Director Farrow, Captain Wagner, and Agent Walker watched as military planes flew over, bombarding the area in front of them. A mile ahead, explosions went off as missiles and mines detonated together. Trees went up in flames and were knocked over, crashing to the ground. Moments later, fire planes flew over and dumped massive loads of water to douse as much of the fire as possible and clear the way for the night Hunter forces. Once Farrow was certain they were finished, he lifted his communicator.
“This is Farrow,” he said. “Canine squad, send in the wolves.”
Not far away, Captain Stella Reinhardt answered, “Roger that,” into her own communicator, before shouting, “All units, transform!”
Stella nodded to a woman beside her in robes, who pushed a button in the amulet around her neck, opening the silver chamber and revealing a moon rock. A moment later, the woman’s body began to transform, her limbs shifting and hair growing all over her body. The robe she was wearing folded away until it covered her back, leaving a horse sized wolf where the woman once stood.
Stella used a whistle to send a few commands to stay put.
All around her, werewolf trainers watched as their partners became wolves. Among them, Marcia Perez watched her partner Hayden take a deep breath.
“Wish me luck,” said Hayden, before pressing the button on her amulet.
Marcia watched the transformation, still fascinated even after seeing it several times. Knowing what was coming, Marcia steeled herself and raised her whistle to her lips. When the transformation finished, Hayden the werewolf regarded Marcia with fierce yellow eyes.
“Hey girl,” said Marcia as werewolves around her kept transforming. “I’m watching your back out there, just like I promised.”
The werewolves’ eyes seemed to soften, and the giant beast let Marcia scratch it behind the ears.
“All units!” cried Stella. “Advance!”
Whistles sounded around them as werewolves ran forward. Marcia said, “That’s our cue,” and whistled, prompting Hayden to run forward. Marcia followed as fast as she could, joining the Night Hunters as they drove the werewolves forward.
Further back, Robert and Jamar hefted their weapons as they heard Farrow give the command.
“Werewolf units are advancing,” Farrow shouted as he moved forward with Wagner and Walker. “Night Hunters, march forward.”
“Let’s do this,” said Jamar.
“I’m with you,” said Robert.
The two of them, along with the rest of the Night Hunters marched forward.
###
“Get to the back!” cried the Night Hunter captain in the cargo helicopter.
Alice, Gordon, Cora, Jasmine, and Jaiden backed away from the open helicopter door as Night Hunters stepped up and raised their guns. The five supernatural warriors looped their arms around a handrail at the opposite side of the vehicle and covered their ears as the hunters began shooting.
Alice almost fell to the floor, wincing with pain as the sound nearly overwhelmed her. Even with earplugs in her ears and her hands over them, her head was throbbing from the pain. She could only imagine what it would be like without such protection.
Meanwhile, the night hunters rained gunfire down on the gargoyles as they flew up. The other helicopters had already dropped their payloads, giant tanks filled with water that exploded with holy water mist upon impact. With the displacement spell down, the giant tanks struck the mansion and forced any vampires to head inside. A few didn’t make it, getting melted by holy water.
Above that, the gargoyles attacked the helicopters directly, crawling over them and breaking glass to get inside. Once the gargoyles broke the glass and grabbed the pilots, the helicopters started going down, the first crashing into trees and exploding.
At the cargo helicopter, the night hunters standing at the edge tried to shoot down as many gargoyles as they could. Several winged beasts convulsed in the air as bullets ripped through their bodies before falling, their wings still rippling in the wind as they slowly started turning back to stone. Still, many of the gargoyles made it to the cargo helicopter, grabbing the night hunters with their claws and throwing them out of the plane or knocking to the floor.
The hunters didn’t last long, and the gunfire ceased as all of them were taken down, their lifeless bodies lying still. Gordon and Cora recovered first, drawing their swords, and striking down the gargoyles that came near. Excalibur flashed with golden light every time it connected with flesh, rending the gargoyles to ash, while Durendal left a line of white light in whatever it cut. Gargoyle blood and ash spilled over the floor as the two fought, and even with the parachutes on their back the two of them still fought with skill and grace. On the floor, the dead gargoyles slowly turned to stone, and even the ash slowly shifted to fine dust.
A moment later Jasmine and Jaiden stood. Jasmine drew Dyrnwyn and the sword burst into flame, causing gargoyles nearby to back away. As she swung the sword, she either cut them down or they caught fire and fled. Jaiden drew Mistilteinn, the blade singing with an almost melodic tune as he cut through gargoyles easily.
Alice, still new to her enhanced hearing, was the last to recover. At first her vision was nothing but a blur, but when things came into focus, she saw the others cutting down any gargoyles that came near. Shaking her head, Alice stood and put her hand on the Muramasa blade at her side.
Just grabbing the hilt sent heat through Alice’s body, her blood vessels pumping fast and sweat lifting from her body like steam. She could feel a sudden urge to cut down every living thing she could see, but she stifled it. She was here to save her brother. Killing the monsters was a necessity, not the point. Alice could also sense the other Muramasa at her back, the one meant for Arthur, calling to her, beckoning her to gain more power, but she resisted. One of these was overwhelming enough.
Alice drew the sword and cut down the first gargoyle that attacked her, slicing it into two pieces that fell in opposite directions. She ran forward, swinging the cursed katana with more speed and agility than even her crucivire powers granted her. It was exhilarating, but Alice kept calm. As the last gargoyle in the compartment fell, she took a deep breath.
Before the five warriors could congratulate each other for surviving, the helicopter lurched, and would have knocked them off their feet if they were ordinary humans.
“They must have gotten to the pilot,” Gordon telepathically told the others. “We need to leave now.”
They all sheathed their magic swords and followed Gordon to the open compartment. The helicopter began spinning out of control, falling from the sky as the pilot slumped over, bleeding from the head as a gargoyle fled from the cockpit. Bracing themselves, Alice, Gordon, Cora, Jasmine, and Jaiden jumped out, the wind beginning to rush against their face as they picked up speed.
The five warriors fell for a few feet before pulling the rip cords on their backpacks. The chutes expanded and whipped into the wind as the five of them grabbed their parachute handles to guide their fall. A moment later their helicopter crashed into the forest, knocking trees out of its way. Once it finally went still, the five warriors removed their earplugs.
“Everyone,” said Gordon. “You know our destination.”
I certainly do, thought Alice grimly as they all directed their path towards the vampire’s mansion. They didn’t get very far, however, before they heard the flapping of wings behind them. Three gargoyles were headed their way, and they were diving in fast.
“Heads up!” said Gordon.
The five drew their swords, Jasmine keeping hers stretched out so as not to set herself on fire. With parachutes, they were all sitting ducks, unable to maneuver. Jasmine swung Dyrnwyn behind her releasing some flame that set a gargoyle on fire, making it flee in terror. Gordon managed to stab his sword behind him, hitting a gargoyle in the head. The impact knocked Gordon around a little bit, but he managed to correct his flight path as the gargoyle fell, lifeless.
It was Alice who got the worst of it. One of them grabbed her from behind, trying to bite into her only to tear into the pack her parachute came out of. As Alice struggled to stab the creature behind her, the extra weight making them drop faster, it kept biting at the pack and cut through the parachute’s cords. Soon the parachute drifted away, and Alice plummeted with the gargoyle.
Alice! The other four cried after her.
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Alice finally managed to stab the gargoyle through the head. As the creature stopped struggling on her back, Alice was forced to look down at the ground approaching rapidly. Now what?
“Don’t lose the gargoyle!” Gordon shouted in her mind.
She grabbed the creature’s muscular arm before it drifted away from her.
“Quick!” shouted Gordon mentally. “Get on its back and spread its wings before it turns back to stone!”
Alice, uncertain, hoped Gordon knew what he was doing. Sheathing her Muramasa, she crawled onto the creature’s back and used her arms to spread the creature’s wings as its other limbs flapped lifelessly. Sure enough, she could see the creature’s flesh turning to stone, starting at the base of its feet. Far below, she could see other stone gargoyles falling, many already scattered to pieces on the ground below, which wasn’t an encouraging sight. Moments later, Alice was riding a stone statue with spread wings, the wind rushing past her.
“How does this help me?” asked Alice.
“Use the wings to steer,” said Gordon. “This is going to be close, but I’ll guide you.”
Gordon sent her an image of what he wanted her to do, and Alice paled.
“Well,” she said. “Nobody promised being a crucivire would be easy.”
The wind still blowing in her face, Alice tilted the stone gargoyle towards the mansion, which was approaching fast. When she was near, she aimed for the side of the house. As the vine covered mansion got closer, she gulped.
“Steady,” said Gordon mentally. “A little to the left.”
Alice was almost on top of the mansion.
“Now!” cried Gordon.
Alice let go of the gargoyle, drew the Muramasa, and flipped over. She fell parallel with the mansion, holding the sword above her head and straight out. The blade impacted the wood and vines, cutting a line as she fell and slowing her down. Soon Alice came to a stop, her face nestled into the vines, still wet from the holy water mist dropped earlier.
Alice took a deep breath, sighing in relief, and then pulled the katana out of the wood to sheath it and climb up the vines. She reached the top just as the other four landed, letting go of their parachutes and drawing their swords. Alice climbed up, dropped her own parachute backpack, and drew her sword again, wincing at the hot feeling it sent through her. She checked to make sure the second sword was still strapped to her back and then ran up to the others.
“You okay?” asked Gordon.
“Yeah,” said Alice, breathing how. “You ever have to do that?”
Gordon and Cora looked at each other with sly grins, and Cora said, “Once or twice.”
“That was insane,” said Jasmine, grinning.
“No time to celebrate,” said Jaiden, raising Mistilteinn, “We’ve got company.”
With the holy water mist now settled, vampires had crawled to the roof, swords drawn and glamours down, revealing their hideous undead faces. They ran towards the Night Hunters with murder in their eyes, while the hunters raised their swords, ready to receive them.
###
The werewolves ran forward, over blackened trees and still burning wood. Their night hunter trainers ran as close behind them as they could. As Marcia ran, she felt a sense of calm. So far, things were going smoothly.
She’d thought that too soon, as a werewolf triggered a mine that had survived the bombing run. As the ground shook, the beast was thrown to the ground and got up, growling. A werewolf wouldn’t be hurt by something like that, however, so it only took a few seconds for the werewolf’s trainer to calm it down with a few command whistles and a few scratches behind its ear. Soon, the wolf had joined the others and was running forward again.
Marcia looked forward at Hayden the werewolf. The large creature was waiting for her, yellow eyes intense, and only started running again when Marcia closed the distance. As terrifying as these werewolves could be, there was something comforting about a partner that was this powerful. Even so, Marcia knew the real danger was up ahead. Soon they would run through a field of hexes.
Up ahead, Marcia could see flashes of light as the first werewolves passed by the wreckage from the bombing run and hit the hexes. As she approached, Marcia saw werewolves affected by all sorts of magical afflictions from being levitated into the air, pulled to the ground as if they weighed a ton, strikes going through their fur as if getting cut by a hundred knives, and even one that caught fire. Most of the werewolves were more annoyed by these effects than hurt, though one night hunter got caught in a hex that seemed to age him drastically, turning his skin pale and wrinkled until he literally began crumbling, turning to a pile of dust.
Hayden the werewolf got caught in a hex that made black, thorny vines burst from the ground and wrap the beast up, pinning it down. The creature struggled violently but couldn’t break free from the thorns.
Marcia and the other trainers came up and approached the wolves cautiously, each pulling out a silver knife. It was only theoretical, but supposedly silver had worked as something of a cure all against supernatural forces, including magic and hexes. Hopefully, if they were careful, they could free the wolves and let them keep fighting.
The screams from a few more unfortunate hunters getting caught in hexes didn’t fill Marcia with confidence, though.
Hayden growled, and Marcia made soothing noises as she scratched the wolf behind the ears. Carefully, Marcia used the silver knife to cut one of the vines. It cut slowly, but when she got through, the thorny vine snapped away. Feeling this, Hayden calmed down some more.
This was going to take a while, Marcia thought, though she took some comfort that hers was easy, comparatively. She didn’t envy the hunter whose wolf was covered in magic fire, having to slowly weave a magic knife through flames. If the knife touched the wolf’s flesh, they’d have a very angry werewolf on their hands.
Moment’s later, more Night Hunters came up from the rear, Director Farrow leading them.
“Come on, Men!” cried Farrow. “The vampires won’t wait for the wolves to be freed, neither should we.”
As Marcia worked, she quickly sent a thought of good luck to Robert, Jamar, and Alice.
###
In the pulsing light of the seal, the three elder vampires stood watching solemnly as their followers and human thralls performed the ritual. The witch Serena kept up her chanting, the inhuman sound grating on the senses like an uncomfortable heat that just kept rising. Most of the hooded figures standing around Agent Phoenix stayed deathly still while holding their red flame candles.
Other hooded vampires brought bowls up to Agent Phoenix. Using sharp, wicked looking knives, they cut arteries in his arms, making Phoenix grunt in pain as blood spilled out into the bowls. As the scent of that blood filled the air, some of the vampires watching the ritual nearly walked forward to drink it. A quick growl from Harold Stone made them back away in fear.
“Control yourselves,” Harold warned.
Archibald chuckled, “Quite an embarrassing way for a vampire to die, isn’t it? Killed by drinking blood.”
Harold growled irritably. Lord Victor, for his part, ignored everything but the ritual playing out before him. Everything they’d been working towards rested on this moment.
Soon the robed vampires placed the bowls filled Phoenix’s blood into a spiraling pattern on the floor, poured oil from a bottle into them, and lit them on fire with their candles, producing red flame. The witch Serena began chanting faster, her eyes rolling up into her head as smoke drifted from the bowls on the floor and rose into the air. High above the smoke began to swirl over the seal like a red whirlwind as the seal began to pulse faster.
###
All across Saint Vivia City, people began to notice a red glow from their windows. They slowly approached, afraid to look, but unable to resist their curiosity. When people peaked outside, everything from the top of the buildings to the lowest point on the ground was bathed in crimson light. When people looked up, the very sky seemed bathed in that sinister aura. At first, no one could discern a singular source, but as more people gazed out their windows, they could see a single glowing point in the night sky that was slowly but surely growing bigger.
Out in the forest, the Night Hunters could see the red glow cast over them through the tree tops. Robert, Jamar, and even Marcia as she kept cutting Hayden free, stopped with the other hunters to look up, a sense of dread they couldn’t explain washing over them.
Even on the roof of the mansion Alice, the dhampirs, and the vampires stopped fighting to look up at the sky.
Out in the city, the people just watched, unable to comprehend what they were seeing. In the forest, however, Captain Wagner quickly snapped the Night Hunters out of their trance. Even Farrow seemed surprised.
“Get moving!” cried Wagner. “Are you going to stand there gawking all night!”
The Night Hunters started moving, other captains taking a page out of Wagner’s book and shouting orders down the ranks. Wagner looked to Farrow and Farrow nodded before reassuming command.
Meanwhile, atop the mansion, it was Alice and Gordon who moved first, cutting down the nearest vampires as they still stared upwards. This sudden movement spurred all other figures atop the mansion to start fighting. Gordon, Cora, and Jaiden’s blades could cut straight through the enemies’ blades, cutting them or turning them to ash with ease. Jasmine’s sword kept setting vampires on fire even if the blade never touched the other vampires, and Alice’s Muramasa let her slip through the flurry of enemy blades with ease. It was no holy weapon, but its curse seemed to kill the vampires just fine. Using the weapon was exhilarating, but she made sure to keep focus on why they were there. Even as she fought, the layout of the mansion was starting to come back to her.
“This way!” cried Alice, leading them to a section of the roof as she kept cutting vampires down. “Cut down here.”
Cora stepped up as the four other warriors surrounded her, keeping the vampires at bay as she worked. With four quick slashes, Cora cut a section in the roof that fell, hitting the floor below. Cora jumped in, and she was quickly followed by the other warriors.
They landed atop the staircase in the great hall. There were more vampires inside, but Gordon ran forward and cut through the ones in front of them as they made their way, turning them to ash with every swing of Excalibur.
“Jasmine!” said Gordon telepathically. “Cover our rear!”
“Right!” Jasmine sent back.
Jasmine’s flaming sword caught a few of the vampires on fire, causing chaos among their ranks. With her keeping the vampires at bay behind them, the five warriors rushed down the stairs, slicing any vampires that came near and making for the ballroom.
It didn’t take long for them to reach the ballroom doors. Alice ran up and kicked them open, the smash echoing through the decaying room. More vampires barred their way, but all they could do was slow the five swordsmen down as they cut their way to the trapdoor. With the information they’d gotten from Jacqueline, they went to the center of the ballroom, and once again surrounded Cora as she cut a hole in the floor.
The square piece fell then slid down the stone stairs below. The five of them wasted no time diving down those stairs, cutting the vampires behind them as they went straight for the seal chamber.
“I’m almost there, Arthur,” Alice sent mentally. “It won’t be long now.”
Alice sensed some reluctance from Arthur as he replied, “Hurry. I think the ritual is nearing completion.”
###
All through Saint Vivia City, people stepped out of their homes or whatever building they were in. Whether standing on their lawns, the sidewalk, or even some rooftops, all of them felt drawn in ways they couldn’t understand as they stared up at that red point in the night sky that kept growing and growing. As it grew bigger, it manifested as a red cloud that slowly swirled. Slowly but surely, the swirling cloud increased in size until it covered the entire night sky.
And through those swirling clouds everyone saw something that sent fear rippling through them, even as they remained rooted to the spot, unable to look away. Behind the red clouds they could see, like looking through a thick fog, a giant desiccated hand that spread its fingers as if to take the entire city in its grasp.