Rendezvous Under the Moonshadow

Chapter 9: The First Howl

Veridian City's East Side dockyards were the city's other, forgotten face.

By day, it was a symphony of steel and sweat. Giant cranes, like prehistoric beasts, plucked colorful shipping containers from cargo ships and placed them with precision onto trucks. The air was a permanent cocktail of salty sea spray, diesel exhaust, and the rough shouts of longshoremen.

But when night fell, it became a dead-silent labyrinth of metal and shadow. The last shift of workers had long since gone home, leaving only a few lonely floodlights to cast a stark, distorted white glare over the vast container yards. The wind howled in from the ocean, carrying a biting chill and making the empty containers moan and whistle like tormented ghosts.

Seraphina's vintage sports car, a drop of ink in the black of night, pulled to a silent stop in the shadow of a stack of containers. They were about a kilometer from their target—a derelict freighter named the Sea Serpent. The distance was perfect, close enough to observe but far enough to remain undetected.

"We wait here?" Anya whispered into the comm. She shifted uncomfortably; the sports car's interior was still a bit cramped for her.

"Mole said the meet is at midnight. We have twenty minutes," Seraphina's voice sounded in her mind. "Patience is a virtue, Ms. Petrova. Especially for a hunter."

As she spoke, she retrieved a small, oddly shaped pair of binoculars from the center console and handed them to Anya. "Use these. They filter out most of the ambient light pollution and have a thermal imaging function."

Anya took the binoculars. They were cool to the touch, with a fine, smooth texture that clearly marked them as something not available on the open market. She raised them to her eyes and looked toward the Sea Serpent.

The world through the lenses snapped into sharp focus.

It was a massive, ten-thousand-ton freighter, covered in rust the color of dried blood. It sat quietly at the most remote berth, its hull adorned with dried seaweed and barnacles, a testament to how long it had been abandoned.

The entire ship was shrouded in a dead, oppressive darkness, without a single light on. But through Seraphina's specialized binoculars, Anya could clearly see several faint, heat-radiating humanoid shapes moving slowly inside the vessel.

The members of the Bloodthorn.

Anya's heart began to beat faster. She switched to thermal imaging, and the humanoid shapes immediately flared into a bright orange-red. Their body heat seemed to be slightly higher than a normal human's.

"Do you see?" Seraphina's voice came through again. "Their physiology has been altered by the Bloodthorn's augmentations. Their body temperature, heart rate, and metabolism are far beyond human norms. It grants them superior strength and speed, but the cost is that their lives are also burning out several times faster than normal."

"Trading life for power…" Anya murmured, a chill running down her spine.

"For a group of fanatics who have dedicated everything to a zealous belief, life is the cheapest currency," Seraphina's tone was filled with undisguised contempt.

They fell silent, both monitoring the ship that looked like a tomb on the water.

The minutes ticked by. The only sound on the docks was the howling of the wind.

Anya gripped the binoculars, her palms starting to sweat. The long, tense wait before an operation was always the most grueling part.

She couldn't help but steal another glance at Seraphina.

The woman seemed completely unaffected by the tense atmosphere. She leaned back in the driver's seat, her posture relaxed and elegant, arms crossed over her chest. Her ice-blue eyes were fixed on the distance, unblinking. Her breathing was so steady and slow it was almost inaudible.

She was like a perfect statue carved from moonlight and ice, blending into the surrounding darkness yet radiating an undeniable, powerful presence.

Anya suddenly found a very particular charm in Seraphina's focused expression. The quiet confidence, the calm control over everything, added an aura of strength to her already stunning beauty that was utterly captivating.

Anya realized her gaze was stuck on Seraphina's profile.

Just then, as if sensing her stare, Seraphina turned her head slightly. Her ice-blue eyes met Anya's in the dim light of the car.

Anya's heart skipped a beat. She felt like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar. She quickly averted her gaze, focusing back on the binoculars, her cheeks burning hot.

"If you're bored," Seraphina's voice came through the comm, laced with a faint, almost teasing note, "you can try counting the rivets on that container over there."

"I-I'm not bored!" Anya retorted, a little flustered and annoyed.

Seraphina said nothing more, but Anya could practically feel the faint, wicked smile playing on her lips—the same one she had seen at the Nightside.

This infuriating woman!

Just as Anya was fuming in silent embarrassment, a flicker of movement caught the corner of her eye.

"We've got movement!" she immediately said into the comm, her voice low.

She focused the binoculars back on the Sea Serpent.

A tall man in black combat gear was striding quickly down the ship's gangway. His steps were light and swift, making almost no sound.

"Target acquired," Seraphina's voice was instantly all business, cold and professional. "Remember, our mission is not to kill him. It's to capture him alive."

Anya nodded, keeping the binoculars locked on the man.

After disembarking, the man scanned his surroundings warily, then began walking quickly along an abandoned railway track at the edge of the dock, heading away from them.

"Let's move." Seraphina started the car.

The car's headlights remained off, and she kept the engine at a deep, barely audible hum. Like a black panther, it silently tailed the man, weaving deftly through the crisscrossing shadows cast by the giant containers and cranes.

Anya's heart was in her throat. She stared at the man's back, feeling as if her every breath was synchronized with his footsteps.

The man walked for about ten minutes before stopping in front of a warehouse cluttered with discarded fishing nets and ropes.

He glanced around, then knocked on the rusty iron door in a specific rhythm.

The door opened quickly, and a small, thin man in a dockworker's uniform peeked out.

"A Ghoul," Seraphina's voice sounded in Anya's head. "A human slave, bound by a vampire's blood and will. They perform various services for their masters in exchange for false promises of 'power' and 'immortality.' Pathetic creatures."

The Ghoul handed a heavy-looking black canvas bag to the Bloodthorn man. The man took the bag, tested its weight, and nodded.

There was no further conversation. Once the transaction was complete, the Ghoul immediately retreated back into the warehouse and shut the door.

The Bloodthorn man slung the bag over his shoulder and turned to head back the way he came.

"Now," Seraphina's voice was like a cold command. "He's at his most relaxed. Anya, you take the left flank. I'll take the right. Remember, break his limbs, but avoid any vital areas. We need to take him before his friends realize he's gone."

"Got it!" Anya replied, feeling the blood sing in her veins with excitement.

She pushed open the car door and shot out like an arrow released from a bow.

In that moment, her body displayed speed and power far beyond human limits. The potent blood of her werewolf heritage was surging, roaring through her.

In the blink of an eye, she had silently circled around to the man's left rear.

On the other side, Seraphina's movement was even more ghost-like. Anya didn't even see her move; it was just a black blur flashing out of the car, and then she was already at the man's right rear.

Her terrifying speed wasn't running; it was more like… Celerity.

The Bloodthorn man seemed to sense the danger. His body went rigid, and he started to turn.

But it was too late.

"Move!" Seraphina's command exploded in Anya's mind.

Anya burst from the shadows without hesitation.

She didn't use her dagger; she used her fist. In that moment, her seemingly slender arm contained a terrifying power, enough to shatter rock.

WHOOSH—

Her fist cut through the air, aimed directly at the man's left knee.

On the other side, Seraphina's attack was even more elegant and deadly. The owl-headed cane in her hand drew a cold, silver arc through the air, striking from a wickedly precise angle at the man's right ankle.

The man was clearly a seasoned warrior. Faced with a pincer attack in this hopeless situation, he let out a guttural roar and twisted his body at an impossible angle, attempting to dodge both deadly blows.

His reaction was incredibly fast.

Anya's fist scraped past his pant leg and slammed into the shipping container behind him.

BOOM!

With a deafening crash, the thick steel wall of the container dented inward, a clear impression of her fist left behind.

Seraphina's cane also missed its mark.

The moment he dodged, the man had already drawn a strange, silver-gleaming short blade from his belt. The blade appeared to be coated in some kind of green, viscous liquid.

Without a moment's hesitation, he spun and lunged, stabbing viciously at Anya, who was closer to him.

The blade was as fast as lightning, and its tip carried an aura that made Anya deeply uncomfortable—an aura of purification and banishment.

Silver! And coated with some kind of poison specifically designed for supernaturals.

Anya's pupils contracted. She wanted to dodge, but there was no time. She could only watch as the blade, glinting with deadly light, grew larger and larger before her eyes.

In that split second, a black blur shot in front of her.

It was Seraphina.

CLANG—

A sharp, clear ring of metal on metal.

Seraphina had blocked the fatal blow with her seemingly decorative owl-headed cane.

The silver tip of the blade clashed with the solid silver head of the cane, sending a shower of bright sparks into the air.

A powerful impact traveled up the cane. Seraphina's body swayed slightly, but her feet remained firmly planted on the ground, as if nailed there. She hadn't moved back an inch.

"Foolish," she said, looking at the man, her ice-blue eyes holding a cold pity, as if looking at a dead man. "To use silver against a Valerius?"

Before the words had even left her lips, she flicked her wrist.

An incomprehensible, terrifying force erupted from the cane.

The Bloodthorn man felt as if he'd been hit by a speeding train. The web of his hand split open, blood spraying into the air. He could no longer hold his silver blade, and it clattered to the ground.

He himself was sent flying backward like a broken kite, slamming hard against the container with a dull thud. He slid to the ground, coughing up a mouthful of blood.

One move.

With just one move, she had completely defeated a battle-hardened Bloodthorn warrior.

Anya stared, dumbfounded. It was the first time she had so directly witnessed the unfathomable, crushing Potence that a Princess-level vampire like Seraphina possessed.

"What are you waiting for?" Seraphina's voice snapped her out of her shock. "We've definitely alerted the ship. Grab him. We have to leave, now!"

"Oh… right!" Anya quickly reacted.

She rushed forward and, as if lifting a chicken, hauled the unconscious man up with one hand.

Just then, several sharp, urgent whistles sounded from the distant Sea Serpent.

Immediately after, several dark figures began to move rapidly down from the ship, fanning out and closing in on their position.

Their backup had arrived.

"Dammit!" Anya cursed under her breath.

"Go!" Seraphina had no intention of fighting. She grabbed Anya's arm and pulled her, sprinting towards their car.

Her hand was just as cold, but this time, Anya felt an unyielding, reassuring strength in her grip.

They both moved at top speed, but their pursuers were just as fast.

Anya could hear the urgent footsteps behind them, and the whizz of bullets cutting through the air.

They had guns! And the bullets carried that same repulsive scent of silver.

Several silver bullets zipped past them, striking the ground ahead and kicking up sparks.

"Get in the car!" Seraphina barked, shoving Anya and their captive inside before flashing into the driver's seat herself.

The moment she slammed the door, a bullet hit the bulletproof window with a dull thump, leaving a spiderweb c***k.

Seraphina didn't even glance at it. She floored the accelerator.

The sports car's engine let out an enraged, bestial roar. The tires screeched against the pavement, kicking up the acrid smell of burning rubber.

Like a black bull, the car shot forward, accelerating at an insane speed towards the underground tunnel they had come from.

Their pursuers were still in hot pursuit, a cacophony of gunshots echoing behind them.

Anya looked back and saw several of the Bloodthorn members closing in. Each of them had a fanatical, inhuman, crimson glow in their eyes.

Just then, the one leading the chase, seeing the sports car about to disappear into the tunnel, seemed to realize he couldn't catch them. He let out a roar of frustration and rage.

Then, he threw his head back and, facing the brilliant full moon in the sky, he let out a long, mournful…

Howl.

"AWOOOOOO—!"

The sound was high-pitched, piercing, and filled with an ancient, wild power that echoed across the entire dockyard.

The moment Anya heard the howl, her body went rigid.

Her blood, her soul, every cell in her body resonated violently, irresistibly with the sound.

Because that wasn't just any howl.

That was a… werewolf, using the most ancient method of their kind to call to the moon, and to call to… their own.

That member of the Bloodthorn… was a werewolf.

An expression of utter, absolute shock and… confusion spread across Anya's face.

(End of Chapter)