Page 112 of Bite The Power That Feeds

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KINGSNAKE

I rode hard down the streets with my men behind me. The moment the first wall was breached, horns sounded in the night to signal our entry. Archers scrambled for their bows and arrows and fired down on us as we entered the city.

I was far past their fire, so I continued to ride hard, heading straight to the castle far in the rear. My father, Cobra, and I would go right to the castle to take out the Werewolf King and end this battle swiftly to lessen the lives that were lost. Viper and Clara would direct our soldiers to meet the fury the werewolves and men would thrust upon us.

They were unprepared for our attack, so it took time for their foot soldiers to enter the city to meet our blades. By that time, I had ridden far up the street, a group of my guards behind me, running past the humans who screamed and retreated into their homes. I hoped Cobra was having the same ease as I was.

The castle was just in sight—and that was when I saw the werewolves appear. Like gargoyles, they swarmed all over the keep, as if they climbed with their clothes on. Enormous creatures with black-olive eyes that shone in the moonlight.

They guarded the entry to the keep—and that told me exactly what I needed to know.

The Werewolf King was right inside.

I hopped off the horse and ran up the stairs, my men behind me. My sword was unsheathed, and I spun it with my wrist, ready to slice into fur and muscle. They released snarls and growls but remained by the door.

More vampires flooded up the stairs with me, and then they were cornered.

A stare-off ensued, brief, because then the fighting began.

Two rushed me at once, and I ducked under the mighty paw that would have struck me against the pillar. I sliced my blade across the ankle of the one on the right, and he staggered sideways, giving me time to slice the other across the neck. “Go for the ankle!” Their legs bent in the opposite way of ours, so slicing the back of their heel made them lose all sense of balance.

Vampires and werewolves dropped to the ground, forming piles of bodies as we continued to fight for entry into the castle that housed the coward who chose to hide behind closed doors.

The others climbed down from the top of the castle, and one jumped on me.

I was knocked to the ground, my sword flung from my grasp, and that ferocious beast dropped onto my chest so I couldn’t move. He snarled at me, spit dripping onto my chest plate like drops of rain. Hot breaths washed over me, and not in the affectionate manner of a pet.

I reached for my dagger and stabbed him in the leg over and over, but he screamed and remained on top of me, about to bite my head off.

Then a sword stabbed him through the chest, making him go still, and he toppled onto the ground beside me.

With a quick glance at the blade, the golden hilt and the black malachite told me exactly whose it was. I yanked it out of the flesh of the beast then turned to see Cobra fifteen feet away, a pile of bodies around him. I tossed the blade to him, and he caught it with a single hand. “Thanks.”

“You owe me one.” He turned away and continued the fight.

Another werewolf jumped down, but this time, I dodged it by rolling out of the way. I sliced my blade through his ankle, and instead of making a simple cut, I severed it straight through.

He screamed like a kicked dog, unable to balance on bone. He tipped over, and another vampire stabbed him through the neck.

The immediate danger had passed as the werewolves climbing on the castle had been defeated. When I turned to look at the city, I saw vampires fighting both humans and werewolves in the streets. Archers were on some of the buildings, shooting at one another and into the crowd below.

Cobra jogged to me. “We’ve got to break down this door and get inside the castle.”

“I thought the humans would turn against them.”

“Maybe they will once the Werewolf King is dead.” Cobra started issuing orders. “Cut down that pillar.” It was made of wood, deep mahogany, carved with deer and bears because the humans had always been obsessed with hunting.

The vampires worked to chop it free until it toppled over like a new fallen tree.

“Let’s move.”

We all picked up the pillar and started to ram it into the door.

The door didn’t move, like it was a solid wall.

We did it again and again, but there was no give.

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