Bloodlines - Bathory and Thorne

Thadeus leads Marcus and Elias from the study into the grand hallway, favoring his shoulder until the ankh ring’s warmth spreads through him. The stiffness fades completely.

They settle among the mahogany pillars and crimson damask panels. Peacebringer rests in its fountain-pen form, while red moonlight lies across the quiet carpet.

On a whim, Thadeus offers Marcus the gold ring. Marcus slips it onto his finger, and warmth gathers beneath the red line around his neck.

The mark softens, liquefies, and melts away without leaving a wound. Marcus exhales shakily, touching his bare skin as the last curse vanishes.

Far along the hallway, a faint draft stirs dust beneath a carved arch. Marcus looks toward it, the ankh glowing softly on his finger, and waits.

The hallway remains calm beneath the red moonlight. Thadeus takes out his phone and calls Marla while Marcus and Elias wait beside the carved arch.

Thadeus ends the call. Elias checks his phone as the new information arrives, then turns toward the hallway, tracing a route from the study to the dungeon and onward toward the chapel.

Marcus still looks exhausted beneath the red moonlight, but the curse has left his throat clear. Elias watches the hallway while Thadeus places a steady hand on Marcus’s shoulder.

The reassurance settles Marcus enough for him to stand straight. Elias turns his phone toward the branching hallway, and the three men begin following the confirmed route toward the chapel and alchemy lab.

The confirmed route bends beneath another carved arch, where a royal-purple suit of armor stands alone across the hallway. Its visor is empty, and both hands hold a long spear in a guarded stance.

Thadeus stops with Marcus and Elias behind him. Red moonlight glints along the spearhead, while the guardian remains perfectly still, blocking the passage without advancing.

Elias shifts Marcus behind a mahogany pillar but keeps the guardian in view. Thadeus studies the armor’s footing, the spear’s angle, and the distance to either wall.

Elias steps from behind the pillar and launches the Holy Cross down the crimson hallway. The royal-purple armor, a genderless, ageless armored construct with a tall, broad-shouldered build and a closed, featureless helm reacts instantly, its spear beginning a blur.

The knight twirls the weapon with blinding speed, forming a whirling barrier of steel. The Cross strikes the spinning shaft and ricochets sharply back toward Elias.

Elias catches the returning relic against his chest. The armor lowers its spear and begins marching toward them, each deliberate step ringing beneath the red moonlight.

Thadeus draws Peacebringer from his pocket. Blue light gathers along the fountain pen, unfolding into the chain whip before condensing into its heavy morningstar form.

Thadeus leans back and throws Peacebringer with all his strength. The morningstar streaks across the crimson hallway as the royal-purple armor whirls its spear into a steel barrier.

Peacebringer smashes through the spinning defense with greater authority. Its morningstar head fractures the spear at the base, then drives squarely into the knight’s chest plate.

The armored construct topples backward and crashes onto the blood-red carpet. Blue light floods through its joints as the force holding it together releases.

The armor lies lifeless beneath the red moonlight, its broken spear beside it. Peacebringer tears free from the chest plate and arcs back through the air.

The morningstar contracts into a glowing fountain pen just before landing in Thadeus’s outstretched hand. The hallway falls silent again.

Elias leads Thadeus and Marcus through winding hallways, following Marla’s confirmed room pairings. The castle’s corridors bend impossibly, yet each turn carries them steadily toward the chapel.

A final arch opens into an impossibly vast chapel. Intricate stained glass windows line both walls of the long nave, framed by structured stone arches and ornate borders.

Purple and white light streams through the windows on the right in sharp, volumetric beams, spreading across the stone floor and illuminating metal structures with spiral staircases on either side.

At the far center, a large golden arch frames a prominent dark blue cross. Its polished ornament catches the colored light, making the chapel’s distant focal point glow against the shadows.

The three men run beneath the colored chapel light toward the altar. Behind it, there are no doors, only a faint rectangular outline where an entrance once existed.

A deep growl rolls through the chapel. A tremendous slam follows behind them, shaking dust from the ornate arches and silencing the men mid-discussion.

At the entrance stands a ten-foot-tall minotaur—an adult male, a broad, powerful beast with dark coarse hide, a dull gray nose ring, and a massive double axe in its hands. Small cracks mark the weapon’s still-sharp edges.

The minotaur lowers its long-handled axe and fixes its gaze on the group. Elias shifts toward the nearest spiral staircase, while Marcus stays close as the men prepare to move.

Thadeus concentrates on Peacebringer. The fountain pen unfolds into a glowing chain whip, its iron links lengthening until a heavy spiked ball hangs at the tip.

Elias grips Marcus’s arm and directs him toward the closest spiral staircase. Marcus follows, glancing once toward Thadeus as the minotaur charges.

The adult male minotaur bellows and swings its massive double axe straight down at Thadeus’s head. The blade descends through the colored chapel light.

Thadeus rolls clear across the stone floor. The axe crashes into a large church pew instead, cleaving the wood in half and scattering splinters across the aisle.

Thadeus rises with Peacebringer’s chain whip gathered in his hand, while Elias and Marcus reach the spiral staircase. The minotaur wrenches its axe free and turns toward him.

Thadeus begins twirling Peacebringer, its glowing chain sweeping through the chapel light. The minotaur stomps one foot, lowers its head, and aims its cracked horns.

Halfway up the spiral staircase, Elias shouts as the minotaur’s eyes flare bright red. Thadeus pulls Peacebringer down and braces for the rush.

The adult male minotaur charges headfirst. Thadeus rolls sharply aside, and the beast’s horns slam into a stone column with a thunderous impact.

The horns lock deep within the pillar. Before the creature can wrench free, Thadeus swings Peacebringer down across its broad back, the spiked ball striking solidly.

The minotaur bellows in pain, legs braced against the chapel floor. Its shoulders heave as it twists and wriggles, still trapped by its horns in the stone.

The minotaur’s hind leg lashes backward and catches Thadeus in the gut. He flies across the chapel, slamming into the altar as breath leaves him in a harsh, involuntary gasp.

Pain knots beneath his ribs, and the impact leaves a dark bruise spreading across his abdomen. Peacebringer’s chain clatters over the stone beside him.

Thadeus plants one hand against the altar, draws a ragged breath, and forces his legs beneath him. He stands fully, shaken but steady, while the minotaur remains trapped by its horns.

Elias and Marcus reach the staircase’s upper landing. A narrow wooden door waits beneath the chapel’s vaulted stonework, while colored window light cuts across their anxious faces.

Below them, the minotaur strains against the pillar, cracking stone around its horns. Thadeus steadies Peacebringer’s handle and faces the trapped guardian.

Elias rolls up his sleeves and draws another bottle of holy water. He shuffles his hands back and forth, eyes fixed on the trapped minotaur.

From the altar, Thadeus recognizes the motion and looks up. Elias raises the bottle above the creature as the chapel’s colored light trembles around them.

Holy rain pours through the chapel as though its ceiling has vanished. It drenches the minotaur, which cries out while blue embers kindle across its coarse hair.

Blue flame engulfs the trapped guardian. Its flesh vanishes beneath the rain, leaving a burning skeleton that collapses beside the cracked pillar and dissolves into dust.

The storm continues briefly, soaking Elias, Marcus, and Thadeus without harm before fading. Water patters across the chapel floor as the last blue sparks disappear.

Marcus removes the ankh ring and tosses it to Thadeus. He catches it, slides it onto his finger, and immediately feels the pain in his ribs melt away.

The ruby’s red glow flickers. A hairline crack appears across its surface, fine as a thread but unmistakable beneath the chapel’s colored light.

Marcus lifts both hands in protest, still wet from Elias’s holy storm. The chapel settles around them, water dripping from the altar and broken pew.

Marcus looks toward the narrow wooden door above the spiral staircase. Elias steadies himself beside him, while Thadeus keeps the cracked ruby in view and the route ahead open.