Wysdom

The click of the door closing behind you echoed through the room, leaving you and Woden Wyse to speak alone.

At first, he said nothing, at least not with words. You watched as he took short steps to circle you, critically observing you with his one diligent eye.

"I'd very much prefer that we talk, instead of having you gawking at me all night." You eventually said.

Woden tilted his head and folded his arms "When the Historian came at you, you could have killed her."

"The Historian?"

"That's right, the Wolfkin; blonde coat, narrow snout, arms like swing chains. There you were with the silver nitrate and the element of surprise. acting more exhausted than you actually were, the car door grasped at your side, serving as a temporary defence, superior striking position, you could have cleaved her clean in twain. But you didn't... why?" He asked in his gruff tone.

You paused in thought, searching for the answer "I... came to their home, at the worst possible time. They were just defending what was theirs, I know what that's like so I figured, it wouldn't be right to kill her."

His eyes narrowed so thinly, that the silver of his iris blended into the white, it was a very critical stare, as if he were reading the deepest recesses of your soul.

"It wouldn't be, right? No, it's more than that, even with your..." He sniffed "mixed scent, I can feel the curse in you. It is not a Vampire's nature to show mercy, hmmm yes there was something else wasn't there?"

You raised an eyebrow, reminded of your talk with Flora.

Woden's brows lifted in revelation "You spoke to one of them didn't you?" He chuckled harshly, shaking his head "By the blood-god. An Undead that sympathises with wolves, do you have any idea how ridiculous that is? We undead are sustained by our curse, it numbs us to earthly worries, bolstering our will and resolve to achieve even the darkest of tasks, but the werewolf... once they tear off that human skin they are more monstrous than any Vampire could hope to become, You saw this and still decided only to wound?"

He was right, even in that moment when your life was threatened you didn't even want to injure the wolf the way you did, that was an accident: a result of exhaustion.

"My dad taught me that it is better to make a friend of an enemy than to watch your back for the rest of your life. That's what I believe, even if said party doesn't have all of their faculties."

Woden nodded "Of course he did, Roman drake, always the noble scholar before the mindless killer"

Your face constricted with anger as you stepped once toward Woden "My aunt, however, taught me that if someone really deserves to die, then half-measures are unacceptable, you have to cleanse the tainted to their roots. Do I need to cleanse you, old man?"

Woden smiled at your dark scowl "There it is. Now that is what a Vampire should sound like. You really are unlike any I have ever encountered. An Undead with a human soul, remarkable, no wonder the former Gerix follow you so readily."

"Gerix?" You wondered aloud, rubbing the dull vibrations behind your eyes.

Woden rubbed his chin "Yes, something is definitely off here. You're missing something, perhaps it is those missing pieces that are the key to managing your Frenzy."

"Wait, so you're saying my amnesia has something to do with me going into Frenzy then?"

The old man seemed intrigued "Amnesia eh? yes, that will certainly have an effect, even the strongest of wills may stave off frenzy after not feeding for a month, but throw in physical or mental trauma, and that will speed the process up plenty."

The doors to Woden's office opened promptly, it was Moonie and Geri that stepped out. You turned and saw the quiet resolve on the blondes blood smeared face as she met Woden's eyes. Quickly she marched forward despite the crack in her skull, standing by your side and letting lose a silent, lazy smile.

"Ramona." Woden said with a flicker of respect.

"Grimnir," Muninn replied, bowing lowly and respectfully.

"Fairing well, I see?"

"It's-"

"-Just a flesh wound? No less the predictable girl to terrified to act on her own, I see."

Moonie folded her arms in the way she did when she wanted to seem whole and strong, something she did when Huginn wasn't by her side you noticed... and apparently, something that mirrored Woden himself. "No less the bitter, dust-covered old man too terrified to leave his coffin without knowing the measurement of the sidewalk, I see."

A proud grin cut deep into Woden's cheeks "Indeed. Your new friend however has turned my sails."

Moonie looked at you, her face slowly brightening the longer she did "As I knew he would."

"If I knew I was meeting your dad, I would have dressed better." You muttered.

Moonie thumped you in the side hard, straining her white smile so as not to betray her grin in front of Woden. You coughed and nodded "Right then, I suppose that whatever help you can give will be like gold dust to me right now, so then, Mr Wyse, how do you propose I break my frenzy?"

Woden gestured "Follow me."

The Old man lead you through the doors with Geri in tow, down to the Third floor, where he continued onwards into a new room. Woden never once moved with Vampiric speed, he was calm and collected at all times, striding at no more than a relatively quick stroll through the tall oaken door which opened into a room identical to the one upstairs in every way... save for important detail.

This long hall was even more stocked with books than the last, Moonie, Woden and you stood in a huge maze of walls lined with every type of book you could think of. It was so high that many shelves touched the ceiling "Wow..." You spoke, this place dwarfed your dad's observatory in every regard.

Moonie gripped your arm in excitement and Woden flared his nose in pride.

"Cross over to the left, then the second left again, turn east but don't continue passed the stack of alchemy tomes, then you've gone too far. There is a table there where we shall converse over some of my more... rare volumes."

"That's not complicated at all-" You said to Woden, who was no longer where he was standing.

"He does that." Moonie said, pulling you in close and hugging your chest tightly "How!? how did you get him to agree to this!?"

You shrugged, wondering if the car door on your chest made it harder to breathe more than Moonie's chokehold hugs "I just... told him the truth. I'm afraid of this, it's not something I can fight with swords or guns, I need the help, so I just asked."

Moonie seemed to comprehend something that you were still pondering. She leaned in whispering, almost inaudibly "He is fascinated by nothing more than Humanity, than those who once worshipped the ground he worked on. Grimnir this Lynched one was once more than a saint in the eyes of his people, and without their worship, he strives to understand that which he cannot have directly, as He does all things."

"That's why he agreed to help me." You realised "He senses my human side, damn near said so himself."

Moonie led you through the maze, taking a left, then another left and then right, just as fast as if she had been in this library a thousand times. Wedged in the corner was a small round table where Muninn took a seat and so did you.

"You look like shit."

"Yeah." You bit your lips, lifting an arm to flash the cuts that you'd made for the runes, some were scabbed, others were still red, dripping with small droplets of blood "I'm bleeding out in more ways than one." You calmly laid down your wrist, sliding forward to lean on the tabletop.

Moonie glowered at the wounds as if she despised every last cut "The minute we are out of here, we are going on a hunt-"

Grinning insidiously, you reached over to touch her face, you painted her lips with your red ichor, she tried not to taste it but when she inevitably did, her eyes simmered with a hungry fire "You're not gonna stop, are you? no matter what rules are in place, you're never gonna stop."

Your face curved with joy "Couldn't if I wanted to. The Old man and Diana would find a way to bring me back and kick my ass. Plus-Agh..." You groaned as Moonie lent over and helped you lean forward, to relax your back, she shot you a sweet smile as you did the kind that **** you to smile back "...It seems lady **** is the only girl that steers clear of me."

Her white teeth softly bit into her red lip, trying not to cheese "Oh my god You're a narcissist."

Low huffs substituted for a laugh so as not to cause pain in your chest "I dabble."

"You would do well, not to trust her, Dark-Sun." Woden slipped out from the corner of your eye, holding a stack of books in a single hand which he placed dexterously and gracefully on the table.

"Fuck you, old man" Muninn said eagerly

"If only somebody would. Geri is not at the height of experience despite my charms."

She raised an eyebrow "I would appreciate it if you kept your charms to yourself for once, Grimnir."

He curled his thick lips, a knowing look in his pale eye "You know as well as any, that such a thing is quite impossible." Woden didn't sit, but gestured for you to look on at the stacked table "Here are the books written by those who have fallen to madness, starved, lost, Frenzied, perhaps if we read their words then it would grant you a better understanding of your condition."

You reached out taking one of the books in your hand, it was hard-backed, weaved in rough leather, darkened by time and by the suffering of the poor bastard who it was clearly carved from. Still, despite the grim feeling of it in your hands you turned to the first page and relaxed your eyes, tensing your fingers against the collected pages.

Eyes widening, You flicked through every page one by one in rapid succession, absorbing its contents as clusters of information splashed into your hippocampus, solidifying at an unnatural but satisfying rate.

"We all search for answers at one point or another. What leads to a path to freedom from the feed...."

Your face became grim after flitting through the last page, the text conjured images of a vampire who starved himself for three months in an effort to live with the human wife he was taken from. Never once did he bite her, such things were made difficult when you're chained in the basement with Silver chains... She visited him every night for a year, watching him scream and yelp until he became oddly silent.

Night by night He moved less and less until he was still as clear water, his skin began to blotch and harden, his legs petrified, arms cracked and stiff. By the time the next January wandered by, the Vampire was gone and only a statue of solidified gem-like scab remained: A Red Watcher, a rare but horrifying fate.

You grabbed the next book and began flitting through the pages once more.

"...But the thing is, kid, that there is no known case of a Vampire Victim. We are all given the choice by those who sire us, to walk with the shadows or suffer ****. Make a pact with the night and let the hunt begin, it is the sacrifice that we make to attain our power. Save for one exception..."

The next book was titled 'The Oddesy of venom' it seemed even more gloomy than the last, telling of a lost elder Vampire of an ancient and mighty undead lineage.

It seemed those who shared her legacy either dropped off the map, fled or were hunted by the High court for their disorderly conduct... alone and clanless she longed for a new family as is the nature of those who have loved and lost.

So she cast off her undead ways and with her powers of mesmerisation bewitched some of the best builders in Great-Briton to assist in constructing a new home.

Here she settled for seven years, the longest recorded period of blood sobriety ever known... which of course led to disaster. Her hunger grew so rampant that as she festered in her lodge by the sea, her skin began to shed, her fingers became boney, narrow. Her hair scattered to the wind, leaving her head to pale, her ears to rot, lips to constrict into her cheeks.

Her arms became emaciated, elongated, the flesh between torso and fingers mutating into a shallow membrane. The villagers that owed her fealty heard the shrieks for months on end but never called on her, out of fear, until one brave foolish soul decided to cut the bolts on the windows and doors.

It was not the Villages benefactor that stepped out of those doors that night, but a bloodthirsty, venom-dripping Leech. The creation of Leeches is possible by any Vampire during a failed feed, too much venom during the transfer will see to that, but a Leech created via starvation is much more virile... She spread her sickness like wildfire in a field of dry grass, all it takes is one bite and a human will be malformed into undead most horrifying form in a matter of seconds. And a Village became a plague of gluttony within the hour.

Measures have been put in place for such events, and before the light of the next day, an Inquisitor of the High court was dispatched, the town utterly cleansed of any trace of the village, its plagued residence burned to ash, building reduced to rubble, the slate wiped clean.

You read more and more, flitting faster and faster, finishing book after book, all ending the same way. Moonie looked solemn as you placed the last dusty tome down in the neat pile and put your head in your hands.

"There isn't a way out of this is there?" You whispered.

Woden however seemed resolute "Not by conventional means. However..."

You looked up at the old man, who held himself with pride "There are methods of a more ominous and insidious nature that can be used to turn our weakness, into strength."

"And will you tell me what they are, or will you remain insidious and ominous?"

"For that... I suppose..." an air of discomfort came over him, it clearly didn't suit his all-knowing persona "We will have to return to your Mansion, and have a word with some of your friends and family."

You and Moonie looked at one another, wondering just what Woden Wyse had planned.

Woden lead you both down the stairs to the ground floor where Geri twiddled her grey hair in her fingers, leant up against the door through to what you guessed would be the lounge. "Mr Wyse! finished already, that was fast!"

Wrinkled fingers ensnared hers "On the quantary, my dear, you know how much I like to take my time."

Geri gasped quietly, licking the inside of her mouth "...You will be leaving Valhalla, leaving me?"

"I am trusting you to guard the Household while I am gone, ensure that your old kin does not try to once again invade the grounds eh?"

The way he looked at her was slightly unsettling, as a predator does its **** prey. He touched her round face and lent in planting a kiss on her forehead "You are not to leave, unless I call on you, understood?"

Encapsulated by his gaze, she nodded, frozen like a deer in headlights "Of Course, Mr Wyse, I swear our home will be safe in my c-c-c-c.... My c-c-c-c."

"-Good girl. No off you go."

When Geri rushed through the door, you looked on at Woden long and hard. "You mesmerised her. tell me, is she here of her own free will, separated from her people... or are you forcing her?"

Woden chuckled at this in a grim way "Not all of us have your kind's allure, My Boy, if our playthings don't come to us then we have to find them ourselves. Come on then, your friends will meet us out front and then we will depart, this is one bandaid that is better ripped off clean."

Escorting you to the porch, You waited for Rudy and Cleo at the Apollo's wreckage. Moonie had quiet words with her former mentor while you placed a hand on the car's dented, dirt-covered corpse "Sorry dad..." You whispered, "We'll get her back home as soon as this business is done."

"Bye bye doggo! try not to piss on the rug while your daddy's gone!" Rudy cried Cleo pushing her face into her palm as the door to the lodge slammed shut. The Two walked over side by side, but Cleo seemed to stiffen at the sight of the ancient Vampire.

Woden turned his single eye to gaze at her, judgement in his rigid body language "Well-Well, Cleopatra, so seldom seen in the flesh."

Cleo closed the space between them and bowed her head respectfully "All-father. She whispered in reverence.

"To think that the Dark-Sun managed to get this bitter little bird out of her cage, a momentous task if ever I saw one." He seemed slightly vexed by her presence and she by his, but they clearly kept their rivalry subtle.

"I could say the same for you, Sir Black-feather. It seems our Dark-sun is better at fanning out cockroaches than even I anticipated."

Woden's frown rivalled Cleo's malicious smirk. The Old man sneered and gestured "Make haste, I have many more ill-fated reunions to conduct tonight, let's get this over with."

"Small world huh?" You said to Cleo quietly as Woden lead your group across the wolf's bane threshold.

"500 years of wandering doesn't exactly guarantee many fresh faces." She grumbled back, as she slipped an arm tightly around your waist.

"Looks like you get to be my knight in shining armour this time" You took a sharp breath as your arm rang with pain.

Cleo scoffed "That's the nice way to put it, I kinda like you being my Bitch."

"Pft, we'll see about thaAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

The dark-haired vixen and the others shot off like a spear through the woods, your body waving in the wind like a flag as Cleo carried you into the moon-scented night.

Isabella awoke suddenly from her sleep, in a bed that wasn't hers and a home that smelt like blood. Carefully she reached out for the otherside of the bed, hoping to feel the warmth of soft skin behind her, but found only the cold sheets. Sitting up she looked at the empty space where Charlie was and sighed. Rubbing her tired eyes and pushing back her unnaturally pale hair. Getting up she clicked her fingers which grasped at the hard haft of her spiralling wand.

The process was as familiar to her as drawing in a soothing breath, the tip of the wand dipping into the air, sending ripples in the veil between this world and the one where the Old-One slept.

Isobella's wrist flicked dexterously, swirling the invisible pool in the air until the empty space began to whirl and tare. Her thoughts were that of warmth and comfort, the leisures and safety of home... she felt the Void split open into a dripping black abyss, tall enough for her to step through.

The cool, dizzying sensation of submerging in viscous goo sent a pleasant shiver down Izzy's spine as she sunk into the depth of the Black Locke, embraced by its quivering waters until she spotted the gentle light of a lamp just below.

Feet stepping out into the open air, the Locke's waters shrank back into the newly open portal, the Young witch dry as a bone as she pulled her shoulders and head out into the safety of her bedroom.

With a subtle pop, the Void closed at her behest, the girl sighing in relief as she turned off her lamp and fell into her soft bed, too drowsy to remove her Pyjamas.

Her eyes slid closed, relaxation washing over her like a cool wave, ushering her into the silence of sleep.

Witches didn't dream, it was a plane in which they were unwelcome and unwanted, for when they did, the leathery claws of something unnatural would always scratch at the door, threatening to show them something that no mortal should see...

A beckoning wind, sleek and foul brushes your lips; tickles your nose...

Izzy's nose shimmered as the scent of blood and dirt slithered up her nostrils.

In the dark of night, consciousness slips, wounds torn through your clothes.
A mound of flesh, broken bodies, scattered on a desolate field.
The last echo of a power, lost in folly, too powerful to wield.

Her eyes opened and closed, the heavy lids cracking as the Young Witch scampered on unsteady legs, to look out on the ruined horizon. She lurched and struggled, realising that she was buried waist-deep in a swamp of mud and corpses. Izzy heaved, pain sizzling across her entire body, telling her of deep cuts and hard scrapes that she had no memory of receiving.

You fight and brawl, claw and crawl, hard and heavy is your breath
In mortality's shawl, the Beast-Umbral; screams that 'all shall dance with ****
All you love is ripped away, crush and lost, a forgotten ruin, like these stumps
The shadows fly, as daylight dies, in days, in weeks, in months?

Wrought with immense panic, Izzy looked up at the starless sky, pushing away the congealed sludge mixed with dead leaves and crushed bone, spotting the hundreds of destroyed trees and stumps that surrounded her.

"W-Woods? The Black-Woods maybe? w-who are all of these dead people, how did this happen!?"

Nobody could escape it, nobody can flee it, none that hope or even prayed
Fear the darkness at your side, always heed or be betrayed.

A great red orb lingered in the sky, so bright that it seemed burned into the sky. It tarnished the purity of the pale moonlight, painting everything around her in a deathly scarlet hue that rocked the young witch to the core.

Behold his mark, his coming on the world, a symbol of doom and endless in its depth
Behold the eye and bloody sky, and all shall dance with ****.
All shall dance with ****, All shall dance with ****!

Pulling herself up on a small embankment of grass, Izzy tried to shake the fear from her goose-pimpled skin, but could not shake the feeling that something had an eye on her...

The Blood Moon... closed, vanishing momentarily into blackness, before unveiling again. Terror struck violently into her chest as the Blood moon moved, a giant shadow bowed upwards, exposing the stars that she thought hidden, the colossal crimson eye glowering down at her as its maw, lined with fiery teeth opened; unleashing a roar so loud that Izzy's ears rang, feeling full as warm blood began to drip down her neck.

Clutching her head, Izzy stumbled back under the beast's gargantuan gaze, watching in horror as it reeled up into the sky and dove down, the open jaws coming to devour her whole.

All shall dance with ****.

Screaming, Izzy fell back into the gory muck, thrashing around in it's soft depths, writhing as she yelped... until she fell on the hardwood floor of her bedroom.

The door burst open, Her mother flew in tightly gripping a frying pan in white hands "Oye, aléjate de mi hija!!" She paused, seeing Izzy sobbing on the floor.

The pan whacked against the ground as she flew to her daughter's aid, amercing her in warm, comforting arms "Shhhh Mi Amor, shhh it's okay, mamas got you."

"D-Dead... everyone dead, so many bodies..." Isabella whispered her voice trilling with fear.

"Another vision, You need to call, Hedwig right away!" Carolina insisted, but Izzy shook her head.

"No! No, just... I need to think about it, I still don't know what I saw."

Carolina Salvador, ran her fingers in the dark roots of Izzy's hair, massaging her scalp and letting free that disarming stare that disabled any ability to lie "Where were you, Mi Amor?"

Izzy tried to hide her eyes, but her Mother already read them "You were with the Drake Boy again, weren't you? Hedwig told us both, Isobella, He is dangerous-"

Words erupted from Izzy's lips before she could stop them "He is a good man, someone I trust." The strange feeling inside had early been unexplainable, the tingling in her face whenever she saw him, how he made her feel so innocent, melting away the pressures of her Wiccan life. Now however she was confident in this feeling.

"You love him don't you?" Her mother asked.

Izzy nodded softly "I shouldn't."

"Listen to me, baby: Do not ever let anybody on this earth tell you, what you can and cannot love. Not me, not the coven, not even Hedwig, you hear me? Huh, you hear me you little ratta!" Carolina buried her face in Izzy's neck, blowing on her collar, the shock of involuntary laugh leaping from her full lips "You hear me, you hear me?"

"Hahah Si, si I hear you."

"Good, don't you ever forget it. Now come on, there are some steaming hot churros in the kitchen with your name on them, which we shall have in bed while watching Something about Mary with a bottle of Merlot-or two!"

Izzy grinned deeply "te amo, Mama."

Carolina hugged her daughter close to her chest "I love you too, Mi Amor."

Even with the support of her mother, Izzy couldn't stop thinking about her dream... if you could even call it that. Whatever the path ahead brought, she knew deep down that if events continued on their current path, then the Jormungadr was bound to return, then... all truly would dance with ****.