1 Chapter One: The Elven Princess (1)

A cool breeze blew through the air of the night, the dark clouds slowly parting to allow the light of the moon to descend upon the land, chasing away the darkness and lighting up surrounding area. This revealed the corpses that covered the battlefield, sparing no details as the blood that had yet to be soaked into the earth reflected the light back at the moon. Some of the bodies still contained life, and now that the moon had been freed from the clouds, the vampires began prowling the battlefield, fangs glistening in the night as they searched for any unfortunate soul that still drew breath, eager to tear into them and drain their crimson life from their veins.

A lone vampire watched all of this from afar, standing on top of a small hill and looking down as his red eyes, peering out from his helmet, examined the vampires below. He saw them find some poor elf still alive and start rushing him like a pack of wolves, the elf's screams filling the silence of the night as his blood was taken from him, the vampires ruthless as they tore his throat open. The screams did not last long, the vampires good at what they did, and soon silence returned to the battlefield. The vampire seeing this showed no sign of emotion or protest to what he saw, simply watching as someone climbed up the small hill towards him.

The vampire climbing the hill took a deep breath, sweating as he made his way towards the terrifying figure before him, knowing that he had to steel his resolve and speak to this figure. The vampire in front of him had light metal armor that was covered in blood, the dark grey metal appearing crimson in the moonlight. It was the helmet that was the most unsettling to see, the helm in the shape of a skull, only his red eyes visible from the skull's eye sockets, appearing to glow from the darkness within. He wore a heavy black cloak, the sigil of the Nation of Blood on the back of the cloak in red, a picture of fangs with a drop of blood about to fall from one. At his hip, hanging off of his sword belt, was a long, thin sword in its sheath. The vampire gulped, trying to calm down as he reached the top of the hill. He saluted the armored vampire, raising his left hand and folding his arm to his chest, his fist pointing towards his heart.

"Captain Jack Benson, I have come to give my report from the battle."

Jack slowly looked over at the smaller vampire, able to see how nervous the vamp was at the mere sight of him. He turned to face the vampire, red eyes looking down so intensely that they might burn a hole in the vamp's head.

"You may be at ease. Deliver your report."

The vampire relaxed, holding up a piece of paper and beginning to read from it. If Jack remembered right, the vamp's name was Cole.

"The battle was an overwhelming victory like always, with little casualties on our side compared to the elves. Most of our dead have already been retrieved, and all that remains for now is to give mercy to any elves left alive and collect blood while the bodies are still fresh."

Jack frowned beneath his helmet, looking over at the pack of vampires searching for another living elf to drain; he did not see how that could be considered mercy. He looked back at Cole, the vamp still tense and unable to relax in his presence.

"As expected. But I care little for such news; you know my title, so tell me what I wish to hear. Have any vampires deserted, or otherwise broke our laws?"

Cole shook his head, rolling up the paper and putting it into a small bag hanging from his belt.

"No, not that I know of. There is plenty of blood to go around, and morale has been pretty high since-"

He was cut off as a blood curdling scream erupted from the distance, drawing Jack's attention as he looked towards the sound. The sound came from the forest nearby, away from the battlefield, and he knew no vampires should be in the forest right now. That was the elves territory, and only a fool would enter the trees to chase an elf without an army at his back. Jack saw Cole turn to look as well, confusion in his eyes as he wondered what could have caused it.

"I will go and see what that is all about; you stay here and make sure everything is in order for when I return."

Cole nodded, probably eager to leave Jack's presence. He turned and charged towards the direction of the sound, a slight gust of wind following him as his surroundings began to blur around him. Cole gaped at the sight, amazed that even a vampire could move so fast in full armor.

Jack reached the tree line in mere seconds, skidding to a stop and kicking up grass and dirt. He closed his eyes, relying on his superior senses to guide him the rest of the way. As he inhaled, the strong scent of blood filled his nose, and as he listened, he could hear laughter in the distance. He opened his eyes, the light of the moon having a hard time breaking through the thick canopy of leaves and branches, and relied on his hearing and smell as he made his way through the forest, careful not to bump into any trees or get his cloak caught on any low hanging branches.

The scent of blood slowly got stronger, until it was nearly overpowering, and he finally reached the location the scream came from. The ground was littered with bodies, both vampiric and elven, their blood slowly pooling together and staining the grass. Jack noticed that the elven corpses had on different armor than the ones from the battlefield, light and made more for swift movement than for battle.

He noticed the small light of a fire, someone having placed a torch in the ground to light up the surrounding area. The light of the fire revealed two vampires, their cloaks bearing the sigil of the Nation of Blood as they knelt on the ground, looking down at something. They were the source of the laughter, and as Jack watched, he heard the sound of tearing cloth, the vampires so caught up in whatever they were doing that they had failed to notice that he was there.

Jack slowly walked forward, making no sound as his armor was made special for this. He reached them, blocking the light of the fire and finally getting their attention. They shot up to their feet, baring their fangs and tensing up, until they saw his helmet. They froze for a second, fear filling their crimson eyes as they realized what it meant, before standing up straight, using their bodies to try and hide what they had been doing.

He glared at them for a few seconds, wondering what they were trying to hide from him, before finally speaking, his voice low and soft.

"Soldiers, what is going on here?"

They tensed up, sweating as one of them responded, his voice shaky and full of guilt.

"We s-saw some elves in the forest. Thinking that t-they were fleeing from the battle, we chased them down and killed them, Night Stalker sir."

Jack growled loudly, making them jump, his patience running thin.

"I'm not blind, I can see that much. I meant what were you two doing, and what are you hiding behind you?"

They began to sweat even more, sharing a nervous look with each other before the other one answered him.

"Well, one was still alive. we were...going to show them mercy and kill them."

His eyes narrowed in suspicion, not buying their story for a minute.

"Is that all? Then step aside, and I will deliver this mercy myself."

The vampires hesitated, only further showing their guilt, and Jack ran out of patience. In one smooth movement, so fast that neither vampire was able to see it, he grabbed his sword, pulled the thin blade out of its sheath, and held it up to the neck of the vampire on the left, the point of the sword piercing his skin and drawing blood.

"Maybe I was not clear. Move aside, before I kill you."

The vamp looked down at the blade, eyes wide with fear, before slowly moving aside, his companion also moving and eyeing the sword. Jack lowered his blade, turning his body so that the light from the torch could illuminate the ground in front of him, and finally saw what the vampires were hiding, and why they reeked of guilt.

Lying in the grass was a female elf. She had a deep gash in her right shoulder, her blood slowly leaking out from it and onto the ground, and she was unconscious, her eyes closed and her breathing ragged. But the wound was not what they were hiding; her shirt had been completely torn off, revealing her chest, and it looked like they were starting to rip the rest of her clothing off before he arrived.

He glared down at the elf, anger slowly filling his body as he realized what they had planned to do to the elf. He slowly looked over at one of them, the vampire seeing his eyes and taking a step back from the sight.

"I do not appreciate being lied to, soldier. You were about to rape this elf. That fact alone makes you a complete piece of shit, but it also goes against our laws, and the punishment for breaking this law is quite clear."

The vampire took another step back, beginning to shake and unable to respond. The other vamp behind him walked around, eyes wide with fear and panic as he began to spout an excuse.

"What does that matter? She is an elf, and who cares if we have our way with the enemy? No one else would bat an eye at this, but you Night Stalkers think you can-"

The vampire would never get to finish his sentence, as Jack suddenly thrusted his sword with inhuman speed, the thin metal piercing the vamp's throat with ease and sliding through his flesh, going out the other side. The vampire looked down at the blade, his brain not processing what had just happened, and Jack slowly pulled the blade out, blood spraying out the instant his sword left the wound and adding to the rest of the blood already staining his armor.

"The law does not care if it is an elf or a vampire; rape is rape, and the punishment is death."

The vampire clutched at his neck, trying to stop the blood as he fell to his knees, blood leaking out of his mouth as he gurgled on it. It did not take long until his eyes grew dull, his body falling sideways to the ground with a quiet thump, his blood slowing down as it stained the grass and reflected the light of the torch. The other vampire fall backwards onto his rear, eyes wide and full of terror as Jack began to slowly walk over to him.

"W-w-wait, wait a second!" the vampire began, scooting back as Jack got closer and closer. "W-we didn't actually d-do anything yet! She has not been r-raped, so I should not be punished like this!"

Jack stopped when he reached the vamp, looking down as his anger only continued to grow and grow, soon to become an unstoppable storm.

"I do not care. It is very clear that you intended to. If I let you go now, who is to say you will not try to again? No, you are filth, a stain, and need to be cleansed."

The vampire opened his mouth to plead but Jack did not give him the chance, raising his sword and plunging it into the vamp's eye, sinking the blade further until the vampire stopped moving, growing limp and dying. Jack pulled his sword out of the vamp's skull, wrinkling his nose in disgust as he saw the vamp's eyeball stuck to the tip of his sword. He flicked it off, pulling a rag out from his sword belt and cleaning the blood from his sword before sheathing it.

He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself, calm the raging storm of anger in his chest. He slowly turned to the elf on the ground, the girl still appearing unconscious despite all of the noise. He made his way over to her, unclasping his cloak and taking it off before throwing it over her chest. He crossed his arms, looking down at the elf with a million thoughts going through his head.

What was he supposed to do now?