A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

At the same time as Elora's warning, Emma's intuition also reared its head. She prodded Erik's side and whispered, "Sir? I can't shake this feeling that we're being watched." Her gaze darted nervously between the empty buildings.

Only now did Erik, too, feel the weight of unseen eyes upon them. It appeared this town might not be as deserted as it appeared.

He cautiously eyed his surroundings. "I suppose we'll have to deal with that then."

He put thoughts of the memory he just relived out of his mind for now but reminded himself to talk to Elora about it later. His father said some things that, while innocent at the time, seemed a lot more interesting considering what he knew now.

They were currently right in the middle of a broad street. If the small town of Kirkenes could be considered to have a main street sporting most of the town's cafes and shops, then this was it.

It was the perfect place for an ambush.

They probably would have been a little more careful if Erik hadn't been lost in memories.

Suddenly, a loud shriek filled the air.

An equally loud male voice followed, "Go on, you wretches, show yourselves! They've already discovered you. But don't you dare attack before I give the word!"

More shrieks followed before a large number of strange pale creatures emerged from windows, doors and alleyways. Even the roofs were quickly covered in these creatures.

Before they knew it, the group had been surrounded by at least fifty of these things.

Each of them had different reactions: Elora looked unconcerned but still transformed into a cloud of light specks and merged with Erik, making him the strongest he could be.

Erik looked equally unconcerned as he raised an eyebrow and inspected the creatures around them. Yet there was a twinkle of excitement in his eyes. He'd been getting antsy, sitting around doing nothing but absorbing energy, training, sex and researching his runes or glyphs for two weeks.

Sure, the sex was fun, but he'd been aching for a fight!

Emily's expression was very different. It was a wicked and bloodthirsty smile. She, too, had been getting antsy during the boat ride, but instead of wanting to fight something, she'd been hoping for an excuse to go on a killing spree and work off some stress.

As predicted, her corruption still had plenty of effect on her.

Lastly, Emma looked anxious at first, but when she noticed Erik's lack of reaction, she quickly calmed down. She had no reason to be afraid since her Sir apparently saw no serious threat. Such was her trust in him.

Erik and Elora, through him, continued to inspect the creatures until they came to a conclusion. They were vampires. At least, sort of.

Their red eyes lacked any sign of critical thinking, their nails had grown into claws, and their pale skin was wrinkled like that of a corpse. Most of them were either naked or wore rags that weren't much better.

According to Elora, these creatures were all rank-one Runebound, explaining why their bodies seemed fine despite the cold.

Erik's mind immediately recalled the teachings of his parents on the subject of vampires, identifying the ominous creatures before them as ghouls. Ghouls, he knew, were what vampires turned into after prolonged periods without blood.

Contrary to the expectation that vampires weakened by blood deprivation would be feeble, these ghouls were anything but. In fact, they exhibited a strength that defied their presumed vulnerability.

In the lore passed down by Erik's parents, vampires undergoing blood deprivation would initially experience a gradual decline in power. However, as they reached their lowest point, an unexpected reversal occurred – their strength would begin to rise again. The catch: this resurgence came at the cost of intelligence and reasoning, rather than blood.

Remarkably, this condition wasn't irreversible, provided the vampire hadn't lingered as a ghoul for too long. A replenishment of blood could revert the transformation.

Before the awakening, knowledge of a vampire's ability to transform into a ghoul was not widespread. It was a rare occurrence, and those who underwent the transformation were typically dispatched swiftly by hunters or fellow vampires, or managed to find bodies to drain in order to regain their vampire form.

Despite the rarity of such transformations, Erik's parents adamantly asserted the existence of ghouls in the realm of vampires.

The thing is, ghouls are supposed to be mindless creatures who crave blood and attempt to kill and drain whatever is nearest to them. But these ghouls were clearly following orders and waiting patiently despite the apparent insanity behind their eyes.

But now was not the time to consider the reasoning for that.

Suddenly, a well-dressed regular vampire stepped forward on one of the roofs and looked down at the group with clear condescension. According to Elora, this man was a second-rank Runebound but likely wouldn't be able to tell the strength of Erik and Emily from that distance.

The man grinned maliciously. "Well, well, well! If it isn't the start of a classic post-apocalyptic joke. An armoured marauder, an edgy tomb raider, and a maid walk into a bar... or rather, hobble into post-apocalyptic ruins. I must have taken a wrong turn at the punchline!

I'm surprised to see any humans travelling freely, however. I figured they would have died out or been enslaved across the world."

Looking at this group of people, the man actually assumed Erik was a human because of his armour, which didn't seem friendly to shapeshifting, while Emma and Emily were shapeshifters because of their light clothing despite the cold.

He clearly didn't know humans could protect themself from the cold with aetherium.

The roof-man continued, "Well, no matter. Unless you people want these wretches here to rough you up a little first, I suggest you come with me. Quietly."

Erik looked up at him calmly, "Your words seem to suggest humans aren't doing so well in these lands? And where exactly are you intending to take us?"

The man raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "Oh? You don't seem particularly concerned. Well, no matter, I don't mind explaining."

He spread his arms in an elegant flourish and spoke with pedantic pride in his voice, "I'm not surprised you don't know, since you came by boat and all, but these lands are ruled by Sigurd Blackthorn.

In my lord's infinite wisdom, he has determined that all non-vampires will be used as blood banks! And since non-vampires include you three, you'll have to come with me to one of our blood farms. Willingly, or less so."

He shrugged nonchalantly, "As for humans, why would they be doing well? Their squishy bodies can't even handle the cold without thick clothing and heating. Most of them died out seven years ago, anyway."

It appeared that humans never had much of a chance to develop their power here. It made sense, however, as supernaturals had likely outnumbered humans after the awakening.

The man smiled maliciously again, "So, shall we go?"

Erik cocked his head to the side, "Hmm, let me think about that for a moment."

Instead of speaking further, he lifted his hand and touched one of his lightning glyphs. A whirling and cracking mass of lightning formed. "Here's my answer."

He launched the concussive lightning blast straight at the building on which the vampire man was standing. It sailed through the air, and before anyone could react, it exploded, causing the building to collapse.

The man screeched in anger as he quickly moved back to avoid falling down and being buried by rubble, "Damn you, you walking bloodbag! Wretches! Attack! And don't you dare kill any of them! For every one of them that dies, I'll kill ten of you!"

The man disappeared behind the mass of pale creatures while the building he stood on continued coming down under loud crashing sounds and a chorus of screeching ghouls.

Finally, being given the order to unleash hell, the tide of fifty-plus ghouls charged at Erik's group with wild abandon, loud growls and spit flying everywhere.

Emily laughed maliciously and excitedly as various pitch-black magic circles appeared around her. Emma looked anxious and closed her eyes.

'Calm down, Emma. Sir can handle this. Remember what he said I should do when a fight starts: Protect yourself, and don't move until it's over.'

Luckily, Emma's first nature spell was ideally suited for that goal. A bright green magic circle appeared. Vines sprang forth from the snowy ground, and she was soon encased in a thick bramble of thorns and branches.

Seeing Emma remember his instructions, Erik focused on other things.

For example, his excitement.

His expression morphed into excited savagery. "It's been a long time since I went two weeks without a fight. Time to let loose!"

He howled his excitement into the air and prepared to engage with the many ghouls as lightning began to course through his body, and a light sheen of ice covered his armour.

Despite his excitement, he did take this fight seriously. After all, rank-one they may be, but there were still a lot of them, and he also needed to keep an eye on Emily and Emma. Their bodies were a lot less durable than his, after all.