S I X T Y-E I G H T

After Zoe got Sage's collar off, all four of them grouped to come up with a plan. It was tense and remained indecisive for a while. The only thing that kept Iris from bursting with frustration and stress was Kai's hand squeezing his with comfort.

It took a few more minutes of disagreeing and agreeing until they finally settled on a partial plan.

"We have a lot of ground to cover, so we have to split up. I presume you two want to stay together?" Zoe pointed at Iris and Kai who glanced at each other and nodded. "Alright. Here." Zoe carefully handed Iris the dagger. "You two have to be cautious. Kai, you're still on the Queen's radar. Gather as many vampires as you can, you'll know who my followers are when you see them. Sage and I will do the same. We'll regroup by the shed I talked about. Got it?"

Everyone nodded to show they understood and Zoe took a deep breath.

"Let's go."

They all split up. Zoe and Sage went their separate ways but Iris and Kai stayed together. They ran back to the training building and snuck around the back. Like Zoe had suspected, two Vamps were pacing around the site where they previously were attacked.

Kai peeked around the building, narrowing his eyes, observing their actions. The Vamps didn't seem to be following a pattern, they simply glanced in every direction, fangs ready. He sighed and pressed his back against the wall.

Iris stared up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Well?"

"I say we should run to an empty area. They'll notice and follow, but at least we can safely get rid of them without catching other's attention."

Iris nodded and stepped closer to Kai. "Okay."

Kai placed his hands on Iris's waist but paused to give him a quizzical look.

"You're agreeing rather quickly," he said observantly, "you don't want to add anything?"

"I trust your instincts," was all Iris responded with.

Kai shrugged one shoulder, taking that as a good answer. He gripped Iris more securely before taking a deep breath.

The familiar rush of the wind whipped through Iris's hair and briefly stole the air out of his lungs. Comparing Kai's travel with Sage's...it was safe to say Iris favored Kai's the most. He was fast but handled Iris gently. He didn't stop abruptly like Sage did, but slowed down just before.

They stopped behind the stables near two trees. Kai made sure to keep Iris from seeing inside because he wasn't sure how he'd handle seeing all the innocent horses slaughter and drained of their blood. Kai had noticed when he and Zoe were coming back from the shed. If it made him frown and sick, it was sure to make Iris react much worse.

Kai quickly looked to his left when he heard low chuckles. Two Vamps appeared right beside him. One was grinning while the other attacked right away.

He leaped at Kai, fangs protruding from his mouth (two on the top, two on the bottom) and with his fingers curled to favor his long nails.

Kai dodged the Vamp's hand when he sprung it out in an attempt to claw him. Kai reached out, clutching onto his arm and swept his leg out. He bent to Vamp's leg, causing him to trip forward. While his body was nearly parallel to the ground, Kai grabbed the Vamp's and twisted.

A sharp crack was heard before the Vamp's body hit the ground with a thud. Kai glanced behind his shoulder to see the other Vamp spring into action. He was kneeling beside the Vamp as he watched the other charge at him. Instead of standing up and bracing himself, he smirked.

Before the other Vamp got even a foot closer to Kai, he suddenly halted dead in his tracks, blood spluttering out of his mouth. He let out a strained groan as a sharp object plunged deeper through his back, making its way through his stomach until the tip of a dagger was sticking through his front side.

Red, sparkling embers fluttered from the wound. A slight sizzling noise was heard before the dagger was forcefully ripped out of the Vamp. He stared blankly ahead, lifeless, before falling to the side. Black veins had crawled up his neck and stopped just below his jaw. There was no doubt the rest of his skin was covered in the same design.

Kai hummed shortly while he gazed up at Iris, a smirk on his lips. Iris rolled his eyes at him.

"What?"

"Nothing." Kai stood and watched Iris walked over to the other Vamp. He didn't say anything while he stabbed him in the back, securing the kill. "You're just really hot."

Iris sighed and wiped the blood of the dagger. "This is not the time, Kai." His voice was unamused but his small smile said otherwise.

When they were sure they weren't followed by any other Vamp, Kai returned to holding onto Iris's waist. There was nothing in the world Kai wanted more than to simply hold onto Iris forever. He wished he wasn't doing it for the reason he was now, but he certainly made the most out of what he could get.

"To the villages we go," Kai mumbled. He noticed the dread in Iris's eyes before it was masked with determination. Iris nodded and held onto Kai.

"To the villages."

***

The last thing Iris wanted to do is lose all hope in winning the miniature war. To lose faith in not only himself but in the vampires so courageously fighting alongside them, the people of Vridora, humans.

When Kai and Iris got to the first village, it could hardly classify as one anymore. Every building had been shaved down by the fire or was still burning. Nearly everything had become tarnished rubble. Every flag had been ripped off its pole and was trampled on, burnt or shredded. The ground was peppered in gold and black fabric. The gold shined pathetically, sadly, when snippets of the moonlight caught them.

Iris wished the damaged architecture was the worse thing he witnessed. But it was not.

He covered his mouth at the sight of his Kingdom falling into ruins. It pained his heart to see his home damaged, threatened, dying. It made him sick thinking about all the deaths and the agony his people were continuing to go through and seeing in right in front of his eyes.

He and Kai had stopped in between two houses. Iris couldn't make it out of the alley. The site froze him to the ground and made his blood run cold, and he was only looking at a fraction of the madness that swept through their first village.

Kai watched Iris closely. It was his first time seeing the disruption up closed, too, but he was sure Iris felt the pain much more than he did. Kai did ache for Vridora. He shared the anger and the sadness with the people. It was his home, too.

Iris suddenly turned his body away from seeing the streets packed with dead bodies and faced the wall to his left. Kai put his hand on Iris's shoulder and gently squeezed it.

"Iris, we have to move. Find the rest. I know it's hard but we must keep moving."

Iris nodded slowly, though he didn't move. Kai sighed softly through his nose and shuffled to stand next to Iris.

He was going to try and say something comforting, even though this time he was finding it hard to, but Iris suddenly picked his head up and nodded again.

"Okay," he said, swallowing down his emotions, "okay."

Kai squeezed Iris's shoulder again before letting his hand fall to his. They both look down as Kai intertwined their fingers.

"It'll be alright." Kai looked up at the same time Iris did. The flames that continued to burn in the house behind Kai illuminated Iris's eyes, making them glossy. "What falls can always be rebuilt."

Iris closed his eyes and let out a deep sigh. It was heavy, like every doubt and worry left his system through his exhale. When he opened his eyes, they held a focused gaze once again.

He nodded and clutched Kai's hand when he went to let go. Kai raised a brow but it was ignored as Iris started walking towards the streets.

Hand in hand, they walked through the first village of Vridora. It took all his will power, but Iris managed to make it through without staring too long at every dead body he came across.

Besides the whispering and crackle of the fires yet to be extinguished, it was silent. The yelling and screams came from the next village, and the one after that, and the fourth village. Others must have swept by to either kill off those who were weeping in the shadows or to help them.

It became clear that Annesa's army started at the first village and worked backward until the fighting took place near the outskirts of the villages and the border. She sent only a few to sneak into the Kingdom and settle right in the center. Once they made their move and the attention was focused on the first village, others started flooding in and attacking the second, then the third, and finally the last, where Vridora's guards were successfully protecting.

The third village wasn't as bad as the first two. Iris and Kai found that most of the guards were huddled there. Those who were injured and too exhausted to continue. Dead or alive, human blood did provide sufficient energy, but the guards quickly found that most of the slain humans were already empty when they got to them.

Unlike normal vampires, Vamps didn't have a limit for how much blood they could consume, or rather, didn't have such a short limit.

There were also quite a lot of citizens. The vampires helped the humans and the humans aided the vampires. The yelling was either from vampires giving orders or the natural occurrence of bickering between the vampires and humans. Iris had almost forgotten how stubborn his Kingdom actually was. He knew a lot in Vridora would risk their lives for their home then let it be taken by the mutated vampires.

He got to see that take place eventually when they progressed further.

"I told you!"

Iris and Kai's attention were piqued when a harsh whisper rose about the small chatter. Along with the slap that followed the whisper.

"Ow!"

"I told you he was alive."

The male's words made the voices of others multiply. Almost all heads turned in their directions. Eyes widened and mouths were left ajar.

Iris noticed some were glancing at their hands which were still intertwined, but he couldn't care less.

Suddenly, a door opened to a house on their left and a woman stepped out. Parts of her shirt was ripped, revealing red-tinted skin. Her boots were muddy and her pants were stained with blood. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail with a rubber band that stayed surprisingly loyal and kept her frizzy hair in place. She stepped out and scoffed as she looked at the two.

"Kai," she said in a low tone, "you crazy bastard."

Kai let go of Iris's hand when the woman walked up for a hung. He patted her shoulder and chuckled as she did the same, except she used her fist and more like punched him instead of giving a friendly pat.

"Cyrus. I'm surprised you're not dancing around where all the action is."

"Oh, I totally would be if I wasn't held hostage here. I got knocked out and woke up here. Got told I shouldn't leave so I stayed and helped get some humans to safety."

"Mm. And the others? They're up ahead at the forth?"

"Yeah. Those things are freaks by the way! You should watch them feel around for their heads when they're cut off! It's..." Cyrus shuddered and stuck her tongue out. "It's even weirder when they reconnect it."

"Okay, I don't really want to know the details."

Cyrus just shrugged. "Well, I'm glad you're alive, too."

Kai just smiled. When she turned away, Kai glanced down at Iris while putting his hands on his shoulders.

"Why don't you go check on some of the villagers? Get something to drink or eat if they have anything left. I'm going to tell the others about the plan."

Iris briefly held Kai's wrists as he nodded and turned away. Kai watched as a young woman happily greeted Iris when he walked up to her and her family. He let out a deep breath and met up with the other vampires.

"My prince!"

Tears weld up in the woman's eyes as she took Iris's hands into hers and brought them up to her forehead. She was a beautiful lady, short but thick brown curls fell to her shoulder and the tears in her eyes made their hazel color stand out. Her fair skin was spotted with dirt and a few bruises, but it stole none from her attractiveness.

"Thank the heavens you are alright! Should you not be in a safe house? You should not be here!"

Iris stared with disbelief. Did they really care about him that much?

He took one of his hands out of the woman's grasp and placed it over her hand. He knelt because she was sitting on a small stone fallen from the house behind her.

"Thank you for your concern. And I'm here to fight alongside my guards."

The woman blinked at him with confusion. "But...you are the prince. If something were to happen to our King..."

Iris patted her hand. "Again, thank you for your concerns but I'm....unfortunately I play a role in this war. I could've prevented it but I..." He sighed."I could never live with myself if I didn't help put an end to this. I could never face my father or feel as though I deserve this Kingdom's respect again."

That was the first time Iris admitted he felt guilty out loud, and to a citizen of all people!  He expected anger to replace her watery eyes but more tears fell. The woman brought his hands up to her forehead once more.

"You will make an amazing King one day, my prince."

Iris bit his lip and looked down.

"Thank you."

***

The mansion would be coin drop silent if the walls didn't crack and pop every other minute or so.

The wind howled through the main floor's hallways as the front door was left open and nearly all windows were shattered. Consider Vridora as a whole the King, and the mansion his crown. The crown sat crooked and chipped, dull and sad. The lights flickered, and if not, they were busted. Wallpaper sagged, carpets were stained, the grand, vibrant mansion no longer looked as pristine as it used to be.

If anyone, human, were still hiding in the mansion, they were glued to their spot. The corridors were empty of maids and servants, but not of Vamps.

One or two would walk down the hallways, scouting, listening. With every floor, there were more. The third was buzzing with at least five since the Queen was waiting in her room.

And yet, the King managed to find himself at her door; his grasp firm on the handle.

***

I did NOT take advanced English classes to confuse you're with your, and titled with tilted, and waisted with wasted, and–God the list could go on!  WHY does my brain do that!! Anyway, any guesses on how many chapters are left?? 👀