Castlevania Nocturne: A Sneak Peak

Pitfall

Another sneak peak of the next chapter.

......

"He can't have lost his magic for good." Vance said while walking with Emma in the forest.

"He's lost it for now." Emma said, stepping beside him. "And I've done everything I can to try getting it back. I've never seen a block this bad, even with me."

"You truly think it's a block?"

"I do." Emma stepped over a puddle. "Magic doesn't go away once you've mastered it, but it can lay dormant if there's a mental block caused by trauma or grief. Richter's had this block for years, ever since his mother died."

"Ahh. That'll do it." Vance nodded glumly. "But there are ways of getting through . Finding peace, coming to terms with your grief and trauma, good exercise. Those sorts of things. There must be a way for him to get past it."

"If there is, I haven't found it." Emma clicked her teeth. "I've tried virtually everything with him. Breathing exercises, meditation I learned from a traveling Mal'akh , stretching, regular workout, you name it, and nothing has worked with him."

"Then perhaps it is something he has to figure for himself." Vance suggested. "He has to work through it on his own, you've given him the tools, but he must use them himself to break through this mental barrier he's having." He blinked at Emma. "Like you did."

Emma gulped down the lump in her throat, balling her fists. They entered a sunny clearing, plain with spring grass and a faint scent of blood. "Something recently died here." Vance sniffed. "Fresh blood." He hungrily stalked forward.

Emma's glyphs instantly prickled all over her body. "Vance!" The vampire instinctively froze. "What is wrong?"

"Stay where you are!" Emma commanded sharply. "Don't move a muscle." Vance tensed, daring not to move even an inch while watching Emma stalk cautiously around the clearing's perimeter. Her hackles raised and her claws flexed, detecting an underlying scent of carved wood. When she ran into the center of the clearing the ground fell beneath her. Emma sprouted her wings and hovered, quickly flying to Vance at the other end of the spike-laden pit.

"What the Devil?" Vance snarled, eyes glowing red.

"A trapping pit." Emma hissed.

"That is plainly obvious." Vance leered at the spikes. "Humans are so barbaric, I can't imagine the poor creatures that might have befallen and impaled here. At least vampires will drain you quickly."

"This trap wasn't meant for animals." Emma peered over the edge. "Don't look."

"Too late Em." Vance snarled in revulsion at the skeletal corpses of impaled vampires. "There may be others. Let's go."

Emma and Vance took wing, as a falcon and bat respectively to avoid stumbling into more traps. They landed at Amalie's house, finding Emma's mother and Tera organizing the pharmacy.

"Vance. Emma." Amalie greeted them pleasantly. "Enjoy your nice walk?" She instantly noticed the concern in their eyes. "What's wrong?"

"We found a trap in the woods." Emma explained their gruesome discovery. "Other animals can't trigger it,nor humans, only the lightened gait of a vampire can. I set it off when I suspected something was off."

"Emmaline Lisa are you crazy?" Amalie exclaimed. "You could've been impaled!"

"I have my wings Ma." Emma assured.

"And it's a good thing she found it before me, else I'd be at the bottom of a pit with a stake up my ass." Vance growled. "Other vampires weren't as fortunate to have a vigilant Nephilim with them. We saw other corpses in the pit, whoever set up the trap is maintaining it well and succeeding a good deal."

"It's a vampire hunter." Emma concluded gravely. "An experienced one. A trapping pit like that can't be created by novices. We should look into it."

"Better if you leave it be." Tera advised, speaking for the first time. She was always uneasy around Vance. "If it's a hunter, there is no reason to confront him. He's keeping people safe."

"Tera's right." Amalie agreed. "If it ain't broke don't fix it. If someone's trapping vampires, let them. Most are not friendly like Vance, and won't hesitate to prey on defenseless civilians, especially with the Revolution in full swing." She didn't go into it more for Emma's sake, but her daughter understood.

" Even so, Vance hunts in those forests and there's bound to be more traps laying in wait." Emma persisted.

"I'm smarter than the average beast, Em." Vance reassured her. " I'll be more careful now I'm aware of them."

"You nearly followed your nose into this one!" Emma clicked her teeth.

"I'm willing to take the risks so I do not become like the vampires they snared."

"Do what you need to keep your belly full, Vance." Amalie said. "Just be aware of your surroundings. And Emma." She gave her daughter a firm eye. "Stay out of the woods for now. These traps can't determine between a vampire and a Nephilim with a vampire's gait. I don't want you hurt."

"I will, Mother." Emma shrugged.