Blood of Legends and The Union of Damned

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It was all icy tundra and barren evergreens, and even though the girl was running too fast for her bright green eyes to take in any of it, the usually lively trees were particularly vacant. Her short dark locks that nearly reflected a blue hue in contrast to the winter wonderland bobbed as she sprinted through the soft snow. She completely disregarded the peculiarly uprooted trees, icy branches in her path she instinctively hopped over, and even the attention she drew from on looking wolves. None of this mattered because she was concentrating on one thing: staying alive.

In this case her survival was dependent on her escape from her pursuers, who were much faster, had much more endurance, and were very much hungry. They had been tracking the girl for several miles now after she was separated from the rest of her group.

She was unfamiliar with her surroundings and kept running with no direction in mind other then away from the ones who chased after her. Past the snow that covered an entirely different habitat like a long kept secret and to the mountain cliffs, which shot up from the earth abruptly where the thick forestry ends. In her haste she nearly ran headlong into the towering cliffs. The girl made a brief futile attempt to scale the vertical rocks before giving up, exhausted, and assuming the fetal position. Tears flooded her bright green eyes.

A pale man with a muscular physique under his layers of warming fur coats came to a skidding halt, just as the girl did, nearly running into the rock wall. He, however, made no attempt at escape.

“Nowhere else to run.” The man managed to say as he hunched over and caught his breath. He smiled faintly as he did, revealing two pointed incisors.

The girl didn’t look up the entire time, but kept sobbing into her hands.

Moments later a second man joined the others. He was slightly less muscular but slightly pastier then his companion and also wore many layers of fur. He broke into a slow jog as he took his place next to other man, hunched over and catching his breath. Shortly later a third, even smaller, even paler man came sprinting out of the thick, icy woodlands and straight into the rocks. This startled the girl, who jumped up with a gasp and embraced the wall, now facing her three pursuers.

“Oh!” said one. “She does have a pair of legs on her, doesn’t she?”

“Pity she probably ran most of the good meat off.” Said another.

“You know I like the tough, stringy flesh best, brother.”

The biggest of the three approached the girl, standing toe to toe. He towered over her, and although the girl was the most terrified she had ever been in her life she was still able to look him in the eye. Her now swollen and puffy green eyes locked on his vapid yellow eyes in a moment she would never forget.

He brought a dirt caked index finger to the girls chin.

“You’re rather cunning for such a tiny human girl. Before I rip you apart and enjoy every ounce of your flesh and blood I just wanted to thank you giving my brothers and I such an exhilarating hunt. It’s not often we have to work so hard for our food and it’s always that much more satisfying when we do. You nearly had us when you tried to cover up your tracks with that tree branch, you know! But I digress; it’s the end of the line for you, my dear.”

As the vampire raised his claw high in the air ready to strike down his prey, the girl let out a loud high pitched shriek born of pure terror, which was overlapped by the simultaneous fatal howl of the smaller vampires. The large vampire spun around to find the peculiar sight of his two brothers laying flat on the snow and soaked in each other’s blood. Their throats had been slit from ear to ear.

“What the f**k!? My brothers!” The vampire ran to his fallen brethren’s side. “Who did this?”

A white figure dropped down from one of the trees nearby. In a single lunge from whence his feet touched the ground he moved directly over the last of the vampire brothers. The figure withdrew a thin machete and impaled the vampire before he had a chance to see his attacker. All of this happened in a single moment with the most fluid action.

When the vampire realized what had happened it was too late. He looked his killer in the eye, the only part of his body what wasn’t covered in white garb.

“What... are you?” The vampire asked, gasping for breath.

The white clad figure answered by turning his blade which was still deep within the vampire. The vampire moaned then fell to the ground as the blade exited his body. He fell to the ground, staining the pristine white snow with his crimson blood.

The last man standing now withdrew a handkerchief from his white jacket pocket and whipped the blood from his white trousers. After removing the blood from his clothing there was miraculously no stains left behind. He replaced his handkerchief and approached the girl, who remained paralyzed with fear by the rocky cliff through this entire ordeal.

“There is a human town several miles north of here. They will nurse you back to health but you need to hurry, there is a blizzard on the way.”

With this the man turned and began to walk away.

“Wait!” The girl finally spoke. “W-What is your name?”

The white clad man stopped in his tracks, still facing away from the girl. He pulled the white mask covering his face down and put both hands on the back of his closely shaven head with remnants of black stubble. Lost in thought, the man turned his head back to get another look at the girl he so casually saved.

“My name?” He said, staring up at the bountiful stars in the moonlit sky. “People used to call me Hanzo.”

As he spoke the girl couldn’t help but notice that this man had fangs.

“You’re a vampire!?” The girl cried and embraced the rocks once again.

The man hastily replaced his mask and in a single lunge he disappeared into the arctic forest.

The girl was as confused as ever. She was hesitant about following the advice of a vampire but she had little choice in the matter. Completely lost, the only shed of hope she had was that this white vampire was telling the truth. She reasoned that since he had just inexplicably saved her the chances were low of him sending her into some sort of trap. But she was getting terribly cold and hungry and this was her only lead.

She brushed the snow and blood off of her clothes and headed north.