~Bleeding Hearts~

A loud bang echoed as the door was thrown open and a woman with long dark blond curls stood by the doorway. A few of her curls were tied to the back to stop her hair from falling to her face. A trinket was attached to the tied knot, it looked like it was holding it in place.

Her chest heaved as she pushed open the door. It was obvious she had run all the way here. Her clothes were a layering of different dark-colored materials and a flared skirt that stopped at her ankles.

The skirt was a mix of brown, black, and purple. She wore it just at the start of her waist, revealing a bit of her abdomen which was covered with a lot of jewelry.

There was a collar of intricate design around her neck and what looked like red jewelry at the front but on closer inspection it was a red liquid in a tiny bottle attached to the collar.

"Misha, you're here, thank goodness." A soft voice said. It belonged to a female vampire who was also the queen of vampires.

Misha took a step forward with fear in her eyes as she stared at the figure lying on the bed. He was pale, paler than any vampire she had ever seen.

He was dying. All she needed was one glance and she could tell. He had three more days tops and that was pushing it.

"When did this happen?" She asked as she stepped closer.

"About a week ago," the Queen replied, standing to her feet. She had been sitting next to the deathly figure.

Misha touched his black hair as he lay on the bed with sweat dripping down the sides of his face. He was in severe pain, it was as clear as day.

His usual bright red eyes that greatly reminded her of his father were dimmer than she had ever seen, he could barely keep them open. They fluttered weakly as though they would shut close at any moment.

"Why didn't you call for me immediately?" Misha yelled.

"I didn't think it was serious," the queen said, there was panic in her eyes. "And he acted fine until two days ago."

The queen was petite for a vampire. She was also very slender, with a waist one could easily wrap an arm around. She had a pointed nose, small lips, and small eyes.

Aside from his lips and nose, it was hard to tell she had birthed the vampire that lay on the bed close to death's door but even that was hard to see with how sick he looked.

Misha could smell rotting skin. It was a curse and high a tier one at that. That was the only thing that could put a vampire in this state. The curse was eating at him faster than he could heal.

She knew what she was going to see before she lifted his shirt but even the knowledge of it didn't prepare her for the horror in front of her.

She gasped, feeling sick. It took her everything not to turn to the side and throw her guts out. This was worse than she expected. Even she, who was an expert in the art of curses, couldn't cast this kind of curse spell.

There was a gaping hole in his stomach, just to the left of his side. She could actively see the curse eat at him as his regeneration worked hard to keep up.

It was easy to see who was winning. It wasn't just his skin that was affected, his organs were getting eaten too.

"Who did this?" Misha asked with a dark tone to her voice. Only a guardian witch could cast a spell this strong but not without the help of a magic item and a sacrifice.

"The Orc King," The queen whispered, bringing her hand to her lips.

"What?" Misha jerked her head to the side. "He has risen again?" She asked in horror.

"Yes," the queen nodded. "He heard about it and wanted to nip the disaster in the bud before the Orc King could get any stronger but I guess he was too late. They had barely left with their lives and he returned in this state."

The resurrection of an Orc King was equivalent to a natural disaster, one of drastic levels that could clear everything in its path. The longer an Orc King existed on this plain, the closer it got to the end of the world.

"Can you heal him?" The queen asked, her voice breaking slightly.

"To be honest, I can't heal him but let me see what I can do."

She didn't have high hopes, her curses were pretty effective without the support of a magic item. However, she could tell this surpassed hers. She doubted a magic item would be of much help.

She didn't have much time. She would have to stop the curse before it did more damage. It was obvious the Orc King used a part of himself as a base for the curse.

It was the first rule to get a strong spell. Bodily fluids and body parts were the perfect enhancers for spells.

For curses, it was taboo to use someone else's. Besides, a curse was more potent if the curse caster used a part of themselves as the risk was higher.

She brought her right thumb to her mouth, digging her teeth into it. It took effort to break the skin. She winced at the familiar pain of teeth-breaking skin.

Taking her bleeding thumb, she traced the hole with her blood. She made a full circle. Her blood dripped down the side of him.

With the same arm stretched out, she began to chant, letting out a spew of words in an inaudible voice. Her lips moved but the words didn't leave them.

Steam poured out of her blood and the Prince jerked. The steam moved closer to the opening, pushing it close.

Misha ground her teeth as sweat broke out of her forehead. Her eyes widened ever so slightly. She lifted her left hand and grabbed her right wrist to support herself. It felt very heavy.

After what felt like an eternity to Misha, the hole closed and she fell to the ground. All her energy expelled, both magic and physical energy.

"You healed him," the queen cried, rushing to Misha's side.

She lifted the witch as if Misha weighed nothing. It was odd that a Queen of this size had this much strength but Queen Alana was still a vampire and vampires were known for their physical strength.

"No, I didn't," Misha said with a sad tone to her voice as her vision turned blurry and everything started to fade out.

"Misha!" She could vaguely hear the queen call to her just as everything went black.