Chapter 57: Morning Without Footsteps II

Chapter 57: 57: Morning Without Footsteps II ---

Sekhmet nodded once and moved out.

He traveled fast through the dead woods, following the bats as they guided him. The path twisted, but in daylight it was easier to read. Broken branches, disturbed stones, dried blood smears where bodies had been dragged.

Ssshhh...

He reached the cave area.

What he saw made his stomach turn.

Bodies.

Dead kobols everywhere, piled at odd angles like someone had dumped sacks of meat and forgot to arrange them. Some were split open. Some were torn. Some had bite marks that looked too large to belong to kobols.

The entrance was stained dark, dried blood crusted on stone like old paint.

Sekhmet stepped closer, eyes narrowed.

He activated Blood Eye, scanning quickly.

All dead.

No signs of living kobols hiding.

No signs of human corpses.

But also...

No ghouls.

Sekhmet’s throat tightened.

"Did they die and get dragged away?"

He listened.

Nothing.

He stepped farther, tracking the ground. Footprints overlapped everywhere, but the pattern was clear once his eyes adjusted.

Kobol footprints —many.

Then two heavier trails.

Not quite human footfalls anymore. The stride looked stronger, faster, deeper.

And the blood... there were streaks where something fed while moving.

Sekhmet’s jaw tightened.

He followed the tracks a short distance, keeping himself from going too deep. The terrain shifted, stones becoming sharper, shadows deeper under the cliffs. The air felt older.

He moved carefully, senses wide open.

Tap...

No footsteps now.

Only wind.

He went farther.

Then farther.

Still no ghouls.

Sekhmet’s chest tightened.

His mind whispered terrible possibilities.

Maybe the ghouls were killed and dragged off by something bigger.

Maybe the kobols regrouped with a stronger leader.

Maybe the ghouls lost their minds fully and ran.

Sekhmet stopped, eyes narrowed, and spoke inside his mind.

"System. Are they dead?"

The answer came instantly.

[Ding! System Response: Ghouls are alive.

If blood-bound converted targets perish, the host will receive a feedback signal.

No death feedback detected.

Location: unknown.]

Sekhmet exhaled slowly, relief and frustration mixing.

"So they are alive," he murmured.

Bat Bat circled above him, then landed on a rock.

"Where ugly guards go," it asked.

Sekhmet stared at the trail.

They went deep.

The tracks angled downward into the deeper purgatory, where the stone walls closed in and the sunlight became thin again. Kobol footprints followed them, drawn like a chain.

Sekhmet’s jaw clenched.

"They baited the kobols away."

It made sense now.

The kobols did not vanish. They were led. The pressure stopped because the trail they chased stopped being Sekhmet’s.

It became the ghouls’.

Sekhmet’s chest tightened again, but this time it was not only guilt.

It was respect.

They had taken the swarm deeper on purpose.

They had done exactly what he ordered.

And now they were somewhere in the depths, alive, with the kobols behind them.

Sekhmet stared into the darker ravine.

He wanted to go after them.

His instincts screamed at him to do it. To fix what he broke. To pull them back. To at least see them alive with his own eyes.

Then reality hit.

He had traveled two months to reach the edge of purgatory. He had a three-month journey to the city. He had Lily beside him. He had no time to chase into deeper purgatory and risk getting trapped again.

He closed his eyes briefly.

"I cannot go deeper."

Not now.

If he went deeper, he might never come out.

If he went deeper, Lily might die alone on the road.

If he went deeper, he might lose himself again.

He opened his eyes and whispered, half to himself.

"They can think," he said. "They can survive."

Bat Bat blinked.

"They survive," it echoed, as if trying to make the words true.

Sekhmet turned away from the ravine, forcing himself to walk back.

Each step away felt like swallowing a stone. But he kept walking.

A few moments later... He returned to Lily.

She stood when she saw him, eyes searching his face.

"Did you find them," she asked.

Sekhmet shook his head slowly.

"No," he said. "Only bodies."

Lily’s face tightened.

"Then they are dead," she whispered.

Sekhmet’s voice came out firmly.

"No," he said. "They are alive."

Lily blinked.

"How do you know," she demanded.

Sekhmet held her gaze for a heartbeat, then chose the safest truth.

"I can feel it," he said.

It was not the full explanation, but it was not a lie either. Blood bonds left echoes. Systems left threads. He had felt nothing snap.

Lily swallowed hard, relief mixing with fear.

"Where are they?" she asked quietly.

Sekhmet looked toward the deeper purgatory again.

"Deep," he said. "They led the kobols away from us."

Lily’s eyes widened slightly.

"They saved us," she whispered.

Sekhmet’s jaw tightened.

"Yes," he said.

He did not add that he had made them into something that could do it.

He did not add that the price of saving them might be their humanity.

Not now.

Sekhmet took out his remaining bats and began feeding.

He did not waste resources.

The dead kobols were scattered in piles near the cave area and along the route. Sekhmet used Blood Summon control and simple hauling to gather the bodies into a single spot where the bats could feed without leaving too many traces.

Flap... Flap...

The bat minions descended, biting and tearing small pieces, their hunger simple and honest. Bat Bat joined too, biting with dramatic enthusiasm.

CRUNCH!

Bat Bat lifted its head, blood on its tiny mouth.

"Good meat," it announced.

Sekhmet did not react.

He watched the feeding with a cold practicality.

"Twenty left."

From fifty-plus to twenty.

Losses were expected. Weak minions died first. Kobol blood did not create strong summons. It was better used as food.

He fed them all the dead kobols he could safely collect. He left the rest to the purgatory.

Purgatory always collected its due.

When the bats finished, Sekhmet pulled them back into the void land, not wanting them visible in daylight when other predators might notice.

Whooom...

The void tear swallowed them.

Bat Bat lingered last, stubborn.

"I stay," it said.

Sekhmet stared at it.

"You scout," he ordered.

Bat Bat puffed up proudly.

"I scout," it said.

Sekhmet nodded once, then looked at Lily.

"We move," he said.

Lily tightened her cloak and adjusted her sword belt. She hesitated, looking back toward the direction of the cave.

She whispered, "We will find them."

Sekhmet’s eyes narrowed. He did not promise something he could not guarantee.

But he did not crush her hope either.

He said, "If Null allows it."

Lily looked at him sharply.

"What does that mean," she asked.

Sekhmet’s voice came out low.

"It means the realm decides who meets again," he replied.

Lily stared for a moment, then nodded slowly.

Sekhmet turned and started walking.

The sun climbed higher behind them, turning the dead woods into a world of pale light and long shadows. The road ahead was still one month to the city, but the first steps were always the hardest.

He needs to return safely with Lilly.

And behind them, deeper in purgatory, two ghouls ran with kobols on their trail, carrying Sekhmet’s choice like a curse that refused to die.

(Note: Give your power stones and Golden tickets. Show some support. It will help me continue...)