Download for free on Smashwords - https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/1148969

As the world returns to the state it once was, the vampires come to claim a majority of it. Things become even bleaker as the last Aurora is defeated and her allies and family are slaughtered, but a serf named Evan Meridies seeks to enlist her help so that he and the rest of the serfs can gain the aid of the Church. Will this unlikely union be the last of the Aurora or the start of something new?

Venatores Noctis: Adoption Through Blood: Chapter 4 – Victory at Noon

*the crest for Evan and his serfs

Chapter 4 – Victory at Noon

With a Church controlled city in the distance, Loretta grips Evan’s arms more tightly. The city itself contains gothic buildings typical of cities controlled by the Church though a notable difference is that the holy statues, images, and buildings themselves are damaged by recent attacks and are being repaired. Many people come out of their homes as the morning sun rises just in time to be in shock at the small army of serfs approaching them, which makes some retreat back into their homes. There are even some that are scared or start praying to God for help when they see Loretta in one of the carriages. Curiosity gets some of them to follow the carriages to their destination.

Rufus leads Loretta, Evan, and Evan’s serfs to a courthouse where he explains what happened and the infants are transferred to an orphanage for safe keeping. The leaders of the Church decide to hold the decision for Loretta at the courthouse and have it done immediately since her and the presence of the serfs are causing a commotion in the public. Guards and soldiers keep the public outside of the courthouse and the serfs who cannot fit in the courthouse are put under the supervision of soldiers and temporarily kept in a jail, which the serfs begrudgingly comply with. Loretta, Evan, and the serfs stand in the center of the court while the guards surround them and the Church leaders and Rufus sit outside of the circle of guards. The many statues of saints, the Blessed Mother, and angels staring down the center of the room in a judging manner and the deafening silence doesn’t help Loretta’s feelings of anxiety, but Evan holds her hand and then nods at her to communicate his understanding of her feelings.

“Let us commence with the trial,” one of the judges says, “First, we must state what Sir Rufus had told us while somewhat condemning it at the same time. You attacked a Church held city that was actually held by traitors and killed everyone in it. What we didn’t know was that a majority of the city was controlled by vampire wolves and their traitors and that Sir Rufus had agents in the city that were slowly trying to remove them from power. Now, no one knows why they attacked you. Maybe they wanted to keep up their cover, take you alive, and rescue you later or they genuinely think that you’re a threat to the Church.”

“Or maybe they were compromised and only pretended to be on our side,” another judge interjects, “It would make sense since we’ve suffered many surprise attacks from the vampires.”

Rufus holds back his retort especially since the first judge who spoke says, “That’s enough. We don’t know why what they did and we’ll have to deal with Sir Rufus and his band of vampire hunters at a different date. Regardless of their reasoning, there was some merit in it that would’ve possibly saved the lives of the innocents you killed. Since your family does have special privileges in Church, I’ll allow you to make your case.”

Loretta stands up and says, “I’m guilty of taking the lives of the innocent. This I confess without excuse. The only thing I ask is that you let these serfs and I serve together in the Church’s army to take it back from the vampires.”

“So, you want to pay blood with blood?” a judge asks.

“Those who live by the sword die by it and my family has died by it for the sake of God and His Holy Church. Please allow us to lend us your aid.”

“They have proven to be an effective fighting force for such a small size,” a judge says to another.

“They are led by Evan Meridies. Do you know what that beast horrors that beast has done when he served the vampires?” another judge counters.

“These beasts think they can serve us as their penance? They’re trying to lessen it by offering us baptized infants. How disgusting,” yet another judge comments.

Evan and the other serfs bite their tongues so that a fight doesn’t ensue. Loretta also feels this way and is about to stand up and start a fight, but she stops herself in the act and pretends that she’s adjusting herself in her seat.

“The infants aren’t an offering to lessen our penance. Instead, we rescued them because it was the right thing to do. If you lessen our penance because of it, fine, but if you don’t, that’s also fine,” Loretta says to the surprise of the judges, “We aren’t asking to be rewarded. We are only asking to be in your service. Evan and his serfs have invaluable experience in fighting against and resisting the vampire gods. Evan is also the reason why I’m here. He’s a good man and someone that I trust my life with.”

The judges are unsure what to say about this until Rufus says, “I’m convinced of Loretta’s willingness to do what’s right. I say that we have her and Evan’s serfs join the army.”

“You’ll so easily forgive them for killing your friends?” a judge asks.

“Forgiveness is an important part of being a servant of God. Besides, they did take back a small city for us.”

“Tch, giving them the honor of joining the army and so easily forgiving them. It makes sense you’d like them since you seem to both like acting outside of the Church’s authority.”

“I was well within my authority to do what I did.”

“Then why didn’t you share what you know with the council leaders?”

“Because we had our suspicions that there were more wolves among the sheep, so I kept this information to my trusted inner circle. There are wolves out there in a less literal sense among us that have traded their integrity for power and wealth, which I’m sure goes without saying.”

“Are you implying that these wolves are among even this council?”

“I can’t say for certain, but I’m sure we’ll know soon. Now, enough with being off topic. What are your decisions?”

Five out of seven judges accept Loretta’s terms while one denies it and another stays neutral resulting in her winning this case. After going to confession and waiting a long time for each of Evan’s serfs to complete their penance, Loretta, Evan, and his serfs go out to celebrate for the day. During the next day, they show off their combat skills to the army and knowledge of vampire tactics and what certain vampires are able to do such as the gods, devils, wolves, and ones that were once serfs. Some days later after proving themselves in combat and cleaning the small city they killed the innocent and the traitorous wolves in, they are allowed to be in the operation to take the city where Evan and Loretta met. Outside of the city, Loretta looks upon it eagerly awaiting the battle.

Evan joins her and says, “I know that look in your eyes. Don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“I won’t. I’ve learned from my mistakes,” Loretta confidently says.

“Then why are you out here ahead of time with your whip already drawn when you should be resting with everyone else?”

“Oh, shut up. The anticipation was killing me. Besides, as an Aurora, I have to be at the front of the battle lines anyway. Don’t you have some grand strategy to plan?”

“I already have. We’re just waiting for the serfs to come back from planting the makeshift bombs in the city, some of which are filled with blessed salts and holy water. They should be giving us the signal to attack soon.”

“Good because I can’t wait for the battle.”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself. I trust that your guardian angel will lend its assistance?”

“Yes, but I wish that it would actually give me some advice rather than just protect me, silently point in directions, and appear more often.”

“If you need advice, you can always ask me for it.”

“Heh, this is something secret and I need someone else’s advice.”

“Can’t you give me a hint?”

“Okay, okay. Here’s one.”

Loretta holds onto Evan’s arm and rests her head on it, which gives him a significant enough hint.

“You’re not exactly subtle.”

“Hey, I can’t make elaborate plans like you can. I just go in and hit things.”

“I’m glad you said it and not me.”

“What that’s supposed to mean?!” Before Loretta can argue further, an explosion goes off in the city. “Finally!”

She then gets on her horse and begins to join the front lines.

“Remember to follow the plan and that I won’t be far behind!”

“Try to keep up then and there may be scraps of the enemy for to fight!”

When she joins up with her squad, they lead the Church’s army into the already burning city. Because of the explosives, many of the guard towers, barracks, and other important buildings are heavily damaged. Holes in the walls made by other explosives allow the Church’s army to pour in and overtake the surprised vampires and willing serfs who don’t have a chance to react. Some of the lesser vampires seek the guidance of their superiors only to find their throats slit by Evan’s serfs who take them out from the darkness as well. Meanwhile, other cowardly vampires and serfs flee the city in the hopes of getting reinforcements, but these cowards are taken out by Rufus’ forces who make sure that none escape.

Further in the city, Loretta has cut her way all the way to the capital castle where the vampire gods reside, however, she finds her head hurting as a squad of vampire devils are sent after her and her squad. Thanks to their recent mass, prayers, confessions, and blessings from the bishops and pope, the temptations of the devils hardly affect Loretta and her squad. Still, the erratic and suicidal demons are a handful to deal with to the point where Loretta’s horse is killed in the fight. The devil is about to get the better of her until her guardian angel intervenes and saves her and her group.

“Thank you!” she says to her angel before heading into the castle.

This was the same castle where Evan and Loretta first met, but the nostalgia of it quickly fades away as she fights her way through it. More serfs and vampires lie within the capital and Loretta seems outnumbered until Evan’s serfs come in from behind them to even the odds. Eventually, the fight gets so hectic that people lose track of one another and Loretta finds herself up against many vampires and serfs by herself.

“The one who takes her head will take a seat among the gods!” a vampire says before charging at her.

It is then that Loretta’s guardian angel aids her in this fight. The entire fight so far has been a non-stop rush of excitement as her thirst for justice is being quenched. She offers up every kill to God hoping also that her father is proud of her. Her one woman rampage ends in a room where she is surrounded by both vampire gods and devils who have hostages with them. These hostages are held by the devils with their jagged bones on the necks and chests of the hostages. At this moment, Loretta’s rush comes to a halt as she silently prays that someone comes to help her.

Before she moves, a vampire god says, “One move, and the hostages die. Allow us to leave and they will live.”

The smirks and looks on the faces of the vampires make it evident that they’re lying or at least have plans that they’re confident will work. It also doesn’t help that the gods and devils are using their powers to tempt Loretta to act so they have an excuse to kill those hostages and cause significant psychological damage to her since they know this bothers her, especially because of what happened in the past. She is tempted to think that God has abandoned her since her guardian angel disappeared before she entered the room, but despite all the temptations, she stands strong and continues to wait for a solution to enter her head and one eventually does. Loretta remembers what Evan said and soon after, Evan does enter the room with his serfs to save the hostages before they can be killed.

“Evan!” Loretta says before hugging him.

“I told you that I wouldn’t be far behind, but you still should’ve slowed down,” Evan says.

The two don’t have time to celebrate as the corpses begin moving on their own as something is pulling them towards it as if they were puppets on a string. Following this leads everyone in the Church’s army to the huge courtyard in the middle of the capital where all the bodies are forming into a singular vampire with many heads, limbs, and wings.

“Despair and bow before us for we are the Legion of the Damned,” the monstrosity says before tearing about the Church’s army, its own, and the city itself with its larger limbs that are the size of a house.

In response, the Church’s army charges forward and tears through Legion’s body, but they don’t get anywhere since the bodies go back into the massive one as it regenerates.

Taking cover from the battle, Evan asks one of his serfs, “Do we have any info on this?”

“The only thing we know is that it’s a result of their experimentation on vampire gods and devils to create something similar to the vampires that combined themselves with the still living bodies of others before their blasphemous baptism. For what particular purpose and how they were able to gravitate the bodies of their dead together, we don’t know. It’s mostly the result of demonic magic and rituals.”

“They probably planned to use it against us,” Loretta points out.

“That’s doubtful since they’ve been more annoyed with each other than us,” the serf says.

“Do we know if it has any weaknesses?” Evan asks.

“The center of it should have a singular vampire god that’s controlling it all. Kill it and the rest of the corpses should fall from the body.”

“How are we going to get to the center of that massive thing?”

“I think it’s unintentionally giving us a way. Look at all the destruction is causing. We’ll use the destruction around it to get to the center of the body and cut our way through. Looks like my serfs already share the same idea.”

“Then let’s help them out.”

Evan and Loretta leap into battle along with the rest of the serfs and attack the center of Legion. It tries to swipe them away from it; however, they keep leaping back as if they aren’t hurt because of the experiments done on them. In comparison, the normal human soldiers of the Church struggle to even get Legion and are nearly crippled after enduring one of its attacks. Loretta’s guardian angel comes out to shred through Legion’s body as if it were nothing to create an opening. Evan leaps into the opening, but Legion quickly heals itself in desperation and violently shakes and juts out every bone in its body to force everyone off its body. This comes at the cost of Legion falling down to rest for a second while its many bones act as a shield.

With her hands together in prayer, Loretta prays and hopes that Evan will be fine and end the battle. Meanwhile, Evan finds himself in a maze of flesh and corpses with no clear way to the center. He prays also for help and a blinding light manifests in front of him, which turns into an angel. This angel has an empty cloak for a body with proverbs from scripture written within it while psalms are written on its paper-like wings. Four of its arms hold books containing the philosophies of war. In contrast to the books, its two arms in the center of its body hold a dagger in one hand and a crossbow in the other.

“What kind of angel are you?” Evan asks.

“I am your guardian angel. Here, to protect you and lead the way,” it says.

“My guardian angel? Why do you now manifest yourself to me?”

“Do you see the situation you are in? Did you not ask for help?”

“I do see the situation and I did ask for help.”

“Then let’s be on our way.”

As Evan’s guardian angel leads the way, it cuts apart Legion’s body with its knife and keeps away the still living bodies with its crossbow. Evan helps out his angel cut through the body and keep away the corpses until they reach the core of Legion where a single vampire god resides. This vampire god’s face and body don’t stand out from the other corpses around it and writhe in place as it struggles to control the whole body. To defend itself, the bones on the outside of the body go back in an attempt to cut Evan to pieces while the corpses within leap at him to try to hold him in place so this happens. Countering this, Evan’s guardian angel cuts into Legion stopping the bones and bodies in place. On closer inspection, it appears that the angel has cut a major nerve in Legion and the light from the attack is spreading throughout the body like a poison except to the center body.

Knowing that its end is at hand, the vampire god says, “No, I am Legion! I am a god! A true god that will bring all vampires together!”

“No, you’re just scum like the rest”, Evan says before punching the center body which completely destroys it.

With the destruction of the body, it begins to collapse on itself. Evan’s guardian angel and Evan destroy the bodies around them while his serfs and Loretta try to free him as well. Despite its core being destroyed, the corpses that comprise the outside of the body try dragging others in so those who are trying to free Evan have to deal with this as well. In the process of trying to free Evan, Loretta’s whip is caught by the corpses and tries to drag her with it. She begrudgingly lets it go and gets another blessed weapon to cut apart the corpses until the body is a large pile of mush on the ground. Everyone begins to fear the worse until Evan leaps out of Legion with his guardian angel at his side and Loretta’s broken whip in his hands, which can only be seen by Loretta. Legion’s body then completely collapses on itself until nothing is left by blood and shrinking pieces of flesh. The Church’s army cheers in victory as Loretta runs to hug Evan but then backs off since they’re both covered in blood. The noon sun rises as time shifts forward since the spell that was extending the night has been broken with the death of Legion.

“Sorry, I couldn’t save your whip. It was crushed before I could save it,” Evan says.

“There’s no need to worry about that. It broke long ago and has been in pieces ever since. I was more worried about you,” Loretta says.

“You shouldn’t have. Everything went according to plan.”

“That thing and you killing it from within was part of your plan.”

“It was part of my spontaneous plan.”

Loretta rolls her eyes at this before the two go to clean up with the rest of the army.

One of Evan’s serfs runs to him and says, “The threat from within has been dealt with, sir.”

“What threat?” Loretta asks.

“Another thing you didn’t have to worry about. I had my serfs give small cuts from a blessed knife to the leaders and some of the soldiers back at the temporary base just in case we had any wolves in our camp and it looks like I was right.”

“You’ll have to let me in on your secret plans one day.”

“If I did that, then you might just charge in and ruin it.”

“Tch, you’re probably right.”

After they get cleaned up, care for the dead, and Loretta, Evan, and the serfs who fought in the battle are honored by the Church. They then celebrate their accomplishments back in the Church’s territory while the new city is reconstructed and watched over by the army. During the party, Evan and Loretta look out at the noon sun together.

Evan looks at Loretta and says, “I think we should-”

“I do,” Loretta says before kissing him on the lips.

“I…I was going to ask you if-”

“If I was going to marry you? I said yes! Where’s the ring?”

“That’s the thing. I was just going to ask if we could be together. Marriage was going to come soon after.”

“Well, marriage is now so get a ring and get the ceremony ready. I’ll get my dress and you’ll have to clean yourself up though not too much. I find your beast-like appearance somewhat appealing.”

“I knew you rushed into battle, but I didn’t think you would rush into marriage.”

“Deal with it. There’s no taking it back or else I’ll cry until you marry me.” Evan gives Loretta a look of disbelief while she smugly grins. “There’s no strategy that you can use around this.”

“I’m at a loss then. I’ll start getting everything together then.”

“Yes!”

Some days later, Evan and Loretta are married to the joy of many. The last Aurora is now a Meridies as she takes Evan’s last name to be her own. Even though the view of serfs by those in the Church isn’t improved much and the vampires still control much of the world, Loretta, Evan, and their serf army have shaken the world by proving how faithful they are, which inspires other serfs to be like them and join them. This marks the beginning of a brighter future despite the darkness the world is still cursed by, the sinful people that rule it, and the noon sun marking it rather than the morning.

 

The End

Venatores Noctis: Adoption Through Blood: Chapter 3 – Wolves in Human Clothing

Chapter 3 – Wolves in Human Clothing

In the dreams of Loretta and Evan, they see the ones they love and call out to them. All their loved ones smile at them before saying the exact same thing.

“I entrust you in the arms of another.”

Loretta and Evan wake up in each other’s arms. They distance themselves from one another before apologizing and shaking off their weariness.

“It’s still night outside?” Loretta asks.

“It’s a result of a weaker version of the Eternal Night spell that the vampires once had over the world. It allows them to tempt people easier and give themselves more power in the regions they control, however, it doesn’t affect any place that is holy or blessed, and the spell only extends the night rather than making it eternal and creating another moon,” Evan explains.

“That’s a problem then. We’ll have to eliminate the vampires who cast the spell so the world doesn’t completely fall underneath their control again.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much. The vampires like to play with their food and it took generations before they were able to take over with this spell. Besides, the storm has subsided so we should rejoin my serfs. They shouldn’t be too far.”

The two rejoin Evan’s serfs and find them strangely outside the walls of the border city between the territory of the vampires and the Church. They’re injured and hiding among the trees until they see Evan and Loretta approaching so that they can take them to where they’ve set up camp.

“What happened? Did the Church kick you out because you are serfs? Were the infants and our actions not enough to be accepted by them?” Evan asks.

“No, that’s not it. The people behind those walls are vampire wolves,” a serf says.

“Vampire wolves? Is there seriously another kind of vampire that I don’t know about?” Loretta asks.

“The vampire wolves are those who say they worship God and seek the truth but do so in the most sinful and corrupt ways. These people are blasphemously baptized with the so called intention of doing good with the worldly immortality of a vampire. I don’t blame you for not knowing about them. They don’t have pale skin and the outward appearance of a vampire. Instead, they show their true skin when they sin, and I mean this in a literal way as their human skin peels back to reveal the wolf within.”

“If that’s true, then I should’ve known about them since I’ve known many hypocrites within the Church.”

“There’s more to it. They show their true skin for a period of time before their human skin goes back over their bodies, so it can be difficult to pick them out from the faithful. It’s not like we can force them to sin to show their true colors since that is a sin. Anyways, tell me what happened.”

Continuing his story, the serf explains that, “The wolves took us in until we figured out who they truly were when one of us witnessed them sin. After this, we confirmed it and did our best to get the infants out of the city so they wouldn’t be sacrificed. Quite a number of us were injured as a result but-”

“But we’re still ready to fight,” another serf says with another trying to get him to rest. This serf is cut in half up to his hip with their organs showing, and yet, he still lives. “Give us your orders, sir. We cannot allow these traitors to God to go unpunished any longer.”

“You should get your rest. You are in no condition to fight.”

“I’m still standing and talking to you despite my condition. I’ll regenerate soon enough and turn this curse of a condition against the forces of sin that did this to me.”

“You’ll get your opportunity after you put yourself back together, but you’ll have to sit this one out. Trust me when I say that I’ll make these traitors pay.”

The serf looks at Evan in silence for a bit before falling to his knees as a result of his pain. He is soon helped up and is forced to admit that he is in no condition to fight and trusts Evan to make sure justice is served. Witnessing this serf’s willingness to fight against his own pain to see justice motivates both Loretta and Evan to act. At a table, a map of the city with marked points of interest is put down and Loretta and Evan are told about where there are guards and where the leaders of the city reside. They then formulate a plan to scout out the city for any possible prisoners and innocent people that may be among the wolves.

Becoming impatient because of what the vampire wolves are and what they do, Loretta slams her hand down and says, “These heretics will not live to see tomorrow so why do we stall on such a simple battle?”

“What do you suppose we do? This planning that we’re doing is important,” Evan says.

“I know looking at key areas is important, but we’ve been through all we need to know. Scouting isn’t going to help us much when the enemy hides amongst the innocent.”

“What plan do you have in mind? Since you were right about saving the infants, I’ll let you take the lead on this one.”

“The vampire wolves die only to blessed weapons just like the rest of the scum of the Earth, correct?”

“They do.”

“Then I propose this. We set up our ambushes in all the key areas since it’s a small city. After this, we state our intentions in public and tell everyone to expose the wolves among them or we will be giving everyone a small cut from a blessed dagger since the smallest of cuts from a blessed weapon will make a vampire profusely bleed.”

“They won’t expose themselves. Even if some do, they’ll just use it as a way to get close to us to kill us. We had pretty much the entire city after us after we found out their dirty secret,” a serf says.

“Then that makes it easier for us to separate the wolves from the sheep. Execute those who fight against us and spare those that don’t. This is my plan in a nutshell. I know it’s risky, but it’s also the best way I can think of to separate the innocent from the guilty.”

Because of the simplicity and reasonableness of Loretta’s plan and their want for justice, the serfs and Evan agree with this plan and move to see it fulfilled. Evan’s serfs set themselves up in key locations while others stay behind to protect and care for the infants. Once everything is in place, Loretta, Evan, and their supporting serfs go out of the shadows to make their presence known to the public.

“Hear me, wolves, I know you’re out there! I am Loretta Aurora and I am here to deliver justice unto you! Your crimes against God will no longer go unpunished,” Loretta says. The attention of the public centers on Loretta and the wolves among them spread the word to the others. “We will be giving everyone a small cut from a blessed dagger if none comply to draw out the wolves. To those who are innocent, hide yourselves, drive out the guilty from among you, or present yourselves to us so that we may confirm your innocence.”

“You have no authority to command anything, and who are you to talk about the guilty and crimes against God because of what your family did to the world, Aurora?” a civilian says.

“It is my family that freed humanity from the control of the vampires and protected it for generations even as humanity gave itself over to the powers of Hell because it would rather be comfortable and enjoy the luxuries of worldly power than suffer for the sake of truth and love. This authority to invoke these kinds of orders to expose the vampires among the faithful has been given to my family from the Church for many years. Follow my command or you will soon suffer the consequences.”

An explosion goes off at one of the key points in the city, which signals the start of the battle.

“What was that?” a civilian asks as many around them become nervous.

“That’s the sound of God’s judgment quickly approaching.”

“You planned that didn’t you?!” a civilian says.

“The Auroras have shown their true nature and this is their declaration of war against the Church! Get her and those with her!” a vampire wolf in the crowd says.

This rallies many in the crowd to fight either in a false sense of justice or out of fear of Loretta. Meanwhile, the vampire wolves rally more of their servants to distract Loretta and Evan’s serfs so they may escape. A group of wolves sins so they can transform and take advantage of their wolf form’s strength and speed and escape the city.

“We’ll need to inform the rest of the Church of what happened here,” one of the wolves says.

“This is a grand opportunity,” another says, “Turning the Church against the last of the Auroras and playing victim to this event will grant us greater influence and power within the Church. It’s no loss to us if our servants and serfs die to the Aurora’s forces. In fact, it will grant us greater pity.”

“We may have to appear injured to them to not look like cowards who ran off without fighting.”

“It’ll be a small price to pay for a great reward.”

Caught up in the potential of their greater rewards blinds the wolves as Evan’s serfs ambush them quickly ending their ambitions. More key locations are blown up and attacked along with the escape areas of the city being covered. Meanwhile, Loretta, Evan, and his serfs fight off the many inhabitants of the small city. Their forces join up then go from building to building and corner to corner of the city to clear it of wolves and their servants. Despite being outnumbered, the skills and planning of Loretta, Evan, and Evan’s serfs allow them to claim victory. During this battle, Loretta’s guardian angel even helps a few times to clear out crowds of wolves and the ones that tried to ambush them from the shadows. In the end, the entire city is covered in blood and corpses since no one surrendered and everyone attacked them, which doesn’t concern Loretta much though Evan is concerned about this.

“Did you confirm that no one surrendered nor kept themselves out of the fight?” Evan asks one of his serfs.

“Of course we have,” the serf answers.

“What about those who tried to leave the city?”

“They were all cowardice wolves. The entire city seems to have been under their control since they all fought against us.”

“Hmm, then it’s possible that…”

“I know what you’re thinking, sir. If that was the case, then at least-”

“Sir!” another serf says as they run to Evan, “Someone on horseback is approaching the city.”

“Let them see the corpses of the wolves and enter the city first before we do anything. Tell Loretta of this as well.”

“Yes, sir.”

The stranger on horseback heads into the city despite the carnage around him until Loretta, Evan, and Evan’s serfs confront him.

“Who are you?” Loretta asks the man.

“My name is Rufus, a servant of God’s Holy Catholic Church. You’re Loretta Aurora, aren’t you?” he says.

“I am.”

“Did you do this with your allies?”

“We have. God’s justice has visited this city and left none alive.”

Pacing back and forth, the man appears to be at a loss for words with his hand on his mouth as if holding back something, which concerns Loretta and Evan.

“Let me guess. They weren’t all guilty sinners,” Evan says.

“That’s right,” the man answers with a sigh.

“What?! But they all attacked us!” Loretta points out.

“Even though many of the people here were wolves and their devout servants, there were also many who were ignorant of this. There were also serfs who were forced to serve them and others were faithful servants of God. It doesn’t help that people are afraid of your family and that you were aggressive in your approach to them,” the man says.

This realization causes Loretta to collapse in tears and pray in penance.

Evan’s serfs try to comfort Loretta by saying how they share her guilt and how they should’ve known better.

“I’m sorry, Loretta. This is my fault just as much as yours especially since I know all too well about killing the innocent for a supposed greater good,” Evan confesses.

“Thank you, everyone, but the heaviest part of the burden belongs with me because of how recklessly I acted. I’ll face whatever punishment I must from the Church for what I did.”

“There’s not much they can do to you since the Church isn’t the superpower it once was. What are you and your serfs doing here anyway?”

“We’re on our way to the Church to join forces so that we may take back the world from the vampires.”

“Your forces will be appreciated even if they are former serfs. Still, beastmen aren’t looked favorably upon these days despite those who truly repent and faithfully serve God.”

“We’ve saved carriages full of baptized infants that we’re bringing to the Church. That must give us some leverage.”

“It will, but I’m not sure how much you’ll have after what happened here. Regardless, there’s nothing more to be done here and at least the traitors are dead. Let’s see what the Church determines to be your punishment.”

“Okay. I’ll accept whatever punishment they give me.”

Evan gathers his serfs together and the carriages with the baptized infants in them to follow the man as he leads them back to the Church’s territory. In the carriage, Loretta grabs Evan’s arm and holds it.

“What’s wrong?” Evan asks.

“N-nothing. Being in your arms has recently been the only comfort for me for whatever reason and I’m nervous,” Loretta admits.

“You don’t need to be. We’ll try to alleviate as much as the punishment as possible.”

“No, I’m more nervous about what I did. It’ll haunt me for the rest of my life.”

“I understand. Everything that I have done has haunted me. Thanks to you, I further saw the error of my ways, but I also saw the endless mercy of God. We have today, the grace of God, and everyone around us to help us make up for the mistakes of yesterday and I promise to help you with this penance and ease your mind of guilt.”

“Thank you.”

Loretta holds tightly onto Evan’s arm and puts her head down on his shoulder. Far in the distance, the sun begins to rise, and with it, Loretta’s hopes that she’ll move beyond what she did.

Venatores Noctis: Adoption Through Blood: Chapter 2 - Master Slaves

Chapter 2 – Master Slaves

Unbeknownst to Loretta and Evan, they have fallen asleep on one another. The other serfs who see this leave them alone and either assume that this was by mistake or a hint by God of their future together. It isn’t until they wake up do they separate and apologize to each other at the same time. They look into each other’s eyes for an awkward amount of time before apologizing again and looking away. Their heads then begin to feel light as they hear silent tempting whispers. Evan knows what this is while Loretta is less familiar.

“The vampire devils are near,” Evan says to a serf.

“Vampire devils?” Loretta asks.

“Sinners who tried becoming vampire gods by sinning as much as they could, but they were struck down by God before the blasphemous baptism could be completed on them.”

“So they’re scummier than the typical trash. They’ll die and go to Hell all the same.”

“But you must be careful with these ones. They attack you mentally and spiritually, and the way they fight physically is unnatural.”

“Unnatural how?”

“Like that of a demon. We need to hold these things off.” Evan turns to his serfs. “Loretta and I will meet up with you in the Church’s territory.”

“You can’t keep sacrificing yourself for us, sir. Let us help you.”

“I have Loretta with me and we’re not that far from the border. Besides, I need you all to protect the infants. Even if the Church is put off by you being serfs, they’ll have to accept you in because of the infants. Trust me with this.”

“Sir, we trust you with our lives. Send those demons back to Hell.”

“Gladly.”

Evan and Loretta jump off the wagon and then stand back to back while peering into the dark on high alert. They feel and hear the dark whispers from the demons getting louder and more oppressive as the creatures near them until a deafening silence tempts them with what weakens them the most.

“You’re a failure of a father for what you’ve done. You’ve completely lost yourself,” a voice says to Evan.

“You let your entire family down. The Church and the world will be lost because of you,” another voice whispers to Loretta.

“Don’t listen to them, Loretta! Watch out for them!” Evan says.

“I know, I know,” Loretta says.

Images of what happened to her father, her family, and their supporters enter Loretta’s head. At the same time, Evan sees images of his dead family and reminders of morally questionable decisions. Managing to snap out of his delusion before Loretta, Evan swats away the incoming devils and wakes Loretta up by shaking her. It is then that Loretta sees what a vampire devil looks like. They appear to be the mangled and somehow living bodies of people with bones jutting out of their bodies in unnatural ways with two bones jutting out at their shoulders as if they were a demon’s horns. There is also a face in the chest or the lower areas of their bodies that smile and stretch in ways that tear the flesh from its own body. Their heads hang uselessly from the back of the devil while having horrified expressions on them, and if listened to closely, the screams of a soul burning in Hell can be heard.

Loretta snaps to attention and uses her whip quickly to defeat more devils that throw themselves at them. If she was honest with herself, Loretta would say that she was acting out of fear, but this time, it works out in her favor since the devils move faster than the vampires she’s used to. Having a moment to rest, the two, collect themselves before running after the wagon while also keeping an eye out for more enemies.

“That was something else. Those really were devils.”

“I know. They’re the most dangerous kind of vampire to fight to my knowledge second only to the vampire gods.”

“I thought the gods and devils were one and the same because of their abilities?”

“It’s probably true that the vampire gods are just demons pretending to be the person in the body they are now in, but the vampire devils make no attempt to hide their true identity and ruin humanity openly with their temptations and non-stop attacks when given the chance.”

“But why haven’t I seen many before?”

“Because the devils hide in the shadows and only come out when the gods need them to and the devils don’t want to intimidate those who want to become vampires or vampire gods with the consequences of their sins. They want the rewards to be the most visible and the evils to be hidden or mitigated to the point where the sinner is fooled into thinking that the cost of becoming a vampire is reasonable.”

“Their appearances are ugly all the same no matter how they try to dress it up.”

“Still, people will commit horrible deeds if they think the cost is reasonable or the logic sound. I should know this the most.”

“But you’ve changed now. I think you’re-”

Temptations begin to fill their heads again causing Loretta and Evan to hold their heads in pain. Both pray and use the pain of the temptations against it so that they’re slightly lessened. Even so, the devils increase their temptations until both Evan and Loretta begin seeing their temptations manifest through a dark fog that separates them.

“Hardheaded and reckless as always. When will you learn to be a true Aurora?” a voice says to Loretta.

“What would you know about that? You’re nothing but an illusion!” Loretta says.

She defends herself from the false versions of the people she loves while Evan does much of the same where he is. He runs from the attacks of his temptation until he calms his heart. The attacks of his temptations go through him and quiet down despite being loud as Evan pays more attention to the noises outside of the fog. Noticing that he isn’t letting the temptations get to him, the devils increase his temptations and go after him instead of Loretta who was their original target. Once the devils get in range, Evan finally moves and kills them, which dispels the dark fog around him and Loretta. The two runs to each other to check on each other before heading back out to rendezvous with the other serfs, however, it begins to rain and storm so hard that they don’t think it safe to continue forward, so they seek shelter in an abandoned town and rest in a small house for the time being.

Seeking something to talk about, so that they don’t sit in silence, Loretta says, “It’s a shame that the residents of this town are no longer here. I hate to think about what happened to them.”

“I know what did. A few of them were blessed enough to survive and become serfs who work for me.”

“If that’s a blessed fate, then the others must have suffered something truly…I’m sorry to have implied that being a serf is-”

“No, it can feel like a curse, and some of us do get what we deserve since some become serfs because they’d rather not be vampires or face a painful death or lose something or someone valuable to them.”

“Even so, your serfs are different and so are you. Something about you changed after you realized you were wrong for trying to “mercy” kill those baptized infants.”

“Maybe it was God’s grace. Still, I don’t know if my confession was done perfectly so I’ll have to visit a priest and do a proper confession to know for sure that I’ve been restored to a state of grace.”

“Despite all that, your mouth, arms, and legs are blessed by God and can be used as weapons against the vampires.”

“So?”

“God doesn’t take away an artist’s ability to draw nor a warrior’s ability to fight just because they’re sinners. I’m trying to say that I’m beginning to see what God gave you that certain blessing.”

“Thank you for saying that. It’s comforting to hear you say that despite what I did to you and your family. That was a mistake as well.”

“I…to be honest. I don’t feel like I forgive you for that, but I will because I’ve seen your change of heart, and you have lots of time to make it up to me.”

“What are you asking for?”

“That you let me lead with you as well. It’s obvious that I can pick up for where you fail.”

“Understandable. I accept this.”

“Also, if we ever take over a vampire’s castle, I have to get the best room and it has to be decorated to my specifications.”

“So, my serfs will act as serfs for you as well as if you were a princess?”

“Not entirely. I don’t ask for much.”

“I’ve seen your room and know how you like to decorate. You like to have every single kind of weapon and piece of armor there is along with tons of statues and paintings of saints, angels, and the Blessed Mother triumphing over evil.”

“Okay, and?”

“That’s a bit more than much.”

“I grew up with an admiration for battle and I was allowed to have all these things by my father and everyone else didn’t complain about it.”

“He spoiled you.”

“He did not! He just treated me like how a daughter of a royal bloodline should be treated.”

“So, he did spoil you. Thank you for resting my case.”

The two then argue in circles for a bit while kidding around and laughing.

Being curious, Loretta asks, “Do you always wear that mask on your mouth?”

“Yes, it’s useful in intimidation and fits my image of myself.”

“Can you take it off?”

“Why?”

“I want to see your face with you it off, and uh, you don’t want to intimidate the Church when we see them.”

“Okay, I see.” Evan takes off his mask, and without it, he seems much less monstrous. “How’s this? Do I look less scary?”

“Yes, but I think we can make it better.” Loretta takes a band off the back of her head that’s keeping her long hair together and uses it to put Evan’s hair into a ponytail while also fixing up his hair. “There we go. Now, you look less like a beast and more like a man.”

With her arms around his head, Loretta and Evan look intently at each other for a few seconds before backing off and apologizing to each other at the same time.

“Thank you. I forgot that I have to clean up my appearance and that having an intimidating appearance isn’t always the best one to have.”

“Y-you’re welcome.”

Soon after, the two make small talk about the rain and their plans before falling asleep on each other as they did on the carriage.

Venatores Noctis: Adoption Through Blood: Chapter 1 – Oil and Water

Chapter 1 – Oil and Water

“The fall of the Aurora family is at hand!” the vampire gods say as they lead their forces into the last Aurora stronghold.

Siege weapons and sheer numbers overwhelm those loyal to the Aurora family until the gates of the castle are breached.

“Remember, children of God, that no matter what happens, God has the final victory!” the leader of the Aurora family says with the family’s whip held high.

The soldiers are stirred by these mere words and fight to the death against the forces of sin. None are left standing save for the last two Auroras one of which being the leader and the next being his daughter who are both held up in the chapel of the castle. Injured and knowing that his death is near, the leader gives his daughter the family’s whip.

“What are you giving me this for?” the daughter asks.

“You will uphold the Aurora family legacy. I, on the other hand, will see God face to face soon. I’m sure your mother and my parents are eager to see me,” the father says.

“What are you talking about? We’re both going together.”

“No, I can already see God’s plan for you. Don’t get yourself killed and uphold Aurora’s family legacy and led mankind to Heaven.” At this moment, the doors of the chapel are broken. “For the glory of God!”

With a blessed greatsword in hand, the father takes as many serfs and vampires down before he is killed. His daughter is unable to prevent his death even with her skill and the family’s whip. One of the serfs then enters the room and gets the others to back off. This serf has a mask on his mouth, pale skin like that of a vampire with brown and black spots, scars all over his body, and hairy arms and legs like that of a wolfman.

Seeing his want to fight her one on one, she says, “It doesn’t matter who wants to die first. You’ll all die the same.”

The last Aurora attacks the serf only for him to catch the whip and take it from her hands. With no other blessed weapons available, she whispers a short prayer to God to make her His weapon before resuming the fight with her fists, however, she is soon defeated and restrained by the serf.

“Don’t resist anymore and I’ll get you out of this,” the serf quickly whispers in her ear before throwing her over his shoulders.

All the serfs and vampires cheer for the serf who defeated the last Aurora. In celebration, they take whatever valuables they can find and destroy the rest. Outside, the vampire gods congratulate the serf on his accomplishment.

“Another great accomplishment, Evan. Now, what do you want as your reward?” a vampire god asks.

“I’ll have her and her weapon as my reward,” Evan answers.

“You’ll never have me be anything for you! I’ll make sure you all feel the fear of God-”

The serf knocks out the last Aurora. When she wakes up, she finds herself in a dark castle and strapped to a bed. Fearing the worse, she struggles and tries biting her restraints off.

“Stop it. You aren’t going to get out of this without my help,” the serf says as he stops her from moving.

“I’m not helping anyone who is a willing serf of the vampires, especially since you killed my family!” the Aurora says.

“You have no other choice if you want to live up to your family’s legacy, Loretta Aurora. My serfs and I will make sure the vampires pay for everything that they’ve done. We’ll do our penance for what we did to your family and you later.”

“Who even are you?”

“Evan Meridies.”

“And why should I trust that your plan is going to work when you do evil for good?”

“You have no other choice and God has given you over to me just as I had hoped.”

“What does a vampire serving slave like you know about God?”

“I know that God doesn’t always answer our prayers in the way that we want. For example, my children were used as sacrifices for the vampires’ blasphemous baptisms, but even then, my wife and I didn’t give in to despair. We prayed for justice as the vampires tried to break us with back breaking work and by experimenting on us. My wife then offered herself up to the vampires when the work got to me so I wouldn’t be punished. They had their way with her in such disgusting ways that eventually made her not want to suffer anymore for my sake.”

As Evan tells the story, he backs off of Loretta who, in turn, begins to relax while also keeping her guard up.

He continues while looking out the window and trying to control his emotions, “They then killed her, cut off her face to show me her horrified expression, then laughed. They thought they made me give in to despair, but I didn’t. I prayed for justice again and was compelled to rip out the throat of the vampire in front of me with my bare teeth, and believe it or not, I succeeded. That’s why I have this mask on me.”

“I find it extremely hard to believe. The only thing that can kill vampires are blessed weapons, and on rarer occasions, people’s bodies who are blessed by God like my ancestors and the Corpus who still have souls free from mortal sin before they became a vampire. From what I’m seeing, you seem to be none of the above.”

“And yet, here I am in this exquisite room that no normal serf would be given. You must trust me with my plan and follow everything that I say. That display of defiance that you showed the gods would’ve been reason enough for them to take you from me. They prefer if their toys put up a fight.”

“Then put up a fight I shall until my dying breath.”

“What will that accomplish?”

“It doesn’t have to accomplish anything. I don’t care even if I’m remembered for my deeds. All that matters is that I do what’s right.”

“That’s very brave of you to say. Many people like you have been broken, become slaves to the vampires, and went on suicide missions for nothing. Their deaths only made people fear the vampires more and your death will be used to instill a deeper fear into the world with the last Aurora dying. Actually, you’d probably be hung from this castle like a trophy while you’re still alive. If you know so much about serving God, then you should be thinking of the right decision to make rather than the one that sounds most heroic.”

Loretta considers what Evan says plus what her father told her.

“Tch, I hate to admit it, but you’re probably right.”

“Thank you.”

“But you have to tell me your plan before I completely commit to it.”

“Understandable. I want you to fight alongside my serfs and also be our go between with the Church.”

Evan frees Loretta from her restraints.

“What makes you think the Church will help us? They didn’t send us any aid during our time of need. Instead, only the most faithful to God came to help.”

“That’s the real Church we’re aiming to have you help us with.”

“Still, we aren’t on the best terms with them because of what my ancestor, Saint Ivy, did generations ago.”

“It’s true that they’re afraid of your family. They don’t know if you’ll burn the world to ash like Saint Ivy did and restart generations of civilizations to square one, but those who know that the burning was something holy are who we’re after however small of a group they are. We need as much help as we can get.”

“They’ll still be wary of you serfs and what you did and still doing.”

“With you, our chances will increase. Plus, we’ll have plenty of time to do penance in their presence to prove that we’re honest about our repentance.”

“How will you do that here? You’re still under the vampires’ service.”

“Not for long. We’ll be killing a particular group of gods that will put us in the favor of another group that wants them dead. This will allow us the freedom to leave.”

“They’ll just let you leave and not want you in their service?”

“Of course. It’s a free world to them after all. They’ll especially like it if we play hard to get, which I told you they like the most.”

“They’ll come after us then.”

“But they’ll give us enough time to escape before they come after us. It’s all a game to them. The Church is hardly any competition to them with the meager amount of the world they control. It wouldn’t surprise me if they let the Church have any sort of territory so they have something else to fight when they aren’t fighting each other.”

“Okay, I’ll help you, but if you make me do anything sinful, I won’t.”

“Trust me. You’ll do nothing sinful and if you think you will, then you are free to not participate, but you cannot get in the way of our plans. So, we have a deal?”

“Fine.” Evan then hands Loretta her family’s whip and puts a few blessed daggers on his belt. “I’m surprised they let you keep my whip.”

“It’s not as powerful ever since it was destroyed.”

“But it still holds a lot of power being the whip that whipped the back of Christ combined with pieces of his cross and a whip used by an order of blind penitential priests.”

“That’s why I’m giving it to you. Now, let’s get to work.”

Loretta and Evan leave his room. Outside of the room are several serfs. Some are standing guard while others are doing chores such as carrying goods to and from places and cleaning everything from the floors to the table and crystal decorations of the castle. Evan nods towards the serfs who whisper and nod to each other to enact their plan. As they go through the castle, certain vampires and other serfs are killed, without a sound, and prisoners both in cells and the ones used as decorations are freed. Seeing this elaborate plan play out impresses Loretta who sees this as if it was a bunch of dominos falling down leading to a part where a group of serfs attack and kill three vampire gods with their blessed weapons leaving the last two to Loretta and Evan who quickly dispose of the distracted gods.

“Well done. It looks like you didn’t need my help at all,” Loretta compliments.

“Killing two vampire gods is easier with multiple people rather than fewer. Wouldn’t want them using their abilities to weaken my mind to the things that tempt me the most,” Evan says.

“That was good work. I can see that your reputation doesn’t do you justice, Evan,” a vampire god says while clapping and entering the room.

This vampire god is led by a few serfs along with other vampire lords with them.

“Now that you’ve witnessed our strength, you know to honor our wish to be left alone,” Evan says.

“I’ll let you have your freedom. You serfs have proven yourselves to be as good as any vampire god or lord that I know, however, there is one thing that I wished-”

“I already know what it is. Bring them out.”

Evan motions towards the serfs in the back who bring the limbless yet still alive bodies of vampire gods to the ones they’re talking to.

“Like I said. Your reputation doesn’t do you justice. If you ever get the thought to serve or ally yourself with us, do not hesitate to reach out at any moment. We will be waiting with luxuries and open arms,” the god says while poisoning his words with temptations that cloud the minds of the serfs and Evan.

In response, Evan and the serfs cross themselves to subdue the power of the gods.

“We respectfully decline your offer,” Evan says before leaving the room with everyone else.

After getting some distance from the vampires, Loretta asks Evan, “Did you really have to give those wretched creatures the armless and legless bodies of their peers?”

“I did to both get on their good side and show them what would happen to them if they chose to attack us. Besides, the vampires are all hellbound anyway so there’s no such thing as being too cruel to the damned fools.”

Loretta can’t help but silently agree with Evan. Together, with the other serfs allied with Evan, they pack up whatever they can take. Several wagons leave the castle, however, Evan chooses to stay to do one last thing.

Evan tells Loretta, “We’re going to hurt their production of sacrificial baptized infants before we go.”

“We are? Won’t that get them mad at us?” Loretta asks.

“Yes, but sometimes the right thing to do doesn’t always seem like the smartest.”

“This is a pleasant surprise coming from you.”

“I know better than most the horrors of the blasphemous baptisms since I witnessed it happening with my own children.”

“I’m sorry that it happened to you.”

“There’s no need to dwell on it. The constant reminders of it in my head are enough. Let’s go.”

Loretta and Evan then approach the facility where the infants are produced for the blasphemous baptisms. Several serfs guard the area from the ground and higher floors. Even the area around the facility is watched from the buildings surrounding it, however, these defenses are being slowly picked at by Evan’s serfs.

“You planned this out as well? Who am I kidding? Of course you did,” Loretta says.

“This has been one of my main targets ever since I got here,” Evan says.

“So, what have you planned for us to do? Are we doing the same thing as your serfs are?”

“No, they have their own goals. We’ll break through the entrance with force and tear through the guards.”

“It’s a simple plan. I like it.”

“I knew you would. Well? Let’s get to it.”

Together, Loretta and Evan assault the facility. They back each other up in a way that almost makes them seem as if they were a team since their youth. Evan uses his blessed daggers to eliminate enemies from far away while his fists blow massive holes into the ones he gets close to and his beast-like speed allows him to quickly close distances and silence all who try to raise the alarm. Loretta may not have Evan’s inhuman speed, but her experience in killing the forces of sin and her family’s whip allows her to take out many of her enemies as well.

“And here I was expecting to do most of the work,” Evan says.

“What made you think that? I am an Aurora after all,” Loretta says.

“Nothing made me think anything. You met my expectations. Even exceeded them a bit. Did your guardian angel help you?”

“Yes, as the guardian angels do for my family in combat.”

“Good. Maybe yours can teach mine how to fight to help me.”

“The most important thing that our guardian angels do is help us be faithful to God. Helping my family in combat is secondary. Anyways, how are we going to get all the infants out of here?”

“We’re destroying this facility.”

“Yes, but what getting the infants out of here?”

“I said how. The facility’s destruction will grant them a quick death.”

“What?! You can’t do that!”

“Why not? It’s the most merciful fate for them.”

“But it’s not the right one. It’s never the right choice to kill an innocent.”

“Then what would you have us do? Take them with us out of the city? If we do that, the vampires will be after us since we have something of incredible value to them since there are very few Catholic priests who can validly baptize. In addition, the few priests there are will be in more danger since they would be sought after more. They’ll also try invalidly baptizing and killing children to make more vampires to no avail. You don’t know people’s desperation to become a vampire. You don’t know the true horrors of witnessing an innocent infant’s throat being cut and their still beating heart being torn out of their bodies and their blood being spilled on a wretch who embraces it all. Trust me when I say that I don’t like this as much as you do and that this is for the best.”

“This isn’t for the best. It’s not even the best option for our safety.”

“They already know that we’re strong and destroying this highly guarded and important facility is going the extra mile to solidify it.”

“You’re valuing the vampire’s perception about us over the lives of the innocent. How can you not see that doing this is an inexcusably evil deed?”

“Because I’m thinking of this logically while you’re thinking about this on what’s the most heroic option.”

“I can’t let you do this.”

“I didn’t say you had to help me with it or had a choice in its destruction.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“I just needed your help in clearing out the serfs and vampires who wouldn’t be killed by the destruction of the facility.”

Explosions rock the facility and begin to make the ceiling fall on them.

“You made your serfs do this didn’t you?!”

“Yes, now, we have to leave.”

“No! I’m saving as many infants as I can!”

Loretta leaps and climbs her way down to where the infants are.

“Stop! You won’t be able to make it out in time!”

“I don’t care as long as I save at least one child. Just leave me be. I’m only a pawn in your scheme after all.”

Despite what Loretta says, Evan does his best to save her from the falling debris by swatting it away with his extreme strength and helping her save a few of the infants. The debris then almost falls on them, but a golden light saves them, which Loretta sees to be her guardian angel. Her angel’s body is made of swords, daggers, and axes with wings made of bows and arms made of spears, and at this moment, is visible to Evan. In the aftermath, the same golden light protects the other infants in the facility much to Evan’s amazement.

“What? How? What’s this golden light?” Evan says.

“It’s the light of their guardian angels that protect them and that protect us. If it wasn’t obvious before, it is obvious now that we should be saving these infants,” Loretta says.

Evan takes a look at and picks up one of the infants who begins crying. This reminds him of what happened to his children with a voice in his head accusing him of being like those who killed his children. He is visibly distressed as he puts the infant back down so I can hold his head and squeeze it as if that’ll get rid of his conscience. His serfs then come to him seeing that the plan went wrong.

One of them asks, “Sir, what should we do?”

“What do you think we should do?” Evan snaps at the serf before regaining his composure, “Grab whatever wagons we have and put the children on them.”

“Sir, we might not be able to fit all of them.”

“Then I’ll follow you from behind. Get Loretta on the wagon too. She proved me wrong and will protect you if any trouble comes our way, which it should be soon.”

Seeing that something has changed in Evan, causes Loretta to see him differently and stand motionless before helping the serfs get the infants from the rubble. Several wagons full of infants manage to leave the area with no trouble, however, the last three are caught by an incoming group of bloodthirsty group of vampires and their beastmen serfs.

“Get out of here! I’ll keep them occupied and catch up with you!” Evan says.

“But sir-”

“I must do this penance for my sins now go!”

Evan’s willingness to delay the enemy makes him appear to be a different man in the eyes of Loretta.

“You heard him! Let’s hurry!” Loretta says to the hesitant serfs.

Loretta keeps her eyes on Evan who fights off the hordes of beasts and vampires until she has to pay attention to the threats approaching her. She swings her whip around to tear through many of her enemies some of which leap from the rooftops to try to get the drop on her but are caught up in her attack instead. Many more approach from all directions until Loretta cannot fight alone. This is when her guardian angel and the other serfs lend a hand until the corpses of their enemies lay around them and they manage to make their way out of the city. Loretta looks out into the distance hoping to see Evan. At first, she thinks that her imagination is playing with her. That is until she more clearly sees him in the distance quickly approaching.

Weirdly elated by this, Loretta smiles before rubbing it off her face. Evan jumps onto the wagon in a way that doesn’t make it sway or disturb the now sleeping infants.

“You’re back-!” Loretta says before seeing his injuries, “You’re-”

“I’m fine. The experiments that were done on me allows me to heal quickly. There’s no need to worry about me. Besides, this will do in paying for some of my sins.”

“Still…You need to be alive and able to continue your penance and you still have your fellow serfs to worry about. I can’t lead them myself.”

“You’re right. Thank you for your concern. Allow me a moment to rest.”

“Yes, of course.”

Loretta sits near Evan as they two rest from the hectic events of the night despite knowing that the vampires and their slaves are planning to go after them.