The Bloodfiend War - Prelude (REWRITE)

In the depths of a dark black forest, a hunter searched for its prey. The prey was difficult to find, and also very dangerous.
Fog clouded his vision as he patrolled the lonely dark forest, the tall trees closed off his view from the sky. He stumbled upon a stone path and closely examined it. ‘Bingo. Not too far from here’ he thought.
He stood up, keeping his hunting rifle close, and followed the path.
The forest started to become less thick, some small ruined cottages were scattered in between the trees, and the fog was dissipating, but being replaced by a faint red mist.
‘The town in the dark forest… Jimmy wasn't crazy after all’, he thought to himself.
The town was in ruins. The architecture was gothic for the bigger and presumably important buildings. Walls and dirt were stained by blood. Some houses were burnt and crumbling apart. Rotting corpses were hung on display. Everything was surrounded by a faint yet noticeable red mist.
On top of a hill, a lone dark cathedral was erected upon it, surrounded by a swirling red mist, which sluggishly twirled around the building and rose up to the highest point, before falling back down as little droplets of red rain.
“That's where those blood-sucking bastards are,” he mumbled angrily.
He approached the cathedral, following the path up to the hill. The red mist got thicker and thicker the closer he got to the cathedral.
He arrived at the large entrance of the cathedral, and opened the doors without breaking a sweat. When he closed the door behind him, a veil of darkness descended onto him, as if even light itself was afraid to enter the odd and mysterious church. The only light came from the mist outside, a red hue dimly shining from the windows. He started walking through the corridors, turning on a flashlight on his rifle. He would periodically turn around and check for anything following him.
As he walked through, he found himself in a tighter corridor with a pair of red glowing dots just in front of him. The light from the flashlight was suffocated by the darkness.
He got closer and the figure had human features. It had long black hair, bright eyes and pale skin. On its side, a red sword made by a red fleshy material, twirling around to form the shape of the blade. The figure didn't move a muscle, but its eyes stared directly at the hunter.

‘This must be a “Bloodfiend”. One of those disgusting blood munchers’, he reflected, ‘Can’t let them hit me, they’ll become stronger. A blow to the head should be enough to crush it.’
“What’s wrong vamp? Cat got your tongue?” he said.
Then suddenly, he wiped out his rifle and shot the figure.
The figure acted quickly, slashing the bullet in front of them with their sword.
“What are you doing here. Human.” The figure said, with a deep cold voice, with a hint of disgust. The hunter was surprised by the incredible speed the figure had shown and didn't have words to say.
“Do not ignore-!”
He was brutally interrupted by a blunt hit to his head by the butt of the hunter's rifle.
“Dirty Bloodfiend…” the hunter said as the man he had hit stumbled backwards.
“How did he-” The man was interrupted again by another hit to the head.
The bloodfiend then rushed at the hunter, lunging with their claws.
The hunter was, then, surrounded by a deep blue aura, and the claws from the bloodfiend bounced off of the hunter’s clothes. He aimed his rifle, surrounded by that same aura, at the creature’s head, and pulled the trigger. The bullet pierced through the bloodfiend’s head, followed by a trail of blue. The bullet punched through the stone wall behind the bloodfiend. Flakes of old stone shot from the wall. A web of cracks crawled all around it. A hollow echo rumbled through the cathedral, a gust of wind following. Many pieces of stone crumbled and fell off of the wall, but it stayed erect. The bloodfiend dropped dead to the floor.
Smoke poured out of the rifle and the hunter’s eyes glowed a deep blue.
“Filthy bloodfiends” he mumbled.
He set aside his rifle, taking a good look at the corpse on the ground, and then continued down the hall, encountering another large door, ornate with ruined holy symbols. He opened the doors, and a large hall, faintly illuminated by the red mist shining through the tall windows, was revealed. The architecture suffered from many scars of battle, rebellion and bloodshed, but it stood tall and proud. The windows seemed at first made of glass, but they were made of blood, and they depicted scenes of bloodshed between humans and bloodfiends, and of a woman standing overlooking it all. At the end of the hall there was a throne with a figure, who seemed to be a woman, sitting on it.
He walked down the hall, approaching the throne. Numerous figures surrounded him, observing from the shadows.

“Mmmh~ a human came to give us a visit…” the lady on the throne said with a warm yet eerie voice.
He had walked through half of the hall, passing by tensomes of figures, which he recognised as bloodfiends. They all seemed different, some had dark hair, others were blonde. Some had sharper and longer claws, others patches of crystallized blood on their bodies.
“Here to kill me aren't you?~” she added.
The hunter’s steps echoed through the large hall as he stopped at the feet of the stairs leading to the throne. A blue aura formed around him, his eyes turning deep blue.
“Ooh~ An Orion…”

The lady stood up, now illuminated by light. She wore a dark dress with glistening crimson twirls and swirls. Her shoulders and arms were covered by a dark cloth, hiding her slender and enchanting form. Her dazzling red eyes clashed with her smooth almost-pale skin, her blonde hair tied up neatly, showing a perfect care. Her hands had sharp red nails. The soft light made her radiant, outshining any distraction there could be; She looked like a princess, captivating all those who laid their eyes upon her.
Some bloodfiends around her praised her for her beauty and power,
“A beauty only the Princess posessess…”
“The Princess of all Bloodfiends!”
“Bow to the glorious Princess Carmilla!”
A small sigh came from her, silencing the entire cocofanny of praises.
Until the hunter broke the silence,
“Blood-sucking bastards… The Nosferian bloodfiends…” he said, before stopping to reflect, and added,
“Wait… I knew there was supposed to be a man in charge of these fiends… Not a filthy lady vamp.”
One of the guards spoke up, threatening the hunter,
“You do not refer to our Lady with those vile words!”
The lady, known as Carmilla, raised her hand and the guard looked at her confused, but stepped back.
“Do not be harsh with him…~ He is just a human… he does not know who I am~”
“Was he talking about the Prince-?” a guard whispered, but was shut down by another guard,
“Shhh, be quiet!”

The hunter, without wasting any time, pointed his gun at Carmilla and pulled the trigger.
She sliced the bullet with her hand and shook her head in a dismissive manner.
The hunter closed the distance and swung his rifle at her with incredible speed, but the lady side-stepped away. The hunter tried to shoot her again with a bullet infused with that blue aura. In one swift motion, she slashed her own skin, collected the blood and created a staff. She then deflected the bullet with it. The hunter lunged at her, swinging his rifle. Carmilla blocked with her staff, spun it to throw the hunter off balance and whraked the hunter in the chest. The blue aura that surrounded him acted as a shield, mitigating the force, but not completely dispelling it. He stumbled back, holding his gut, spitting a few drops of blood. Then he looked up at the lady with anger. He lunged back at Carmilla, swinging his rifle at her. She elegantly swatted the attacks away with her staff, before barreling away his rifle with a strong swipe. Staggering backwards, the hunter seemed shocked at the power of this bloodfiend.
‘How is she so strong?’ He thought, ‘wasn’t the leader of the Nosferian supposed to be weak?’
He recollected himself and cracked his knuckles, readying his fists.
“Doesn’t matter. I’ll pummel you to a pulp anyway,” he said.
The hunter charged at Carmilla with his fists, throwing punch after punch. She deflected them and blocked them.
An aura formed around the hunter’s fist and then launched a toppling punch at her. With a swift motion of her hand, a barrier made from shedded blood raised up, blocking the attack. The barrier cracked before shattering in thousands of blood shards. Carmilla stepped back, preparing her staff.
“Left yourself open, deary~” she said,
and then released a flurry of swipes and blows. She then spun her staff around, squatted down and struck the hunter, launching him into the air. The blood on the floor collected and moved to the top of her staff. She brought her staff back, and then thrusted upwards with her staff while the top of it coagulated and crystallized into a spear head. Then, impaled the hunter through the chest.
Her shoulders were slightly heaving, having made quite the physical exertion. She let out a small stuttering laugh, a giggle, before clicking her tongue in disapproval.
“Sigh, They let anyone be an Orion nowadays…” she said.

Then she whipped the impaled hunter back and hurled him across the room. The hunter then barrelled across the ground before coming to a stop. He left a streak of blood on the pavement.
His breaths were jagged, uneven, and his eyes, shaky and fearful, were looking back at the lady. She was laughing, watching him bleed out. Words collected in his mouth, ready to burst out at the vampiric woman, but the blood drowned those words; and so when he shouted, only blood came out. He laid on the ground, grovelling and shivering, until he extinguished his final breath. ‘She was too strong….’
Carmilla sat on her throne, the staff dismantling into a pile of blood shards, and then said,
“I’ve heard grim news from the south… the Orions have found the hideout of one of our groups…” she said with a cold voice, yet caring.
She paused for a minute, before changing her voice to something more ominous and sinister.
“Humans… are so weak… Wouldn't it be wonderful if we had the world to ourselves?~”
“Imagine the power we would obtain… If we were the ones on top? Imagine the freedom… Imagine the control…” Her voice slowly became more unhinged.
She looked up at her guards and said to them, smiling,
“The power to rule over our oppressors… The power to control them, to make them do my will… Imagine! Imagine what I could do!”
She followed with a small giggle.
A guard stood up, almost curling in a ball, and asked,
“My lady… What do you mean..?” his voice was shivering, almost about to break.
“Other First Kindred don’t even graze near the beauty and power that I possess…
I can start a revolution…” she replied.
The tension suddenly halted. Silence fell upon the cold hall of the cathedral, until she continued,
“Yes… Yes! A revolution! That’s what we need! That’ll give us the power! That’s what will give me the power!”
One of the closest guards, worried, responded,
“My lady, are you suggesting we abandon our home? And… go to war with the humans?”
“There are so many of us out there, hidden in the shadows… afraid to die… but it takes so much to even kill a Bloodwit! And it takes ten times more to kill a Bloodfiend!! To kill the First Kindred of a clan, it'd take thousands more than a damned Orion!!” she replied firmly, then calmed down.
She recollected herself, taking deep breaths. She repositioned herself, taking on a more noble look. She really looked stunning, perhaps the most beautiful of the Bloodfiends.

Many of the bloodfiends around her were stepping back hesitantly, ever so slightly. Most of the bloodfiends were weeping, pained for the loss of their brother.
The guard responded with slight confusion,
“But, my Lady, our clan is small, and we lost Nathanel… How can we fight millions of humans?”
The lady’s response was a warm laugh, slightly unhinged, before replying,
“Oh my Child, my Child… I don't mean a war between our clan and the humans…~ we are all around the Earth… all of us are going to war…!~ I think it's time that we stepped out of the shadows~”
Another of the guards said,
“I'll… I’ll send a letter to the other clans, informing of this decision” and then walked off, worried.
“Before you go” she resumed,
“Come here”
The guard walked towards her, up the stairs. She leaned in and whispered a list. A list of individuals for each and every First Kindred in the world. These
She rested her chin on her hand and smirked. A smirk hiding a maniacal mind, obsessed, but acute and intelligent.
Her name was Carmilla. A First Kindred, and the Princess of Bloodveil.

But there was another figure in that Cathedral. Down, down under the earth, in a dungeon.
A man, or what was left of a man, shrouded in darkness, laid down chained to the wall, with stakes of blood impaling his arms and legs, and a crown of blood and thorns digging into his head.
He wore blue royal robes, trimmed with golden thread, and a white vest underneath. But his clothes were ripped apart and stained with blood. Old blood. Blood so old it has become brown and black. His skin was lacerated apart, torn to shriveled shreds. His hands were disfigured beyond recognition, the nails destroyed and ripped apart.
His eyes were closed, but even if they were open, they wouldn’t have any sign of hope, facing the cold stained ground. His face seemed all melted into one, covered by countless layers of dark stains.
The walls of the dungeon mocked him, they read,
“Glory to the Prince!”
“All hail the Prince of No one!”
“A Prince without a kingdom”
A small silent gasp came from the chained, withered man, so silent even the walls couldn’t have heard it. The walls were stained from countless screams of pain, countless stolen hopes, countless unfinished dreams, and a growing obsession. A thirst, a desire. A longing for revenge. The withered hope of retribution, of retaliation. A deep and dark hatred filled the gaps left by his shredded skin, left by his torn clothes, left by his lost and stolen dreams; A Prince left to rot.

huh

rewrite

yuh