Caleb

The noise of the limping steps approaching reverberated from the stoned floor to the high ceiling with a hollow, ill twisted sound. They stopped at some distance from the two great chairs, where the King and the Prince were savoring their early meals.

The man took his worn hat off and bowed.

"Do you have something for us?" A voice cut through the silence.

The man squeezed his eyes, trying to adjust them to the darkness of the large hall. On his left side, tall windows were covered with thick curtains, an obstacle for the evening light. The right wall- all bulky stone, with no fireplace. Nightwalkers don't need to warm themselves.

Clearing his dry throat, he acknowledged- "My King, my Prince"

"Speak!" With a push, Declan's fainted meal fell from his lap, the impact with the hard floor causing a hard noise.

"I come bearing news, prince."

"Are the news worth interrupting your king's dinner?" The vampire inquired as he wiped the corner of his mouth with a dampened handkerchief.

"There is a page missing!" The man exclaimed, looking proud of his discovery. "I know for sure, I heard them talking."

The king grunted, but didn't stop. The slave he was feeding off passed out already, but she wasn't dead. They avoided to kill the lowers because of the already shortage of their blood supply.

"What page are you taking about? Talk some sense, Ciaran, because I'm still hungry!" The prince, Declan, wasn't exactly praised for his patience.

The king knew well what the lower meant, but he never told that to anyone. Not even to his second, who was waiting impatiently for the lower to explain. As the demon's children, their dark side was very manipulative and spiteful, not to be fully trusted.

"From the book!" he said like it should've been obviously.

"Whom did you hear talking?" Caleb asked. He slid the woman down to his feet and waited with his hand open for Declan to pass him the wet cloth.

"King Caleb... Endrine was her name. She was talking to someone by the name of Ilre. He had a beast with him, but he kept the beast far-and full of moonberries. This is how I could get close."

Declan crooked his neck and glared at Caleb. "That must be the bitten rogue." He switched his glance at Ciaran. "Where did you see the woman?"

"In the mountains up North, Lord. She lived in a hut in the woods there. After the man left, her daughter showed up. And she died!"

"Who died? The woman?"

"Yes, I mean no... I mean... her daughter was a woman too... that's the one who died. Shame, such a beauty..." Ciaran stated. He opened his mouth, wanting to say more, but the prince silenced him with a raised palm, addressing to Caleb.

"What do you think? We should go for the woman, I say. I bet she's a dawner, like the man."

"Of course we should. Ciaran here knows the way. You will go yourself to take her."

The lower coughed intentionally, drawing the attention of the two vampires.

"What?" the prince asked, annoyed.

"Your Highnesses, the woman is gone."

Declan rose from his seat and grabbed the man by the collar of his shirt. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN IS GONE?"

"T- The were- werewolves took her!"

The prince threw a sweating and panting Ciaran on the floor. "Is there something else you want to add? I advice you to talk fast!"

"I watched the man... he is dangerous, lord. He killed the mutt and left a trail to the woman's place. That's why she got caught. And he turned the hut upside down, searching for something."

"Did he find what he searched for?" Caleb asked.

"I don't know, my King, I left, I was afraid that he will spot me..."

"You useless coward!" The prince exclaimed, full of rage. He dashed to the human's neck, only to be stopped by the king.

Ciaran fell to his knees. "When will you turn me, Lord?" The lower asked. He will soon be one of them, no longer a weak human. The King agreed, that's why he risked himself to spy for them. He was sure that now, with those information he brought, he is worthy.

Declan looked puzzled to his superior, who threw him a meaningful look.

"I have yet to decide. You will go with my second and a few others. We need the man. Find out if he took anything from the woman's place."

Turning to the prince, he added- "Bring him alive. You leave in an hour."

He dismissed the lower with a wave of his hand, turning to his seat.

Declan waited till the lower was gone. "Don't tell me you are considering turning that unworthy filth into one of us!'

Caressing his freshly shaved chin, the king replied. "You should watch your tone with me. I am the one who chooses who will be turned, not you."

He passed his hand through his dark hair then nudged with the tip of his boot the unconscious woman he fed on before Ciaran interrupted.

"Besides, you know the price- death for life. And we have to pay if we want to turn more. That simpleton will serve his purpose."

The prince threw a wicked smile, nodding his head. "The daylight will catch me on my mission. I shall seek shelter in one of our places."

"Take two low-ranked with you. Don't draw attention, Declan. I count on you."

"I will not disappoint, my King."

.....

The rusty key opened the door with a squeak. Caleb walked inside the medium-sized room, scrunching his nose in his hand at the moldy, putrid smell. He hasn't been in here for over a decade.

This room was one of the oldest in the manor, and belonged once to a human small king, in the time before the demon.

The cold moonlight fell on the old bricks of the fireplace, illuminating the spot.

He pressed his palms on different spots, revealing an opening in the wall. Taking out the book, he focused.

After his sharp senses confirmed no other being's presence, he wiped the dust from the cover and opened it. It's been eighteen years since he read it- first and last time, eighteen years since he pulled the book out of Ilre's clenched fists. The unconscious dawner was bleeding like a pig from the wound in his chest and, if not for him, he would've been dead.

Caleb recalled how he fought the urge to feed on his blood, only because a page was missing. The one that contained the code. Instead, he made sure the human will live. After all, why kill someone who kills your enemy? And, besides, the lower was ambitious, and would search for the page.

Finally, after all this time, one spy brought him good news. Ilre was worth the waiting.

With the book open in his hands, the nightwalker took a seat near the window and read.

The Stone. Where it began, there it must end.

We were the people of the wolf, fearless warriors and protectors of the realm. Theorus, my husband and king of Dirae, was well loved and respected. He often would say that if a king can not walk by himself amongst his people, then he is no king. Leaders were to serve their kingdoms, not the other way around.

Caleb chuckled. A king is the most important, he thought. And the commoners are to serve, for without him, they would be lost.

......... over the moon when our third son was born. We called him Cadeyrn- battle king, as the seer predicted before his birth that he will be a great lider.

.......

We all prayed to the Sun and the Moon, but the evil was restless. He whispered to the weak souls and planted its seeds there. The seeds of hatred, wickedness and haughtiness. And so the war begun.

Cunnhir, the king of Somra, conquered the small kingdoms one by one. The first to fall was Uaine, and the people were shown no mercy. He slaughtered every one of them, except for the warriors who bent the knee- an excellent addition to the army. .......

My husband felt that this was the end of us all. Little we knew our pleas have been answered.

There was no way to win. Unless...

I was to find out later. Pledging our first born Nuallan to the creature, he marched with his warriors on the other side of the Dubh. In a fortnight, the battle ended.

When he returned to me, he was a changed man. No longer a wolf king, but the ruler of all realm.

He became sour, lost in his thoughts. He no longer smiled at the sight of his beloved boys, nor breathing in my ears love words.

The demon required the sacrifice. The father had to do the kill, but he couldn't.

As always, fate mocked us all in the face, and Nuallan was killed with a silver blade thru his heart. They thought that in taking his life, the demon would be pleased. They did not know my son was marked.

He took his last breath in the death of the longest night, on the road, not like a prince but like an animal.

.......

He came back, a living dead. A creature of the night, feeding on blood only. He was no longer my beloved son, but a demon in his own power, set on revenge.

.......

So the evil summoned a plague, and many people died. The only way to stop it was to give him what he demanded now- our second son's soul.

I tried to stop him with all I had. I cried to the angel to help me, but she couldn't. She made me promise I will care for her daughter with my life and guard the essence. With her journey nearly ending, she explained to me how she needed this last sacrifice to send the demon back.

Screaming and begging, I watched how Theorus killed Aram on the cursed stone.

My heart broke in a thousand pieces. But I knew what I have to do. When the Angel hugged the demon, I took out the silver sword and pushed it thru them both. This is what she told me to do. They fell through the crack of the stone, and the opening faded, trapping the evil in Tarr-where it belonged.

.......

He turned another page, and another, tracing with his finger the written lines.

His finger stopped where Hara wrote about the first wedding. Nowadays, only lowers wed. Not them, nor the mutts, as they consider it a weakness.

Love is weakness. He doesn't need that, his dark side is powerful, and lust can be satisfied with the so many slaves, so does the hunger. The only problem was that he was part human. And that part was making him thinking sometimes "What if...?"

My Theorus, full of bitter remorse, took his own life. I realised that this was what the demon planned the whole time, to make the greatest sinner out of his pure soul, to claim him.

It was the first joyful day since Nuallan, once my son, was banished into the eastern lands.

Today was the union between my beloved Cadeyrn and the angel's daughter, when they would became husband and wife, rulers over New Dirae.

My heart filled with happiness, a feeling long forgotten, as I combed her blond hair and placed the veil over her head. She loved the little blue gems I sewed on its edges, and her smile lit the room when I told her it matches her eyes.

She held the star chain tight in her palm, the symbol of union that will soon hang on my son's neck, took the peony bouquet and walked with me to the clearing.

.......

The wedding started with the day ceremony for the Sun to witness their vows.

The bride and groom gifted each other the star chains that will unite them in life and beyond, and the gathering cheered. As our custom, before the night ceremony under the Full Moon, some warriors stole the bride, bringing back her shoe and demand a price. The groom was to search for her or pay the ransom they asked to get his beloved back.

After they took the bride, we waited. No one came back with her shoe, so Cadeyrn went to search for them.

A strange dread pierced my mind, so I acted before he left. I sneaked into the woods and made sure no one followed. The tamed wolf of our family followed me, and I was grateful for that.

The angel forbade this, but I couldn't bear to lose my last child.

I opened the small wooden box that sealed the essence and used some of it to protect my son.

My chants rose to the rising full moon as I offered the wolf's life as a sacrifice for my prayers.

.......

On that night, they didn't return. I found out later that Nuallan killed the warriors and took the bride for himself. He always wanted her, but she choose the other brother.

.......

My protection worked, but not the way I imagined.

The angel was right, I understood that too late. I created another type of beast, a human soul merged with the wolf's spirit, powerful and uncontrollable.

As she once told me, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.

.......

Caleb closed the book and looked at the moon. He didn't have the code yet, but someone who did not know about their origins and how to put together all the clues Hara left couldn't use it.

He was right to shake hands and exchange blood with the Wolf King, as this gave him time to focus on the more important thing. And the most important was to gather all the ingredients, but the last one was in the Codex, with the chant.

Once he will get that, it will be easy.

Placing the book in its hiding spot, he pressed the bricks back and stepped out of the old king's room. His fingers turned the key to lock the door. He had things to do, and he was very close.

.....