The legacy of the dark blood

Chapter 49

The night hunters

Noises like that made it clear to the agents that the calm in Reich der Finsternis was a fleeting feeling. Nick stood on guard as he heard the horrifying noises, so did Liz, wielding an MP7-type machine gun; the howl of one of the wolves burst from the bowels of the forest causing the crows to flee in terror. Liz was prepared to face the bloodthirsty beasts, paralyzed in the face of imminent danger. In spite of this, Anika did not seem upset, as she had been in the beginning.

"They are not coming for us" expressed the girl, losing her gaze among the branches of the forest, in the direction from which the diabolical roars were spreading "Someone needs help..." the scream of an annihilator was heard followed by a hunting rifle shot and a heart-rending scream of an older man "They are furious... the beasts... they want to kill".

Anika pointed her index finger towards a point where nothing was visible but a black screen from which white smoke was emanating; it didn't take long for them to realize that the girl was right, other humans were in danger and a horrible death awaited them in case they were not able to contain such a threat.

Liz was not willing to see more people die in front of her, she reloaded her weapon possessed by a feeling of courage, ready to mow down anyone who dared to attempt against the lives of innocent people. With a rough wave of her hand she asked Nick to follow her, hoping that the officer would have the same disposition as she did to help those in danger. She moved quickly through the leaf litter and the few fallen branches of the tall evergreen trees; the roars spread around the perimeter with increasing intensity. Liz identified the loud altered voices of some humans, as well as another pair of gunshots. Between the prancing of the annihilators and the roars of the wolves, Liz knew that the victims' chances of escaping unharmed were slipping away. Nick was running behind her, as was Anika, who due to her size and limited faculties was unable to keep up with the agents.

At a point not far away, she found the glowing light of an oil lamp accompanied by a torch, both points moving in the dark gloom like shooting stars. Nick was already standing next to Liz, just in time to stumble upon a horrific scene. At his side, a wolf tainted by dark blood was devouring the body of an annihilator with a voracity as great as that of a beast that had been denied food for weeks; it was tearing flesh from muscle as if it would never again have a chance to satiate its inordinate appetite. The lights came from a trio of men, in somewhat more refined villager garb compared to what the agents had seen on previous occasions. One of them, the youngest was succumbing on the ground with a non-lethal wound in the side of his abdomen; another of them, somewhat older, was pointing his hunting rifle at the wolf, trembling with the expectation that the ferocious beast would charge them once it determined them. The third man, also older, was helping the young man to his feet, carrying his rifle on his back.

The man aiming at the wolf was trembling, stunned once the beast lost interest in the annihilator's body and fixed its murderous gaze upon him, its yellowish eyes giving the impression that they would leap out of their eye sockets to burst. Nick could not conceive of a person not having the determination and courage to shoot when the situation demanded it, he loaded his assault rifle, as did Liz, as he watched the beast approach the man to make its first attack, while he just backed away in terror without daring to shoot. The wolf gained momentum and prepared to pounce on its victim; Nick did not hesitate to open fire instantly, as did Liz. Together, they managed to eliminate the wolf, which agonized for a few seconds on the ground, leaving a trail of dark blood. Its long limbs stretched out on the ground, its skin so putrefied that it tended to fall off its bones. They had managed to thwart the threat and rescue some survivors from the horrors of the forest of doom.

"Sie sind tot (They are dead)" sighed Anika, not daring to approach the pools of blood, from where she believed the evil aura emanated that breathed over Liz.