Having enough of playing on the defence. I shot forward at the masked person ready to fight until my last breath if I have to. I have people I need to protect, people I care about and since I was unable to protect my own blood family, I need to protect my new family even if it's the last thing I do.

Instantly I was upon them with the hunting knife by my side on the defence while I swung my sword horizontally towards their torso. They were quick, nearly as fast as me, as they jumped back with the tip of my sword on making a shallow scratch into their thick leather armour. But I didn't let up, using both my sword and knife I tried to land at least a solid hit onto them, but they were just too fast, either dodging my attacks completely or blocking and hitting them aside with their bow.

I bowed backwards as an arrow was shot at my face but quickly regained myself by twisting my body and spinning around, swinging my sword in a wide arch. My blade connected with a dull thud to my opponent's bow making us pause. I stared through the slits of the mask trying to figure out who was behind it while I felt them staring right back at me.

It only lasted a second before we went right back to exchanging blows. I dodged or blocked arrows somehow shot in the close vicinity that I kept with them while they dodged or parred my knife and sword with their bow. Not expecting it, they managed to land a heavy booted kick right to my chest that sent me skidding backwards.

"Stop holding back!" They shouted at me sounding annoyed. I wasn't able to determine the gender though because the mask muffled it too much.

I rubbed at my chest and I don't know why, but I started smiling. Much like when I was training with Galen, I was actually starting to have fun even though if I make a mistake it'll cost me my life.

"I'm sorry." I sincerely apologise knowing how annoying it is when the person you're fighting against isn't giving you their all. I breathed in and started threading mana into my blades. Fire flickered across my swords steel while my hunting knife started to turn black with a tribal picture of a wolf in silver appeared on the blade. The blade has also extended and fattened a bit while deadly serrations like wolf teeth made the knife look even more deadlier than it already was.

I felt fur brush along the inside of my skin as claws slipped out of the tips of my fingers. All of my teeth suddenly became sharper and, if it's even possible, all my senses felt like they were being heightened even further. I felt my muscles ripple like liquid steel while an animalistic growl rumbled from my chest that I never knew I could do.

I think everyone in the clearing stopped to look at me and I could smell the fear from all the humans around me, besides for those that had an artefact, and I revelled in it. My little demon that thirsted for blood that was inside me ever since I was changed by Mistress seemed to have pared up with the sudden predatory beast that has now also become a part of me. They were singing for blood.

"No more holding back right?" I asked my voice sounding a bit deeper and like a growl even to my own ears.

My opponent nodded at me and I swear I can scent excitement coming from them as they stood in a fighting stance. I felt their mana peak and I was surprised when flickers of fire started to twirl around them singeing the grass. Their bow suddenly expanded as black metal covered it and had multiple engravings of ruins appear on it too. Their arrows also changed, some tips became spirals while others split into twos or threes, but all had the silver tips changed into a black metal that I knew was a lot deadlier than just plain silver.

"Anon." I spoke lowly to him while opening back up our silent communication.

Alpha? He asked and I could also hear his excitement.

I'm not going to make you back out of this fight, but I need you to be careful. Those arrows are more dangerous than before. I can't lose you too. I told him seriously.

Don't worry about me alpha, I've got your back and I don't plan on dying today. Anon gave me a wolfish grin.

Then let's beat these Hunters now and finally go home.

You got it.

In almost perfect synchrony Anon and I ran at our masked opponent at the same time as they started shooting arrows that caught alight during their flight towards us. Using my own flaming sword, I easily battered them aside while Anon dodged them looking like a streak of silver and blue because of how fast he was moving.

I went for their feet with my sword while Anon jumped, jaw agape showing off his razor sharp teeth, going for their throat. I hissed in surprise as a wall of flame suddenly burst out around our opponent exploding in our facing and pushing us back. I rolled to my feet and quickly went back towards them having not been seriously injured except for a few burn marks on my forearms where I hand blocked my head. My long sleeve undershirt was now only covering my upper arms.

I dodged when three arrows came out of the wall of fire but quickly had to stop and drop to the ground flat on my stomach when I felt an attack come from behind me. I was shocked when somehow the same three arrows went over my head. I rolled to the side and flipped onto my feet before backing up four times as arrows impaled the ground right where I was.

I looked to Anon as I heard a pained howl and my heart stopped as an arrow pierced through his back left leg.

"Anon!" I couldn't help but shout as I ran to him blocking any more arrows from injuring him further. "Are you okay?" I asked.

I'm fine, can you pull it out please? He asked.

I nodded my head and with a quick tug pulled the spiralled tipped arrow from his leg making him howl again. I'm sorry. I apologised while at the same time having to push him and jump away as a rain of arrows fell upon us.

God damn I'm going to kill this guy! Anon growled and we attacked him again together.

I pulled mana into my hand as I ran and easily inserted it into the ground before pulling up bringing a large clump of ground with me that I threw at the masked Hunter. An arrow hit it and suddenly exploded, destroying it quickly and easily.

I put the flames out around my sword before placing more mana into it and making water spray out of it in a massive ball. We were finally able to put them on the defensive. The water ball was able to take out the wall of fire and Anon went ahead nearly being able to snap his teeth around their calf if they hadn't of jumped back just in time.

Using the water now on the ground I froze it and pulled out an ice spear to throw it at them as they continued to dodge Anon's attacks. They cried out as my spear managed to pierce right through their foot. They fell to the ground but quickly flipped backwards as Anon nearly had his claws into their chest.

The ice spear melted as flames wrapped around their injured foot but neither Anon nor I gave them enough time to recover. I appeared in front of them while swinging my hunting knife vertically up going for their exposed throat, but they were able to lower their head in time while jumping away, that it only caused a large, deep scratch over the mask and through a slit.

I growled lowly as pain pierced through my left forearm. As they were jumping backwards they had an arrow, which was now imbedded right through my arm. It stung and burned. I dropped my hunting knife by accident as my whole arm suddenly started feeling numb. Not willing to lose my knife or the power it was giving me. I dropped my sword and replaced it by picking up my knife.

Using the knife, I cut off the two ends of the arrow before pulling the remaining shaft out of my arm. I just had enough time to duck when an arrow headed for my head. Anon was still on the attack pushing the masked Hunter away but I could tell he was lagging. If his hind leg was as numb as my left arm was now, I'm surprised he's even moving as fast as he was.

Not about to give up yet placing mana into my feet I once again dug a clump of earth up from the ground before kicking it towards the masked Hunter. It hit them square in the side of the head sending them toppling to the side.

I was horrified by what I saw next.

As the masked Hunter was on the ground Anon took advantage and went for their throat but just as he was about to land the attack an arrow that came out of nowhere slid into his chest cavity sending the large wolf exploding backwards.

"Anon!" I cried out not thinking twice about running to him. "No! No! No!" I panicked as blood pooled out of the new wound staining his grey/blue fur red on the right side of his muscled chest.

"Come on Anon, stay with me." I ordered while placing my hands around the arrow trying to stop the blood flow. "Don't leave me! Don't leave me too! God damn it you promised me!"

I didn't know what to do. My brain was fuzzy and erratic while my own blood sounding through my ears deafened me. Stop the blood. Stop the blood. Keep it inside him and that'll do. That'll save him. It has to save him. What do I do? What do I do? It's not stopping!

Pain seared through my back but I barely felt it. I was concentrating too much on trying to keep Anon from bleeding out. Another pierce of pain in my right shoulder, but again I barely felt it. I froze when shattered light covered Anon's wolf form and when it died down there was Anon in his human form, naked, bleeding from both his chest and leg.

"Anon? Anon can you hear me?" I asked as my body quaked in fear. "A-A-Anon?" He looked up at me with his pale blue eyes and I could see them slightly glazing over. "Y-You're Pack Anon... you're my fa-family... you have to-to live... I can't-t l-lose you." I hiccupped, yet no tears fell from my eyes. I don't think I could anymore after so many years of being dry. Though I felt a stinging in my eyes that could be the start of them.

A soft smile graced over his handsome features. "I'm sorry Alpha." He breathed out and I felt a terrible pain rip through my chest making me cry out.

I felt like I was being ripped in two. There are no words to describe the loss of connection, of the bond, I felt with Anon. To lose yet another person I called family... am I cursed to learn how to love yet always have them be taken away from me?

"Snap out of it!" Mistress ordered as she suddenly stood beside me. "Wake up! You can save him."

"What?" I asked as her words finally drove in through my grief. I looked up at her and took notice of her usual pristine clothing and immaculate hair, but right at that moment blood speckled across her skin and clothes while her hair was in disarray. She looked dangerous and like the near-immortal demon she was created as three hundred years ago.

"You can save him by giving him your blood." She said her gold eyes shining. "It won't change him into a Nightwalker nor a mix between both, but it will make him near-immortal like us and save him. You have to hurry or he will die and you won't be able to bring him back."

I stared up at her in amazement before I quickly kicked into gear. I picked up my hunting knife and quickly slit up my left arm before pressing the overflowing gash to Anon's still lips.

"Come on... come on Anon... please." I begged both out loud and silently.

I gasped as the hand I placed over his frozen heart suddenly started beating again and I felt his chest rise and fall.

Oh thank god! Thank god! I gasped in my mind as relief filled me.

"That's enough. I'll protect him now. You have a fight to finish." Mistress stated placing a hand onto my shoulder. I licked up my own wound and it closed almost immediately except for the puncture wound made by the arrow, which wasn't going to heal any time soon.

"Thank you Mistress." I told her sincerely as I stood up.

Pain filled my back and shoulders and I realised that I had three arrows sticking out of me. Reaching behind me I pulled them out with barely a wince and dropped them to the ground. I turned around to find Galen holding off the masked Hunter, and I was surprised to see that he was actually losing. Arrows peppered his body and he was obviously lagging but I could also see that he had landed a few good blows on the masked Hunter because they had also slowed down.

I breathed in and filled my being with mana and slowly anger filled me. How dare they nearly take away one of the most important people in my life?

Within a second I was in front of Galen and blocking any of the masked Hunters attack with my hunting knife. "Go and rest Galen. I'll handle this now." I told him while not taking my eyes off of the Hunter. I heard him sigh softly and limp off.

Now it was only the masked Hunter and I facing off. I don't know what happened with Adelle or Lucas, Hawk and that other Hunter but I truly don't care. All my concentration is now on this Hunter that nearly took the life of someone I would call a brother.

"Shall we finish what we started?" I asked feeling all pain leave my body and a cold determination take its place.

The Hunter nodded and that started us over again. I pounced forward with my blackened hunting knife as the urge to tear this person apart had me in an animalistic rage.

Blow after blow we returned and struck each other with. Blood flowed from us both as their arrows managed to pierce me and my blade was able to slice them. Twisting and turning we parred, blocked dodged and attacked each other with a ferocity that was literally ripping up the ground. I twisted my body at the same time as squatting down dodging an arrow before kicking out my leg and sending the Hunter to the ground. Before they could react I was above them.

I don't know why I paused, but I did, and I stared right down into the slits in the mask. I was confused because I had paused long enough for them to somehow get me off of them but instead they dropped their arms to their sides, letting go of their bow and didn't fight when I brought down my knife imbedding it into their stomach before I could stop myself fully.

"Why?" I asked still straddling their body. Confusion made guilt and regret fill me even though my anger towards this person was still a viscous thing.

Instead of answering I felt them cough and I knew that blood was pooling up through their throat. I slid off of them and helped them to sit up slightly. I placed a hand to their mask with the intention of taking it off but one of their hands placed over my own stopped me.

"I... I h-hate Nightwalkers...." They gasped and I was still unable to tell if they were male or female because of the mask muffling their voice.

"Why?" I asked softly keeping my hand on their mask though I knew they didn't want me to take it off just yet.

"Th-They killed my... my family... r-raped my body and mind... m-made me watch... watch as they f-fed from my little sister..." They gasped out and I was horrified. My anger immediately vanished and nothing but sympathy and guilt wracked my heart. "They... they kept us... kept us at-at their cast-castle for years... but I-I was only able to esc-escape because of the H-Hunters... I-I had to leave... leave my little sister... sister behind... I knew they wouldn't kill her... be-because she was... she was a go-good girl an-and did as she was told... b-but I had a job to do first be-before I co-could save her... I had to... I had to infl-infiltrate a... a Nightwalker-er's est-estate.... What-what I wasn't expecting... expecting... was to fall in love with one... one of them..."

The Hunter gasped and stuttered through their speech as coughs wracked their body every now and then. My heart was beating and my brain clicked with unbearable pain, almost as painful as nearly losing Anon, swept through me.

"No... please no..." I pleaded as the Hunter's hand fell from my own. I was terrified. Denial filled my being yet it didn't stop my hand from moving on its own and lifting the mask.

Brown hair sticky with sweat spilled out over my arm where I was holding her up as a familiar face, ghostly pale, covered in sweat and blood that dribbled from her own mouth came into the light as I dropped the mask to the ground with a dull thud.

"Why?" I breathed feeling like my heart was being ripped out. Have I not endured enough pain and suffering in my life time? Why are you going to make me live with this? Why?

"Sylvia... why?" I sobbed as four hundred years were not enough time to totally dry out my tears that the knowledge of me having killed my first ever friend destroyed me.

"I... I'm sorry for doing this... this to you..." Sylvia apologised as familiar large eyes stared up at me partially glazed over. "I'm sorry... my lady."

A gasp whispered through the air making me look up with my tear blurred eyes to see Athena standing a bit away. Her grey eyes were wider than they have ever been before as she stared down at the woman in my arms. "Sylvy?" She asked with familiarity.

"Thena..." Sylvia breathed looking at the now crying child. "You've grown so beautifully..." She smiled, though only barely. "If you're here... I'm assuming my lady... my lady has shown you how... how good a Night-Nightwalker can be... like she has shown to me... I-I'm glad it was... it was my lady who saved... saved you..."

Athena dropped to her knees and wrapped her arms around Sylvia's lax form in my arms. The connection suddenly formed in my brain and I felt like I was going to vomit. Not only have I killed the first person to ever love me, the first person that became a friend, yet now I've killed a sister and a protector.

Have I done something during my existence to deserve this? Was it before my time that something happened to curse me like this? Why is this happening? I'm a murderer... a killer... a monster...

I felt so cold, so distant as I looked at the crying girl who was hugging her older sister she believed was already dead, who she now can blame me for actually killing her. I nearly got Anon killed, I watched my parents get killed, I just killed my friend... anyone that ever gets close to me is going to get hurt, either by me or because of me.

"I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry." I sobbed hating myself more and more as Sylvia's blood stained my hands and my soul.

"Please stop my lady..." Sylvia breathed but I could no longer look at her. "Please... I still love you... I don't... I don't blame you for this..."

"Why? How can't you? You could have been with your sister again! You-you-you could have-!" I couldn't even finish as my throat closed up. I could only shake my head.

Thin arms wrapped around my neck surprising me. Athena was hugging me. Her wet face pressed into my neck. "You're good... you're good... you're not like the others..." She cried into me but it was just making me feel worse.

If I wasn't like the other's then why have I just killed my friend? Your sister? I wanted to ask, but nothing could get through my throat.

"My lady..." Sylvia breathed and I could feel the last of her mana fading quickly along with her blood that was slowing down to a dribble, leaking out of her wound.

I looked down at her as Athena let go of me and placed trembling hands around her older sisters no longer moving one.

"Yes?" I asked hoarsely.

"I-I believe... this-this counts... counts as the... as the next time w-we meet..." She breathed weakly.

I closed my eyes and shook my head slowly before opening my mouth to tell her what she wants to know. "My name... my name is Vaden."