Bleed Magic [Dorrance/Ren]

"Never," Dorrance said the moment Fen suggested not looking out for her. She looked at her firmly. "We're in this together. Besides, I have a few tricks up my own sleeves."

She'd give Ren a small wink before they proceeded.

She giggled at Ren's remark for making up for tonight with another week of sleep and responded by squeezing her tight.

The happy atmosphere would soon turn serious though as they entered the halls under an illusion. It was eerily quiet and dark. The moon from earlier was now covered with a miasma of clouds making it hard to make out the hallway.

The two would cautiously make their way, avoiding noise where they could. They thankfully reached their own bedroom and found nothing there.

Dorrance closed the door and let out a sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness..." she whispered. "Now...for our equipment and healing you."

Dorrance hurriedly moved to their suitcases and pulled out a leather briefcase. In it, Ren would see a series of plants and vials and powders and bottles of potions. She'd hand onr over to Ren and place it in her palm.

"Please drink this to heal while I get ready." she said in an almost business fashion. The vial held bright red fluid and small bits of what looked like the flesh of berries.

Dorrance, meanwhile, took another suitcase with her clothes and would pull out a corset with multiple pockets. Ren would notice the handles of what looked like darts andthrowing knives. Dorrance also took out a tunic similar to what Ren had seen her wear in her grave digging to which she started placing more potions and what looked like small round baubles.

Dorrance then slipped out of her robe and put on a pair of trousers, almost ignoring she had stripped down in front of Ren. It wasn't until she was almost done fastening her corset beneath that she paused and blushed. Realizing Ren might find all her getup weird. Her mouth turned wavy and she squeaked.

"I...um...like to be ready for anything too..." she said before covering her face. "Please...please don't think this is weird!"

Thank the Gods they reached their room without any complications. Ren took a seat on the bed as she was given a potion. Now, any sane person might take a second look at it, worried that after being dosed once by Dorrance, it might happen again. Ren, however, only looked at the berry flesh and let out a small whine. "Ahh, it's like the pulp in drinks." She made a face, swishing it around for a moment. "Well..it's either this or dying I guess..." She muttered before throwing back the vial and drinking its contents.

"Blech!" She coughed, sticking out her tongue and she tried to shake off the flavor. Ah well...Hopefully it should start to work soon. She looked up just in time to see Dorrance begin to strip. The smuggest of smiles grew on her face as she watched. They were far past the point where they should be embarrassed by such things no?

"Weird?" Ren tilted her head, letting out a small laugh. "Love, you look incredible." She pushed herself off the bed and made her way over. "Like an adventurer. Honestly I feel safer already~" She had no idea why, but she really liked seeing Dorrance like this. She drew close, kissing her once again. After all, who knows when they'd get to next. "As for me." She sauntered over to her own pack. Ren would pull out her golden scimitar and dagger. "I suppose I should show you that I don't just sing no?"

Ren would notice the tiny sting in her arms from the scratches was slowly disappearing and in a few seconds the pain was gone entirely. Dorrance smiled apologetically.

"Sorry it's so bitter, darling," she said. "I mixed a little bit of bitter gourd in there so it'll taste quite nasty."

When Ren assured her that Dorrance's get up made her feel safer and looked wonderful, Dorrance instantly blushed more.

"A-a-a-ahh, it's just work clothes! I-it's nothing special," she said. And then smiling, "But I promise that I'll do my best to keep you safe to the best of my abilities!"

Ren then teased about her scmitar and dagger, to which Dorrance looked in awe. She then let out a dreamy sigh.

"Somehow, you still find new ways to take my breath away," she said.

Their little sweet talking, however, wouldn't last long as their heard in the screams of the kids in unison.

"Ren, we must go!" Dorrance said grabbing Ren's hand.

When the two came outside into the hallway, they'd notice a bloodied worker trying to carry Riliane away as it hissed at Allen.

"LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!" Allen shouted as he waved a fire iron wildly. Riliane had to raise her hands.

"HIT THE MONSTER NOT ME!" she yelled.

Ren was a little sad she didn't get to toss in another tease, but, honestly, she had bigger things on her mind. She rushed out the the hall, her eyes widening as she saw another corpse trying to...run off with one of the kids? Strange, but she had no time to think about it. "Get her out once I call you. Be ready."

She took a breath and began to rush forward towards the beast. Her steps were oddly light as she moved forward. Slowly her arms spread out and moved slightly forward. She began to hum, her eyes growing soft, her body relaxing as she got near to the creature. A few steps before she reached it, she clanged her weapons together, hoping to get its attention. Then, as it turned, she dropped to her knees, sliding under the monster.

Her scimitar lashed out, trying to slide across and around its knee. She then flicked her wrist and planted the blade into the ground. Her momentum carried her forward and began to spin her back towards the creature. She'd rise in one fluid motion, let go of her scimitar and try to snake an arm around its throat with her free hand. At least like this, it couldn't bite the girl. She raised her dagger, but had to wait until the girl was clear...

While Ren had planned out her steps carefully and slowly, all Dorrance and the kids saw were one fell swoop of motion that resulted in a quick spray of blood from the dead maid's neck. The maid would drop to the floor just as Dorrance managed to reach and pull both children away from it.

"Auntie Dorrance!" Riliane exclaimed as she hugged her tightly. Allen proceeded to do the same.

"Oh my goodness, are you two alright? Did that thing hurt you? Did it scratch or bite you?" she asked worriedly as she examined them.

The two shook their heads, Riliane wiping tears from her eyes as she did.

Dorrance would then look at Ren as well.

"Thank goodness for you, Ren," she said while still petting the children's heads. "I don't think I've ever see anything like that. If it weren't for you the kids would have..."

"What's going on, Auntie Dorrance?" Allen said worriedly.

"And where's Ma and Pa?" Riliane added.

"We'll be meeting them soon," she said in a low voice. "But we need to be quiet. We can't let anymore of those creatures hear us. Do you two understand?"

The two would bob their heads slowly before Dorrance turned to Ren.

"This is three now..." she said as she examined the body and knelt down. Despite her worried reaction when Gale inspected a body earlier, Dorrance seemed not at all squeamish as she searched it the body. She paused as she looked at the stab marks.

"Suspicious..." she murmured. She then looked at the next rest of the body and searched the pockets, but it came empty. "Anyways, let's head to the chapel while we can. We should be fine without an illusion spell back right? The road seemed clear."

Well, that went way better than Ren had thought it would. She let out a small sigh and took a step back, raising her blades into the air before flicking them sharply. The excess blood on them splattered on the floor. Her blades weren't entirely clean yet, but she could fight a bit more before the accumulating blood would start to be a problem.

Ren simply stood watch as they spoke and Dorrance checked over the body. They were still in danger after all...

When it was finally over, Ren glanced over at them, a grin on her face. "No worries, I can get us there safe. Just ah, point me in the right direction please." She let out a small laugh. Once everything was settled, though, she would quickly be leading them to the chapel.

All the while, she couldn't help but wonder. Why carry off the children? At first, she had thought these things brainless monsters...Could it be they had some kind of purpose? They...might be in more danger than she initially thought then.

Dorrance would nodded and navigate the three towards the chapel. The two would go downstairs to the first floor to the area behind the stairwell which had two large heavy doors.

"Hang onto the children for a bit," Dorrance said before passing Riliane and Allen to Ren's grasp.

To Ren's dismay, both kids would start hugging her and clutching her tightly.

Dorrance would push one of the doors and revealed the chapel interior. Much like the rest of the architecture of the house, it consisted of white walls and the clever use of pillars. The chapel stretched into a short aisle with patterned tiles and a few kneeling pews. At the center was a tabernacle consisting what looked like a shrine to the goddess, Lirelle.

Unfortunately, Gale, Marie, and the Duke were not yet here. Dorrance let the children in and approached Ren.

"We should be safe here," she said. "Though I'm worried about everyone else. I'm becoming more worried about the creatures. They..."

Dorrance looked at the children who were now sitting anxiously in one of the pews, and leaned in to Ren.

"There's something fishy about the bodies," she whispered. "It only took me a look but...the stab wounds weren't what killed them. They were made after they died. To add to that, they have bite marks on their neck."

Dorrance would hold Ren's hand and look at her deeply.

"I don't think we're dealing with regular undead here. This feels more than the work of any necromancer. I feel uneasy about leaving the Duke and the others. Should we wait you think?"

Ren tried not to make a face as the children clutched to her. Instead, she sheathed her blades and patted them on their heads in a small gesture of comfort. She might not particularly like children, but they were in a horrific situation, she wasn't about to be a terrible person and ignore them!

Again, her eyes widened as they entered the chapel. She...she would never get used to this would she? It was such a large room. Larger than she expected for certain.

She let the children go inside as Dorrance approached her. As she spoke, Ren's face began to go pale. Slowly, she placed a hand on Dorrance's shoulder. Ren bent over slightly, taking a deep breath. Then another. Then another. She swallowed hard before standing again. "For the Gods sake, why?." She whispered, almost exhaustedly. Gods, why couldn't legends just leave her the hell alone? At least the dangerous ones. Why couldn't she meet a pixie or whatever? UUUGGGHHHH. "It sounds like vampires...Why does it have to be vampires?" Ren began whine slightly. "For ONCE can't I meet a nice legend? Like..I don't know a wishing well that grants wishes?" She kept her voice a hushed whisper, but she was clearly exasperated why the whole ordeal.

After a few moments, she straightened out again. "Well, I'd rather not take the children...but I also don't want to leave them alone." She swallowed hard, looking at Dorrance with a grim line on her face. "I can...I can go and check on them, but will you be safe here? Like one-hundred percent safe?"

"Vampires would make sense, yes..." Dorrance murmured. "What I don't understand is why they'd go through the bother of feigning a series of murders. What would they gain from that? Well, what would anyone gain from that attention, actually?"

Dorrance felt she didn't have all the pieces just yet, but that wasn't important right now. Ren suggested going alone, to which Dorrance instantly shook her head.

"Ren, you can't seriously believe I'll let you go alone," she said in a low voice. "It's far too dangerous to go alone."

She sighed though as she looked at the kids. Ren was right, they couldn't leave the children behind and bringing them outside was risky.

"You promise me you'll do your best to be safe?" Dorrance said tightly holding Ren's hands. "The doors are fortified and if need be, we can escape outside to the carriage easily. But promise me it won't come to that, my love."

Dorrance would place a hand on Ren's cheek softly.

"I just found you. Don't let me lose you..."

Ren took a long look at Dorrance as she spoke. Her hand rose, placing itself over Dorrance's hand. She moved her head to the side, kissing it softly. "I'll always find my way back to you, love." She smiled softly. Truthfully, she was terrified. She had no idea what she'd do against a vampire. She couldn't just sit here though. People's lives were at stake here, good people...

"I'll come back to you. Just stay safe." She'd lean forward, kissing Dorrance gently before pulling away and drawing her blades once again. She took a step back before leaning around and looking at the kids. "Heroism calls. You two were doing great against that creature earlier, promise you'll watch over Dorrance for me?"

She'd wait for their response before giving one final nod to Dorrance. She took a breath, opened the door and began to make her way towards the Duke and Duchess.

She'd be fine. She was Ren Everette after all...