Chapter 3 The Prince

Blue eyes was trying desperately to show dominance.

It is what they do, they fight, kill and destroy. That is all vampire’s care about.

That, and blood, of course.

“I wouldn’t challenge me if I were you.” Warned the fiery eyed creature.

How could he be so calm in the face of an enemy as large as blue eyes?

The blue eyed man was far superior in size and muscle, how did the smaller vampire think he would fair in a fight with him?

Surely, he knew that he couldn’t win with just strength alone.

I took a sidestep towards the door, ready to run at the first sign that they would fight, it may give me a chance to escape, depending on how many of the creatures were waiting outside.

I just had to pray that there weren’t many more of them, I had to hope I could make it to a car.

My heart thudded in my ears when silence fell, not sure what I should do in such a situation, I had never witnessed a vampire fighting another one of their kind, though it was not unheard of.

In fact, it occurred more often than a vampire having to fight a witch, but that may have something to do with fear. Witches knew their place within the hierarchy, where we stood in the great scheme of things.

There was no need for us to fight, no sense in it. It only happened when a witch rebelled or did something out of line, something similar to what my father had done.

But he died for his mistakes, just as any other witch would.

Vampires could fight each other without consequence to the winner, if one of my kind survived a fight with our superior, we would be executed.

They would make an example of us.

The fiery eyed vampire removed his masked hood, my terror-stricken eyes widening dramatically, his raven hair, and high cheek bones something that could not be misunderstood.

Every witch one this earth would recognise his face, I knew exactly who the creature was, and so did his foe; the green of his eyes barely holding their colour as he also recoiled in fear.

He has realised his mistake a second too late, he showed dominance to the wrong vampire.

The raven-haired creature took a threatening step towards the first vampire, knowing that he had won, the bulky vampire could do nothing to harm him.

He would never be able to lay a hand on him, not now, not ever. If he did, it would surely mean his death.

Everyone knew his name, his face, it was engraved deep into our memory, it had to be. We had to know who ruled over us, we had to recognise them so that we could act appropriately.

Silas, that was his name.

“I am your prince soldier; do you wish to fight me now?” Silas snarled, he was the prince of the undead, he knew the soldier would not fight him.

It was against every law that they had to lay a finger on a royal.

I dropped to my knees, bending my back forward so that my forehead touched the cool wooden floor, unsure of even myself I stayed there, unmoving.

I didn’t dare make a sound; I didn’t dare breathe too loudly. He could destroy me with a flick of his wrist.

The silence grew.

What would he do to the green-eyed vampire for challenging him, would he spare him because he didn’t know who he was? I doubted it.

Prince Silas was not known for mercy, he gave no one a second chance, even if the fault was not with them.

I was too petrified to lift my head, my breathing was fast and desperate. All I could hope for now was a quick death.

“What is your name soldier?” Silas asked, his tone demanding a swift answer.

“Noah majesty.” was all he could say.

I felt the wooden floor creek beside me before my ears were assaulted with a sudden cracking of bones, it made my stomach churn. My supper surely to follow.

I didn’t have the chance to move before Noah’s body was crashing into me, pinning me to the floorboards; my screams piercing the silence.

He was crushing me, I couldn’t breathe.

If Silas had broken Noah’s neck, it would not kill him, but he also wouldn’t wake up anytime soon. It was not so easy to kill another vampire, but maybe the prince didn’t want to. Not yet.

That wasn’t my concern however, my concern was for myself, and right now, I couldn’t lift the bulk of a creature off me, he was too heavy. I was too weak.

Maybe this is how I will die.

I prayed to every god I had ever heard of, even the gods of the mortal humans who lived around us all, whilst knowing nothing of our kind. I prayed for any entity to let me live. I was too young to die.

I didn’t want to die, not yet, not at the age of seventeen.

The body of Noah was pulled from my trembling body, a small sigh of relief escaping through my clenched jaw, I didn’t know how much longer my back would have coped with his bulky weight, especially seen as though I was only five-foot-one.

I was tiny. Much smaller than anyone else my age.

My extremely petite form barely having a chance to grow, I had a year left before I would be fully developed, if I lived that long.

“Get up, witch.” Came the furious voice of Silas.

Yeah, I was going to die today.