The Harvest Moon

Foreword: This is the land of Everdusk, a world where creatures of the night reign supreme. The humans became unwise in their foolish fear of the creatures and lost many lives before retreating to unknown location. The vampires now make up most of the population of the world, along with the werewolves, who ended their age-old war with the vampires and instead united with them. The human threat is not gone, as some still foolishly attack the creatures without even knowing that they caused their own downfall.
A drunken human once attacked an ancient vampire known as Maximov. In defense, Maximov killed this human, creating a rumor that vampires and werewolves were hostile to humans. Thus, the humans started to hunt the two types of 'monsters' as they put it. Many of the hunters were not skilled and fell quickly and soon, the creatures of the night were no longer the minority.

On Humans: Humans are a simple race afflicted by a plague called mortality. They are vulnerable to illness and any type of physical harm. Their strength is the ability to travel in day and night with no harm. Though they mean well, they are easily molded and corrupted by simple hearsay. They now train many of their small numbers as hunters, bent on regaining their rule over the land.

On Werewolves: The Werewolf race, or Lycanthropes, appear as humans in the day. At nightfall, they are able to change into a hybrid form of man and wolf, increasing in strength, speed, stamina, and agility. They are forced to change back once daylight touches their skin, or until the person wills it. A werewolf is vulnerable only to weapons made of silver and can be hurt by nothing else. On some occasions, werewolves become caught in their hybrid form and are taken over by their ravenous, animal side. They are taken by an unquenchable bloodlust, called the Lunacy.

On Vampires: The Vampire race is the dominant one in Everdusk based on number and real care in government, as opposed to the Werewolves, who would be happy living freely in the forest without a care. A vampire appears as a human at all times, but when they are about to feed, their canines elongate. Sunlight is lethal to a vampire; they must function inside shelter during the day. They cannot enter the households of other creatures, besides other vampires, unless invited in. They are not allergic to silver or garlic, as rumored. Nor do crucifixes cause them pain, even if the wielder is a devout Christian, as they are not truly enemies of God, as the rumors suggests. They can feed only on blood, almost always taken from animals. They can be killed by complete ingulfment in fire, the impaling of the heart, decapitation, and the before mentioned exposure to sunlight. Their powers consist of heightened strength, not equal to that a werewolf, agility, the ability to jump impossibly long distances as if gliding, and they can meld with shadows and mist. Also, even more rare than the Lunacy, vampires can go insane, becoming a merciless Bloodsiphon. They tear apart anything that moves and feast upon their blood.

* * *

Vincel stared at the harvest moon with a relaxed sigh. He loved being in nature and spent more time there than he did in the vampire cities. He had no campfire, he had a sort of fear of it, plus he didn't need it, as vampires could see perfectly during the night. Vincel's pale skin reflected the moon light beautifully, as it did for all vampires, except if they used their power to become shadows, then they were virtually invisible.
Vincel had long black hair, black eyes, and he wore a long black cape. He wore a simple tunic that was black trimmed with red, as were his breeches. A long sword hung at his hip. It was a family heirloom, with an onyx hilt encrusted with sapphires. The blade was also made of an unidentified black metal. Vincel stared on at the moon, watching a pair of bats flutter by it.
He heard a twig snap in the forest to his right. He used his powers to shadow-meld and began circling around to the general area of the sound, drawing his sword. He could see the disturbance of the trees, but could not make out what it was. It could be simply a forest animal, frightened away by something, if it was, it was all right, he was hungry anyway. But, it could have been a monster of some sort, a shambling horror or a werewolf Lunatic.
He reached the edge of the tree line and peered around the area. There was a downed vampire lying there, wounded, but alive. He came out of the shadows and rushed to the side of his comrade. He recognized him as Nathaniel, a classmate at the warrior-training academy.
"Nathaniel, what has happened to you?" Vincel inquired, taking Nathaniel’s head in his hand.
"Vincel, is that you?" he coughed, a trickle of blood coming from his mouth, "So nice to see a friendly face." he let out a chuckle, but that turned into a groan of pain.
"Who did this to you?"
"I was inspecting that old human castle, there were reports of activity inside there, though it's been abandoned for years. A human has taken shelter in it, a necromancer it seems, and he had such power over me. He has a Lunatic in captivity, and something else. They ripped me apart." he coughed again, more blood coming out of his mouth. Vincel realized that he was bleeding internally, which means something must have cut so far into him as to expose his organs, he regenerated in his flight from there. He was going to bleed out, a highly rare death for a vampire, but an effective one if it hit the heart.
"I will fetch help from the city, it's near, we'll get you some blood."
"No, friend, don't bother, I'm finished, my heart will never heal, it's been punctured, but not destroyed. Just promise me, if you go to that castle, don't go alone, the human has great powers over us." With that, Nathaniel died. Vincel was filled with rage and set out on a journey for vengeance. He knew he wouldn't make it to the castle before daylight, so he headed for the werewolf city, about halfway to the castle.

* * *
Vincel arrived in the city two hours before daylight. He was welcomed with open arms, he was well known in this town. He knew exactly where to go for shelter. He knocked on the door of one particular house on the western side of town. A large man, with short, brown hair opened the door.
"Got a room for the night, fur ball?" Vincel said in a harsh tone.
"Not for you, pretty boy, my house isn't suited for female stay." The big man said with a deep, guttural voice. There was silence as they stood there, then they both broke out into laughter.
"Just let me in, Jath." The big man stepped out of the doorway and pointed his arm out, palm up, an inviting gesture.
"You know you have to say it, Jath." Jath laughed heartily.
"Come on in, Vincel, make yourself at home, don't forget to wipe your feet." Vincel stepped inside the werewolf's house and removed his cloak and sword.
"So, what brings you to my humble abode?"
"I need shelter until day passes. I'm going to the old human castle tomorrow."
"What for? I thought that place was empty." Jath moved over to a large chair and plopped down into it. Vincel sat in the smaller, wooden chair across from him, farthest from the fireplace, and explained, "Nathaniel’s dead. I saw him, he bled out. He told me a human necromancer has taken control of the castle. He had the advantage over Nathaniel, since he has power over the dead, and must have handed him over to the Lunatic he has captive."
"A Lunatic in captivity? I didn't think it was possible to catch one of those things."
"He said he had something else also, but he didn't say what. I plan on going there tomorrow and slaying the necromancer."
"You know I'm going with you, right?"
"I wouldn't put you in danger to avenge one of my own."
"And I wouldn't let my best friend go into certain death alone. I'm in, we live tomorrow night."
"I can't talk you out of this, can I?"
"No way."
"Right then, I'll see you tomorrow."

* * *

The two set out just after sunset. Vincel had his sword at his side, Jath has a hand ax at his hip, but it was more of a tool than a weapon, when he changed, claw, tooth, and strength were efficient enough. The castle was on a hill in a large clearing in the forest. The two stopped at the edge to observe the landscape. It seemed safe, too safe.
"Be ready." Vincel said. Jath nodded and the two stepped out and began towards the castle. Suddenly, an arm burst from the ground, followed by another and two more. Quickly, there were ten bodies crawling out of the ground, zombies created by the necromancer. Vincel drew his sword and quickly said to Jath, "Remember, break the neck or take off the head, it's the only way they'll die."
"I know, pretty boy, I know. I'm no cub to this stuff, now give me some room." Jath began growling, it wasn't a human growl, it was that of a feral beast. He threw off his shirt, which had already began to rip as he grew larger. His toes and fingers began to elongate, his skin turning black. His face becoming a canine's snout, his ears growing to points. Black fur began covering his body, all this occurred in seconds. When the transformation was completed, he stood eight feet tall, with muscles not only stronger physically, but supernaturally.
He saw three zombies approaching him, their rotting flesh falling from them. He smiled, exposing razor sharp teeth, he made a beckoning motion with his finger and snarled, "Come on." The zombies rushed at him. He smacked the first one away into a tree, breaking his neck. He grabbed the second by the head, lifted it off the ground with ease, gave it a quick shake, and snapped its neck.
The third one sank its teeth into his leg. He howled in pain, literally, and grabbed at the zombie. He ripped the zombie away, tearing a chunk from his leg. He snarled again and held the zombie up by its neck, so that it was eye level with him. He stared into its dead eyes for a moment and swiped his claw out like lightning. The force of the blow decapitated the zombie. He dropped the twitching wretch and turned to help Vincel.
Vincel needed no help. He was using his super agility to jump and flip around the zombies so fast they could not keep up with him. Four zombie bodies lay on the ground already, their heads somewhere nearby. In a blinding flash of skill he back-flipped over the zombie behind him, swung his sword and took its head off. He lashed out to the left, killing another. Finally, he spun around with a powerful swing, cutting the final zombie in half at the torso.
His spun stopped with him facing Jath with a grin on his face.
"Show off." Jath snarled. The two turned again towards the castle. As Vincel passed the last zombie, it's arm lashed out and grabbed his leg. Vincel stumbled and tried to unsheathe his sword. Jath simply stomped down the poor creature’s head and smashed it. Vincel looked at him with a surprised look on his face. Jath smiled, pointed to his temple, "The head, remember, destroy the head." The two laughed and continued on.
As they walked, the wound on Jath's leg sealed itself up. Also, the toxin that would have turned a human into a zombie leaked out as the wound closed. The reached the large castle doors.
"Any ideas?" Vincel asked Jath.
"One." Jath took a kink out his neck, reared back, and charged. The combined impact of his speed and strength forced the door to splinter. He stepped aside for Vincel to enter. Vincel rolled his eyes at him.
"Oh, right, come on in." Vincel nodded his head at him and stepped through the ruined doorframe. He looked at the wreckage and sighed.
"Effective, loud, but effective." Jath shrugged and the two continued on. They reached the center of the castle with no hindrance. They entered the large door where the human king once placed his throne. Now the necromancer occupied that space. The necromancer smiled, "I've been expecting you two. I will not waste my time having words so I will just kill you two now."
He reached over and pulled a lever next to his throne. The floor that Vincel and Jath were standing on collapsed. Jath fell down, but Vincel leapt into the air. The necromancer held up his hand. Vincel was halted in mid-air and the necromancer dropped him into the trap door.
He landed next to Jath. Jath was staring at something, growling. Vincel followed Jath's gaze and saw two figures step out of the shadows. One was the captured Lunatic; the other was a Bloodsiphon.
"Wonderful," Jath said, "Which one do you want?"
"I'll take the Lunatic, I have a silver dagger in my belt, tear up the Bloodsiphon as fast as you can, don't let him back you into a corner. Try to take his head off or go for his heart." Jath nodded and the two charged. Vincel swung his sword many times, but all were dodged, the Lunatic lunged forward and started clawing at Vincel.
Jath was trying to claw the Bloodsiphon while avoiding its grasp. Jath was on the defensive, backing up. He lashed out with his claws, but kept on backing up, that is, until his back hit the wall. "Damn," growled Jath. He kept swinging, but the Bloodsiphon was too fast. It caught his arms and held them. It opened its mouth, exposing the elongated fangs. It was reaching for Jath's neck.
Just the creature was about to sink his fangs in; Jath head butted the Bloodsiphon. It stopped, stunned. He did it again and the thing's grip loosened. He let out a beastly roar and pushed the Bloodsiphon back. He jumped to his feet and grabbed the monster by the throat. It bit into his hand and he could feel the blood draining. He shot his free claw out and it went through the Bloodsiphon's chest, taking the heart with it. The thing stopped biting and went limp.
Vincel was still battling with the Lunatic. He couldn't get the thing slow enough to deliver any damage with his sword, much less the silver knife. At least he was fast enough to not take any damage himself. Then, he saw his chance. He began backing up. He did a back flip into the corner. The shadowed corner. The Lunatic stopped, thinking that his target had disappeared. He looked around and began stepping slowly toward the corner.
Suddenly, Vincel's black blade shot out of the shadows, taking the Lunatic in the stomach. It roared and stumbled backward, grabbing at the blade. Vincel charged out of his shadow-meld, silver dagger in hand. He drove the dagger home with both hands, strait into the Lunatic's heart. It roared out even louder and it fell to floor, convulsing as he died.
Vincel tugged out his sword and wiped the blood off the blade.
"Let's go." He said to Jath.
The necromancer was surprised when he saw Vincel climbing out of the hole. He grimaced and shot out a magical bolt that would destroy any undead completely. Just as the bolt escaped his hand, Jath leapt out of the hole, over Vincel, and landed directly in the bolt's line. He took the bolt square in the chest stoically, he was no undead. Jath charged the necromancer and trapped him in the throne.
"Are you ready, Jath?" Vincel said. The necromancer couldn't see the vampire, so he couldn't cast any spell on him.
"Do it." snarled Jath. Vincel drew back his sword and plunged it into Jath's back; it exited through his front and went strait into the necromancer, killing him without a chance to stop the vampire. Jath screamed in pain and Vincel quickly yanked out the sword. The sword wasn't silver, so Jath would be all right.
"Never again, pretty boy. It got the job done but it hurt like Hell." They both laughed and Jath's wound healed itself.
"It was for Nathaniel, a worthy cause." Jath nodded at him, and the two returned to the werewolf city, their people once again safe from a human threat. They went out into the light of the harvest moon.