Chapter 10 – The First Blood War
The earth shook as the Blood Moon rose again — larger, brighter, redder.
It wasn't just a moon anymore. It was a curse watching from above, feeding on fear, rage, and blood.
The old world was gone. Cities lay in ruin, their glass towers now skeletons of steel. The air was thick with smoke and screams.
The Apocalypse had no mercy.
Humanity was not fighting to win anymore. They were fighting to not disappear.
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The Human Fortress – "Haven-7"
Beneath the broken skyline, Kael stood before his people.
Thousands of survivors — soldiers, engineers, medics, even children — all gathered inside a massive steel fortress surrounded by floodlights and electric fences.
He looked at them, his expression unreadable but his eyes glowing faintly silver.
"This is it," he said through the comms that echoed across every speaker.
"Tonight, we don't run. We fight for the last breath of the human race."
The crowd roared, but fear lingered behind every shout.
Beside him stood Lira, loading her rifle with silver-tipped bullets.
"The sensors are going crazy," she said. "Movement on all sides. Vampires from the north… and something worse from the south."
Kael tightened his grip on his blade. "Zombies."
The infected had evolved. Their skin was pale as ash, their eyes glowing green, their speed unnatural. They no longer wandered — they hunted.
And now, they were marching.
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The Battlefield
From the mountains in the north, Riven stood at the head of his army.
Rows upon rows of vampires stretched into the mist — armored, disciplined, their fangs glinting like knives.
Behind him, giant winged creatures — half bat, half human — screeched and took to the sky.
He raised his sword — black as obsidian.
"Tonight," he said, "we cleanse this world of weakness."
The vampire army moved as one — silent, terrifying, unstoppable.
But something unexpected happened.
From the south, a tidal wave of zombies burst out of the ruined valley, devouring everything in their path — humans, vampires, it didn't matter.
They were pure chaos.
"Perfect," Riven whispered, smiling coldly. "Let the dead soften the living."
He gestured to his army. "March."
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First Strike
The battle began with thunder.
Bombs launched from Haven-7 tore through the sky, lighting up the darkness. Vampire wings burned mid-air; zombies exploded into clouds of gore.
Kael led the first unit forward — soldiers armed with plasma rifles and reinforced blades.
"Hold formation!" he shouted.
The ground trembled as the zombies slammed into the barricades.
Gunfire flashed. Screams echoed. Flesh tore. Blood sprayed like rain.
Kael leapt into the chaos, his silver aura blazing. His sword cut through ten zombies in a single arc. The light around him pulsed, bending the air itself.
Lira fired beside him, each bullet finding its mark. "We're holding for now!" she yelled.
But then came the shadows.
Dozens of vampires dropped from the sky, landing in the middle of the fight. Their movements were too fast to track. They sliced through soldiers like blades through paper.
"Vampires! North line breached!" a soldier screamed through the radio.
Kael's eyes snapped upward — and there he saw him.
Riven.
Standing on top of a burning truck, sword drawn, cloak fluttering through the smoke.
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The Brothers Collide
Kael charged.
Riven smiled.
Their blades clashed with a sound that split the air like thunder. Sparks flew as metal met energy. The ground beneath them cracked.
"You're still protecting them?" Riven said, pushing Kael back with one swing. "These humans destroyed their own world."
"They're still my people!" Kael roared.
"They were your cage."
Kael's sword burst into silver flame. Riven's blade glowed crimson. When they collided again, the shockwave vaporized everything nearby — zombies, vampires, even the road beneath their feet.
Each strike carried not just power but memory — fragments of who they once were.
Brothers. Soldiers. Protectors.
Now, enemies.
---
Meanwhile – Lira's Team
While the brothers fought, Lira led the Resistance inside Haven's inner core.
"Set the explosives along the lower tunnels," she commanded. "We collapse the ground if the vamps get too close."
Suddenly, a deafening roar came from the east wall — a massive mutant zombie, four times larger than a human, with armored skin and a mouth like a tank's cannon.
"Fire everything!" Lira shouted.
Rockets launched, the mutant stumbled — but didn't fall. It charged, smashing through walls.
Lira grabbed a fallen soldier's grenade launcher, aimed at its mouth, and fired.
Boom!
The monster's head exploded in a shower of blood and bone.
She wiped the ash off her face and looked at the burning city outside. "Kael… you'd better win."
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Back to the Battle
Kael and Riven's fight tore through streets and rooftops. Every blow sent shockwaves that shattered windows and flipped cars.
"Look at you," Riven said, voice cold. "Drowning in guilt, trying to save a world that doesn't deserve it."
"And look at you," Kael replied, eyes blazing, "so afraid to lose control that you became the monster yourself."
Riven slashed. Kael dodged.
Silver met crimson.
The brothers locked blades again, their powers colliding in a storm of energy that lit up the night sky.
The Blood Moon flickered. The earth shook. Even the zombies paused — as if the world itself feared what was happening.
And then — Kael hesitated.
For a single heartbeat, he saw something in Riven's eyes — the brother who once fought beside him, who laughed at dawn and dreamed of peace.
Riven saw the same.
They both froze.
And that's when the ground exploded.
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The Zombie Swarm
The remaining undead poured in from every direction — hundreds of thousands, a living wave of rot and hunger.
They didn't care who they devoured. Vampire. Human. It didn't matter.
Riven cursed under his breath. "This wasn't the plan."
Kael stood beside him for the first time in years.
"No plans left," he said. "Only survival."
Without another word, the brothers fought side by side again — blades cutting through flesh and bone, their combined powers forming a storm of light and shadow.
Humans and vampires alike watched in disbelief as the two legendary warriors — enemies just seconds ago — now defended the same ground.
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The Collapse
But the undead tide was endless.
Explosions rocked Haven-7 as the last walls fell. Lira screamed through the comms, "Kael! We're out of ammo! Pull back!"
Kael looked at Riven. "We can end this. Together."
Riven's eyes flickered between rage and regret. "For now."
They slammed their blades into the ground simultaneously.
The silver and crimson energies fused, erupting into a blinding explosion that tore through the battlefield.
Zombies turned to ash. The earth split apart.
The entire city burned.
When the dust cleared, only silence remained.
Riven was gone.
Kael was on his knees, surrounded by fire.
Lira and a few survivors rushed to him.
"Kael, we did it," she whispered. "They're gone…"
He looked at the sky — the Blood Moon now dim, almost human.
"No," he said softly. "This was only the beginning."
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