Cyril walked down the marble hallway with a grim face, his footsteps echoing under the tall ceiling and bouncing against the stained glass windows fitted into the walls. The light they let through dyed the statues lining the corridor various colours of the rainbow, the plain white marble an excellent canvas.

  He hated doing this. Any interaction with the family head was unpleasant, but reporting bad news was especially unpleasant. The woman honestly terrified him, and he would do almost anything to avoid ever entering her line of sight. Unfortunately, as the captain of the guard it was his job to report any security issues; this meant that not only did he have to see the head more than most, the nature of his job also ensured that the news he brought her was almost never good.

  He passed the rows upon rows of previous masters of the Miganos family, each a powerful enchanter capable of crafting Supernatural level artifacts. Some had even been capable of reaching the legendary Disaster level, earning their house attention from the Acropolis, an achievement few in the lower city could boast about.

  As he approached the large double doors situated at the end of the hallway, Cyril pinched the bridge of his nose as he nursed a budding headache. The conflict with the Kerune family was increasing in intensity, both sides having escalated from mere insults and the occasional “thief” break-in to full blown attacks on various workshops throughout the city. This conflict was already stretching them thin, leaving almost no manpower to spare, and then THIS happened.

  ‘What a mess.’ He thought, shaking his head as he finally came to a stop before the ornate doors covered in extensive runework, elevating the already strong wood to something tougher than steel.

  ‘Let’s get this over with.’ He hyped himself up. Taking a final step forward, he knocked three times before taking a step back and waiting. Exactly five seconds later he heard a creaky old voice sound from the other side, the sound of it raising goosebumps on his neck.

  “Come in.”

  Taking a deep breath, Cyril composed himself and pushed the doors with both hands, the enchanted joints ensuring that they moved with deathly silence; only swirling air heralding the movement.

  Stepping through, Cyril could feel an overwhelming aura surround him, inspecting every inch of his body, from his heartbeat to his eyes. Doing his best to relax, he ensured that nothing showed on his face. The last time a captain had let himself be startled by the head’s inspection was also the last time he was seen, and Cyril had no desire to follow in his footsteps.

  He kept his head lowered, inspecting the carved wooden floor as he walked a few steps forward and came to a stop in the middle of the chamber, where several different layers of carvings intersected to form a circle. To the untrained eye, the design of the floor would simply be a passing curiosity, an intriguing and strange choice of décor. However, to those with knowledge, the lines and curves covering not only the floor but the walls, the ceiling and every available surface induced nothing but fear.

  This was not a mere office, or a room from which the head of the family wielded her authority. No. This was her domain. Intricate, incredibly advanced runework covered every inch of available space, turning this from a mere room into a deathtrap for any enemy foolish enough to enter an enchanter’s home base.

  As Cyril was contemplating this, the doors closed behind him with a soft click, sealing him in. The aura lingered for a few more seconds before slowly withdrawing, allowing Cyril to imperceptibly let out the breath he had been holding the whole time.

  “Raise your head.” The voice ordered, once again sending a slight shiver down his spine. As he straightened his neck, he finally laid his eyes on the widely renowned Miganos family head, one of the premier nobles in the lower city and a Disaster level enchanter and mage, Lucia Miganos.

  Unlike what one would expect, she did not have fangs or horns, or even glowing red eyes that marked her as a monster in human flesh. If one were to only judge by appearance she would come across as a severe, old granny. Maybe a retired tutor for some noble kids, or a strict librarian, one that hadn't smiled in over a decade.

  Unfortunately, she was nowhere near as old and helpless as she appeared. Hiding under that feeble exterior was a well of power few in the region could rival. She was a terrifying enchanter and mage who still very much had authority over whether Cyril lived or died, as well as the power to enforce that authority if need be.

  “Why are you here, Cyril?” She sighed, leaning back and closing her eyes, already expecting the news he was bringing to be nothing good.

  “Well…” He hesitated, unsure as to how he should go about this. The desire to not be killed warring with his duty to report everything that happens in the family.

  “Spit it out already! I won’t kill you for informing me of problems.” She said, before seemingly reconsidering, “Unless you’re the one that caused them.”

  She opened her eyes slightly and squinted at him. “DID you cause me problems Cyril?” She asked in a low voice, her aura came back in full force, nearly making Cyril black out and barely allowing him to stay standing.

  “No… family head… I did not... cause any trouble!” He gasped out through his teeth as sweat poured down his face.

  “Very well, then you have nothing to worry about. Spill it. Whatever the Kerunes have done, we’ll deal with it.” She said calmly as she retracted her aura, acting as if she hadn’t nearly stopped his heart.

  Taking a few more breaths to compose himself Cyril straightened up again before looking at the woman and steeling himself.

  “Actually I don’t think it was the Kerunes. Lady Anna was unfortunately killed in-” He was suddenly hit by an intangible force and sent flying across the room into the doors behind him.

  “ACK!” He exclaimed as he slammed into the reinforced wood, a sharp pain lancing through his side as a salty wetness appeared in the back of his throat.

  “WHAT DID YOU SAY?!?” Lucia roared as Cyril slid to the ground and coughed out a glob of bloody phlegm, magic having reduced the table in front of her into splinters. Her aura pressed down on her surroundings like a physical force and poor Cyril, in his injured state, had to endure the majority of it.

  “ARGH- Family head! Cough, Please calm yourself!” Cyril tried to save himself, his injuries worsening as he felt the gravity in the room seemingly triple.

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  His pleas were ignored as the family head’s rage continued to mount, her aura pressing down with greater and greater strength, “And what exactly were you doing at the time?” She questioned, the force pressing down on Cyril increasing with every word.

  ‘This is bad! At this rate I’m gonna die!’ Cyril started to panic as he spat out another mouthful of blood. ‘Think, what can I do to calm this crazy hag down?’

  His mind race as he tried to come up with a solution before he got squashed like a bug. Looking at the unbridled rage spewing out of the old woman, he finally had an idea.

  “Family head! The… culprit… got away!” He forced out between gasps, his ribs definitely broken now, if not earlier when he was thrown into the door.

  That definitely got her attention. Her eyes snapped to him as the full force of her aura pressed down on him with undivided attention, his injured state making even breathing difficult, much less speaking. The woman quickly realised this and forcefully restrained herself, finally allowing Cyril to breathe.

  “Tell me!” She ordered, anger still shimmering beneath the surface, magic distorting the air around her as she barely held it back.

  Letting out a shuddering breath, Cyril propped himself up from his position on the ground, hissing as every slight movement sent stabs of pain shooting through his ribs.

  ‘Gods-damned bitter crone, may you be flayed alive by the same monster that ripped apart the young miss! In fact, better that both monsters kill each other and leave us mortals alone!’

  Finally catching his breath, Cyril opened his mouth to speak, telling the family head of the events of last night and what they knew of the culprit.

  “Hmmm…”

  A quiet tapping resounded throughout the silent room as the family head rested on her throne, her nails impacting the armrest at a precise tempo. Cyril lay against the door, his side aching from lack of treatment, as he cautiously watched her contemplate his report.

  “So let me get this straight. You say some sort of monster or man sneaked into little Anna’s mansion, somehow slipping past all of the guards and wards, ripped through the reinforced doors leading into her bedchambers with its bare hands, and tore her into tiny pieces. And only after this all happened did the guards find anything amiss and rush to the scene only to let it escape. Am I getting everything?” The woman quietly questioned as the tapping abruptly stopped, the calm tone of her voice doing nothing to assuage spike of adrenaline Cyril felt.

  “It… it was much more powerful than anything we had faced before.” He explained as more sweat beaded his face, “It moved faster than even our soldiers equipped with Quickstep Boots, and it appeared to have some form of accelerated regeneration. Its wounds had healed slightly in the short time it stayed to confront my men.”

  “Hmmm…” The head hummed out once again, resuming her rhythmic tapping.

  “And where did this “creature” come from? Its identity, its allegiance, its location?” She questioned, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Cyril’s prone form.

  Cyril’s limbs sagged, relief flooding him. He knew that this meant the head believed his story and had forgiven him and his men for their mistake, or at least deferred the punishment for later. He leaned his head back and looked at the ceiling to hold back tears of relief that had sprung to his eyes.

  Gathering himself, he redirected his gaze back down.

  “We are not fully sure of it’s allegiance or name, however we do have a way to find its location.” He said in one breath, afraid that the crone would interrupt him again, this time with lethal consequences.

  Lucia narrowed her eyes at him, “Go on.” She ordered as she clenched her fists, the armrest releasing groans of protest at the abuse her magically enhanced strength exerted.

  Gulping in fear, Cyril eyed her hand as he replied, “While we failed to catch or kill the creature on the scene, we did manage to severely injure it and chop off an arm. Unfortunately it took the limb with it when it ran away, but it did spill a large amount of blood in the meantime. If the family head is willing, we could craft blood seeking amulets to help quickly find it.” He finished, bowing his head with difficulty.

  “Don’t bother.” The head said as she got up from her chair, surprising Cyril so much he lifted his head and stared at her. “I’ll do it myself.”

  Cyril widened his eyes in shock at that. The family head hadn’t personally moved in years, not since the city was last attacked by monsters and a mandatory draft was issued to all combatants at the Supernatural level and above. The fact that this creature had urged Lucia Miganos herself to action did not bode well for the safety of this city or its citizens in the near future.

  He watched as the disaster level enchanter walked over to the extensively runed wall and tapped several seemingly random spots. With a low grinding sound of stone against stone, the swirls and lines slowly withdrew, revealing a concealed opening about the size of a man’s torso. Cyril quickly looked away, wincing at the pain the sharp movement elicited. He was sure that he was not meant to see whatever was stored in the head’s personal safe.

  A moment later, he once again heard the sound of grinding stone and looked up just in time to see the last of the gap disappear behind slithering marble, the wall standing completely unblemished once more.

  He let his eyes drift over to the family head, who was now holding something and standing over the remains of her desk to look around at the piles of splinters. After a short moment of searching, she found what she had been looking for and gently waved her hand. With a clatter, a small object rose from the pile, glinting in the bright light exuding from the fairy lamps embedded into the ceiling.

  With a squint, Cyril managed to make out what seemed to be a spherical container covered in extremely dense inscriptions before it landed in Lucia’s palm and was concealed from his view.

  “There it is.” She said, raising both hands and bringing them together, revealing in her other hand the object she had taken out of the secret storage.

  It was a strange looking prism, made out of the same silvery metal as the sphere and also completely covered in dense flowing inscriptions serving an unknown purpose. Furthermore, it had a circular hole in the middle obviously made to fit the other piece. With a flare of her aura and a visible burst of magic, Lucia slammed her hand together, releasing a burst of light as well as a clear ringing note.

  When the light faded, what revealed itself before his eyes was the presumably completed artifact. Floating above the old woman’s wrinkly hand was a triangular amulet, its center a hollow sphere meant to house something. The magic used in its creation making the boundary between the two parts undetectable.

  With a satisfied sigh, the head started speaking, “This is a real bloodseeker amulet. The amulets our younger craftsmen make are a poor imitation; their range is shit and most of the time they give false alarms. This, on the other hand, is the real deal. A near Disaster tier artifact made specifically for tracking, capable of detecting the origin of the blood contained inside within several hundred feet, as well as pointing out its general direction up to several miles. This is what our men will use to find our little friend and avenge poor Anna.”

  ‘At least this way the chances of them tearing each other apart are vastly increased’ Cyril’s eyes lit up, ‘I’ll offer three toasts in your honour if you manage to kill this bitch or at least wound her, whoever you are. However…’

  “Uh, family head, I don’t dare to be rude but… Why are you telling me this?” He asked with difficulty, his injuries not getting any lighter with time.

  “Oh, that.” Lucia Miganos turned an indifferent gaze onto him. Cyril’s heart sank, an overwhelming sense of dread gripping him as if the very air around him had frozen solid.

  "Well, since you're already going to die, I might as well satisfy your curiosity. A sort of final courtesy, even if you did fail your one job." She said as she raised her other hand, and before Cyril even had time to shout for help, the force pressing down on him multiplied a hundredfold, slamming him down with the weight of several elephants.

  He felt his insides rupture, his broken ribs piercing deep into his organs and out of his skin, the force slamming his head against the floor with a resounding CRACK.

  ‘Ah, I should’ve expected it. This is how I die. She never was the forgiving type.’

  As the magic crushed every inch of his body and the darkness closed in, Cyril only had one thought ‘I just hope that you rip this woman’s spine out and give her a slow, painful death, whatever you are.’

  ‘Make her suffer.’