IZEL
That couldn't have been my imagination. But real or imagined, Raya was snatched away again, and before I could even chase after her, six vampires suddenly emerged from the shadows of the forest.
No. They couldn't have come after I had gotten Raya? They had to come before I had a chance to save her, and now I feared I wouldn't get another chance to. Another figure emerged, but it didn't group up with the other six. Instead, it went in the direction that the vampire that had taken Raya went.
Did it want to share Raya? I shook my head, ridding my mind of the thoughts and focusing on the vampires creeping toward Alek and me. There were six vampires, six to two. How fun.
My heartbeat quickened, not from fear, but from anticipation. My adrenaline kicked in, preparing for the fight. I feared I wouldn't be able to get to Raya in time and that thought broke me inside, but I had to try. I had to.
They all came sped toward us at the same time. One came directly for my neck and I just managed to dodge it but instead, it grabbed my hair. The reason I kept my hair short in the first place was to avoid this, but despite how short it was the vampire still managed to get a good grip on the curls, its nails digging into my scalp.
I raised my sword, intending to swipe my arm back and slash it so it released me, but then another vampire came, grabbing and twisting my wrist until I released my sword. The vampire holding my hair pulled me back, forcing me to the ground before the one that made me release my sword kneeled against my arm and brought its mouth to my neck, revealing its fangs.
It was going to drink me alive.
I used my free hand to reach for the holster strapped around my thigh. The vampire's icy breath chilled my skin and I kicked ruthlessly, but then a third vampire came and held my legs to the ground. I groaned as the vampire's fangs neared my skin but then my hand finally found the hilt of my dagger and, without hesitation, I unsheathed it and slammed the dagger into the head of the vampire right before it dug its teeth into my skin.
The vampire collapsed against me but I ignored its weight and warm blood against me, knowing I still had two vampires to deal with. I dug my dagger into the hand of the vampire holding my hair and it released me with a shriek. I shoved the dead vampire off of me and sat up, throwing the dagger at the vampire by my legs.
It dodged, but before it could retaliate I leaned to the side—since my legs were still pinned—reached my arms out and managed to grab my sword before swinging it hard behind me. The thump on the ground told me I had gotten rid of the second vampire.
Two down, one to go.
I lunged my sword forward, aiming for the heart of the third and final vampire. It swiftly dodged my attack, angling itself to the side, however its hold on my legs loosened and I managed to pull them out of its grasp. I made to stand but it was faster than me and it tackled me to the ground, knocking the air out of my lungs in the process. It brought its knees to my stomach, making it harder for me to regain the air I lost.
It was on top of me but I managed to grab the sword I lost grip of just before the vampire's cold fingers could wrap around my neck. I pierced the vampire's side before kicking it off of me and before it got a chance to heal from the cut, I jumped to my feet, gripped the hilt of my sword with two hands and thrust it down into its chest and through the heart.
When it stilled, I exhaled, panting. I retrieved my sword when I heard a desperate gasp of air from behind me. My head whipped back and my heart lurched in my chest. Aleksander had taken down two vampires, but the one left had its hands around his neck, choking him against a tree.
Without a second thought, I ran toward him. I sheathed my sword before picking up my dagger on the way and hurling it toward the vampire, puncturing its side. Alek used that opportunity to escape its hold, knocking its arms down from around his neck before gripping the dagger and pushing it further into the vampire before suddenly extracting it and shoving it into its chest instead.
"Thanks," Alek managed between deep breaths when I reached him. I only nodded.
We retrieved and cleaned our weapons before searching around the forest, looking for Raya or any other child that may have survived, but we failed to find anything. We only found dead bodies of children, but none were Raya's, and I wasn't sure whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
My heart felt heavy as we made our way back to the village, my eyes burning.
"Izel," I heard Raya's mother call and whatever resolve I had broke and I failed to hold in my tears as I turned to her and—
My sob was cut short when I saw who she had in her arms.
"Raya?!" I scratched my eyes, making sure I wasn't seeing things. I wasn't, she was there.
Her mother put her down and then she ran towards me, wrapping her tiny arms around me.
"What happened?" I asked her mother as I held Raya.
"I don't know," her mother admitted with a grateful, relieved expression. "She just suddenly ran out from the forest." She pointed to the side Raya ran out from, and I noted how that was the opposite side from where Alek and I had come out from. "I thought I would see you coming from behind her but, she was all alone and not harmed at all."
I looked at Raya confused, "did you—did you fight the—?"
My words were cut off by her giggle. "Don't be silly Izel, of course I didn't."
It was an unrealistic thought, I know, but that was all I could come up with. "Then what happened?"
"An awesome, unbeatable, better fighter than you saved me." Seeing my expression, she added timidly, "he told me to say that."
My brows only creased further. Who in their right mind would tell her to say such a thing?
"I was grabbed by a vampire," she continued, "and before it drank my blood, he jumped from the tree and took it out. He then led me to you, but I was grabbed before I reached you and he chased after me and saved me again. He saved me double times," she held up two fingers.
"Who?" I asked. "Who saved you double times?"
"Wait, he told me to say something else... umm," she thought, trying to recall the information. "Oh! He said to tell you that you were an ugly crier and to call you Izzy. So he said: 'you're an ugly crier, Izzy.' Like that."
Izzy?
Only one person called me Izzy.
One.
I looked up at Alek and he was just as dumbstruck and confused as I was. The person I hated the most just saved one of the people I loved the most.
I—I hated him even more now!
He was trying to get under my skin again, to make it harder for me to kill him because he saved her. He was trying to make me feel like I owed him something. Damn him. I hated how he always managed to manipulate my emotions, but I couldn't help but feel grateful.
He saved her.
The Masked Slayer saved Raya, a human.
Why?
VOCÊ ESTÁ LENDO
Beyond The Fangs
FantasiaThere's a war and the humans are losing. From a young age, Izel had only had herself to rely on and she became a Vanquisher to make sure she never needed anyone else to protect her because she could protect herself. Vanquishers kill vampires. Vampi...
