A Wolf's Howl, A Fairy's Wing

Emma's face scrunched up a little as she suddenly felt the aetherium in her storage being quickly drained. However, she remained calm, her trust in Erik absolute.

Things happened fast after that. Mere moments after the vampire man noticed Emma's glowing skin, he began yelling and shaking Emma, "Hey, girl! I don't know what you're do-"

Boom!

Before he could finish, the sound of an explosion echoed through the empty streets. A bright flash of light occurred, and a shockwave made everyone's hair flutter while snow and ice blasted in every direction.

Screams were in the air, and the vampire was forcefully separated from Emma. The man flew backwards. A look of shock and agony twisted his features as he looked at the stump where his hand used to be.

Emma looked a little dazed but none the worse for wear, seemingly unaffected by the explosion. Yet, her long white hair fluttered as she crumpled to the ground.

Erik quickly caught the girl in a princess carry and turned back into human form, while the vampire roared as he crashed through a wall and into the cafe Erik had been having memories about.

Emma looked exhausted but otherwise fine. She looked up at Erik, her eyes reflecting a mix of relief and lingering fear. "I- I knew you'd save me, Sir. What happened, though? I feel empty…" Her voice was a whisper filled with shock but also trust.

Erik's lips curled into a possessive grin as he looked down at the girl in his arms with concern in his piercing amber eyes.

He quickly ensured she was fine before answering her question. "Of course, I'd save you. Can't let the best maid I've ever had come to any harm, you know? Although, you mostly have Elora to thank for this one."

He explained, "During one of the many nights you spent with us, she imprinted a sigil on your body. It activates when an unauthorised person touches you for longer than a few seconds, draws power from your aetherium storage and then expends that power in a directed and controlled explosion."

As Erik explained Elora's protective measures, Emma's smile returned, not just out of gratitude but with a hint of awe at the magical foresight that had kept her safe.

A small fairy appeared, sitting on his shoulder. Elora lounged back and shrugged nonchalantly, "Yeah, but I probably wouldn't have thought to do it if this bleeding heart over here didn't ask me to."

Emma giggled, and her mouth split into an even wider smile, so bright it could blind gods, "Even so, thank you, Miss Elora. You are amazing."

Elora snorted and disappeared into Erik's soul again. However, Erik was momentarily stunned because he could feel a little embarrassment from Elora. But that was only possible if she cared what Emma thought.

"Elora, did you just get embarrassed?" He asked mischievously through their connection. The answer he got was immediate, "Shut up! That girl plays unfair! Go deal with that vampire man, and be sure to make him suffer!"

Erik laughed loudly. This was the first time in seven years Elora had shown any kind of care for people outside of her family, and he loved her tsundere attitude about it. Emma was truly an unfair entity in managing to melt even Elora's heart.

His laugh quickly ceased again as his face contorted into a severe grin. "Right, let's see if we can extract some information from that guy before we torture him to death." He said out loud.

Because of her kind nature, Emma was a little taken aback as her face showed some light struggle. She had always known Erik was not particularly concerned with morality, but this was the first time she was confronted with it so clearly.

But it took mere moments before she sighed. 'You've suffered enough over the years, Emma. Stop worrying about other people, and let yourself be happy. Besides, if Sir thinks he deserves it, it must be true.' She thought to herself.

So she nodded with a calm smile. Her acceptance was less because that vampire had just threatened her and more because the idea that Erik could be wrong in his actions simply seemed foreign to her.

Yet, it appeared he was already too late. Agonising screams echoed from inside the building the man had crashed into. Emma's face showed panic.

Erik looked around and noticed Emily was missing. He sighed with exasperation, "Now I have to stop this girl before she kills the guy." Emma's expression quickly morphed to understanding before becoming sadness as she realised what was happening.

Erik quickly walked towards the hole the vampire had crashed through and tried to put Emma down, but she stopped him. "Wait! I- I know what's going on in there and that you think I won't want to see it, but.. I do. Whatever Emily is now, she's still my sister, and I should know what she is like."

Erik looked a little surprised but felt mostly respect for Emma. He liked her, but before now, he still thought she was perhaps a little too soft. Now, he reconsidered that thought. Although, he still suspected she wasn't ready to see the new Emily.

But he had no time to argue with her, so he stepped through the wall and looked around.

The air was heavy with the scent of decay and neglect. The once-cosy interior was now a shadow of its former self, with mould creeping up the walls and furniture in disrepair.

The vampire man was hanging from a wall, cornered, desperate and exuding a mix of fear and defiance.

His left arm, now missing a hand, was hanging loosely on his side, while his remaining hand was hanging by a pitch-black chain. A sizzling sound came from his wrist, and smoke rose up from it as if it was slowly eating through his flesh.

He screamed in agony.

In front of him was Emily, with a crazed expression and a corrupted red flickering through her eyes. "You thought you could harm my little sister and get away with it!? Suffer for your ignorance, you disgusting bloodsucker!" She said viciously.

While three of her five orbs of darkness had been merged to create that chain, the last two had formed themselves around Emily's hands into terrifying claws of darkness.

She laughed as she plunged those claws into various body parts and left them there momentarily so their corrosive nature could slowly eat away the flesh and cause immense pain.

Emma covered her mouth, and tears appeared in her eyes while Erik shook his head in exasperation. "She really needs to control herself," he mumbled.

The man kept screaming until he suddenly yelled, "Enough!" Fire-red runes appeared on his skin while heat was expelled from his body, causing Emily to stagger backwards.

Elora didn't even have to warn Erik, who had, luckily, already put Emma on her own two feet.

He immediately activated his second lightning rune, lightning flash, allowing him to move short distances at near instantaneous speeds, so long as he had spent some time charging it during a fight.

Naturally, the ghouls had provided that opportunity.

He flashed and appeared next to the man, acting as Elora's ride, who instantly appeared and pressed a dark green magic circle against the vampire's sternum. The same symbol that had appeared on Liam's chest back in London appeared again, and the fire-red runes quickly disappeared.

While this all seemed relatively straightforward, it really wasn't. If the man wasn't so distracted and in pain, he could have avoided Elora or at least resisted the seal. Not that the fairy was in any danger, as Erik was right next to her and would have saved her if something went wrong.

But it went off without a hitch. The vampire staggered, "W- What? What did you do?! Why can't I displace myself?!"

The fairy grinned deviously, "Because I blocked the power flow towards your runes." She sighed exaggeratedly, "It's actually a little annoying to do with you, Runebound people, as the power is all through your body.

Not to mention that I can't even do anything about your strength. All I can do is stop you from using your skills! It's so much easier with Arcanists, where I just plug up their aetherium storage, and that's basically it for them."

The man was still panicking and barely even listening to her explanation. He tried to run, but setting aside his heavily wounded body, Erik was right next to him. He quickly grabbed the vampire by his neck and tossed him on the ground, "Uh, uh. You're not going anywhere, buddy. We want information."

The man's face contorted and dripped with venom, "Screw you, you disgusting dog. I'm not gonna talk. Just wait until the others get here! They must have heard the noise by now."

Erik's lips curled into a grin, "We don't need you to talk. We have our own methods."

While Elora could read memories and take control of others, she needed an opening or a wounded soul to do so. And this man had neither.

Luckily, they had someone in their group who had a much more forceful method. Erik glanced towards Emily. However, when he noticed what she was trying to do, he cursed inwardly and tried to stop her.

But it was too late.

Emily laughed maniacally and sank her darkness-covered claws into the vampire's left leg, used their corrosive aspect to eat through its Runebound resilience, and, under the man's agonising screams, Erik's exasperated sigh, Elora's chuckle, and Emma's horrified gasp, ripped it off him.

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