Chapter 18

"Is it… Is it over?" Stuttered the noble, face dripping with sweat, red in the face, and taking deep breath after deep breath. Although he didn't fight, just being around such a high level fight would give enormous stress to almost any non combatant.

I heard the sound of a metallic thud echo throughout the tunnel, turning towards the source, I saw that the silver knight had fallen on his knees, as he heaved with exhaustion. 

Now that I had the time to properly look at him, I noticed that he wasn't in great shape, most of his armor was shattered, revealing the black cloth beneath, and to add to that I could see that his blade had become brittle and chipped.

I thought he hadn't been injured much, but that didn't make sense, the strength of our opponent was vastly above his own, yet I still thought that he had pushed without sustaining any devastating wounds.

He just projected such an aura of reliability, that I hadn't even realized that I had been subjected to.

Blood poured out from him, his dozens of wounds, from laceration and cuts, to contusion and bruises.

"Wrai! Wait a second, I'll just feed you a potion. You'll feel better in an instant." Both of his party members rushed towards him, while Verica pulled out several potions that seemed to be the same ones that she gave me earlier. Cerulean blue drained down his lips.

Walking towards the grouping of hero level individuals, I glanced at the client who was stepping in the direction of the pile of ash that was once the monstrous vampire.

 Stopping before the three of them, I assessed their current status, both of the backline adventurers were tired, and from the looks and their faces, I could tell that they were spent, with practically nothing left within them.

And Dalawraith had his injuries healed at a rate that was visible to the naked eye. I returned my glance to Faeduire, and he was kneeling at what remains of the creature of blood.

How strange.

"Well, it's time to clean up. We should properly return back to the guild and report what had happened. Of course, after we escort Sir Faeduire back to his estate." It was our leader who spoke, having partially recovered from his grievous injuries. Looking towards our client while saying that last part.

He then got up, and walked to the noble, sheathing his sword.

"So, are you gonna tell us why you really wanted to accompany us on this mission?" Questioned Dalawraith. Obviously I had wondered about that as well, since it was extremely strange for a nobleman to join any adventurer, especially an extra dangerous quest like this one.

No one really bought the fact that he wanted to personally witness the extermination of the threat that recently plagued this region. Especially since bringing him along would make the mission more difficult.

"Well, I guess I wasn't particularly convincing, I suppose you deserve to know the truth behind this matter, since it's all resolved anyways." Faiduire replied, standing up from his position on the ground.

"Maybe I should start at the beginning. Despite what may be known about me, I am not an only child. I once had a sister, she was only a few years younger than me, but my parents hid her existence due to her being born with an extremely rare and fatal disease.

She was to never leave the mansion, practically never leaving her bed, barely able to support her own weight. My progenitors saw her as a disgrace to our bloodline, but couldn't find it within themselves to kill her." He continued as he grasped a handful of her ash, sporting a small smile that spoke to the pain he must have endured as we massacred his sibling.

"When I was younger I never took the time to know her, my parents trying to make me ignore her very existence. Though the reason may now be lost to time, I remember one day deciding to speak to her.

I wasn't sure what I had expected, but she had defied them nonetheless. She wasn't a shell of a human, she didn't wallow in despair knowing her loaming demise, no - 

She had life.

She had desires, even knowing that she would never fulfill them, she had something I didn't think was possible for someone in her circumstance. She had hope." He let go of her ashen remains, and closed his eyes, as if reminiscing some far off past we couldn't see. Then an emotion approaching melancholy graced his features.

We all listened attentively, my compatriots seemed to be enraptured in his tragedy, yet all I felt was an emptiness that just continued to enlarge. 

"She once had dreams, to see the world she couldn't see behind those walls, to feel the wind upon her skin, to be bathed in the sun.

But, she couldn't, her condition continued to worsen, by the time I had gotten close to her, it was too late. I researched and investigated every nook and cranny, to find anything that could make her better, I consulted the best doctors and clerics in the kingdom, even in the neighboring ones.

Yet, nothing and no one could cure her, it was as if God himself had cursed her. Eventually I was on the precipice of giving up, thinking that she was too far gone, that perhaps if I had invested myself earlier in her that I could have saved her.

But, seemingly answering my prayers, a man arrived before my estate, seeking me, saying that he had a method that could make her better, that she would no longer suffer." At this he just grit his teeth, in frustration and anger.

"I knew it was too good to be true, but I was desperate, I had grown to love her. Amongst all of the deceit, backstabbing, and people full of masks, she was the one light I had, and before I knew it I too had grown to rely on her, just as she had relied on me.

He simply gave me a flask of crimson with liquid inside of the same color and departed without another word. She was hesitant, but I had managed to convince her, speaking of all the wonders she would be able to see. As her green eyes looked up at me so full of hope, she just said "One day I'll be able to walk in the sun along with you.".

And what a dream it would have been." Overwhelmed, he sat back down, moving his hands in the dust that was his sister, as tears fell down his eyes.

The void in my heart was threatening to consume me, the story evoking feeling I had long since buried.

"She drank it, drank it all. I could remember it so clearly even now, the way she contorted in pain, the way her pale skin whitened even more, and the way her lovely emerald eyes that once conveyed such emotion, reddened and died.

She screamed, pounced on me and with her nails millimeters away from my throat, she stopped, and for an instant her eyes seemed to flash green. She fled. It was only after that I noticed the dampness upon my face. 

She was crying."