~Emily~


'Let me go!"

I shook my body vigorously, but it didn't flutter him in the slightest. His grip was tight and firm as he held me on either side of my arm.

I turned in the direction of Steph, she wasn't really struggling, her body was too weak for any of that.


Rowan had two vampire soldiers holding him tightly, but despite that he still fought them off with all his strength.

I watched as two more vampire soldiers swarmed towards Rowan pinning him to the ground.


We were outnumbered as more and more soldiers came out from the castle.

'Take the humans to the prison cell, kill the Lycan!"

My mind went blank as one of the soldier's words reached my ears.

They're going to kill Rowan, and it's all my fault!

'Ahhh"

Rowan groaned in pain.

One of the vampires took a swipe at Rowan's leg, the marks were very visible, as blood swarmed out.

He was brought down to a knee.

'Let him go!"

I screamed out loud, my voice cracking.

The corners of my eyes heated up, tears soon filled my eyes.

I was made to watch as they took swipes at him, torturing Rowan as they wore an evil grin on their faces. The scream of agony was music to their ears.


But then the next moment, one of the vampires dropped dead on the floor, he had an arrow sticking out from his forehead.

.

I squinted my eyes tightly as a distant figure approached us riding on a horse.

Zayne!

I've never felt so relieved to see a Lycan in my entire life.

He rode on a white horse, its movement elegant as Zayne set himself up for another strike.


He fired another arrow taking out another of the vampire soldiers.

The soldiers scrambled among themselves, none of them could they find who fired the arrows.

In their moment of distraction, I was able to slip away from their hold.


Zayne was running towards them at full speed and without repenting.

With a fierce battle cry, he charged at the vampires. In a blur, he struck the first vampire, sending it sprawling to the ground.

The second vampire, having momentarily released Steph, turned to face his new threat.

But Zayne was relentless.

He moved with grace and silk agility dodging all the strikes with ease.


I looked around, searching for Steph.

There she is!

She laid on the floor, her body still and motionless.

I rushed over to her, as I helped her to her feet. We took advantage of the chaos and limpered our way out of the castle gates.


Rowan soon joined in with Zayne as they took out the few vampire soldiers.


'Zayne!! Let's go!" I yelled out to him, as I saw a crowd of vampire soldiers storming out of the castle.

Zayne and Rowan got on one horse, myself and Steph got on the other horse.

We rode as fast as we could out of the castle, the vampires chased us at full speed. Some fired arrows, but lucky for us the distance between us was great.


We managed to escape to the forest, where they lost sight of us.

I turned in the direction of Zayne, wanting to thank him.

But he wore a beautiful frown on his face, his brows furrowed. He was ready to rage out at me.

At that moment I felt like sinking into the earth


'Emily? What did I tell you?!!" I buried my face as Zayne raised his voice to me.

In truth, I couldn't say anything back to myself. But for him, Rowan would have died and I would have joined Steph in prison to stay before we eventually got sacrificed.


'All you had to do was listen to me, you all would have died but for me!!"

'And for you Rowan….. ' Zayne turned to Rowan.

'I expected better," he said, his voice stern. 'But I'm glad you're back Steph.

Come on let's get back to the castle, the vampires could still come after us"


~Zayne~


The bright morning sun showed through my curtains casting a warm feeling across the room.

My eyes fluttered open as I tried my best to shield the direct sun from my eyes.

I managed to take a glance at the clock which read 8:12am.

'Gosh….. I'm late"

Today was set to be a very busy day for me, for various reasons.

So I had decided to postpone the spies from heading to the vampire kingdom in hope of retrieving Steph.

I could only wonder how I would manage to tell Emily about my plan. She might lose it.

KNOCK

KNOCK

Speak of the devil. Emily just came to serve my breakfast.

'Come in Emily!"

She entered, her face was troubled and pale. Did she sleep at all?

She dropped the tray on my stool, and then turned and stood facing me.


Zayne when are we going to the vampire kingdom"

She asked impatiently.

By her tone I knew the only way to make her succumb to my plan was to be strict with her.


'We?

No Emily there's no we, I will be going tomorrow with my training…. '


'Tomorrow? No Zayne please you said we go today"

She cut me off before I finished speaking.

'Don't worry Emily the vampires won't eat your sister, not now at least.

Human sacrifice usually takes two or three days.

Emily you look tired go to your room and get some rest"


'Zayne… - NOW! Emily!" I yelled at her, my heart heavy.


She quietly turned and left my room, all the pain and anguish stored to herself.

I couldn't help but feel for her. I could only see what she might be going through, having her sister and her only family taken away from her.


But she might not be able to understand that if we decide to invade the vampire kingdom today, it would be expected of them, so we might be walking straight into a trap.

The best option was to wait until they let their guards down.

Then we strike and take back Steph .


Today, I had to head out to the training grounds and scout out the best spies from our warriors, who would be able to go in and out of the vampire kingdom, with no trace whatsoever detected.

'Hey, Rowan!"

I saw his figure from a distance, as he handled the young and aspiring warriors.


I arrived at the grounds, everywhere was lively, all the warriors engaging in intense training.

'Rowan!" I saw his large figure from a distance as he trained the young aspiring warriors.

'Hey Zayne!"

Rowan approached me.

I looked around, my eyes searching round the fields.

'Emily isn't here, right?"


'NO, she looked tired and with everything that went down yesterday, it was best she skipped today"


'OK, That's great.

I need your help, Rowan.

I need you to get me five top spies from the Lycan warriors by sunrise tomorrow"


Rowan hesitated a bit to answer, causing me to wonder whether he could do it or not.

'If it's a problem, I can send Cedric to handle it" I said, sparing his blushes.

'Okay, yeah that would be great"

Rowan turned away and continued to train the young warriors.

Leaving me to wonder why Rowan, the most dependable man I know, would not be able to handle such a light task.


I'm not going to think too much about that, I have more pressing issues at that moment.


For the rest of the day, I had to attend a meeting with the elderly Lycans who lived in the towns and markets.

They were experiencing a shortage of resources, so we organised a meeting on a solution to their problems.


We finished up very late, the sun had long set to the west.

Darkness covered the kingdom as well as the peaceful silence of the curfew.

I reached for my room, when an uneasy feeling gripped me.

Something felt amiss.

'Let me check on Emily and see how she's doing"

I decided to take a stroll through the maid quarters to check on Emily.

KNOCK

KNOCK

'Emily?"

There was no response from Emily. I gently pushed the door open.


'What?!"

My eyes widened in shock. Emily wasn't in her room.

'Where is she?

Wait, did she…. She must be insane"

My worst fear came to pass. Emily went to the vampire kingdom to rescue her sister.


I headed to my room and picked up my bow, wearing it around my body and setting it up by arrows before I rushed out of the castle to the stables, and stripped my favourite white horse up. Her name was Goldie.

I rode on her through the forest as fast as possible, the cold wind of the night crashing against my face.

Thoughts ran through my mind.

What if she's dead already? No! I don't think I like that.


I continued through the dark and treacherous forest.

The vampire kingdom came into sight. Its view was frightening.


I rode faster towards the castle, I saw a few figures from a distance just at the castle gate. I squinted my eyes tightly.

I let out a huge gasp as I saw Rowan, Emily and Steph held captive by the vampires.


A few of them targeted Rowan, taking shots at him, and enjoying every bit of it.


I pulled out an arrow and set it to my bow. And with careful timing I released a venomous arrow to the sky. It went straight to the forward of one of the soldiers.

Chaos ensued among them, lucky for me I thrive in chaos.


I jumped off Goldie and marched straight to the vampire soldiers, taking two of them out. I then managed to help Rowan up to his feet, and together we took out the other soldiers that cornered us.


'Zayne let's go!" I heard Emily's distant scream. Her voice tinged with urgency.


My eyes widened as I turned back to see a crowd of vampire soldiers charging at us.


I ran to Godlie, Rowan joining behind me as we raced out of the castle and into the forest.

Steph and Emily on the other horse.


We took a light rest at the hinges of the forest, as we were able to catch our breath.

I raged out at Emily for going against my order and Rowan for helping her.

But my rage was slightly overwhelmed by relief.

Relief that we managed to escape from the vampire kingdom with no casualties.


'Come on let's head back to the castle" I ordered, I got up on Goldie ready to ride into the dark forest.


We reached the castle premises at dawn. The sun was beginning to rise from the east.


'Okay, everybody go get some rest, you all have an extended break, you can go!"


'Emily…. '

I called back Emily, her glittering eyes flashing at me.

'Emily, please promise me you won't go off wandering into any hostile place again? Please promise me". I said to Emily, fear and concern in my eyes.

'Yes, Zayn I promise" Emily said.

I pulled her closer for a warm embrace.


After a brief shut of my eyes, I was soon up.

I took a walk down the castle, heading for the local towns and markets.

'Your majesty!"

A distant voice yelled my name. I turned to see Cedric, running towards me. He held a white envelope in his right hand.


'Sir, a letter came in for you an hour ago, it's from the vampire kingdom"

My heart skipped a bit on hearing the sender of the letter.

I held the letter in hand, a bit reluctant to open it.


After a short moment, I tore open the envelope as I glanced through the contents of the letter, reading it word for word.


‘You have commited a great mistake, invading my kingdom, killing my soldiers and for that Zayne, you and the whole kingdom will perish in fire.

I will burn every soul and spare not a single one. You have my word!"