Quinn
It was going to be hard but it was worth a shot. I looked at my siblings as we were led out of the dungeon and they nodded and looked back at me. Everyone had their roles and I hoped that it was going to work. I was glad that we had brought the sap of the Aselia tree with us. We hadn’t expected to meet the dark wizard but we didn’t want to keep it at home because we were worried that there might be another invasion while we were not around and we wouldn’t find it when we get back. That had been the reason we had taken it with us and it seemed like we had made a very good decision.
The sap of the Aselia tree was very important to us and we couldn’t afford for it to get lost. I couldn’t imagine going back to that island to get it again if it ever got lost and that was why we had packed everything we had on us and came with it on our journey even though we hadn’t planned to pack anything with us on our journey. We hadn’t even packed more luggage as we had when going to the island of Gayalluc as we had believed that we weren’t going to stay long here.
How wrong we had been. We had only packed our belongings into one bag instead of four bags as we had done then. I nodded as I thought of it again. We had packed well. It was a wise decision that we had packed one bag instead of four we weren’t going to need.
We were prisoners here and I wasn’t sure that we were going to be afforded the luxury of having our bath and changing our clothes.
“Have you started saying your last prayers?” The guard who was walking me out of the dungeon smirked.
“I have prayed this morning but I don’t know of what you meant by last prayers.” I replied.
I wasn’t going to die today. I was sure of that. None of my siblings was going to die as well. If anyone was going to die, it was going to be the dark wizard and not us. I had poured some of the sap into a small container and that was what I would be spraying on the vampire king if he got closer to me. I just needed to get closer to him. That was all I needed.
I didn’t know if the sap would work on vampires since it didn’t work on us but I hoped that it would work on the vampire king because of the dark wizard in him. After all, the sap reacted to evil and I was certain that it would react to the evil in the vampire.
The guard hissed. “What were you thinking? Coming into the land of the vampires. Did you think that we were going to accept you with shouts and dances of celebration?”
“That’s the question that I would like to ask your king but I got the answer already. I would have loved to know what he was thinking but it doesn’t matter anymore.”
“What do you mean?” The guard frowned.
“It doesn’t matter now.” I replied. “You don’t have to know.”
Annoyed, he hissed and pushed me roughly forward. I almost stumbled but I didn’t say anything and kept on moving forward.
We got to the execution ground and everyone was seated already. The vampire king sat there, beaming as if he couldn’t have been any happier that day. He seemed like the only one happy that we were going to die soon. All the people stood there looking pensive as if they didn’t know what to make of what was going on. I was sure that some of them were wondering how we got to their land and why we were there. The court officials sat on their seats, looking sad, confused and withdrawn. Some of them even looked away from us as if they couldn’t bear to look at us and the injustice that was about to happen to us but they had no choice but to sit there because the king had commanded it and it was their royal duty.
The expression on the face of the king’s right hand man was different though. Everyone else seemed confused but he was the only one who looked angry. He stared at the king as if he would like to fling him off his throne and pummel him with fists until the smile on his face was wiped out. I felt a sudden likeness for the vampire. He was outside and yet didn’t care about that he might be caught looking at the king like that and stared at him as if he would love nothing else but to beat him up.
I could already see our first ally if we could convince them that their king wasn’t crazy but possessed. I felt convinced that the king’s right hand man knew about the attack on our house but didn’t like it and that was why he was acting the way he did. He hadn’t seemed surprised when we had been brought in to the palace the previous day, unlike the rest. He knew something and I couldn’t wait to know what he knew.
“Now, we shall begin the execution of the rude werewolves who had dared to trespass into our land.” The king announced.
His voice was filled with glee as he spoke but I knew that was the dark wizard speaking and not him. I stared at his face but his eyes didn’t shine with red. My heart skipped a beat and I was worried that the vampire king and the dark wizard had aligned as one. That would be a problem and I hoped that wasn’t the case. How would I get rid of the dark wizard without harming the vampire king? I had no doubt that the vampires would lynch us if we harmed him.
The guards roughly pushed us to the ground and I bit my lips to hide my groan as my knees hit the ground. Mia cried out in pain as she was pushed to the ground and I hissed, baring my teeth in anger at the guard who had pushed her.
“Be careful with the girl.” The vampire king said to the guards, looking at Mia with tenderness.
I looked at the king and there it was, the subtle red color I was looking for in his eyes. Good. I smiled to myself. That was a relief. The vampire king hadn’t become one with the dark wizard.
That was no doubt the dark wizard who had ordered the guards to be careful with Mia. He still wanted my girl and that was why I had come up with the plan that I had. I was going to use his weakness against him to get rid of him.
The plan was for Mia and Jack to distract him while I worked on loosening my binds. If the dark wizard still wanted Mia – which had now been confirmed that he did – he wouldn’t hesitate to indulge her if she started talking to him. Making Jack join Mia with distracting the vampire king was so that he wouldn’t get overly excited about talking with Mia and order that she be separated from us and kept by his side. Jack was to butt in and annoy him if there ever was a possibility of that happening.
I nodded to Mia and Jack that I had started working on my binds and they could move on with the plan. Thankfully, the guards had moved away from me and I didn’t have to worry of being caught with what I was doing. I didn’t think that the executioner was going to come behind us until the king give the order for him to behead us and if Mia and Jack kept him busy well enough, I was certain that I was going to have the time to do what I was supposed to do.
“Do you have any last words before I ask for you to be executed?” The king asked.
“Your highness,” Mia began. “I ask that you have mercy on us.”
“I can’t do that so don’t beg me to.” He hissed.
“What if you spare me, your highness?” She asked, pouting at me.
I gritted my teeth as the eyes of the vampire king softened as he looked at her. I knew that Mia was using the dark wizard because she knew he liked her but that didn’t mean that I liked that. I didn’t feel comfortable with that. I hated that he was looking at her that way. I sighed and shook my head. I couldn’t believe that I was getting jealous when I knew that it was a survival game.
I reminded myself that this wasn’t the time to be insecure and focused on loosening the binds and shut Jack and Mia out. I didn’t want to be distracted while listening to those I had asked to distract the vampire king.
I breathed in relief as I finally got the binds loose. I jumped to my feet before the guards knew what was happening and started running towards the king. My hand was already reaching into my clothes for the vial where the sap was. I just needed to get a bit more closer to him. I breathed as I ran, loving how the eyes of the vampire king widened in fear as I got closer. Yes, he needed to know that he had messed with the wrong person.
I groaned as one of the guards ran into me and I was tackled to the ground. I almost cried out in frustration. I had almost gotten to him. I had almost had him.