A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

The vampire woman's eyes burnt with fury as she looked at the black patches slowly corroding her earthen armour. She quickly dismissed it before the corrosive darkness reached her skin.

She wasn't sure what affinity this woman used, but it was clearly dangerous. She would have to focus on avoiding it, as dismissing and restoring her armour every time she got hit would drain her energy way too quickly.

Both Emily and the vampire were now on their feet and staring at each other. Despite her bloodthirst calling out for it, Emily didn't make another move. After all, Erik had asked her to delay this woman, not defeat her.

The vampire leader growled, "Who are you?! How dare you attack a Dominion patrol?! I don't know where you came from, human, or how you avoided detection for so long, but you should have remained hidden!"

Only then did she finally notice Erik, who was busy slaughtering ghouls just behind Emily. "And a werewolf!? When did those beasts from the Enclave stop killing humans on sight?!"

Emily kept pulling on the reigns of her instincts as she responded so she could delay as long as possible. "Who says we're with the Enclave?" Her lips were curled into a bloodthirsty smile as if she couldn't wait to attack again, which was true.

The vampire scoffed, "I don't care who you're with. You made a mistake attacking us!" She grinned maliciously. "Let's see how that mutt over there deals with my second-rank ghoul."

She was right to be confident. Second-rank ghouls remain essentially mindless, but they retain much more of their original self's motor skills than first-rank ghouls. She knew this ghoul was one of their best fighters, even though no one knew who she had been before becoming a ghoul.

Plus, since a ghoul essentially traded their critical thinking for power, they were always at the top of their game, unlike regular vampires, who were only at their most powerful when they had a belly full of blood.

Lastly, second-rank ghouls are… unique in how they are controlled compared to first-rank ghouls.

All this makes second-rank ghouls the strongest front-line solder available to the Dominion. The only problem was that they still couldn't use their affinities.

Yet, despite her confidence in ghoul Astrid's abilities, she knew wasting time would be a mistake. After all, in a group fight with two second-ranked on each side, the winner would be decided by the one who could turn the battle into a two vs one the fastest.

So she activated her second rune, causing lances made from rock to appear on her hands, and charged at Emily, who cursed under her breath but also felt relieved at being able to let loose the reigns of her bloodthirst.

As a Runebound, the vampire's physical abilities were naturally far beyond Emily's. Hence, she had to make sure to stay out of melee range.

She quickly made five pitch-black balls float around her and began to harass her opponent with them to slow her down while Emily moved back, essentially beginning to kite her. These were the moments when she really wished her second spell was some kind of defensive or movement spell rather than enslavement.

Luckily, as a reward for 'being a good girl last night', as Elora had put it, the fairy had taught her how to create a simple augmentation sigil. This sigil was the primary method used on Söl by lower-ranked Arcanists to increase the power of their body.

It wouldn't make her body even nearly as powerful as a Runebound, but it might just make the difference between life and death. She poured her energy into the sigil. A symbol quickly flashed on the back of her hand, and right away, great power filled her body to the brim.

She grinned widely. 'Time to annoy this woman to death', she thought.

Meanwhile, Erik's impact had attracted every ghoul in the patrol towards him, leaving Emily free to move about.

He had stowed away his hammer and turned into a whirlwind of lightning and ice as his claws ripped apart everything that came close. While he did so, Elora kept an eye on Emily for him while he was locked in a staring contest with the ghoulified Astrid.

In her eyes, all he saw was insanity and obedience to whatever sigil the Dominion had used to keep their ghouls under control.

Luckily, according to what he learned from his parents, ghouls could return to normal as long as they actually got their fangs on some blood. Not to mention that he had both Emma's light affinity and Emily's seidr magic to smooth over any kinks. That said, he couldn't help worrying as he looked at the thing his childhood friend had turned into.

Her behaviour was a little strange, though. "Why do you think she's just standing there and looking at me? You think she's not entirely mindless after all?" He asked Elora while continuing to slaughter ghouls.

Elora was quiet for a moment before speaking up. "I doubt it. Her behaviour suggests she's literally observing you, which suggests critical thinking. Instead, I suspect she's under the direct control of someone…"

As he ripped another ghoul's head off, Erik frowned. "Direct control… You mean someone else is looking at me right now?"

He received a mental nod, "Right. There are many types of beast control sigils, some of which allow for a complete takeover. I doubt every one of these ghouls is under direct control, but it's not surprising if they use this method for second-rank ghouls.

They could simply use a weaker first-rank for the task and get a second-rank ghoul that can actually think for itself. Kind of, anyway."

While Eora talked, Erik breathed deeply, opened his mouth, and touched his first ice spell. A blue magic circle appeared before his mouth, and he released a breath of icy shrapnel, instantly annihilating another five ghouls.

"So why is she, or whoever's controlling her, not attacking then?" He asked.

Elora seemed to think for a moment, "Good question. I'm not entirely sure. It's possible whoever is controlling her is trying to find a weakness or hoping the first-rank ghouls will tire you out. However, it still seems like attacking would be a better strategy."

She sent him a mental shrug, "Anyway, does it matter? They won't find a weakness to exploit, and with me here, physical stamina is the least of your concerns."

Erik couldn't find any fault in her words, so he nodded and went back to killing ghouls while keeping an eye on Astrid.

*******

Meanwhile, on the other side of Finnmark, the county where the Dominion ruled, in the city of Alta, a man was sitting on a large, comfortable leather chair while sipping a red, viscous fluid from a whiskey glass.

The room was located in an underground bunker, left over from World War two, and had clearly been initially built with utilitarian comforts in mind.

However, since then, it has been refurnished and modified to become the well-secured yet very comfortable living quarters of Sigurd Blackthorn, the dominion's current leader and its only third-rank fighter.

Lighting was sparse yet warm, which, as a vampire, suited Sigurd just fine. Various paintings and other art were spread around the room, which, combined with the luxurious furniture, warm light, rugs and wood-covered walls, created an atmosphere of opulence and comfort despite being in a utilitarian World War Two bunker.

Sigurd himself was a tall man with typical red eyes, chestnut brown hair and a sinister face, with eyes full of malice. He released a sigh of contentment as he sipped on the glass of blood in his left hand and put his right hand on the head of an unfortunate young woman between his legs.

"That's it, girl. Please me, and perhaps I'll go a little easier on your mother the next time I call on her." Panic and tears were evident in the girl's eyes, but she didn't stop. She didn't dare to.

Suddenly, a rapid knocking sounded on his door. Anger and annoyance flashed through Sigurd's eyes as he grabbed the woman's hair tight and pushed her further down while responding to the knocking in a calm voice that belied the anger in his eyes.

There was only one man who would dare to disturb him now. "What is it, Lars? I know you must have a good reason to disturb me during my rest."

A rushed man's voice sounded from the other side of the door. "Deepest apologies, Lord Sigurd, but you asked me to inform you the moment anyone found news about the girl."

All the irritation was immediately wiped from Sigurd's face as a wide grin appeared on his face, "Oh? Did you find her?"

"Yes, Sir! But the situation requires your urgent attention. She somehow ended up as a ghoul soldier in one of our Eastern garrisons near the town of Kirkenes. The problem is that we found her because the beastbinder sigil warned us of combat, and the sigil master who took control of her noticed her identity.

In other words, she is currently engaged in combat, and her survival is in question."