A Bloody Rebirth

Baron Alexsandr Von Rosen was... not a well known man of nobility. Managing a small remote section of land left to rot between two kingdoms, desolate in resources as it was in people's morality, his rule made little waves in the grand scheme of things. Not cruel or evil enough to be hunted, not kind enough to be beloved. Even after the revelation of his Vampiric nature and open alliance to the forces of darkness, one would expect him to appear in history books as a great threat to all those that live in the light. But in this too he was overshadowed by his new peers and even that wouldn't last long.

The soul defining moment one could give credit to Von Rosen was his attempted **** of the newest Hero, Tomoko Sakurai. However even in this he failed so badly that he was little more than a stepping stone in the hero's journey. An early threat dealt with to help fuel her own growth. Not even worth being called a 'mid boss' in her words.

Even after his ****, little would come from it. Larger threats loomed for the Hero, other Providences had more dangers to deal with, and the forces of Darkness moved elsewhere. What wealth he had was spent in gaining the attention of those dark powers, so even those that sought to pillage his estate, a keep built into a mountain side, found little to brag about. Candle sticks were copper, the rugs were fake, and anything of actual value was collected by other nobles or claimed as spoils by the Hero then promptly donated.

And so, the realm as a whole would forget the Baron Von Rosen. The only ones that did so were looking to take what parts of his territory that were valuable for themselves. Or those that lived in his land, and now planned out their own futures now that he was gone. Miners hoping to uncover lost resources, refugees with no where else to go, bandits and cultists looking to prey on the forgotten and unloved.

Thus, the chapter comes to an end. Minor corrupt noble in a ruined land cut down by the hero of light doomed to be lost to history.

And yet, the story of Von Rosen would not end that day.

Two rumors were whispered among those that still lived in the badlands he once governed that kept the name alive.

First; that no one found his 'real' treasure room. Even accounting for how poor the land was and how much he was said to give to the forces of Darkness, he should have had far, far more treasure in his estate. This was kept alive by diminishing number of old workers that claimed they had been hired to build a new chamber. This rumored vault was passed from them to family, friends, interrogators, and anyone in the bar they were drunkenly babbling too.

The other..., was his daughter.

The Daughter Von Rosen had gone missing a few years before the Baron openly displayed his true nature, her mother vanishing years before as well. It was this disappearance that broke his mind, the rumors claimed, having lost his love before and then his child. And yet no one knew what happened to her. She was a reclusive woman in the first place so few knew much about her. It was as if she was talked about one day..., and then the following week just absent in discussions.

No Funeral or mourning. No calls for searches or ransom demands. Not even a call for Priests, Doctors, Healers or any sort of outside assistance. Just vanished.

A rumored vault and the lost heir of Von Rosen. These two would be the seeds that caused House Rosen to grow once more.

Mira was dying and nothing to save her now.

It had been her idea and now the idea of safety had turned into a killing field.

Her small home had been burnt to the ground, failure to pay for the 'protection' of a local bandit gang. But that wasn't enough, as this small collection of houses had killed a few of the bandits during the attack. She herself had taken the eye of one of the captains. So they hounded the group as they fled, picking off those that fell behind and attacking when they tried to rest. They would not stop till her friends and family were dead or in chains.

It had been her idea to hide in the old Von Rosen keep. It would be, hopefully, an easily defensible location. But it was also a dead end, and once the bandits found their way inside it was over. Those that could fight tried but were scattered, hunted down in the forgotten halls while those who couldn't quickly found themselves in chains or cut down.

But, there was a small chance she and the few that followed her could maybe, just maybe, make it to safety.

Her grandfather had told her a secret of the keep from his days as serving as a butler. There was a hidden escape tunnel, one that would take someone to safey. At least, that's what the lord Von Rosen had told him, before he lost his way to madness. Her grandfather had stressed to her, up until his deathbed, that should anything happen to her, if there was anything threatening her and those close to her; go to the Rosen keep and head for that passage. Short of a Dark Lord; she would be safe from anything chasing her.

It was this sole hope that she had lead the group to the keep in the first place, but the bandits had caught up far sooner than expected.

During the chaos of the attack, she was trying to guide the few survivors with her to safety. A hidden switch in one of the kitchen storage rooms had opened up the hidden passage but there was no escape or safety to be found inside. All that lay beyond was a descending staircase that lead to a storage room. A series of crates, all decayed or broken, greeted them. And while trying to find any other possible hidden path or exit, the bandits found them.

Mira had fought but already wounded, didn't last long before she was left for dead. A heavy blow sent her flying, crashing through several crates as the old contents spill out, the old rotten wood pieced her flesh. She found herself unable to move, her crippled body laid out on a sturdier darker crate of some kind. The bandits considered taking her, but figured leaving her to bleed out would be best. Maybe when they got back to the boss, he'd come down to have some last minute fun with her, given she took his eye, but they didn't feel like dragging her half dead ass back up to see him.

Their cackling and the cries of her friends echoed in halls as they left her to her fate. Distant screams and her slowing heartbeat were the only other things the reached her ears as her vision faded. Along with the dripping of her blood from the wounds she had suffered, leaking into the crate below.

She wasn't sure..., but she thought she heard the creaking of wood below her before it stopped after a loud snap. And those... weren't her arms moving....

"12..., 13..., you're missing someone."

A tall beefy man turned his head towards two others. His brown eye glaring at the pair as he ran a hand through his short hair. He grumbled as he walked over towards them.

"Boss Hadrian, come on; she's dead we left her bleeding out." one said.

"Yeah.., yeah..., she'd probably bleed out before we got her to Rowan for treatment anyway. Hell he left with the first group of prisoners." the other pointed out, "Boss I know you wanted her to pay but like..., I'm not gonna waste potions on her cause...,"

"LEADER wanted to make an example of her." He took out a big glass container with a light blue liquid in it, and shoved it into one of their hands, "I get to do whatever I want to her but has to be in front of everyone..., send a message. So get back down there and make sure she doesn't die..., or else find me someone among these dreks that was close to her. GOT IT." Hadrian growled.

He could find someone in this group to take his frustration out on but he wanted to make it count for something more than just venting his own rage. Put these mud farmers in their place. Girl had gotten lucky with that damn broken sword of hers, and Leader wasn't willing to let him get a Regen spell on him. Not till he made up for his mistake; he lost eight guys that night. Blood had to be paid back with Blood and he wasn't willing to be the one paying the Leader for his failure.

Maybe he could just execute one of the older women in the groups, someone's mom to put the others in place.

"Hey boss!"

"WHAT...., the hell?" He started before he took on a puzzled look when he turned his gaze from the crowd of prisoners towards the raised voice.

The two bandits he sent back to get the bitch were faced with a..., 'sight' so to say. The bandits as a whole watched as someone walked... no not walked. Swayed or maybe stumbled one of the hallways that spun off from the main foyer. The figure was a woman clad in a tattered white dress, the skirt turn just above her knees. She wore no footwear, and had some sort of gloves but they were thin and also torn in several places. Her hair was a brilliant red that reminded Hadrian of some velvet clothes he had nicked one time. But it was long, and unkempt, her bangs masking most of her face and the ends going all the way past her shapely legs and toward her feet.

And she was a looker too. Firm full breasts, hips that swayed as she moved, even if the moments themselves were more shocked or drunken in mannerism. Probably had a nice firm heart-shaped ass too. Yes she'd fetch one hell of a price but this all felt... odd. The scouts had mentioned no such woman in the group that they'd been tracking. Could she be someone else that was in this keep first? How'd she survive though and why here of all places?

Such thoughts ran through his mind while the two thugs walked up for a better look.

"Daaaaaamn..., how'd a looker like you get here? I've seen whores with lesser bodies than you." one of the two said, his hand reaching out to feel up the woman's ass. "Damn it's real! Hah, I half figured this was a magic trick."

"Or maybe she's a ghost. HEH, maybe she's the lost daughter come to find someone to give her a good dicking." the other cackled as he grabbed the woman by her chin, "Damn she's docile too... think she's high on something?"

The woman said nothing, only leaning forward, resting her face in the crook of the man's neck. He cackled as he felt her lips start to work his skin.

"DAMN this one's a keeper. Think she might be some sort of Succubus victim or something..., she's revved up, docile and horny. See?" He called as he looked at several of the tied up women, "Maybe take some notes here ladies, cause this is gonna be you in a few months or worse...., hey... ow that's starting to hurt."

The woman had stopped using her lips and instead started to use her teeth, starting to give him one heck of a hicky. But it was starting to hurt really badly by now and his friend moved to get the woman off him. That was a mistake as without even pausing her work, she back handed him, sending the brute flying as the other started to scream. He fought to get away but found the woman's hands were holding his shoulders tight to pin him in place.

A stunned silence came over the rest of the room as they watched the bandit start to shrivel in the woman's grasp before he fell to the ground a dried husk that broke apart into dust when he hit the stone floor. The woman, covered in blood red now, smiled a wide smile.

A wide smile with some teeth that where far, far too pointy.

It was not a fight.

The bandits weren't prepared to fight a Vampire. Just a handful of basically night watch guards, a couple farmers with tools, a handful of miners, and maybe one or two soldiers or seasoned travelers. Nothing that would have been threat to them. A Vampire, was another story and this one was... a monster on a completely different level.

She tore through them with her claws easily cutting through their light armor. Their weapons were basically worthless against her Undead nature and she was too fast for their alchemical bombs. The two mages, the only chance they had, were dealt with quickly once she realized they were there. One was blitzed down easily, going down screaming, while the other was torn apart by the Vampire's own magic from range. A collection of large ice shards marking where he fell.

They couldn't even run as the moment they tried to, under cover of a few smoke bombs, the Vampire used some other type of spell. The crumbling and cracked armors that were once display pieces shuddered to life, a pale blue glow holding them together as they blocked the entrance. Now it was the bandit's turn to beg and plead, but unlike them, the Vampire had no use for live captures. Only to feed.

Having drained the last bandit, the Vampire turned. She'd ignored the captured villages during the attack but now there was nothing to distract her. She took a step towards them, and then another. Parents tried to move in front of their children, elderly said their goodbyes, and the young teared up and closed their eyes.

Step. Step. Step. Step. She was within reach of a young looking girl on the edge of the group...., and then walked past her.

She walked past the young farmer. The old couple. The wounded father still brave enough to shuffle in front of his wife and kids. And she kept walking. She ignored them all and simply ascended the large staircase before disappearing into one of second story wings.

The survivors were confused to say the least. More so when they heard the voice of someone from down the same hallway the vampire had first appeared from call out, asking if "Anyone was there?". They heard a new figure shuffled out of the dark hallway, waving a good arm at them.

"You're... alive!" one of the older men called out, amazed she had made it.

"And you're safe!" Mira called out as she came over as fast as she could, starting to untie what ropes she could, "I knew she wouldn't kill you guys."

"Wait.. you... you knew about that thing?" the old man asked, his face paling at the realization, "Is that what..."

"No no I didn't!" Mira stopped him as she got his hands free, "But she was inside that room...., I didn't know that and my blood must have woke her up but..., she healed me."

"What?"

"She broke the crate... or I guess casket she was in, and drained my blood. But then she... healed me. Like how Brother Jarin used to. It was the same light."

A Vampire that healed an innocent? That was... unheard of. But given they were all alive.., perhaps this was some sort of miracle sent to them on high.

The Vampire walked the halls. Her feet were far more certain but she still stumbled from time to time, swaying towards one side. But she knew where she was going... or perhaps knew what was drawing her. It was a room at the end of the all, located at a corner of the keep. The old door creaked open as she entered the dusty moldy room.

It was a bedroom that once had been elegant but now was an old decaying room. She ignored the empty bookshelves, the few mannequins that wore half decayed dresses, and the large desk that held nothing but searched and empty drawers. No her goal was the large canopy bed. The fabric was old and moldy, the curtains eaten by moths, and the mattress lacked any softness to it.

And yet, without a moment's hesitation and rather unceremoniously, the Vampire fell face first into the large bed, bundling herself in the old blankets.

With a final wave, another suit of armor that was on the hallway's floor, came to life and slowly closed the door to her room before taking a firm stance as her guard.