Chapter 2: Prey in the Night

Assar

One months earlier

Every whistle of the winds passing through the dark forest or scurrying’s of small animals scavenging for food was heard and processed by the hunter as he moved. His breath came out in smooth and controlled breaths. In complete opposition to the pounding of his heart, which he could feel beating in anticipation of the culmination of the week of tracking down and finally finding this damn vampire’s lair. When Assar had first strolled into this town on the southern edge of the warped forest, he hadn’t expected to be offered the contract he was currently hunting.

The moments before catching one’s prey were always the most nerve-wracking, yet also the most exhilarating.

Assar was currently slowly stalking through the last clump of trees that hid the entrance of this vampire’s lair.

Despite his heavy wolfin furred cloak that draped over his body and covered his face with an identical hood, his movements were fluid and made barely a whisper as he put one foot in front of the other. His senses worked tirelessly, as his sensitive ears were taking in every sound from the forest around him.

What he had expected to be a lowly thrall vampire or at best a lesser vampire had turned out to be a high vampire. It had been three years since he had the pleasure of killing a vampire of that class.

Of course, dealing with a high vampire which had been consumed by the blood craze came with its own set of problems. For one, it would be exponentially more dangerous and would likely have a thrall or two under its command. Assar smirked at the thought. That would just give him the chance to kill a few more of the parasites.

He glanced up at the sky as he estimated that he had only thirty minutes until the sky began to lighten. While Vampires could and did operate and live in the height of the day, blood-crazed vampires tended to avoid sunlight as much as possible. Returning to whatever lair they had for themselves before the sun fully rose.

Assar already knew this particular vampire had done just that. He had followed the parasite at a distance for the past hour and now was preparing to finally end this. The forest was too dark for any normal hunter without magic to effectively track a vampire.

Assar, though, had no need for a mage's spell or enchantment. No courtesy of some vampire from his past, Assar was a half-blood, and so had access to many vampiric abilities. One of which was his night-sight. Still, his vision wasn’t at its peak and he grimaced slightly at what he had to do next. Reaching down to his belt, he pulled one of the many vials of blood at his waist.

“The cost of business,” Assar thought to himself in disgust as he popped the cork out of the vial, and downed the blood in a quick swig.

He tried to ignore and deny the feelings the blood sent pulsing through his body. Just as the countless times before, the sensations were undeniable. It was like drinking the most refreshing drink known to the world, somehow mixed with a sexual pleasure. His breath came in quicker and more excited breaths as his body took on the blood's power. His already enhanced senses and body increased dramatically from the strength the blood gave his half-blood body. The forest which had appeared dim now seemed to be lit by a red light as everything came into sharp focus. It was time to end this.

Assar placed the vial back in his belt and reached up to unclasp his cloak. It would only get in the way of what came next. He then gripped the scabbard of his sword in his left hand and drew the curved blade out with his right. The sword came free without a sound as the well-oiled and cared for blade slid out just as eager as its master to deal death.

The sword was a work of art that Assar had paid a price for, but it had been worth the contract and every gold piece he had to pay to acquire the blade. He dropped the scabbard alongside the discarded cloak and with his remaining free hand unclipped the crossbow from his back. With a grunt of effort, he pulled back both strings of the small but incredibly powerful weapon. Once they clicked into place, he loaded two of his expensive bolts into the corresponding slots made for them. He had two shots before his sword would do the rest of the work. Now as ready as he would ever be, Assar slipped out of the tree line and silently strode up to the entrance of the now well-lit cave.

As he stalked in, he took a deep breath through his nose letting his enhanced senses tell him what they could of what awaited him inside. The first thing that hit him was the smell of fear. Those must have been the humans the vampires had kidnapped.

Most blood-crazed vampires wouldn’t have the mental control to take their victim's hostage, instead of just feeding and bleeding the body dry. This being a high vampire though, he must have had the forethought to save a few for long-term feeding. Under all the fear though, he smelled the familiar scent of gore, pleasure, and excitement. The vampires inside were getting ready to feed again.

As cruel as it sounded, Assar would wait for them to start feeding before he struck. The blood thralls were doomed anyways. They were already on the path to becoming a full-fledged thrall. Seeing as he only sensed the fear of three humans, Assar guessed he would be facing only the high vampire and one or two thralls.

As Assar stalked through the cave, the smells and the sounds of the moaning victims became more distinct. The cave was larger than he had expected. It turned out to be more of a tunnel at first, just as he was nearing the end of the tunnel his now red glowing eyes could see the pulsing of arteries in a standing figure ahead of him.

Outlined by his red vision, was his first target.