The Chronicles of Arnora: The Curse of the Blood Moon

Chapter One: The Beast of Zhagos

(Warning: This chapter contains depictions of blood, which might not be suitable for some readers.)

~ Chapter One ~
The Beast of Zhagos

Zhagos, was usually a peaceful city in the heartland of the Zemorian Empire, second only to its capital of Zriovrane. One would think that nothing could possibly go wrong in such a fair city, that was until the night of Ocktober 15th, 442. Screams had filled the quiet streets waking the sleeping townspeople. The city's guards rushed towards the house that the noises were coming from, trying to break down its door, but by time they did the screams had stopped. There standing not that far in front of them was a young woman covered in blood standing over two mangled corpses. She looked at the guards, blood dripping from her mouth and long razor-like finger nails protruding from her fingers. She then let out a loud roar and vanished into thin air. A young man then walked into the house shocked at what lay before him....

Man: "By the Gods... What has happened here." The guards then turned to find Orion Grim, the lord of Zhagos's eldest son standing in the doorway.

Guard: "My lord Orion, please you shouldn't be here. You shouldn't have to look upon this slaughter."

Orion: "Arwen? Is Arwen here, where is she? Where is my fiancé?!"

Guard: "My Lord please calm down, you should return home."

Orion: "No, I won't go, not until I know that Arwen is safe!"

Guard: "I'm afraid she isn't here my lord, only her parent's bodies lie here, we fear that the creature may have taken her."

Orion: "A creature? What creature?"
Guard: "We found it here covered in blood as we broke down the door sir, it appeared to be some sort of woman, I believe it was a vampire my lord."

Orion: "A vampire you say?" He thought for a moment. "In that case I need you to go to the Dragon Stone Inn, I got word that a man is staying there, an expert of beasts. He's a Slayer of Croft Hold, I want you to bring him here at once."
Guard: "Yes my lord, I'll bring him here as soon as possible." The guard left and soon arrived at the Dragon Stone Inn where he was greeted by the innkeeper.

Innkeeper: "Welcome to the Dragon Stone Inn, may I interest you in a drink or maybe a room for the night?" The guard scanned the room, there weren't very many people in the inn's tavern at this late hour except for a few patrons.
Guard: "No thank you, but you may help by telling me where I can find the monster slayer that's staying here." The innkeeper looked off into the far right corner.

Innkeeper: "That's him in the corner over there. There's no mistaking him, he's got those glowing green eyes after all." The guard then rushed over to the far corner table to find a young muscular man with ginger hair, he was about twenty-five in age and had a scar across his right eye. The man then looked up at the guard staring deep into his eyes before speaking.

Man: "May I help you?" The guard looked the man up and down before he too spoke.
Guard: "You're the Slayer? I have to say you weren't at all what I was expecting. I was expecting someone a bit more.... Well more than you."

Man: "Yes I'm the Slayer, and I'm guessing that you need my help? From the blood stench you reek of I say someone was just recently killed am I correct?" The guard looked at the man surprised.
Guard: "How did you know that? It must be those Slayer senses I've heard so much about, but yes you're correct. There has been an incident and the lord who I serve has asked me to seek you out, so if you'll be so kind as to follow me." The guard gestured to the man to follow him before turning and walking away. The man soon got up from his seat and followed the guard back to the house he came from earlier. "My lord, I have returned with the Slayer as you requested." Orion looked over to the ginger haired man as he looked back and spoke.

Man: "Orion it's been awhile my old friend."
Orion: "Owin?! Yes it has been a while hasn't it? When I heard we had a Slayer staying in the city I never expected it to be you, but I'm glad it is, so I'm going to get straight to the point. My fiancé is missing and I'm willing to pay anything for you to find her and bring me the head of the monster that killed her family." Owin then noticed the bodies and walked over to examine them, his keen senses noticing every little detail.

Owin: "Well from what I can tell you this was definitely a vampire attack. From the look of the claw marks on the bodies it was a female one at that, most likely a young newborn bruxa. "He then took in a deep breath through his nose smelling the air." There's also a faint smell leading up to the second floor." Owin got up and followed the scent upstairs with Orion following closely behind him. "It's coming from this room here."

Orion: "That's Arwen's room." Owin opened the door revealing an empty room. He took in another deep breath sniffing the air again.

Owin: "This is interesting... The scent of Arwen and the bruxa is also mixed with that of another familiar scent." Owin looked around and noticed a floorboard was out of place, he walked over and moved it aside to find a small bag hidden within. "I was afraid of this." He then reached into the hole and pulled it out holding it up to show Orion.
Orion: "What is that thing exactly?"
Owin: "This my friend, is what's known as a blood poultice, it's used to help transition a human into a vampire. The only way it could have possibly been placed here I'm afraid, is by another vampire."

Orion: "So that bruxa, that vampire the guards saw standing over her parent's corpses, that may have been my Arwen?"

Owin: "From all the evidence I've gathered here, yes, I'm afraid so."

Orion: "You said that bag, that blood poultice thing was placed here by another vampire? But how? I know she would never invite such a monster into her home!"

Owin: "It most likely wasn't a regular vampire like a kumara or an upeir, but a higher vampire, they can take on the form of humans and can survive in sunlight, so she could have befriended one and never have known it."

Orion: "So Arwen is lost to me then? She's to be a vampire forever?"

Owin: "Not Exactly, there is still a chance that she can be saved."

Orion: "There is?! How?! Please Owin, I will pay greatly if you can save her!"

Owin: "I can't make you any promises however, because the timing of this couldn't have been more crucial. The only way to turn a newborn vampire human again is to hunt down and kill the vampire that turned them. Then its blood has to be fashioned into a potion which the newborn must willingly drink, and this all has to be done before the next blood moon."

Orion: "And when exactly is that?"
Owin: "Well that is the crucial part, it's three days from now...." Orion scoffed.

Orion: "Is it even possible for you to do all that in just three days time?"

Owin: "It's quite possible yes, and this poultice will help out greatly, the aroma it gives off is a very strong one and luckily thanks to the vampires carelessness of leaving it behind, I can easily track it and Arwen down."

Orion: "Then go and find my Arwen, please save her from this curse." Owin nodded before turning and walking out of the room back down to the lower floor. He then looked down at the bodies of Arwen's parents and through a nearby opened window.

Owin: "She definitely went through the window but the scent is faint." He jumped out the window and followed the smell of the blood poultice, turning down street after street. "I haven't seen any other bodies or signs of her so she's running, most likely scared, those guards must have startled her good." Owin continued to follow the smell until he came to a large storage building. "Well this has just gotten a lot more complicated, so many different scents mixed together in one area, I lost her..."