Ileus: The Dark Prince

Anastasia put the dagger back under the fur, little realizing that the rubies of the dagger had started glowing. 

Ileus curled his arms around her. "Sleep, Ana," he whispered. "I would like to start early in the morning. Don't want to stay in Gavran Wilds for much longer than that." He sighed. "Let's hope we don't come across the rogues."

"Or that the rogues don't see us," she added. "I just don't understand why none of the kings or previous kings did anything to curtail the problem in Sgiath Biò! If this place is here to ward off the normal Lore, then why hasn't anyone taken measures to curb this issue. Unfortunately this thing has grown massively. It doesn't fit well!" 

"Sometimes when you are ruling a kingdom, these kinds of things instill fear in those who trespass or those who want to escape," he replied. "That's why the rulers neither encourage it nor eliminate it. I am sure they will take action if the situation is out of control or if it bothers their personal interests." 

For Anastasia this seemed like logic, but, "If we clear this problem from Sgiath Biò, don't you think there would be better trade opportunities?" 

"Vilinski is one very well guarded and well established kingdom. It is the richest and has the highest amount of wealth in the entire Lore. It is a paradise in heaven. It needs to be protected." 

"Gosh, Ileus, you sound so… dark." 

He smiled. "Sleep Anastasia. You have a lot to learn." 

"Well, I can't exactly sleep with the thought that there are rogues roaming around to attack us!" 

"Not attack, perhaps kill us," he said. 

"Ileus!" 

He chuckled and pressed her closer to him. He put his leg over hers and she welcomed his weight. "You have the dagger. Use it." 

Soon she fell off to sleep. 

It was not long that a sound made her stir in her sleep and she half opened her eyes, only to hear Aidan snoring softly. Ileus's hand was still on her and his chest was half on her back. The sound came again. A growl. Her eyes shot open. A low growl emanated from somewhere around, and it didn't sound anything like a snore. She was now fully awake. Her hand went to her dagger. She nudged Ileus to wake up. 

"What's—" another growl stopped him from speaking further. He woke up the other two men in the tent and then silently warned them of the unknown danger. 

Anastasia saw that in the other tent too, everyone had woken up. How did they manage this silent communication? The growls increased. 

The loud sound of a crash came right in front of their tent. Suddenly their tents were rooted out of the ground and before she knew it, Ileus had picked her up and taken her out of there, while Kaizan and Aidan stood in front of them. 

Right before them was a group of five rogue vampirs hissing and snapping their sharp fangs at them. 

Darla, Carrick, Zlu and Tadgh came to stand right behind them. But Anastasia's body quivered when she heard more footfalls and snow crunching around them. And the next moment she saw that five more rogues had emerged from the mist around them. They were a mix of vampirs and Yardraks. 

Ileus came in front of her as a dangerous growl rumbled through his chest. She saw his claws lengthening and fangs sharpening. Kaizan looked ferocious with his elongated fangs and claws and so did… Darla. The rest had swords and daggers in their hands. 

"Are you scared Anastasia?" Ileus asked. 

"No! I want to gut them." 

"Then use your dagger freely." 

"I will!" She said and came to his side, holding her dagger tightly in her hands. 

One of the vampirs looked at her and snarled. He sniffed the air and licked his lips and then suddenly lunged in her direction. Kaizan grabbed him and clawed him inside his guts. 

All hell broke loose. 

Kaizan shape shifted into his wolf form. He caught another vampire's throat in his jaws and dragged him. The vampire tried to claw him but failed. Within a few seconds Kaizan had pushed the vampire to the ground and peeled his neck off. 

Aidan was knocked off the ground by another one. He scrambled to his feet and swayed his dagger in a way that it came and hit the vampire's throat, gutting him instantly. The vampire struggled to stay on his feet. Aidan took his dagger out and slashed the vampire's head off his body. He rushed forward to a Yardrak who had attacked Darla. 

Three vampires lunged at Anastasia and Ileus. While Ileus gutted one of them with his claws, the other one was on top of him, trying to dig his fangs into his neck. Ileus had caught his neck and was pushing him away with those muscular arms, neck muscles corded and fangs sharp enough to pierce him and kill him in one go. It took him two minutes to snap the vampire's neck. 

The third vampire charged at Anastasia. "You will fetch a good price," he hissed. "Aed Ruad wants you back!" With a howl, he leapt in the air and lunged at her. 

Anastasia lifted her dagger. The rubies glowed in the moonlight. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. The vampir was almost five feet in the air when she threw her dagger. It struck his throat and the vampir came down on the snow with a bellow that was stifled with the gurgles of blood that oozed out of his mouth. Anastasia moved her hand forward and the dagger flew back in it—the rubies glowing red hot. A large gaping hole was left in the vampir's neck.

Anastasia was too busy to notice that he was dying. She turned her attention towards Ileus who was now tackling a Yardrak and another vampir. The vampire was in front of him but the Yardrak had climbed his shoulder, his feet dangling up till his Ileus's waist. He had a dagger in his hand and she saw him stabbing Ileus at the back twice. With an enraged roar, she shouted, "Move!"