by Daniel Ruth
“Do you honestly think that only ninjas know martial arts?”
“Um, no?” I was pretty sure Mei knew martial arts but since she had gotten one-shotted by Vatapi I wasn’t absolutely sure. Also, during Jeremy’s rescue, she had spent a lot of time trapped in a tornado.
“Hey,” an angry shout interrupted us. “Can you stop cozying up to my kidnapper long enough to get me out of this thing?” Beth ended her sentence in a shout.
Chapter 36
Sebastian agreed to be the high priest of this world. He had become rather fond of the city in the time he had spent in it. We chatted a bit while waiting. The vampires we had killed would be reformed free of Vanth’s control. Fortunately, I wasn’t the one stuck waiting for them to get their act together. As for Vanth, well the vampire god himself probably wasn’t even in the same dimension we were. I suppose we would meet again. I felt some trepidation. His avatar’s battle prowess was on par with me. His true body was likely significantly more powerful.
“I like these chains,” I commented, as I examined the heavily wrapped girl. The chains were obviously intended for larger creatures. On Beth, it looked absurd. While I was initially furious and ready to slaughter the vampire, now Beth was safe I could see the humorous side of the situation.
“I don’t! Get them off!” Beth retorted angrily.
She still glared at Sebastian. If she had developed her inner pyrokinesis, Sebastian would be a torch. I could tell she wasn’t going to let it go. I could definitely relate. Normally, I would hold a grudge too, however since he was mostly a meat puppet for the god entity it seemed rather petty to hold his actions against him. Also, if I did hold a grudge I would have to hold an interview for the high priest job. I don’t even know where I would start. Put an ad in the paper ‘High Priest wanted. Psychotic cannibals need not apply’?
The chains used on Beth were kind of neat. They were actually enchanted to be indestructible and to prevent teleportation. We all got a chuckle out of it when we couldn’t find the key. Well, except Beth. Sebastian’s clothes had been destroyed and he was still in his underwear. Despite this, he had the inherent arrogance that made his seem almost comfortable in his loin cloth. I didn’t ask where he had gotten it. You have to know where to draw the line in the quest for knowledge.
Beth should have had her injured dignity soothed. We spent at least ten minutes crawling on the floor, hunting for the key, before we found it. If that isn’t friendship, I don’t know what is.
Regardless, the vampire and us parted ways. He loved his job and now he had an entire city of vampires to slaughter, and therefore free from Vanth’s control. Unlike the crying, traumatized vampires Vivian had to deal with, the assassin gained his freedom with aplomb. I suppose it was just as well, having a high priest that was a nervous wreck couldn’t possibly end well.
Beth still wouldn’t talk to Sebastian when we left. It was hard to tell if he noticed. We paused at the tunnel entrance to the room, as an old acquaintance made herself known.
“Cinnamon! I was so worried about you!”
“Um, me too,” I chimed in, as I remembered her existence. Mirabel would have freaked if I had to resurrect her again.
Sure enough, Cinnamon was waiting in the corridor. She was bruised and bleeding from numerous vampire bites. She must have gotten pulled back there during the fight with the horde of vampires. I had lost track of her when I saw Beth in chains. She seemed to be ignoring her wounds. I wasn’t sure if she had a high pain tolerance or it was symptomatic of her spirit possessing her body. I could ask Matt the next time I saw him.
Trekking back to the apartment was uneventful. Cinnamon now looked frightful enough that the beggars and gang members completely left her, and us, alone. The city guards actually approached us several times to confirm we were all right. It was surprisingly nice of them, however, the third time it happened it was starting to get annoying. I healed Cinnamon and cast a Clean spell on her.
Even riding the unicorn I could see Beth looked as tired as I felt. It was with a significant amount of relief that we made it back to the apartment.
“What the heck? Stop that, you imbecile!” Beth shouted in disgust.
The mind controlled teen was still in front of our door, bloody hand still raised to knock on the door.
“Not really his fault. Vampires have an extremely strong form of hypnosis,” I responded with a yawn. “Combined with your conditioning over the last few weeks, he never stood a chance.”
“I didn’t know,” Beth replied meekly. “Why didn’t you say something?”
“I was going to, but I got distracted. Try to limit the mental conditioning a little. You can probably reverse it with a little work. Try not to turn his brain to mulch,” I gestured to Beth to fix it. She is much better at hypnosis than I am.
While she worked, I ate some leftovers and then trudged tiredly to bed. Behind me, I could hear Beth’s voice in turns coaxing and demanding. As I fell into bed and blessed sleep I felt I could sleep a month.
The End of Book Two of
The Chained Worlds Chronicles