A Moonlit Night Saga: Episodes 1 - 4 (11 page)

The blood streamed down Lord Korolev’s brow,
dripping on his golden throne and then splattering on the
cobblestone floor. He struggled to open his left eye, the other
completely swollen shut from aggravated trauma to the head.
Defiant, he remained, for a vampire king never shows any signs of
weakness.

“You will not find what you seek,” said Lord
Korolev. “The usurper shall never have my throne.”

A resounding snort was followed by a slow
laughter, his gravelly voice filling the room, capturing the
attention of the feeding youngling vampires, on their hands and
knees and they devoured the rapidly fading councilors.

Crooking their heads, the newborn vampires
all stared intently at the Elder vampire, bleeding out on this
fallen throne. They licked their chops, hoping to get their chance
to feed on the oldest blood in vampire existence.

“What are you laughing at, old man?” asked
Amata, drawing her blade as she approached the throne. “Give me one
good reason not to end your life, right here and now.”

“Do you really think you’re the first vampire
to make claim on my throne?” Lord Korolev asked. “In over 5,000
years, there have been countless attempts on my life. Do you know
how each of them ended? They ended with me staring into their cold
and helpless eyes as I tore out their hearts and fed in front of
them! You are not different, young girl, no matter what gifts that
may have been bestowed upon you.”

“You’re not making a very good case for
yourself, Korolev, if you wish to live,” Amata said. “I do not need
your consent to claim the throne.”

“No, you do not,” Lord Korolev replied.
“However, unless you want 10,000 vampires out for your blood that
is precisely what you need.”

Rage consumed Amata and she found herself
pushing the blade deeper, piercing the skin of Lord Korolev, the
silver burning ferociously as it crept closer to his jugular.

“When I bring them the summoner’s head they
will fall in line!” Amata barked. “I have amassed more than just
this newborn army; werewolves, nymphs, trolls, hunters and witches
have all heeded my call. You’ve given us no other choice,
therefore, you must be left in the dust; a fallen leader from a
forgotten time. If we allow the summoner to live we could all lose
everything… and if it’s going to be a choice between life and
death, I’ll choose life every time.”

“Y—your life ended a long time ago,” Lord
Korolev stuttered. “What remains now is just a scared little girl,
running from life rather than making the best use of her second
chance.”

Lord Korolev started to choke, foaming at the
mouth with blood clogging up his throat. Still, he smiled, with
boldness in his heart. Looking back at Amata, he mumbled, “The
first culling… was a mistake. It was a result of misguided
intentions… and failed diplomacy. If the summoners truly wished to
take our powers back… they could have taken it back at any
moment.”

Amata howled in frustration, pulling the
blade back from his throat. She placed her foot on the chest of
Lord Korolev, her stiletto digging in deeply as she thrust with all
her might. The heavy golden throne swung backwards, crashing
against the ground in a thunderous collision. Cracking his head on
the back of the throne, Lord Korolev’s eyes rolled back in his
head, slowly drifting in and out of consciousness.

Everything was getting dark now, as the blood
poured into the crevasses of his eyes. Metal scraping across the
stone floor was all he could hear, the sound of death’s slow and
inevitable approach.

“You’ve forced my hand in the matter,” said
Amata, standing over the fallen Lord Korolev. “Take solace in the
fact that our people will live on, Korolev, even if you do not; may
the devil have mercy on your soul. You have your orders,
William.”

“By your command, Lady Gemeti,” replied
William, lifting his menacing axe high in the air. “It shall be
done.”

William’s mighty war axe came slicing down,
severing Lord Korolev’s head from his body. The massive vampire’s
strength was overwhelming as his vicious blow sent the Elder’s head
soaring across the room.

Amata licked her lips, a smile breaking out
across her face as she seized control of the Council of Elders;
finally she had reached the pinnacle of her power. She turned to
face her younglings, sucking the now deceased councilors dry. She
motioned for their attention, and said, “Now, you may feast.”

The newborns rushed towards the throne, like
wolves to a wounded sheep. Their sharp fangs tore into body of Lord
Korolev, gorging themselves stupid on the most powerful vampire in
history.

Chapter Six

Xander let his grip loosen, his sword
dropping to the blood soaked ground as he curled his lip and
growled. He had survived the onslaught and now only two of the
hellish hounds remained. He looked over towards Samuel, who had
taken a few blows, but continued his vigilant resistance with well
used sword in hand.

The alpha werewolf was a mighty beast, easily
twice the size of his companion. Warm air puffed from his snout,
heating up the cool night breeze; smoking in the wind as he stared
down his watchful prey.

He let out a terrifying howl, causing the
very ground below to tremor; the vibrations shaking Xander and
Samuel to their very core. Motioning to his last pack mate, the
alpha sent the younger wolf towards the house.

“You must get to Emily!” shouted Xander,
turning towards Samuel. “If she dies, so do you!”

Samuel didn’t care for Xander’s tone, and
wouldn’t forget that he was moments away from finishing Xander off
before the wolves came; but the vampire was right, he took an oath
to protect those that couldn’t protect themselves. With regret in
his eyes, he left the battle and hurried after the werewolf.

The alpha began kicking up his hind legs,
throwing clumps of grass and dirt high in the air. Gripping his
hind paws firmly into the earth, the werewolf lifted off the ground
with his front and rose.

Standing on his feet, the werewolf began to
transform. The alpha’s bones snapped and skin contorted; and soon,
what once was an image sent forth from hell itself, was now the
image of the divine, fallen from the heavens below.

The alpha was a mountain of a man, standing
at least a foot taller than Xander and equally as wide. Looking
more in tune with a Greek god, he stood out from the rest of the
pack; a Samoan warrior with the zeal of war burning deeply in his
eyes.

They charged towards one another, vampire and
werewolf in a fight to the death. The alpha threw a fierce
haymaker, which Xander narrowly avoided, dropping to his knees as
he careened past the monstrous man.

Stopping in his tracks, the alpha spun around
with his arm extended, cracking Xander in the back of the head with
his rigid knuckles. They imprinted into Xander’s head, and with the
sound of bone shattering he dropped to the floor in excruciating
pain.

“When I was told that the summoner would be
here, Amata never mentioned that there would be a vampire present,”
the alpha said. “You’ve killed my entire pack. They were both my
friends and family! I’m going to enjoy watching you suffer, you
undead piece of shit!”

The werewolf’s large foot came slamming down
on Xander’s chest cavity, his hefty weight crushing Xander into
submission.

“Amata... you can’t trust her,” choked
Xander, gasping for air as his lungs started to fold.

“Of course, she’s a vampire,” the alpha
replied. “None of you undead freaks has an ounce of loyalty; but
I’m one for very few words, so now it’s time to die, Mr.
Vampire!”

The alpha lifted his gigantic foot high into
the air, and as he drove his foot downwards, Xander managed to find
the strength to roll out of harm’s way.

“I’m never going to let you succeed,” said
Xander, quickly picking himself up; refusing the alpha the
satisfaction of seeing him suffer. “The summoner will not fail… not
today!”

Barring his fangs, Xander charged ferociously
towards his much larger aggressor. He wasn’t about to survive this
far, only to fall to a filthy dog. No, he had much bigger plans,
and they all involved him living through the night.

Inside the house, things were finally
starting to calm down for Emily and her friends. She had locked
Tyler in one of the upstairs rooms, keeping guard over her fallen
brother. She should have stayed with them, but something was
calling out to her to head down the stairs and towards fate.

Her feet inched closer to the front door,
slowly shuffling to the inevitable. Every fiber in Emily’s body
urged her to stop, back away and run. Still, she continued on,
willing to be a spectator in the battle for her life no longer.

As she neared the door, the window beside it
shattered open, sending glass flying in Emily’s direction as a
werewolf barreled through the window. The fragments of glass sliced
through her skin effortlessly, sending the werewolf into a bloody
frenzy.

Panicking, Emily darted out of the hallway
and into the bathroom. Her hands glided over the metal lock, hoping
that would hold the werewolf at bay. Placing her back to the door,
she braced herself as the door began to shake violently. It pounded
and pounded away at the door, each shockwave sending shivers down
her spine.

And suddenly, just as it began, the shaking
ceased. Slowly, Emily moved from behind the door and waited
patiently for the sound of paws to scurry away.

The werewolf didn’t leave. Drawing a large
claw, he lifted his front paws up and ran the nail sharply down the
door, sending a bone-chilling message to Emily, stuck inside the
bathroom.

And then, without warning, the werewolf
trailed off, his scent taking him to greener pastures.

“No, no, no,” panicked Emily, dropping to her
knees as she watched the werewolf’s grotesque paws scamper away
from underneath the door. She knew exactly where the demonic hound
was going, upstairs where a frightened Tyler was keeping vigil over
her unconscious brother.

It took every ounce of strength she had, but
Emily unlocked the bathroom door and placed her hand on the knob.
The cold brass washed over her fingers as she thrust the door open,
and stood defiantly against her menacing attacker.

Emily told herself she wasn’t going to keep
watching, as her friends and family risked their life for her. She
had powers; powers that everyone seemed to fair. While she still
couldn’t control her abilities, Emily knew that was the key in all
of this. And right now, she could feel those powers soaring within
her.

Higher and higher the energy started to build
inside Emily, the warm stream of power caressing every fiber of her
body as it shot out from her mouth and eyes. The room lit up with
strands of white light, skipping and flowing as they danced around
the room.

Startled, the werewolf let loose a low rumble
as he charged ferociously towards Emily. He ran full bore, cutting
through the living room with terrifying speed and
aggressiveness.

Instead of a scared little girl, Emily stood
her ground, a powerful woman with limitless potential. Holding her
arms out, she unleashed all of her rage. With a triumphant roar, a
shining white stream of energy shot out from her hands.

Unlike the first time, Emily was in control.
She could sense thousands of creatures, all calling her for to give
them life; and give them life she did, sending forth a hulking
rhino, transparent and gleaming with the same white luminescent
light swirling all over Emily’s body.

The werewolf stopped in his tracks, throwing
his paws out in front of him as he dug deep into the floor. With no
time to reverse his course, the once frightening wolf was now
wide-eyed with a sense of panic running through his entire
body.

Emily actually enjoyed watching, as the
creatures that had been terrorizing her received what was coming to
them. She was not a hate filled person, but when it came to her
friends and family, she was a fierce protector; or at least, she
always wanted to be.

The summoned rhino enveloped the werewolf in
the same blinding white light, tearing him apart with vicious
swipes of his horn. Helpless, the werewolf shrieked in agony, his
pain echoing throughout the cottage home. The rhino disappeared,
sending the werewolf crashing to the ground, already dead and
smoldering from burns covering his singed body.

“W—what are you?” asked Samuel, standing
behind Emily outside the opened front door.

Emily’s eyes returned back to their natural
state, her milky gaze turning towards Samuel as she readjusted her
focus back on the situation at hand.

“What are you staring at me for?” asked
Emily, motioning to the door. “Xander needs you!”

Meanwhile, Xander and the alpha werewolf were
wrestling on the ground, grappling at one another ferociously as
they battled for dominance.

“It’s hopeless, vampire!” shouted the alpha,
pinning Xander’s arms as he dug in deep with his razor-sharp
fingernails. “I can hear your heart racing… you know it, too; the
end is near.”

Xander responded with a cool smile, the crook
in his mouth sending the alpha into a snarling rage. Still, he
continued to smile; his eyes wandering past the werewolf and up
into the night sky.

“What do you find so funny, dead man?” asked
the alpha, drawing closer to Xander’s head.

“In over 500 years, I never thought I would
see the day,” replied Xander, letting his body go limp, and the
werewolf tear into his skin with no resistance.

With a disgusted look in his eyes, the alpha
barred his teeth, and said, “I’m going to eat your heart while you
watch, defenseless and afraid. I’m going to enjoy watching you
suffer. When I’m done, your girl is going to suffer. We have big
plans for her.”

“N—no,” stuttered Xander, the heavy wolf
pressing down on his chest, constricting his breathing. “In over
500 years… I never thought I’d see… a vampire hunting saving the
life of a vampire.”