Blood Red (novel)

Blood Red (2014) is a fantasy novel written by Mercedes Lackey and part of her Elemental Masters series. It is based on the tale of Red Riding Hood. The story is set primarily in Germany and Romania. It does not mention the White Lodge of London or David Alderscroft in the story. It is also the first mention of a fifth elemental magic, spirit, since the unicorn summoned in Fire Rose. Several new Elementals and gods are introduced as well, including the Lord of the Hunt, minotaurs, Zane, Iele, and Valva Bailor.

Plot summary

In the woods of Germany, a young girl named Rosa lives with her mother and father far away from the city. She is the first Earth Master in her family, and as such her family lives in the woods, where the Earth is unpoisoned. Rosa is training with a local Earth Master, and refers to her as grandmother. One day, while on the way to the cottage, Rosa encounters a strange man on the road. Scared, she runs to the cottage, only to encounter the same man turned into a werewolf. It tries to attack her, but Rosa hides in a cupboard, and finds the dead body of the Master. She sends out a cry for help and it is answered by a group of Hunt Masters, who killed the werewolf. The Head Hunt Master, Gunther, asks her if she would like to join him in his lodge of Schwarzwald Foresters. Rosa agrees and Gunther becomes her adopted father.

Years later, Rosa is now the only female Hunt Master in the Lodge. She is now a master of Earth, but fights to defend the Earth and protect rather than heal it. In Romania, she hunts down a vampir with a fellow Huntsman and kills it and its servants. Intent on returning to home, she boards a train and travels towards Germany. One day, a tree blocks their way and stops the train. Rosa encounters a young Water Mage, Fritz, who asks for her help in defeating an evil Air Master. Rosa complies and slays the Air Master, summoning a minotaur to devour the body. In gratitude, Fritz offers to take her to the local lodge in Munich. Once there, she is shocked to learn the Graf, who rules the lodge, is a friend of her foster father Gunther. After conferring with Gunther, Rosa enters into the lap of luxury and enjoys several days at the estate.

In addition to several other people, an Earth magician named Markos and Earth Master named Dominik travel to the Lodge from Romania. After an encounter with the evil Air Master's spirit, who now possesses the body of his Water Master twin sister, and defeating them, Rosa meets with Dominik and Markos and learns of a string of disappearances in Romania of several people over the course of years. She also learns of Markos being a werewolf. She at first does not trust him since he is a shifter, but after speaking to Dominik and receiving reassurances from a local Air Master and gypsy woman, Rosa comes to regard Markos in a softer light. Rosa agrees to seek out this evil and travels with the two to Romania again, arriving in a tiny village. Rosa seeks out the werewolf until they find it in a small cave near the village, where they encounter a rabid werewolf. After finishing it off, Rosa concludes that the werewolf was only one of a clan. After an argument with her and Dominik, Markos runs away and is gravely injured. Using Earth Magic, Rosa and Dominik track him to a large cave system, where several werewolves live.

Unable to defeat so many, Rosa summons a host of Spirit Elementals to her aid. They help her draw out and kill most of them, leaving Rosa and Dominik to defeat the rest and their leader. Rosa and Dominik manage to kill the leader and save Markos as well. In the end, Dominik remains in the village as a hero, while Rosa returns to Germany after bidding Markos goodbye.