An eternal and unforgiving night plagues this world where monsters like werewolves, vampires, and ghouls, now known as fallen, call their hunting grounds.
Each and every day, soldier of the royal army risk their lives to keep humanity from extinction, but the fallen are getting stronger, and the number of people willing to fight is growing.
The fallen fight only to feed and for the thrill of the hunt, and on this day, you would hunt like they never had before.
Deep within the dead wood forest, soldiers scattered and screamed as they ran from the giant raging werewolf tearing through their brethren like a dog ripping appart there favorite toy. The blood of the fallen soilder stained it's fur. while guts and organs were squished under his feet. "HHHHAAAAAA" the soilders screamed has there guts were ripped from there bellies and splashed in the faces of there comrades.
The captain ordered a retreat, trying to save what was left of his soilders "Men, fall back!!" he shouted as he ran toward the horse-drawn carriages.
The remaining soldiers bolted behind him
trying to escape this hellish situation, but the wolf was right behind them, snarling as it chased them down, crushing the bodies of the dead soldiers beneath it's feet . It dashed towards the soldiers trying to get away. It's eyes were filled with nothing but bloodlust.
Some of the men stopped and drew their flint locks. Pistols to shot at the beast, trying to slow it down *BANG BANG BANG* sparks flew from the barrels in every direction. The bullet penetrated the beast skin as it continued running at the men, its eyes fixated on them.
Dashing at top speed, the captain reached the carriages, screaming at his few remaining men to hurry, but by the time he turned around, there was only one soldier left.
Half of his body was sticking out of the wolf's mouth as he screamed in pain, begging the beast not to kill him "please, please don't kill, captain HELP!! ME!!". The wolf snapped the soilders in two *CRACK* the sound of the soilders bones braking sent a hunting chill down the captains spine.
" GET US OUT OF HERE!" the captain screamed at the top of his lungs as the carriage took off at breakneck speeds. The wolf, satisfied with the blood bath he had just created, started to consume the remaining bodies left scattered around the battlefield, and as he finished consuming his one-thousandth victim, his body began to morph as he stood up on two legs.
Bones and muscles breaking and reforming his body became more muscular, his fur changing color from gray to black. His size increased from seven feet tall to a whopping ten feet, his eyes went from a glowing orange to a deep dark shade of red, and his mouth glowed and radiated heat like a furnace.
This was the real reason why he wanted to kill all those people to ascend to a new form. At his one-thousandth kill, he was transformed from an ordinary werewolf to a black hellhound.
The wolf let out a long defining howl. The sound of it was so loud that it tour down the surrounding tree.
As the carriage made its way out of the forest the captain heard the wolf's howl he recognized its charge in intensity and pitch " NO NO NO NOT ANOTHER ONE" He slammed his fist against the carriage wall as he realized the wolf had transformed. " take me to the city of Regalia I need to speak with Blackstone".
The carriage driver was still in disbelief from the sight of carnage he just witnessed he asked the captain " bloody hell man, what happened back there I thought we had enough men to take that peice of shit out"
The captain grit his teeth that werewolf was far faster, stronger and for some reason smarter than the others they've killed in the past " we had enough men, hell we had more than enough but that peice shit ripped us up like a bloody chew toy"
The captain was confused at how one werewolf somehow over powered five thousand men all armed to the teeth.
The carriage driver was get impatient and quite confused he asked the captain " so what the hell is this Blackstone fella gonna do, if an army of a thousand men couldn't kill that bloody thing what difference would one man make "
" turst me when I say watched that man hack his way through hundreds of those damn beast if anyone can kill that thing it would be him" the captain replied.
The carriage driver didn't believe a word coming out the captains mouth. He must be delusional or did he hit his head during the fight. A single man ripping through hundreds of fallen by himself sounded like a fairtale he thought to himself. Regardless of what it was, he was his superior so he had to follow his orders. The diver turned the carriage from the path back to camp to the path to Regalia.
The carriage arrived at the entrance of Regalia 2 hours later. The city was filled with Renaissance architecture and covered in an artificial fog created by a stone hidden in the city that prevented falls from entering while allowing people to go in and out of the city as they pleased.
Entering the city, the captain instructed the driver to carry him to Silver Street, stopping him when they reached the hunter's shop.
"Stay here," the captain instructed the driver as he entered the store, seeing a little black girl with goggles and a wild afro that looked to be fifteen years old at the counter.
" Melody darling, where's your father?" questioned the captain as he made his way closer to the counter.
Melody looked at the captain and smiled. She pointed to the door behind the counter, indicating that her father was around the back.
" Ah, I see you still a girl of few words, " the captain replied. He knew she could speak, but she would rather keep quiet when people other than her parents were present.
" a woman of few words is often a woman of action. Am I not right, Captain Lionheart?" a man in a Victorian tuxedo replied as he walked from the back door, stroking his beard.
It was Blackstone, the same man who saved the captains back in Blood Haven. Captain Lionheart was glad to see his old friend and savior the sight of his face reminding him of when they met .
His mind flashed back to the events of Bloodhaven he remembered when he watched as Blackstones hacked through hordes of ghouls using his giant clever each slash was brutal like a buthcer hacking through a cows carcass.
He remembered Blackstone breathing fire and summoning large gusts of winds every thing he did from his abilities to his movement weren't human. That was the first time lionheart learned about hunters people with super human speed, strength and the ability known as arcana this allowed them to create and manipulate the elements .
Blackstone put his hand on Lionheart shoulder snapping him back to reality
"It's good to see you, old friend now what brings you here "
Lionheart was glad to see his friend too though he wished the circumstances were different "It's good to see you too old friend but I'm afraid this isn't one of my pleasant little visits, another werewolf has ascended and the army is running thine we need your help"
Blackstone and Melody both had the same reaction when they heard this information the adrenaline in their body spiked cussing them to smile ear to ear as if they heard the won the lottery.
This reaction though creepy didn't offend or scared loin heart since this wasn't the first time he saw this menacing smile. Blackstone was always like this thought he was quite a carring man the thrill of hunting those monsters was almost additing to him.
Lionheart relayed all he knew about the werewolf each detail nailing in the point that this was no ordinarywerewolf . He explained that he wasn't close enough to see what form it ascended to, but he recognized that it ascended by the extreme tone shift in its howl.
Regardless of what form it took on there was one saving grace to this situation. That was the fact that the fallen were weaken for a few hours after there Ascension. They would need to consume a large amount of pray to regain there ability to regenerate.
Blackstone told his daughter to grab his bolt action rifle and his clever. They would need to act fast before the werewolf had the chance to eat.
Melody retrieved her father's rifle and clever from the back room and handed them to him she signed with her hands that she wanted to join but her father didn't allow her to come along this time since he wasn't sure how dangerous this hunt would be " I'm sorry Dear but I don't know enough about this werewolf you could be kill if were not careful you can't join me this time."
Lionheart was perplexed "This time, you bring your daughter on hunts are you insane man, she could be killed"
Blackstone didn't take Lionheart's words personally after all he had didn't know that melody was also a hunter he quickly explained while gathering various items from the shop into a leather bag "Melody is also a hunter she awoke her air and fire arcana two years ago"
Lionheart was shocked to hear that Melody also had the abilities of a hunter. He recognized a hunter's arcana isn't passed down genetically. It's a mutation that appears in random people. This must be one of the few cases where a child and parent gained the mutation.
Blackstone finished packing all his supplies and asked Lionheart to bring him to where they last saw the werewolf.
The duo left the store and boarded the carriage, making their way back to the deadwood forest.
Arriving at the spot where Lionheart last saw the wolf, stone began searching the area for track, broken tree limbs, or anything that could indicate where the wolf could gone after the Massacre.
Not finding any tracks, black stone took out a red crystal from his bag and crashed it in one hand. Red powder began to rise from the crystal, making a trail that led deeper into the forest. Lionheart recognizes it as a homing crystal,an item able to track down any nnearby fallen in a five-mile radius.
" OK Lionheart you with me but you on the other hand need to leave this place before you get killed " Blackstone replied while pointing at the carriage driver
Lionheart agreed with Blackstone. He believed if this boy stayed any long, he might end up like the other. He orders the carriage driver to return back to the camp in the next city. The driver obeyed his orders and was off.
Meanwhile, Lionheart and Blackstone followed the red trail deeper into the forest, leading them to the werewolf. While following the trail, Blackstone pulled out two blue potions and handed one to Lionheart, telling him it would erase his presence if consumed.
They both drank the potions, completely erasing their presence and turning them invisible. This would allow them to sneak up on the wolf without worrying about being spotted first.
Lionheart admired Blackstone's preparedness. He believed if anyone could help him take revenge on the filthy mutt that killed his men, it would be him.
Knowing confident that the beast would be slain, Blackstone's excitement for the hunt felt infectious to Lionheart. He found himself smiling just like Blackstone, but their grins weren't one of happiness. They were smiles of pure malice.