บท 772: Pummel

Ciaran ignores the woman's insult and changes the subject, " What's your name?"

...

"Margarita Laux-Antille."

Ciaran focuses on the woman, "Margarita? The Sorceress?"

She nods, "Indeed... And, who might you be?"

Ciaran decides to just give her true name, no point in disguising herself... "Ciaran."

...

Margarita "... Okay "Ciaran", what're you doing in that cell?"

Ciaran "I was captured by a Vampire after they invaded Ard Carraigh." she states.

Margarita's eyes widen as something seems to click in her mind, "Ah! The Vampires were attacking Kovir!... But... We were beaten... I think?" she ponders aloud.

Ciaran nods, "I doubt any regular nation could defend against their forces... You must've been bespelled, you'd just brought me some food." she gestures towards the bread lying on the floor.

Margarita "Wouldn't that mean I'm expected to return soon?" she says, clearly worried.

Ciaran "Most likely... You should go, whether you choose to escape or not is up to you, but if you encounter someone, act as if you're emotionless, and try not to react to anything..."

Margarita slowly nods, "I'll... I'll try to come back, I don't think escaping on my own is possible, and I refuse to leave behind the others..." she says, quickly walking off and leaving Ciaran on her own again.

One day later :

Vasile reappears in front of Ciarans cell as she's doing pushups, silently watching from above her creepily...

Ciaran stops, wipes the sweat from her brow, and sighs. "So the leech hath returned, what brings you to my abode?" she says, uninterested.

Vasile grins, "I'm glad you're keeping yourself fit... I've come to discipline you." he says, turning into mist, passing through the bars and returning to his humanoid form.

Ciaran springs into action, lunging for a punch but feinting it half-way through and performing a spinning back-kick.

*Thud*

Vasile stops it with his hand, "Oh, so fiery... Good." he says as he grabs her leg and smashes her against the wall, hard.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

He continues to swing Ciaran's body at the walls, floor, and ceiling until she goes limp, exhausted and bruised all over...

Vasile "A normal mortal would've been killed by that... You continue to surprise me, but that's enough with the game." he says, grabbing her back the neck and lifting her off of the floor. "Look into my eyes." he states, his yellow irises glowing ominously.

Ciaran refuses and looks away, only for the vampire to grab her hair and force her to look at him. They lock gazes and her eyes glaze for a moment... Only for them to regain clarity not long after. "I refuse! Let go of me you despical monster!" she exclaims, only for Vasile to throw her against the wall.

He glares at her with a furious expression, tapping his fang against his lower teeth from habit. "You, how dare you resist me!" he shouts, giving a kick to Ciaran's stomach, causing her to curl up into a ball.

Vasile "Damn mortal! I should just kill you now! Damn, Damn, Damn! NEVER RESIST ME! DO YOU UNDERSTAND!!!" he screams with unhinged anger, stamping on Ciaran without mercy.

Ciaran doesn't let out a single groan of pain, this is due to her determination to not give Vasile anything he wants, not even the satisfaction of hurting her. Luckily or not, it doesn't seem like he's trying to kill her, his strikes on her body not dealing the lethal damage the vampire was most likely capable of giving.

Vasile looks down at Ciaran, one of her arms bent towards the wrong direction and horrific bruises quickly forming... "Damn... That'll teach you! NEVER RESIST ME!" he shouts, turning to mist and disappearing from the cell.

Ciaran allows her body to stop tensing in preparing for more blows, flopping down and lying facing the ceiling, pain aching throughout every inch of her. Her left arm is obviously broken, and by the sudden sharp pain she could infer that at least one of her ribs was also damaged...

*Tap, Tap, Tap, Tap*

Margarita runs into view of the cell, "Ciaran are you alrig-Oh my god!" she exclaims, bending down next to the cell bars. Not being able to help due to Vasile owning the key to the cell... "Are you alive?" she quickly asks.

Ciaran gives groans as she turns to face the bars, "W-what do you think?" she says.

Margarita gives her a pitying look, "I think he beat you almost half to death... If you come closer I might be able to take a look at you." she says, urging Ciaran to approach the bars.

Ciaran shakes her head, "I heal faster than regular people do, there's nothing you can do anyway..."

Margarita frowns, "I'm a mage, come closer and let me see you."

Ciaran "Mage or not, I doubt that collar is just for show... Its Dimeritium is it not?"

...

Ciaran "Instead of worrying about my health, perhaps you could tell me something about this place, the building I'm currently imprisoned in, the people inside, security..."

Margarita slowly nods, "I think we're currently in an old mansion on the outskirts of Pont Vanis, the port, heavy snow, and architecture makes it easy to identify... It seems a large group of Vampires affiliated with Vasile have taken up residence here, they won't allow me to take even a step outside... Other than them, the only people present are young human women they've taken a liking to..."

Ciaran scowls, "Pleasure Slaves?"

Margarita shakes her head, "No... It seems laying with a human is considered shameful and filthy to most Vampires, they use us as Livestock instead..." she says, lowering ragged clothing from her shoulder a little and revealing numerous bite marks. "Luckily they don't go for the neck, probably to avoid killing their slaves..." she says with a downtrodden expression.

Ciaran "Are all of the slaves bespelled like how you were?" she asks..

Margarita "No... It seems I was special in that regard, probably because I'm a mage... Acting like I'm charmed is difficult, but it seems Vasile's focus is solely on you at the moment. The whole estate could hear his shouting earlier, I feared you'd been killed."

Ciaran shakes her head slowly, "We will escape, just continue to gather information... We'll need it if we're going to get out alive."