Eternity is Only A Lifetime Away

Rescue and Realisation

Tristan pulled Aleka into his arms and her feet soon left the ground as the vampire flew them high above the trees and amongst the stars, gliding almost majestically to the dark castle that loomed in the distance. Aleka focused her mind on the task at hand, feeling the ancient warrior instincts spring to life from the very depths of her soul and heart. The adrenaline pounded and when she looked down from the petrifying height, she saw the rebellion at work; the young vampires, werewolves, demons, witches and woodland creatures fighting with all of their might. Even if they didn’t take Sullivan tonight, they had the power and the chance to severely decrease the Lord’s troops, leaving him more vulnerable to a direct attack over the coming nights and weeks.

“Are you ready?” Tristan asked as he began the descent to a small open window.

“Bring it on is all I have to say.” The determined warrior replied, her heart already pounding, her body prepared to fight until the death if that was necessary. Right now though, she was intent on rescuing her best friend from a world where she didn’t belong.

Aleka tumble rolled into the stone corridor where they landed and jumped to her feet in impressive speed. Tristan stood right behind her as they assessed their location and checked for the enemy. “We appear to be in the servant quarters. He is probably using them to keep his army strong and full.” Tristan said in a dark voice that Aleka was not familiar to.

“You mean his servants are human?” The slow affirming nod from the glaring vampire served as more than a satisfying reply for her and her anger only grew. “The sick monster. I swear, if I get the chance, I’m going to rip his throat out and watch him burn.” The stake in her hand she clutched with determination and Tristan had to place his icy hand on her shoulder to calm her down.

“Remember, we are here to rescue Georgie before it is too late. You must remain calm and channel your anger into battle. Sullivan can wait for another time.”

“Then I’m going to take down every vampire that stands in my way. Unless they’re one of ours. Then I’ll just knock them out for standing in my way.” Tristan smirked at the back of the young warrior, impressed by her determination and confidence, though he was amused by how her humour peeked through. Part of him was concerned for her though; did she fully understand the danger they were in now? The slightest of slips could mean death for them both, and it wouldn’t be pleasant.

At that moment, the stampede of footsteps caught their attention and Aleka tensed up, prepared for battle as four vampires came around the candlelit corner, fangs bared and blood covering their archaic outfits from different eras of life. With a loud battle cry, she sprung to life, Tristan not far behind her. She took on the smallest one first, easing herself into the fight with a smooth flying kick to his jaw before sending a series of high speed punches to his gut. Another one grabbed her hair, trying to yank her head to the side to get a nice look at the veins beneath the pale skin of her slender neck, but Tristan dug newly formed talons into his back, literally dragging the rotting blood from his once brother and pulling him away from the focused warrior, who didn’t allow the attack to faze her, immediately head-butting the next vampire to try and take her on, slamming a stake into her first victim of the evening, smirking almost sadistically as he roared and turned to ash before her darkening eyes.

When in battle it was almost like something possessed Aleka. When fighting vampires she couldn’t remember the basic bits of her life, like her days as a student of the classics. Her family, friends and home faded from her mind and instead were replaced with knowledge of skilled attacks, paralysing punches and knock out kicks. Her body moved in ways that she couldn’t recall once she returned to ‘normal’ Aleka mode. If she was asked randomly to re-enact one of her fights from tonight, she’d only be able to fake it, invent the moves she’d pulled and hope that it all looked realistic. Before discovering the hidden truth about her ancestry, Aleka had never been a violent person, often shying away from anything that held any potential risks. These days she was almost the complete opposite and she had to keep reminding herself sometimes that she wasn’t invincible or immortal. If she dodged the wrong way or acted a little too late, she could die. Tristan and Kaleb, they could recover from a simple stab wound to the side, but if it was Aleka, then there was every chance that she’d never survive it. Her unique blood could help with healing, yes, but not from fatal wounds; the vampiric blood that mingled with her mortality wasn’t strong enough for that.