The smell of smoke reached him first.
Then came the warmth. The uncomfortable, irritating warmth licking at his skin like a fucking furnace. Elias groaned and shifted, body aching like he'd been chewed up and spit out by a horde of rabid beasts.
Which... yeah. Not far from the truth.
His eyes snapped open, and he sat up fast, only to immediately wince and clutch his side. Bandaged. His chest was tightly wrapped, and his arms, too. A tattered brown cloth covered him like some makeshift blanket, and he lay next to a dim campfire flickering weakly in the corner of the broken-down church.
And across from him, sitting on an overturned bucket, head bowed, fingers fiddling with something in her lap... was Ivy.
Elias jerked away on instinct, scooting back so fast he knocked over a cracked wooden bowl beside him. The clang echoed.
Her eyes shot up.
"You're awake."
"Don't fucking move," he growled, teeth clenched, muscles tightening. "Try another needle and I swear to whatever god's still left, I'll gut you."
Ivy flinched but didn't rise. Her hands stayed where they were.
"I'm not going to hurt you."
"Bullshit. Last time I blinked near you, you shoved a goddamn syringe in my neck."
Her eyes welled, but she didn't cry.
"I'm sorry... I didn't want to do it."
"Oh, right. That makes it better." He scoffed bitterly.
"I didn't have a choice." Her voice cracked, small and hollow. "They had the children..."
He narrowed his eyes but said nothing. He was still finding her words unbelievable.
"The ones from the church. You remember? When we first arrived... they were still alive. Those two Tier 4 bastards ran this place like a den, keeping those kids locked up for trade." Her voice grew tighter, strangled. "They found me weeks ago. They captured me and the other children. They said they'd let them go if I lured a powerful zombie in. Someone they could sacrifice to... her."
Elias felt a chill at that word. Her.
The Mistress.
He wondered if it was the same voice he heard then.
He remained silent, watching her carefully. She wasn't lying... not with those dead-set eyes, not with the way her shoulders trembled as she spoke.
"But they broke their promise. Killed some of the kids. You managed to save the last ones," Ivy wiped her sleeve across her face. "I thought... if I did what they wanted, they'd.."
"You thought wrong," Elias muttered.
"I know." She looked down again. "I deserve to burn for it."
The fire crackled.
"Why you?" he asked finally. "You're not like them. You don't smell like rot."
Ivy hesitated.
"I was... changed. Not turned. Not completely. Like, I wasn't bitten or..."
She slowly pulled back the sleeve of her robe, revealing a faint dark vein running along her forearm.
"They attacked the chapel months ago. Killed the priests and nuns... fed me a bunch of low-tier core before I could escape. I didn't die and didn't become like them either. Just... something in-between."
Half-zombie?
Elias frowned.
[Scanning Nearby Entity...]
[Subject Identified: Ivy Ferre — Corrupted Nun]
> Race: Half-Zombie, Half-Human
Tier: Unranked (Stagnant Evolution)
Health: 700/700
Loyalty: 50%
Skills: None Combat-Oriented. Passive Charm (Low), Resistance to Infection (Moderate)
So she's telling the truth.
She wasn't dangerous.
Not to him.
Elias leaned back against the wall, jaw flexing.
"Tch. Should've let me rot in that ritual room. Would've saved you the guilt."
"I couldn't," Ivy whispered. "I couldn't watch that happen. I don't think I can leave you lying on the floor, injured.. especially after you've saved the kids,"
Silence stretched between them again. The fire cracked louder. Somewhere far outside, a low growl echoed.
One of the strays still lurking.
Elias sat up straighter and reached for the cloth tied around his abdomen. He tugged it off slowly, exposing a gnarly red mark near his side that was slowly healing. He knew it must've been from one of the Tier 4 bastards that nearly tore him in two.
Ivy reached out instinctively.
"Let me..."
He stopped her with a glance.
"I can handle my own wounds."
"...I know." Her hand dropped. "About earlier... I didn't mean for you to..."
"I almost snapped your neck."
She touched the bruised side of her throat lightly.
"I'm alive, aren't I?"
Elias grunted.
"Yeah, well. Be glad the rage wore off."
He said that, though he didn't remember half of what he did or said to her. For that moment, he felt otherworldly energy flowing into his body and something else... No, someone else took over his body.
He shook his head, dismissing the thought off his head.
Elias grabbed a strip of bandage and began wrapping it around her neck without asking. His fingers moved roughly but carefully enough not to worsen the bruise. Ivy stayed still, staring at his face.
"I didn't think you'd care," she murmured.
"I don't," he replied.
Liar.
Her lips parted as if to say something else. Maybe thank him. Maybe kiss him. She wasn't sure.
But before she could lean closer, Elias moved away.
"No."
She blinked.
"Why?"
He didn't look at her as he stood and moved toward the church's cracked window.
"Because you're already bound to me."
Ivy looked confused.
"What does that mean?"
Elias didn't answer. He fell silent for almost twenty seconds before turning back to her.
"You're mine. Whether I fuck you now or later doesn't matter. I'll take you when I want to."
His words weren't cruel.
She didn't argue. Instead, she liked his controlling nature. Her cheek flushed red as she hid her face from him.
Elias stared out into the night through the broken glass. The ruined city was still burning in some parts. In others, it was eerily quiet. He could still sense them... the undead. They were still parading around like kings. But something else too. The notification that kept ringing at the back of his head...
[Vark Draven... Memory Bleed: 1% Access Unlocked.]
That name again. That damn name.
Who the hell was he before?
Some warlord? A zombie tyrant? Elias didn't fully know.
Just flashes of madness and a blood-soaked castle. The more he fought, the more powerful he became... that would make him closer to becoming that person.
That monster.
What exactly is it?
A legacy?
Or a curse?
"Go to sleep," he muttered without turning. "You're gonna need the rest for tomorrow."
Ivy watched him for a moment longer. She didn't argue.
When her breathing slowed and the fire died down to faint embers, Elias sat alone, staring at the moonless sky.
"I need to find out who the fuck I really am and staying in this Gravepoint City won't help,"
He mumbled under his breath.
"I'm leaving from here..."
[END OF CHAPTER THIRTEEN]