Turning a human into a vampire comes at a great cost.
If it were easy, any crazed vampire could bite people at random, and humanity would eventually be reduced to nothing more than livestock.
Furthermore, if an entire lineage of vampires is wiped out, the power of the sire who created them diminishes significantly.
From the moment the Founders' roar echoed outside to the flash of white light and the two women bursting through the doors, only seconds had passed.
A beam of intense magical light shot in from the entrance.
When it came to dark creatures like vampires, Rowena and Helga didn't waste time with pleasantries.
The spell used outside could only kill the vampires exposed to the open air; those inside the house were safe as long as they stayed out of the light.
So, as Rowena threw open the doors and strode in, she cast a condensed version of the same solar spell.
Even though it was a condensed version, from the outside, the manor looked like it was filled with exploding flashbangs, beams of intense light piercing through every window.
One by one, vampires caught in the blinding flashes turned to ash.
Against such potent magic, no matter how they tried to hide, the vampires couldn't completely avoid the light. Their only fate was obliteration.
However, Evos, the vampire holding the infant, was the exception.
As the light flashed continuously, Rowena saw the man dodging left and right, weaving through the beams as he sprinted toward the back of the manor.
"A Ring of Daywalking!"
Helga instantly realized why this vampire didn't fear the sunlight. Seeing him attempt to flee, she immediately gave chase. "I'm going after him!"
Rowena nodded and rushed toward the dying old man in the center of the hall.
Howard MacFusty, the current patriarch of the MacFusty clan.
Rowena reached him and immediately began applying magical first aid to his blood-soaked body.
"Where is my child? Where is... my child?"
Howard wasn't dead yet. Perhaps Rowena and Helga had arrived just in time to stop Evos from delivering the killing blow. He muttered weakly, though anyone could see he was in his final moments.
---
"Rest assured, Mr. MacFusty. Helga has gone to retrieve him," Rowena said gently, trying to comfort him.
She had met this elder of the MacFusty family once before. She never expected their next meeting to be on his deathbed.
The Hebrides were isolated, cut off from the mainland. Even within the wizarding world, few visited these islands. That isolation meant that when the vampires targeted them, they didn't have time to call for help.
The vampires had come prepared. Otherwise, a gathering of ten or twenty wizards casting protective enchantments would have been enough to repel any number of vampires.
"Gone to retrieve him... gone to retrieve him. That is good."
The old man muttered to himself. His breathing grew rapid and shallow, his chest heaving unevenly like a candle flame flickering in the wind, ready to be extinguished at any moment.
"The child... the child..."
The old man began to shout weakly, his consciousness seemingly blurring.
Rowena tried to comfort him again, unsure of what else to do. Sometimes magic is miraculous; other times, it is helpless. When a person is destined to die, no spell can reverse it.
"You are... Rowena Ravenclaw..."
The old man suddenly seemed to regain clarity. His breathing stabilized slightly. It appeared to be a moment of terminal lucidity.
The final rally before the end.
Rowena's heart sank. She knew he didn't have much time.
"Yes, Mr. MacFusty. I am Rowena Ravenclaw."
Facing the lucid question, Rowena nodded.
The old man looked agitated. "Rowena Ravenclaw... of the Four Founders..."
"Yes, sir. It is me." Rowena confirmed her identity again.
"Please... you must protect that child. That child... that child..."
The old man's voice started steady but quickly began to break up again. Rowena immediately replied, "Please rest assured, Mr. MacFusty. We will do our best."
"No, no... The child the vampire took... he isn't mine. He has existed... since the day this family began. He has always been sleeping... never waking up."
"He won't wake up. He cannot wake up. You must not let him wake up... At the very least, you cannot let him grow up in the hands of vampires."
"Promise me. If you cannot take the child back... you must destroy him. Destroy him... No, no! You cannot destroy him. You must protect him..."
Howard MacFusty was delirious, repeating words that made no sense to Rowena. His mind seemed completely gone, his speech contradictory and impossible to grasp.
"That child? ..."
Rowena wanted to ask more about the baby. However, Howard MacFusty seemed to be drifting off to sleep.
"Sir? Sir..."
She called him twice, but there was no response. He lay slumped in the chair, his head tilted to the side, eyes closed. He looked like an exhausted man who had finally fallen asleep.
---
Helga returned from the third floor and shook her head at Rowena.
The vampire with the Daywalker Ring and the child had escaped.
He didn't fear the sunlight, and his speed and strength were definitely at the level of a Count or higher. A vampire of that caliber, determined to flee, was incredibly difficult to catch.
Behind the manor was a cliff, and below that, the raging sea. The vampire had sprinted to the edge and jumped without hesitation.
Helga watched him plummet into the ocean. A wave washed over the spot, and he vanished.
The vampire wouldn't die from the fall or the water. As for the child... that was hard to say.
Moreover, Rowena hadn't gotten any clear information about the baby. She didn't know which parts of old MacFusty's dying words were true and which were the ramblings of a broken mind.
The manor was a wreck, the floor littered with corpses.
What was supposed to be a simple visit had turned into a tragedy. Rowena and Helga sighed in sorrow.
The MacFusty family was finished, except for that child.
But based on Howard's words, Rowena sensed the child's identity wasn't simple. However, since the vampire had escaped with him, there was nothing more they could do.
The world was vast. Finding a soulless vampire was like finding a needle in a haystack. Even Seers struggled to track dark creatures without souls; divination was unlikely to yield any useful clues.
Rowena and Helga set up a cemetery together.
Fortunately, as powerful witches, the physical labor was easily handled with magic.
After burying the entire MacFusty family, Rowena used magic to restore the ruined manor to its pristine state.
It was the last thing they could do for this family that had met such a tragic fate.
If one day I find that child, Rowena promised Howard MacFusty in her heart, I will take him as my student.
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