[We've finally reached the bottom. Something tells me this used to be a well.]

(I can see light.)

Red walked slowly, taking his time to observe as he approached the stone archway through which light spilt out into their dark corridor. The scent of blood hung heavy in the air.

[Well what do we have here?]

(She's naked.) There was a quiver in Luci's voice.

"Madam Zelli," Red declared smugly. "Your guards were weaker than chicken."

The lovely Zelli smiled unreservedly at the intruder. Within the large stone chamber, she was soaking in a pool of blood. Her honey-coloured skin was covered in the red liquid like a macabre mask. Stains all around the floor suggested a struggle, likely those of the victims who were drained for the bloody bath pool. 

"It's no matter. The guards are just for show." Zelli matched Red's smug smile.

Red sat cross-legged at the edge of the pool and surveyed the ridiculous amount of blood that had been wasted. Zelli would have had added some sort of anticoagulant to the blood, something Red had to ask Syryn about. Chemistry was Syryn's speciality after all.

"So, what is your purpose for me, woman?"

Rather than answer, Zelli leisurely stood up. Rivulets of blood streamed down her smooth skin, washing her in a red glow.

(Stop staring at her breasts.)

[How do you even know what they're called?]

(...)

Zelli waded through the viscous fluid to reach the other end of the pool where Red was seated. Her chin rested over her hands which left bloody imprints on the stonework at the edge of the pool.

"My purpose? To absorb your youth, young one. You will add at least 10 years to my life." Zelli's eyes flashed with anticipation. Her blonde hair was braided around her head like a crown, stained in red just as her skin was. "When you entered my domain, I sensed a river of magic coursing through you, violent and brimming with energy. Do you realise how rare it is to catch a prize like you in my net?"

"All I'm hearing is that you're actually an old murderous hag. How old are you, granny Zelli?"

The lady pouted at Red's words, looking innocent and cute despite the blood. "Little boys with sharp tongues should have their throats slit and hung upside down." She pointed a slender finger up to where a cruel-looking hook was embedded on the ceiling.

Red tilted his head to look at the iron hook. He was sure that it must have been put there for the exact purpose that Zelli had just described. "That's nice. You can watch your terrified victim bleed to death while it watches you bathe in their blood. Old dried up Zelli, you're a real nasty piece of work."

The mask of humour on Zelli's face began to crack in response to the child's continued taunting. She sighed dramatically and closed her eyes as if she was drawing patience from within her.

"Lucien, I'm waiting for the right time to add your essence to my pool. Must you tempt me like this?"

"You're right, I shouldn't insult the elderly. How old are you really though? Humour me before I am put to death. Consider it an exchange of sorts for my willing donation to your pool."

At his words, Zelli's eyes gleamed in happy surprise. If a victim willingly gave up their life essence in blood, it multiplied the effect of magic that was performed through it. This way, she would receive at least 25 years from Lucien's death.

"Alright, if that's the case then I'll tell you. Have you heard the tale of Baron Goont? The hero who died fighting a spectre that haunted the village of rats."

Red had heard about it. The story was as old as Elysium, a good 400 plus years at the least. The village of rats was so-called owing to the poverty-stricken villagers whose crops were attacked by the pests every harvest. The rats were the size of a toddler's head and could not be eradicated no matter what the villagers tried. Poison was used to kill the rats but they spawned in much greater numbers. Even the mages that stopped at the village could not get rid of the tenacious pests.

Their food being almost gone, the villagers began to eat the hunted rats but found the meat unappetizing. It tasted like boiled leather even to the hungry villagers whose palates were as unrefined as they came.

"I do know something about it. A spectre was summoned by a well-intentioned mage but it ended up turning on the villagers. Your late husband, rest in peace to his soul, fought the spectre to death. Am I right?"

Zelli rolled her eyes at Red, "he was my father."

"Those two aren't mutually exclusive," Red cheekily replied. "You could be his daughter AND wife. I've seen a few fucked up cases in my time." Red was a murderous demon but he still had his principles about incest.

Zelli choked on whatever she had wanted to say. Fresh anger rising at the brat who just would not stop baiting her, Zelli glared at Red. "I suppose it won't do if I don't teach you a lesson today, Lucien."

With those words in the air, Red suddenly felt light-headed. His vision swam for a moment before he righted himself.

"Know your place, human." Zelli's tone took a higher pitch that almost sounded like a hiss.

The redhead twitched his nose when a trickling sensation began in his nasal passages. It turned into a gush of warmth that soon ran down his lips and chin. Wiping it with the back of his hand, he examined the blood that Zelli had expelled from his body.

"You're an unregistered blood mage," he flatly declared.

"Right you are. Humans have always been afraid of my kind. Blood mages have been rounded up and persecuted since the murders of Gevancy began. It would be unwise to get myself registered, don't you think?"

Red's nose wouldn't stop bleeding. He left it to gush freely when it appeared that it couldn't be stopped.

(Are we going to die from a nosebleed?)

[Don't be ridiculous.]

(But it isn't stopping..)

[It won't stop because the old hag won't let it.]

(How do we stop her then?)

[Watch and learn Luci.]

"Lucien, if you apologise like you mean it, I won't let you pass out from blood loss," She chided him sternly like a mother would, albeit a terrible one.

"Is this all you're capable of?" Red asked. His easy posture and nonchalance over the matter conveyed confidence that was at odds with his plight. Zelli was puzzled by it.

"Is that not enough to kill a weak child like you? It doesn't matter what form of magic you possess, I can drain you to an inch of your life before you can even think of harming me."

"You arrogant bitch, this is how a real blood mage drains his victim." Red snapped his fingers and it was like a thunderclap.

Zelli immediately screamed in agony as tiny fissures appeared all over her skin like cracks on dried mud. Crimson liquid spilt out of the hundreds of fine fissures, adding to the pool's contents.

"Make it stop!" She yelled.

"I can't mend skin, Zelli. You'll have better luck with a hemostatic potion."

"Blood Mage!!" She pointed at him ecstatically, "You're a blood mage!!"

"Not really," Red replied. Demon magic wasn't the same as the kind that humans accessed. It was raw and unfiltered, a primordial type of magic that was as powerful as it was destructive to its user. This was why demons limited the use of their magic according to the abilities of their bodies. Lucien was still too young for more than 3 hits of demonic powers per day. Red had performed blood magic twice now and was one spell away from hitting Lucien's maximum tolerance. He could rely on his blood abilities only one more time.

Zelli's agonising cries gradually quieted down. She whimpered and groaned then began to laugh like a lunatic. "Did you think you could kill me that easily?"

(What is happening to her?!)

[She's shedding her skin.]

(Her behind is growing bigger and bigger.)

Red chortled at Lucien's crude description. He was right though - it did look like Zelli's buttock was ballooning. The truth was that woman was changing into a monster, a spider to be precise.

"Interesting," Red said to no one in particular. There were several ways that humans were blessed or cursed with beast forms. Lycanthropy was considered a blessing but spiders and other insect forms were looked down on by normal folks. Hideous and evil were the words often used to describe them. To Red, power was power, so it didn't matter what form a shapeshifter took. Secretly though, he was glad that Magnus was a panther.

(Run while she's still changing!)

[Good idea.]

Red sprang to his feet and began a sprint back down the dark corridor on his short legs. His mana was still half full since he has used the life essence from the drained guard to attack Zelli.

He heard the sounds of skittering feet behind him and it propelled the boy into a faster run.

"I'll tear you from limb to limb!" It shrieked from behind him, eating up the distance between them faster than Red could run.

[I wish I paid more attention to exercising!]

(I told you we needed to join Salem in the morning! Run faster!!)

[Salem is a freak who wakes up before the birds! That's self-punishment and I want no part in it!]

(Ahhhh why did you turn around?!) Luci was horrified by the number of teeth in Zelli's gaping maw, and it was snapping at them. (Do something!)

Red grabbed a fistful of fire and flung it into the spider's mouth. It served to slow Zelli down for a while. The redhead took the opportunity to clamber up the spiral staircase that led to the exit from the chamber.

(Faster! I still want to eat the food cooked by Syryn one last time before I die!)

[Can't you make some useful remarks Luci?!]

(Like what? Block the stairs with ice? Make it slippery??)

[Exactly!]

Red covered the staircase in ice, turning it into a smooth slide. [Remind me to try this at home so we can slide on it.]

(That would be fun.)

They watched the clumsy spider struggle to find purchase on the ice slide.

[I don't like that look in her eyes] Red turned tail and ran, and not a moment too soon. Zelli threw out a rope of silk that connected to the metal railing that hadn't been iced. Popping out of the staircase, Red ran past the hole as Zelli emerged right behind him.

Red ran from corner to corner and he was fast losing his breath. [Luci, we have one chance to face down Zelli. Are you onboard?]

(Yes. Why are you even asking?)

[We might die if I fail..]

(We'll die if you don't try. Besides, I have faith in you.]

Red skidded to a halt. [I won't let us down, Luci.]

Red wasn't a coward. He wouldn't have run away if Luci's life wasn't also on the line. He was confident in his abilities but that went out the window when his counterpart's life was added to the stakes. Red also wasn't a sentimental man. He couldn't care less for another being if their existence did not align with his interests. He had, however, come to find that he wanted to give Luci a chance for normality. The withered hopes and dreams Red had had when he was a little boy, had all been crushed by the reality of life as a slave and then as Traxdart's minion. He wanted to give it all to his younger self so the boy could live the life that Red had always wished for.

"Giving up so fast?" The spider oozed out a sticky white liquid from the belly button at the front of her body which merged with the spider half.

"I don't have a lot of mana left in me so I'm gonna attack you one last time," Red solemnly replied. Zelli's inhuman face took on a cautionary twist before she lunged at the redhead.

Hands outstretched, Red copied Syryn's technique and encased the spider in a coffin of ice when her jaw was a hair's breadth away from his face. He hadn't been sure of its success but desperation had given fruit to his hard work. Zelli was frozen inside an icy cover as thick as her abdomen.

(Is it over?)

"I wasn't expecting to pull that off," Red said to himself. "It worked?"

Red had spoken too soon. Cracks appeared on the surface of the ice. The entire thing then began to vibrate and shake, and it exploded into icy splinters that barraged Red. A jagged spider leg that was covered in spiky hair broke out of the ice first and pinned Red to the floor. The sharp appendage went right through his shoulder and held him down.

"That was a phenomenal performance of magic but I'm afraid we've come to the end of your show, Lucien."

Zelli's mouth split her face in half as she smiled. Razor-sharp teeth dripping with saliva hovered over Red in a face that was triumphant in its ugliness.

"I guess it's the end then," Red moaned through the throbbing pain. "I have one last wish, Zelli."

"What wish?" The spider tilted its head and fixed the red-headed meal with its grotesque eyes.

"Drop dead you ugly old hag."

"What- Aaaaaaghhhh"

Zelli's screams were a testament to the pain that she was suddenly feeling. Without warning, her head exploded like an overripe watermelon. Bits and pieces of her brains, skull, and skin fell onto Lucien's exposed face.

(Oh god!)

"Ugh! So disgusting."

(Red she's falling on us! Roll away!)

[And tear your shoulder off? I'd rather suffocate under her till Syryn finds us.]

The enormous spider abdomen landed away from Red but Zelli's naked upper human torso was pressed flush against Red's face, squishing him between her ample bosom.

Luci began to hyperventilate. (Get it off!)

[Boobs won't hurt you]

(It's gross!)

[I just saved our lives and I'm tired, Luci. Stop bugging me.]

Red's final spell had forced all the blood in Zelli's body to rush to her head. The pressure it created resulted in the explosion.

To cast his spell, Red had to touch her for a few seconds without getting maimed terribly. For those few precious seconds, he had come up with the entire ruse of ice magic and lulled the spider into a false sense of security. His mana completely expended on the icy show, Red tapped into Zelli's life essence for a quick second to pull off the huge blood spell that ended her life.

But the redhead had also used up a modicum of his life essence to power the initial vampiric spell. All in all, Lucien's fragile body had endured 4 rounds of Red's demonic casting. They were lucky to still be alive. Lucien's body would need all of Syryn's potions and supplements to recover from this fight.

(Thank you Red. You saved me again.)

[Well, I got us into this situation in the first place.]

(It was scary but I had fun too.) Luci wanted to cheer up the morose sounding Red.

[Did you even learn anything?]

(Yes. And I have a lot of questions about what I saw.)

[Later. We've got company.]

The redhead was all burnt out but he was ready for another fight. The boy ignored his fatigue and mentally prepared himself for a battle with the group that he could sense was approaching them.