The Eternal Hunt

The Eternal Hunt Prologue: The Crimson Moon** The crimson moon bled across the sky, staining the clouds with a deep, unsettling glow. Beneath it, the cursed kingdom of Ravengarde lay in silence. No birds dared to sing. No breeze whispered through the rotting trees. Only the distant echo of a horn shattered the stillness — the call of the Hunt. From the shadows, they emerged. Pale forms with hollow eyes and twisted limbs. The cursed. Their bodies, long forsaken by the light, now moved with unnatural hunger. Shrieks and howls filled the air as they hunted the living — a cruel game played under the watchful gaze of their master. And in the depths of the crimson mist, the Crimson Keep stood like a tombstone of ancient horrors. Its blackened spires clawed at the sky, and its gates wept with the blood of countless souls. Within its walls, **Malrik the Eternal** ruled. The vampire lord had no need for a throne. His kingdom was built on despair. Every scream, every drop of blood spilled in the eternal night, was a hymn sung in his name. Yet still, his hunger remained. Endless. Unrelenting. But there were those who defied him. **Vaelen Duskbane** stood at the edge of the ruined village, the dying embers of a pyre crackling at his feet. The bodies of the cursed lay in twisted heaps, their eyes now empty. His silver blade gleamed crimson under the moon’s light, stained with the evidence of his grim work. He could still hear their whispers — the voice of the curse that slithered through his veins. > *"The blood remembers. It calls to you, Vaelen."* He touched the scar on his neck. The bite. A reminder of the night he should have died. But death had refused him. The curse, it seemed, had chosen him for something far worse. A gust of wind carried the scent of decay. In the distance, the horn sounded once more. The Hunt was near. Vaelen’s hand tightened around the hilt of his sword. He had no illusions of salvation. There would be no peace until the Crimson Moon fell from the sky. Until the lord of the cursed was nothing but ash. But with each passing night, the darkness within him grew. The bloodlust whispered promises. Every kill brought him closer to the monster he swore to destroy. He had one chance left. One path that remained. To end the Eternal Hunt, Vaelen would face the Crimson Keep. And if the shadows claimed him before the end — so be it. The hunter's final journey had begun.