My Blood Legacy: Bloodlines

Chapter 177: Arriving in Bramford

Three days later, the road to Bramford looked tired of existing.

The path crossed low hills, small dark forests, and long stretches of damp stone that descended gradually toward the southeast of the vampiric continent. The smell of salt was already beginning to appear in the air, mixed with the scent of wet earth, coastal vegetation, and preserved blood coming from the pouches carried by the delegation. It was not a comfortable trip, but it was not a war march either. At least not officially.

Squad Seven followed together with Squad Six, forming an irregular line of vampire horses, dark cloaks, and mission equipment. The animals were larger than ordinary horses, with red eyes, dense muscles, and poor patience for anyone who did not know how to control them. They did not tire easily, did not startle at the smell of blood, and could run for hours over terrain where normal animals would break their legs.

Even so, two idiots decided to run beside them.

Victor ran on the left side of the formation, his cloak fastened to his back, without seeming especially concerned. His breathing was steady, his steps long, and his body kept pace with the horses as if it were only another warm-up exercise. From time to time, small sparks of Black Lightning appeared around his ankles, not enough to become a real technique, but enough to adjust his acceleration and test control of the movement.

Nera ran on the other side, holding the huge scythe over her shoulder as if it had no weight at all. She was smaller than everyone there, looked like a child on a forbidden field trip, and ran with an irritating amount of energy, jumping stones, hopping over roots, and sometimes running backward just to stare at the twins with a provocative smile.

Mirella, mounted on a white vampire horse with black tack, looked at the two of them for the fifth time that hour.

On the sixth, she lost her patience.

"Do you two intend to do this all the way to Bramford?"

Victor looked at her without slowing down.

"Probably."

Nera answered at the same time:

"Yes."

Mirella took a deep breath.

"Why?"

Nera made a face and looked at the nearest horse as if it had offended her entire family.

"I do not like animals."

The horse turned its head toward her, showing its teeth.

Nera showed her teeth back.

Mirella looked at the scene and then at Victor.

"And you?"

"I do not know how to ride a horse."

The entire formation went silent for two seconds.

Liora, mounted a few meters behind, leaned her body to the side.

"The Divine Blood Dragon does not know how to ride a horse?"

Liria completed from the horse beside her:

"That is beautiful."

Victor pointed at them without stopping running.

"Keep laughing and I will learn using your horse."

Liora looked at her sister.

"He threatened to steal our horse."

Liria stroked the animal’s neck.

"Do not worry, Apostle of Death, no one is going to steal you."

Victor looked at the horse.

"You named the horse Apostle of Death?"

"He bit three handlers," Liora said proudly.

"And a priest," Liria added.

"Vampire priests exist?"

"Not that one anymore."

Nera laughed loudly.

Mirella closed her eyes for an instant, clearly considering whether it would be possible to abandon everyone on the road and carry out the mission alone.

Natasha, who was riding farther ahead with Alexa, only turned her face.

"Is this normal in your squad?"

Mirella answered without expression:

"Unfortunately."

Alexa looked at Victor running, then at Natasha, and smiled as if she had just found something far too amusing.

"He runs well."

Natasha kept her face serious.

"He is wasting energy before the mission."

Victor heard and raised his hand.

"I am training my body."

Natasha looked at him.

"You should train discipline."

"My mother already tried."

"She did not try hard enough."

"Do you want to try?"

Natasha went quiet for half a second.

Alexa began to laugh.

Mirella pointed two fingers at Victor.

"Do not provoke Natasha before we arrive."

"She started it."

"I heard that," Natasha said.

"Then you heard wrong."

Nera ran beside Victor and looked at him with approval.

"You are good at irritating adults."

"It is an ancient skill."

"I am too."

"I noticed."

"Do you think I can irritate the captain before Bramford?"

Victor looked at Mirella.

"She is already irritated."

"So I won?"

"Technically."

Mirella did not look at them.

"I can hear you."

Nera gave a thumbs-up.

"Good hearing, Captain."

Dahlia, mounted with a pile of medical bags strapped behind the saddle, looked at the two runners and spoke naturally:

"If either of you ruptures a tendon, I want to examine it before the regeneration finishes."

Victor looked at her.

"You say that like you are hoping for it."

"I am merely ready for scientific opportunities."

Yvonne, silent until then, rode near the back of the formation. She observed the road, the hills, and the trees with more attention than seemed necessary. When Victor noticed, he saw she was not merely following the journey. She was mapping ambush routes, blind spots, and places where someone might flee.

He liked that.

Over the three days, the trip had been almost peaceful. Almost, because Squad Seven did not seem physically capable of doing anything normally. On the first day, Nera tried to hunt a wild animal simply because it "looked at her wrong." On the second, the twins swapped the labels on three of Dahlia’s sedative pouches and nearly caused a medical incident. On the third, Victor decided to test a short burst of Black Lightning acceleration on a slope, lost control for half a second, and went through an old fence as if it were paper.

Natasha classified it as irresponsibility.

Alexa called it fun.

Mirella only wrote something in a small notebook and refused to show it.

Now, at the end of the third day, the road began descending toward Bramford.

The city first appeared as a dark blot near the sea. Then the details emerged. Low roofs, chimneys, broad warehouses near the pier, streets too narrow for large carriages, small watchtowers, and an old wall that seemed to exist more out of tradition than real defense. The port lay in the lowest part, where medium-sized ships rocked against the docks. Even from afar, it was possible to see too much movement for a small city.

Victor gradually slowed his run until he stopped at the top of the hill.

Nera stopped beside him without looking tired.

The horses also reduced their pace. Mirella raised her hand, and the entire formation stopped behind her. Natasha advanced a few meters, analyzing the city with the cold gaze of someone already dividing blockade points. Alexa took a small pocket monocle and began observing the docks.

The wind brought the smell of salt, fish, wet wood, old blood, and lies.

Nera sniffed the air.

"This city stinks."

Victor breathed deeply.

"Port city."

"No. It stinks wrong."

Mirella heard and looked at her.

"Explain."

Nera wrinkled her nose, bothered.

"It smells like people trying to hide death. Washed blood, burned body, old fear. And there is too much mixed together. Hard to separate from here."

Natasha approached on horseback.

"She is right. The city’s flow is strange. Ports usually have irregular movement, but the guards seem concentrated in the wrong place."

Alexa pointed toward the warehouse area.

"And there are three ships with different flags using the same unloading crew. That does not happen without an agreement underneath."

Mirella nodded.

"Then we do not enter as a single group."

Victor cracked his neck.

"Finally."

"You are too excited," Natasha said.

"I am professional."

Alexa laughed.

"No one believed that."

Mirella pulled the horse’s reins and turned to the group.

"From here, we follow the plan. Squad Six sets up the outer perimeter with Natasha and initiates discreet contact with royal inspection. Alexa starts checking entry and exit records. Squad Seven separates into the assigned pairs. Liora and Liria, main pier and registered warehouses. Dahlia and Yvonne, bodies and medical administration. Victor and Nera, night market and unofficial warehouses."

Nera raised the scythe.

"Can I hit smugglers?"

"You may immobilize smugglers," Mirella replied.

"With the scythe?"

"With moderation."

Nera seemed to think.

"Is moderation before or after breaking a knee?"

"Before," everyone said at the same time.

Victor looked around.

"Do you train that?"

Liora smiled.

"Collective survival."

Liria completed:

"Mostly from Nera."

Nera showed her teeth at them.

Mirella continued before it turned into another fight.

"Remember: we arrest first. We kill if necessary. If you find a real sign of Ghideon, do not advance alone. He is an old Specialist. If he wants you to see him, it is probably because he wants you to follow the wrong path."

Victor looked at the city.

"And if he does not want me to see him?"

"Then maybe you will be useful."

"Almost a compliment."

"Do not get used to it."

Natasha dismounted with precise movement and adjusted her gloves.

"My group will set cut-off points at the northern and western exits. If anyone flees toward the road, they are ours. If they flee by sea, Alexa coordinates with the seals at the pier."

Alexa put away the monocle.

"And if they flee underneath the city?"

Mirella looked at her.

"Did you find evidence of tunnels?"

"Old port cities always have tunnels."

Victor smiled.

"I like her."

Natasha looked at him.

"Alexa does not need encouragement."

"Everyone says that about my friends."

"That explains a lot."

Mirella dismounted and handed the reins to one of the auxiliary soldiers.

"We regroup at the Gray Tide inn in four hours, unless there is an emergency. Use the blood signals for short communication. No drawing attention before we are certain who is watching."

The twins nodded and left by the side road, already arguing about which of them looked more innocent for deceiving port inspectors. Dahlia adjusted her bags, Yvonne followed beside her without saying anything, and the two went down a path leading to the city’s administrative district. Natasha and Alexa began moving Squad Six with more order, assigning positions and schedules.

Mirella looked at Victor and Nera.

"You two."

Nera smiled.

Victor answered, "Yes, Captain?"

"Do not turn Bramford into a crater."

Victor placed a hand on his chest.

"I am offended."

Nera raised her hand.

"I promise nothing."

"I know," Mirella said. "That is why I am speaking to both of you."

Victor looked at Nera.

"Night market first?"

She sniffed the air again and pointed toward a narrow street descending along the city’s eastern side.

"That way. It smells like old blood, rotten fish, and people lying."

"That narrows it down very little in a port city."

"It also smells like recent fear."

"Now that is better."

Mirella stared at the two for one more second.

"Arrest them."

Victor and Nera nodded at the same time.

In the next instant, they disappeared.

It was not the same for both of them. Victor vanished like a flaw in sight, erasing presence, scent, and flow until he became almost nothing while descending the hill in silence. Nera disappeared another way, lowering her body and moving so quickly between stones and shadows that she seemed even smaller, more beast than child.

Mirella kept looking at the spot where they had been.

Natasha approached beside her.

"You really put those two together?"

"I did."

"That is reckless."

"Probably."

Alexa appeared on the other side, smiling.

"It will be fun."

Natasha sighed.

Mirella put her cap on and looked toward Bramford.

"Or it will be efficient."

Far away, already at the entrance of the city’s narrow streets, Victor reappeared for half a second on a low rooftop. Nera emerged beside him, crouched with the scythe on her back, sniffing the air like an irritated hunting dog. The two exchanged a phrase no one on the hill could hear.

Then they vanished again.