Vampiric Interdiction

[0] Prologue

Sharp fangs pierced deep into Villahr's neck and he grits his teeth to muffle a pained cry. His head throbbed where the back hit the wall, but it was the venom that clouded his vision.

Villahr's nails dug through to bone, and the grip on his throat loosened. The hand in his hair pulled white over his eyes. Sharp talons raked his cheek. His attacker released him with a hiss, but kept close.

The vampire tongued the bloody remnants on his lip, dribbles fell over his chin. "A curious piquancy. Surprisingly rich." He looked and sounded delighted, which presented the assumption this was the first time he sampled vicio essence. This left Villahr surprised.

Strict law forbade their species to intermingle. Most vampires put themselves above rules.

Though the pair made a horrible ruckus, it was improbable anyone could hear. A spruce and birch myriad surrounded Villahr's make-shift home. The trees smothered the sound-waves, a strong breeze masked any protest, and lulled them into complete isolation.

Villahr lost his foothold and battered against a cabinet. It fragmented. Fine china and crystal from its head whistled and crashed to the floor.

"Oops! Sorry, darlin'. Expensive?" the brute laughed and went to help himself to seconds. Before he could, Villahr's hands moved to stab the vampire's abdomen. Red coated his nail-beds.

A shard pierced Villahr's back, immediate warmth spread from the wound. With a surge of strength he flipped the noxious leech, and pressed him into the glass. Sharp teeth ripped from Villahr's neck tearing the skin. The dead male's body chilled Villahr's violent grip as his nails dug into the closest fleshy expanse.

Quick to favour the upper hand, Villahr buried his canines into the villain's shoulder. A small tear elicited a cry and Villahr crashed to the floor in response. The shredded shag rug provided little cushion.

The assailant shook his head, dismayed. "Now now. Let's be amicable. Yes?" He held the front of Villahr's tunic, while he examined a fresh cut through the torn grey shirt. Transient blood continued to seep until the artery sealed. Several red circles marked the male's torso, one near his abnormal heart.

For a moment, poor defence allowed Villahr to reverse their positions. His body replicated an active hinge, and slid from under the vampire, well oiled and fluid. It caught the other off guard. Villahr straddled his attacker, formed a claw with vicious nails, and forced it into the antic left cavity of the male's chest. His free hand fisted and collided with the mongrel's cheekbone. Again and again.

"For a filthy bleeder," said the offender between unnecessary expulsions of breath "I'm impressed." His face was pink where Villahr struck him.

Villahr ignored the connotation. With the production of copious amounts of blood, frequent and meticulous letting allow vicio to avoid death. The offensive term rose from this, but Villahr found himself more amused than insulted.

"You underestimate us." Villahr's fingers slink through a rip in the male's shirt.

A gash on the vampire's cranium leaves a bloody smear when he smiles and angles his head. "Do I?" he asks.

Villahr nodded, then returned the smirk. He licked the silver hoop in his lower lip, and a scowl contorted his flushed face at the foreign iron assault.

"Tell me why you're here." The bloodsucker's eyes flicker to the corridor behind Villahr, his expression knowing. "I will cleave the words from your throat," Villahr snarled, lifting a long, threatening talon.

The deep voice ruptures the emptiness with another cackle. "Good luck deciphering them," he said, and gestured to the long ivories that protruded from Villahr's mouth. "Can you use those, princess?"