Red Fang II

Chapter 16 (M/G Arc): Hunting Season

We last read Chapter 15, in which Cristian Dumitru details the origins of blood magic to Mavis Ladair, a.k.a. Red Fang, and her husband Garson. It is revealed that long before either Cluj-Napoca or the Vermillion Enclave came into being, an order of wizards and witches specialized in the same school of magic lorded over the skill and solely used it to maintain and preserve the well-being of others, despite the rather unsavory processes needed to obtain the reagent itself. However, the mages were soon hunted to extinction—despite their heroic deeds—by a very paranoid general populace who only saw the dangers of blood magic and not their benefits, much to Red Fang's horror. Cristian then concludes by saying that the last wizard—before being killed by his captors—transferred the last of the order's magic reserve into a ruby-like gemstone—the Bloodstone, which is now in the vampires' possession—and chucked it to the other end of the Romanian landmass before being dispatched for good. Knowing this, Red Fang and Garson leave Cristian's shed and return to the Enclave, intent on asking Red Fang's father, Lord Balfort Ladair, for more information.....but not before a hilarious, death-defying flight through Cluj-Napoca courtesy of Red Fang herself.

Meanwhile, back at Ladair Castle, Lord Balfort Ladair and Agnes take another break from working on a cure, and the vampire lord details his side of the story, offering the other half of the Bloodstone's origin. In the past, he dreamed of creating a safe haven and sanctuary for the vampires of the world, who were—at the time—the victim of heavy bias and stigma from the populace at large. He had big ambitions, but few resources.....until he found the chucked Bloodstone during his travels, which granted him an individual visage and allowed him to construct the entirety of the Vermillion Enclave in a matter of time. Agnes thanks him deeply for sharing the truth behind the Bloodstone's custody by the vampires—even if he did it very late into her life—and the pair once again return to their work.

Just when Red Fang and Garson enter the Enclave, however, the strange blood creature Virulis spots them while it is out picking up its and Boripedes's lunch order, and decides to sic a pack of wolves on them; the chapter ended with Red Fang and Garson running for their lives from the frenzied beasts.

This time, Red Fang and Garson try to evade their pursuers, and are given a helping hand by a new—yet somehow familiar—face.....

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"Run, dragul meu (dear)! Come on.....I have your back!" Red Fang said between breaths as she and Garson frantically weaved over, under, and around the dense growth of the woods surrounding the Vermillion Enclave as they desperately tried to lose the oncoming wolves.

Thinking quickly, Garson briefly gripped the shaft of a loose horizontal tree branch which he happened to pass by, pulled it towards him as he ran past it, and then let go once it was stretched to its limit.....causing it to suddenly snap back in the opposite direction and deck one of the wolves directly in the snout, knocking it unconscious and taking them out of the chase.

"Or you could have mine," Red Fang commented, sounding obviously impressed at the quick move. "Remarkable."

"Did you see that?!" Garson cheered. However, he made the mistake of looking back, and saw that he had unfortunately only taken out one wolf of about fifteen that were still headed their way. "WHOA!"

The vampiric superheroine, snapping her fingers, gave instructions to her partner. "I have a solution! Here.....get in front of me!"

She slowed down slightly and allowed Garson to overtake her, with both of them also having to jump over an oncoming rock and slide low below a rapidly-approaching, low-hanging tree branch in the process.