18 - Grimhilde

The lizard caught up quickly, but it was winded by the trek. For every step it took towards him, Prospero took another back, hoping to coax it into attempting another roll. His wishes were soon granted - simply fed up with chasing its prey on foot, the beast curled itself up and tumbled towards him. Just like before, he waited until the last moment to dodge, sending the lizard straight into another tree.

Bouncing into the air, it made to uncurl itself, but Prospero had already set his sights on the creature’s belly from below. He lunged skyward, struggling against the lizard’s immense weight in a scuffle that didn’t last more than half a second before the two of them returned to the ground. Prospero tipped the lizard’s weight favourably, causing it to land with its belly exposed towards the canopy. Before it could roll over to protect itself, he ripped into its guts with a vengeful bite, drawing blood and viscera onto the freshly-fallen snow.

He retreated before the beast could roll over, but there wasn’t much to be done past that point. An animal with its innards halfway removed was in no position to mount a counterattack. Helpless, the lizard began to crawl away, leaving a trail of blood in its wake, collapsing before it could get a few feet away from Prospero.

Forgive me, he recited a small prayer for the departed. I won’t allow your death to be in vain.

[Miner’s Folly Lizard] Defeated

[Reptile Proficiency] + 3

[Elite Bonus] + 5

Total Proficiency Gained - 8

Now, to consume the essence, he trailed up to the creature’s corpse. Eating anything should do the job, since the heart is intact.

Raw meat didn’t seem quite so unappetising to him in that form. He couldn’t speak for the lizard’s flavour, but every morsel he consumed was plump and bursting with blood. The injury he’d endured during the battle began to numb shortly after.

A Vampire’s regenerative powers are incredible, he thought. Coupled with their few weaknesses, I can’t imagine they’re easy to kill. Unless one comes prepared…

Images of his father’s final moments flashed past. Orlok’s familiarity with using a stake suggested a lifetime of battling other Vampires. He didn’t hesitate in the least when Gaspar was on the back foot. If he wasn’t careful, Prospero would suffer a similar fate.

That’s right… he was stronger than father…

Just how powerful would he need to become?

[Essence Consumed] - Grade 3

Tallying Experience…

[Canine Proficiency] (Grade 2) - 15/15

[Lupine Proficiency] (Grade 1) - 5/5

[Rodent Proficiency] (Grade 1) - 5/5

[Reptile Proficiency] (Grade 1) - 5/5 (+3)

[Canine Proficiency] has reached [Grade 3]!

Aptitude Bonus - Athleticism +2 (Total Bonus - +3)

Ability Added - Greater Agility

Description - Your top speed in [Canine Form] has doubled. Additionally, your reflexes in [Canine Form] have been improved.

[Canine Proficiency] has reached [Grade 2]!

Aptitude Bonus - Perception +1

Ability Added - Improved Hearing

Description - Your sense of hearing in [Canine Form] is significantly improved.

[Rodent Proficiency] has reached [Grade 2]!

Aptitude Bonus - Perception +1

Ability Added - Mimicry

Description - While in [Rodent Form], you may emulate the behaviour of your chosen form perfectly. An observer would not be capable of telling you apart from the genuine article.

[Reptile Proficiency] has reached [Grade 2]!

Aptitude Bonus - Bloodthirst + 1

Passive Added - Tail Break

Description - While in [Reptile Form], you may choose to detach your tail (if you have one). This action is guaranteed to confuse any [Beast] creature, but will not distract them for long. Your tail takes 8 hours to regrow.

It’s a start, Prospero thought. No telling how far I still have to go…

Something tickled his nose - the same insect from before, which had chosen to remain even in the heat of conflict. Only, with his attention no longer diverted, Prospero could tell that the creature was no insect at all, appearing remarkably familiar for such a tiny thing; winged, dressed, and expressive; a perfect facsimile of the human form bar the pair of long ears sticking out from its head of golden hair. Prospero’s first instinct of calling it a ‘sprite’ may not have been far from the truth.

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“Mm,” it made a face at him, half confused and half intrigued. The first words out of its mouth were indecipherable, following no rule or rhythm which Prospero had ever known to exist.

He shook his head, and the tiny wildling fluttered off. He didn’t stop to consider how suspicious it might have seemed to choose that exact moment to move. What could this be, he wondered, if not a fairy, or an Elf? It’s like something out of a storybook…

Tales of such beings were the subject of much excitement in his youth, but Prospero had never known any of them to be true. The Incandescence was rife with wondrous things, but fairies and gnomes and the like were nestled squarely in the realm of superstition.

In any case, he thought, not all of those stories were pleasant. I’m not about to be made the subject of some trickster’s interest.

He turned and padded away, but the spriteling came trailing along. Its curiosity, he assumed, had him pegged as something very distinct from the average wolf. It hovered with such grace that he could have sworn it was walking on air. The pair of butterfly wings sprouting from its back were hazy and obscured with motion.

Every so often, it would linger ahead and try to meet Prospero’s gaze, as if searching for something within. He wasn’t so much bothered by the idea of his true nature being discovered as he was about the prospect of turning back into a human and wasting precious Beasthood.

Convinced that there was something to him, or perhaps already aware of his nature to begin with, the fairy placed a hand to her chest and spoke the only word he could reliably interpret. “Grimhilde.”

Grim… hilde, he mulled the term over in his head. Her name?

She spoke at length, and while Prospero couldn’t understand a word of it, the inflection of her speech seemed to imply that the fairy was grateful for something - most likely helping her escape from the lizard. She was smiling broadly, as bright as any human could muster.

Unsatisfied with words alone, her head perked up. Both hands conjoined to house a light that grew and dwelled between her fingers, released in a single movement as a beacon of pure radiance illuminating the shadow beneath the canopy. Touching Prospero’s head, it disappeared, and a notification popped up of its own accord to block his view.

[Celestial Essence Consumed] - Grade 10

Origin - Faebright Blessing

Aptitude Bonus - Summoning +1

Ability Added - Tether Castle Core

Description - Conjoin your essence with a suitable Castle Core to claim it, provided the Core’s [Grade] does not exceed your own. You may only tether your essence to a single Castle Core.

Castle Core…?

He’d been granted a boon - that much was obvious. A shame he couldn’t understand a word of it. The term ‘Grade 10’ stood out like a sore thumb amidst the confusion. Whatever sorcery the fairy had worked, it was powerful. He turned his attention to the sprite and tried to examine her statistics, but no amount of concentration would summon anything of the sort. Prospero wondered if, like himself, the fairy had never been blessed by the System.

She remained there all the while, both hands behind her back with an expectant look on her face.

Does she know I can’t thank her in this form?

To Prospero’s surprise, she shook her head.

…You can hear my thoughts?

A nod.

No wonder you were so calm in the face of a wild animal, he continued. I thought you were an insect when you were being chased by that lizard.

She wasn’t best pleased by that remark, puffing out her cheeks and crossing her arms. She barked a few words that Prospero couldn’t help but interpret as curses.

I’m sorry. That wasn’t a kind thing to say, he apologised. Did I understand you right earlier? Is ‘Grimhilde’ your name?

Another nod.

Prospero is mine. Prospero Baptista, he thought. The circumstances which led me here are rather complicated. I arrived at this realm to gather strength to aid me against a terrible foe who pursues me across the Incandescence.

Without thinking, he took a step beyond the shadow of the pine tree, only to retreat when the sun’s light scalded his paw. It hadn’t been the first of that day’s dips into the sunlight, but his constant weaving between pockets of darkness were beginning to take a toll on his strength. Grimhilde watched him shying from the light.

Hm, he mulled over the idea of concealing his identity, but realised too late that he’d already exposed himself just by imagining it. I am a Vampire, he thought. I was not one before, but as I mentioned, my circumstances are strange. Daylight burns me like a flame, among other things.

Grimhilde nodded along to his unspoken words and pressed her palms together. She gestured in a nonspecific direction, deeper into the pine forest, before fluttering off some distance ahead. Prospero had his doubts about following a fairy anywhere, having learned secondhand the sort of mischief they often enjoyed, but couldn’t imagine anything of the sort from Grimhilde, who had already been so kind as to offer him a blessing.

Or maybe I’m just being gullible, he thought.

Grimhilde turned his way and tapped a finger against the side of her head.

Forgive me if my perception of fairies is tainted, he followed after her. I’ve heard too many tales of children having their souls stolen by mischievous spirits. You aren’t planning to do something like that, are you?

She paused, then smiled and shrugged.

----------------------------------------

By the time any headway could be made through the forest, Prospero was well and truly exhausted. As a Vampire, he seemed to be immune to fatigue, and had so far lived without sleeping since the day he escaped from Innsworm. The only thing that caused him any drowsiness at all was roaming during the day.

At Grimhilde’s behest, he wandered across the wide snowdrifts and undergrowth, hopping the lengths of burns and rivers with careful lunges over exposed boulders, until at last the clouds, only just visible through the canopy, were hidden by a mountainous face of stone. It was neither a hill nor a mountain, but a shelf of earth displaced by some long-forgotten calamity. Porous caverns infested the cliff, lending the impression of an enormous hive. Many of the unreachable ledges were populated with oversized nests.

Birds, a particular thought crossed Prospero’s mind. Flight would be a useful skill to have. If I could get my hands on a raven or a falcon… or, why not a bat? No doubt I’ll find a few of them inside these caverns.

Grimhilde led him towards the bottom of the cliff, where the terrain took a sudden turn for the sheer vertical. He imagined the sort of view that awaited him at the top, but couldn’t spot a way up that didn’t involve flying. Grimhilde’s luminescent glow stretched into every jagged corner once they passed into a low cavern. A carpet of cave-dwelling insects scattered in their presence, vanishing into the cracks of the earth.

It’s nice and dark in here, Prospero thought. It’s not a good idea to continue the hunt when I’m this exhausted. Travelling at night is my best option.

He picked a dry corner of the cavern to curl up in. The weight of countless days and nights spent fleeing and bargaining was beginning to catch up to him. He almost laughed knowing that the last time he rested was in the comfort of his own bed. Now he had nothing of the sort, and slept in the guise of a beast, huddled in darkness on a realm far from home, with his allies recently departed and bound to return. Grimhilde - a fairy whom he had known for less than a few hours and who spoke not a word of his own language, was the only companionship he knew at that moment.

There was no grand prize awaiting him at the end of that journey. He fought only to survive, and to uncover the truth obscured by his father for so long. When night fell upon that realm, he would take off again in search of the strength he required to see his vow through.

With the taste of death still fresh on his tongue, he fell asleep and took comfort in the numbness of his dreams.