His leather boots thudded against the dirt road, a trail of dust marking his passage. Sweat drenched his hair and his lungs burned as they attempted to provide him with the necessary oxygen to support his flight. Moonlight guided his way, assisted by the subtle glow of his cane’s enchantment. Without activating the enchantment, the weight of his cane would have slowed his speed and crippled his endurance. Every rustle in the bushes and every shadow in the trees represented the imminent danger he had voluntarily placed himself in.
Under no delusions about his chances of survival in the Wilds, he reacted to every potential threat as if an Unseelie Prince lurked in the darkness. A fae or shifter might catch his scent and appear in front of him without warning. No politics or moral considerations would stay their hands. In the Wilds, there was no negotiating, no hesitation, and no mercy. Only a fight to the death awaited him, with failure ensuring that his corpse would be left to rot in an unmarked grave.
An hour into his run, howl upon howl, shook the silence of the night far off into the distance. In his shock, his feet clipped one another, sending him sprawling onto the road in a cloud of dust. Coughing the dust out of his lungs, he whipped around to listen in the direction of the wolves’ territory. Not hearing any more howls, he took advantage of his tumble, gasping deep breaths of oxygen to satiate his lungs. His parched throat did its best to gulp as he realized those howls hadn’t come from one or two wolves. He had expected Sylvie and maybe one or two warrior wolves to hunt him down. He hadn’t expected half the pack.
“Oh shit. Sylvie must be furious,” he whispered, a shiver coursing its way through his body at the thought of his mate’s rage. Why was she risking the safety of her pack mates to hunt him down? This was beyond his understanding, and he cocked his head in confusion at the perplexing actions of his mate.
Shaking off his confusion, he took off in a sprint, pushing even harder to retain his lead on his pursuers. Not even a few minutes later, black spots twinkled in his vision, and the weakness in his legs threatened a collapse. Sometimes circumstances eliminated choice; he had to stop and rest.
Decision made, he turned off of the main road while biting his finger to stave off the encroaching blackness that threatened to consume his vision. Desperate to find a suitable resting place, he stumbled a couple hundred yards into the forest. While staggering through the thick undergrowth, he tripped over something solid, causing him to plummet to the ground. Black spots continued to dance in his vision as he gripped his shin, doing his best to rub the pain away.
Unable to conjure any strength, he lay immobile on the forest floor. Insects crawled over his limbs, grass tickled his skin, and sticks jammed into his back, but still, he couldn’t find the strength to move.
Forced to recuperate for now, he lifted a shaking finger and tapped the enchantment symbol on the side of his cane. The true weight of the metal cane returned, pinning his arm to the forest floor. Relief flooded through him as the illuminating glow of the symbol dulled; he needed stealth now, not speed.
Critical minutes passed as he waited for his strength to return, his body refusing to acknowledge the urgency of the situation. Eventually, he caught his breath and regained movement in his limbs. Light-headed, he sat up with a curse and began to pull away the vines and plants concealing whatever object had tripped him. At last, his fingers jammed into something hard, and he carefully removed the last bit of obscuring vegetation.
He ran his fingers along the object, trying to feel what his eyes could not identify in the darkness. With a rap of his knuckles, the object released a metallic gong that echoed through the trees. He scrambled to his feet, his earlier exhaustion forgotten, and peered into the gloom of the forest. With the moonlight guiding his eyes, he discovered the silhouettes of large structures extending deep into the forest.
“A ruin,” Noah whispered as he carefully scampered his way to the larger pieces of rubble. Although he could only see the outlines of the buildings, he lost his breath at their scale. None of the structures were whole, and yet most dwarfed any of the buildings in Greenwood. The undergrowth had covered most of the corroded steel, and trees had grown in between and within the structures. He gazed upon the sprawling vines that climbed up the sides of the ancient buildings, attempting to pull them back to the ground where nature intended.
He shook his head, a deep sadness permeating his soul. Three hundred years. Three hundred years and humanity’s greatest triumphs had already been reclaimed by nature. Every marvel they had built was reduced to rubble, not able to stand the passage of time. It had taken humans thousands of years to reach the height of their power in the Golden Era. They conquered the Earth with no rivals to challenge their rule and no locations remained beyond their grasp.
He had read that humans, not content with their conquering of Earth, had even traveled to the stars. How mighty were his ancestors to look up at the night sky without being overwhelmed by the vastness of space? How lofty were their dreams that a mere planet couldn’t contain them?
And yet, even his mighty ancestors, with their technological superiority and billions of soldiers, found themselves on the verge of extinction a few short years after the Revolution began. He laid his hand on some type of metal that he wasn’t familiar with and tried to extract whatever boldness he could from his ancestor’s creations. If they could see what humans had become in their absence, how ashamed would they be? Rats in constant hiding, surviving on the leftover scraps of the other races. The days of dreams had long since ended.
He shook his head and turned his back on the ruin, walking toward the road. The ruin represented the past, and he needed to look only forward. Closer to the road, he found a spot free of roots and thorns and nestled down in the soft grasses to get whatever rest he could. Awoken by the muttering of excited voices, he jumped to his feet, preparing to fight for his life or run for his freedom.
“I smell him, Silas! The scent ends here and heads off into the woods.” His body froze in shock as the familiar voice reached his ears.
“Luna?” he whispered from the cover of the forest. How could Sylvie allow them to take part in the hunt? By now, they were closer to other territories than their own. He was about to rush out of his hiding place when he heard a malicious chuckle that froze him mid-step.
“Oh, my! What do we have here? Two young pups who have strayed too far from the safety of their pack?”
His suspended foot slowly lowered back to the ground, and his grip tightened around his cane. Very few creatures were confident enough in their power to taunt shifters in this manner.
Silas confirmed his suspicions a second later. “Stay back, vampire, or we will rip you to shreds.”
“Oh, are you going to rip me to shreds with your little claws, pup? If I stayed still and didn’t fight back, maybe the little girl could even bite me hard enough to bruise me,” the vampire taunted them, chuckling a sound that resembled laughter, but which held no joy or humor.
Tired of relying on his hearing, Noah crept through the forest in a silent prowl. Still inside the cover of the trees, he peered through a bush to see a scene straight from his nightmares. The vampire stood forty feet away from the siblings, who had now shifted into their wolf forms, prepared for a battle to the death. Luna and Silas faced off against the vampire with their heads held high, showing no signs of retreat. No wolf would ever cower before a vampire.
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Just like any other battle, adrenaline flooded his body as he prepared for a thrilling fight to the death. His pulse quickened until it reached the normal pace for battle… and then it continued to quicken. He grabbed his chest as his heart started to beat at a dangerous speed and a roaring sound drowned out his hearing. Face flushed, he began to gasp for breath, his normal breathing not able to provide him with adequate oxygen. A tingling sensation in his stomach transformed into nausea, churning his stomach and threatening to make him sick.
An inch from his face, he held up his hand. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he watched his hand shake uncontrollably. Looking down at his knees, he could see them wobbling, barely able to hold his weight. Yes, he remembered this feeling. At one time, it was all he knew. It had consumed him every second of every day, allowing him to defend against existential threats and sheltering him from unimaginable horrors. A constant companion that had abandoned him like trash, forcing him to go through life numb and broken.
At long last, Fear had returned to him!
Wiping tears from his eyes, he attempted to wipe the smile off of his face but failed. He had finally found something that he was afraid to lose. Those were the only things in life that held any value, after all.
Refocusing on the object of his newfound fear, he narrowed his eyes at the two pups who stood ready to fight a master vampire to the death. This was all his fault, and he wouldn’t let them pay the price for his folly. The vampire sought to kill his two favorite wolves, but it hadn’t asked Noah’s permission to do so. He swallowed hard, forcing the saliva down his dry throat. He could not fail. If he failed, Luna and Silas would die…and that terrified him.
With white knuckles, he gripped his cane as hard as he could, attempting to control the violent shaking of his hands. Taking deep breaths, he reached into his trench coat and pulled out the metal case that never left his person. In practiced precision, he swiftly switched his silver blade for bone. He compressed the spring by pushing the blade into the ground, concealing his hidden weapon once more. He strolled toward the road, abandoning his hiding place, and whistled a merry tune to announce his arrival. As he emerged from the forest, he twirled his cane, instantly capturing the attention of the vampire and two wolves.
Out of the corner of his eyes, he glanced at the two blonde wolves with glowing yellow eyes before moving on to examine the vampire. The monster looked familiar, but Noah couldn’t place it in his childhood caves with any certainty.
It was wearing a black top hat with white trim and its black hair draped elegantly over its shoulders. A black ruffled shirt, with only the bottom two buttons fastened, proudly displayed its chiseled chest. Completing its camouflage of the night was black trousers and black leather shoes.
A wicked-looking saber composed of iron and silver glinted menacingly at its waist. One thing that it couldn’t conceal was its glowing red eyes that had Noah gripping his cane even tighter. A vampire’s eyes only glowed red in the presence of bloodlust. This vampire was on the hunt, but it had found prey intent on claiming its life.
“Isn’t this a fine night? I find two shifters and a vampire alone and without backup. This may be the easiest kill we humans have ever had.”
The wolves cocked their heads at him in confusion while the vampire examined the woods like the coward it was. Finding nothing, it turned back towards Noah, sneering in contempt at the human who dared to challenge its strength.
“Are you alone, human? In the Wilds?” the vampire asked, laughing in disbelief.
“Alone in the Wilds? I’d have to have a death wish, right?” Noah said, laughing in return and wiping the vampire’s smile from its face.
“Imagine confronting two of the four races alone as a human. No one would be that stupid, right? I’ll answer that one for you. I’m not alone and with our numbers, none of you monsters will survive the night.”
In the blink of an eye, the vampire jumped back twenty feet, creating a distance that would be impossible for Noah to close. Its head whipped from side to side, attempting to discover the human army marching toward it. The vampire tilted its head and sniffed the air, trying to pick up any stray scents or sounds that could cause it harm. Finding nothing concerning, it turned toward Noah in fury.
“Charlatan! I would have heard such a force. They would have left signs that could not have escaped my senses.”
“Oh? Tell me, how long were you aware of my presence before I revealed myself?” Noah questioned with a patronizing smile.
The vampire stilled at that but soon relaxed. “No matter. You may have comrades out in the woods, but they are not close. I would sense them if they were. There’s still plenty of time to kill you and those mongrels before they arrive.”
Noah ‘accidentally’ let his trench coat open in the breeze, proving that he was unarmed around his waist. Tapping his cane on the dirt road, he showcased the weight of the iron it was made of. The vampire smiled at his unarmed appearance and smiled wider at the harmless iron.
It looked behind itself into the darkness, searching for something. The vampire found what it was seeking, nodding its head in affirmation. Before the vampire even turned back around, its body blurred, hurdling toward them at a speed that stole Noah’s breath.
Blonde wolves bounded ahead with a snarl to meet the vampire in combat, reacting far quicker than Noah could. They didn’t even slow the monster down as it tossed them aside with minimal effort. A trail of dust rose as the siblings skidded across the road with a high-pitched yelp.
While having the fewest numbers by far, the Vampires still controlled a quarter of this world for themselves. On full display was how they did so. Their strength and speed were undeniable, their durability everlasting, and their lives immortal.
Even if he had drugged himself with shifter powder, he couldn’t fight a vampire. No amount of skill or brains could stand against such overwhelming power. But there was one way for a human to kill a vampire, and 125 had taught him how long ago. Tapping the symbol on his cane, the metal lightened and hardened as the fae magic coursed through it.
In a blur of speed that he couldn’t track with his eyes, the vampire launched toward him, practically flying through the air. Noah didn’t even flinch at his approaching doom. With the momentum of its charge, the vampire’s impact crushed Noah, snapping his ribs and flinging them both down the road. Blinding pain laced through him, causing his vision to swim and forcing an agonizing shriek from his mouth. For the first time in twelve years, he felt the sharpened fangs of a vampire plunge into his neck. Greedily slurping his blood, the vampire didn’t even pause as they skidded down the dirt road.
The vampire’s bright red eyes widened in surprise as it pulled its fangs from Noah’s neck. “Ab Negative? Hmm, how long has it been since such sweet succulence has touched my lips...” the vampire trailed off, struggling to retain its senses in the intoxication of bloodlust.
“I’m afraid I cannot grant you the mercy of death today, livestock. I cannot allow such a rare vintage to go to waste.”
In response, Noah slumped as if he had lost consciousness from the blood loss. As soon as he went limp, the vampire disregarded any threat he may have once posed. Dazed from the high Noah’s blood brought it, the vampire’s glowing red eyes stared off into the distance at things unseen.
With his arms lying at his sides, Noah activated the hidden mechanism on his cane, causing the bone blade to burst out in silence. Raising his arms behind the monster, he plunged the blade into its back with all of his strength. The blade penetrated the vampire’s flesh with ease, spearing through its back until it finally reached the monster’s heart. The force pinned the vampire to Noah’s chest, but he didn’t falter, straining with all his might until the bone blade emerged from the vampire’s chest in a splatter of blood. Before Noah could stop his thrust, the blade pierced his own chest, digging into his flesh. A yell of pure agony tore out of his throat, engulfing the forest in hellish screams.
With its glowing red eyes widened in shock, the vampire mummified around his cane, undergoing centuries of decomposition in a matter of moments. The unused saber fell to the ground, never once serving its purpose. Blood gushed from the wound in Noah’s chest as he yanked his cane out of the vampire’s remains and his own chest, flinging blood across the road. The hole in his chest gurgled as he tried to breathe, his lungs unable to inflate with a puncture.
Despite his darkening vision, he shoved the monster’s corpse off of himself and frantically brought the bone blade to his mouth. He felt his heart slow as he desperately licked up and down the cane ingesting his own blood, but also that of the master vampire. With a thud, the heavy cane slipped from his weakening fingers, imprinting into the dust only inches from his face. A heartbreaking whine broke through his fogging mind, and he shifted his eyes slightly to see a small blonde wolf nuzzling his hand.
He raised a shaky, pale hand toward the wolf and patted her on the head. With the last of his strength, he choked out, “Forgive me…Luna.”
Luna let out an ear-piercing howl, and bellowing howls answered her plea from somewhere close by. His consciousness slipped just as he saw a massive wolf, the color of the moonless night, barreling down the road with blazing silver eyes.