CHAPTER TWELVE: VENUS

I focused my attention on the horde of vampires around us, their burning eyes filled with malice and hunger. Unlike the earlier ones we encountered, which attacked us on their own free will and looked more human than vampire, these ones looked like beasts.

Their pale, translucent skin clings to their limbs, which are slim and sinewy. Canines protrude from their malformed mouths, jagged and elongated, oozing with homicidal anticipation. Eyes that revealed their desire to kill and fed on our blood

These were not your typical vampires; these were Lycidas. They're vampires who have consumed vampire blood, which is illegal in Duskhaven since vampires who become Lycidas transform into savage, mindless animals who kill without remorse. 

I used to think they were made-up characters from a bedtime story meant to scare children into eating their vegetables, but now that I'm standing face to face with a horde of them, I could see they are quite real and not make-believe.

'Fuck!' I mentally cursed because, according to what I've read, they are faster and stronger than typical vampires, and regular vampires are very strong and fast so it would be quite difficult to fight them.

"Do you like my pets?" Prince said menacingly as he went in circles around us. 

"How could you do this to your kind? You're not going to get away with this, Kory," Xavier said, his eyes turning a darker shade of green as he flexed his muscles, his wolf-like growl echoing through the night as he turned to me and said "Let's put these people out of their misery?"

"Get ready to attack my pets and rip them apart," Prince Kory ordered as the vampires' growls grew louder, preparing to attack.

I stepped into my attack position and replied "ready when you're" as a rush of power rushed through my veins and I felt my mana replenishing.

The vampires took small steps towards watching our every move, their murderous gaze focused on us. Kory took a step forward, his voice arrogant. "Do you honestly believe you can stand up to all of my creations? Xavier"

"We can try," I replied, whispering a magic spell under my breath as a ring of fire formed around my body.

"How cute the little sacrificial lamb as a back bone" Prince Kory laughed maniacally, and I wanted to wipe that stupid smile off his face; what gives him the right to mock me? Yes, I might have given up my life for my realm, but it was the right thing to do, and I won't let a murderer make me feel bad about it.

"I'll deal with the Lycidas, Xavier. You go after Kory," I yelled fiercely, and Xavier nodded and raced into action, his hybrid speed and strength pushing him towards Prince Kory, who sprinted towards the forest surrounding the mansion with Xavier hot on his tail, leaving me alone to confront the vampires like I suggested.

As the vampires approached me, their fangs bared, I focused my energy into a ring of fire around me, and when I had gained enough momentum, I unleashed the ring of fire, aiming it towards them. The ring of fire struck with pinpoint accuracy, forcing a dozen of them to scream in agony as the flames licked their flesh.

"Do you believe you can defeat all of us, witch?" One of the smarter ones hissed, half of his body scorched as he glared at me.

"I don't think," I answered, my voice firm. "I know."

The remaining vampires then jumped to attack me without hesitation, so I formed a protective shield of fire around myself, blocking the vampires' desperate attempts to reach me while hurling balls of fire at the vampires I could see, but the shield wasn't strong enough, and it broke, leaving me with five vampires who weren't hurt or killed by my attack.

"Give up now while you still have a chance to live" I hoped they would listen because I was running low on mana and wouldn't be able to fight the remaining five vampires without getting hurt or passing out due to a lack of mana.

The vampires growled at me, ignoring my warning as they began to approach me. With the last of my mana, I formed fireballs and hurled them at the remaining five vampires. Three of the fireballs hit three vampires, killing two of them and severely injuring one, but there were still two vampires who were unharmed, so I had no choice but to flee into the forest for my life as the vampires chased me.

As I ran, I turned to look behind me to see if the two remaining vampires were still pursuing me, but they were nowhere to be seen. Then, out of nowhere, something ran into me, throwing me into the nearest tree. 

I slammed against the tree and collapsed to the ground, grabbing my side as I struggled for breath. When I was able to catch my breath, I looked up to see two vampires coming towards me with wide grins on their faces. I tried to flee by crawling away, but with their vampire speed, the vampires ran up to me as one knelt down and grabbed me by the neck, lifting me up. I fought against his hold, but it was futile because he was much stronger than me in my weak state.

I could feel his grip tightening around my neck by the minute, so I attempted to cast a spell in the hopes that it would work, but the other vampire caught wind of what I was doing and broke my hand, causing the two vampires to laugh at my pitiful attempts to break free of his partner's hold as I screamed in pain from my broken arm.

After a few minutes of struggling, the will to fight left me as I felt myself on the verge of passing out, but then a loud growl filled the air and the vampires turned to find a very pissed off Xavier racing towards us, and the vampire holding me flung me to the side so he could protect himself from the very angry looking wolf.

When he arrived at the clearing where we were, Xavier used his super speed to get to the vampire who had broken my arm because he was closer to him and ripped out his heart, when it's dead body fell to the ground, he turned to face the other one who decided it was best to run because he couldn't face Xavier after witnessing what he did to his partner, what a pussy but he could beat on a defenseless woman.

"You can run, but you can't hide; I'll find you." Xavier roared as he pursued the vampire; it didn't get very far before Xavier sprang into the air and landed on his shoulders, ripping its head off from its shoulders.

When he was certain they were dead, he ran to me, wrapped his arms around me and said, "Fuck! "I should not have left you, Vee."

"It's not your fault, I told you I could handle them," I responded, attempting to relieve any guilt he felt; it wasn't his fault, and I don't want him to blame himself.

"Fuck! I don't want to hurt you," he whispered as he tried to pick me up, his troubled gaze sweeping over my injured body, he cursed a lot for a prince I thought to myself as I smiled internally.

"You can't make me feel any worse than I already do," I said as he lifted me up, causing me to wince in pain, "what about Prince Kory?"

"I got distracted when I heard you screaming, so he took advantage of the opportunity to escape,"

"I'm sorry, I ruined everything."

"It's not your fault, Vee, I should be the one apologizing for leaving you to face the Lycidas alone," he said with defeated expression 

"I told you it's not your fault, Xavier, don't blame yourself." 

"I'm going to take you back to the mansion, where hopefully there will be a first aid kit to treat your injuries until we can get back to Verna, and you can get proper treatment."

"Everything hurts so much," I moaned in pain

"I know, just rest, I'll take care of you," Xavier murmured as I felt my eyelids closing.

"OK," I said, feeling safe in his arms as he carried me back to the mansion. Before I passed out, I heard him say.

"You weren't meant to get hurt."