Prophecy: Dark Moon Rising [A Vampires Realm Novel]

by F. E. Heaton

  "Are you all right?” he asked straight into her head, thankful that he could communicate with her secretly.

  She turned her head to face him. A smile was in her eyes even if she couldn't coax it onto her lips.

  "A little scared, maybe. Thinking too much about the fight I suppose.” She glanced at the castle and continued her telepathic speech. “I can feel how strong she is."

  Her hand trembled against his.

  "I can feel how strong you are,” he said without speaking.

  The smile graced her lips this time, but quickly faded. “I'm so frightened we'll lose everyone, that we'll lose. I don't want to watch my friends die. Mathias—"

  He held his hand up to stop her when he saw the tears in her eyes and felt the turbulent emotions stirring worry inside of her.

  "Your friends are stronger than you give them credit for. Hyperion will see to it that Mia and Dmitri are protected. Tiberius and Xavier will protect Serenity and Cornelius. Even Venturi will not easily fall. You have seen him fight. Zombies are not going to prove a problem for him. Concentrate on yourself, focus on your magic and you will make it through this.” He wished he could take away all the pain she was feeling, but his thoughts had been running along the same line.

  Elena had already taken so much from them, and she was powerful enough to take more. He pushed away the thoughts, shutting them down and reminding himself that he was a hunter, experienced in battle with the deadliest of enemies. Elena would prove no match for him and Prophecy, and their army.

  "Promise me something,” Prophecy said into his head.

  "Anything,” he replied.

  "Stay away from Elena."

  Even in his head, her tone was deadly serious and her look matched it. He knew what she feared the most. She was petrified that the vision was going to come true and Elena was going to kill him.

  He brought Prophecy's hand up and placed his other one over it, holding it as tight as he could without hurting her.

  Looking into her eyes, he tried to convince himself that if it meant she could focus during the battle, he would do as she'd asked.

  He sighed.

  "I cannot promise that, and you know it. I will keep my distance, but if she hurts you, if you are in any danger, I will intervene.” He held her gaze.

  She hesitated for a moment and then her look softened and she nodded, clearly satisfied with the compromise.

  He could still feel the nerves in her and he knew he had to help her overcome them like she had done the last time they'd fought here. She had to keep her focus and not worry about others during the fight or she could get hurt, or worse.

  "Look at your friends, Prophecy. Look at me. Do not be frightened for their safety. Believe in their strength and abilities, as they believe in yours."

  Prophecy looked along the line either side of her. Valentine was right. Even Serenity, Cornelius and Mia now looked confident. Dmitri was running with his pack, almost playing with them as they flanked the vampires. Hyperion was so sure of himself that he looked as though he was out for a night stroll rather than heading into battle. Venturi. She looked at him the longest. His eyes were dark and intently focused, his hand resting on the sword at his side. Confidence radiated off him almost as strongly as it did off Hyperion.

  It seemed she was the only one worrying.

  "Thank you,” she whispered to Valentine.

  He smiled and squeezed her hand one more time before releasing it.

  "Promise me something,” he said.

  She nodded. “Anything."

  "Stay close to me, and if you cannot, then stay close to Venturi or Hyperion. They will protect you. Venturi would not let anything happen to you."

  She could feel so much concern in him that she nodded before he'd even finished his sentence.

  She was surprised when he drew his sword and grinned.

  "Ready?” he said.

  Looking down the valley, a shiver ran through her when she saw the army of zombies advancing towards them.

  Drawing her own sword, she looked along the line again, checking that everyone was ready, and then picked up the pace.

  The magic surged through her, flooding her veins and making her whole body hum with the strength of it. She'd never felt it so powerful before. It knew that this was it. The final battle had begun.

  The strange red light from the halo glinted off her sword when she raised it.

  Lowering her weapon in the signal to attack, confidence and strength filled her as the army around her roared. She ran down the valley with them, heading straight for the zombies.

  She grinned.

  This ended tonight.

  Chapter 28

  Prophecy fought her way through the first wave of zombies, hacking and slashing at any of them that dared to come near her. She raised her hand, unleashing another ball of crackling magic and not stopping to watch it rip through the zombies blocking the way ahead of her.

  The smell of charred flesh filled the still air.

  Spinning, she brought her sword around in a deadly arc, cutting the heads off another two zombies and pausing for a moment with her backs to their bodies and the advancing army.

  All around her, she could see her friends fighting against Elena's army. Valentine had remained close to her. She was impressed by the skill he wielded his sword with. Her eyes flicked to Venturi when he moved past her. She knew he was staying close to her too. His commanders flanked him at all times, but he needed no protection.

  He was an exceptional swordsman, easily dispatching the zombies that stood in his path.

  When he looked at her, his eyes darkening into a frown, she sprung up and back-flipped over the attacking zombie. She kicked it in the back of the head, causing it to stumble forwards, and before she'd even landed, she'd decapitated it.

  She slid a little and looked down to see that the damp valley grass was turning into mud under the weight of the two armies.

  Regaining her footing, she turned fast on the spot and brought her sword up to block the attack she'd sensed. She growled when she looked into the eyes of an Aleaeries. Pushing her sword against the one it had struck at her with, she forced it backwards and then leaped away from it to give herself more room to manoeuvre.

  She rolled her shoulders and waited.

  It straightened to its full height, towering over her, and spread its wings. Its wide mouth distorted into a grin, showing her rows of needle-sharp teeth, and its scales shimmered in the strange light from the halo.

  The moment it raised its sword, she blasted it with her magic. The threads of purple bore into its flesh and she grinned when it looked shocked and confused.

  And then it exploded.

  Immediately ducking away and protecting her head with her arms, she pulled a face of disgust when she heard the slapping noise of chunks of flesh hitting the mud and the acrid smell of demon blood filled the air.

  She came out from underneath her arms and looked at the mess on the floor and the way the zombies near her had stopped to eat it.

  Then her eyes met Venturi's.

  He was frowning, and covered in blood.

  She kept her smile steady, resisting the temptation to laugh and telling herself that it wasn't really the time for that kind of behaviour. It was hard when he looked so annoyed and funny.

  He raised his helmet slightly and drew a hand down his face, wiping away the blood.

  He looked at his hand, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

  She shook her head but he grinned and flicked the blood at her. It hit her square in the face and she was about to shout at him for it when she saw another Aleaeries heading for him. Raising her hand, she released two dark purple orbs of magic at the demon.

  Venturi's eyes widened as they shot towards him and then he turned on the spot as they split, zooming around him on either side.

  They buried themselves into the Aleaeries that was about to jump on him and she ducked at the same time as Venturi threw himself forwards to avoi
d the blast.

  There was a loud bang followed by more wet slaps.

  She came out of hiding when someone touched her arm and went to lunge at them with her sword. They easily blocked her attack and hauled her to her feet. She smiled sheepishly at Valentine when he frowned at her, looking unimpressed by the fact that she'd attacked him.

  Quickly looking over at Venturi, a warm sense of relief filled her when she saw that he was all right. He smiled at her and it made the warmth inside become heat. When he disappeared into the throng of zombies, she turned back to Valentine. She was surprised that he wasn't frowning. She knew he could feel the emotions that had filled on her seeing that Venturi wasn't hurt. There was nothing but a look of understanding in his eyes.

  She squeezed his hand, giving him a smile, and then surveyed the battle.

  There were still a lot of zombies between them and the castle. They'd barely reached the edge of the forest that surrounded the Tenebrae home. Looking back in the direction she'd come, she saw that the rear forces were now battling the zombies. Screams punctuated the sound of battle and she knew that those cries hadn't come from the zombies. Some of her army was falling.

  Valentine tugged Prophecy in the same direction Venturi had gone. If anyone knew a fast route to the castle, it was the Tenebrae. He could see him just ahead of them, fighting with relish and losing himself in thrill of killing the zombies.

  It wasn't just Venturi who was getting a kick out of killing them. He was too. He had so much hatred and anger inside of him, so much grief that he needed to get out, and butchering the army of the person responsible for bringing him all that pain was such sweet relief. He knew that Prophecy felt the same. He'd sensed her feelings throughout the fight so far. She was taking great pleasure in diminishing Elena's forces.

  Releasing Prophecy's hand, he went to block a zombie as it swiped at him, but it was suddenly gone. He looked up when a gurgled cry sounded and saw the zombie impaled on the end of a naginata. Hyperion smiled at him when their eyes met and then he flung the zombie into the rest of them.

  The zombies scrambled for it, tearing at its flesh and chewing it with moans of happiness.

  That was until they were all suddenly burning into ashes.

  Valentine looked at Prophecy. She was wearing a grim look behind her helmet, her eyes dark as she watched the zombies disintegrate. The magic still circled her hand. Rich purple, almost black, threads of it laced her fingers together.

  He moved at the same time as she did, throwing himself back into the fight and slashing at anything that came near him. He changed into his vampire guise, using his heightened vision to scour the battlefield. All he could see between them and the castle were zombies. There was no sign of any more Aleaeries, but that didn't mean there weren't any. With their shape-shifting abilities, Aleaeries were incredibly hard to detect. Any of the zombies, or even the werewolves and vampires, present could be one.

  Bringing his sword down in a swift arc, he cleaved a zombie in two and then turned, shifting his weapon so he was holding it in both hands, and brought it up. It sliced through a zombie, cutting its arm off and going straight through its head. The zombie fell, soon disappearing under other zombies as they fought over its flesh.

  He glanced around and frowned when he saw that Prophecy was moving away from him. Cutting and hacking his way towards her, he left the injured zombies for the Watchmen and Tenebrae to deal with.

  A distant howl punctuated the noise of battle and a hush descended for a brief second before another howl met it. He turned instinctively to face the sound, recognising the call as Dmitri's. He spotted his friend up on the ridge above the zombies and fought distractedly as he watched Dmitri charge the enemy. The two-dozen werewolves he was leading bounded into the fray, knocking zombies in all directions and filling the air with the snapping of bones and satisfied growls.

  Valentine fended off another zombie and then caught Prophecy's arm, pulling her to safety when one of the zombie commanders swiped at her with his axe. Valentine roared at him and pushed Prophecy towards Venturi where she'd be safe before he attacked. He ran at the zombie, sheathing his sword and extending his claws. He swiped his opponent's axe away and his armour pressed into his stomach as they collided, ending up nose to nose. Roaring again, he dug his claws into the zombie's shoulders and pushed himself up. He flipped over him, retaining his grip and slamming the zombie into the ground when he landed. Standing heavily on his opponent's back, he drew his sword and raised it high before bringing it down and cutting the zombie's head in two down the middle.

  "Thanks,” Prophecy said straight into his head.

  "Keep alert. I will not lose you,” he responded.

  Prophecy watched him for a moment as he fought through the zombies and then turned around to see Venturi looking at her.

  "Try to be careful,” he said, shaking his head as affection filled his black eyes. “I will not lose you."

  She frowned and watched him attack another zombie. It was strange that he'd said exactly the same thing as Valentine. It wasn't possible that he'd heard what Valentine had said to her. She felt she should be more surprised by it, but when she took into account that they both loved her, it didn't seem surprising at all that they'd both told her the same thing.

  She smiled when she found herself in a clearing amongst the zombies. There wasn't far to go before they reached the castle now, and then the real battle began.

  "Enjoying yourself?” A warm amused voice asked beside her.

  She turned her smile on Hyperion, noticing that he was no longer wearing his helmet. He was drenched in blood, thin trickles of it marking his face like war paint, and he was grinning from ear to ear.

  "Absolutely. You?” she said.

  "It has been too long since I had the chance to fight like this. My Watchmen insist on remaining close, even though they know these zombies are no match for me.” He shrugged and thrust his naginata forwards.

  She looked with wide eyes at the impaled zombie and then back at Hyperion as he drew the blade of his weapon out of it.

  "Your loves are waiting for you,” he said with a playful smirk.

  She glanced at Venturi and Valentine. They were both waiting for her a few metres away, killing their time by decapitating zombies.

  Looking at Hyperion, she tried to think of something to say to wipe the smirk off his face and then just sighed when nothing came to her.

  He nudged her, pushing her forwards a little as though she needed encouragement to go to Valentine and Venturi.

  Giving Hyperion a black look, she began walking towards them but then stopped and looked back at him.

  "Stay close. We'll need your help once we're in."

  He nodded and then turned away from her, his long black cloak catching the breeze as he walked off with three Watchmen in tow.

  She wished she had three guards with her at all times.

  Catching up with Venturi and Valentine, she realised that in a way she had two guards with her. They would never let anyone hurt her, regardless of how much pain they had to endure themselves in order to protect her.

  "Finished chatting?” Venturi said with a raised brow.

  "Yep,” she said, smiling broadly.

  Venturi was about to speak when she cut him off by gutting a zombie behind him with her sword. He looked down at it when it fell to the floor and then up into her eyes.

  "Try to be careful.” She echoed his earlier words and then held her arm out, casually intimating the castle. “Shall we?"

  "Follow me,” he said.

  She did, keeping herself safely tucked between him and Valentine as they fought towards the castle. With the skills and strength of Valentine and Venturi, combined with her magic, they made fast work of killing all zombies that stood in their path. When the three of them fought together, it seemed nothing could stand in their way.

  Magic buzzed in her veins, humming and burning. She stopped fighting and looked up at one of the castle's turrets. A dim light shone th
ere, forming a halo around a silhouette. She knew who it was.

  Elena was watching them.

  Prophecy drew her hand back and then threw an orb of magic at the window where the witch was. The stones of the turret exploded, raining down on the castle below and filling the air around it with dust. She could still sense the power, but that didn't surprise her. She'd known her spell wouldn't kill Elena. She'd just wanted to fire a warning shot across her bow.

  "Watch the castle!” Venturi shouted at her.

  She pulled an awkward face. She'd completely forgotten that this was his home.

  He growled under his breath and she made a mental note not to destroy his castle if she could help it.

  Throwing herself into the fight again, the violence took over as she cleared their path to the castle of the few remaining zombies.

  When they'd completely broken free of the zombie army, she looked back and saw that Hyperion and some of his Watchmen were also through, along with some of the Tenebrae, Caelestis and Aurorea guards.

  Not far away she could see Mia and Dmitri fighting to break through along with Piotr. A short distance from them, Xavier and his men were massacring any remaining zombies with the help of Tiberius, Serenity and Cornelius, and the rest of the Caelestis.

  Satisfied that her friends were safe, she walked towards the castle. She held her sword tight and focused on the magic swirling around her hand. It comforted her to feel how much power she commanded. It was stronger than it had ever been and she felt confident that she could win and defeat Elena.

  She kept telling herself that as they headed into the dark corridors of the castle, following Venturi.

  She didn't like the idea of him leading. He was too vulnerable to attack and she didn't know what she'd do without him. She picked up the pace, falling into step beside him at the same time as Valentine came up beside her. With all three of their senses reaching out and searching for any sign of danger, and with Hyperion and his men behind her, there was no way anyone could sneak up on them.

  The air was thick and stuffy, clinging close to her as they walked deeper into the castle. Her nerves were alight, pushing her senses to the limit as she desperately searched out any signatures. Nothing came to her and it only made her anxiety worsen. She stopped breathing in anticipation of the fight, knowing that somehow Elena was cloaking her minions from them just like the witch had cloaked herself and Valentine when she'd come to rescue him.