Precarious Vampiric Encounters ((HaloHeroWolf118 and Miss Alyss))

[Nine of Hartz]

The presence of the hunter completely surprised her, her attention snapping from her vampiric thirst to the swift presence that had wedged himself between her and the wolves. Her eyes immediately returned to their blue state and her teeth flattened as she watched the wolves be injured. She couldn’t help but curl her nose in disgust at the scent of Pennyworth’s blood being spilled, the odor more vulgar than the standard werewolf’s should have been.

We must be careful, that is a hunter. Belamine’s mount snorted irritated as her thoughts flowed within his mind. He stomped his foot at the ground hungrily before lightly shifting backward as the hunter approached them.

We should eat him, the steed thought, allowing his strong will to flood within Belamine’s mind. She shook the thought aside after contemplating it for half a second.

No, we must lay low. We need to kill a wolf and drain him of his memories to find out which one of us they are after. She thought back to her steed. Belamine knew that there were enemies that had been made back in Europe, so she needed to verify what this hunter was up to without drawing attention.

As the hunter approached Belamine, she simply sat upon her mounts back like a doll. She was smart enough to know that if one hunter could detour a whole pack of wolves that she needed to keep her guard up, even if she was an elder when it came to most vampires that roamed the America. She always needed to watch her back, for Victor had many enemies spanning across various continents and his werewolf blood had multiple ties to unknown packs she had never cared to learn.

Her eyes locked onto the hunters white eyes, quickly narrowing her brows as she caught a scent of vampiric blood on him. Never having seen or smelled such a confusing hunter, she lightly pulled on the reigns of her steed to force him to take a few more steps back. Swinging her leg over the saddle, she slid off and dropped to the ground. Swiftly taking a few steps toward the hunter to now prevent her steed from getting close, she lifted her hand and pushed it back on the hunter’s chest to stop his advancements. She allowed her eyes to stare into the white orbs of the hunter’s, her pupils flexing to a tight circle as she more thoroughly smelled him.

His scent was as confusing to her as hers was to him she concluded. She knew that she was able to mask her vampiric scent with various herb tonics she ingested daily, so she was assuming that he didn’t outright know she was vampiric. Slowly lowering her hand, she stepped backward and stood with a pose that implied she was a frail human female. “Yessir,” she said meekly. “I don’t know how you managed to fight off such large wolves.” Her tone was innocent and simple, definitely playing the ‘dumb damsel in distress’ act until she could determine whether or not the man would try to behead her with his silver sword.

 

[HaloHeroWolf118]

Edric was rather confused by Belamine's scent he should smell simple human but it felt muddled rather than distinct her hand in his chest sent a fire racing through his veins an odd reaction which he contributed to his existing attraction. When she stepped back she seemed to be putting on an act though for what reason he couldn't be sure, "Those wolves are nothing really." he said as he reached up and lowered the scarf. Putting fingers to his lips he whistled loudly and waited as his own horse came galloping toward them a few minutes later. It was a dark grey mustang mixed with some other breed who's mane had been cropped like the horses used by the cavalry. Edric gripped the reigns and patted his horse long neck affectionately, like it's master the horse had white eyes and was clearly a mare not a stallion. It seemed she was mixed with a shire given the feathering near her hooves and the width of her neck.

"It sounded like you knew one of those wolves ma'am." he said as he checked the saddle his voice no longer muffled but clearly deeper and gruffer than his regular voice. "I heard something about a penny's worth?" he went one as he examined the rifle and tossing the bandoleer over his right shoulder and clasping it on. "Either way I would believe the woods to be to dangerous for you." he said as he turned back to her and approached her he stopped just a foot short. "I suggest going back to the town while I chase them off." he said before gently grasping her hand and raising it, "I would be saddened if any harm befell a flower such as you." he said kissing the back of her hand and releasing it.

He lifted the scarf back into place before stepping back and bowing and turning to his horse. He swung up into the saddled and they rode off into the darkness of the trees vanishing out of sight and hearing. Edric had to mentally slap himself for trying to act the dashing hero it was just a bit of bravado on his part though he had enjoyed playing the part though. He pushed his thoughts of Belamine down as he let his training take over and his eyes scanned the trees and ground for any sign of the werewolves.

 

[Nine of Hartz]

“I thought I recognized a man’s voice, thus why I called out.” She said dumbly, still attempting to keep the act up of being a damsel in distress. She glanced at him as she mounted his horse, lightly nodding to his statement about Pennyworth. Belamine nodded obediently as he suggested that she return to the town and avoid the wolves. She didn’t want to cause any tension with this hunter until she was able to access what his true intentions were. As her hand was lifted, she blinked lightly as he kissed her gloved hand and meekly lowered her face to keep the act up. In reality, she was quirking her brow lightly as he mentioned her being harmed, she couldn’t help but think why such a man would be concerned with her. Hunters were supposed to be trained to focus solely on their task at hand, so for one to be interested in the fate of a random woman was questionable.

As he rode off, she let out a large sigh of relief even though she wasn’t required to breathe to survive. Glancing back at her steed, Belamine quickly narrowed her eyes as her pupil slit and the ice blue color intensified. “Come on,” she said lightly to her steed. “We need to get one of those wolves.” Quickly jumping onto his back, Belamine held onto the reigns before kicking his sides so they would tail the hunter. They moved quietly within the shadows of the forest, the sun’s position on Belamine’s mind as she followed the smell of wolf blood throughout the forest. She knew that they would stick together, but perhaps a straggler was spooked from the pack that she could ambush.

Her eyes and ears were constantly scanning for anything around them, wanting to ensure that the hunter would not see her weaving between the trees. Eventually she caught a whiff of fresh blood, immediately leaning to the side as her steed read her thoughts and followed the trail. His eyes were vermillion now with blood lust, his own inner hunger fully awake. Eventually they caught sight of an injured wolf, one of the ones that the hunter had caught. Belamine slowly slid off of the saddle and grabbed one of the thin silver knives with her gloved hand. Easily scaling a tree, she stepped along the branches until she was above the injured wolf. Dropping down, she quickly forced the silver blade into the spine of the wolf to paralyze it, immediately shoving its face into the dirt so it’s cry wouldn’t be heard. Her steed was trotting into the clearing now, stepping down on the wolf with his large hooves to keep the thing still.

Turning the head of the wolf to the side, Belamine quickly opened her mouth as her delicate looking fangs extended. Hissing into the ear of the frightened wolf, Belamine sank her fangs into the furred throat of the beast, immediately beginning to drain all information from the grunt. Images flashed within her mind of the hunter and the wolves, of destruction and the thoughts that the hunter needed to be contained, destroyed, or coerced into joining them. Other than that, the grunt wolf didn’t seem to have any other information.

Belamine pulled her fangs out of the wolf and wiped her face clean with her glove. Ripping the knife from its spine, she wiped it off on some grass as she waved her hand toward her steed. The wolf, though paralyzed, was flailing its head about trying to flee not understanding that its feet weren’t capable of moving. Belamine’s steed stepped forward and neighed hungrily, opening its own fanged mouth and began to drain the life from the wolf, eating on the damaged corpse greedily as Belamine slumped against the trunk of a nearby tree. Pulling a glove off of her hand, she held her eyes as she processed and reprocessed the information flashing within her mind, a headache setting in as the wolf blood didn’t agree with her stomach.

Eventually she pulled herself up, glancing back at her steed. He had already ripped the wolf apart, engorging himself thoroughly. Walking to her horse, Belamine slowly pulled herself up onto his back once he was done eating and clicked her tongue for him to start moving. Leaning against his strong neck, she let her steed lead the way back to the town, not caring to chase after the other wolves. She knew that something was wrong and needed to get back to her shop. Eventually her steed burst out of the forest and galloped down the dirt road, carrying her throughout the town before slamming to a stop just outside of her shop.

It wasn’t even 8am yet, but Belamine stumbled her way into the store as if she were drunk, locking the door behind her. Leaving the closed sign up, she made her way to the back room and shut the door so she was engulfed in darkness. Unbuttoning her shirt so she didn’t feel so confined, she gripped the edges of the sink and proceeded to empty the contents of her stomach, letting the water from the sink clean out the bottom. She was thankful that she had been wealthy enough to get running water in the shop, for the smell of the wolfs blood finally made her realize that it had been laced with verbane.

It was a poison toward vampires, one that she was all too familiar with. Back in the old country, she took some daily in order to build a resistance but hadn’t been able to do so after coming to America, the plant a rarity in these parts. In the darkness of the spare room, her eyes were revealed to actually glow ice blue, her vampiric traits not hidden in this moment of weakness. She rinsed her mouth and opened the secret door in the room that led to the shops foundation. Dropping down inside, she shut the hidden door and pushed the wood top of her coffin open. It was recessed into the ground, allowing her to simply roll inside of it. Pulling the lid shut, she curled up and shivered as she endured the burning sensation coursing through her veins. She couldn’t allow herself to be found in this state by anyone, so she simply slept within her coffin to recover.

 

[HaloHeroWolf118]

((Wasn't happy with how it was so I'm editing it.))

Edric growled as he had his back up against a tree as a wolf was trying to rip out his throat with his teeth the large canines clawed at him but only raked against his armor. His horse had crushed ones spine under it's hooves while the other had leaped at him knocking him from the saddle fighting unarmed was not a wise choice while against werewolves but he had little choice. He brought his knee up against the beast freed one hand to grab a silver knife from his belt and stabbed the beast in the chest it howled and moved away from him as it began to writhe in pain a foul smell filled the glade as the wolf tried to stand only to fall and lay still. Werewolves had a very violent reaction to silver it was one of the ways to test for the curse as when their blood comes into contact with the precious metal it reacts like an acid. However it's not so with fresh werewolves as they still have a chance to be made human with the aide of a special potion that purges them of the infection but it's a small window even in the best of circumstances. Edric sighed as he stood and looked down at the remains of the werewolves his hat had come off in the struggle but the wolf it seemed had had no recollection of who he was.

He picked up his hat and brushed it off before putting it back on his rifle had landed not to far and he collected it as well his horse had been munching some grass calm and collected during the entire fight. He patted her neck as he climbed back on there were no more wolves as far as he could tell which meant they had retreated fully and wouldn't be causing much trouble after this. Edric wasn't one to leave things to chance and an annoying hungering itch in the back of his mind warned him that he was getting dangerously close to feeling the hunger that vampires felt. It was a constant struggle when ever he drew on his vampiric abilities as it brought the hunger with it and the longer he kept using it the more the hunger grew till he lost himself in the blood lust. A danger that taken the lives a few cattle to sate but Edric calmed himself keeping a tight grip on his control as he rode one searching for more stragglers or the den itself.

Far away hidden deep in the woods Pennyworth an the rest of his pack had made their way to a decrepit and condemned mansion with a large twisted tree growing out of it. Pennyworth limped down the rough steps carved into the earth that began at an opening in the trees twisted roots and came to an end in a small earthen chamber filled with all sorts of wicked things. "Ah my dear Pennyworth." came a females voice from a figure standing near what could be considered an alter, "You are wounded." the figure stated turning to him the wolf recoiled briefly from the figure dressed all in black and veiled the figure approached and Pennyworth whined as the woman placed a hand on his wound. Then he howled in pain as his wound was healed muscled and flesh knitting back together leaving no scar of any kind, "There now tell me have you found the vessel?" the witch asked her cold black eyes looking into his as he relayed all that he knew. "Ah, yes a Hunter and one with the old blood in him no less he will make a perfect vessel for my beloved Vlad." she said her laughter filling the chamber with it's dark melody. "But he must be tested." she said as she began to stroll up the stairs the pack all moved away when she appeared except the boldest or more foolish ones some had even returned to their human forms as the Vampire Witch and Pennyworth exited the tree. "Bring me your strongest fighter." she said and Pennyworth nodded at one of the bigger wolves which stepped forward and the witch brought out a vial of a strange black liquid. She uncorked it and gripped the werewolves lower jaw to tilt his head back and up ended the vial into his waiting maw. The wolf had no choice but to swallow and the moment he did he began to change growing larger and leaving behind his four legged form for a bipedal one. At the end the woman came just under his waist as the werewolf roared and ran off into the woods knowing full well what he was supposed to do.

Edric had stopped and searched the ground for tracks but to many intersected at this point going different direction and most were recent so he was lost as to which way he should go. He heard a distant roar as he stood bringing his rifle up as well as he heard something coming his way something much larger and faster than an average werewolf Edric wasn't going to stick around to find out what it was as he moved to his horse but he hadn't moved far when whatever it was crashed into the clearing. He turned his horse neighed and bolted leaving him to deal with this new threat, the werewolf was unlike any he had seen huge and bi pedal like he was stuck between his transformation but kept his wolfish features. The wolf growled at him and began to move toward him as Edric unloaded his rifle at it but it seemed to effect him little as he healed nearly instantly the bullets being pushed out of the wounds to dissolve on the ground. Edric made to move but the wolf was faster and with the back of his hand he struck Edric knocking him into a tree. Edric struggled to his feet drawing his pistols and tried shooting it again this time aiming for its legs which slowed it down enough for him to punch but it was like hitting a metal wall the wolf chuckled at him as a huge fist smashed into his face and stomach before he was grabbed and thrown. Edric coughed and spat out some blood as he again struggled to his feet with more difficulty than before as he drew his sword but he couldn't stand long as he slumped to his knees the wolf laughed as he approached marveling at his own strength as ideas of claiming his place as Alpha filled his mind.

The wolf reached Edric and lifted his arm for another final blow but Edric caught the blow before it made contact and the wolf stared in disbelief as Edric stood his eyes blazing red now as stood raising his sword he cut the wolves arm off which caused the beast to howl and stumble back gripping the place where his arm had been. Edric rushed forward slashing at the wolf which removed his lower leg the wolf crashed to the ground and whined as he tried to struggle away from Edric however he didn't get far as Edric gripped his head and beheaded him with one last slash. As the beast twitched and was still what ever it had been that had given him this strength began to dissolve him even his head and dismembered limbs. Edric growled as he sheathed his sword before the after effects of using so much of his vampire abilities which had him feeling weaker due to the hunger. He heard hooves approaching and looked up to see Mark getting off his horse and rush toward him as Edric lashed out his hunger driving him to try and get at Mark who avoided that as he uncapped a canteen and put it to Edrics lips the smell of fresh blood filled his nose and he grabbed the canteen draining it down his throat which allowed him to regain his control. "Who...what?" Edric asked as he licked his lips of the remaining blood. "It's not important are you okay." Mark asked looking at him cautiously. Edric nodded as he drained the last drops from the canteen his fangs shortening as he tossed it away his horse approached him returning as it had followed behind Mark, "Lets get home kid." Mark said and Edric nodded mounting his horse and following Mark back to his home, "Seems Belamine isn't opening the shop today." Mark commented as they passed her Apothecary store having chosen to come back into the town from a different direction. They returned their horses to the stable and Edric noted Belamine's horse was their in the darkest stall of the stables. He left mark then choosing to remove his gear and leave it with Mark as he wandered the town till evening he hoped to spot Belamine but couldn't find her as he entered the saloon and asked for a meal sitting in a booth.