Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Escape

As she moved faster and faster, she felt the breath of the bloodsucker in her ear, making every corner seem like the last one; she took advantage of the darkness of the night and the camouflage of the dense forest to continue towards her destination, the city of Eifhen.

Young Theorel had obtained crucial information that could change the fate of the planet. That’s why it was vital to leave behind the vampire who was chasing her, a young man with white hair whose clumsiness as a hunter, partly due to his short time as an undead, gave her some opportunity.

Arriving at the thickest area of the forest, her hope of escaping unharmed grew, but she knew she couldn’t let her guard down. She didn’t have enough charge in her armor to use the increased speed yet, and she had already used the visual and thermal camouflage during the information heist on the small vampire ship.

She ran and tried to hide behind large trees, but it was futile. Every time she seemed to leave him behind, the vampire Vaethon would draw near again. The scent of blood from someone as young as Theorel was impossible to ignore. During the escape, she had slightly injured her face, enough for him to catch her scent and prevent her from shaking off the trail, even for an inexperienced vampire like Vaethon.

When it seemed practically impossible to leave him behind, Theorel saw a small entrance to a cave in the distance. She thought the inner tunnels could confuse the bloodsucker, leaving him behind and allowing her to escape. As she approached the entrance, she smeared some of her blood on nearby trees to make it harder for Vaethon to track her and buy some time until her armor’s abilities recharged.

Once the areas near the cave were saturated with the scent, Theorel prepared to enter it. The first sensation was that it was an immensely large cave, which could work in her favor. She began to venture inside and checked her suit to see if any abilities were still available, but unfortunately, it was drained and seemed to have taken a hard blow while trying to escape.

She desperately hoped that the vampire had continued through the forest and hadn’t entered the cave. She could feel the exhaustion in her legs, so she planned to stay inside during the night and leave the next day.

However, as she ventured into one of the tunnels, a voice shattered all those hopes.

-I’m going to find you, Theorel, and I’m going to tear you apart! My lord will reward me, you damned thief!- Vaethon’s voice echoed from the distance.

Vampires who hadn’t reached maturity often had a haughty and contemptuous attitude toward the human population. But Theorel hoped that would come to an end, that she could escape and bring hope to the dwindling resistance.

As she delved deeper into the cave, she began to think that using this hiding place had been a bad idea. She needed to find a way to leave the vampire behind, or her luck would run out that very night. With each step she took, she felt Vaethon’s presence drawing closer, and how he was more vigilant than ever. He had managed to follow the path she had taken, and although the wound on her face was relatively dry, it still emitted enough scent for the young undead to continue pursuing her.

Theorel suspected she was nearing the depths of the earth. It was getting colder and darker, with barely any visibility. A thin mist obscured the path, and then she sensed a strong stench. She thought something was rotting around her.

She turned left twice and began to see remnants of bones. Fear started to grow within her, and she was eager to share them with the resistance.

As she ventured deeper into the cave, she began to think that using that hiding spot had been a bad idea. She needed to find a way to leave the vampire behind, or her luck would run out that very night. With each step, she sensed Vaethon’s presence getting closer and his lurking becoming more intense. He had managed to follow the path she had taken, and although the wound on her face was relatively dry, it still emitted enough scent for the undead youth to continue tracking her.

Theorel suspected she was nearing the depths of the earth. It was growing colder and darker, with barely any visibility. A thin mist made it difficult to see the path ahead. It was then that she caught a strong stench, as if something was rotting around her.

She turned left twice and began to see remnants of bones. Fear started to creep within her, and she hoped it wouldn’t affect her, but with each step, it became harder to avoid stepping on the remains of animals that had perished down there. The stench was stronger, indicating decaying flesh clinging to the bones she left behind. It didn’t seem like they had died there due to an accident or old age, but rather something different. Her nerves had worked against her when she entered the cave, and now she couldn’t backtrack without encountering Vaethon. She could only move forward and pray that there was nothing worse than a vampire lurking inside.

As the undead youth savored his prey, his mouth watering, he couldn’t help but think about sinking his fangs into the elusive spy’s neck. The scent of Theorel clouded his senses, leaving him barely aware of anything else. His slanted, red eyes saw perfectly in the darkness, and his hearing surpassed that of any other creature in the area. However, his bloodlust prevented him from seeing beyond that. He also didn’t want to disappoint his master, who had placed so much hope in him.

Victory seemed within reach, and he was aware of it. He would be hailed as a hero in his village and the killer of the infamous rebel once and for all. The Red Squadron would accept him as one of their own.

Theorel quickened her pace, no longer concerned with stealth. She only wanted to find an exit. She turned left again, hoping to come across a curve that would lead her back to the surface. However, she stumbled upon a large room filled with mutilated bodies and decomposing skulls. From the darkness emerged a massive silhouette, slowly turning in her direction. A pang in her stomach indicated something terrible was about to happen.

She was left speechless, unable to even blink. Her breathing became erratic, and she was paralyzed with fear, like a statue.

However, the silhouette did move. It turned around, revealing two enormous black, sharp horns, a body roughly eight meters in height, and an imposing muscular structure. The figure began to rise, and like a raging beast, it inhaled a large amount of air before releasing it forcefully. It approached a point where the light allowed Theorel to see what she feared so much. That was when she could see its face, resembling a huge and terribly enraged bull, with a hungry gaze.

«A minotaur,» Theorel murmured to herself with difficulty.

The beast fixed its two enormous, yellow, and enraged eyes on the young woman. Its skin seemed as tough as metal, it had long black hair, and its face was monstrous. Its teeth were half the size of her body, and its arms could crush a bone as if it were a tree branch.

It began to move towards her, breathing furiously, and the air it exhaled clouded part of the cave, hindering visibility.

Then she snapped out of her static state and started running in the opposite direction of the Minotaur, hoping to find a way out. However, she collided with Vaethon and slammed into his chest, falling to the ground with a hard impact.

The vampire smiled at seeing her so frail and helpless on the ground. But something interrupted him just as he was relishing in his victory. He looked up towards the depths of the cave upon hearing a noise, but it was already too late. The cold body of the beast had managed to go unnoticed by the undead, surprising him completely.

The Minotaur lunged at Vaethon, and both crashed to the ground, causing a tremendous uproar throughout the cave. In that moment, Theorel was getting back on her feet when she noticed a faint light had turned on in her suit.

«It finally charged!» the young spy thought aloud.

She quickly pressed the button, and her body disappeared. Unfortunately for her, the thermal part of her suit had malfunctioned during her tumultuous escape. There was no visible trace of the spy left in the cave, except for the vampire who was getting up from the ground after the impact, sensing the heat she emitted. He headed towards the young woman at great speed, gritting his teeth out of accumulated rage. However, a massive hand grabbed him from behind and threw him several meters into the air. The Minotaur had completely lost track of Theorel, and his sole objective now was the vampire, who was attempting to get up after being brutally thrown against the walls.

Theorel realized she was completely invisible to the Minotaur and also activated the enhanced speed of her armor before Vaethon could pounce on her. She ran through all the tunnels without looking back until the light in the cave became more noticeable. She was close to the surface, already feeling the cold forest air, the movement of the trees, and even the sound of a bird flying. And of course, she could hear the distant screams of Vaethon and the Minotaur within the cave.

She still felt panicked from the situation she had just experienced, which might be why it took less time than she thought to leave that area behind. Regardless of what happened, she was already far away from him, and thanks to the speed of her suit, that part of the forest was far behind.

She had once again managed to escape from the vampires, but this time, she had come dangerously close to a bad outcome. She took a deep breath and tried not to dwell on that matter. All she wanted was to reach the city and share the incredible data she had in her possession.

However, she hoped that Vaethon had perished. It had been a tremendous struggle to obtain the information and leave him behind. Under no circumstances did she want word to spread among the vampires, leading them to her city, Eifhen, which had already suffered the wrath of the Morgue squad, arguably the deadliest patrol in the vampire army.

Two days passed through mountains, rocks, and rivers, sleeping in trees and eating whatever she managed to hunt. She finally arrived at a hidden entrance to the city. She only had to navigate through some debris near the fence that separated the city from the mountain, and she would have reached the resistance base, a well-hidden area far from the fangs of the vampires. It was of utmost importance that they were not followed or that their location was revealed, as it would be the end of everything.

Unfortunately, several undead creatures were roaming around their usual entrance. Although she had used some of the energy from her armor, there was still enough for one final use before she had to wait and restart it completely. The thermal camouflage was still malfunctioning, so it was crucial to descend at the right moment to avoid detection. Vampires only sensed her heat if she was relatively close.

The city had been destroyed in the attacks a few years ago. Abandoned and looted cars from years past could be seen, and the few remaining standing buildings were used as communal dormitories or were reduced to rubble, awaiting repair or demolition. The few surviving humans worked for the undead and were usually submissive. No one wanted to answer back to a vampire and end up captured or killed.

The night was coming to an end, and the city began to be faintly illuminated. The skeletons of abandoned skyscrapers reflected in the puddled ground, giving a glimpse of what was once a great city, now destroyed and left to its own devices, where no one could do anything to keep it standing. It felt like it was only a few years away from collapsing completely.

Dawn was the moment when the rest of the creatures of the night took advantage to go out and shift their duties, as a vampire’s blood reserves usually didn’t last more than a couple of days, and they had to return to the base to maintain their powers and remain in perfect condition during the day.

Theorel studied the route the vampires took; they seemed to have a specific path. They moved along the wall until the end and then returned. Her vision was precise enough to appreciate details up to a kilometer away without losing anything. From their body movements, it seemed they were unaware of the theft of Theorel’s information. This made the young spy hopeful that Vaethon had perished in the cave and hadn’t been able to provide information to his master, meaning no one would be actively searching for her at that moment.

They started moving away from the debris where Theorel planned to sneak in, muttering something amongst themselves, completely distracted. It was at that moment that the young spy seized the opportunity and activated the final charge of her suit. She salivated first, took a deep breath, and reflected on her movements. They had to be extremely precise if she didn’t want to be.

Theorel quickly jumped from the precipice where she had been observing and slid down the slope at a speed impossible for humans to see but detectable by vampires. However, they had their backs turned and were in the distance, so they didn’t notice her. By the time they turned around to continue their patrol, she had already passed through the debris and accessed the city of Eifhen.

There were a great number of abandoned and rusted cars, exactly in the same position they were left by their owners when they witnessed the events during «The First Night,» that era when her planet, Vierstorp, was a symbol of modernity and peace.

Those times were completely unknown to Theorel. She was born with the arrival of the vampires and had no knowledge of what life was like before. What her parents used to do at her age, like going to a tavern and having a drink with friends, laughing—it had been so long since laughter was heard in Eifhen. Even the idea of visiting other cities was foreign to her, but she would never know. Her parents had disappeared five years ago during an incursion into vampire territory, and she hadn’t received any news since. The resistance and herself assumed the worst—they were probably captured by Isrith and his Morgue squad.

The disappearance of her parents was the catalyst for her joining the resistance and becoming a spy. Her stealth and her desire to uncover information about her parents did the rest. She held onto the hope of finding out what had happened to them and finally being able to rest, as over the years, she was beginning to accept that she would never see them again. That’s why she trained and exerted herself with all her might.

She improved her exploration skills and her ability to go unnoticed. Her fame grew, and a significant part of the Morgue squad had Theorel as one of their top targets. However, they had never even caught a glimpse of her precious dark face or her thick black hair. They were unable to provide a description. But today, Vaethon had seen her face up close, which is why she desired his death even more.

Theorel maneuvered through various streets to avoid detection, passing through neighborhoods where there were plenty of ruins and decaying corpses. These were areas where vampires rarely tracked. She continued on her way until she reached an old abandoned subway section that crossed part of the city. Usually, going underground with vampires was not recommended, but this particular area was free of them due to the strong smell of dampness caused by a forgotten swimming pool above. It was filled with tunnels that led to the boiler and water pump rooms. The human scent was impossible to detect, which is why the vampires had forgotten about that place.

Finally, after descending stairs and navigating multiple turns, she arrived at the entrance to the base. It was closed with a small red door, and a dirty sign partially faded had «Utility Meters» written on it. She knocked on it, and a homemade slot opened.

«I knew it was you, Theorel,» a deep, masculine voice said from behind the door.

-Open up quickly! I have important information, really important! Come on, let’s go! And do we have the kid here? – Theorel asked nervously.

«The boy is here. What do you have that’s so important?» the same masculine voice replied.

«Open the damn door! I’m telling you, this changes everything. I have the location of the four tombs!» Theorel raised her voice with a tone of disbelief. She couldn’t understand why they weren’t opening the door after she had risked her life for it in the forest.

«What are you saying? Are you serious?» The young man’s tone rose, and faint whispers could be heard.

«Of course, open up, and we’ll look at it. Today our luck is going to completely change,» Theorel’s tone was calmer now.

Suddenly, a noise was heard, and a young man with long, dark hair and a beard appeared with a smile on his face.

«I was just pulling your leg. Of course, I was going to open,» he chuckled softly while examining Theorel’s face.

«Move aside, I need to talk to the kid! Is he in there?» the young spy asked, looking around desperately.

«He’s in the back… but wait a minute, did you really say four tombs?» The boy looked concerned and asked nervously, raising an eyebrow.

«Yes, I have the location of the four tombs, but the kid has to decipher them. He knows the vampire code,» Theorel said, sounding tired of all the questions.

«Here I am,» said a boy, no more than fifteen years old, with slanted eyes and blue hair.

Theorel approached the young boy and started searching in one of the compartments of her armor. There was a sound, and a small black piece came out. She held it with her fingers and handed it to him.

«This is for you, Ryoji. Get to work. It’s top priority,» the young woman ordered as she handed him a microchip.

«So, it’s true what I’ve heard. Are these the four tombs?» he asked, looking like he was dreaming while he ran his fingers through his colorful hair.

«Yes, so we don’t have any time to waste,» Theorel said as she headed to a room to rest after the long escape she had just experienced. Her body had reached its limits.

Immediately, the rest of them went to a computer to decipher the information. It would take hours, but if anyone could do it, it was the young prodigy, Ryoji.