The Monster's Apprentice: Chapter 91 - The Blood of a Conduit | Part 4

Jun 11, 2026

“Magic remains an untamed force, vast and ever-expanding. Even the greatest sorcerers of our age are mere apprentices to the arcane, for there are realms of power yet untouched, waiting to be discovered, and yet, it is the greatest weapon a hunter can wield against the creatures of the night. It is also the most elusive, the hardest to master, and the most dangerous to those who wield it carelessly. Even I, who some might call an expert, cannot claim to fully grasp its depths. It is a gift, one that must be wielded with wisdom and restraint. I have seen power corrupt and consume those who thought themselves its master. Take my advice: be careful. Magic holds so much possibility. I wish I could divulge it all, but that advice is reserved for only those worthy of it.”

— Abraham Grimveil, “Facing the Darkness: A Hunter’s Manual,” page 198

A massive fireball blasted through the hospital.

Large slabs of flaming brick, stone, slate, and wood were launched into the air. Windows shattered from the shockwave. Glass rained into the street. Debris came crashing down like meteors from the thick plume of smoke that billowed into the sky.

Emily felt the eruption in her bones. The force of the blast rippled violently through the rest of the building. The walls shook and cracked. Dust and heat erupted into the air. The foundation shifted. The floor buckled. Splinters of wood exploded from the rafters as they split apart.

Emily’s legs shot out from under her as the wooden floor collapsed.

Dust clouded the air.

She crashed painfully into something.

Everything was spinning.

She was falling.

Rolling.

Flailing.

She crashed into something hard.

Debris smashed next to her.

Something heavy collapsed onto her.

Her body ached.

She couldn’t breathe.

She couldn’t see.

She couldn’t move.

Her ears were ringing.

Her heart was racing.

When some of the dust had settled, Emily was tightly crushed under a tent of debris. Two massive slabs of broken brick and slate leaned together, caging her underneath.

The light from her arms illuminated the space, but it only made it harder to see with the dust cloud scattering it. Emily tried to breathe, but only dragged more dust into her lungs. She coughed violently.

Her fingers scraped against the rubble, searching for anything to get a grip on. But she barely had room to move her arms.

Emily tried pushing the debris off of her, but it was too heavy. She looked around, looking for anything.

Nothing was clear.

She couldn’t see through all the dust and smoke.

Emily coughed again, then tried to calm herself. She could get out of this. She could do it. She would do it.

Power surged through her body. She still had energy, but she was really pushing her limit. Her body was straining with all the magic flowing through her. But what choice did she have?

She focused on the rubble. Move. She had to move it. She had no choice. The weight was too great, too suffocating. She pushed harder. Her body trembled. Her arms glowed brighter, and slowly, the debris shifted.

Chunks of brick and pebbles rained onto her. Emily screamed as she pushed the slabs away with all her strength. Her mind was straining like her brain was being crushed.

But she did it!

Emily crawled out from under the debris, and when she relinquished the spell, the two slabs crashed back down, shattering and filling the space she had just been in. Emily nearly blacked out, but she forced herself to stay awake. She didn’t know how she was even managing to. She didn’t know how she was even alive, or what had happened. Maybe it was the magic keeping her going, giving her just enough strength to survive. She didn’t think too hard about it. She just wanted to get out of here.

Emily pushed through the cloud of dust and smoke. She had to ascend a mountain of jagged floorboards, broken doors, shattered window frames, fractured walls, and burst pipes.

“Mina!” she shouted, her voice hoarse. She could barely talk above a whisper. “Mina! Where are you?!”

There was no answer, just an eerie silence accompanied by the faint crackle of fire. The building, or what was left of it, creaked ominously around her as if it might collapse further at any second. Emily stumbled over the uneven ground, kicking aside bits of broken furniture, her heart racing faster with every step. She was like a beacon in the night, shining so bright it would be impossible for anyone not to see her. For a brief moment, she looked down at herself and found that she was bleeding gold. Whatever was flowing beneath her skin had started to seep like thick sap from her open wounds. When she touched it, though, it was no warmer than blood. It was her blood.

Then, her name sounded in her ear. It was muffled and distant, but she knew the voices well enough to know they came from her parents.

“I’m here!” she rasped, coughing violently as her words scratched her throat. Much of the dust had started to settle, and from the cloud of smoke, Arthur and Clara emerged like phantoms. They dashed over to Emily, scooping her into their arms.

“Are you alright?” they asked together.

Emily shook her head, wincing as another jolt of pain surged through her body. She blinked, her gaze shifting to the smoldering wreckage of the hospital. The entire middle section had collapsed inward, dragging the surrounding parts of the structure down with it. There was nothing left but rubble and smoke. There was no way anything in the basement survived.

“Come on, sweetie,” Clara urged. “We need to leave.”

She tried to pull away from their hands, but their grip was firm, like iron bands around her wrists. “No… Mina… Mina’s still here…”

A high-pitched, hellish screech split the air, coming from above. Violet’s haunted mannequins soared through the smoke like dark angels. Their bodies glowed with a fading purple aura as they dove into the wreckage, hovering over the debris in a frantic search. Their glow flickered, dimming with every second.

One of the mannequins screeched, drawing the others to a particular spot. Together, they began lifting chunks of broken brick and stone. As the debris shifted, Emily’s heart leaped in her chest.

Mina lay beneath it all. Her breathing was hardly more than a rasp. The dagger was still embedded in her chest, down to the hilt.

Emily tried hurrying over to her, but she was still firmly stuck in her parents’ grip. They both finally let go, and Emily stumbled forward, tripping over a pile of jagged bricks. She nearly smashed her head onto the rubble, but Arthur caught her just in time, steadying her as she pushed toward the ruins.

The mannequins moved again, working to uncover Henrik. They found him quickly as well, pulling him from the wreckage. With the last piece of debris cleared, their purple glow flickered once more, then vanished completely. All twelve mannequins collapsed to the ground, shattering into lifeless, hollow husks.

Emily dropped to her knees beside Mina, her hands trembling. Mina’s body lay still, her chest barely rising. Emily pulled the dagger from Mina’s chest, causing her to jolt, and a hoarse gasp to tear from her throat. Emily pressed her palm over the wound, blood seeping between her fingers. The holy water on the dagger had likely seared Mina’s organs, burning like acid through her insides. The wound was deep, just missing her heart, but it didn’t matter. The dagger had cut deep enough that she would be dead soon.

“Mina!” Her voice cracked. “Mina! It’s me, Emily!”

Mina took a shallow breath. “Run… Emily… run…”

Arthur and Clara shrieked in pain.

A cold hand snapped around her shoulder, and she was suddenly in the air. Emily clawed at Draven’s wrist, kicking her legs uselessly. His sword had impaled both Arthur’s and Clara’s abdomens from behind, the blade pinning them together like skewered meat. Their screams rang out as they collapsed to the uneven ground. Arthur groaned, fumbling for the blade in his back, twisting awkwardly to free it while Clara wailed and struggled.

Draven’s wild, bloodshot eyes locked onto Emily’s. He was bloody, beaten, and dismembered, and yet his strength was undiminished. “Oh, c-clever little mouse, aren’t you? S-Scurrying free from y-your cage, thinking you c-could s-save your wretched kin?” His nails sank into her flesh, and Emily cried. “You— You— Fuck! You thought you could defy me? Fucking child. It m-matters not. In the end, I always prevail.”

Emily swung her fist, but it was like punching stone. Pain rocketed through her knuckles.

Draven opened wide and lunged.

The air left Emily’s lungs. Pain seared through her nerves as her body convulsed, flailing weakly as her vision darkened. The world blurred, and her senses dulled. She could feel her golden blood rushing to the wound, draining away as her limbs grew heavy, and her body numb.

Then, just as suddenly, Draven tore his fangs away, dropping her like a discarded doll. Emily collapsed beside Mina. Her heart pounded violently in her ears. She would have started crying if her eyes weren’t so dry.

Draven staggered, laughing maliciously as he raised his bleeding stub into the air. But that laughter quickly changed. He keeled over, his claws raking his face as he clutched it in desperation. His skin bubbled and hissed, as if doused in acid. His hair singed away as the skin on his scalp began seeping blood, blackening like charred paper. He collapsed to one knee, golden ichor seeping from his mouth like thick honey. It sputtered down his chin as he hacked and coughed. Blood poured from his eyes, nose, and mouth, dribbling like molten wax. His flesh sloughed off in wet clumps, exposing his raw muscle. A scream ripped from his throat as he collapsed onto his side and floundered like a drowning swimmer.

Arthur managed to wrench the sword free from his and Clara’s bodies. He collapsed over Emily, his hands shaking as he pressed them to her neck, trying to stem the flow of her golden blood, but the moment he touched it, he howled in pain and recoiled back.

Clara scrambled to Emily’s side, tearing off strips of her blood-soaked nightgown. She tightened it around Emily’s neck, careful not to touch her golden blood.

Emily’s vision swam as her consciousness frayed. She stared at Draven as the bright, golden yellow mingled with his dark red blood. The magic in her blood. It was too much. Too powerful. A small grin crossed her face. I got you…

Draven clawed at the ground, dragging himself forward as muscle peeled from his bones. His skull was half-exposed, gleaming through the wreckage of his face. The stench of burning flesh and molten blood reeked in the air.

Emily’s strength ebbed, her eyelids getting heavier. It was so hard to breathe. She felt like she was floating on clouds.

“Emily!” a voice shouted, muffled, like they were far away.

“Emily! Stay with us!”

Euphoria.

It flooded Mina’s body like a tidal wave. Her eyes shot open. Every nerve exploded back to life. A surge of relief and gratitude radiated through her as if she had just found an oasis in the desert. The taste was sweet, fresh, pure, and everything she needed. Every scar on her body tingled as her skin smoothed out, and the flesh regrew. Every trace of holy water on her body vanished as if it had never been there. Her chest heaved as her lungs opened up.

She shot up, gasping. Her mind was buzzing like it was on overdrive, and she could barely comprehend where she was. There was a strange taste on her tongue, a forbidden fruit so tantalizing she wanted more of it. She glanced down at her hands. There weren’t any cuts left, just faint lines like hairline cracks in porcelain where the skin had knit itself back together. She flexed her fingers as her strength returned. There was more of it, and she felt good. Really, really good.

But then she saw Emily beside her, still, and with her eyes shut.

“Mina!” Clara said. Her silver eyes stared back at her, and Mina almost lunged on instinct. But she was holding something in her hands. An empty vial, with faint traces of red residue stained against the glass.

“What… what’s going on?” Mina said, surprised by the softness of her own voice, quickly pushing Clara aside as she knelt over Emily. “What happened to her?”

“H-He bit her!” Clara said, gesturing toward the twitching corpse nearby. It hardly resembled something human.

Behind her, Karaline and Violet rushed onto the scene. They went to Henrik’s side, quickly getting down beside him.

“He’s still breathin’!” Karaline yelled. “Vi, help me get him to a real fuckin’ hospital!”

Violet tried to lift him with telekinesis, but she was too weak. All the necromancy must have drained her, leaving her just enough to keep her aura active and Karaline alive.

Mina could hardly keep up with what was happening. Her mind was racing too fast for her body to keep up. She placed a hand on Emily’s chest and felt the slow, rhythmic pulse of her heart. “She’s alive.”

“She’s… alive?” Clara looked back at her.

“She overexerted herself. She’s lost a lot of blood. Her heart’s struggling.”

Clara’s brow furrowed. “What does that mean? Is she going to be okay?”

Mina shook her head. “I don’t know… she…” Her voice trailed off, and Mina took a deep breath to center herself. “There’s a stagecoach a few blocks from here. A snow-white horse is tethered to it. Take her to it. There’s medicine inside that’ll help.”

“Wait!” Arthur raced to their side, holding a vial and syringe in his hands. “I found some more vitae volaris,” he said, and started preparing the injection. He didn’t waste a second and quickly injected it into Emily. In a matter of seconds, her heart rate increased a little.

Mina nodded. “It’ll only keep her alive for a while. She needs more treatment.”

Arthur looked around. “This was all I could find.”

“I have more in my stagecoach. It’s a few blocks from here. Look for the snow-white horse tethered to it. The medicines in the kitchen.”

“The kitchen?” Clara said.

“Yes. Now go!” Mina pointed them in the right direction.

Arthur quickly scooped Emily into his arms, careful not to let her shimmering, golden blood touch him, and started running with Clara.

Mina rose to follow, but a faint, rasping sound stopped her in her tracks. She turned back, her gaze landing on what was left of the nearby corpse.

Draven.

He was crumpled against a broken slab of slate and brick, twisted and blackened beyond recognition. The flesh that hadn’t melted away was bubbling, blackened, and cracked open, revealing the raw, twitching muscle and sinew beneath. His once-silver eyes had melted into his skull, leaving dark, oozing pits that wept down his cheeks, and his lips were fused into a half-open snarl.

And yet, impossibly, he was still alive. Barely.

Mina knelt beside him. Golden flames were slithering over his body like they had a mind of their own. The magic Emily had unleashed was still tethered to him, keeping him on the brink of death, forcing him to endure every excruciating second. How? How did she do this?

She stared at him. This was the man who had once terrorized her life, a once-regal vampire now reduced to a smoldering husk of agony. Mina watched his chest stutter and spasm. After everything he had done, everything he had taken from her, there was relief, relief that he would never harm anyone again. Cruel as it was, she took a moment to revel in it, to look at the dying monster that was responsible for so much pain in her life.

Draven’s body convulsed weakly. He tried to speak, but all that came out was a choking, gurgling sound.

She leaned in close, her nails extending into long, sharp claws. “Remember what I promised you…” Mina violently plunged her hand into his chest. His flesh ripped easily, his bones shattering like brittle wood. Draven let out a final, guttural scream as she tore through his ribs and wrapped her fingers around his heart. It was still beating when she ripped it from his chest. Draven went still, and the white flames finally sputtered out. Mina rose slowly, crushing the heart in her grip, showering the remains onto his corpse. “That’s how it feels.”

I HOPE YOU ENJOYED TODAY’S CHAPTER!

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