Nyx: The Demon Princess

Hunters in the Night

James Barbatos watched stoically with his partner Johnathan as the medical officer of the Order ranch studied William's remains. They had been standing in the morgue watching the coroner, an expert in vampire attacks and how to spot them, poke around at the pieces of William's body.

"I knew that reckless bastard was going to get himself killed with that attitude one day, but I wasn't expecting it to be like this." Johnathan said.

"In this line of work, nothing is certain, Johnathan. However this incident cannot be overlooked given recent events." James said. "This was a deliberate attack on a former Order agent and we cannot sign this off as William getting involved with the wrong crowd."

"I'm inclined to agree, sir." The coroner said, studying the joints of the severed limbs. "This isn't some case of the man being decapitated with a sharp blade or some kind. His limbs were torn off, not cut, and it would require immense strength to be able to rip off a man's arms and legs."

Johnathan frowned. "I take it we're not so lucky as to rule it out as an animal attack?"

"No, sir. I've looked at the torso and I've noticed evidence of what appears to be claw marks. They're not as clean cut or smooth as cuts done by that of a blade, and his throat was torn out by something similar, like claws or—"

"Fangs." James's statement made the two men go silent, the implications clear. "So a vampire attack, Wilson?"

"It would appear so, though most of William's blood spilled out through his wounds, if it was drunk at all. This attack wasn't done for a feeding, it was purely an act of brutality."

"Vampires aren't known to waste perfectly good blood like that unless they have good reason." Johnathan said, rubbing his chin. He still kept his eyes off of the mutilated corpse of his former comrade though. "Unless it was an attack of a personal nature."

"So the vampire has an alibi, interesting." James muttered. "I'm ordering an official investigation of Rosemary. If there are vampires remaining here, and they're bold enough to make a show out of killing a hunter, then I'm going to eradicate them personally."

"Shall I call for reinforcements from headquarters?" Johnathan asked.

"That won't be necessary. Our team here is good enough. Quality over quantity as they say." James said and walked out of the morgue with Johnathan. "But if those leeches think they've accomplished something, then they're going to learn how wrong they are."

XXXXXX

Ceta was a grand city located a few miles from Rosemary. It was a beautiful and very scenic city, something common in most Rozzarian cities and towns. The city sat on top of a river that flowed from the Kalik Mountains in the distance and that river cut through the city and through the forest before reaching the coast. The city was comprised of modest buildings located close together and narrow streets barely big enough for a carriage to go through (if even that).

David had only been to the city once with his sister Mary. Ceta had a large entertainment district that catered to theatres and opera houses, and even a miniature colosseum modeled after the ancient Roma colosseum. He remembered how awestruck he was as a child seeing the city for the first time. Everything looked bigger and brighter than his (once) humble little town that he grew up in. David also remembered clinging to his sister's skirts whenever they strolled around the city because he was nervous at being around so many people.

Ceta was also the place where his sister died. Mary and hundreds of other people had been killed in an out of control inferno that ravaged much of the city's residential area. No one knows what exactly caused it, but it took an entire day to extinguish the blaze, and by that time, any poor soul who was caught up in it were nothing but ashes. When David heard that they couldn't even retrieve Mary's remains because they were just ashes among many, it broke him inside. That began his descent into the shadow he was now. Or used to be as a human.