Quest

Chapter 3

"We've gotta move!" Luke shouted and Dean looked at him as if he was crazy.

"Are you mad? We can't go out there! We'll be torn to pieces!"

"We're in a broken house and just as exposed as we would be out there. Grab your weapons because we have to go!"

Chase didn't hesitate and rose to his full height, the bomb and matches clutched in his hand. Gale and Dean shook their heads, but they knew that they had to go. They rose as well, which left only Luna and Ashley on the floor.

"Come on Ash." Chase pleaded. "Just think! After the battle, we can get a new house and you'll have your very own healing business."

Ashley smiled in response to these words and rose as Luke managed to get Luna on her feet. Then all reaction turned to instinct as the group took off into the fight.

A wolf came leaping at them, but the group ducked and the attacker went flying overhead into another group of battling wolves and vampires. Another one jumped at them seconds later and Ashley buried the broom handle in its side. The werewolf hissed and backed away.

"Nice shot!" yelled Chase.

"Atta girl!" said Dean.

Ashley grinned at the compliments, but her expression quickly returned to its serious look as she refocused on the fight.

A vampire ripped itself away from a throng of fighters and took off after the group. Luna screamed and Chase lit the string from the bomb and threw it. It struck the ground at the vampire's feet and exploded into flames. The vampire writhed in the fire, screeching in anger and pain as it backed away into a nearby pond.

The group kept running until they ran out of open space. No one was pursuing them, but there was no more village to run to.

"Where are we going to go?" asked Luke and everyone shook their heads. No one knew.

"Into the forest." Chase said and everyone looked at him as if he were mad.

"Are you insane?" gasped Dean and Chase smiled apologetically.

"Maybe a little bit." He admitted. "But not entirely. Everyone is out here in the fight, so the forest will be empty and probably the safest at this point in time."

No one had any better ideas, so the group quickly rushed to the forest.

It was eerily silent in the forest and very dark. The darkness seemed to envelop the group within a blanket of impenetrable fog. Ashley walked close to Dean and Luke held Luna's hand tightly within his own.

"I think...I think we're in the clear." Gale said quietly. As soon as these words left his lips, there was a flash of white and Gale was suddenly lying on the ground, his bread knife laying on the ground a few metres away.

Ashley screamed as the same happened to Dean and nearly to Luke and Chase. Six pale figures stepped out of the darkness, their white skin seeming to glow. Ashley whimpered and Luna clutched her bow more steadily, however she knew there wasn't much hope in the weapon. The arrows had stone heads, but weren't strong enough to cause any serious harm to a vampire's stone-like skin. The arrows were enough to stun a vampire, but Luna knew that the coven would converge on her before she actually got in a shot.

"Hey look, new meat." Hissed a redheaded girl and the rest of the coven grinned and laughed.

"Dibs on the dark haired girl."

"I want the redheaded boy."

"Give me blondie."

"Suits me as long as I get the cute one. I might keep him around for a while."

"Shut up." Snapped the redheaded vampire who had spoken first. "You wait for my orders."

The rest of the coven flinched at her words and took a step back from the group.

Luna took a deep breath and forced herself not to panic. They would find a way out of here; they had to. There was no way that her family was going to go down to these vampires, not after everything they'd been through together. No way.

"I drink first. They rest of you follow suit." Ordered the red-haired vampire. She was clearly the coven leader as she held obvious authority over the others. Luna noticed a strange tattoo that looked like a calligraphy capital 'V' on the girl's forehead, and then noticed that every vampire in this group had one just like it on some other part of their face.

The vampires varied in height, width, build, and overall appearance. It was obvious that they weren't all actually biologically related.

"They're like us. They're just a group of people that protect each other like a family. Just like us." Luna thought, but quickly pushed this thought out of her mind.

There were only two boys in the group. One easily cleared six feet with black, chin-length hair and amber eyes. He stood with his back against a tree and his arms crossed over his chest looking completely relaxed with the situation before him. His tattoo was directly under his right eye, and Luna flinched just thinking about how painful it would have been to get it. The vampire met her gaze for a single second, and flashed her a smirk. She turned away in disgust.

The other male had platinum blonde hair that stuck up in spikes. His tattoo was between his left eye and his ear, the point reaching the corner of his eye. Not as painful a location as the first male, but painful all the same. The other four members were females of varying heights and appearances. The girl who Luna had assumed was the leader had flaming red curls and eyes as grey and cold as stone. A second blonde hair that had the appearance of spun gold, and eyes that were almost neon blue. She had a defensive stance beside the leader, and Luna assumed that she was second in command. The top corners of the 'V's of both girls' tattoos lined up with their eyes, while the bottom point descended to the centre of their noses. They had clearly gotten them to match. Perhaps they were sisters?

Luna's eyes shifted again to rest on the final two members. Of the coven members, the final two vampires seemed almost out of place. One had black hair with dark green eyes. The final girl had jet black hair with scarlet streaks and her eyes were cold. They were dark amber, more of a metallic black really. Both girls' tattoos were on their foreheads right in the centre. The tattoos lined up with the bridges of their noses, but didn't quite touch. Luna knew just from the appearances of these vampires that they weren't to be messed with, and that they wouldn't be defeated by a few stone arrows.

The coven began to move in on the red haired girl's command, and Luna closed her eyes. Suddenly, there was a screech and her eyes opened wide, for it sounded like Ashley. However it wasn't Ashley, but instead the blonde vampire who had seemed like the second in command. She was in the air, held there by a vampire with short black hair who Luna recognised as the one who had come to warn them of the blood moon. She looked around to find that a surrounding coven was in full battle mode, and that the tattooed coven was already retreating. The dark haired male with the tattoo under his eye hissed and barred his fangs, but left as soon as another vampire stepped in front of the group.

This male was over six feet as well, with light brown hair. Luna couldn't yet see his face, but she knew that only one man had power over a coven the way this one did. The man straightened up and turned to face the group. Luna stifled a gasp as his tawny eyes locked on hers and he cocked his head slightly to the side. She had heard myths, legends, and countless tales of the man in front of her, but had never imagined that they'd ever meet face to face.

"My apologies for that." Spoke the telepathic voice of Jasper Hawthorn. "We did not expect to have visitors at this time of night."