Chapter 4

Chapter 4: The Hunt

It was a cold morning, Lith had gone days without feeding properly; in fact, her last meal was a small victim she found injured and lost in the forest.

She didn’t like having to go through that area, but she found herself in dire need. She had to abandon her refuge, and the dense snow hindered her hunting.

She was forced to search in remote places; with the cold in the area, few prey revealed themselves—nothing passed by there.

However, luck seemed to be on her side that morning; a scent caressed her nostrils, someone was nearby, and she could sense it on her palate.

First, it was the fragrance, and then it was the sound that warned her that they were closer than she imagined. The lack of nourishment had weakened her vampiric powers, making her thermal vision practically useless in that cold.

She climbed a tree to have a better view of the perimeter; she faintly felt the warmth of something about a hundred meters from her position. Her fangs peeked out in excitement, and she unconsciously licked her lips.

She leaped from tree to tree until she reached the area with the highest thermal signature; it was one of the thickest parts of the forest.

She had to descend to achieve better accuracy; from above, her vision was more confusing without her full powers. She felt weak for any attack, but a sip of blood would improve her condition.

She felt somewhat clumsier than usual; it wasn’t good for her to feed so infrequently. But it was her decision; she didn’t want to be seen in that area too often, especially in that state.

She noticed a bush moving and her mind instinctively thought of a lost young man; she forced herself to clear that image from her head. She needed to concentrate, and those images didn’t help at all.

She was quite close to her prey; that was when her eyes turned completely red, and she pounced on him.

She saw large yellow pupils fixed on her, waiting.

She was able to correct herself and moved aside mid-leap; the creature had lunged at her ferociously with a claw aimed at her neck.

It was a Snør, a feline about two meters long and one meter tall, with a lot of white fur and fangs the size of half of Lith’s head.

The vampire and the beast exchanged glances as they circled each other in a combat position, mentally contemplating who would strike first.

Lith was an undead with white hair and reddish eyes, slender in build, and quite young to be a lone vampire. She wore a somewhat old and lightweight armor; being a vampire, she didn’t need to worry about the cold.

Now, she found herself facing a massive snow predator, a huge Snør.

She lunged, and he did the same. Lith bit the feline’s neck superficially while he dug some of his claws into her ribs. Despite her armor, the claws pierced through, and she clenched her teeth tightly, a clear sign of pain.

Few things were as strong as her nails, perhaps her fangs, but fortunately, Lith hadn’t used them yet.

In the bite, she could barely get any blood into her mouth, so she would need another bite.

Both of them fell to the ground; Lith was slightly more injured. The lack of blood in her body could prove fatal with those wounds.

Now, it was a matter of survival. She could either flee for her life or stay and fight to have something to feed on; she chose the latter.

The Snør seemed to be doing better; the wounds had left only minor marks on his body. It was then that he mustered the energy to initiate another attack.

She leaned against a tree when she noticed the beast lunging in her direction. She pushed him two meters back, colliding with another tree. The Snør bared his huge fangs, and his roar silenced the rest of the forest.

She prepared herself and began what seemed to be the final attack.

Lith was on the ground, enduring the screams of pain, while he leaped once again.

That’s when she spun around and jumped over him, grabbing him by the neck and slamming him violently to the ground.

Now, she had the upper hand, having him in a position to sink her teeth into his jugular. As she showed her fangs, the Snør started screaming and trying to break free from her grasp.

Then a loud gunshot was heard from afar, both of them collapsed to the ground, and a sharp pain awakened in Lith’s chest. She saw blood gushing out from her armor.

She tried to get up, but a sensation she had almost forgotten years ago overcame her – it was a mixture of pain and fear, probably what humans called panic.

The Snør got up with several scratches and some minor bites, while she lay in the snow, agonizing.

She felt the end drawing near, an end she would have dreamed of a couple of years ago, but she no longer longed for it in the same way for the past few months.

Footsteps approached rapidly, and Lith did her best to recover and get out of there in one piece.

She thought about how stupid she had been to get herself injured like that. She should have been well-fed, and they wouldn’t have had the luck to kill her. She would have escaped without giving her attackers a chance.

«Is that bitch dead?» said a female voice coming closer from beyond the bushes.

«Damn, I think not. That bloodsucker is still alive. We’ll have to finish her off. I can’t believe she survived that shot or your beast,» exclaimed a male voice approaching.

«Damn it, Velroth, she’s alive. I can still hear her breathing,» the female voice added again.

The Snør began to growl at Lith and paced in circles around her. The pool of blood was growing, and the vampire’s eyes began to close. She feared fainting before dying.

«It can’t be, Alein. We’ve left a Morgue squad member almost dead,» Velroth muttered as he brushed the snow off his face.

«Really? How do you know, brother?» she asked skeptically as she approached Lith’s body lying in the snow.

«Look at the emblem on her armor, the crimson letter M with the two fangs on each end,» Velroth exclaimed, pointing to Lith’s armor.

«Damn it, you’re right. We’ve taken down a Morgue,» Alein said with a proud smile on her face.

«She’s still alive, barely hanging on. What is a Morgue doing here? Could there be more of them around?» Velroth mumbled while quickly scanning his surroundings.

«I think she’s alone, brother,» she whispered, moving her arms to signal her brother to lower his voice.

The Snør had gotten up and was sniffing at the vampire, subtly displaying its fangs, as if it would bite her neck any moment – something it would never do without the consent of its loyal friend, Alein.

-Don’t worry, little one, this one won’t harm you ever again,» she whispered to the large white feline.

«Wait a moment, sister, I think I have a better idea. If she’s here alone, she must be lost. She probably has valuable information about her vile species,» Velroth commented as he searched for something in his backpack.

Finally, he pulled out some black chains.

«What do you mean? Are you going to tie her up?» Alein asked, surprised and incredulous at her brother’s actions.

«Not exactly. We’ll take her with us for interrogation. She’s in bad shape, but I’m sure she can tell us something, and then I’ll leave her for you to take care of,» he replied as he bound her hands with the massive chains he had taken out.

«Are you serious? Are you crazy? She’ll kill us if she’s capable of recovering,» she shouted irrationally.

He took a few seconds before continuing.

«Velroth, she’s severely injured, but she’s a damn Morgue. This bitch has no compassion, and she’ll die before telling us anything.» Alein’s face was completely bewildered; she couldn’t understand her brother.

The Snør roared in anger, a complete connection with Alein; their feelings were intertwined.

«I have some Teruil chains; she won’t be able to do much with them on. Remember the ones we stole from the facility down south a few weeks ago?» Velroth’s tone was completely calm.

Alein looked puzzled at the chains and then at the vampire. Her mixture of disgust and hatred towards vampires was greater than her brother’s; he always wanted to see how they could profit from a situation, while she just wanted to kill them all. Velroth was always colder in tense situations like the one they were in now.

«I don’t like the idea, no matter if they’re from Teruil. If she gets angry, we’ll be in deep trouble,» she said with uncertainty in her voice.

«She won’t be able to do anything. She probably won’t even make it to our shelter. She’s in bad shape, lost a lot of blood. Although the wound seems to have healed, she’s still very weak, and tied up, she’s got no chance,» Velroth reassured her.

«I insist, brother, I don’t like the idea. I’ll keep my rifle loaded and pointed at her all the time, and if she makes any suspicious move, I’ll put a bullet in that pale head of hers,» she said, pointing the rifle at Lith’s face.

Lith opened one eye and saw the Snør sniffing her face and a rifle pointed at her, so she decided to stay still. The bleeding had stopped, but she felt barely any energy left.

Velroth held her firmly; thanks in part to his large size, he was able to move her with ease. He tied her securely with a knot to the Snør’s neck, the Teruil chains binding her arms and another one wrapped around her neck. It was practically unbreakable, unless she killed the beast and both of them as well, which was far from happening at the moment.

The feline began to stretch and drag Lith’s body, which, although slender in build, became much heavier with the armor.

The Snør could move her relatively easily, but as it was a long and snow-covered path, Velroth decided to take another risky measure.

«He won’t be able to drag her all the way. Your feline is very strong, but I don’t think it will arrive unharmed if it has to drag her. We’ll have to give it some blood to get it moving,» Velroth commented as he saw his sister’s face change once again.

«Wait… What did you say? Now you’re going to feed her too? No way, let her rot, I’m not giving her any of my blood,» Alein pointed at the beast. «And certainly not mine!» Her eyes flared up in just a few seconds.

«I know, little sister, I’m fully aware,» he exclaimed with a smile. He took out a small knife he had in his hand, removed a glove, and prepared to make a cut on his hand.

«Stop! No! She’ll recover! You’ll kill us all, and your scent of blood will be all over the forest,» she shouted, backing away from him.

Without hesitation, he took off his glove from his left hand and made a small cut.

He let out a slight sigh of pain, and a few drops of blood started to come out. The cut had been small, but enough to moisten the blade.

Alein firmly grabbed his hand, and the Snør growled as if it fully understood the conversation and Velroth’s intentions.

He pulled away from her, and the beast positioned itself by her side, heading straight for Lith, who was still lying on the ground, moribund and with a vacant stare.

Velroth brought the knife close to her nose, and she instantly opened her eyes.

In just a few seconds, she awakened, and her gaze turned red. Her body seemed to rise, and she reached her right hand toward the knife, snatching it with a movement of pure survival.

Neither Alein nor Velroth, not even the Snør, could anticipate the swift movement Lith made. Suddenly, she held a blood-stained knife, and they were petrified by her lightning-fast actions.

Before any of the three could react, the vampire had sucked all the blood from the knife, and her eyes turned a crimson hue.

Alein went to move her rifle, but the undead turned the knife, pointing it at herself, and handed it back to her by the handle.

Velroth moved Alein’s rifle away.

«Hold on, sister,» he yelled.

«Kill her now! Are you crazy? She has a damn machete, and she just fed! I’m going to finish her myself!» Alein exploded.

«Stop! Drop the knife! I don’t need it. I just fed, and even if it was a small meal, I could escape if I wanted to, or even kill you both, but I won’t,» Lith murmured calmly.

Velroth raised an eyebrow and lightly stroked his beard. He extended his still-bloodied left arm and grabbed the knife.

«See? I don’t need it at all. Keep it,» Lith concluded the matter while she looked at the droplets falling from the human’s arm.

Alein slowly lowered the rifle, observing the Snør and her brother as they relaxed, the beast looking a bit perplexed.

«I volunteer if you want. I have nothing against you,» the vampire said with an overly calm tone.

Velroth and Alein exchanged puzzled looks.

«You better not be setting a trap; I won’t hesitate to rip your heart out,» the younger of the siblings said disdainfully.

«A trap? I think I might be the one walking into a trap, although I suspect you just want information, don’t you?» the undead added with a slight chuckle.

«Not here! I don’t know if there might be others like you. Right now, you’re injured, and you won’t be able to do much for a while,» Velroth exclaimed, turning his gaze towards the mountain peak.

«Alright, let’s go where you say. By the way, my name is Lith, although sometimes they call me Cónclave,» she whispered with a slight smile on her face.

«I won’t tell you my name!» Alein shouted with an angry glare.

«I’m Velroth, and she’s Alein. We’re vampire hunters, so enough talking for now; let’s get going,» Velroth declared.

The Snør stood beside the young human, and Velroth positioned himself behind the undead. They began walking towards their lair. Lith moved slowly, still vaguely recovering, but she was still badly wounded from the shot she had received in her shoulder.