The Queen's Mates

CHAPTER 32 - Ambush

Hundreds of horses galloped in front of us. A magnificent black stallion galloped and stop in front of Xavier. Its mane was jet black. It stood in front of us and its head bowed gently towards Xavier. "Hey, Charles! My big boy!" Xavier petted the horse. "Come, Rose!" Xavier held my hands. I placed my left hand in front of the horse, waiting for its reply. It moved its head touching my hand, I was thrilled, and I caress the cheek. The warriors climbed onto their respective horses. I climbed on the horse, followed by Xavier behind me. It takes about a day journey to reach Eradian. We had few stops for the horses to drink, eat, and rest before continuing our journey. In this mortal state, I realized sleep seemed to be a necessity as I dozed off a few times against Xavier's chest.

"We are here!" Xavier whispered. I opened my eyes; we were approximately five thousand yards from the West entrance. There were roughly ten guards at the entrance. The moon was a zinc- silver orb hanging in the darkness, expressing its radiance and gleaming down to earth. I heard growls and howls behind me. The warriors have completely transformed into their beast form. Xavier held me with his black large furry arms. The mages acted their parts by distracting the bloodsuckers. One of them stood in front of the West entrance, he rose his hands and the bloodsuckers all fell to the ground in agony; the warriors took the chance to decapitates the bloodsuckers head from the rest of its body.

The kingdom was in chaos, I saw my subjects lying dead on the ground. Some were pale-looking that their blood was fully sucked off completely. The place was filled with horrible metallic stench mixed with a distinctive acetone odor of rotting flesh. I felt bile rising to my throat, but I managed to endure it for now. Pools of crimson red liquid formed as more bodies fell to the ground. Xavier lost some of his good warriors.

Growls, howls, screams and shrieks were the only music heard in the kingdom. The mages followed behind us and the warriors, some was using psychological magic to inflict agony, some knelt to the ground, touched the soil and the earth rumbled as spirals of tree branches grow from the soil and it form stakes striking the heart of the bloodsuckers, some molded rings of fire and burnt the bloodsuckers. I could see arrows being shoot from the seas piercing the heart of the bloodsucker.

Most of the mages were worn out; some of the bloodsuckers managed to flee away, some of Xavier's warriors were injured. We managed to enter the palace, but the Dimitri's strongest mages were aware of our presence They were in a circle, chanting mantras. Suddenly, Xavier and few of his warriors who managed to enter the palace fell to the ground growling in agony. They slowly transformed into their human form.

Some of the bloodsuckers who resided the palace arrived. "No!" I cried as one of the bloodsuckers grabbed me by the neck. Xavier was crawling slowly towards us, but three vampires pounced on him, restricting his movement. "Ro..." his voice broke. No, not again! Terror overflowing in my entire body, I shut my eyes tightly and screamed as the bloodsucker pierced his fangs into the flesh of my skin. Suddenly, I sensed the vampire who is about to snap my neck was thrown across the hall.

"Pick up someone your size!" a growl by a ripped chiseled man. His skin was pale, and his hair was platinum white tied in half- ponytail. He ran towards the mages as if he were immune to their enchantments. He took out his arrows and shot all seven in one go. I ran to Xavier as he was coughing and breathing hard. "Be careful..." he growled softly. The man took his Excalibur slicing every vampire in the palace into pieces. The situation was under control.

The man in the grey leather jacket stood in front of us. "Are you alright?" he asked huskily. His eyes were jet black with black veins are visible beneath his skin. Despite his petrifying appearance, he reminds me of someone. I stared into his eyes, "Lucian?" the word escaped from my lips. "How do you know my name?" he hissed. Tears building up inside me; "You...you are not dead?" I cried in disbelief. "What are you saying? You must have mistaken!" he growled as he turned away and disappeared out of the palace. I turned to Xavier, "Are you...alright?" my voice trembled. Xavier nodded as he gained his strength.