My Fusion System: Fusing Weak Soldiers with Direwolves at the Start-Chapter 53: Mildred, The Bloodkin Maid

The flames swelled brighter, so blindingly bright that no one could see Mildred or the bat within the inferno. It only lasted for a few heartbeats, then the blaze began to dim, flickering lower and lower until the final ember floated up like a dying firefly... and was snuffed out by the breeze.

A hush settled. Everyone stood with slack jaws, their eyes glued to the scene before them. Vi blinked twice, unable to trust what she was seeing. A hot breath escaped Kaelor’s slightly parted lips, the sound almost a sigh, of awe or disbelief, it was hard to tell.

Where Mildred once stood was someone entirely new.

No... something.

She looked like an enchantress sculpted from pale moonlight. Her skin was porcelain-smooth, her silky black hair darker than before, like wet ink streaming down her shoulders, settling just above her chest. Her facial structure had sharpened subtly, the soft curves of age erased. Her ears had widened slightly, tapering to a sharp, knife life tip.

Kaelor’s gaze was drawn to the black wings rising from her back. They unfurled slowly, stretching and folding, as if she were testing out her newly birthed limbs. She touched one with trembling fingers, blinking rapidly. Her lips parted, then closed, words lost in her throat.

The most shocking change of all? She looked like she’d stepped backward in time, no longer the middle aged maid they’d known, but a young woman again. Perhaps in her twenties.

A soft chime echoed in Kaelor’s mind:

[You have created a Lowblood Bloodkin. A race capable of flight, gifted with heightened senses, especially at night. They age slowly, bear a thirst for blood, and tend to dislike the sun. While powerful, they often submit to higher-caste Bloodkin. Beware: their loyalty is drawn to the blood of their kin above all.]

Kaelor’s grin faltered slightly at that final note. ’Higher caste?’ So there was more above this form. Still, his thoughts burned with anticipation. If Mildred could become this... what could he become?

He was already picturing a future, scores of Bloodkin soaring through the skies, their wings casting long shadows over the battlefield. Maybe he’d name them the Bloodstone Legion, a new elite force separate from the Guardsmen. And of course, he’d make sure they bent to no one but him.

A sudden gasp pulled him from his thoughts.

"Lord Kaelor..." Mildred whispered, covering her mouth with both hands as her feet lifted off the ground. Her wings beat once, gently, as if instinctively.

Just then, the sun crested high, bathing the grasslands in golden light.

Mildred flinched. She hissed as the warmth hit her, lips curling back to reveal short, predatory canines. In a swift, fluid motion, she pulled her hood up and lowered herself, folding her wings, then drawing them back into her body.

Kaelor’s brows shot up. The wings didn’t shrink or vanish in a flash. They simply sank into her back, like water soaking into earth, until there was no trace of them left. No shadows.

Only a ragged tear in her clothes remained, marking where the transformation had occurred.

For the Dreadclaws, Kaelor knew there were four distinct tiers: the average Dreadclaws, the Alpha Dreadclaws, the True Lord Dreadclaws, and finally, the Sacredclaw, where Hound stood.

According to what he’d gathered, Sacredclaws had the physical strength comparable to low-level Masters. But more importantly, their claws and fangs were as sharp and perhaps even more durable than silver-ranked swords and armor.

Which meant, Hound’s claws and teeth were more dangerous than his own Mountain Sabers.

He turned to Kan. "How’s your boy?"

"He’s fine. Thank you, My Lord." Kan bowed his head deeply in reverence.

Kaelor gave a brief nod, then looked toward the brightening sky. "What happened? Have these bats ever attacked before? And why at dawn? Aren’t they afraid of the sun?"

His gaze drifted to Mildred, still mesmerized by her transformation, carefully avoiding the sun’s touch. The light didn’t burn her, but it clearly unsettled her.

"They are afraid," Kan replied, voice still shaking from the chaos. "But they never enter the basin. I always take the herd in at night and lead them back out at dawn. I never imagined they’d be smart enough to wait until dawn to strike."

Both Mildred and Vi looked at Kaelor with a hint of alarm.

Clearly, the bats still believed the basin belonged to the wolves. But for them to delay their attack until dawn, a moment away from sunlight, meant only one thing: desperation.

They were starving.

And that meant tonight, they might try again. They would either feed... or die of hunger.

Hound returned with the rest of the Guardsmen, his tone grim and posture tense as he gave the report. "Thirty-five dead sheep, My Lord."

Kaelor’s jaw tightened, his fingers curling slowly into a fist. "What the town ate for a period of a month is gone in one attack?" he said, his voice cold. "At this rate, the entire herd will be gone before the month is out."

Without another word, he strode toward his mount, each step crunching sharply on grass blades. The edge of his cloak flared as he moved, and he sheathed his sword with a metallic rasp before gripping the saddle and hoisting himself atop his horse.

"Hound. Take me to the Ivory Hills!" Kaelor ordered, his voice cutting through the morning air like a warhorn.

One after another, Mildred and Vi mounted their rides, the leather of reins creaking, hooves scraping against the ground. Four Guardsmen were left behind to tend to the aftermath, while the rest rode swiftly after Kaelor, their figures casting long shadows in the rising sun.

The journey north was rough. Dry wind stirred the dust as they passed over jagged earth, and Kaelor narrowed his eyes at the spiky gray-white rise of hills on the horizon. They jutted up like the broken bones of a long-dead beast, scattered with rocks of varying shapes and sizes. Not a single tree, shrub, or even weed grew amidst the barren stones.

Looking upon the desolate expanse, Kaelor exhaled slowly, his breath catching slightly in the dry air. "The name suits it. It looks like a cursed land," he muttered, the words riding the wind as they continued into the bleak terrain.

His horse came to a slow halt several meters away from what appeared to be a massive cave entrance, so wide it seemed like the arched gateway to a city carved from the bowels of the world itself. Darkness yawned from within like an open maw, silent and brooding.

All around the cave mouth lay scattered bones, sun-bleached and broken, of horned beasts, tusked animals, and others with no identifiable features, all reduced to cracked remnants. Some were fresh, the marrow still red. Others were brittle, crushed into fragments under the weight of time.

"We’re not going in there, are we?" Vi asked, her voice even, but her eyes scanned the scene with calculating alertness. She turned to Kaelor, whose expression was somber yet determined, and a dry, wry smile curled on his lips.

"I planned on sealing the opening," he said, tilting his head toward the colossal arch. "But we can’t seal something this big. We’d need a mountain to collapse to cover that."

Vi’s gaze sharpened. "Then you want to clear a cave full of giant bats," she said, her words slow and deliberate, "knowing fully well that there might be hundreds of those things in there, in that darkness."

She wasn’t afraid. Her tone wasn’t trembling. She only wanted to make sure he understood the weight of what he was walking into.

Kaelor stared into the void of the cave. "It’s either that," he said, voice low and resolute, "or we lose the herd."