SWEET BLOOD

Thousands of years ago, in a land of ancient vampires and sorcerers, there was an evil leader. A man with great power, the Master of vampire hunters, desired the only power that forbade him: the privilege to rule the Kingdom of Nork.

The Master knew that it was important, when killing a pure-blood vampire, to ensure that they brought an army of sufficient size. For the king and the queen, he brought five hundred hunters, equipped with enchanted, potent poisonous swords to kill the undead royals and their people.

From the front of the castle they saw both the northern snow and the southern, but the finer view was out across the plains and over the narrow territories. 

At some point in an achingly long history, a powerful vampire, now lost to knowledge, had built one thousand pillars out on the plateau: onyx giants thicker than a thousand-year oak, taller than a long pine. A forest of dark stone without order or pattern, covering the level ground from flank to flank. 

The hunters began to spread out between the towers. The queen could neither see nor hear her enemies approaching, but she knew their disposition. She had watched earlier as they snaked up the west trail from Nork Valley.

Vampire hunters, mercenaries from the northern borders, with snow furs bearing scraps of chainmail about them, old and young, carried destructive spears. Their Master in the midst, silver-haired sorcerers, their beards long and braided, the women with lines of yellow paint across their cheeks and foreheads like the rays of a cold sun.

The sorcerer and his wicked hunters attacked the pure-blood vampire royal castle, assassinated the beloved king and queen, and followed to do the same to James Gregori, the pure-bred vampire crown prince, as well as his siblings.

The Master sorcerer and his warriors accomplished all but the latter. He had not counted on the vampire king’s thirst for revenge and a mother’s love for her sons.

Just before expelling his final breath, the great king used his blood and energy to fill his offspring with an indestructible desire for retribution, ensuring they would fight for eternity to claim their superiority. At the same time, the queen used her last enchantment to send her children away, saving them before the Master hunter could kill them all.

And so, the vampire warriors were now bound to destroy the Master and his hunters forever.