The Ancient Blood Luna

Chapter 4: Visions of Fire and Blood

Nebula's point of view.

My body tensed, and I felt a wave of killing intent lock on me. ‘Not good,’ I thought. "Diane, contact the pack for help," I mind-linked her.

All the guards surrounding me shifted into their wolf forms. They formed a defensive perimeter around me.

"What? Where did he go?" I was startled. I blinked for a second, and the spot he stood was empty.

"My Luna, behind you!" A guard shrieked.

A rush of wind blew past me, and my back turned cold. I knew the old man was right behind me.

A scream echoed at my back before I could turn. One of my guards had been knocked down. The rest lunged at him, bearing their claws and fangs.

'Fast, too fast,' that was all I could think.

The guards failed to catch even his afterimage. He weaved his way around them, a relaxed expression behind his hood. One move. He only used one move to send each wolf flying. He didn't even use his dagger. Just a kick or a punch was enough.

I felt a deep urge to run. My primal instincts were taking over. Protecting my life and that of my baby were my first priorities. But I couldn't run. Helen was still in the car. I would not leave without her. Besides, with the speed the old man displayed, he would definitely catch up. I had to put up a fight, even though I wasn't thrilled at the idea of doing so.

'Scarlett,' I whispered mentally. She responded by initiating a shift. Wolf fur rapidly covered my skin. Claws replaced fingers. A set of razor-sharp teeth grinned. I shifted into a white wolf. My eyes glowed red as Scarlett took control. All my senses heightened. Tracking the old man's movements was less difficult now.

My eyes flicked, analyzing his next target. I pounced on him when he attacked another guard. The timing was perfect, and I was guaranteed a hit.

The old man twisted mid-air. The attack couldn't connect. It happened so fast. I didn't have time to react. His dagger flashed in my view.

Then Pain. Binding Pain. He stabbed me. The entire dagger was almost lost in my chest. I could feel the tip just an inch from my beating heart. My legs felt weak. I collapsed on the ground. I transformed back into my human form. I couldn't sustain the shift any longer. My hands were sticky with blood, as I tried to cover the wound. I refrained from pulling the dagger out. It would only increase the bleeding. 'Is this where I meet my end? Was my baby never going to see the light?'

The old man didn't attack again. He leapt backwards, opting to watch me from a distance. The remaining guards were severely injured. They posed no threat to him.

"Who sent you?" I asked. My voice was weak. "Was it my mate?"

"The blood sent me," he laughed. His eerie laughter echoed through the surroundings. Soon his presence faded away and he disappeared without a trace. I extended my senses, trying to pinpoint his location. It was a futile task. His scent was so thin that it couldn't be tracked. His laughter gradually turned into loud incantations. The words felt familiar, yet I couldn't recall where I had heard them before.

After a series of incantations, his voice resounded again. “The ancient blood is you, and you are the ancient blood. As long as the blood flows through your veins, you must answer the call of the blood.”

Immediately, something shattered inside me. My bond with Scarlett severed, and I coughed out a mouthful of blood. The next thing I saw made me rub my eyes twice.

‘Am I dreaming?’ I doubted my eyes.

The bizarre scene in front of me looked like something that only happened in horror movies. All the blood scattered on the street suddenly began levitating. They moved towards me, just the way irons were attracted to a magnet.

"Farewell, my little red," the old man's eerily laughter faded in the distance. I still couldn't find him.

"Guards!" I shouted, calling for help. I struggled to run as I called, but the floating blood followed me everywhere.

“Nebula!”

“Nebula!”

“Nebula!”

My name was being screamed loudly all around me. The sound was almost deafening. I covered my ears in pain, searching around for whoever was calling me. I found none. My guards were still a fair distance away, and the old man was nowhere to be found.

The blood molecules merged like mercury, slowly enlarging as they drifted towards me from different directions. A metallic smell of blood assaulted my nostrils when the pools of blood drifted closer to me.

Instantly, a certain discovery spooked me. My eyes popped out, and the hairs on my skin stood on end. No one was screaming my name as I'd thought. The sound came from the blood particles floating in the air. My guards failed to reach me in time, and the gathered blood engulfed my vision.

Immediately, I felt a strong pull on my consciousness. The horrific scene transformed, and I found myself standing in an open field. The dagger and my injuries were gone, but the pain still lingered. Burning buildings and broken houses filled my view, except for what looked like an Alpha's mansion in the distance. Shouts mixed with howls echoed from the mansion. The thick scent of werewolves was strongly present there. Ash filled the air, making my lungs shrink, and I gasped between breaths. My curiosity led me towards the mansion, but I was cautious to avoid being caught.

“Alpha Stephan, you never saw this day coming, did you?” a man asked. He looked like the leader of the crowd gathered at the Alpha's mansion. Distinct clothing separated the several werewolf packs in the crowd. The Alpha spoken to, Stephan, stood side by side with his Luna, against the mob. The faces of his pack members behind him were painted with anger.

‘Why does everyone from his pack feature red-coloured hair like mine?’ I wondered. I had never seen someone else with red hair in my entire life. A part of me I never knew existed yearned for them, while my heart groaned in deep longing. It felt the same with the Phantom Killer.

“Indeed, you have won,” Alpha Stephan spoke calmly. His eyes were devoid of life or hope, like the weight of defeat had crushed him.

The powerful auras of his opposition sent chills running down my spine. The commanding presence of different Alphas in the crowd superpositioned in the air. Their auras suffocated the atmosphere with tension. The evil grins and malicious looks on their faces showed they were up to no good. The bloodlust in their eyes, together with their high-pitched howls, sought to drive fear and dread into Alpha Stephan's pack.

‘Why would so many powerful forces unite against one pack?' Each of the Alphas and their pack here could single-handedly obliterate my Black Wood Pack.

“Attack!” The leading Alpha roared and the entire crowd of werewolf packs shifted. A brutal battle immediately commenced. Abruptly, the skies cracked. The scene broke like a shattered glass, and another one took its place.

The new scene remained the same open field, but the timing looked different. The battle was already in full swing, with the mob having the advantage in both strength and numbers. For some unknown reason, Alpha Stephan's pack members were all fighting in their human form.

'Why weren't they shifting? Was it silver or wolfsbane? Wait, the Alpha and Luna too?’ I questioned my eyes. I crawled forward to get a better look.

They didn't shift either. It was unbelievable. They also fought weakly, no different from ordinary humans. Despite this, their opponents didn't dare act brazenly. Even the Alphas were extremely cautious, only attacking when they could guarantee a sure hit.

I was speechless. This weak pack was feared even by the Alphas. But it didn't continue for long. When the attackers finally noticed their opposition couldn't shift, they increased their assault.

Everything played out like a movie until I felt a sharp sting in my left shoulder. There was a deep gash that looked like a bite mark. It healed up instantly, but the pain was undeniable. My heart almost jumped out of my throat as the realization dawned on me. I wasn't summoned there to be a spectator, I was to partake in their tribulation.

Rapidly and bizarrely, injuries of different sizes tattooed my entire body. They tore apart all of my flesh. The injuries healed up much more quickly than I normally healed. But goddess, the pain—the excruciating and agonizing pain, was not something I could bear.

The stinging sensation ran through my chest, eating into every fiber of my being. It hurt so much. Every injury inflicted on any of the pack members, I was the recipient of the pain.

My high-pitched screams and howls echoed loudly in the air. No one replied to me, only the silence listened to my desperate cry. I curled up into a ball, gritting my teeth. The searing pain jagged across my skin as the world spun around me. Whoever sent me here didn't want me to die quickly. But I was willing to, if it could stop the agony I was going through.

My lungs gasped for breath, my eyes squeezed shut, desperate for the nightmare to end. The scenes played out mechanically without the slightest emotion for my dying soul. Like a fractured screen, they all break and another one takes their place.

The torment continued, each one more vicious than the last. I watched all Alpha Stephan's pack die—himself, his Luna, men, women, even innocent children. All were slaughtered without remorse. They were subjected to all kinds of torture. Blood flowed like a river. The burning flames brightened the night with their red hue, making the scene look apocalyptic. It was all too much for me to handle.

After all the pack members breathed their last, the last vision fractured. Gradually, I was brought back into reality. My ear buzzed as I heard distant voices in the background, and my eyes twitched from the lights. My breathing was rough and ragged, and I struggled to breathe in the fresh air which cooled my insides. It felt like I had just escaped from the deepest dungeon in hell.

“She has stopped jerking now,” one of my guards said.

“Contact the pack, let's get her to the hospital.” That was the last word I heard before plunging into the darkness.