A/N: Second fic is out! Go and check it out!
[Blood Diary Entry]
As I dove into the wave of monstrosities, my blood started pumping faster, and I inhaled deeper and exhaled louder with every breath.
I felt a faint heat on my left shoulder, precisely where the mark was engraved on my flesh.
The first ghoul to reach me extended its pale arms towards me, trying to claw my face off. I did the same, pitting claw against claw.
My attack ripped mercilessly through the ghoul, my claws shattered the ghouls' own claws, and I dove deeper, turning its entire arm into minced meat.
I didn't let on and kept attacking it. I felt the sickening—yet eerily exciting—feeling of soft flesh giving way beneath my claws. Muscles, bones, and sinews, all of them were ripped apart.
A second ghoul shrieked at the death of its companion, and the enraged creature burst forward.
I grabbed its arm and, with a sudden yank, I ripped it clean off its shoulders. Then, with a rush of the speed Celerity gave me, I circled the ghoul and clobbered its head with its own arm. A shower of blood and brain matter, yet again.
Then six or seven more flooded towards me. They attacked from every direction, making it essentially impossible to avoid all of the attacks.
I believe this is why these creatures are so troubling. Despite not being exceptionally strong, their number make them quite the bothersome foes.
No one would be able to escape a bunch of these creatures rushing at them from all directions.
Well…
No one but me.
The options were many, really. I could turn into mist and avoid them altogether; I could turn invisible and confuse the heck out of these abominations.
But that is not what I'm here for, is it?
I smirked.
The attacks connected. I could feel the excitement of the ghouls, and also the worry of Rebekah behind me.
But the next second made the ghouls start shivering in fear, and Rebekah breathed out in relief.
My skin reinforced with Fortitude proved to be too much for their weak offense.
Their claws shattered the moment they touched my skin, even my clothes were entirely unharmed—which was rather interesting.
I looked back at Rebekah, who was galvanizing a couple of ghouls with her lightning. Even amidst this carnage, she was still checking up on me.
It was sweet of her, but entirely unneeded.
I gave her a reassuring nod and turned my attention back to the monsters surrounding me.
I crossed my arms into an 'X' shape, and then I rushed forward and let the laws of physics do the rest.
I used my own body like a battering ram, turning dozens of ghouls in front of me into nothing but minced meat. I carved my path through these creatures and left on my trail their mutilated brethren.
I roared again, mixing into the intimidating sound a hint of Dominate and Presence.
The ghouls went back into a frenzy and started tearing each other apart.
And this time it would be much more difficult for the alghouls to get things in order, as I would still be amongst their 'horde', causing as much chaos as possible.
Speaking of the alghouls…
The clever bastards were circling the edges of the battlefield, avoiding Rebekah and me at all times.
I don't know if they intended to run away or if they were only biding their time for god knows what, but now they were all facing the relentless attacks of confused ghouls.
"Serves you right." I chuckled.
I went back to butchering everything around me.
One audacious ghoul tried to sneak attack me, crawling through the growing mountain of bodies, trying its best to mask its presence.
It pounced.
And I backhanded it into oblivion. Turning the ambusher wannabe into meat paste.
I clawed, I punched, I kicked. And every time I did, one or more ghouls would fall dead.
The massacre had barely been going for a couple of minutes, but already a third or so of their numbers were no more.
Seeing the rivers of blood soaking the ground in its vibrant crimson hue, a certain idea popped into my head, and I grinned like a devil.
Blood Sorcery. Undoubtedly, one of the most versatile disciplines I got from absorbing Caine.
Time to see what you can do.
I raised a single hand, palm-up, balled it into fists, and then violently opened it again.
The blood on the ground stirred, bubbling with unseen energy.
Then it all rushed upwards in a violet geyser manner, the blood took the shape of spikes and solidified in a split second.
Dozens of ghouls were impaled, and many more were grievously wounded, even beyond their healing capacities.
Rebekah looked around her, stunned into silence.
None of the spikes came even close to her, of course. But all around her, there were ghouls impaled in the blood of their own kin.
She looked all around, engraving the scene into her mind, before her lightning flared even brighter and more violently. She started punching and kicking ghouls with renewed vigor and competitiveness.
I chuckled.
A forest of impaled corpses.
It is a macabre scenery; there is no doubt about that… But seeing these vermin like that has a sort of strange beauty to it.
Damn, I am becoming a sadist…
Now, all of the ghouls were making a point of avoiding me, and they were all now rushing to escape or towards Rebekah. Safe to say, I was none too happy about it.
Among all of my disciplines, there were a few I had yet to test.
I raised an open hand again and closed it violently.
The shadows beneath the trees and even the ghouls' own shadows moved unnaturally.
They slithered away from their sources, forming a circle that surrounded all of us. Be they ghouls, alghouls, or even Rebekah and me.
The circle rose slowly into a pitch-black wall. Cutting any of the ghouls' escape path.
"Huh, this is useful," I said as I admired the shadowy construct. Tenebrity was my own dominion over shadows and darkness, and it clearly showed.
I studied the black wall and the blood spikes, taking in their details.
My control over these is still rudimentary, still at the instinctual level. I wonder just how far I can take this.
I turned to the last discipline I wanted to try for the moment.
Dementation.
A wave of madness burst from me, a subtle rumble of insanity.
The moment the energy touched the ghouls, they all started screaming and tearing themselves apart.
I swear some of them were emitting sounds that were eerily similar to giggles and chuckles, some danced and twirled around themselves in bizarre patterns.
The common ghouls clasped their hands around their heads. They all smiled the same deranged smirk—then pulled with all their might.
A horror show of self-decapitations ensued.
My fingers twitched nervously; my expression was somber at this show of insanity.
Yeah, even for me this was a bit too much…
Dementation was one scary discipline, possibly even scarier than Dominate.
I sighed.
Now there were only nine living beings inside the shadowy prison of my own making.
Me, Rebekah, and the seven alghouls.