“You want us to do what?” The sloth bear said.

The Hillside Tribe and the Bear Clan had gathered around the fox prince’s sick bed. His leg stump rested on a hill of pillows and Bee kept a close eye on him in case he went into shock again.

“… I said… I want you to surrender yourselves… to lady Capello. It is… the only way to protect yourselves from Pietro’s power.” The fox prince said.

Little Ant didn’t like this. She hated seeing the fox prince being pushed so far when he was this weak and wounded. And… she hated herself for having to rely on him even now. She should have been strong enough to support him in times like these.

The sloth bear scratched the ground with his claws in annoyance.

“You are asking us to put our minds and souls in the hands of a vampire. Our enemy’s daughter.” The sloth bear said.

The viscount crossed his arms.

“You were willing to butcher innocents for revenge but not put your faith in another for justice? I’d call that cowardice.” The viscount said.

That shamed the Bear Clan well enough. The sloth bear looked at Elysa who was standing apart from the others, only her mother and brother for company.

“… fine. We will obey but I want your word that we will be released when this is over.” The sloth bear said.

“You have my word. I swear by the honor of House Rossi.” The viscount said.

The sloth bear pointed a claw at Elysa.

“Her as well.” The sloth bear said: “You’re one of us now. Swear by the Path you walk. If you have one.”

Elysa bit her lip and Little Ant desperately thought of the Path created by the Graveyard King, the first vampire, thousands of years ago. The Path that the vampire kind had walked since then. The Dark. The smallest of all Paths. She tried to send her thoughts to Elysa… and the young vampire glanced at her before nodding.

“I swear by the Dark.” Elysa said: “I will give us all justice. First tenet of the Dark. Do as thy will is the whole of the Path. And I will end it tonight.”

The sloth bear looked disappointed or perhaps impressed and he nodded slowly.

“Then this will be a pact between the Wild and the Dark.” The sloth bear said.

“And the Quiet.” Little Ant said.

The sloth bear looked at her and smiled.

“Yes. And the Quiet. The Wild, the Dark and the Quiet. Standing together against a Screaming Beast.”

Nuncio bit his lip and shook his head.

“I don’t like this. Taking her into battle against… him.” Nuncio said.

Nuncio’s mother put a hand on her son’s shoulder.

“… have faith… is there any place safer than behind an army?”

The viscount nodded.

“I swear to you that I will do anything I can to keep her safe.” The viscount said and looked at Nuncio: “I will leave you here to watch over Sal and your mother. Take good care of them.”

“You’re leaving me behind?” Nuncio said.

“You know how to drive. If everything goes wrong, drive them to safety.” The viscount said.

Nuncio was silent but then nodded reluctantly. Cassio nodded too before kneeling next to the fox prince and taking his hand.

“Sal.”

“… Cassio…”

“Advise me.”

The fox prince smirked through the pain.

“… I advise you… to come back alive.”

The viscount nodded.

“And I order you to be alive when I get back. I’ll bring you the bastard’s legs. Both of them. As usury.” The viscount said.

The fox prince’s smile was so pained… and it reminded Little Ant of Old Badger. She had smiled like that often. She had been so old and tired but… she had always carried on without complaint and her tribe had been too blind to see they were asking more from her than she could give. It wasn’t right. They shouldn’t rely on heroes too much and instead become their peers. Saving someone didn’t change them but changing yourself could save you.

The viscount raised the spear he had used to kill the bear prince that was still red with the blood of a god.

“I am going to kill a vampire! Who is with me?!”

Everyone in the Bear Clan roared in response and every goblin who was fighting age raised their spears in imitation of the viscount. Little Ant among them.

When she caught the faces of her parents in the crowd, they were pleading her not to go but Little Ant just shook her head. This was her adventure, and a hero could not leave her task unfinished. She was a Princess of the Quiet and she would see this to the end. For herself and Old Badger.

Once they were ready to move out, Elysa cast aside her human disguise and assumed her true form. Before this Little Ant hadn’t had a chance to fully appreciate how… beautiful Elysa’s true shape was. Her real body wasn’t the gargantuan monstrosity like her father’s but graceful and elegant. The owl’s feathers shined in the moonlight and her red eyes were a comforting fire instead of pools of blood.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

The viscount climbed on Elysa’s back… and then offered his hand to Little Ant. Her cheeks reddened and she hurried to him. The viscount pulled her to Elysa’s back and once they were sitting firmly, she took flight and began guiding the Bear Clan to her father’s hiding place. The goblins who had volunteered rode on the backs of the Bear Clan and Little Ant suspected that this was the beginning of a new legend.

Not that she could really appreciate it.

Driving had been terrifying and flying… even more so. The wind was rushing through her hair and unless she kept her head down, it filled her eyes with tears. But flying with Elysa had something Nuncio’s car did not.

Here she could hug the viscount’s back.

It was wide and muscular and when she held on to him, she felt safe. She knew… that whatever she felt for him, it wouldn’t blossom into anything. He was a human lord, and she was a fae. Their worlds would never meet but she would have this moment. Holding on to him while they rode on a vampire’s back in the moonlight. It would be a memory she would cherish even when she was old and grey.

They flew for hours but before the sun rose, they found it.

The vampire’s tower on a sea of grass.

It was an ugly, twisted thing that cast a long shadow. A mirror of its owner’s soul. Looking at the tower, she thought how much she hated the vampire and how much he deserved to be hated but… what did all that hate bring her? Pietro Capello had to be stopped but Little Ant swore to herself that she would not give him the pleasure of hating him. Nor the honor of remembering him when he was gone. What was the point? What could she do to Pietro that he hadn’t already done to himself? And for what? Power? The most fleeting thing there was. He was no King of the Dark. He was a Screaming Beast. A monster despised by all. No one would bring flowers to his grave. No one would mourn him. Just spit when his name was mentioned.

Elysa landed in a safe distance from the tower.

“Now what?” Elysa said.

“We will attack just before sunrise. It will trap him in the tower.” The viscount said.

“What if he summons a storm to hide the sun?” Little Ant said.

“Let him. It will just wear him down more.” The viscount said.

“I would like to point out that the sun isn’t just his problem anymore.” Elysa said.

“I know. The moment the sun comes up, burrow underground. You’ll be safe there.” The viscount said and looked at the tower: “In the meantime, stay back and concentrate on guarding the Bear Clan. I and Little Ant will take care of your father.”

“How?” Elysa said.

The viscount showed her the spear with the bear prince’s blood on it.

“This has the blood of a god on it. A god of light and life. Sal’s flesh poisoned him. Imagine this going through his heart.” The viscount said.

“I am imagining.” Elysa said.

The tone of her voice soured the viscount’s triumphant expression. He almost put his hand on her shoulder but then thought better of it.

“I… am sorry. I know that despite everything he is… your father.”

“Doesn’t make him any less of a monster.” Elysa said.

The Bear Clan arrived and the goblins riding on their backs looked at Little Ant with envy and adoration. She’d had the honor of riding with the Lionheart to battle.

The viscount walked up to meet the sloth bear.

“You ready?”

“Is our brother still dead?” The sloth bear said.

The viscount nodded and looked at the tower.

“He is and whoever gets to Pietro first can do with him as he pleases.” The viscount said and raised his spear: “By the authority as a lord of Garuccia, I sentence Pietro Capello to die.”

The sloth bear stood up.

“And as a lordling of the Bear Clan, I sentence him to die as well.” The sloth bear said.

“Charming. Well then… To war.” The viscount said.

“To war!” The sloth bear roared: “Bear Clan! To war! Blood for blood! Life for life!”

“Blood for blood! Life for life!” The Bear Clan shouted in return.

“To war! For Old Badger!” The goblins yelled.

When the Bear Clan charged into battle against the ghouls guarding the tower, they did so with the Hillside Tribe riding on their backs.

The frontal assault was fast and brutal. The way only one launched by bears could be and they had the goblins riding on their backs. The ghouls Pietro had created rose to meet the vengeful army but when the ghouls didn’t have terror and numbers on their side, they were just shambling corpses. They might have been demons, but they were facing the gods themselves.

It also made for a good distraction.

Little Ant led the viscount past the battle, towards the tower where their enemy lurked like the trapped parasite he was. The viscount was a fast study when it came to the ways of the Quiet and he followed Little Ant’s lead without making a sound.

While the battle raged, they climbed inside the tower.

It smelled of slow death inside. Of terrible crimes that had never been brought to light. Of lives taken and futures stolen. There was a reek of dried blood in the air. The stench was bad enough to make the viscount wince, but it only strengthened their resolve. Making their way up as silently as they could, they headed upstairs towards the master bedroom. The steps had been carved from stone, so they did not need to worry about creaking.

Like they had hoped, Pietro was distracted by the battle going outside and inside his own mind against his daughter. He gnashed his fangs behind his lips and his muscles twitched when he struggled against someone, he had terrorized most of her life.

Little Ant shared a look with the viscount, and he nodded slowly. Gripping the spear that had turned magical after being baptized in a god’s life blood, the viscount prepared to drive it through the Screaming Beast’s back.

His aim was true, but Pietro was not as distracted as he seemed.

A single swipe from his talons cut the spear in half when he turned to look at them. A shiver ran down Little Ant’s back when she got a good look at Pietro. He was no longer handsome. He had become haggard and gaunt like someone ravaged by a terrible illness. He had been pushed past his limits and he had never found his way back. But his fangs and talons were still sharp.

“You were a fool for coming here.” Pietro snarled.

The viscount threw away the shaft of his useless spear and drew his hunting knife that had stabbed through the bear prince’s eye. Another weapon coated in the blood of a god of life.

“And you were a fool if you thought I wouldn’t hunt you down after what you did to my friend.” The viscount growled.

Pietro didn’t bother answering and just lunged at the viscount.

His talons tried to reach for his throat but with a single slash with his knife, the viscount left Pietro four fingers poorer. The vampire stared shocked at his mangled hand and the burning caused by the bear prince’s blood on the knife.

Not letting the opportunity go to waste, the viscount tried to bury the knife into the vampire’s heart.

He threw his full weight at Pietro and managed to push him against the wall but even in his weakened state, a vampire was stronger than a human could ever hope to be.

Pietro slammed the viscount against the floor.

“No!” Little Ant screamed and rushed at the vampire with her spear.

With a spiteful motion Pietro slashed her spear into pieces with his remaining talons and threw her against the wall with enough force for blood to fill her mouth and darkness began creeping at the edges of her sight. She struggled to breathe or even move.

Meanwhile Pietro walked over to the viscount and pinned him against the floor.

“Elysa has become useless to me which means you have become useless to me as well, Rossi.” Pietro hissed.

The vampire bared his fangs while the viscount struggled to free himself.

“I will drink you dry and then find that gypsy and strangle him with his own guts.” Pietro snarled.

His name… is… His Savage Highness, Little Ant thought while she struggled to get up.

While trying to move, she cut her hand on something sharp… and saw the slashed off head from the viscount’s spear. Still blessed with a god’s blood. Little Ant drew a sharp breath and picked it up.

With the last of her strength, she threw the spear head.

And her aim was true.

Pietro let out a shrill scream of pain and terror when the spear head hit him in the back and ate its way through skin, muscle, and bone. He forgot all about the viscount while he tried to get off the spear lodged in his back but couldn’t quite reach it.

“No! Nooo! Not like this!” The vampire howled.

Mad from pain, the vampire threw himself out of the window and took flight. Like a wounded animal he made one last desperate attempt to flee. When the spear was stuck in his back, his wings could barely keep him in the air, and he flailed with all the grace of a dying animal.

Which was when Elysa swooped to meet him.

She faced her father in the air and the two master vampires fought and tore into each other with beaks and talons. Little Ant wondered if anyone had seen a battle like that in centuries. Two dark gods fighting for supremacy.

But the battle between vampires was the last thing in the viscount’s mind.

“Ant!”

Looking more scared than she had ever seen him, the viscount rushed to her side.

“Are you… can… can you… move your legs?” The viscount asked while the vampires fought outside.

“… I… haven’t dared to try.” Little Ant said.

The viscount turned pale and with a trembling hand pinched her leg.

“Can you… feel that?” The viscount asked.

Her legs were numb… but she could feel the pinch.

“Yeah.”

The viscount let out a quivering sigh and hugged her.

“Thank God. You… stupid… you brave girl. You goddamn brave, daring girl.” The viscount said.

Little Ant smiled and hugged him back.

“Thank you, viscount.”

The viscount shook his head while holding her.

“Cassio. Call me Cassio.”

Viscount… Cassio helped her stand and escorted her to the window where they could see Elysa’s talons ripping into Pietro’s wings. The master vampire screeched when his wings could no longer carry him, and he fell.

He fell for a long time.

Right amidst the Bear Clan and the goblins of the Hillside Tribe that rode them.

The warriors turned to look at the wounded master vampire who had stolen so much from them. A brother. A grandmother. The foot of their guardian deity. A Screaming Beast who had laughed at all laws and traditions of decency and honor.

At that moment they knew what to do.

Pietro howled in pain when the Bear Clan descended on him with claws and teeth and the kind of ferocity only angry bears had. The goblins would not be denied what was theirs and drove their spears into Pietro from all sides. Meanwhile Elysa kept circling in the sky, waiting to see if her father tried to make one last escape attempt.

Even when he was wounded and all seemed lost, Pietro did not stop fighting and tried to carve himself a way out. Little Ant could almost respect his tenacity. That determination had served him well in the war but all that struggling to extend his life was for naught.

The sun was rising.

Elysa let out a pained screech when the first rays of dawn hit her and flew as fast as she could towards the tower and through the window. Into the protection of the shade.

Pietro was not so lucky.

The bears and goblins backed away when the unrelenting glare of the sun immolated the vampire that had been hiding from it for so long behind storm clouds. Pietro was consumed by flames as black as his heart and he screamed while he burned… until all that remained were bones lying in dust.

All was quiet under the sun.

“Is… is it over?” Elysa said from the shadows.

Cassio and Little Ant looked outside where the wind was blowing away Pietro’s ashes.

“Yeah. It’s over.” Cassio said.

The bears roared in victory and the goblins raised their spears in celebration.