The woods of Mugen were quiet but heavy with an eerie stillness, the kind that made every crunch of leaves underfoot sound far too loud. Shafts of daylight cut through the canopy in scattered beams, painting shifting patches of gold across the mossy ground. The air was thick with the scent of damp earth and decaying leaves, the kind of smell that clung to skin and clothes. Despite the sunlight, the deeper they ventured, the more the shadows seemed to stretch unnaturally, curling like black fingers between the trunks. Birds had long since stopped singing, as if they knew something the group didn't.
Tyler trudged through behind Tengen, his boots sinking slightly into the soft ground with each step. He kept his eyes sweeping between the trees, alert but annoyed hunting vampires in daylight felt absurd, almost like chasing ghosts. The others followed in a loose formation. Jasper looked half-awake that morning, dragging his feet and muttering under his breath about being forced out of bed. Breakfast had been quiet, too quiet except Tengen laughters echoing in the air. Helen's reserved, almost withdrawn demeanor still lingered in Tyler's thoughts, but there was no time to dwell on it now.
For over an hour they pressed deeper into the woods, sunlight becoming more fractured as the branches overhead thickened. Tyler's patience thinned until he finally voiced what they were all thinking. "Where exactly did Mr. Charlie see a vampire?" he asked, wiping sweat from his brow. Jasper snorted without looking at him. "He didn't see any vampire, fool. He just heard 'suspicious activity.'" The laughter from Henry and James cut through the tense silence, only for Tyler to snap back, "Why don't you look further instead of standing here, genius?" Tengen chuckled quietly at their bickering, his eyes still scanning the treeline.
Eventually, they stumbled upon it a house tucked away in a small clearing. It was strange, like a preserved relic from the 1980s, yet updated with modern touches. Its presence felt wrong in the heart of this overgrown wilderness. James tilted his head toward it. "Should we check it out?" Tengen's response was instant. "Yes. We should."
As they approached, Tengen pressed his ear to the door frame, listening. No sound. He knocked once nothing. Without hesitation, he stepped back and slammed his foot into the wood. The door gave way with a loud crack, releasing a cloud of dust into the air.
Inside, the air was musty and stale, but beneath that was another scent sharp, unnatural, and faintly metallic. Tyler's nose wrinkled. "I smell something… wrong." Tengen nodded. "I smell it too." Jasper and Henry moved to a table in the corner, sifting through scattered items. "Check this out," Jasper called. The others gathered to see an aged, leather-bound book with the words Secrets of the Dark embossed on the cover. Henry, meanwhile, held up two small glass vials filled with swirling liquid. "Potions," he said.
"This is a magician's lair," James muttered, glancing around the dust-coated furniture. Tyler narrowed his eyes. "Doesn't look abandoned to me. And…" he paused, the hairs on his arms prickling. "…we're not alone."
They turned as one six men stood in the doorway, pale-skinned and unmoving. Vampires. Their presence seemed to drain the warmth from the air, sunlight filtering weakly into the room as if it, too, was recoiling from them.
"Wrong call, humans. You just made our jobs a little bit more easier," the first vampire said coldly.
"Don't pursue our guests," another added with a sly smile. "They're just curious."
"Free food," the third muttered, licking his lips. "I'm starving already."
Tengen's grin was razor-sharp. "The only food you're going to get is your own flesh. I'd feed it to the dogs though it might burn in the sun before I can. Shame." Tyler resisted the urge to roll his eyes. Tengen had a gift for making enemies faster than anyone he knew.
"Wolves…" the fourth vampire said, his eyes narrowing.
"I thought they didn't exist anymore," the fifth added.
"Doesn't matter," the first said, cracking his fingers. "We'll break every one of their bones."
Tengen took a step forward, his smile never fading. "Let's see about that."
The instant the tension snapped, the air inside the house seemed to implode with motion. In less than a heartbeat, Tengen and the pack shed their human forms, their bodies erupting into massive wolves thick brown fur, red-brown bristles, midnight blue gleam, deep black coat, and Tengen's unmistakable storm-gray pelt. They lunged as one, a blur of muscle, claws, and teeth, crashing into the vampires with the force of a living avalanche.
The first exchange was savage. The vampires countered with inhuman speed, delivering bone-crushing kicks. Tengen, Tyler, and James dodged fluidly, but Henry and Jasper were caught mid-leap, flung backward as if swatted by giants. The room filled with snarls, the scent of blood already mingling with the musty air.
Tengen locked onto the first vampire, driving into him with brutal precision, his claws ripping deep. Tyler slammed the second vampire to the ground, only to be caught by a vicious kick that launched him upward, smashing into the ceiling before crashing down. James pounced immediately, but the vampire summoned a swirling black portal, a pulse of dark magic that hurled James through the doorway and into the trees outside without even cracking the walls.
Dark magic, Tyler growled in the mind channel, his thoughts edged with anger.
Jasper darted for his target, weaving past claws and fangs, but the vampire sidestepped with unnatural grace. A sudden kick rattled Jasper's ribs, yet he powered through, lunging again only for another void to bloom in the vampire's palm, its crackling edges slamming Jasper clean through the doorway into the sunlight-dappled forest floor.
The battle became a blur of flashing fangs and shifting shadows. Henry slammed his opponent into a wall, splintering wood, but the vampire vanished in an instant, reappearing behind him with a crushing blow that sent Henry sprawling, the floorboards groaning under his weight.
Another portal cracked open with a sound like shattering glass, aimed at James, but he rolled aside, launching upward in a tight arc. His claws tore through the vampire mid-leap, severing limbs in a spray of blackened ichor, dropping the creature in a writhing heap.
The first vampire broke free from Tengen's grip, hurling him back, then summoned a thick, violet coil of energy that writhed like a living rope. It lashed toward him, but Tengen slipped aside, his speed unbroken. The vampire's voice rang through the chaos"There is a chief vampire council member in mugen, you would never win!"just before Tengen drove into him again, relentless, crushing his foe in moments.
Tyler rejoined the fight, his claws carving clean through his vampire's hands, leaving the creature reeling and bleeding. In a single savage motion, Tyler broke him, the sound sharp in the thick air. Henry's fangs sank deep into his target, tearing him apart piece by piece.
Jasper met the last vampire's void head-on, dodging at the last instant and shoving the pale figure backward into the sunlight spilling through the broken wall. The vampire's scream turned to a piercing wail as its skin blackened, flames devouring it until only ash remained.
When the last foe fell silent, the wolves retreated into the forest, fur giving way to skin, claws shrinking back to hands. They emerged moments later as men again, chests heaving, sweat mingling with the scent of blood and magic.
"Great job, guys," Tengen said, raising a thumb with a crooked grin.
"These… must've been sorcerers before they turned," Tyler muttered, still catching his breath.
"Yes," Tengen replied, his tone cool, "but that's not my problem right now."
Jasper's eyes widened. "That vampire he said there's a chief vampire council member in town."
"Yes," Tengen said quietly, gaze lowering, voice edged with the weight of truth. "Which means… we may be in for a bigger battle than we expected in Mugen."