A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

The Ashcroft sisters stood next to a small, dark opening in a rock face, located in the middle of the forest just outside of Alta. Moss and lichen covered the sides.

Since their first encounter with that first-ranked vampire, they had encountered a few more guards and lookouts, but none that reached the second rank.

They all died before being able to sound an alarm, some of them in an equally horrific manner as Emily's first victim. And each gave them a little more information. Experience more tales on M-V-L

Now, they finally found themselves in front of a cave where the occupying German forces had once build a bunker inside, during WWII.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Emma asked through their bond, a little skeptically.

"Should be," Emily shrugged. "Astrid's map fits, and while none of those first-ranked idiots we found on our way here knew for sure, they had heard rumors."

"Alright, but why are there no guards here?" Emma continued, still not satisfied.

Emily turned to her little sister with a strange expression, "Because that would be like putting a sign up saying 'secret base here'? This isn't even the bunker's true entrance, that's located inside the cave. They probably put the guards there."

"Alright, alright," Emma pouted cutely. "I don't know much about this stuff, you know?"

Suddenly, Emily remembered that Emma had barely finished primary school when this all started, and she felt guilty. Her white-haired little sister likely never learned anything about WWII and strategic bunker placement.

"R— Right, sorry…" the raven haired beauty stammered. "Would you like me to tell you something about it?"

"Sure!" Emma smiled widely, actually interested.

Emily nodded, but turned around to head into the cave before starting her explanation, "During WWII, the Germans used natural caves like this to hide their command bunkers. It was a way to protect them from bombings—concealment through nature. It's not surprise the Dominion is taking over that practice, but posting guards at the entrance to the cave would defeat the purpose."

The insides of the cave where much as you might expect. It was narrow, some stalactites and stalagmites were scattered around, and the floors were uneven. The damp, cold air clung to their skin, carrying the earthy scent of moss and wet stone, while a steady drip of water echoed through the narrow passages.

The two sisters carefully stalked deeper into the cave while Emily continued teaching her younger sister everything she remembered about Alta's past, including its time as a significant, strategically important naval base in WWII.

Meanwhile, they inwardly thanked Elora for giving them these outfits that keep themselves clean. Especially Emma with her mostly white maid outfit. After a few minutes of not finding anything, they started wondering if they were really in the right place. Fortunately, that was when they heard some hushed tones coming from somewhere nearby.

Their eyes twinkled with a victorious expression and they quickly started moving in that direction. They found a narrow passage that quickly led to a larger chamber. Here, they finally noticed their first second-rankers.

Two Dominion vampires, a man and woman, were sitting on chairs next to a reinforced metal door, build into the cave's wall. The woman looked to be meditating and exploring her runes, while the was seemed bored out of his mind, as he even leaned his chair back against the cave wall in a gesture of utter nonchalance.

"Are you sure I can't convince you to sneak away to the blood farms with me?" the man asked, his eyes turned up towards the cave's ceiling. "It's not like anyone's going to come or leave here until Lord Sigurd is back."

Despite her similar boredom, the woman appeared more diligent. She kept her eyes closed and shook her head, her voice flat and uninterested, "Yes, I'm sure. I'm not going to be the one to ruin Lord Sigurd's plans by letting someone sneak in here and destroy everything he's worked for. I enjoy living too much. You go ahead, though."

"Oh, come on," the man snorted, while righting his chair, and looking at the woman directly. "Everyone who knows this place's location is either inside, either of us, or currently surrounding those beasts of Enclave. No one's coming here! And with the lock-down order in effect, no one's coming out until it's time to relieve us."

"We could have a little fun you and I…" he continued, his eyebrows wiggling suggestively.

"In your dreams," the woman snorted, disdainfully. "Now, either leave or shut up. I'm trying to focus on my runes here."

The man sighed, casting a longing glance toward the exit before shaking his head. "Whatever…" he muttered, resignation heavy in his voice. "I'm not getting in trouble on my own." So, he leaned his chair back again, and reluctantly started exploring his own runes as well.

Clearly, after reaching second rank, this man had decided to take it easy for a while, probably thinking third-rank was out of reach anyway.

Thus, they fell back into silence, and a half an hour passed with no incident.

After that half an hour, however, the woman opened her eyes with a frown. "It's becoming harder to focus on my runes… why?"

The man quickly pounced on the opportunity with a wide grin. "Because you need a break! At the blood farms, for example!" the man exclaimed as he crashed his chair back to the ground, and used the momentum to stand up quickly.

Yet, as soon as he stood straight, he suddenly felt a little dizzy, and stumbled forward a step. "W— Woah" he mumbled, as he grabbed his head, some confusion in his eyes.

Now, the woman also quickly stood up and started looking around suspiciously. "Something's wrong…"

The man seemed far more lackadaisical, however. He quickly righted himself again, and shrugged, feeling much better already, "Don't overreact, Amelia. It was just a dizzy spell from standing up too quickly, and you simply need a break, like I said."

"Right," the woman spat, full of sarcasm and disdain. "And when was the last time you got a dizzy spell since becoming a second-ranker, huh? Don't be an idiot!"

"Ugh," the man groaned, annoyed by his partner's overzealous caution. "Just relax for once, would you? What exactly are you suggesting is happening to us, then? You think its any more likely that we're getting affected by something environmental? I mean, when was the last time 'that' happened? Besides, I feel fine now!"

The male vampire's arguments were making Amelia's cautious expression waver a little. The fact was, even these two second-rankers had had very little interaction with Arcanists that hadn't been turned into anemics, and they had never heard of a Runebound with mind-affecting abilities.

The notion that someone might be doing this to them was foreign to these vampires. But, naturally, that was exactly what was happening. Just outside of their visual range, inside the narrow corridor leading to that chamber, Emma and Emily were sitting on the floor, simply meditating, while Emily's primer aura was working its magic on their targets.

Finally, Emily opened their eyes, and prodded Emma with her elbow. The white-haired girl opened her eyes as well, and quickly realized it was time to roll.

They quietly snuck closer to the exit of the passage, and peeked around the corner. There, the two vampires were still arguing over whether or not something was going on.

"I'm just saying it's strange!" Amelia growled, angry at the man's unwillingness to see the problem in this. "I still can't focus on my runes for some reason, and don't you dare tell me again that I'm just overworked! Its been ten hours since I woke up, and eight since I started meditating! That's nothing for us!"

The man groaned, and was about to respond, when Emelia's eyes opened wide. "Watch out!" she exclaimed and tried to grab the man's collar to pull him aside.

Unfortunately, she was too late.

A golden disc came slicing through the air at immense speeds. It crossed the ten meters distance between the chamber's entrance and the two vampire's in less than a second.

Amelia feared it would slice her partner in two, but at the last moment, the disc righted itself, and slammed into the man with its flat side instead. Rather than sliced through, the man was lifted of his feet and slammed into the cavern wall, the sound of which echoed through the hall and made the walls shake.

"Who?!" Amelia cried out, and took a fighting stance. Her nails yellowed, and took on some properties of sand. They began to grow longer, but the process was taking longer than she was used to. She still couldn't focus fully.

Suddenly, five pitch black arrows flew at her face, and, feeling their terrible power, she ducked, but when she looked back up, a beautiful woman in Gothic dress suddenly stood in front of her, smiling with sadistic glee, "Too late…"

A dark magic circle was pushed against Amelia's forehead, and in less than a second, her mind was drowning in darkness, with the words, "You're mine now…" echoing through her soul.