CHAPTER 1
SNOW GENTLY FALLS AROUND ME as I focus on my opponent. I grip my sword and grin at the sound of my leather gloves as they crunch in the cold. I exhale slowly, watching my breath in the cold winter air. I breathe in slowly, feeling the icy sting of the cold. I lunge at my opponent and slash downwards. He narrowly dodges my blade as it cuts a path in the snow. He quickly counters and brings his double edge long sword up. I lean back and can feel the rush of air from his blade as it sings by. Before I can react he brings his sword back down and I block his attack with the flat of my blade.
I push against my sword and cause my adversary to stumble back. I dash forward and stab straight at his chest. He knocks my blade aside and spins, slashing out as he does. My sword has been knocked too far to the left to counter in time. I move my sword back to the right, even though I know I won't be able to block. His sword digs into the upper part of my right arm and I grit my teeth as his blade cuts into me. I jump back and glance at my arm. The wound doesn't appear to be very serious; his blade only grazed my arm.
I look back up at my opponent and he rushes towards me before I even retake a fighting stance. He stabs at me and I deflect his blade with my sword, just as he did to me a moment before. Instead of spinning into a slash this as he did, I rush forward and hit his blade again. His sword flies out of his hand and skids across the snow covered ground. I bring my sword up, the tip of the blade at his throat.
"You're getting a lot better," I say with a grin.
"Yeah, but I still lost," John sighs.
John is my older brother, and unfortunately he's been pulled into the same world that I now call home. He's accepted that he's never going to return home, but he's still adjusting to a lifestyle of constant fighting. He's had a difficult time controlling his rare ability as a berserker, which is an ability known only to a few humans. I used to have the same ability, but it has been lost to me now for quite some time.
After a close brush with death, I was turned into a vampire. Now I too am coping with change. Now when I am fighting, my vision no longer changes and my strength no longer increases. But it's a small price to pay to be alive and with the person I have come to care deeply about. I have become very close to the vampire that turned me and those same feelings were her reason for turning me. One of the rules of being a vampire is that if a vampire turns someone that person must wish to be turned with their dying breath. Luna, the vampire that turned me, never asked me if I wanted to be turned. I also never asked her to turn me.
Luna broke one of the most sacred rules to the vampires. She turned me without asking me for my permission. Fortunately her father, Marcus, allowed the matter to resolve itself. Luna was worried that I would not forgive her for her actions, but in the end I thanked her.
"I think you're getting faster," John says picking his sword and brushing snow from the hilt.
"Maybe," I sigh as I look at my arm. "You still managed to score a hit on my arm though. You're definitely getting better."
"You going to be all right," John asks as he sheathes his sword.
"Yeah, I'll be fine," I say sheathing my sword as well.
I focus on the wound and it slowly begins to heal. After a few seconds there is no trace of the cut at all, except for the blood and the cut on my sleeve.
"I still wish that you would agree to use training swords," John says as we walk towards a fallen tree.
"Our enemies aren't going to use training swords," I say brushing the snow off a section of the tree. "I need to be ready when I go to Citadel to rescue Luna's mother. If that means I get cut a hundred times in order to be prepared then I'll do it."
"Ivan, you really need to stop being so hard on yourself," John says standing next to me. "It's been almost three months since we got here and you've done nothing but train."
"Because I want to be ready," I say sitting down and kicking the snow in front of me. "I would leave right now if I could."
"What about the rest of us then," John asks.
"You'd be here," I say bluntly.
"You can't be the hero all the time," John says.
"It's not about being a hero," I say. "It's about doing what's right, Victor has Luna's mother imprisoned."
"That's no reason to rush off alone," John says crossing his arms.
"You just don't get it," I sigh. "Luna has thought her mother was dead for years, I can't imagine how painful that must have been. Her entire family has thought she was dead."
"And the fact that it's Luna too, right," John asks with a grin.
"What's that suppose to mean," I ask.
"Come on," John says grinning a little wider. "I know that you like her."
"Yes, I do," I say standing up. "But I'm not doing this to impress her."
"Are you sure about that," John presses.
I turn and walk to a nearby tree without saying a single word. I lean against it and stare down at the snow. I don't want to wait for Marcus to give us the go ahead to rescue Elaina. I understand that he wants to minimize the bloodshed, but not letting us go is driving me crazy. I wonder if I could sneak out without anyone knowing or following me.
"You still didn't answer my question," John says walking up to me.
"I know," I say still staring at the snow. "If you want to keep pressing on the subject of my intentions and Luna, then you probably aren't going to get an answer."
"I don't like seeing you like this," John says. "You're not yourself lately."
"If by, myself, you mean the person that you knew before I disappeared, then yeah I'm not myself," I say without looking up.
John stands by me for a moment and then walks back to the training grounds. I understood exactly what he meant by not being myself lately, but I just don't like talking about Luna or her mother to him, or too much of anyone about anything lately. I know that it will be at least another two weeks or more before Marcus will allow us to travel back to Citadel to rescue his wife. I know that I could sneak out of here unnoticed, but what about several people? Luna will want to go, I'm sure of it. Scott will probably go with, just like all of our adventures. A sudden rustling noise above me causes me to look up. A large black dragon lands near the tree that I'm leaning on shaking snow loose from its branches.
"I thought that I might find you here," he says folding his wings.
Arrok is the dragon that I have a pact with. We will protect each other to the death if necessary. Although in a world that is as unstable as this, it pays to have someone that will watch your back, especially if that someone is a dragon.
"How did you know that I would be here," I ask.
"Because this is where you have been everyday for the last few months," Arrok says. "You are rarely seen at the palace and you are neglecting your urge to feed, this is not healthy for you."
"Yeah," I sigh. "I just don't know what's going on with me lately. I just feel numb all of the time."
"That's because of training in the snow for months on end," Arrok chuckles. "Come on."
"Where are we going," I ask as I climb onto Arrok's shoulders.
"We are going to go to someone that will help you with your poor outlook of things," Arrok says as he launches us into the air.
We quickly level off and fly towards the opening to the enormous...
