least another day. I want them to squirm, thinking I’m not coming back or that I’ll banish them.”

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“Out of spite?”

“Definitely out of spite.”

“Fine, but don’t let it last too long. This could be seriously detrimental to your health.”

Riven rolled his eyes, then laughed at the smug expression Dr. Brass was wearing. “Is that the look you give patients when you finally convince them to stop smoking cigarettes?”

“Hardly. Anyways, are you going to open that door?”

Riven shifted. “Sure thing boss man.”

Gripping the handle of the abnormally large door, Riven tugged - and the hallway opened up into an indoor pool. Though the pictures of this pool hadn’t done it justice, and it was a lot bigger with additions that hadn’t been included in the package pre-viewing. Not only that, but it was connected to another portion of the house that Riven hadn’t expected to be here.

The central pool was rectangular, with slowly flowing water that was powered by yet another storm-affinity stone to manipulate water at one corner. It was crystal clear, warm to the touch, and felt absolutely great when dunking his hand inside. A few racks with rolled up fluffy towels were set to one side, and a skylight reaching far above them up to the height of three stories let rays of dusk trickle in from orange-streaked clouds, but the part that surprised him most and that he’d not expected was the elevated platform just beyond the pool where the dining room was set up.

Instead of the dining room being separate, it was actually only separated by five steps leading up to the elevated platform at the back of the room. There: two long wooden tables with steel cutlery, wooden plates and iron goblets were all lined up. Each table had twenty chairs, making a total of 40 spots for people to sit at, and a kitchen was placed behind an open-counter where a fireplace, grill, oven and storage units were held.

One of the storage units upon closer inspection was a fridge, charged by another power stone with the glacial affinity that created frost to keep things cold. The oven had a fire-type affinity gemstone, meaning it was sun, infernal, or volcanic, but Riven couldn’t tell which as its fires smoldered in the back. He could turn the fire on and off with a knob of all things where magical engineers had connected rune-laden power lines to the stone, and it very much reminded him of technology back on Earth in many ways.

“This will definitely be an area I visit often…” Riven said, staring out glass windows from the elevated platform to overlook the courtyard below, and then glancing over his shoulder to where the pool was still slowly rippling and churning. “This is really nice.”

“Maybe we can sneak peaks whenever Fay or Athela are around.” Dr Brass stated with a kidding smile, then held up his hands defensively when Riven cocked an eyebrow. “What!?”

“You’re quite the old pervert, aren’t you? You do know that Athela walks around naked all the time, right?”

“Not really.”

“What do you mean, ‘not really’?”

“She wears a chitinous protective layer on top of her skin, which is why she looks the way she does. It’s just rather form fitting, but she doesn’t walk around naked. Ask her about it.”

“And how would you know that?”

“She told me.”

Riven’s lips pooched in surprise, and he put his hands on his hips. “Wow. Alright I will, that’s kinda interesting. But I wouldn’t go spying on them even if that’s true, Athela will kill your ass and I won’t stop her.”

Dr. Brass huffed. “I was only kidding!”

“Uh huh.”

“I was! But between you and me in all seriousness, if I ever get my own succubus…” Dr. Brass’s voice trailed off and he wiggled his eyebrows and nudged Riven’s side with an elbow. “Maybe you can teach me how to take a warlock class! Eh!? Eh!?”

Riven’s eyelids drooped. “Old. Pervert.”

“Calling people names is rude.”

The rest of the manor was a little less exciting, but it was still nice to get a feel for the place. Leaving the eastern wing, or the wing with the dining room, kitchen, and pool - they crossed back over to the western wing and found a bunch of living quarters. There was a stairway leading down into the basement where it split off into a cellar filled with storage racks, an armory that had mannequins and display cases, and then the dungeon - which was complete with five different holding cells.

One of which was occupied by Genua, who sat curled up on a pile of hay with her head tucked between her knees - and the chain tying her shackles and collar together was now latched onto the cell bars where a heavy padlock was set.

Genua didn’t look up or even acknowledge them as they passed by.

The second and third floors were strictly living quarters in either wing, with only the first wing leading to the pool and dining room. There were three stairwells, the central spiral staircase and two more - one at the end of each wing. But the tower, which could be accessed through the central stairwell, led up to a large room at the top that had lots of windows and empty bookcases. There were also a few armchairs, a single couch, and some tables as well.

It was supposed to be the library no doubt, given all the bookcases along the walls, but without any books it was just another empty room.

He’d have to fill it up sometime. It’d be a shame to let it go to waste.

***

“Bleed them.”

Athela’s claw superficially slit Genua’s wrist, not enough to do true damage, and the elf woman cried out with a scream of pain. Azmoth held the shackled blonde woman down in her cell as crimson liquid flowed into one of the iron goblets they’d brought from the kitchen.

The other elves that’d been brought in as a recommendation by Gurth’Rok, eight of the newcomers in total, were there because of their absolute unwillingness to work over the past two days. Two of them had been too old, an elderly couple with graying hair, thin skin and fading eyes; while the six others had been young or middle-aged adults who’d refused anything until they got to see their children again.

Riven wasn’t against reuniting them with their children in time, but only after re-education or if the parents allowed themselves to be turned into thralls. None of them wanted the second option.

So they’d ended up as his food supply for the foreseeable future, and were added to the guild hall’s dungeon as its new inhabitants.

One by one the scantily clad men and women of greenstalk were held down, terrified yelps or screams erupting from their lips only to be let up again and have their arms sewn shut by Athela’s red threads. It was painful for each of them, but it also stopped the blood loss completely.

His demons collected the blood person by person until they had enough of it that Riven felt comfortable proceeding with their current agenda: turning Dr. Brass. They’d do it here, in the dungeon, where the captives were behind locked bars and it’d be hard for Dr. Brass to escape if he went into a crazed rage like Riven had done.

“It’s a bit dark down here.” Dr. Brass said, squinting in the dim light of the one lantern that cast shadows from along the wall. “Can’t we do it upstairs?”

Riven’s smile slowly spread, and he shook his head no. “Easier to contain you here. In fact, Athela - tie him down just in case he does what I did. And don’t worry Dr. Brass, it won’t be dark down here for much longer.”

The change would no doubt take care of that.

“EEEEYOOOOO!!!” Allie’s voice echoed down the stairwell and her feet smacking against the stone steps gave Riven pause. Looking left, he saw her slender form hop, skip and jump to the bottom where she whirled on him with a wide smile. “Hey! You weren’t going to begin without me I hope!”

“Not a chance. Did you already move your stuff in?”

“Yup! Well, no not really, but my servants are taking care of it now.” She pointed up at the ceiling where the clambering of feet was still heard, and she grinned widely.

Mara, the female ghoul necromancer, and Vin - one of the skeletal skresh necromancers, followed close behind.

Vin pointed over his shoulder and up the stairway from where he’d just come, shifting in his black robes to lay pale glowing orbs on Riven’s red ones with a bare skull for a head. “My lord, the lady dictated we take up residence on the bottom floor. Does this sit well with you?”

“Take whatever rooms you want, just make sure your undead aren’t trampling the garden outside or breaking any furniture when moving stuff around. We don’t have much of it as it is. And Allie asked about a lab of some sort? Just move the stuff out of an adjacent room and you can set up your alchemy equipment - or use a storage closet.” Riven turned to Allie. “Do you need me to bring in more elves to harvest? Or are you going to be good?”

She shook her head, the smile fading slightly and a look of embarrassment overcoming her as she blushed. “Uh… No, I'm good!”

“She has two thralls.” Mara stated blandly with a yawn, covering her mouth and stretching to expose three wands tucked into a sash at her waist. “Mmm. She won’t be needing any elves, you’ll see for yourself soon enough.”

Ah. Yes. Riven had almost forgotten about the time in the tower when this had been mentioned before. His curious gaze drifted back from Mara to Allie and his sister gave him a guilty smile while pulling the hood over her eyes.

He gave her a skeptical look, crossing his arms as Azmoth set the goblets of blood on a nearby table that a skeleton had brought down and Athela began tying Dr. Brass up with her threads. “Allie… why do you look so guilty?”

“Heh… heh…” She gave him a sheepish laugh. “No reason!”

Mara sighed and pulled back her hood, letting her raven hair flow around her with a shake of her head. “You’ll see them and immediately understand.”

“Understand what? Wait, I thought thralls took a while to create? Don’t they?”

“I was going to KILL them otherwise!” Allie protested with a growl, ignoring Riven’s question and glaring in Mara’s direction with a hiss. “They were crusaders from Prophet’s forces! You can’t blame me!”

“Oh I certainly don’t blame you, my lady. I very much understand.” Mara replied flatly.

Riven blinked in confusion, then his eyebrows lifted when he saw a hulking, bald, handsome, muscular, shirtless beast of a man step down the stairs.

His features were normal. He looked every bit human. But his smell… his smell was off the charts good, and it somehow reminded him of the two men following Kathrine before one of them had exploded.

“My queen.” The husky man said, bowing onto one knee and taking Allie’s hand before kissing it gently. His pale blue eyes looked up at her with admiration, his chiseled features set in an adoring expression, and a perfect white smile escaped his lips while his rippling abdomen caught the light. “I have taken your bed from the tower and placed it in one of the larger rooms on the third floor, so that we may enjoy ourselves at your leisure. Kraig is already awaiting us there.”

Huh?

Riven’s jaw dropped, the goblet in his grip burst as his fist subconsciously tightened, and he nearly spit blood.

Oh, hell no.