Ajin's legs burned as he raced through the forest alongside the twins, Siras and Feras. The stink of the wounded humans lingered in the evening air, and it fueled his anger. But there was something else in the air. Something fresh...

Fear?

Whose?

His own?


He shook his head and lept to a nearby branch, swinging himself up to another thick branch. Reaching out, he nearly tore his thumbnail off in grabbing the oak. He could feel himself begin to fall. He felt his cheeks burn with adrenaline, and he brought his feet out to push off the trunk. There was enough momentum for him to grab a different branch. It was enough to support his weight.

Good. Keep moving. You can't afford to hurt yourself here. Find her first.


Siras stopped and signaled Ajin and Feras. Looking over the branches, they could just make out the fortified walls of the human city. Siras grinned and turned to Ajin.

"Not much farther. Do you think you will be able to make it there without breaking your neck?"
"I merely slipped. It would be best to forget such mistakes."
"We cannot afford any mistakes, Ajin. You would do best to get them out of the way now before we enter the human city." Feras growled.


Ajin smiled and kicked Feras' legs out from under him, causing him to drop to the next branch with a yelp. Siras burst out into uncontrollable laughter.

"Bastard! What was that for!?"
"Oops." Ajin replied.

--------------------------------------------

"How dare you share our secrets with such filth..... you are a disgrace, Delos!" Leyon spat.

Much to Leyon's shock, it was Vincent who struck him in the face with the back of his hand. There was almost no pain, but Leyon reeled in shock nonetheless. This boy was fearless.

"I have been nothing short of tolerant of your barbaric ways, and this is how you address me!? FILTH!? Your 'traditions' are obsolete, Sir Leyon! My generosity has limits, you ungrateful bastard!" Vincent screamed.

Leyon underestimated this boy. The swords pricking his neck was proof of Vincent's determination. King Vincent would surely kill him where he knelt, and then move on to find another warrior he deemed fit to lead the Werewolf army. He had to do something.... anything to remove himself from the situation he was in.

Apologize?

No, he could not let Vincent believe that he had the upper hand.


Leyon rose to his feet, while Isaac and his men kept their swords trained on his throat.

"Before I give you my answer, unbind my hands and give me some time to think of this. In return, I leave my life, and the lives of my brethren in your hands."
"Your life and the lives of your kind are already in my hands, Sir Leyon." Vincent replied. "However, I can allow you all the time you need. Your cell has already been prepared."


As the men led Leyon to his cell, Delos turned to Vincent.

"He will not join us, you realize. He is far too arrogant to even dream of such a thing. It is best that we kill him now, and be rid of him. The others will be more willing to take his place."

Vincent held his hand up to silence Delos. While it was true that Leyon would not voluntarily choose to lead Vincent's armies, there were other ways to persuade him.

"Under normal circumstances, you would be correct, Delos. However, Leyon is far too valuable to kill. He may not be swayed by his people, but his kind will follow him to the death. I'm sure there are ways of persuading him to do what we need without needlessly killing these fine warriors."
"Persuade him? Not even his own kind can persuade him to join us. He believes in the old ways so blindly that it clouds his better judgment."
"Send Evoren for him." Vincent simply said.

Delos blinked. Surely Vincent couldn't be serious.

"The Vampire!? Are you out of your mind!?"
"If Leyon won't hear my words or the words of the Werewolves, then surely a Vampire could convince him."
"Highness, I cannot-"
"Do it."

With those last two words, Vincent turned his back to Delos and walked out of the room.

--------------------------------------------

Lavi screamed through the bars of her cell at the men carrying away the unconscious Rei. She was just a girl! She reached out, clawing at the air, hoping in vain that she could somehow will the helpless Rei back into the cell, where she could be protected by the other women. Lavi began to pull at the bars, her mind wild with rage, but the bars would not yield to her strength.

So she forced herself between them.

"What are you doing!?" One of the women cried.

Lavi continued, despite the pain in her shoulders and head. She could feel the skin on her temples being scraped off by the rough iron bars. Her head was almost through....

There was a sickening pop as her shoulder dislocated itself, and she bit her tongue to stifle herself. While the pain was excruciating, her dislocated shoulder made things a bit easier. One of the women cried out, and Lavi heard bows being drawn, and the gate being opened from the outside.

She had managed to pull her arm out as a guard dragged her and the gate along the floor and before her head smashed into the stone wall.

--------------------------------------------

Rei awoke to find herslf alone with four human men. She jolted forward to protect herself, but only to find that her arms were chained above her.

"Aye, she'll do just fine!" One of the guards laughed, while gripping the sides of her face with one hand and then slapping her.

She couldn't find the words to scream at them. Anything to keep them busy. She would take a beating over any sick games they had planned for her. One of the men began to wave a knife in front of her face. She instinctively turned her head away.

"Nervous, are we m'lady? I've 'ad me many a fine girl like yerself, but this on the other hand...."

He began to trace the knife down between her legs.

"I don't b'lieve this knife o' mine 'as ever tasted the inside of a woman. Whadd'ya boys think?"

The other men began to laugh, while Rei could feel the bile rising in her throat.

"Aye, we'll 'ave time fer that after I'm done wiv her."
"Oy! Who said ye'd get her first!?"
"Watch yer mouth, lad. Ya ferget who outranks all of ya?"

As the men argued, Rei could only hope that her brother would find her. Watching what Ajin would do to these men would almost be worth everything she had to endure. To her dismay, the men stopped arguing and one of them began to remove his pants....

Until a fifth man unsheathed his sword and placed the blade between the man's legs, causing him to stand on the tips of his toes.

"Free her." She heard.
"It- it's not what ya might think Sir-"

The blade rose higher, causing an almost comical-sounding squeal to erupt from his throat.

"Remove those chains, or I swear to yer unborn children that ye'll be subject to a fate far worse than what ya had planned fer this girl."

--------------------------------------------

As Leyon sat alone in his cell, he could only feel a sense of dread. The shadows in his room were all wrong. Thinking his eyes were playing tricks on him, he blinked. Upon closer inspection, he found that the shadows began to grow. His own began to stretch along the floor, and up the wall.

As Leyon's shadow grew on the wall in front of him, it began to change. It no longer was his shadow, but somebody else's. He drew his nails and turned, only to find that it was nothing more than another wall. A barely audible laugh came from the shadow.

"What is this!?" Leyon shouted.
"I'm not sure. It depends on what you think this is." The shadow replied.
"Show yourself!"
"Not until you show yourself."
"I'm right here!"

No sooner had he spoken, when Leyon was paralyzed with fright as he felt the hot breath right next to his ear.


"So am I."




to be continued....