Vampire King Chapter 38

This Is War
*Kane
Our initial attack had been a phantom mist that rolled in through the darkness, catching King Peter and his troops completely off-guard. We’d cut between the trees through cover of night and descended upon them before they even knew we were there.
I’d personally taken out fifteen of his warriors, rolling down the line, dispatching one right after the next before they could make a sound or use their telepathy to communicate the threat to one another. Now, back at camp, I had time to reflect upon it as the sun had climbed the sky and we had broken away from our enemies for a bit to regroup.
The first one had been standing there in an unassuming, bored position, likely awaiting orders. I’d come from behind him, grabbed his head, and twisted until it came off. He’d crumpled to the forest floor, his knees sinking into the dew-covered grass as I tossed his head into a nearby bush and moved to the next.
She’d turned to see me just in time, her blue eyes widening as she considered what tactic to take to defend herself, but it was too late. I was already at her jugular before she could even shoot her hands up.
Down the line I went, and after a dozen or so of them had fallen, the others caught wind of what we were doing, either from noise being produced by one or more of my warriors or by someone surviving long enough to get a message out.
It hadn’t made that much of a difference once they were made aware.
King Peter’s forces were no match for us anyway, especially when they were terrified of the fact that so many of their numbers had been felled so quickly and effortlessly. They’d retreated into a clump in the center of the forest, and we had been about to surround them completely when the signal for them to retreat had sounded in their heads.
We’d followed them several miles, back into their own territory, and now, we were camped in King Peter’s lands, awaiting his next move. I had only lost six, whereas he had lost thousands.
Those numbers were very heavily in my odds, and I hoped that he would reconsider what he’d been trying to do.
Sitting in a chair behind a portable desk in my tent, my eyes went over the map. We’d made inroads into other forces that had been set to attack us on other fronts as well, but none of the victories had been as large as here, where King Peter had been completely fooled.
He was under the impression we were still in front of him and to the east when we’d slipped around to his west and come in from the side, charging down his flank.
With such a large victory, I had been continuously congratulated, but I constantly pushed those kindnesses off on the warriors.
They were not the only ones who had served us well, though.
Lex is on ourside, after all. He has proven that to me now that I know he didn’t give Peter any information to help him. In fact, he’d misinformed the enemy, and while King Peter clearly hadn’t completely taken my brother at his word, he had arranged his troops as if he believed what Lex had told him.
He hadn’t learned a lesson I had discovered to be true as a young boy until much too later-never trust
+25 BONUS
This Is Wor
Luther Alexander….
“Your Majesty?” A voice jars me from my thoughts, and I look up to see one of my seconds, a man called Henri, standing in the opening of the tent.
“Yes?” I say, still in a good mood after our resounding victory.
“King Peter is asking to meet with you this afternoon, sir. He would like to negotiate terms.” Henri has a hopeful look upon his face that has me raising an eyebrow.
“Terms? Already?”
He nods. “That’s what his courier is saying. He’s still outside if you’d like to speak to him.”
“Yes, please,” I say, covering up the maps I’ve been looking at. It’s not that I don’t trust Henri to tell me the truth of the conversation, but I might be able to get more information from the courier than my
subordinate.
A few moments later, a short, thin vampire with dark hair and menacing eyes walks into the tent. I’d like to think perhaps he is a courier because of his size. Maybe he’s not that good at fighting.
But another lesson I learned long ago is to never assume anything based on appearance alone.
He bows to me. “Your Majesty, I come from Vampire King Peter. He would like to meet with you this afternoon at dusk to discuss terms of a cessation of hostilities.”
“After one short battle, the mighty Vampire King Peter of Scarlett Thunder is ready to fold?” I don’t mean to jest, but I can hardly believe it.
He clears his throat and taps his heels together. “Your Majesty, we truly only have one request. King Peter doesn’t wish to be at war with you, but he would like his son back. Also.. he would like to know your intentions toward the child.”
I c**k my head to the side and study his face in disbelief. “Are you saying that he no longer wishes to fight? No longer seeks vengeance for what has befallen his children while they were in my lands?”
“While the king regrets that his children came to harm, he doesn’t see the purpose of continuing to lose lives when he believes gentlemen such as the two of you can work this out on your own terms.” Something about what he is saying has an air of misinformation about it, and I have to wonder if perhaps this is all a trick, a lie to get me to come to him.
“What of the child?” I ask. “Does King Peter now believe me when I say it is not my offspring?”
“That I cannot speak to, Sir,” he says. “I only know what I have said so far, that the king doesn’t want to fight any longer, but he does want Prince Jacob returned, and I believe, an assurance that you will no longer come after Princess Opal for what allegedly happened in your castle.”
“Allegedly?” My dander is up now as I stand tall and stare down at him. He is at least a foot shorter than me.
“His words, of course, Your Majesty.”
This guy is good. He knows exactly what to say. That’s probably why they send him. Anyone else may have managed to get themselves killed.
This Is War
+15 BONUS
“Very well,” I say. “I shall think on it. If I intend to come, I will send a courier.”
He clinks his heels together again, likely relieved to be on his way. “Thank you, Your Majesty.” His bow is low enough that I can see the top of his head before he backs out of the tent and disappears.
I go
back to my maps. There’s something fishy about this, and I don’t quite trust it…. I don’t think this war
is over yet.
Not by a long shot.
*Emory*
The troops we’ve been left with are sp**se, and as Lex and I roam down the line, looking over every soldier we have at our disposal, I begin to wonder if we have any trainees, new recruits, retired warriors, anyone else who can stand with us.
Not to fight, but just to give more sustenance to our line, more support. Otherwise, it will look lean, and a lean battleline is too enticing for my father to resist.
“We have to tell him,” Lex says as he follows behind me. This isn’t his first statement of such. He’s said the same thing about a hundred times.
use
I am dressed in black pants and a matching black shirt made of the stretchy material the vampires for their uniforms, though the cut on my garments is not the same as these troops, so I don’t think it’s officially a uniform. I think it’s just similar, and it fit me, so Nellie brought it to me.
I ignore Lex until he says my name in an imploring tone “Emory, are you even listening?”
I nod. “I heard you, Lex. But I’ve already told you, I don’t think it’s a good idea. Your brother is busy. We can handle this.”
“But what if we can’t? You know we only have about a quarter of the troops one would usually use to defend the castle. If your father is able to get in behind the castle walls, not the barrier around the perimeter but the actual castle walls, we’ll never get him out.”
His concern is not unfounded. But I truly believe I can do this. I don’t want to ruin the whole war because Kane has to come sprinting back here to help.
But then… if I f**k it up, we’re all screwed, and Kane will never want to see me again.
I take a deep breath and check the time on a watch I found in the jewelry box in my room. It’ll be sunset in about an hour, and I know my father well enough to know that’s when he’ll begin his attack. It’ll take an hour, maybe two, for them to march their way over here. We probably have three hours at most.
I’ve studied the maps, and I know where Kane is. I’m not sure a messenger can get close enough to him to use telepathy to get send him word and then get back here quickly enough. While it might be possible for Lex to contact him right now, my understanding is that telepathy is stronger when vampires are closer, and there are no distractions.
I’m assuming there are distractions for the king right now…..
Fine. Send word to him,” I tell him. “Make sure that they explain that we have a plan in place, though. He shouldn’t abandon his current situation to come back here.”
“We have a plan in place?” he repeats and then scoffs. What the f**k plan is that? Stand out there and
This Is War
wave our arms, begging them to stop?”
I clear my throat. “Something like that….”
“That will never work in a million years, and you know it
I look over Lex’s shoulder and see a large figure flying it’s hard to see his face. But I recognize the gait.
“I believe he already knows.”
This Is War
wave our arms, begging them to stop?”
I clear my throat. “Something like that…..”
+25 BONUS
“That will never work in a million years, and you know it. At the very least, please, let me find Rainer.”
I look over Lex’s shoulder and see a large figure flying at us from a great distance. He’s moving so fast, it’s hard to see his face. But I recognize the galt.
“I believe he already knows.”