Chapter Text
Scott was sleeping, and he had been sleeping for…. Well he couldn't really remember any more by this point. But he knew he didn't want to sleep willingly, it had something to do with…
Scott slept, he drifted in and out of wakefulness and though he got close there was always something pressing down on his conscience, something he couldn't quite place…
Scott almost woke up once, he felt it, it almost broke. But it was soothed back over, like the stitches tearing open a wound and then that wound getting cauterized. He reached and scrambled and desperately tried to drag himself back to his mind but something just kept him trapped-
Scott heard… he heard? That couldn't be right, Scott was sleeping, that's right, that's what he was doing…
But no, he definitely heard something, there was someone trying to… move something? They were interrupting his sleep, because it was so so loud and it sounded so close it could of been on top of him. And it was incredibly annoying because Scott was meant to be sleeping.
And yet when the sounds stopped Scott would have cried if he was a lesser man because… because he wasn't meant- he wasn't. Because relief filled him, after all, He will sleep for an eternity yet, until His descendants have dried up the fountains of fun He wished to control.
It happened suddenly and gratingly, he felt his curse break and could have choked on his joy, but when the boxes keeping Scott's awake mind from his sleeping one were violently collided, Scott discovered that it was the only part of the curse that was broken. So while his mind was restored his body refused to cooperate with him.
He could lift a pinky, before it fell with a dull thudding noise. He could open his eyes the barest sliver, before it felt like fighting against pure silver to keep them that way. He could feel the way his throat was dry and dusty, but couldn't muster the strength to cough, or even try uselessly swallowing with nothing. He couldn't scream, or fight, or claw, or cry, or do anything but think and feel.
And Scott hated it, he was a man of purposeful inaction, once things were to his perfect liking he would laze about and find inane things to cure daily boredom. And while he would do a lot of labour to maintain that life, it was the lifestyle itself he truly enjoyed, not the process to get there.
And so being trapped in a dusty damp box, where he could feel the rot and decay unsuccessfully trying to imbed itself into his skin, was something like torture to him.
Scott was trapped in that box for so long he almost… almost wished he would go back to being asleep again, and when he thought that he almost felt the curse return, slipping his mind apart.
Which is when Scott screamed, it was a retched screeching thing that sounded so inhuman it could have been a curse to hear in of itself. But Scott refused to ever sleep again, no matter how painful he would not suffer sleep again.
And so he lay, heart clenched and teeth gritted, eyes pried open by the force of his will. And he waited, and waited, and waited. And sleep did not come for him, but his body did not relax, forced to keep its position by the remainder of the curse's power.
And days became weeks, which drifted into more time than Scott had the capacity to count, and frankly he didn't care to keep track. If he knew how long he'd been trapped in that endless eternal coffin he might…
It was some moment in time where Scott was remembering that one horrid boring tale his great aunt always liked to tell, about how she had the perfect proof for why Scott shouldn't exist- anyways, he was so bored he was remembering that again for lack of anything else to think of, when he thought he heard… voices?
“And they … di…t believe me! I mean ..o could .. …ended .e, wh. ….. ..u?” that tone of voice? Was someone arguing in his crypt?
Scott tried to stretch out his senses and move but it wasn't working-
There! A voice- but the tone was too quiet to hear, and it sounded different to the first one, was the argument was de-escalating?
No no no! Scott would not be trapped in this box for one second more he refused.
He tried to open his mouth to scream but his muscles wouldn't cooperate to unclench his jaw, and he felt the noise die in his chest.
There was movement again and for a moment Scott felt hope but- it was getting quieter. They were moving away!
There was a loud sudden bang, and Scott felt his bones crack from the force of the punch he had just let out against the side of the coffin. He tried to move his arm again, but it wouldn't budge. He could only hope that would be enough.
It was dead silent for a few moments and Scott almost felt his will to exist die on the spot- until an insanely loud grating noise took over everything else and the instinctual urge to cover his ears filled his body, but his arms and hands wouldn't move to do so.
The seconds of scraping, achingly loud noise went on and on and on until there was a sudden blinding light that filled his vision, which his eyes would not close to be protected against.
Blinded, Scott was not able to react with much else but a quiet hiss when his too sensitive skin was touched. His body refused to move to attack or defend himself, and he would not pass out into sleep, his senses were too overwhelmed to feel anything but pain, even though the touches against his skin were light and gentle.
But he couldn't care less about that, because after an agonising amount of time he felt wind on his skin, fresh wind. And then the sun, the sun. It burned and decayed and pained and almost rendered his sensitive skin to ash on the spot, at least it would have if something was not thrown over him- it blocked the blessed wind, but it also blocked the sun, and it was thankfully soft and warm in comparison to the hard stone he had been subjected too.
So Scott ignored the burning smell of skin, and the pain of being carried, and just… enjoyed the comfort of finally being free.
~~~~~~>>>---------》♡
Scott wouldn't sleep, he refused to, so he felt every step into town in his bones. And as he gradually adjusted to the sensations around him, he was able to pay attention to the conversation going on over his head, hidden away by the coat covering him.
“And you never said anything?” That was… the first voice he heard earlier, thought the tone was more… disappointed?.
“What would have changed? The room-mate situation? Town having two groups of out cast crazies-” and yeah that was definitely the second voice he heard, the pitch was the same.
“Yes! Yes it would be different. Sausage is great but…” there's a lul in the conversation as voice one searches for words and voice two waits. “But he only asks me questions for his books, and I've read them and they're great but…”
“But it's not like having someone who believes in you?” Scott listens as someone makes some additional movement… a nod perhaps? Before he hears breath being drawn from above him, like someone preparing to go into a speech.
“Listen, Shel-”
“HEY, HEY!” a yell that is loud and piercing cuts off the conversation going on over Scott's head, causing the person carrying him to jostle him with a sudden movement. “Is that a BODY!?” the yeller shouted again, probably talking about Scott.
The person carrying him gains a more secure hold of his body before picking up their pace of walking, another set of footsteps rushing to keep up. “Yes Avid, I’m holding a body.” The person carrying Scott, who appears to be voice two, sounds a little apprehensive and he's curious as to why before a voice one adds on to what they said. “We found a person sealed away in a tomb in the basement of that ruined manor, you know the one across the broken down bridge?” Voice one sounds excited, probably some kind of curious information gatherer of some kind then?
“WHA-AH-T? You found someone in a TOMB and just-” Yeller cuts off their sentence for a few seconds while the person carrying Scott seems to move closer, only starting to speak again when the distance has been closed in a whisper. “You found someone in a tomb and didn’t think that MAYBE I was actually telling the truth and it's a vampire! Like- the ones I've been saying exist. Oh no, and now you brought one here-”
“Avid, I do not care about your vampire theories, this person is in serious need of Legundo.” There's an outraged splutter from yeller as he tried to express his discomfort, but the person carrying him was definitely being serious as they straightened their posture and took a slow step forwards. “Listen Avid, I'm not kidding around, and I’m not buying into your delusion, open the gate and let me and Shelby through. Do, not, test, me.”
A long moment of silence follows that statement, before yeller lets out an annoyed groan, “Hurgggg, fine, FINE! You can bring him in, but Pearl, if something happens to us because of this, you NEED to let me fix it.” Scott hears the small scoff Pearl lets out at that, but he doubts anyone else has the sense to pick it up. “Sure Avid, just let me through before you cause the death of an innocent human.”
Scott laughs to himself internally about that, sure he has a lot of self ego, but he knows very well that he is not an innocent human, inhuman nature aside. Though thinking about his inhuman nature and the words of yeller, or Avid as it would seem, means he will have to be on high guard. Hopefully whoever this Legundo is has some small missable animal problem, ideally mice or rats, that Scott can feed from before leaving.
He starts to plan his escape as he feels the steps of the person carrying him become more even on what is probably a path in whatever town he has ended up in. Escape means getting the small amount of blood he will need to transform into a bat, and then flying out a door, or letting himself get ‘chased’ out, and then going to the nearest wood to hunt himself back to strength.
And since Scott had been taken away from the place his curse was cast it should hopefully be weaker, and the blood he’ll be getting should deal with any lingering affects. Meaning escape will be a little tedious and challenging, but ultimately not that hard. So long as he focused and acted quickly before too many people realised he wasn’t… human, he would be fine.
Escape planned, Scott refocused onto the path the person carrying him was taking so that he could start to map out a proper layout of the town. While creating his mental map, he tried to focus onto the conversation going on over him, only to find that silence and movement was all that he could hear.
The silence persists for a few more steps, before yeller- Avid speaks up, “So uh, the doc huh?” Avid lets out an awkward laugh, and then he quickly rushes into speaking again. “You guys uh, think he’ll know how to fix a corpse?” There's an almost mocking quality to Avid’s tone of voice, and voice one, presumably Shelby based on what voice two said, responds.
“Avid come on, he isn’t dead, we literally heard him make a noise when in pain.” There's a pointed silence, before Shelby continues. “Do dead people make noises when in pain? Do dead people even feel pain?”
Avid splutters for a bit, “Well, no but he could be tricking you! You don’t know!” there's two sighs, before the walking stops. “Oh look! We made it to the docs, thanks for your help Avid but really we should be fine now.” Voice two insisted.
“Okay but…” Avid trailed off for a moment, and there was the sound of movement that indicated them shifting from foot to foot in nervousness. “Could like, Shelby come with me? It would make me feel a bit better at least.”
There's a moment of silence before Shelby sighs, “Okay Avid, Pearl can handle herself no matter what happens, so if it will make you feel better I’ll go with you.” Shelby sounds a little bit disappointed, but Avid lets out a little cheer before speaking again. “Oh thank goodness, thank you so SO much Shelby!” There’s a flurry of movement for one second before two pairs of feet seem to take off down the path, “And make sure to be careful Pearl!” Avid shouts as they drag Shelby away from Scott and the person carrying him, who seemed to go by the name Pearl.
Pearl let out a little amused scoff, and from the sound and movement Scott could feel, they seemed to be shaking their head as well. For a moment after that everything descends into silence for a bit, before Pearl tenses up their muscles, like they’re gearing up for something, and then suddenly all the tension bleeds out of them.
Scott is curious as to what that could mean, but he isn't left any chance to consider it because Pearl shifts how they are carrying Scott to be on only one arm and the rest of their body, while they also reach up to a door and knock on it. Scott hears a burst of movement and a very faint “shit” from inside like someone got surprised and knocked something over as a result, and then he hears the sounds of someone desperately moving about the house as they call out, “Hang on! I’ll be just a moment!”
Pearl laughed a little, clearly hearing some version of what Scott is hearing, before calling out in an amused tone, “Need any help in there doc?”. There's a few more not-silent moments of banging and crashing before there's the sound of poorly made hinges swinging open, and the slam of something heavy hitting something else. Which means the ‘doc’ most likely just slammed their door open.
“Nope! See I’m all good Pearl, though thank you for asking.” There's a pause in the conversation, maybe they’re both studying each other for a moment, Scott can’t really tell since there is no sound of movement from Pearl or the ‘doc’. “Now what can I do for you?” The question sounds pointed, presumably in Scott's direction.
“Ah yeah, me and Shubble were in that old ruin and well, this one here” Pearl lifts her arms up lifting Scott with them to replace gesturing to him in any normal way, “was inside a tomb there. Gave me and Shelby quite the fright when they banged the side of their tomb.”
“I see and why the coat?” There's enough movement to indicate that the ‘doc’ did some sort of sweeping gesture while asking their question.
“Ah yeah well, they started sizzling in the sun so I just.” And Pearl shrugs, and then lifts Scott up and out to the doc for him to be handed over. Scott would take offence to this treatment but frankly he isn't really in a position to complain, at least these people have been kind so far, that's an easy emotion to take advantage of.
“Right okay, well it’s a good thing I-” The doc lets out a little oof as they take the full weight of Scott, which is probably due more to his clothes than actual weight due to his lack of feeding and elaborate style. “Jeez, but no, I just finished up, so I guess there's no time like the present than stress testing if what I have is good enough.”
Great, Scott thinks, he’s a stress test. “Thanks doc!” Pearl sounds pleased, which is ridiculous, Scott is being used as a stress test! “Really it’s a good thing, I’ll return your coat after making sure it’s safe and clean.” Scott would scoff if he could, he's not contagious! Well… technically.
“Aww your too kind Legs, either give me a knock or just leave it on a windowsill for me alright?” Pearl asks, a genuine happiness in their voice. “Of course, enjoy the rest of your day Pearl!” The doc tried to raise their hand before being reminded of the fact that they are carrying Scott when they are unable too. Scott hears a distant chuckle, before he felt the person carrying him move, and the sounds of nature and being outside were dulled by walls.
“Now where to put you…” The doc, Legundo, muttered under their breath. They spoke at a volume that told Scott he definitely wouldn't have been able to hear them if he wasn’t a vampire. But he was, so he continued to listen as the doc moved some things around with his body and legs, balancing Scott in acts that sometimes defied immediate logic.
Eventually Scott was placed on what felt like a crude wooden table, it also seemed to have a sheet laid out over the top of it like it was a table cloth. A minute or two went by where Scott heard the doc move things around the room and mutter a few more things under their breath, all of it sounding vaguely medical. Seemed like the doc might end up being an actual doctor, which was mildly surprising all things considered.
After those few minutes Scott heard the doctor approach by his head, they then took a breath, and Scott felt a hand grip the coat over him, before it got pulled off his head and down to the end of the table. Scott, who hadn’t closed his eyes once this whole time, stared up at the doctor, who had closely shaved hair on his head, and clean cut facial hair. He watched their green eyes widen in shock behind the monocle over their right eye when they realised that Scott was staring at them, though it was well hidden behind a professional calm.
“Sorry I didn’t know you were awake,” the doctor said, seeming to overcome their shock, “if it’s okay I’m going to examine you to make sure that you’re healthy, or to determine if I have the tools to treat you if you are not.” They waited a few seconds after speaking, maybe to see if Scott would agree or protest, but when Scott didn’t react in any way whatsoever it gave the doctor pause for a moment.
Scott watched Legundo visually scan him, taking the time to give Scott a proper once over, before making eye contact once more. “Please blink twice if you understand what I mean when I say I’m going to examine you.” The doctor asked, Scott considered not blinking at all and seeing what Legundo would do about it, but he wanted to get out of this situation quicker than that would take, so he blinked twice with as much intention he could muster.
The doctor gave him a nod, and then they started their examination. Scott's eyes were stared into, his muscles pushed and stretched, his reaction time tested, and more. But only two things gave the doctor pause. When they checked Scott’s breath and found he didn’t have one their head snapped up to stare at his face, and Scott slow blinked twice back. The doctor then reached for two pulse points on his body and checked them, and they found no pulse. When Legundo looked up at Scott again, he just blinked at them. The doctor stood up with perfectly straight posture, before taking a deep breath and expelling it in a rushing sigh.
The doctor looked over Scott again, before continuing their examination. While working they said, “I’m going to want to talk about that, whether you’re not talking by choice or force, we’ll figure out a way to communicate so you can answer my questions.” Scott stared at the doctor, but when they didn’t look up at him, Scott just let out a little sigh and accepted his fate.
~~~~~~>>>---------》♡
Legundo set down the cloth they had been using to dry their hands, they had just finished examining Scott, and had used the bucket sitting on a small side table to wash their hands. Hands now clean and dry they pulled a chair next to Scott's head and sat down on it.
“I’m not sure if anyone spoke about me, but I’m Legundo, a traveling doctor.” They looked down at Scott with eyes that screamed tired doctor, “that means if anyone here should be equipped to help you, it would be me.” Scott definitely believed them, the doctor seemed like a person in their right mind, but he was…
“Thirsty.” He rasped, his throat was sore, and while he was further away from the spot his curse was cast his body was still too weak and hungry to recover fully.
The doctor blinked, before standing up in a rush, “Of course, my apologies.” They spoke, fetching a cup and presumably clean water from what looked to be a kettle. “I have been… having an interesting time, though that's no excuse for something like water to slip from my mind…” The doctor trailed off as they held the cup to Scott's lips, making sure to watch for any choking.
Though that mindfulness would not be needed as Scott had long ago learned to not choke, he thought it showed the doctors character. Scott drank, feeling the water clear away all the dust as it cycled through his body, and with the dust being clear he finally started to feel normal again. Now all he would need is a good meal and something to terrorise, and for his body to listen to his commands again.
The doctor pulled the cup away after Scott drank it dry, setting it down on the floor. “Right, as I was saying, let me know if you need anything…” The doctor straightened as they thought about the wording they wanted. “abnormal, to uh, recover.” Scott stared at the doctor, and when their eyes eventually found their way to Scott’s own he continued to stare. Curious, Scott started a mental count of the seconds and just… Stared.
One… Two… Three… Four… Five… Okay, five minutes was enough, Scott had spent far too long inactive to start up a staring contest with someone who clearly did not understand what graceful losing was.
“Blood.” Is what Scott admitted to, although thankfully this time his voice was significantly less raspy. The doctor just closed their eyes and sighed, before opening them again to ask, “Are you… I can’t believe I'm actually asking this… are you a vampire?” Scott smiled and let his eyes turn into crescents, which caused what might actually be the most tired sigh he had ever heard to come out of the doctor.
“Right okay,” the doctor seemed to brace themselves, “if I just, go get you a chicken will that do?” Scott was a little surprised by that question, he maybe thought that there would be more skepticism, or a test (though maybe the lack of pulse, breath, and blinking was enough), or something more like panic. Not tired resignation.
“Two.” Scott requested, yes one could do, but if the doctor was willing two would be better. They just gave a light nod with a hand held up to signify waiting as they stood, and left the house.
Scott briefly wondered if Legundo was leaving to start a mob to kill him, but… so long as Scott went out taunting people he would have to just content himself with his last achievement being half breaking a bloodline curse with sheer willpower. With that in mind Scott's brain turned into an insult factory, trying to think up plenty ammunition as early as possible was like throwing a bomb where you think the enemy is without knowing for sure, but really he had nothing else to do.
So that's how the next ten or so minutes, Scott wasn't keeping an exact count, went. One insult after the other until the door was opened again, the doctor walking inside with two chickens under one arm, covered in feathers. Scott was surprised again that the doctor actually brought two, and didn’t have a mob behind him, though maybe the doctor was waiting for him to feed before dealing with Scott himself? Scott watched with suspicion as the doctor locked the door, and walked over to the table.
Scott watched the doctor hover with uncertainty, and decided he wanted his meal now, he’d be able to keep an eye and ear out. “Give, neck” Scott demanded in as forceful of a tone he could manage, The doctor blinked before grabbing one of the chickens and holding it down on the top of Scott's chest, leaving its neck in biting range.
He waited a moment to determine the angle, and then gave a slight lung and attached himself to the chicken. It gave a slight squawk and struggle, but the doctor’s grip was too strong to escape, and Scott was too hungry, so he drank, and drank, and drank, until he was covered in feathers and the bone filled skinbag of a bloodless and lifeless chicken.
The doctor picked it up and frowned at the body, “This is not what bloodless meat looks like.” They pondered, “It's the life energy doc, I need that and the blood.” Scott felt the vigor returning to him, he sat up and took the second chicken out of the doctor's hands as he spoke, feeling the docs eyes on him but by this point not caring.
The second chicken was drained slower, but somehow felt more satisfying to drink. Scott enjoyed his meal so much he almost snapped the bones left over with how hard he was gripping its body.
Scott sighed in happiness once he finished his meal, he was nowhere near the level he felt before, feeling maybe only slightly stronger than a fledgling would, but it was leaps and bounds from how being in that tomb felt.
Grinning, he settled himself into a graceful sprawl over the table and looked up at the doctor, who was staring at him with an expression Scott couldn’t read. “So doc, you’ve done me an immense favor, anything I can do for you? Maybe help you take a load off? Some boring labor?”
“I mean, unless you can leave and get all of us out of here, general guidance and an extra set of hands is always needed.” The doctor’s statement confused Scott a little bit because… “What do you mean unless I can leave?” He asked, and Legundo stared at Scott a little before replying, “Well, all twelve of us in the town have tried to leave this place, either separately, or together. But no matter what we do we somehow always end up back in Oakhurst.”
Scott felt himself go cold, not in fear, or sadness, but in anger. Because Oakhurst… they betrayed him. He treated them so good, and allowed for so much that a normal human wouldn’t, and yet, they still decided he was ‘too hard’ on them. Scott should have gone harder, because if Oakhurst was somehow still alive despite his best efforts.
“Doctor,” Scott spoke, a false calm in his voice as he dragged his eyes up to the doctors, “What century is it?” The doctor looked a little startled by his question, before answering with curiosity. “Its the fifteenth century…” They looked like they wanted to say more, but for once Scott stopped paying full attention because…
The 15th century? Scott had been admittedly ignoring the slow clock ticking in the back of his brain that had refused to be shut down, but… that long? Scott had been asleep for THAT long? That was longer than he had even spent alive, multiplied by… by a lot more than he wanted it to be. Surely that had to be false- but, but, it wouldn't be would it? Because Scott had been asleep for 1000 years. One thousand YEARS.
Scott felt something crack, because OAKHURST is why he was cursed to sleep, why he was doomed to miss out on one thousand years, why Scott was stuck, and trapped, and not AWAKE-
Scott feels something touch his shoulder and grips it in his clawed hand to rip it away from himself, though not letting go. He refocuses his eyes and stares at the doctor who stares back at him, unflinching from the bruising grip on their hand.
“I’m sorry to touch you,” They spoke up in a gentle tone, “but you went into your mind, and I didn’t know if that would be a good thing for you, or a bad thing.” Scott almost snapped their hand, but he forced himself to let go and grip the table instead. Because having a human treat him with such kindness, despite their whole species causing his almost eternal sleep, was something he could not deal with right now.
Scott needed to be in a place he could take his anger out without consequence, and a doctors office in OAKHURST was not that place. “Would you mind doctor,” Scott forced all the anger out of his voice, and only let curiosity in, as he asked his question. “if I left to do some exploring? It’s been so long since I’ve been awake.” Scott smiled at them, with his most effective smile.
The doctor just stared at him for a second, before they gave a nod, “Of course, but I will come looking for you eventually.” they warned, Scott almost laughed out loud, and maybe he normally he would just go for it, it would be much too hysterical right now.
“Righttttt. See you then!” Scott let a small amount of sarcasm into his voice, before he hopped off the table and opened a window. Spinning in the familiar motion used to turn into a bat, he took one last look at the doctor, who for once wasn’t surprised, but was just observing instead, before he took off out the window.
~~~~~~>>>---------》♡
Scott was still hungry when he left the doc’s, and he ways so so angry. As such a distraction was in order, he flew to the forest with what little strength he had. Hunting usually would have been difficult for him if he was at full strength, but because of how little blood he had in his system it should be easier. Although he might still have difficulties, because he had only just hit the tree line and was starting his downwards descent when his form was forced out of his bat.
Scott curled into a ball as quickly as possible, but he still hit some branches on his way down, before hitting the ground with a thud. He felt his bones creak and his skin split open from the force of his fall, so Scott just let himself lay in place for a bit. After only a few moments he heard the sound of snuffling and moving under brush, the tell tail signs of a pig, so Scott heaved himself up. He slowly snuck to where he heard the sounds, ignoring the aching in his bones.
It didn’t take long for him to find his prey so he quickly judged the angle, and then made his attack. It was a bit of a struggle since he was still very weak, but he managed to get a bite in that stunned the pig for long enough to be drained.
And that's how most of the day went, hunting while dodging the sun, and also listening out for voices in the distance and just… making sure he never saw where they came from. He still hadn’t fully accepted how long he had been asleep for, and he still had far to much anger bubbling under his skin, because surely his fledglings and the few coven members he had would have tried to break that curse right? Or at least punish Oakhurst in some way. And Scott knew how capable they all were, so the fact that he was still asleep… No surely they must of been killed. If it was something else than he. He didn’t want to think about it.
So Scott hunted, and dodged humans and sunlight alike. He avoided the hill his castle was built on, because time had not been kind to him, so it most likely would not of been kind to his home either. Even if it had been kind to Oakhurst. Eventually he had gone in wide enough arches around Oakhurst that he started to branch out more, except eventually he hit what felt like a ward.
Scott frowned, because that ward… It wasn't overtly dark or holy in nature, it almost felt like a natural extension of the leylines themselves, which would not make sense because it wasn’t possible to use the leylines like this without a proper conduit.
He felt a horrible thought forming in his head, so in an attempt to put that to rest he reached out with his magic to feel along the leylines. It hurt since he hadn’t used magic in a long time, but utilization of the leylines was something he used to be very skilled at, so he could feel the origin point of the wards. He picked up the line of magic and Scott followed it to the source.
That source ended up being a beacon of all things. It was placed inside a tower on a small sandy island, and as Scott approached he could feel the strength of the leylines the beacon was attached to. He was a little surprised when, after walking up the staircase inside the tower, he found a beacon that was holy, but wasn’t holy in nature.
No this was a neutral beacon. Neutral wards and neutral beacons… The only way neutral magic came about was through either a cleansing of all other kinds of magic, leaving only the natural magic of the world behind, or enough natural magic concentrating on one spot to form a direct link to the leylines. And those kinds of formations of magic required a lot of effort and sacrifice, because despite it being neutral magic as a result of natural magic, the results of magic like that were not neutral or natural.
Neutral magic was neutral because it would bend its power to whatever it considered to be the strongest, either through sheer magical power, or something as inane as who has the larger family. And natural magic was almost worse, taking on the characteristics of soft grass and bountiful earth, but also raging storms and hunting beasts.
With wards like that, and a beacon like this… Scott’s little piece of land had to of been cut of from the world for an insane amount of time. Which meant the people in town had to of had been looking for something here specifically to even make it past the wards, or they just had to pass whatever stupid test the neutral magic set up.
But wards that neutral should have shown some kind of reaction when Scott approached… unless. A lance of fear briefly flashed through Scott and he looked up quickly, the sun was about to set, and he’d eaten a decent amount and regained a lot of control over his body again…
Scott knew he’d be pushing it but that didn’t matter right now, he turned and ran down the stairs, leaving the tower and holy beacon behind as quickly as he could manage. Once he was out of range he wrapped his magic around him once more and changed himself into a bat.
With a flight fueled by panic he flew around to every strong point he remembered in the leylines from when he was awake, and when every one he visited, and even the few new ones he flew over, had beacons on them he felt the fear and panic grow into horror. Someone, or something had built an insanely effective prison, anyone could enter if they wanted to badly enough, or if the wards decided they wanted to let a person in. But leaving? To leave you would have to destabilize the natural and neutral magics, in what would probably be an incredibly damaging process to the land inside the wards, not to mention the people.
Scott didn’t really know what to think when he perched on the ugly wooden walls of Oakhurst, all he knew was that there was a holy beacon right at the center of town. And that no matter how safe that beacon and the others made the townspeople feel, they would never be able to leave. Everyone was stuck here until they died.
It’s fine, it’s fine. Scott would be fine. He can use the humans, and anyone else that gets through the wards to drench the land in dark magic and just, turn the leylines that way. He could do it, he would be fine. He did not trade one prison for another.
He grit his teeth. Scott could do this, he could do this. It would be fine, he would be fine, everything would be fine.