Chapter 189: A Knight's wrath
He collected his gallon and just as he was about to take a sip directly from the gallon, he paused and took a whiff of the blood.
The knight lowered the gallon slightly, his gaze narrowing as he focused on the crimson liquid within. "This scent...it's different," he remarked, his voice low and contemplative.
He immediately called out to the descending sanguine who climbed back up.
"Hey, what type is this?" The knight asked the sanguine was back on top of the wall.
The sanguine halted in his descent, turning back to face the inquiring knight with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean, 'what type'?" He replied, confusion evident in his voice.
The knight held up the gallon of blood, studying it intently before responding. "This scent...it's different. Not like the usual blood we receive. What kind of blood is this?"
The sanguine approached cautiously, casting a critical eye over the gallon of blood in the knight's hand. After a moment of consideration, he odded slowly. "Ah, that's special reserve blood. From the royal bloodline," he explained, his tone tinged with reverence.
The knight's eyes widened in surprise at the revelation. "Royal bloodline? Why would they send that to us?" they questioned, a note of disbelief in his voice.
The sanguine shrugged, their expression unreadable. "I'm not sure. But it's not our place to question. The orders came from higher up," he replied cryptically.
The knight frowned, a sense of unease settling over them. Royal blood was not something to be taken lightly, and the fact that it had been sent to them was highly unusual. But they knew better than to defy orders, especially when they came from the highest echelons of vampire society.
With a nod of understanding, the knight accepted the explanation and was just about to let the sanguine go when he noticed something else.
The knight's suspicions deepened as he scrutinized a stain on the cuff of the sanguine's robe, his gaze narrowing with growing unease.
"Your robe, it's stained with blood," he observed, his tone laced with a note of accusation.
The sanguine glanced down at the offending spot, offering a dismissive explanation. "Oh, that must be when we were loading the carriages," the sanguine replied, his voice casual but tinged with apprehension.
The knight's frown deepened, unconvinced by the sanguine's explanation. "I didn't say it was human blood," he countered, his voice low and pointed.
Before the sanguine could respond, a chorus of voices from below interrupted their conversation, it was the other sanguines that came to deliver the blood urging the one with the knight to hasten their descent from the wall.
As the sanguine moved to comply with the urgent summons, the knight seized his arm, halting his departure.
"Why is another vampire's blood on your robe?" the knight demanded, his grip firm and unyielding.
With the situation not looking so good, he began to scrutinize the vampire before him. His senses were now heightened and he now detected an unfamiliar scent emanating from the sanguine, one that set his instincts on edge.
The sanguine hesitated, their expression betraying a flicker of apprehension as they struggled to formulate a response. "I...I don't know," he stammered, his voice tinged with uncertainty.
The knight's eyes narrowed, a steely resolve settling over his features as he pressed for answers. "What family are you from?" he demanded, his voice ringing with authority.
Once again, the sanguine faltered, their gaze shifting uncomfortably under the weight of the knight's scrutiny. "I...I can't remember," they admitted, their tone tinged with a hint of desperation.
A chill crept down the knight's spine as he pieced together the unsettling clues before him. Something was gravely amiss, and he knew he needed to act swiftly to uncover what was going on.
As the knight climbed back to his post, his gaze lingered on the gallon of blood in his hand, a sense of foreboding settling over him like a shroud. Something was terribly wrong, and he couldn't shake the feeling that danger lurked just beneath the surface.
Turning his attention to the other knights stationed along the wall, he watched their reactions closely as they drank from their own gallons of blood. Were they oblivious to the strange scent permeating the air, or was he the only one who sensed the danger lurking within?
For a fleeting moment, doubt gnawed at the edges of his resolve. Perhaps he was simply overreacting, allowing paranoia to cloud his judgment. But then, without warning, a sudden thud echoed through the night, drawing his gaze in its direction.
His heart lurched in his chest as he beheld a fellow knight hanging precariously from the edge of the wall, his body wracked with convulsions and foam bubbling from his lips. Before the stunned knight could react, more of his comrades collapsed in quick succession, their bodies contorting in violent spasms as they succumbed to whatever unseen peril had befallen them.
Panic surged through the knight's veins as he realized the gravity of the situation. Whatever tainted the blood they had consumed was now exacting a devastating toll, threatening to claim the lives of his fellow defenders one by one.
With a surge of adrenaline coursing through his veins, the knight wasted no time in descending from his post, his gaze fixed firmly on the suspicious sanguine who had climbed the wall to deliver the tainted blood.
"Stop where you are!" he bellowed, his voice cutting through the night like a clarion call. "Do not move a single inch!"
His command echoed across the wall, halting the movements of the other sanguines who had been in the midst of their descent. Confusion and apprehension flickered in their eyes as they glanced around, uncertain of the sudden urgency in the knight's tone.
But the knight paid no heed to their bewilderment, his attention squarely focused on the sanguine whose stained robe and peculiar scent had set off alarm bells in his mind. With each step closer to the suspect, his heart hammered against his ribs, a relentless drumbeat of apprehension and resolve.
As he approached, the sanguine's eyes widened in alarm, a flicker of fear darting across his features. He attempted to back away, but the knight's steely gaze held him fast, rooted to the spot like a cornered animal.
"Explain yourself," the knight demanded, his voice a low, dangerous growl. "What treachery is this? Whose blood stains your robe, and what foul concoction did you bring to our walls?"
The sanguine stammered incoherently, his eyes darting frantically as he struggled to form a coherent response. But before he could utter a word, a sudden commotion erupted among the other knights stationed along the wall.
More cries of distress echoed through the night as more knights succumbed to the effects of the tainted blood, their bodies wracked with convulsions and spasms.
The knight's eyes blazed with fury, their red hue reflecting the anger that surged within him. Fangs elongated from his mouth, bared in a menacing display of power and dominance as he commanded the trembling sanguine before him.
"Speak!" he thundered, his voice reverberating with authority and menace. The sanguine recoiled, fear evident in every trembling limb as he struggled to find the words to appease the enraged knight.
"I-I don't know," the sanguine stammered, his voice barely a whisper against the backdrop of chaos and confusion. "We were just given orders to deliver the blood. I swear, I don't know anything else!"
But the knight was not appeased. His patience worn thin by the unfolding crisis, he seized the sanguine by the collar of his robe, his grip like iron as he pulled the trembling figure closer.
"You will tell me everything," he growled, his voice low and dangerous. "Or I will personally ensure that you suffer the consequences of your silence."
The sanguine's eyes widened in terror, the weight of the knight's threat hanging heavy in the air. Desperation etched across his features as he searched for a way to escape the knight's wrath.