Blood Queen Reborn

As they were silently walking through the tunnels, Quinn and Layla were wondering about Peter as its been a while since they had a full conversation with him.

They weren’t quite sure if he was still alive, because if he was swallowed, then they wouldn’t think he could break the fall. Then, there was the fact that he was spending a lot of time with Cia. Was he keeping the secret about vampires with her?

’No, I’m sure he would. He was understanding when we told him about vampires,’ Quinn thought, ’The only way that he would tell someone is if he gets tortured, but Cia seems like a nice person, and he’s a level 2, they wouldn’t pick on him as much.’

’He risked his own blood to save me,’ Layla said in her mind, ’And he didn’t find me scary once I explained everything.’

Just then, Layla heard a faint sound in the distance, and she perked up, "Wait, I think I hear something!"

"This isn’t another corpse, right?" Vorden commented.

Layla shot back, "Corpses don’t make sounds!"

"Forget that, Layla, does it sound dangerous?" Quinn said as he got between them.

"No, if anything, it sounds like living people."

"Well, then, let’s go."

They ran towards the source that Layla detected, and they came across the large underground town. It wasn’t strange because it was underground. There were plenty of shelters that were built underground because they were in otherwise dangerously hot or cold planets. It was strange because it was oddly quiet, a startling lack of people around, and looked a lot like a dalki settlement.

They couldn’t stay shocked for long, as a few dark furred dogs slowly came their way between the buildings. The monsters stared at them, baring their numerous teeth, too much to fit within their mouths.

"What are those?" Vorden asked, tilting his head, "They have glowing red eyes. Isn’t that a vampire trait?"

"Yes, but this is the first time I’m seeing them!" Layla quickly replied.

None of them had Erin’s inspect skill, so they couldn’t know for sure what they were, but what they did know was that they were slowly prowling closer and closer, growling as they did.

One dog lunged at Layla, but Quinn formed an earth wall, and it smacked against it.

"Get behind me," Quinn said in a low voice, as he stepped in front of the group, rock armor forming from the bottom up as he did.

Two more dogs leapt towards him, but he grabbed one mid air, and threw it into the other.

There were four more, 2 on their left, and 2 on their right. Vorden faced the ones on the left, and formed a simple ice spear, putting as much qi into it as he could. This was a little trick he learned from Leo about imbuing weapons with qi, and threw it as hard into the dog.

The dog basically exploded from the force, splattering red blood everywhere. It made them realize that they weren’t beasts, but something else.

Layla quickly fired an arrow after another towards the dogs on the right, imbuing them with fire. One shot straight through the skull, and into the torso of the other. Their slick, oily matted furs ignited easily.

Despite being on fire, the burning dog tried to bite at Layla, ignoring its pain. Layla was midway towards firing another arrow, when Quinn jumped, and smashed it with a large fist.

The animal was killed instantly, and Quinn had finished the remaining ones off while they weren’t looking.

"Thanks for the save," Layla complimented, then put her starlingshot away.

"Was that what you had smelled?" Vorden asked.

Layla turned around, "No! I swear. I don’t know how to explain it, but I smelled an actual human person."

Quinn knelt down to one of the dead monsters, and examined it closer. It had dark red blood, something that beasts didn’t have, but living creatures of earth did.

’Or vampires,’ Quinn finished the thought.

Were these actually vampire dogs? To his knowledge, dogs had been near extinct for a while now, only the most wealthiest owned them. If this really were a dalki settlement, then why would they have vampire dogs here?

Either way, it meant that they didn’t have any crystals inside. Not like a beast would, so he didn’t try extracting them for crystals.

"—I’m telling you! They’re deeper in this town, I smell Fex too!" Layla pointed towards a direction.

"Then we’ll go there," Quinn said, as he stood up, "But let’s take the roofs. As easy as these dogs are, I’d rather we don’t take unnecessary damage."

The others agreed, and, by using a pillar of earth to rise beneath them, they got on top of the roofs, getting a better view of the town.

There was the tower at the center, one that was quite the notable landmark. They quickly discussed if they should go there or not. Despite finding the vampire dogs, they couldn’t get the thought out of their minds that this was a dalki settlement. Layla was adamant that she could hear other people, but there was also the fact that she also heard more beasts concentrated around that area.

Ultimately, they decided to go there, as it was better to stick together than it was to stay apart.

The trio traveled across the roofs, Layla and Vorden using their superhuman strengths to jump between the gaps, while Quinn shot himself over using the same earth pillar technique.

"There! I see them!" Layla called out.

They jumped over to where Logan and Fex were waiting, just a bit away from the center tower. The two boys also had the same idea of traveling across the roofs.

"I knew it! You three really are here!" Fex said, as he walked over to Quinn, "How’d you survive the fall? How did all of you survive the fall?"

Layla cleared her throat loudly, as the answer would’ve revealed them to Logan. However, Fex didn’t understand what she was doing.

"Did you swallow a frog on your way down?" Fex wondered.

"Let’s just say we used our abilities," Vorden said, "Layla used telekinesis, I had regeneration, and Quinn made himself rock armor."

Fex nodded, "Ah, well if you made rock armor, then I’m sure Peter would’ve done the same thing."

"Wait, you saw Peter?" Quinn quickly asked, "Is he okay?"

Fex shrugged, "I saw him get swallowed along with this other chick, but I—"

Before he could finish his answer, the earth shook for a second, displacing dust from the ceiling, and everyone looked around frantically.

"An earthquake!?" Layla worried.

"No, an earthquake wouldn’t hit this part of the planet like this," Logan commented, "It could only mean—"

The ground shook again, and they all turned towards the true source. A figure from behind the tower stepped into view, one that was humanoid, and large. They didn’t need any fancy technology to tell that this figure was strong.

"A— A beast?!" Layla cried out.

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