In a colorful orangeish forest being illuminated by the moon shining in all its gracefulness, I sprint with each step bringing the sound of leaves being trempled. Spring brings a soft floral smell to replace the cold fresh from the merciless snowy winter.
I most probably am not made for this. How I did not foresee this outcome? I, a being who feeds on human blood in the middle of nowhere barely scrapping by, feeding on goddammed rabbits! Not to mention the godforsaken Sun, finding a bloody cave to sleep in the middle of a forest takes a dangerously amount of time and effort. I realized that im most likely, an imbecile, what exactly did I expect? Oh right, big and thrilling adventurers, meeting interesting people or whatever, sigh... In the end, I barely meet anyone at all out in the wilds, certainly not interesting people either.
At this point, my only brief moment of joy is finding some unaware traveler in a strike of luck to charm and feed, a very rare occurrence but at the very least not impossible. What angers me the most is the fact that I can experience this exact same feeling in any other common human settlement, every, day.
If what my map shows is correct, I should be close to Orleans. Hmmm, stopping by and getting some very much-deserved rest might be good, well, Revgnir said something about Christians aggressively trying to establish their religion there against the will of the current Duke. I see no bad in giving it a try, in any case, what exactly they would do? Wave crosses at my face? I actually might even do the Duke a favor by massacring them all if they try to hurt me.
With a heavy sigh, I stop in my tracks to look up. The white moon baths me in its marvelous light while my pale skin reflects a small fraction of its beautiful rays.
Tedious... Bloody trees, bloody rocks, everywhere. Hmph, it was naive of me to think traveling would be enjoyable, simply horrible sigh... yet independently of my boredom, I still need to reach Vallis Aurea at some point.
My left hand moves slowly, gracefully passing it through my silk-like white hair as I stare at the moon with a tired and slightly apathetic expression.
Que suis-je en train de faire?
Enough dreadness, I need to reach Orleans as soon as possible so I can have a well-earned bloody rest of this endless loop im in.
I proceed to quickly sprint through the woods. The wind blows my long hair alongside my surcoat as I run through the wilds trying my best to ignore my mental fatigue.
....
After a long and tedious run, something unusual catches my attention. Curiosity takes the best of me resulting in a sudden yet smooth stop alongside a high jump to the top of a tree with orangeish leaves. I support myself by standing on a thick branch with a slightly bent back and a watchful intense gaze.
A source of light? Could it be... travelers? At these hours of the night with a lit bonfire, they sure seem devoid of common sense, well in any case, it is rather far away so I can not say for sure if it is indeed a bonfire but hopefully it is, im starving.
A subtle little smile appears on my face as the thought of feasting on human blood after so many days comes to me bringing immense hope to my otherwise tedious night.
There is but only one way to confirm.
My body turns into a swan of bats and alongside the sound of multiple bat wings clapping, I swiftly reappear on the ground walking step by step while focusing my mind on my senses. Like an experienced hunter who seeks his prey, my expression is calm yet sharp as I walk watching my steps with great caution.
As I approach closer, the soft sound of two heartbeats invades my ears bringing an unexpected, yet welcome change to my previous mood.
I stop and close my eyes with an expression of satisfaction, I inhale deeply. The sweet aroma enters my nose, bringing a sensation similar to that of a worker who, after a long and tiring day of work, sits down to eat his favorite dish.
Blood, sweet tasty human blood flowing calmly through beating veins, delightful. Nothing resembling that red liquid people call 'animal blood' that grotesque thing can not even begin to compare itself against the wonders of human blood.
"Mmmm... Finally" I murmur to myself while a playful lopsided smile begins to form in my expression
I eagerly quicken my steps, hiding behind trees and shadows to meet my next miraculous feast as quickly as possible.
It does not take long to find myself behind a tree sneakily peeking at what seems to be a woman, holding a baby in her arms, sitting by the bonfire side with a desperate look on her face. In contrast, her baby who seems feeble sucks her breasts hoping to feed but the pale and sickly-looking baby seems to be having difficulties in doing correctly.
The woman appears to be around thirty, with fair skin and green eyes, there is a strange brown mark covering a good part of her left cheek too, it is rather big and reminds me of a map of land. A beautifully crafted long brownish hair with two braids starting in the front and tied to the back of her head. To cover her body, a white nightgown damaged by dirt and a few cuts that seem to be made by tree branches.
Poor woman, judging by the baby's weak heartbeats, it shall be dead soon. What is she trying to achieve in the middle of the forest at these hours? Seems rather unlikely that a mother would choose to come here with a baby willingly, is not hard to tell judging by her raiment too.
She is in fear, great fear of losing her child but not only that. She is running away from something or someone.
Her baby looks rather well... how could one put it... fresh? She gave birth not long ago. What a peculiar encounter, it is my first time seeing a baby child from so close. It appears so feeble... makes me feel somewhat scared of touching and breaking it by accident.
In any case, all this waiting is increasing my already high thirst. I should step in now.
I give one step forward before turning my head toward the west with a look of curiosity on my face.
Hmm? Footsteps... heavy ones, three people? No, maybe four approaching. Setting a bonfire while being hunted was foolish, but luckily for her, im quite thirsty and curious to hear her tale. Although I can not do anything about the state of her sick baby, this woman shall not meet her end here.
The heavy footsteps start to get closer and closer while I keep in position waiting for my prey to come in sight. As the footsteps get close enough for a normal human to hear them, the woman desperately tries to run deep into the forest with her baby in hands leaving the lit bonfire behind.
She fails... miserably so. Her nightgown betrays her, resulting in a shameful stumble on her own skirt. She fell but unexpendably she managed to rotate her body before hitting the ground, successfully protecting her newborn from what could be a deadly fall for a baby.
She should not concern herself with her baby... unfortunately for her, his heart is quiet. While the woman strives to get up from the ground quickly, four men appear carrying swords and wearing chainmail armor over dark blue belted tunics with dark blue cloaks. Three of them are equipped with helmets that leave only their eyes to be seen meanwhile the one who appears to be leading the small group wears no helmet, showcasing his face covered in a few scars and a powerful beard. Judging by the grayish tone almost overcoming his dark hair with only two braids in the middle and completely bald in the sides, he is likely rather old.
What the?! Agh! My eyes!
I avert my eyes from the scene putting my hand to cover my eyesight for a moment. What is that sword of his? It is too bright, my eyes can not stare at it for too long, strange, the woman and all the other men seem fine so it must be something related to my 'condition'. Something tells me... that sword is a threat to me, I need to get rid of it first!
The small group charges against the desperate woman, she tries to run but it is of no use at this point, they easily overwhelm her grabbing her arms and swiftly taking the baby out of her desperate hands.
She cries in a futile attempt to appeal to those men's mercy. Strangely those men are not interested in killing her or the baby, not that they would need to kill the baby... It seems their main objective is capturing, curious, why would they need her?
In any case, I should step in now.
I disappear in a swan of bats that flies at high speed to the top of a high tree. Using a branch as support, I jump toward the small group. From the sky, I can see that they are forcefully dragging the woman through the ground while she squirms attempting to free herself.
As I fall, I see my target standing close to the woman watching her being captured by his men. My nails grow into deadly claws that pierce the leader's face, but unfortunately, I miss by a few inches leaving only four deep cuts into the left side of his face. The man screams in pain and surprise as I fall to the ground close to him.
Without giving me any time to process my poor excuse of an aerial attack, the cunning old man brandishes his sword at my unprotected back immediately after my landing.
*Vush*
An excruciating pain washes over my body as his sword swipe tears both skin and clothes, creating an enormous deep cut at my back that extends itself from my left shoulder to my right hip painting almost my whole back in blood.
I try my best to hold a giant cry of pain in my throat, an effort that proves itself in vain when a light shriek escapes my mouth as my body transforms into a swan of bats that swiftly creates distance between me and my foes. I appear again a few meters away from the group facing them from a safe distance out of his sword reach.
Struggling to keep myself standing, I stare at the group trying my utmost best to prevent my expression from turning into one of pure pain while blood slowly but surely runs down my back, passing through my legs and finally reaching the ground, painting the grass around me in subtle shaders of red.
Ugh! What is this? My back! It burns!
"What the?... Who? How?! By God's bones, A damn witch!" Says the leader with confusion all over his tone and face
Expressions of fear and confusion can be found in each one of them as they stare at my unsightful appearance trying to process what is happening.
I need to attack quickly! But... my body ugh! It does not move. No... it is not my body, in the darkest corner of my naive mind, I feel it, no... It is more accurate to say I remembered.
I bite my lip in a mindless attempt to alleviate the immense pain, not only in my back but also out of sheer anger at my sudden epiphany.
The small group stands there all with watchful eyes locked on my every movement, in fear. Silence, we stare at each other in complete silence, the only noises being made are the sad cries of the woman being held by them unable to escape, and the lit bonfire crackling noises.
Of all the things that could be going through my mind at this exact moment, there is only one that stands in overwhelming advantage toward everything else, fear.
With trembling eyes, a result of my current state of panic, I turn my back to the confused group and sprint away as fast as I can manage with a severe open wound on my back creating more pain than I ever felt in my entire life, a type of pain that walks side by side with the new, yet oldest emotion in all history of mankind, the fear of death.
And then, without a shed of dignity, I run. My mind refuses to think straight, the only thing it can manage to do at this point is keep pushing me to run and hide. I want to stop, I want to fight, I WANT TO CARVE MY FANGS INTO THEY NECK AND MY CLAWS INTO THEY GUTS.
Yet, something more renders me unable to stop, something that hides its presence in the deepest corners of my mind, 'SURVIVE' It screams hindering me from putting my thoughts in order.
After running aimless for a few minutes putting a fair distance from the group location, I crouch behind a tree to hide and calm myself.
By Lucifer's name... keep calm... im already far away from them, yes they can not get me here, im safe. After a quick look around and a sigh, relief runs through my mind and body, yet not enough to calm my anger and wound in my back which creates tremendous amounts of pain.
This was... terrifying to say the least, and my back is still burning! Why in the bloody hell this wound is taking so long to heal?!
With my claws still out, both of my hands grab on each side of the tree im currently using to hide. I clench my teeth with an expression of sheer anger while my claws penetrate the innocent tree creating cracks in the wood and holes the size of a finger.
Why am I the one running?!
It is that sword's fault! And what a grotesque failure, how could I miss that bloody imbecile while he stands, bloody bright pierce of garbage blinded me! I hate this, im still thirsty and both my pride and my back took a great blow, what a great night!
Vieux salaud, quand j'ai posé mes mains sur lui!
As soon as I put my hands on that old fool!
He shall pay dearly for this humiliation
A few minutes pass while I hide, waiting lost in the most vile and anguish thoughts while my wound heals painfully slowly.
At last, this maudit wound is finally healed!
After removing my fingers from the insides of the poor tree that helped me relieve a fraction of my anger, I rise with an expression of silent rage, with clenching teeth, and a pair of wide red eyes, I begin to slowly walk toward the same direction I came from while blood gently drips from a good part of my hair and my back.
"I shall feast in human blood before sunrise, even if I have to turn this godforsaken forest upside down"
Step by step, my slow walk begins to evolve into a fast-paced and inraged run, soon, im nowhere to be seen.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Soon after Carmilla's retreat.
"What the fuck?" Says the leader of the group with a perplexed tone, the left side of his face presents four wounds that appear to be made by a wild bear
Everyone in the group was thinking the same. All of them wear faces of complete disbelief and extreme confusion, they stand there paralyzed trying to process the impossible while the crackling sound of the bonfire plays.
The captured woman whoever, couldnt care less about what just happened, her eyes are completely set on her baby who rests profoundly in the ignorant arms of a brute. For her despair, despite her captors being all lost in their own confusion, the ones who hold her still keep a firm grasp on her arms.
After a few seconds of silence, the old man turns around cleaning his throat with a loud cough to call his subordinate's attention, they promptly wake up and await orders in place.
The old man then with a deep voice states.
"Only God knows what the hell just happened, so let's not waste more of our time" He says with a serious tone
The man proceeds to walk toward the woman being held captive by two of his subordinates, she looks at him in disgust and anger as he approaches her nonchalantly with his sword still dripping with the blood of the one who fell from the sky attacking him.
"Well, well, enjoying the fresh air? Oh please... do not give me this look, im merely doing my job" Says the man slightly sarcastically and with an arrogant demeanor
The woman clicked her tongue.
"But I must admit, thy escape was indeed very well planned although short-lived, if I may provide a piece of advice, next time throw the baby away if thou really expect to escape successfully"
The man looks at the baby's appearance in one of his men's arms and immediately lets out a heavy sigh, now speaking with a tone of arrogant disappointment.
"The bloody baby is dead, Lord Laurent shall be extremely angered by this, but in any case, let's bring the corpse with us. After all the planning, thou got captured because of a dead baby, I must express my deep disappointment, well, it is what it is, Lord Laurent is fairly young, so it should not be a problem for him to impregnate thy again"
Silent tears fall from the woman's eyes as she stares at the man with an expression of rage. Reality, is hard to swallow sometimes, of course, the woman knew that her baby would most likely not survive, but still, she had to try. Does not matter how prepared she thought she was for this outcome, it is extremely painful to lose her newborn child after all she did.
"Simon, might not be today, nor tomorrow, or even in years, but mark my words, Laurent shall squirm in the dirt like the pig he is alongside the whole House De Castelorie" The woman says with a tone of calm rage, while tears fall from her eyes
Simon, the housecarl of the House De Castelorie, couldnt help but let out a laugh as a woman peasant stated such an absurdity. He then turns around not caring about what the woman just said, he speaks with an assertive tone ordering his men.
"Let's go, wrap her with this rope. We must go back to our horses quickly, I want to be long gone from this forest before that thing comes back"
The guards do as he says and soon, they are walking the forest watchfully with scared eyes holding torches that badly illuminate their surroundings.
Every little sound the forest makes brings a subtle skip to these men's heartbeats, the air around them is so tense it could be cut with a knife. The night coldness alongside fear, creates a nonstop wave of chills shaking their whole beings. None of them know what that thing is but they most surely are not eager to stand around and find out either.
Simon is the first in the line, he is holding the woman in front of him by the rope that binds both her hands. Right behind them, three guards are walking in formation, preparing for the worst yet firmly hoping for the best.
"Finally found my dinner, took me long enough"
A woman's voice whispers behind the guards, followed by a grotesque noise. Carmilla carves her whole arm into a guard's chest easily piercing through armor, skin, and bones. The unbearable pain results in a loud and clear cry coming from the guard as Carmilla still with her arm inside the man's guts begins running away dragging him with her to the darkness of the woods leaving only his short sword and torch to be found.
The rest of the group anxiously looks behind immediately to be greeted by this hellish scene, their comrade being dragged deeper into the forest by something moving at an inhuman speed, his howl gets lower and lower until only silence reigns in the darkness again. They could barely see Carmilla's figure because of the bad illumination these torches provided, she on the other hand could see them as clear as the day with a minor drawback of the strange sword Simon is carrying slightly blinding her.
The remaining guards were paralyzed by fear and confusion, no amount of guard training would ever prepare them to deal with the impossible simply happening in front of them. However, Simon stands firm with his critical thinking.
"Fall back! Retreat quickly to the horses!" Yells Simon to wake up his men
Simon as the experienced knight he is, knew that two guards and him alone would not stand a chance against a being that until some time ago was laughable to even imagine existing. In his mind, the best course of action is to retreat and come back with a proper detachment if needed.
The woman however is somewhat delighted by the whole situation, after all, even if she dies it is certainly much better than the future that awaits her, and the idea of seeing Simon die consequently dealing a great blow to the forces of House De Castelorie pleases her.
Simon and his men begin to run toward their horses which are not so far away. Simon with his hard grasp on the woman soon encounters a simple yet hard decision to be made, the woman with a little smug on her face refuses to walk and ends up falling to the floor after Simon's sudden rush.
There are only two options for Simon, to be slowed by the unwilling woman risking a probable death to follow his Lord's orders, or drop the rope leaving the woman behind to increase his chances of surviving this deadly encounter but, Simon is very aware of Laurent approach when dealing with 'incompetence', turning into material for Laurent peculiar hobby is most definitely not on the to-do list for Simon.
The housecarl made his choice while clenching his teeth furiously.
"Wicked woman, I hope that thing grants thy a slow death" Says Simon angrily but not yelling
He let go of the rope and proceeded to quickly retreat a few steps behind his last two men who passed in front of him running desperately while Simon was making his decision.
*Vush*
A short sword passes flying like a spear coming from behind the desperate group, cutting the wind and hitting a guard a few steps in front of Simon. The short sword was unable to successfully pierce through his chainmail armor however the sheer strength of the one who threw it was more than enough to break the running guard's spine on impact, needless to say, he fell to the ground like a puppet without strings crying in pain.
Simon terrorized can't help but look behind on reflex. He is greeted by a disturbing Carmilla standing with her mouth almost completely covered in blood yet she smiles, a twisted smile showcasing two fangs dripping blood, a smile screaming one thing, pleasure.
For an instant, Simon thinks that the monster would stop to eat the woman he just had abandoned in the bloodthirst monster way, an easy prey giving him enough time to get to his horse and leave.
Simon saw a ray of hope however it was quickly extinguished by the monster seemingly no interest in the fallen woman as it dashed by her in a cloud of bats leaving the perplexed woman unscathed and going in the housecarl direction at high speed like a fearsome cannonball made of bats.
"Fuck!" Yells Simon ragefully while turning around to face the monster
The fearful housecarl put his guard up preparing himself to attack by putting his sword in front of him. There was no other choice for him, he saw the speed of this thing early, and he couldn't imagine himself outrunning it by foot.
'Thats it, this is where I die' Simon thinks, but to his surprise, the cloud of bats coming toward him suddenly stops in the air turning back to her humanoid form with a troubled look on her face, hiding her eyes behind her pale hand like something bright stands in front of her.
Something instantly clicks in Simon's mind bringing an unexpected ray of hope to his otherwise certain death.
Simon begins to slowly take steps back without daring to take his eyes off the beast, to his relief the monster doesn't follow his step.
'I received this sword as a gift, made of a mix of silver and iron, not even in my wildest dream I would thought it could possess the power to bane this thing'
The housecarl proceeds to give subtle steps behind while pointing his sword toward Carmilla who stands trying to avoid the blinding light emanating from Simon's sword. Carmilla could just continue to mindlessly go in his direction but she most definitely is not willing to risk suffering that pain again or worse, dying because of a foolish wish for revenge.
Simon begins to swiftly step back reaching his horse without taking his sword out of Carmilla's direction preventing the inraged beast from getting close to him while he mounts his horse and leaves the place at full speed with his sword still pointed backwards as he rides away.
The other remaining guard already left abandoning his superior while Carmilla was in her impasse with Simon.
"In a way, im grateful, I thank thy for showing me what pain is after so long" Says Carmilla with a contemplative tone while she watches Simon ride away
The woman watches with both perplexity and anguish as Simon leaves the forest alive with nothing but a scar on his face, certain that now, it's her turn to die after all, there is only her left with a bloodthirst monster that probably ignored her at first because it wanted to get the rest before they retreat completely.
The woman still with a rope binding her, gets up quietly while Carmilla stands paralyzed looking at Simon riding away. A mindless last-ditch effort to escape with her life although she knows it would be impossible.
Carmilla suddenly appears in front of her and the woman who was in the middle of her track bumps into her falling on her butt. Fear washed over every rational thought the woman could possibly be having as Carmilla towered over her with a fearsome pair of red eyes that seemed to stare right at her insides.
Carmilla then crouches in front of the woman who doesn't dare to move a muscle and keeps only staring at her with fearful trembling eyes. But contrary to all the woman's expectations, her binds unexpectedly come off.
"Greetings, my name is Carmilla" Carmilla says calmly