Call Of The Dark

Emma was surrounded by two rogues. She looked to her left and then right. Magnus and Lazarus weren't there whereas Olya was lying unconscious. There was blood on her arms and head and it trickled down on the snow making it crimson. The fire had reduced to embers. The last log caved in and sent a flurry of fiery plumes in the air.

The two rogues were shifters. They hissed as they came near her from the shadows beneath the trees. So these weren't rabbits. Her heart thundered in her chest as she saw their elongated fangs and claws. All of a sudden, another rogue jumped in between them. A vampire. He sniffed the air and then sharply turned his head to look at Olya.

"I think you are here for me," Emma spat.

The vampire turned his head. His maniac gaze settled over her and he licked his lips. "That's right. We have come for you," he said in a gravelly voice. "You are wanted by someone very important."

Suddenly, Emma turned back and bolted in the opposite direction. She jumped over the tent and rushed outside the thicket. She had to draw them away from Olya. She was injured and Emma was scared that if the vampire scented her blood, he would latch onto her. Where the hell were Magnus and Lazarus?

The vampire leapt in the air as the shifters shifted and turned into gray wolves. They leapt high in the air and came to land right in front of Emma. Emma looked to her right and dizziness swamped her head. She tumbled a little but shook her head. Her vision became blurry and that was the last thing she needed. Somehow, she managed to get up and bolted in another direction when a heavy hand came on her cheeks and sent her flying in the snow.

Emma shrieked. "Lazarus!" She had gone to land some ten feet away.

The vampire was standing right in front of her the next moment. He grasped her hair and yanked her hair back. "If you don't come with us nicely," he hissed. "I am going to drag you all the way to my leader."

Emma cried. "Leave me!"

He licked his lips. "Never. You have a heavy bounty on you. We would be rich by a trunk of gold coins and so—" he yanked her up. "We can't ever leave you, Emma."

Panic slithered down her spine in a cold icy wave. How did they know her name? her gaze drifted to Olya who was still unconscious. In the distance, she heard more screams.

One of the wolves shifted back. "Let us go!" he snapped. "We don't have time for this, Gerr!"

Gerr snapped his fangs. "It's been long since I have tasted blood like hers."

Emma frowned. What did he mean by blood like hers?

Gerr brought his neck near her nape and she stiffened. "There is no harm in drinking a little, is there?" he said greedily. "Her blood is so… intoxicating. It is like… elixir."

"Don't be mad Gerr," the shifter said in irritation. "We don't have the time. The Lords are busy battling others. This is the time we betterl take her!"

But Gerr was in a different place. He took a long sniff of her. "You don't understand, ass!" he growled. "She is— elixir."

"P-please…" she cried.

He was about to sink his fangs in her to draw her blood when a loud thud made him snap his head behind him.

The shifter was lying dead and the other wolf had run away.

"L-Lazarus…" Emma's weak voice called him.

"Leave the girl," he growled menacingly.

Gerr pushed her down and now she was on her hands and knees, trying to crawl towards him.

A muscle in his jaw feathered when he saw how pale she was and her expressions were stricken.

"Emma!" he called her as if to assure her that he was here.

After he had tucked Emma in the fur and made sure that she was well covered so that she didn't feel cold, he had gone out to have his dinner. Both he and Magnus had gone to hunt for deer for fresh blood. When they returned, they gave some to Olya as well. They all were about to go to sleep, when he heard grunts on the side. The next instant, about six rogues jumped out and attacked them.

Magnus hurried Olya inside the tent and asked her to remain inside while Lazarus tackled the rogues. He would trace behind them and pierce his blade. Or he would lift them up and rip them to pieces with a roar. He was getting furious about the rogue problem. He knew that they would attack in numbers if they had to take him down, but they didn't know what he was.

He ripped two of them with his bare hands with a bellow to the sky. Suddenly, he saw one of them going towards Emma's tent. He traced to him and caught him by his neck. The shifter tried to shift but Lazarus snapped his neck before he could. He dropped him on the ground and spun to face other rogues. A few more had joined in and Magnus had come out to fight with his brother.

It was odd to notice that most of them were fighting with Lazarus. In his frenzy, he fought with them furiously, chasing them away about a hundred meters away from Emma, but little did he know that these shifters were just a decoy.

As soon as he had chased them, more came out. Both he and Magnus were shocked to see the sheer number that had attacked them. He must have killed at least ten of them when he heard Emma's cry. "Lazarus!"

The next instant, Lazarus traced to where she was and found her in the grasp of a vampire. His vision turned red. The vampire was bathed in crimson. "Leave her or I am going to make sure that you are mutilated to the extent that every rogue in this world trembles."