1. Macabre Marmalade (COMPLETED; EDITING)

XLIX (20.4)

With every step he took deeper into the unknown parts of the building, Todor could feel his heartbeat increasing and his breath becoming louder. The coppery smell of blood was clinging to every surface from floors to walls to ceilings. It clogged Todor's nose to the point that he tried to breathe only through his mouth. But after a few steps that proved impractical so he decided that he had to get used to it.

No one jumped him or tried to stop him. It looked like the entire wing was deserted. He glanced left and right into every room but everything looked dusty and undisturbed in ages. In one of those rooms, he finally encountered a window and the light from outside. Curious he walked to it and glanced outdoor. What he saw made him step back and check his high tech glasses if he was seeing a recording. Outside was a wasteland, a plane of cracked earth covered in ash, unlike the landscape he saw in the underworld - dreamworld he visited while learning his True Name.

Somewhere along the line, we passed through a portal. Probably in that storage room, Ezezu said in his mind. This part of the building is somewhere far from Moriganhold.

Todor looked at the outside world and shook his head. Where on Earth is this? he wondered. Todor knew that entire geography changed during the Knitting and that the landmasses he once knew by heart no longer exist. Flats covered in ash? It was hard to believe.

He continued on, getting more and more impatient. Ezezu rattled his sword on the side as he could feel her will to fight.

"Midnight Breeze, you coward! Come out and face me!" he bellowed through the empty building. But no one responded. Todor growled and started running, wildly lashing outward with his magical sight. Until one of his tentacles rebounded from something.

He turned towards the barrier, taking the left turn. At the end of the climbing hallway lay a giant wooden door with iron disks carved in the shapes of roses. Todor slammed his sorcerer's awareness at the door and headache flared in his mind. He heard Ezezu screaming as well, his sword falling to the ground clattering on the stone blocks.

It took him three minutes for the backlash to subside.

"Ezezu, what was that?" he asked out loud as he saw his sword slowly rising from the floor and angrily swinging through the air.

You just charged our minds into the solid wall, you fool! she responded angrily. It hurt even me, and I am dead.

Todor took a deep breath and came closer to examen the door. Sorry, how should I know there are doors that can stop my magical feelers? Ezezu chuckled in his ears as his sword started to vibrate close by. I guess you couldn't since even I hardly saw any while I was alive. You can just open it with brute force, or let me cut them apart.

"Knock yourself out," he replied moving away. The sword stabbed through the thick door and slowly started moving up then left. It made an entire rectangle before Todor came to it and kicked it. The cut off piece fell and echoed through a huge cathedral-like space that spread onward.

Todor took a step inside, coughing slightly from the dust that was disturbed by their aggressive entry. The cavernous room did resemble the Gothic cathedral in many ways. It had tall arched windows with stained glass on both sides, together with pillars that held a high ceiling decorated by stone gargoyles perched on small outcrops. On the far side of the room was a platform risen by six steps and on it was a huge stone throne made out of black marble.

Sitting on the throne was Midnight Breeze, cradling his cane which sported large ruby on its tip. The vampire boss looked busy talking to his bejeweled cane, not even noticing Todor's entrance. That made Todor growl low in his throat.