Chapter 15: Chapter 13

As Abble held the short sword towards the staircase, she pushed me behind her.

Williams’ headcount had now ceased, as all the men remained behind us. There was no point in identifying the person because they were the only one inside the boat.

At least we wouldn’t be pointing fingers now.

Revenants seemed common now, rather than a myth, or I was bringing misfortune along with me.

Something wasn’t making sense to me, though. If the man had died before he got on this ship, he would have turned long before now.

Unless he died on the ship, but that seems unlikely.

I didn’t know the transforming rate, but I barely finished a week before succumbing. Well before that, I was burning in the sun.

There was something odd going on here.

Wait. How did the man behind us die?

There were thirty men on this deck. Did nobody see the revenant kill him before we came up?

This makes no sense.

Wrecky snatched a sword from a man standing near him. “Steer the boat, William,” Wrecky ordered, motioning his blade to the quarterdeck.

William glanced at the stairs leading into the haul. “The ocean is calm tonight. So it will probably be fine by itself for a bit.”

“We have drifted off course, and we are close to Poseidon’s trident”—Wrecky looked up at the stars—“Let’s not make this trip longer than it needs to be in case something should go horribly wrong tonight. I also don’t really want to run into the Tide of Undead.”

“Not going old school?”—Abble nodded at Wrecky’s cutlass—“I don’t think I’ve seen you use a sword before.”

He shook his head. “I’m not throwing punches at something that can infect me.”

“Just don’t die,” I said, and they both turned around, staring at me. “So I hear…”

Abble looked forward. “Are we heading under or waiting for it? I think we should take care of this tonight.”

William scurried over to the steps leading to the quarterdeck. After sprinting up the stairs, he grabbed the wheel and corrected the ship's course.

He looked terrified, constantly gazing at the staircase below him descending into the haul.

“We could wait until morning and open all the cannon hatches. Sunlight could kill him if he turned enough.”

Wrecky squinted his eyes at me. “How do you know so much about them?”

I, of course, paused for way too long.

“They were a constant problem in my village at one time.”

That was a good excuse.

Wrecky shook his head. “The last two levels of the deck would be dark. He could just delve deeper, and close-quarter fighting is asking for a mess.”

“We could draw it out with blood? But he might not fall for it if he is still in control.”

Wrecky nodded. “I wonder if virgin blood would do it.”

I shrugged. “You think it matters?”

“The Tide of Undead like their virgins. I am sure revertants are similar.”

“It’s worth a try.”

“Kade, cut yourself,” Abble said, and after I didn’t respond, she turned around. “It doesn’t need to be big.”

Sure, I was a virgin, but I was also a demon. I doubt my blood kept the same potency anymore. For all I knew, my blood could taste like shit. I know when I was spewing black fluid, it tasted horrible.

I glanced around, nervously coughing. “I won’t work…”

Wrecky grinned. “Damn, Kade. Didn’t think you had it in you.”

I shrugged. “I surprise myself sometimes, too.”

Abble bent down, so we made eye contact. “You’re telling the truth?”

“My blood will not work”—I averted my eyes—“Let’s focus on significant things right now.”

Abble spun around, and we all remained quiet for a moment. “Ugh. Fine. I’ll do it”—She held her blade in hand—"How close should I drip it?".

Wrecky gave a heavy sigh. “Fuck if I know.”

I tugged at the bottom of Abble’s shirt. “Be careful, please.”

Abble nodded at me. “I’ll kill it on my own. It might end up back in the boat if we all rush up.”

Wrecky glanced at all the men with their swords still up. “Yeah, I’d rather not lose any more men, and they look like a bunch of pussy that don’t want to fight now”—Wrecky folded his arms—“they’re acting like they have never seen an undead before.”

Abble pulled the blade across her hand with no reaction. She walked towards the stairs with her fingers clinched, dropping blood on the deck the whole way.

Shit…

The flowery smell filled the air so strongly that it caused me to step forward subconsciously. Wrecky grabbed my arm, stopping me from taking another step.

“What are you doing?” He asked, and I shook my head, pulling my gaze from Abble.

“I am just worried about her.”

Wrecky pointed to the side of his lip. “You got something coming down.”

I quickly wiped my mouth, turning towards the front of the ship where all the men stood. There was no way I could get close to her right now. Even after this concluded, I would need to stay in my room until her hand healed.

That was sort of disappointing, since I was starting to like her a little. Her company was making time move faster, for sure.

“Abble, don’t get that close,” Wrecky yelled, and I spun around as she flung blood towards the stairs.

A pale hand with long yellow nails clawed over the lip of the step, scratching the black wood deep as it retracted. Abble tossed more blood, and the man crawled halfway out, licking the floor with his long tongue.

The disease was far along. Much worst than when Cain found me.

Abble raised her sword towards him as he crept out of the entrance on all fours.

No matter how much Abble's blood bothered me, I could not risk losing XP.

“Wrecky, give me a sword,” I said, and he glanced down at me.

He shook his head. “Stay here, Kade. Abble can handle it. I’ll jump in if need be.”

I needed to hit this thing a couple of times. If I help Abble, I might get XP since we were in a group.

This was a complete guess, but what was the purpose of the invite if not for that? I could let her do most of the work and tag it at the end.

“I don’t overcome my weaknesses by letting people do everything for me.”

Wrecky stared at me for a moment before handing the sword to me. “Don’t get in her way.”

After I had taken the hilt from Wrecky, I ran towards Abble.

I came to a sliding stop next to her. “I thought I would help, since I know a few things about them.”

Level 22… 463 health… what… How did she get to that level when she’s only a month older than me? There was no way Abble got that high without killing things.

I am speechless. She’s so strong. I had to stay close to Abble.

Was this the norm, or was she just special? At the rate I had been going, I’d be a hundred years old before I got to that level. Good thing I was immortal. 

Abble’s parents must have trained her because that was the only explanation.

This woman was fascinating, that was for sure.

Abble glanced over at me. “So you do have some balls”—she smirked—“don’t take any risks.”

The revertant looked around, jerking its head at even the slightest movements on the deck. It didn’t look like what I had fought in the barn. It appeared more like Richard’s description: a walking corpse.

I wonder what level he’s at. There had to be something in the system that let me see enemy health bars.

The man stood upright on his two feet but remained hunched over, staring at me with bloodshot eyes.

His desire to eat Abble had ceased as his head tilted back and forth at me.

“Help,” He said, stepping forward with his sunken hand trembling as it reached for me. “Please, you understand…”

What do I understand? Did he know I was a demon? If I could convince him to let me kill him, that would be a decent amount of XP, and nobody would be in harm's way.

Abble could probably handle this, but I didn’t want her in danger or stealing my experience. Mostly the latter.

“What’s your name?”

He halted his approach and groaned while glancing at Abble, but returned his attention swiftly to me.

“Neal,” he struggled to say through his sharp, protruding teeth.

All his teeth were pointed and thick. I was glad my top and lower canines were not that noticeable, let alone all my teeth.

“I am sorry that this has happened to you, Neal, but it’s best if we end this”—I stepped forward slowly—“There is no need for anyone else to die or for you to suffer.”

That was convincing. Good job, Kade. You’re talking this man straight to his death.

I’m horrible.

Neal shook his head. “NO! Tell me how to become you”—He growled at me, and his fingers clenched—“Tell me how you turned into a wolf.”

Oof, that didn’t work…

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Wolf? That almost confirmed it, but where were they on the boat? After this was all over, I would try looking for them. Maybe they would show themselves to me.

So he knew I was a demon, but how? I could only tell he was a revenant because he looked diseased.

I couldn’t humour this too much, or it would be suspicious.

“Wolf?”

After speaking about the animal, Neal’s face twitched as he scanned the deck, concerned.

“Yes… it calls to me as you do. You are the same,” He said, and his eye locked on Wrecky for a moment. “What are you looking at?”

“How do I call you?”

Neal held his head with both hands, digging his long nails into his skin and causing black blood to leak down his face. “I feel you looking at me—tell me how. TELL ME NOW!”

“You can’t. There is no cure”—I crept forward—“Death is your only option now. I’ll make it quick.”

He shook his head, whimpering. “I don’t want a cure… I want to be you.”

“Kade, let me go first,” Abble said, and I looked behind me quickly.

My eyes shifted to her hand, which was still dripping crimson on the ground.

I could hear every drip splatting on the ground, tossing the flowery aroma into the air. My mouth salivated, and I dragged my gaze back to the revenant.

“Abble. I’ve got it. I promise,” I said as the man growled at me.

I didn’t really have it, but I needed to try my best to kill him on my own.

Neal dropped his hand from his head. “I am not letting you kill me,” he shouted, baring his long canine fangs dripping black fluid onto the wood. “I didn’t ask for this.”

“You’re right, you didn’t, but life is unfair, and sometimes we are only scenery to everyone else’s story”—I grab the hilt of my sword with both hands—“please don’t make this any more pain than it must be.”

The yelling from among the men behind distracted me for a moment.

As my attention returned, the revenant lunged at me with its clawed fingers.

It was too late to swing my sword, so I leapt to my side instead.

The ship rocked at the worst possible time, and my footing was lost. I dropped my sword when I tried to catch myself from tumbling.

Landing roughly on my knee, I lunged for my sword.

There was no pause in Neal’s attack as he pounced at me.

The tip of my fingers brushed the cutlass’ hilt, but Neal slammed me to the ground by my shoulders before I could grab it.

From his mounted position, Neal vigorously swiped my face with his claws, and I tried to protect my eyes with my forearm.

My face nor my arm felt pain, but urgency took over, knowing too many of those strikes would kill me.

Fanatically, my other hand fumbled for the sword I knew was close.

Blood leaked into my eyes, blurring my vision that was already obscured by my forearm.

Neal cocked his hand back for another big slash as I felt the sword’s hilt.

But it was just out of reach.

Neal’s claws came down swiftly, and I prepared for another direct hit.

Shit, I messed up.

Again.

Abble’s blade swept upwards, passing through his wrist effortlessly and clipping his neck.

The sword's awkward angle prevented Abble from decapitating him, but she nonetheless sliced his throat severely.

Neal’s momentum from his attack caused him to pitch forward, and I clung to his slashed neck with my teeth.

My bite sank deeper into his cold skin the more he struggled, and my arms snaked around his neck, ensuring he didn’t break free when his flesh tore.

Although the blood tasted disgustingly sour, I vigorously drank it from him, hoping he would hold me over until the end of this journey across the sea.

Abble and I made eye contact, which made her face appear distraught.

That is at least what I thought I saw. I had so much blood in my eyes that I wasn’t seeing much.

Abble took a couple of sweeping swings at his back, trying not to hit me as I ripped at Neal’s neck, making the situation much worse for him.

I was sure I had chewed my way to the neckbone as my teeth felt like they were gnawing on something hard.

Neal tried to sit up and swat at Abble with his free hand, but it caused him to become imbalanced.

I did what Abble had taught me and transferred my weight, flipping him onto his back rather smoothly.

Neal clawed at my back, cutting my shirt and slicing my skin deeply, but my vampiric bite mitigated most of the damage.

“Get off him, Kade,” Abble yelled. “I’ll finish it.”

My eyes glanced over at the sword that was within reach.

I released his neck, grabbed the blade, and plunged its tip between his eyes, pinning his skull to the deck.

Neal still flailed around, growling even though his head had a sword through it.

I rolled off him quickly, and Abble slammed her sword down with both hands on her hilt.

Abble severed his neck and went into the deck’s wood a few inches.

I wasn’t sure what level he was at, but that was a sizable chunk of XP, even with Abble’s help.

While my vision blurred and focused on the floorboards, I held myself up with my knees and palms. My breathing was laborious, and a few growling crackles escaped.

I thought I’d be lower than that on health, but the Vampiric Bite was highly convenient.

This was a powerful ability. No wonder my first instinct was to latch on.

Loud footsteps thudded against the floor, which I assumed was Wrecky.

I glanced over at Neal’s hand, still twitching. His head had rolled to the side with his mouth open, and his long tongue hung out to the side.

Neal’s bloodshot eyes sat open, and I felt like they were staring at me. Judging me. Neal was a person at one point. I was in his shoe once.

This could have been me if Cain hadn’t found me. How much damage would I have done if I had gotten on this ship? People could’ve died if I had made it one more day and not collapsed in that alley.

I don’t deserve this gift.

The biting at Neal’s neck had to have a believable excuse, or fears would just move onto me.

Hopefully, I didn't cause any concern, but I knew that wouldn't be the case. This was damning.

It was odd that I latched onto his neck. However, not entirely out of the question of self-defence for someone without a sword.

Abble knelt next to me. “Kade, why the fuck did you do that? How stupid are you?” she shouted at me.

Wrecky stepped next to me. “Kade, you know more about them than me. How should we dispose of the bodies?”

“Bodies?” I asked, glancing up at him.

Wrecky nodded. “The butchered one started to get up, and we cut its head off.”

“Tieing them up and letting them burn in the morning would ensure they’re dead.”

Abble grabbed me by my armpits, helping me up as she stared at my face in horror. “Kade, how are you not in excruciating pain?”

My hand travelled to my face, and my finger touched the sliced skin hanging open.

This was really deep.

“Bad?”

Abble nodded. “I can see your bones a little”—Abble paused for a moment before her head jolted towards Wrecky—“I’ll clean Kade up.”

Wrecky groaned, rolling his neck. “And I’ll clean this fucking mess up,” he said, walking away towards his men, all laughing and joking now.

Why were they acting like they saved the day?

Abble tried to help me walk, but I aggressively pushed her away.

“I don’t need your help,” I snapped, but realized that wasn’t necessary. “Sorry, my face hurts.”

“Then walk,” she said coldly.

Abble followed closely behind me as we entered back into the officer’s quarters. It was likely my imagination, but there was an aura coming from Abble, and it felt… dangerous. My body was alarmed.

Two things were going to happen now.

I would be disfigured, or my wounds would heal so rapidly that everyone would think I was turning into a revenant.

My impulsiveness and desire to get XP put me in a position that would be difficult to talk my way out of.

It probably ends with me getting executed.

Good job, Kade.

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