It was louder, almost deafening.
Her hand slipped in something. Eva’s arms fell out in front of her. Her face hit whatever she slipped on.
She could see it.
Blood.
Another thunk.
The thing was right on top of her. Eva cowered into a ball.
Another thunk.
A huge, metal sounding pole impacted the ground mere inches from her.
She could feel it hit the ground. The blood splattered up onto the pole.
Another thunk.
This one past her. Opposite of where the pole right next to her was. It sounded muffled.
Another thunk.
Another thunk.
Her bare backside almost was skewered. If she had clothes on, they would certainly be torn.
Another thunk.
The pole right next to her lifted up. It passed over what she decided was a wall and settled down on the other side with a muffled thunk.
Another lifted up, one she couldn’t see. She could feel the air as it passed over her.
The pole against her backside scraped against her as it lifted.
The contraption froze.
Eva froze.
She held her breath, not daring to even breathe. If she had the tools, she might have speared her heart to keep it from hammering so loudly.
Her backside cut open as the contraption moved once more. Eva could sense blood trickling down her butt. Her cut healed more on instinct than any conscious act on Eva’s part.
Eva watched the pole, with mere droplets of her blood on it, as it lifted up and over the wall.
Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk.
Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk.
Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk.
Eva gasped in air. Her lungs were on fire. Her heart felt like it might explode.
She lay in the pool of someone else’s blood, thankful to be able to see anything at all, and waited for her shaking to stop.
Eva rolled in the blood, smearing it on herself. It meant she could see at least herself. Wiping on her face and soaking it in her hair created the odd sensation of seeing herself from outside her body.
Or like she had mirrors all around her.
She wished she had a container. She could splatter it around while she moved and at least get some simulacrum of the environment in her head.
That was not to be the case. There was nothing she could use.
Calmed down enough to think, though her heart still racing, Eva concentrated on the blood that was there.
She followed it up, her vision expanding as she concentrated and calmed. A person hung from chains attached somewhere out of her blood sight. He had a large hook through his chest. Blood dripped down from his toes.
He writhed and moaned, obviously still alive.
She ignored him. He wasn’t in any state to help her.
Eva splashed through his blood, splattering it around as much as she could. She crawled through it as far as she could stretch it.
Eventually, Eva ran out. She crawled along, blind to everything but herself and the rapidly diminishing trail of blood she made.
The sound of someone sobbing slowly grew audible.
She concentrated as hard as she could on expanding her vision as she crawled.
A small pool of blood entered her range about fifty feet away. She crawled towards it.
Another person, a woman this time, hung above the blood. Eva wasn’t sure she had a full grasp on interpreting her blood vision. There were two long poles on chains leading up to the ceiling like the kind trapeze artists swung on. They crisscrossed each other through the woman’s neck.
How her head hadn’t torn off her body, Eva couldn’t begin to fathom. Her body didn’t look like the lightest thing around.
Eva smeared herself in the pool of blood. It wasn’t as much as the man’s blood, but it freshened her up.
Do you wish to go back in time?
Eva whirled. She couldn’t find any source of a voice. That only meant they didn’t have blood on them. The woman above her continued sobbing, not taking notice of any voice.
You could regain your eyes. Your fingers. Your toes. Just say yes.
The voice came from all around, yet nowhere at the same time.
Devon was mad enough at her for Ylva’s throne room. Ylva had to be more benign than whatever lived here. She was sure she’d regret any contract made with whatever this was.
With time on your side, you could get revenge on all those who slight you.
Eva ignored the voice. She had a thought. Why couldn’t she sense someone who didn’t have blood on them. If they had blood in them, what difference would it make.
Eva focused on the woman above her. She had blood in her. She’d have to, in order to bleed.
The blood flowed from the holes in her neck. It fountained from her arteries and veins. Eva concentrated on that. Deeper and deeper inside.
You could get revenge before they hurt you.
Shut up, Eva thought. Her concentration broke. The sight of the blood shrank back to the woman’s neck. Eva focused again.
It was easier this time. Her sight sank into the woman. Limbs, organs, a beating heart. The woman’s whole body opened up to Eva. Every pulse brought her sight to life.
A neat trick, but not helping me escape. Even searching around for any other people brought up a blank.
Eva launched a fireball at the chains on the woman’s neck. It fizzled out without doing any damage. At least, none that Eva could see. For all she knew, that could be a lot.
She tried again, aiming for the same spot.
I wouldn’t do that.
On her twentieth try, the chain snapped. The woman swung to one side. The remaining pole tore through the woman’s neck as she swung. She landed with a plop in the pool of her own blood.
Somehow, she still sobbed and showed no signs of stopping. Eva wondered if she was even aware of anything outside her head.
Either way, her being alive was good.
Eva wiped the back of her right hand off on a relatively clean part of the woman’s body. At least, clean of blood. Cleaner than Eva was, in any case.
She shuddered at the thought that she might have been crawling through more than just blood. At least Eva wouldn’t be getting any infections.
With the back of her hand somewhat cleared off, Eva dipped her opposite thumb stump into the pool of blood. She carefully drew a circle on the back of her hand. Six lines spread outwards from the circle, touching the edge of a larger circle.
Probably the worst drawing Eva had done ever.
Hopefully it would work.
Moving to straddle the woman’s stomach, Eva whispered, “sorry, but you’re worth more dead than alive at the moment.” Her voice was hoarse and scratched in her throat.
Eva channeled magic into the back of her hand. She pressed down hard on the woman’s chest. A light pop was the only indication anything happened for a moment. The woman’s slowing cries were the next indication.
There it was. Looking inwards, Eva could see it covered in the woman’s blood. A bloodstone, right where her heart once was.
Eva smiled for the first time in a long time. She hadn’t expected that to work. Normally one should touch a beating heart directly. Not to mention the very malformed circle on the back of her hand.
Still, it had worked. The woman’s blood swirled around the bloodstone. With some effort and direction, the bloodstone erupted from her chest, covered in blood.
Eva inspected the bloodstone by covering it with blood. The blood filled every crevasse on the small marble.
That was a bad sign. Bloodstones were supposed to be smooth. The most perfect spheres to exist. Eva doubted this one would last a week. Less with use.
Eva planned to put it to good use.
She touched it to the pool of blood and the woman. Once sucked dry, Eva brought up as many blood marbles as she could. The marbles fell into a fast orbit around her, two merged together to form a sort of rolling-pin to run along the ground in front of her and check for obstacles. They were the only things Eva could sense in this place.
A small amount of blood kept circling around the stone. Without fingers, it was more convenient to have it hover in front of her. No dagger to mount it in, she would have a hard time drawing her own blood. A full, large bodied woman should be plenty for now. The woman’s blood was probably far more pure, according to blood magic, in any case.