• Chapter 1: Entrance

    My name is John Pandora. The date is December 30, 2012. Ten days ago, a Werewolf killed a Vampyre. Not only did he kill the Vampyre but he hung him in London, from Big Ben, with the words "Death to Bloodsuckers" carved into its chest. We Vampyres, of course found this very offensive and conducted an investigation and took the offending Werewolf into custody. We sent several couriers to seek permission from the King of the Werewolves, Kajak, to penalize the Werewolf for his crimes. He responded by gutting our couriers and sending the corpses back, drug through the dirt by horses, each one having the words "Death to Bloodsuckers" carved into their flesh. We do not know with absolute certainty the reason for the Werewolves' anger but we suspect that David, Chieftain of the Lycans, has turned them against us because of an unapproved marriage between his daughter and a Vampyric aristocrat named Dante. The reason he may despise our race is that the wedding was approved by the King of the Vampyres, Caine. Needless to say, Caine and the rest of the Vampyres did not take these events lightly. It was made even more serious when the Werewolves attacked our homeland of Nod, long hidden beneath the Carpathian Mountains. They drove us from our homes with the unexpected attack, spreading us across the face of the Earth. We reorganized, and with the help of the Demons, led by Lucifer, we waged war upon the Werewolves, who had allied themselves with the Lycans and the Demigods. We are now ten days into the war. The Werewolves still occupy Nod and we are still trying to expel them from our homeland. Many Vampyres and Demons have lost their lives and many Werewolves, Lycans and Demigods as well. Naturally the bodies of these slain warriors could not go undetected by humans for long, nor could the fighting. Therefore, five days ago, the humans began their own war on all of us.

    My squad and I have been ordered deep into enemy territory to set up surveillance points in the mountains surrounding Nod. We were met with some resistance coming into the Carpathian Mountains and we lost one man. We escaped the attack though and continued to make our way into the mountains. We were about five miles into enemy territory when things began going wrong.

    "John, how far are we from home?" Niko, my squad's equipment and weapons expert, said nervously. Niko was a small, wiry man, hailing from Spain originally but brought to Nod when he was turned. He was not well suited for combat and being in enemy territory with such a small force behind him did nothing to ease his natural nervousness.

    "Calm down Niko. There are no Wolves or Lycans anywhere in the area. As for how far we are from home, that depends on what you are talking about. Do you consider Nod your home still? Or are you talking about base?" I said, with a challenging gaze aimed at Niko.

    "I-I was talking about Nod. Of course I was. Base is not our home," he said with downcast eyes. Niko never was a great supporter of this war. His opinion had always been that the Vampyres should just move on and find a new home. He did not understand Vampyric pride as well as the rest of our race.

    "Niko, never forget where we came from, all that they took from us. That, my friend, is the reason we fight this war. To regain what was unjustly taken from us." I said. As leader of my squad, it was my job to inspire a positive morale in my troops.

    "Well said, Captain." Klaus, our support gunner, said with a grunt of approval. Klaus was a large man of German origin who had entered Nod as a human, seeking to be changed. He got his wish mere moments after stepping foot on their land. He was a hardy soldier who had survived things as a human that many Vampyres would crumble before. He was quiet and humble, though, and never bragged about his exploits.

    "We will set up Camp here. We need rest." I said firmly, placing my field pack on the ground. I had chosen a relatively hidden area behind a large outcropping of rocks. I doubted any Wolf patrols would spot us there.

    As my squad set up their tents, I sat on a rock and watched them closely. Sonja, our small arms expert, had dug out a small area of the dirt and placed her tent in the indentation to furthur camouflage the tent. Daniel, our scouting and infiltration expert, followed her lead and also dug a pit to conceal his tent. Altair, our long-range weapons expert, merely sat upon a rock, not bothering to set anything up at all as he always slept on the ground. Finally my eyes rested on Mike, our demolitions and explosive expert. He had already set up a haphazard tent which looked ready to crumble at any moment. I stood up and walked over and pressed down on the tent to test its stability when Mike walked away for a moment. I pressed firmly on the top of the tent but it was surprisingly stable. I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised. Mike was well-known for his ability to make infallibly functional eyesores in whatever he attempted. I walked back to my own pack and began setting up my own tent, which I had made simple yet functional.

    My squad and I settled into our tents and I listened as they slowly drifted to sleep. We didn't have much to fear as far as detection, our tents were designed to camouflage into practically any environment. I found myself drifting off as well.