Chronicles of Espiria Season 1
Episode 18 - Forsaken Families
Written by CindyDaGreat
The vast mansion of Count Vedan was once a grand sight, until the fateful night in which he ceased to be human. Unlike other Graveborn, who were raised by a necromancer or made a pact with Quadam directly, Vedan subjected himself and his young wards, a pair of orphaned sisters named Silvina and Isabella, to an arcane ritual that turned them all into bloodthirsty creatures of the night. Since this passing from life to undeath, the mansion fell into disrepair and took on an air of abandonment. But that does not mean that the mansion was uninhabited. Vedan and the girls continued to exist in the mansion, pretending to still be human while secretly serving King Thoran of Bantus as spies and as senior leaders of a necromantic cult called the Bloody Priesthood.
On this day, Vedan and the girls were preparing to leave on an annual visit to King's Manse, a requirement of King Thoran to reassure himself of Vedan's loyalty to the Graveborn cause. The nature of Vedan's conversion to a Graveborn, that Lord Quadam was not involved in his resurrection, brought with it certain uncertainties concerning Vedan's allegiances, uncertainties which Thoran would soothe by speaking with him personally. Because Sylvina and Isabella had been particularly helpful to him recently, Vedan agreed to let them visit the home of their friend Daimon, the son of Niru, on their way to visit Thoran. Isabella was taking longer to get ready than Vedan and Sylvina liked, as she was having difficulty choosing an appropriate doll to bring with her.
"Sister, are you ready yet?" Sylvina asked impatiently. "Daimon is waiting for us."
"I must select the perfect specimen that Stitchy would feel satisfied with as a play companion." Isabella answered.
"Stitchy? You mean the boy's stuffed animal?" Vedan asked, almost disgusted by the sentiment.
"You know how picky Stitchy can be, Father." Isabella said matter-of-factly.
Vedan rolled his eyes. "I'm sure the boy and his bear would appreciate it more if we weren't late. You know him and his tears."
"Father, you shouldn't speak of Daimon so distastefully!" Isabella interjected.
Sylvina placed her hand on Isabella's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Sister, but Father is right; we need to hurry. Have you picked a doll yet?"
Sighing, Isabella chose her favorite rag doll, and the three headed out to begin their journey to King's Manse.
The journey was long, but not tiring for the three undead travelers; still, the girls were excited to finally reach the home of Niru. Vedan could never help but smirk whenever he saw the house; while it was obvious that Niru and his wife, Shemira, kept the home tidy and in good condition, it was always amusingly strange to consider that the exalted Niru called such a seemingly insignificant structure home, especially when compared to his own mansion. He knocked on the doorframe and was quickly greeted by Niru himself. Next to Niru was a small boy nearly covered in bandages and clutching a stuffed toy. The boy looked up at Vedan with a measure of fear, but when he noticed Sylvina and Isabella, his eyes lit up as he nervously waved at them.
"Ah, you made it." Niru said, then looked back at Sylvina and Isabella. "Daimon is so excited to see you, aren't you, my boy?"
Daimon gave an enthusiastic nod, then pointed to his stuffed toy. "Stitchy is excited to see you too."
"Of course, of course," Niru said, trying to steer the subject away from Stitchy. "Why don't you go play with your friends. I'll be here with Vedan."
The three children ran off to Niru's backyard, immediately starting a tea party. Sylvina was less than pleased by the choice of game, but if Isabella and Daimon wished it, so be it. Niru and Vedan watched from a distance as Isabella sipped from an empty cup, then had her doll engage in pleasant conversation with Daimon's doll.
"I did not think the boy would be interested in a tea party." Vedan mused.
"He's not. He's just enjoying the company." Niru responded. "It's difficult to find children his age in Bantus."
Vedan grunted in acknowledgment. "How is Shemira?"
"She's sleeping upstairs. Shall I wake her? We could have our own tea party." Niru offered with a smirk.
"That won't be necessary." Vedan answered. "We can't stay long anyway; we're expected in King's Manse soon. The girls just wanted to say hello to Daimon on the way."
Niru smirked again. "Ah yes, the annual proof of loyalty; I keep forgetting that you're not really a Graveborn."
Vedan was offended by the accusation. "Now see here, you..."
Vedan's angry response was cut short by a groaning sound from the nearby grove of dead trees. Everyone sensed that something was wrong. Sylvina unsheathed her knives as she stood between her playmates and the sudden chill in the air, glancing around warily. Daimon shivered and hid behind Isabella, holding tight to Stitchy.
"I detect a presence." Isabella said as she stood. "Something is here."
The brittle leaves of the bushes in the grove rustled again. Soon, a Graveborn child emerged from the bushes. His hair was gray and disheveled, and he was dressed in a thin shirt and tattered pants. Vedan cringed in disgust as he subtly shifted himself behind Niru.
"Good Lords and Ladies," the boy began, "I am but a lost child. I have traveled for three days and nights without rest. I am so cold and hungry. All I ask is for food and shelter, merciful Lords."
Sylvina and Isabella shared a glance; with a nod, they agreed that this child was wrong. No Graveborn can get hungry; as corpses, they have no need of food.
With lightning-fast reflexes, Sylvina zipped over to the child and took his head off, making sure to properly lacerate the body as well. Daimon yelped at the suddenness of the attack, hiding behind his father. Peeking from behind Niru's coattails, he saw Sylvina backing off as Isabella used her magic to properly disintegrate the body.
Whatever the creature was, however, it resisted Isabella's magic, slowly reforming itself despite her best efforts. She had never encountered something this powerful before. Noticing her sister's strain, Sylvina tried hacking at the writhing mass again, this time to no avail.
Finally, it reformed itself and let out a roar. From the small child it once was, it twisted and contorted, growing thrice in size. Two grayish horns sprouted from its bulging head, it's eyes turning a sickly shade of yellow. The creature's jaw seemed to dislocate and snap back, gaining feral canines in the process. The human fingernails became claws. The arms grew muscles that any bodybuilder would envy. Turning to face the petrified Daimon still hiding behind Niru, it pounced.
The creature froze midair and dropped to the ground, allowing Daimon time to run back inside. On his way in, he passed his mother, Shemira, a tall, slender woman wearing a black billowy dress and a black blindfold. She held a green crystal ball over her head, which she was using to drain the life out of the creature.
"No one touches my Daimon!" Shemira shouted, her voice full of fury.
Niru stared at Shemira for a moment, a dazed and awed expression on his face; he didn't see her in combat as often as he used to, so he kept forgetting how terrifying she could be. He soon recovered, however, and raised his hand to summon his scythe; as soon as the scythe flew into his hand, he immediately slashed at the creature, draining and reaping its energy. It stumbled, then knelt, trying to shield itself from the relentless attacks of the Graveborn.
Unfortunately, it managed to recover; it seemed to shake off the spells of Niru and Shemira, and batted away the attacks of Sylvina. Still, it moved clumsily, as if the draining of its health was finally beginning to take its toll.
Dodging the massive claws, Sylvina was forced to think quickly. Unable to land a clean hit from her position on the ground, she used her knives as pickaxes to climb up the beast's back. Black, viscous blood oozed from the wounds as she drew closer to the beast's neck.
"Sister, Mr Niru and Mrs Shemira, restrain the beast for me!" Isabella shouted.
The mages redoubled their efforts against the creature. Shemira summoned phantom chains from the ground to wrap around the beast; it tried to raise its arms, only to be denied by a swipe from Niru's scythe. Fetching her book from the tea party table, Isabella found a spell that should weaken the creature further and cast it at the monster. Despite her best efforts, however, the spell seemed to have no effect. On its own, the book turned to another spell meant for a creature alternately called a "demon" or a "Hypogean". This proved much more effective, visibly weakening the demon.
Soon, however, everyone began to feel the strain of their attacks. Shemira's chains could not hold it as they should, Niru's scythe no longer drained the creature, and Isabella's incantation was exhausting her. As she seemed ready to collapse from fatigue, a terrifying roar was heard from the house. Isabella looked in time to see Daimon's doll grow to the size of the demon and charge viciously at it. Sylvina saw Stitchy coming as well and jumped away from her perch on the demon's back. Her many stabs into the neck of the demon weakened the connection between head and body, so that when Stitchy struck the demon in the face with a powerful swipe of its claws, the head separated with one blow. The demon disintegrated into ash, which Stitchy continued to attack until even the shape of the demon was gone.
Once everyone had collected themselves, Sylvina looked to Daimon with wonder. "Daimon, how did you do that?"
"I just...wanted to protect us." Daimon responded shyly. "And Stitchy listened to me! He heard me and helped us defeat the scary monster!"
Daimon ran over to the doll and gave it a big hug as it shrank back to its normal size. Niru and Shemira knelt next to him and cradled him in their arms. "Oh Daimon," Shemira said through tears, "I was so worried! You did such a good job!"
Seeing Niru's family happy like this, Isabella's thoughts went to Vedan. "Where's Father?"
"Here I am." his voice came from a swarm of bats hanging from the roof of Niru's house. They dropped from the house and reformed into Vedan.
"Why didn't you help us?!" Niru shouted, shocked that Vedan would hide when his children fought so bravely.
"I wanted to see how the girls would handle themselves without my help, of course." he said, hiding his cowardice behind a practiced aristocratic veneer. "Isabella, your magic is growing splendidly, but you need to learn to manage your energy better. Sylvina, I expected you to do more with your blades. What have you been learning from me?"
Sylvina's face was unreadable, except to Isabella, who could see the disappointment in her eyes. "Yes Father." Turning to Daimon, she said, "What you and Stitchy did was very brave. Hopefully we can visit again on the way home. Ready, Sister?"
Taking hands, the girls returned to Vedan, and the three of them left Niru's home on their way to King's Manse. They casually glanced at the pile of ash that was once the demon, and noticed that it was crawling away from the house; Vedan recognized the direction it was going, and knowing this filled him with dread.