Veil of Deception

Just outside of the Blackfang's territory, Jason appeared and stared deeply towards the territory's center. Reaching into his pouch, he pulled out two objects.

The first was a potion vial, which he had placed one of the Vampires' hairs into. The other object, however, was a small pendant that had the Blighthearts family crest embedded onto it. Staring deeply at these two objects, Jason waited until night blanketed the forest before putting away the pendant into the pouch and then taking a swig of the potion.

He downed the entire potion and felt his body bubble all over. He felt the urge to be sick but held back as his form began to change. After a period of time, Jason's appearance morphed into that of the Vampire he had tortured for information. Grabbing a mirror from his pouch, he checked his appearance and spoke quietly to himself.

"I won't have much time. I need to get in, throw this pendant on it, and then get out. If I can do this perfectly, those damned vampires will never be able to link this to me…"

Jason took out his wand slowly and used a cloaking spell to mask his physical presence. His true goal with using the Polyjuice Potion was simply to have some insurance if the cloaking spell was undone at any point. In a perfect world, he would get in and out while cloaked; however, he didn't plan on taking a clan like the Blackfangs lightly.

"The only troublesome ones will be the commanders, especially that Rufus, who's second-in-command to Felix…"

Jason started to walk into the territory of the Blackfangs and noticeably seemed to navigate it well. He smiled as he walked around the territory, avoiding the gazes of the vampires currently patrolling.

'Seems our information on the Blackfang's territory is still correct. Their territory's layout perfectly mirrors what we had researched into years ago'.

The Blighthearts were an incredibly ambitious family, wanting to make the Black Forest their domain in its entirety one day. This meant they would need to absorb every clan and family currently residing in the ancient enchantment of the Dark Forest. Many generations of the Blightheart family had carefully studied the clans and families within the Black Forest to a terrifying degree, in order to mount assaults on any of the clans when necessary.

A full-scale assault on the Blackfang clan was impossible currently, even with Felix gone. Their strength was still incredible, especially with their unique martial magic Felix had cultivated throughout the centuries he'd been alive. This was why the Blighthearts trained their young in a unique way; they wanted someone to stand out amongst the family, someone with an immense level of talent and power that could become a figurehead for the family. When that person appeared and mastered all the magics left by the Blighthearts family ancestor, they would mount their attack on all the clans and families within the forest.

Jason was utilizing this information to his advantage as he navigated through the clan's territory stealthily. Only Jason, with his adept use of the cloaking spell, cold-hearted calculations, and determination, was able to do something like this. He wouldn't be able to take down a clan like this by himself, but taking back what was rightfully 'his' was doable.

As Jason started to reach the center of the territory, he began to see the houses and other areas in which the Blackfang clan's members would reside. These houses were rudimentary at best; most vampires would barely sleep, and these houses were only for them to rest in on the odd occasion. 

The main areas of the Blackfang clan were the training area where vampires learned martial magic, and the giant structure where Felix and the Commanders would discuss happenings within the clan.

Jason looked around coolly, searching for an area that he remembered in his mind from the intel they had on the Blackfangs. Looking nearby the Blackfang clan's central building, he noticed a 'Commander' rank Vampire posted in front of a door that seemed to be going downstairs.

"That's it…"

Jason noted that the clan had a severe lack of vampires currently within its central territory, and currently, Rufus was nowhere to be seen either. With possible threats out of the way, the only thing between him and Axel was the 'Commander' rank vampire in front of him. Jason walked towards the Vampire, readying his wand to cast a spell. 

As he was about to cast a spell, the 'Commander' Rank Vampire, whose eyes were initially closed, suddenly threw two knives in his direction. Reflectively, Jason shielded himself with a spell, causing the knives to fall to the floor.

Jason's face flickered with malice for a moment but immediately switched to one of shock and fear. The 'Commander' rank vampire, on the other hand, stared warily at the person who had appeared in front of him.

"A-Aren't you one of the vampires Jason killed?"

Realizing he couldn't let the vampire think on this too much, Jason instantly interjected in an embarrassed voice.

"Well… Jason did attack me; however, I wasn't killed. I managed to escape and have been tending to my wounds... I came back to see the camp empty and came over to the 'cells' here to see if maybe that boy was the cause of the clan's emptiness. I thought he may have gone rogue…"

The commander rank vampire didn't seem to buy Jason's story fully; however, he still hesitated. Jason's knowledge of vampires was that they mainly focus on Martial Magic, and most other schools of magic were left neglected, including alchemy and transfiguration. He was leveraging this knowledge, hoping the vampire would be confused enough to create an opening eventually; however, the vampire stayed well-guarded the entire time.

"The boy has done nothing. Jason is the main reason why the camp's so deserted, all the other 'Generals' are surveying the perimeter with each commander placed at the cardinal positions of the perimeter as a line of defense".

A smile rose on Jason's face, hearing the words of the commander vampire in front of him.

"So, is commander Rufus nearby? I probably should report I managed to survive…"

"Commander Rufus is currently in the southern cardinal position of the perimeter where you were attacked… did you not come across him?"

The tension in the air was palpable as Jason extracted information from the vampire in front of him, and the vampire's doubts around him were growing by the moment. The vampire's hand slowly moved towards his sword, noting this Jason realized he had been found out.

"You really underestimated our family's knowledge of your territory."

As Jason uttered these words, the commander rank vampire instantly drew his sword and charged towards Jason. In this moment, Jason reached into his pouch and threw down a rune device on the floor. As the device hit the floor, an ethereal glow surrounded him and the vampire in front of him, masking them from the outside world.

The Vampire stopped his charge towards Jason and looked at the glow around them, clicking his tongue and staring at Jason, whose form was now returning to normal.

"A Veil Rune device… your Blightheart family's rune devices are certainly impressive..."

"Then you know right now it's just me and you here with no way of you contacting any others for several hours unless you kill me…"

Brandishing his sword, the Vampire stared viciously at Jason.

"You've infiltrated the center of our territory; I have every right to kill you under the pact of this forest. I will just be killing two birds with one stone, taking you out and this veil out with you!"

Immediately as the vampire commander uttered those words, he lashed out towards Jason, trying to close the distance between them. Jason, seeing this, reaches into his pouch and throws out two Venomous Tentacula's onto the floor, which both start to assault the vampire commander as they land.

"Just like you, Jason, to use magical plants so damn sparingly!"

The vampire commander's sword started to glow a deep red as he slashed towards the venomous tentacular. As the sword collided with the plants, it cut deeply and destroyed the plants at their core almost instantly. Not only did the commander destroy the plants, but he also launched an attack at Jason in a matter of a few moments.

Jason, seeing the sword come towards him rapidly, casts a spell at the commander, knocking his stance just enough to dodge the sword's swing. In this moment, he quickly gains distance from the commander, utilizing his adept use of apparition to appear a few feet away from the commander.

"You are certainly better than those two fools I killed…"

The commander stared coldly at Jason as his sword's light changed from a red hue to an Icy Blue, noticeably to Jason, the surroundings became colder, and the sword appeared as if ice was crawling across its surface.

"Your martial magic is impressive; the ability to imbue spells into swords is fascinating. Felix has taught his clan well".

"Then you should be aware of the situation you're end".

Jason, raising his wand, snickered coldly.

"The only ones in your clan capable of causing me some distress are Rufus and Felix, you, a nameless commander, are insignificant in comparison!"

Jason immediately cast Incendio, but instead of aiming for the vampire, he aimed for the sword. As the Ice blade and fire spell collided, steam emitted, coating the atmosphere, leaving Jason's and the Vampire Commander's vision impaired.

Responding in kind, the vampire commander's sword once again changed hues, a brilliant white light appeared from the sword, and slashed out carving away the smoke.

"Felix was right about you, Jason! All you know to do is distract and attack, you can't face me directly!"

Grabbing multiple throwing knives from his belt, the vampire commander imbued all of them simultaneously with a light lavender light; all of them were thrown around him, attempting to hone in on Jason's position wherever he was. Like a whisper in the wind, Jason's voice reached the commander's ears.

"I commend your martial magic as it's nearly invincible in a frontal confrontation. If I fought you directly, I would undoubtedly lose…"

As one of the throwing knives closed in on Jason, he cast a spell on it, directly reflecting it back onto the commander. The commander, seeing the knife zoom towards him, imbued his sword with a shimmering silver hue and stabbed the floor, forming a shield in front of him. The knife bounced off the shield and landed onto the floor.

Jason, seeing this, started to piece together in his head what spell was being used depending on the hue of the sword.

The red color was Diffindo, icy blue was Glacius, brilliant white was Lumos, the light lavender was Levicorpus, and the shimmering silver was Protego.

Currently, the battle would last in a stalemate at this rate, with the exchanging of blows. Jason searched for a weakness and realized one thing; the vampire relied heavily on his footing to imbue spells into his sword. Noting this, Jason switched his probing tactics and charged towards the vampire, much to the vampire's surprise.

"I guess you've finally gone crazy, Jason!"

Jason, as he charged over, watched the commander's sword carefully, and just as the hue of shimmering silver started to change to red, he reached out his arm and cast a spell at the commander's feet.

"Glisseo!"

As Jason cast the spell, the commander, who was still imbuing his sword with another spell, attempted to jump back; however, the friction of the floor had disappeared, causing him to fall backward. As the commander fell, Jason quickly aimed at the commander's sword.

"Expelliarmus!"

The spell hit the commander, disarming him of his sword; as the sword flew into the air, the commander landed on the floor. As he tried to get back to his feet, he struggled as the frictionless floor made it difficult to gain his balance back. In a desperate attempt, the commander threw his last knife towards Jason with the little balance he had lying on the floor.

Jason snarled as the knife, seemingly sped up by some enchantment, penetrated his thigh, despite the pain however Jason kept his focus pointing his wand at the sword that was still airborne above the commander.

"Descendo."

The sword immediately started descending incredibly fast towards the commander, who was still trying to get up. As it descended with incredible speed, the commander looked up in horror as the sword fell right into his chest, penetrating his body and the floor below him.

The commander raised his head to look at Jason one last time whose brow was creasing due to the strain of using 3 spells in incredibly quick succession and the deep wound in his thigh;

"Felix… will… destroy you…"

The light left the commander's eyes as he slumped down on the floor. Jason stared coldly at the corpse for a moment before looking at the cell door the commander had been guarding.

"It's finally time to claim my prize…"

.

The clan sounded too quiet as of late. Ever since Rufus broke the news to me about the deaths of two generals, I hardly heard any talk outside of the cell I was in. 

For the clan to go on the defensive like this really set in how dangerous Jason Blightheart really was. Rufus' words rang in my mind, his words about Jason, and I shivered thinking what would happen if I did end up in his grasp.

I laid on my bed attempting to sleep, but the obscurus was becoming more restless, a stinging pain kept attacking me leaving me incapable of sleep. I stared at the ceiling of the cell for what felt like hours before I heard something happening just outside the cell.

Going as close as I could to the cell doors, I listened carefully, barely making out the words outside.

"So, is commander Rufus nearby?-"

"Commander Rufus is currently in the southern cardinal-"

I could barely make out the words being said. I felt my body ease for a moment just thinking that two vampires were simply conversing outside. However hearing the second vampire speak, I felt tension within his voice.

Listening in as closely as possible I then heard the next sentence which sent shivers down my spine.

"You really underestimated our family's knowledge of your territory…"

At that moment the sounds from outside suddenly disappeared, eerily so, as if the voices never existed. Hearing the world 'Family' being mentioned though I could only come to the worst conclusion.

Jason was here, he had infiltrated the clan already. He had directly infiltrated immediately after killing those two vampires earlier today. Tactically, it was genius as the vampires were locking down the perimeter searching for him. However he must have found a weak point somehow, and the second he was in the clan's centre, he had an advantage of just the vampire guarding my cell outside to deal with rather than multiple enemies.

A part of me hoped… prayed that Jason would lose to the vampire outside however I felt that was a foolish hope. For the clan to go to this extent of locking their perimeter due to the mere threat of him meant his skills were incredible.

I had no way of escaping this, if he won id be taken by him. He had perfectly locked me down.

"There has to be something I can do to at least aid me in the long run…"

I couldn't think of any way to escape currently, the cuffs on my hands and legs were too strong to break out of with my weak body and even the extreme method of pulling the sealing device from my chest and unleashing my obscurus was not possible as device was latched onto my chest deeply, literally embedded into my flesh and if I tampered with it in any way there was the chance of the device breaking in a way that would be incredibly harmful to me.

"Fuck… fuck fuck FUCK!"

The surmounting fear of Jason welled up in my chest and my breathing became heavy. I had never in my life's felt as trapped as I felt now. Akin to a spider caught in a glass left to the mercy of the predator who caught me. Yet, even spiders can bite a human when back into a corner.

"Even if I end up dead, I will make sure the Blighthearts don't have a legacy anymore…"

Grabbing a rock in the corner of the cell, I searched around for a location in the cell that was inconspicuous, a place that would only be found if looked for. In the very corner of the room, behind the cells toilet, I etched words into the wall.

'J. Blightheart'.

I could barely make any etches into the wall with my meagre strength, but through sheer anger towards my oncoming fate I managed to barely write J. Blightheart on the wall. I stood back up after and looked out the cell, awaiting the predator who was seeking me.

The silence was deep within the cell, I felt my heart beat rapidly and the beats echoed in my ears. As I waited with bated breath, I wielded the rock I had found as a weapon, hoping by some miracle I could knock Jason out when he approached.

Minutes passed as I stared at the cells exit, after some time I heard footsteps accompanied with a quiet drip every few moments approach me. I stared as a figure appeared, the same man I saw at my first camp in this forest. His eyes focused on me, and the obsessive gaze he held made me shiver.

"There you are, my subject…"

Jason approached me slowly and calmly. I felt as though I was a rabbit cornered by a fox. Grasping the rock so tightly that my hand started to draw blood, I scanned his approaching figure noticing the wound on his thigh.

In that moment I made a decisive move, throwing the rock I aimed directly for the cut. Jason didn't seem to expect me to attack him, as if I was already under his control when he found me. The rock hurtled through the air colliding with his wound making him let out an angered yell.

"You FUCKING SUBJECT!"

Jasons eyes glowed with fury as he fell to one knee for a moment and then lifted his head to meet my gaze. I looked around the room, hoping to find something else to throw to keep him at bay if possible but in that moment I heard Jason utter words cruely under his breath;

"Crucio".

The spell collided with me and made me instantly fall to the floor. The excruciating pain flowed through my body and left me squirming on the floor, gasping for air. My eyes teared up, my throat grew dry and I started to feel as though death would be kinder than this pain I felt in this moment.

As my vision blurred in and out, I watched Jason slice apart the cell with a spell, stepping towards me. He then sliced my chains that kept me bound and put his foot on my head, stamping my head onto the floor making my vision become even more dazed.

"You really made me exercise to find you… but no matter. The hard part is done now. Its time for us to leave".

I couldn't even find the energy to respond with crucio still running rampant in my body. All I could do was watch as Jason grabbed a pendant from his pouch he had, uttering a phrase;

"Vincere Aut Mori"

As he uttered the phrase, the pendant started to produce a black smoke which enshrouded us both. Seeing the black smoke cover me, my last bit of consciousness I was hanging onto faded.