Chapter Text
Rain beat down on the leaves of the forest, softening the ground and soaking anything it came into contact with; wind followed soon after it to rip up anything that's roots couldn't hold tight enough onto the already muddy soil it once grew in.
Techno had found his way in the middle of this storm, in a random forest, seeking shelter.
He tugged his coat closer to himself to try to shield himself from the elements. It had been the only kindness he received ever since- well. It didn't matter now.
He couldn't stop the huff that left him in frustration at his hair sticking straight back to his face every time he tried to clear his vision.
He’d try to find shelter under the trees but the sheer force of the rain left no spots for it, his only option was to keep moving and pray he finds some kind of cave or overhang.
He tucked his tail closer to the rest of his body to try and keep it from getting absolutely soaked as he trotted on, his ears flicking in annoyance as he kept scouring around for any refuge from the storm.
After a few more minutes of walking, the cawing of crows caught his ears, whipping his head around to the source of the sounds, he felt the compulsion to follow it. If there were birds hanging around then there was probably some kind of shelter.
As he went deeper into the forest he never noticed the shadows getting darker around him. The crows that were coating the branches of every tree above him despite the rain. All watching him.
He followed the noise until finding a clearing where there was a group of crows all lining the branches of the trees cawing at each other, not even noticing him as he progressed closer to them. It was only when he emerged from the treeline that they all snapped their heads towards him.
They then swept down from the branches and met in a circle around a specific spot on the ground, unbothered by the rain.
When Techno stood and stared at them, they all began cawing again. A cacophony of their awful calls surrounding him before they took the air. One swooping behind him and knocking him in the shoulder towards where they had circled before joining its brethren.
He huffed, unsure of everything that had just happened before trying to see what they might have been in such a fuss over. Crows were smart, right? Maybe they did that for a reason.
His eyes caught sight of a small opening in the ground, seemingly opened up by the shifting mud. He moved closer to see a decently large cave that had been buried under the soil and a victorious grin spread across his face.
He didn't know why the crows were so interested in it but he didn’t care, he'd found his shelter.
“Maybe my luck is turning around after all…” he murmured “thank you” he said to the air, thanking crows that had long since flown away.
He tested the ground around it and it seemed stable enough so he slid in, tripping a little as it continued to shift on his way down.
As soon as he was in he moved deeper into the cave, thanking the gods that his piglin heritage let his eyes cut through the darkness enough to take in his surroundings. The walls were strangely smooth for a cave, almost seeming carved out from the surrounding earth.
Weren't caves meant to be rough? Eh, he was probably just being paranoid.
He squinted a bit as he saw what seemed like a slope leading deeper into the cave network and looked back behind him. The sun was rising.
His nose wrinkled as the smell of stale air and dust finally hit him, the rain doing little to cleanse what had just been uncovered, a strange smell of sulphur and iron mixing into it.
He looked back towards the slope and decided to follow it down after sorting himself out. So far it had been hazardless plus there was no chance he’d find a different shelter with the sun being so close to rising.
Sure the clouds might buy him some time but he wasn't exactly willing to use himself as a test subject to figure out where the limit was.
The only reason he even knew to be so careful was from one of the books he’d managed to swipe while on one of his side jobs. It was basic but so far it was enough to keep him going.
“Might as well, it's not like I have anything left to lose anymore.”
He ran his hands over and through his waterlogged hair, squeezing out as much of the excess rain he could before doing the same with his tail.
His ears pushed back against his skull as the sound of rain became overstimulating for him, spurring his descent deeper into whatever cave he had found himself in.
He couldn't see any more than five feet in front of him due to the darkness but the tunnel just seemed to keep going down, the only noise around him was the sound of his hooves against the stone and a strange bubbling noise coming from deep into the darkness.
As he ventured deeper he began to get nervous, a quick glance over his shoulder proved that he had gone deep enough to not even see the original room he found before, the atmosphere was feeling more heavy the further he went but before he could make any solid decision on turning back, he tripped.
A cloud of dust and dirt quickly came up as a result of the fall, covering his already soaking frame with even more filth. His tail lashed around himself in frustration.
Everything had been going fine before that damn alleyway. Now everything was just becoming worse and worse.
Luckily his hands had caught him and no real damage was done but the texture under his hands was far different than the cave walls that he'd been slowly tracing his hand along before. His neck hurt at being jostled so quickly. He quickly brushed his hands together to dislodge any dirt before inspecting them for real damage.
Some more scrapes to add to his growing list of injuries and ailments. Wonderful.
He huffed before looking closer to the new texture his hands had felt. He tilted his head to the side in confusion when he saw bricks.
Cracked, cobble bricks. He frowned at this before looking up and scanning his surroundings the best he could.
The slope he’d been following had led to some kind of man-made tunnel which was long abandoned by the moss and damage that seemed to be coating it.
“Why would anyone just build a tunnel underground and then leave it?” he couldn't help but question aloud.
Slowly he brought himself back to his feet, unsure of how to progress, tail flicking indecisively.
If he went back up the slope then he could forget all about this and just wait out the sun until he could find a new place to rest once the storm has passed.
If he went in then he might be able to loot whatever this building was and find out why it might've been left like this.
He sighs before giving everything around him another tentative look, after assessing that there was no real danger nearby he continues down the path that had been constructed.
Maybe it led to a treasure room like the bastion he remembered when he was little?
The sound of the howling wind outside echoing down into the tunnel did nothing but spur him further in.
The further he goes the more decayed the blocks become, more moss and scratches covering them. He can still somehow make out some engravings in a language he couldn't even hope to understand though. It was scratchy and unclear as if it was written in a hurry.
He squinted as he tried to read. Has it gotten darker? It felt almost palpable now. It got lighter when he gave up trying to read. He was probably just tired.
Some of the bricks were larger and had pictures carved into them, all too damaged to really work out what they were trying to depict no matter how hard Techno tried, leaning closer to the wall before deciding it wasn't worth it.
As he continued the blocks became larger, small engravings eventually becoming murals that covered the walls completely. Whoever made these was a real fan of birds, they're in nearly every engraving. Cawing echoes from outside, the sound of rain fading further into the background.
In the beginning they seemed to have what looks to be a massive woman in them, absolutely surrounded by tiny birds. The scenes seem to split between the massive woman and her birds to the world around her, showing what could be villages and people floating down to her eventually.
Maybe this was their god? Was this structure made in her honour?
Techno hummed uneasily, turning his gaze away from the murals. If she was a god then why was this temple buried? His village never mentioned anything to do with local religions nearby so maybe it was a cult?
He followed the winding path of murals deeper into whatever this structure was and felt dread creep up his sign as the images depicted began taking a more grim turn.
The villages stopped having any crops drawn, eventually there weren't even any people depicted in them either.
The less there was, the more birds there would be.
Whenever a bird was drawn near a village, later on in the wall it was destined to become empty. They were becoming an omen.
“Maybe they’re a sign or symbol for some kind of plague for whoever made this? It's certainly old enough looking to have possibly died out.”
The pattern continued with writing being added under it, explaining whatever story or folktale was being depicted, Techno assumed.
Eventually, a bird far bigger than all the rest begins to show up. The massive lady seems to really like that one because it's shown as always being close to her and always coming back. Sometimes the bird comes with what seems to be a man with wings on his back.
He soon becomes the herald to the villages emptying.
The artist starts showing the man with wings doing the ransacking. Showing him taking from farms, harming the villagers and then leaving once there is nothing left to take.
Moving on to the next village.
The rest of the murals afterwards have all fallen and crumbled to the ground over time and it takes a while for Techno to climb over all of it without possibly breaking anything. He was nearing the light now and there was only a single mural left.
He looked back as he realised he couldn't hear the rain from outside anymore, how long had he been down here? The cawing hadn't stopped.
No point turning back now.
It showed the massive crow trapped in a cage while the giant lady it had always been with looked angry. Techno’s ears flicked back, a sense of doom overcoming him.
A majority of the mural is covered in writing and many of the images carved into the stone have long crumbled but she seems to have casted a spell on people surrounding the cage.
He finally reaches the lightsource to see large brick wells with lava inside them, he must be deep enough to be over a lava lake then seeing as it's still molten.
He still felt so cold despite the supposed heat.
It had been days since he'd been warm.
The room he stands in is the best preserved one he’s come across, the walls were covered in writing, having a distinct lack of any murals whatsoever. All of it seems centred around a final set of mossy stairs leading down into another well lit room.
Pulled by curiosity to find out what was hidden so deep and to maybe see what all the murals had been depicting, he goes down the stairs.
Techno gasped as he was greeted by a man chained up. Strangely enough, that's not the shocking part. The massive wings held up by chains are.
“What the…” he murmured as he took in the scene in front of him.
Techno stared wide eyed at the body, taking in the appearance. Ebony wings attached to the man's back, each one larger than Techno himself had a hook going through the joint, dragging them to be permanently barred by the silver chains hanging them up like some morbid ornament.
The chains pulled and twisted the wings so that they were at odd angles, no doubt painful if not agonising. Blood had dripped down from the hooks and stained the silver a deep burgundy. His teeth throbbed at the stains.
How long had the man stayed like this?
The rest of the man was held down to the floor, chains around his arms and legs with several bolts holding the chains down to the floor.
The chains ended in cuffs around his hands, completely engulfing them in some kind of mechanism so he couldn't move his hands.
Each and every chain that was holding him had many bolts holding them in their places, despite the rust that they've accrued over however long it's been, the enchantments stayed strong and shielded them from a majority of the damage that could have been done to them over the years.
The man himself had long, blonde hair and green robes that matched the forest outside. Any glimpse of the man's face was shielded away by his hair which had long grown to cover his face. Despite this he could see skin far paler than what should be possible for anything living.
Techno made the mistake of taking a small step forward, the murals and their meanings having done nothing to stop him from his fate.
Instantly the man's head shot up and he was met with the palest blue eyes he’s ever seen.
It was like all the frost from winter had made its home in the man's eyes, freezing Techno to where he stood. The man's pupils are nothing but thin slits sharper than any knife you could find.
That, however, was nothing compared to the bone deep fear that sunk into him the moment a rattling hiss escaped the man. The pain in Techno’s neck felt so much harder to ignore now.
He had found what had been hidden so deep for so long.
A monster, just like what had bitten Techno.
A vampire.