The Alpha King's Wrath

46 Go!

Excitement propels me down the path to the guard checkpoint at the base of the palace grounds where Willow and Kane are waiting. The open hillside edged by forest on either side gives a grand view of the palace on its slight hill top but at the moment feels like a football field I need to cross to see my friends. Chris' warning about people watching me and trying to calm down barely registers but I know he's right. Reigning in my enthusiasm is hard though; in such a short time, I grew quite close to Willow and knowing she's here early lifts my spirits higher.

I spot her standing by her hulk of a mate, just outside of their truck. Kane in truth is just a bit smaller than Chris but has the same powerful, muscular build and towering height made all the more noticeable next to Willow and her slight build. As always, her long blonde hair is down in waves, blowing around thanks to the wind, and her pale complexion looks all the more ghostly against the snowy background.

Ember stirs in me, her agitation interrupts my own excitement, making me take stock of who else is around. There are basically two groups of people, Willow and Kane, who are surrounded by Damon, Derek, Mack, and Shoen and a couple of place guards, and another ring of guards with the two rogues and children.

A sense of urgent dread washes over me, warning that I'm missing something... something big. My spine stiffens and I follow Willow's distracted gaze as she wanders away from her mate and heads towards the little girl. The moment my eyes land on the child I know something is terribly wrong.

The energy hiding from within both children is sickening. My heart begins to race as I try to make sense of what is happening. They aren't rogues and don't have the oily feeling of bad rogues but instead a rotting taint.

"Derek!" I scream, pointing at the little girl that Willow's too close to. I'm too far with too many people in between to get to her in time.

In an instant, chaos erupts. Shrill screams fill the air, not only from the two inhuman things pretending to be children but also from unseen places around us. My hand is on my blade at the middle of my lower back and eyes lock on the thing as it morphs in front of us.

Willow screams as its fingers elongate into jagged black claws and sharp, needle-like teeth peek out from it's snarling mouth as its soulless black eyes look past me to Chris before focusing once more on Willow. With an inhuman screech, it launches itself into the air, arms poised to drive it's claws into the petrified woman.

The demon girl is so focused on it's terrified target, it never sees Derek's attack that severs it's head with his hefty dagger. While the girl attacks Willow, the boy manages to kill a palace guard and latches on to Derek's back. Several slashes from Mack with her daggers finally kills the unfamiliar beast.

"Get out of here!" Chris calls, having caught up to me. He scans the area before pushing me towards the palace. "Go!"

"But the things-"

Chris grabs my arm to pull me to face him, golden-green eyes ablaze with intensity. "You don't fight, not this time. Run," he growls, releasing me before running into the chaos below.

More rotten children start to appear. Their bodies are grotesque perversions of a child, with sickly pale grey skin covered in black veins, clawed fingers, black eyes and blackened mouths full of demonic teeth. Screams ring out as the things throw themselves at whoever is closest, clawing, biting, and shredding flesh and bone alike.

One of the women falls as a child rips out her throat, the other woman stands frozen looking around like she's in a trance.

'GO!' Chris yells at me.

I make a move towards the palace but stop dead just a few feet further. Hidden in some brush halfway between the palace and where I stand are more of those things. Opening myself to the energy around us, I feel them all converging on us.