Art was regarded as the most common form of expressing one's innermost thoughts. With a history dating back to possibly even earlier than the beginning of civilization, art was one of the few aspects of human life that had been incorporated into the culture of various supernaturals. Even more so for certain races who tended to exist for extended periods of time and experience great events during said time. As far as the vampires were concerned, art was the best representation of the immortal existence that the race was so commonly known by. Having spent her entire life as a noble of the vampire race, Veronica had been taught the various uses, representations and importance of art. Her father had not attempted to force anything on her when she was younger; as a vampire, he knew she would have more than enough time to learn anything she wished. Rather it had been at her insistence that her tutors had endeavored to impact on her every single piece of knowledge they possessed regar
Before the afternoon classes had concluded, the entire school had heard of the party and anticipation was quite high for such a small event. Of course considering who was hosting the shindig, there was no possible way it would be small. Apparently to maintain reputation as well as emphasize the stature of the party, Bryan had restricted invitations to only specific people throughout the school. To be precise, only individuals who held a certain level of prestige among the others in their years had been invited, with a small number of them being referred to as VIPs. The latter were people that Bryan himself had bothered to invite personally. It had come as quite a shocker to Michael when he had realized that none of the vampires had been invited despite them making up more than half of the coolest freshmen in the school. Not even Veronica had been asked to attend, something that seemed to irk her more than she would have liked if the scowl on her face when he had passed her some
"I just wanted to help him." "Who? Michael?" Olivia asked. "Yeah," Mia nodded sullenly. "When we were training, he had this look on his face. It was like he wasn't even there. I didn't really know what to make it it so I just thought that maybe he was getting sick of me. The way I acted earlier must not have really helped either." Her melancholy was broken by the sudden sound of Olivia's melodious laughter. "Sick of you? Mia, to be honest with you, I haven't seen Michael act the way he does whenever you're around. I don't know why he seemed off during your stay in the Ultra Rem but I'm sure it wasn't your fault. No matter what it may seem like, I can tell that he is genuinely happy to teach you. He just... has a lot on his mind right now." Slightly comforted by the older female's words, the young witch leaned forward on the balcony, a furtive look on her face. "No kidding. He did nothing but toss me around in that place. Although getting my ass handed to me in another d
The man grunted dismissively and Bryan bowed before retreating to a corner of the room, his glazed over eyes reflecting in the darkness. Kneeling over the first of the bodies, the man began a ritualistic chant as he worked on etching strange symbols on the unconscious girl's face and arms. When he finished the last of the symbols, he tapped a clawed finger on the girl's forehead and suddenly her eyes sprang open. Even though she seemed to have regained consciousness, her body refused to move an inch, something that bothered her a great deal as could be inferred from the franticness in her eyes. Suddenly a unnatural darkness creeped up from the corner of her eyes. At the same time, her body began to radiate invisible magic energy, as if the vessels that conducted her power throughout her body had been broken and her energy leaking out. The darkness gradually spread until her entire eyes were covered after which she went instantly still. The only sign that she was still alive being t
The incomplete team of Hunters stepped out of the swirling portal exit onto the expanse of cleared land that separated the back of the large house before them and the rest of the woodlands that surrounded Starlight Bay. The loud music blaring from the party reverberated through the forest causing resounding echoes that would be loud enough to mask any other sound. This detail was not lost on the Hunters, as it meant they were more or less free to engage in serious altercations tonight. "Dean, how far away are the skinwalkers?" Michael asked, his eyes focused for any sign of movement from the forest. "A few of them are already in the building with Olivia and the other witches. The rest of them are on still in their way here. The undead however..." Michael grit his teeth. "They're close. Got it. Okay, Dean, you and I–" The young man was cut off by the sound of shattering glass as the window in one of the higher rooms in the house exploded outwards, showering the grass
Lee watched them leave with a sly smile and scoffed lightheartedly before glancing toward Michael. "So that's taken care of. Where the hell are the others?" "They're taking care of Olivia. She's in that form so I sent both of then to restrain her." The smile on Lee's face was instantly replaced with a frown and he groaned in discontent. "Ugh, why do I always have to miss out on that?!" "Can we please focus on the matter at hand?!" Whitney yelled at the irritated Hunter. She switched her amber orbs to Michael who was suddenly peering at the dark forest. "Where the hell is Mia and the rest of them?" He ceased his action to face the small gathering before him. "Looks like they're here. Lee, I want you and Vincent to go in that direction." Michael pointed towards the southeast part of the forest. "The skinwalkers are coming from that direction. They'll probably go through the highway disguised as humans so try to draw them out first. But do not let them get here." He tu
"That was the power of my Relic, The Martyr's Cross," Diane replied calmly. "It allows me to telekinetically manipulate these crosses. Each of them conform to my will and they have the ability to purify evil. For undead creatures such as vampires or these 'Baykok', only a scratch is needed to completely destroy their bodies." She recalled all her crosses to form a continuously rotating ring around her, occasionally sending a few out in rapid attacks that decimated the undead horde. Her voice increased slightly as she addressed the rest of the witches as well. "Did you think we were appointed as the moderators of this program by coincidence? My ability was practically designed to eradicate vampires, Vincent's can counter any single spell any of you can conjure up. "If all of you were to fight the two of us, you wouldn't last fifteen minutes. If the two of us were to fight any of the Hunters, we wouldn't last five. Yet they were asked to watch over you kids. There are things out th
On the north western edge of Starlight Bay, the forest surrounding the city gained a more hilly terrain. Large rocks and boulders occurred naturally and if one were to move further north, one would come upon a series of small mountains that lined the edge of the forest. The natural elevations stood out in the background of Starlight Bay like jagged uneven constructs. Despite their proximity to the relatively popular city, the mountain range was seldom frequented by the local populace by reason of multiple urban myths of disturbing presences dwelling there. The leaders of the Starlight Bay had discounted these rumors and in the past, had embarked on a construction project that saw several roads built through and around the mountains. The aim then had been to encourage tourist trips to the admittedly grand view from the top of the mountains, as well as providing an easy route from Starlight Bay to the neighboring cities on the other side of the peaks. That had proved to be a
The ringing of a bell brought Whitney back to reality as her last class for the day ended. Pulling her upper body off her desk, she carefully concealed a yawn that threatened to escape either way behind the open notebook before her. Half the class had already disappeared within the first minute after the bell had rung and the other half were well on their way to join their peers. Looking around, Whitney felt a guilty pleasure in the fact that she had not been the only one who had slept throughout the entire class. Her disguised eyes spotted Mia's hunched over form still snoozing away at her desk. A fond smile, a rare thing for her to show, spread across Whitney's lips as she watched the sleeping girl. She had been mostly unconscious by the time Dean and Mia had arrived to her aid the night before but she had been filled in on what had happened after. To the surprise of everyone, herself included, Whitney had genuinely thanked the Hunters for their assistance in her rescue. Thoug
Stormy gray eyes almost silver in color and set in a blank stare, suddenly darkened with clarity of mind. Up above and around, the raging storm of magic ceased in an instant. Then it began moving again, this time with far clearer purpose. The energy nearest to Michael began to concentrate around his right hand. It swirled like a small whirlwind around his hand before gradually coagulating into a vaguely distinct shape. There was no particular form to it, but what resembled the hilt of a sword was visible when his hand tightened around it. The 'blade' was merely a dense mass of swirling magic that pulsated with so much power that it turned the land around him to dust. Sensing the imminent threat, Àtahsaia conjured as much Hellfire as it could to form a giant wave of soul-consuming flames that crashed towards Michael. The wave destroyed everything in its path at it approached the Hunter. Michael regarded it without a single care. With his mind restored, the memory of an attack
The fog of energy around him stirred to life and he surged forward at a much higher speed than he had used as a wolf beast. A wild and terrifying grin appeared on the demon's face, one that split its whole face in half, as it ran to meet the Hunter's charge head on. Just before they could clash, the demon leveled its giant bow at him and the nocked arrows on it suddenly went ablaze with black flames. Michael's eyebrows shot up into his hairline and he kicked off to the side to avoid the arrows that obliterated the area he had occupied a mere second ago in a blaze of Hellfire. His quick dodge did nothing to reduce his momentum however and he soon arrived within striking range of the demon. In a single breath, it drew its large knife and brought it down on Michael who grabbed the weapon's bladed edge with a single hand. He suffered no visible harm although the way the ground around him cratered instantly spoke volumes of the amount of force behind that strike. The destruction
Under the nonstop pressure the black sphere was emitting, the walls of the cavern were forced to give. Fortunately the cavern had been located just below the surface of the mountain, which meant that there was not much thickness to the earth on one side of the hollow formation. Within seconds, the cavern exploded outwards under the pressure. From an outside view, it looked like a mine charge had detonated from within the mountain. The quake from the explosion shook the entire mountain slightly since the whole structure itself was fairly small. Dislodged debris in the form of large rocks and landslides wrecked some parts of the forest below. In the middle of the newly formed 'cave', an inhumanly large figure pushed itself off the ground to stand on its two feet. Standing at over twenty feet, the creature towered over most land animals. The moonlight fell on its body and illuminated its bizarre appearance. Finally able to dig himself out of the rubble, Michael received the u
A chimera. He turned himself into a freaking chimera?! 'Don't be so quick to conclude. We still don't know if he breathes fire–' Michael spotted a dim orange glow at the back of its throat that was rapidly growing in intensity. 'You know what? Never mind. Do try and dodge that.' "Yeah no kidding!" Still he agreed with his predecessor's soul. Michael forced himself out of his shock to leap out of the way as a stream of fire engulfed the area he had been standing on seconds ago. Unfortunately dodging did not mean it had forgotten Michael. The chimera used the continuous stream of flames to chase the Hunter across half the cavern before it ceased its attempts to incinerate him. "If it keeps this up, I might not be able to keep my promise to Daniel." Black smoke rose from the ground to surround Michael's body. After a few seconds, it dissipated revealing a massive humanoid wolf-like creature that howled loudly. The chimera roared in reply and both beasts lunged
When faced with imminent threat, the automatic response of every sentient creature would be either flight or fight. This was a reaction that could not be overcome without the presence of an extreme amount of self control. Even a weak rat would struggle to mount a resistance against the hungry cat that sought its demise, hence the phrase. But in the occasion that the opponent, the predator was so far above the prey on the food chain that any form of resistance would be futile, what then? The skinwalkers chose to fight. Bad choice. Out of the corner of his eyes, he spotted another approaching from what might have looked like his blind spot. His right hand snapped backwards and grabbed the skinwalker's head in a vice-like grip. A second later, the body collapsed, its center of control gone with the wind. Two more dashed forward, dark magic swirling around their hands. Their blasts vanished an inch before his skin to their immense dismay. Before they could retreat, he swi
"For a place that's supposed to be of immense importance, there is very little security around here." "Don't jinx it Caen." "I'm just saying. It's way too quiet here." The way both Aiden and Veronica turned to glare at him made it very clear that they had long noticed that fact and had chosen not to acknowledge it for a reason. No one knew exactly how this sort of flags worked in movies, but they were not exactly keen to find out. They were vampires. Immortal yes, but certainly not invulnerable. The walk up the mountain had been largely uneventful. Whether that was good or bad, none of them could say. While they were definitely glad for the hitch free journey, the boredom still made it annoying. Vampires were not exactly the most docile of creatures, especially at night. There was no doubt the others had engaged in some sort of battle at some point. It had been impossible to ignore the dramatic spike in energy that had resonated throughout that side of the mountain. Eve
Àtahsaia was confused. First the Hunter had been barely able to match its strength. Then he unleashed this terrifying power that nearly killed it with a single strike. After that he had become weaker for sometime. But now here he was easily being able to keep up with itself even with the boost that witch's soul had granted it. Just what was this individual planning? Dean deflected a swipe of the demon's large hand and landed three slashes on its arm, shoulder and face in quick succession. With each hit he had increased his power but it had still not been enough to pierce the demon's tough hide. Although he had felt a slight depression in its skin on that last strike. 'It shouldn't take much now.' He leapt back to avoid the raging stream of flame it spat out in return. When the breath of fire ended, he was gone. But Àtahsaia knew better than to assume he would retreat so easily. A lance of flames formed within its have and it swung backwards to block the curved blade of shadow
As its wounds healed, Àtahsaia forced itself to to stand once more. It was still unsure as to what had happened to cause the situation to devolve to this. The battle had been under its control, it had finally caught the Hunter in an unavoidable attack. Next thing it knew, it was sent flying away with a giant wound on its body. It had sensed the cursed energy lingering around the area of the slash. That was supposed to have been a fatal blow and it nearly had. But the Hunter had done something. He had been the one to prevent death from consuming it. It was this that confused the demon as it was fairly certain that this individual had come here with the purpose of exterminating it. Let it be known that the strength of the demon known as Àtahsaia did not lie in its not so inconsiderable power, but in its wit and intelligence. Something had caused the Hunter to pull back his attack at the last second. And as far as it knew, there was only one other third party involved in all this.