I lifted my gaze to the massive kingdom that had been hidden away in another realm, protected from human invasion. Ambrose had led me through the barrier deep inside one of the mountainous ranges of northern Canada. It was bitterly cold, but I made sure I used my magic to keep us both warm. Ambrose was thankful and I was happy.

Instead of a bustling city with bright colors, loud voices, melodious music, and the clanging of blacksmiths as I had expected, there was a sense of total desolation and abandonment. I was a bit stunned. The kingdom was devoid of life and the buildings were either damaged and or dilapidated.

"Ah, so this is what has come of the Ostrisia Kingdom." murmured Ambrose, a strangely pleased expression resting on his face for a moment. "It is only natural that a kingdom with a corrupt kingly line would fall in the eleven centuries since I left with loyal slaves to the kingdom on my heels. I wonder if..." he trailed off and I suddenly saw two swords in his hands.

Their blades were as black as night, the strong hilts and subtle pommels were made of polished steel, and the grips were formed with bound leather. The sickly sweet scent of blood tickled my nose and, as if I had been transported back in time, I could suddenly smell the stench of death on Ambrose. I slowly lifted my eyes to Ambrose's face, where a startling expression awaited me. His face was filled with fury and bloodlust rolled off his body in waves. Since it was not directed at me I felt nothing but concern for my vampire.

I leaned into his side and his silver eyes dropped to my face. "What is it?" he asked. And although his tone was difficult to describe, he definitely wasn't upset with me for interrupting his thoughts.

"Your swords are beautiful." I stated, placing my hand over his fist.

Ambrose clenched his jaw. "Their beauty was not needed for the intention of the blades to slice bodies and mangle limbs through war. Battle after battle, blood would feed them and grow sharper, heavier, and more durable."

"Are they a part of you, Rose?"

He lifted the swords with his wrists since the blades' tips were already pointed towards the kingdom. He stared at them silently, then said to me, "As much as they are, they are not. They were not created for my use, but they accepted me as their master and the previous owner had no choice but to give them to me—a lowly slave. It was a heavily damaging blow to his ego." Ambrose continued, "They are bound to me through my blood, and I continue to feed them in case a situation arose in which I would have to battle once more."

I saw movements from his hands and I watched beads of blood slide down the edge of the blade. The black swords glowed a dull red and seemed to shine even brighter in the glow of the moon.

Suddenly I sensed multiple presences and whirled around, my form poised to spring away off the cliff. In the filtered light of the moon, the red eye-shine of twenty vampires appeared. Ambrose didn't turn his body around, but he did turn his head.

"It has been awhile, Ambrose." commented a deep voice with a chuckle.

Ambrose snorted. "It has been seven centuries since I last came across you, Elias Nightblood."

The vampire named Elias emerged from the tree cover. He had dark brown hair and red eyes, although they switched to blue.

"I see you have been living well. There is a strangely powerful aura around you. And I can even hear the dead crying from the blades in your hands." stated Elias, who paid no attention to me at first. Then his eyes dropped down. "What is this? A little fox? Was Micha's betrayal not enough for you?"

Daviel growled and Elias merely laughed it off. "You are even protective of it! How soft you have become, Ambrose. That bounty still remains on your head, and I am in dire need of coin at the moment. Care to lend a hand—or even better, your head?"

In that moment, the ferocious growl that frightened the vampires did not come from Daviel but from me. Elias jerked back, but he regained his composure quite quickly.

"Ah, so it is not a fox but a wolf. Your trust is still too thick, my dear Ambrose. Do you believe I will go easy on you?"

Ambrose looked away with an unamused expression. I glanced back and noticed the scabbards on his back. He must have made them appear with his magic. I watched Ambrose slide his swords into the scabbards and sensed the vampires approach. I guess my vampire was testing what Daddy said about me.

"Your naïveté will be your death!" shouted Elias, and faster than I could blink the vampires had slammed themselves on my barrier.

Elias' confusion was quickly masked with fury. "Kill him!"

As the vampires tried to break through my impenetrable barrier, Ambrose finally turned around and looked at Elias. My vampire placed a hand on my head and I snuggled into his side. Elias looked between us.

Ambrose hid his mirth behind one fist. "Your naïveté will be your death, Elias. This young one is not a mere wolf."

I grinned and hugged his hips. "Nope!"

Elias frowned, then looked around with a gasp. His fellow companions were immobilized with blood dripping down their lips and noses. Ambrose chuckled and drew his swords, then darted away faster than I could blink. In three seconds all of the nineteen vampires I had immobilized were headless with stab wounds to their hearts.

Instead of feeling sickened, there was a calming sense of justification for Ambrose's actions. It was just self-defense. He never attacked them until now. When Ambrose slid the edge of his right blade under Elias' jaw, he cut Elias' wrists with the sword in his left hand. Elias was thoroughly frightened.

"My edge has not dulled, my wits have not dimmed, my strength has not faded, and I am stronger than I was eleven centuries ago because I have more than the war games of the royalty ahead of me." hissed Ambrose, lightly jerking his blade upwards and cutting into the soft flesh of Elias' neck.

Elias managed a smirk. "O-oh, then what do you have ahead of you?"

"Oh, I am sure you would love to know, Elias Nightblood. However, how about you take a gander at what is in front of you?"

My lips curled up and I shifted, then released a warning howl mixed with the roar of a dragon. My wings spread wide, blocking out the moon as Elias gazed up with wide eyes. I opened my mouth and revealed my nice sharp teeth to the vampire.

"Wh-what is that!" cried Elias. "Monster! You have brought a mon—kuh!" he choked, since Ambrose slammed his blade through Elias' neck and slammed the vampire to the ground to sever Elias' head from his body.

For the final measure, Ambrose's sword sliced through Elias' heart with a downward thrust. I danced on my talons and toes with excitement as Ambrose turned around. My tail whipped back and forth as I laid down to get a head pat. Ambrose had never petted my dragon-wolf form before, so I was really happy.

Ambrose stroked my face, then kissed my temple and leaned on the side of my face. "Did I frighten you with my brutality?"

"Huh, no, actually I was quite happy. You having less enemies means more date time for us in the outside world." I grinned, and Ambrose was quiet for a moment before he started to laugh.

I pouted but nuzzled his form. "Laugh all you want, Rose, but I was serious."

Ambrose kept laughing for a couple minutes, trying hard to stop himself but failing quite miserably. I was just happy to partially cuddle with him in the meantime.

Eventually, Ambrose decided he should ride on my back as we approached the kingdom's capitol to avoid any unnecessary attacks. Of course my barrier remained strong around both of us, so as soon as Ambrose had settled himself in front of my shoulders with his fists gripping my the thick fur on my neck, I turned towards the capitol city and leaped towards the cliff with gentle flapping of my wings.

"Hang on tight, Rose!" I gleefully exclaimed, shoving myself off the ledge and pumping my wings downwards.

I felt his fists tighten and his legs squeeze the sides of my neck as I began to rise in the night sky. My wings moved in circular motions and pumped harder, moving us faster through the air. I slowed down above the city and began to glide, passing over the courtyard of the castle and hoping to instill fear in anyone who saw me.

"Anwyll, please land on the castle's center battlements. The vampires are mostly in the courtyard, so they will see you quite clearly."

I giggled in my head and pumped my wings as I prepared to land. I landed hard and the ground trembled as the battlements cracked, shattering somewhat underneath my weight. The spray of stone and mortar showered the cowering vampires below. I sat back on my haunches and released a formidable howl that flowed into a fierce draconic roar. Ambrose trembled, likely from my body's vibrations, and he then slid off to stand next to me.

We could hear the crowd wondering and whispering about his identity since the moon made Ambrose partially shadowed. After a few minutes to let the coven calm themselves, a man appears with a crooked smile.

"Welcome, fellow members of the coven. It seems that all who are still alive have arrived safely and those who were alive tonight cannot be brought back thanks to one particular attendee."

"Was he watching from somewhere, Rose?" I asked, and he didn't move but made an effort to speak mentally with me.

"Noble and royal coven members generally have eyes and ears everywhere. It is why I was safe in your father's barrier. It was impenetrable to vampires as per my request before Alexandre created it."

"Ooh, okay. That makes sense. I had to reinforce Daddy's barrier to make sure that no one with bad intentions could enter."

"You astound me, Anwyll." commented Ambrose, then he stiffened when another vampire appeared behind the one that first addressed the thousand vampires below us. There were probably thousands more scattered and hidden nearby.

More than a few vampires hopped onto the castle walls like Ambrose and me to see what was going to happen. I couldn't sense any hostility, so I shuffled my wings around and sneezed just as the new vampire started talking. The sound echoed throughout the castle courtyard and then snickers broke out. Ambrose bit back his own laughter, barely able to keep a straight face. That made me very pleased, however there were more than a few vampires displeased with my sudden interruption.

"Why is a beast here! This is a gathering for members of the coven!" shouted one woman. "Who brought it and why hasn't it been killed yet?"

The first to speak to us stepped forward. "You are welcome to try, but beware of its companion as well."

The woman sneered at me and leapt up with her claws out, then shrieked when her hand crunched against my barrier. She fell back with bones protruding from her hand, blood gushing from the major wounds. Ambrose only needed to draw the sword for his right hand as he stepped off the edge of the battlement and landed on top of the female vampire in the courtyard below.

I watched with a dark sense of delight as he stabbed her chest and a garbled scream tore out of her throat. Ambrose jerked his arm and easily sliced through her bones to split apart her head. He crushed her split skull under his boots and removed the flesh from his blade in one movement.

I couldn't help my excitement. A bark burst from my chest and my tail wagged. Ambrose's amusement rang clear in my senses. My loud voice broke the stunned silence from the other vampires, so one brave vampire dared to ask who we were. My giant fluffy tail wiggled over the battlement while I waited for the exciting introduction. My vampire warrior is too cool!

The vampire that spoke up the first time began to speak again. "Please give a warm welcome to the immortal warrior, Ambrose Savage; former battle slave of the sixth king of Ostrasia and wanted for the massacre of over four thousand soldiers and mercenaries of our kind and also for the slaughter of five hundred males and females of vampiric royalty and nobility in the tenth century. Not to mention, of course, the merciless beheading of the sixth king as well."

Ambrose leapt back up next to me and took a seat on the battlement while the other vampires were in shock. "I believe, former prime minister Elliot Nightblood, father to the one who tried to murder me earlier tonight, you left out some very important facts."

Elliot clicked his tongue but smiled well when curious gazes landed on his face. "I did no such thing."

"Ah, but what about these records I have of your precious king? About all of his misdeeds and corruption? Shall I spread the pages and allow the blind to open their eyes?"

My lips curled up and I lightly hopped off the battlement. The vampires who were full of bravery attacked me, but they were knocked back by my barrier as I walked towards Elliot. He stepped back, but I pinned him under my right talons. Elliot shuddered as I released a wave of my magic power, letting him feel a smidge of what I was capable of. He passed out, and I headed towards my real goal as the sounds of paper rustling and vampires scrambling to retrieve the copied documents ensued.

"Wh-what are you?" croaked an old voice.

I snorted. "I am me, as you are you. Are you corrupt? Am I? There is no give and take—rather an exchange that is made either internally or externally."

The woman shakily moved into the light in the castle's entryway. She smirked and held out her hand, but I raised my eyebrows and her smile dropped.

"Whatever and whoever I am connected to share my powers to a certain degree. At the moment, Ambrose is killing all who attack him and none can make a scratch on him."

The old female vampire snapped her fingers and a ragged wolf emerged from the shadows. It was in rough shape with a silver collar snapped around its neck. The wolf staggered out and the female vampire sneered, although it seemed forced. A strange light had appeared in her crimson eyes the longer she stared at me.

"If you can defeat me, he is yours and you will have full control over this coven."

I blinked and slammed my left foreleg's talons down on top of her. She crunched like a grasshopper and blood covered my talons.

"Ew," I said, then put more weight on that leg.

The elderly vampire's scream echoed and I felt a strange rush of power go through me.

Did she die? Who was she? What was her purpose here? Why did Elliot invite all these vampires to this kingdom of death and rot?