The moon ruled the sky.
Cold.
Silent.
Ancient.
Its pale light poured over the forest behind Darkheart Castle, covering the ancient trees in silver and shadow. Wind moved through the branches with a whisper that sounded almost alive, carrying scents of moss, damp soil, and old wood.
Damian stood alone beneath it.
Or rather...
the creature that had once been Damian stood there.
His massive white body towered above the grass, nearly four meters from head to tail. Fur pale as winter covered muscles thicker and denser than before, while crimson eyes glowed beneath the moon like burning bloodstones.
His chest rose heavily.
Steam escaped his nostrils.
The pain had passed.
But the sensation remained.
He looked down at himself.
Claws.
White fur.
Power.
His heartbeat thundered through his body like drums of war.
Behind him, Sirius, Silas, Brahm and Natalie remained frozen.
The executioners had witnessed countless horrors in their lives.
Wars.
Mass executions.
God-touched beasts.
But none of them had witnessed this.
A royal hybrid.
And not merely a hybrid...
something far stranger.
Damian slowly moved one paw.
The ground cracked.
His crimson eyes narrowed.
He did not speak.
Could not.
His mind felt divided.
One part remained Damian Rake
Prince of Darkheart.
The other...
something wild.
Ancient.
Hungry.
He inhaled.
And immediately regretted it.
The world exploded.
Smells assaulted him violently.
Wet bark.
Water beneath earth.
The iron scent of blood from Natalie where Damian had fed earlier.
The sweat of fear on Brahm.
The cold steel carried by Sirius and Silas.
And beneath all of it...
animals.
Hundreds.
Perhaps thousands.
His wolf instincts awakened violently.
His body trembled.
Hunt.
The thought entered his head.
Not spoken.
Not reasoned.
Instinct.
Damian growled softly.
"Grrrr..."
Natalie stepped forward instinctively.
"Your Highness"
"No."
Sirius stopped her immediately.
His expression remained calm, but his eyes had sharpened.
She looked at him.
"But..."
"You cannot help him."
Her lips tightened.
"But he's suffering."
Sirius stared toward Damian.
"Yes."
His voice remained cold.
"And this suffering is necessary."
Damian heard them.
Every word.
Perfectly.
His ears twitched.
The realization unsettled him.
He could hear insects beneath leaves.
Branches moving miles away.
A rabbit's heartbeat.
It was unbearable.
His head throbbed.
Then...
the wind changed.
A scent reached him.
Fresh.
Warm.
Animal blood.
His pupils narrowed.
The hunger struck instantly.
His muscles tightened.
The wolf inside him awakened completely.
Food.
His claws buried into earth.
His breathing deepened.
And before thought could restrain him
he moved.
BOOM.
The ground shattered.
Natalie gasped.
Damian vanished.
Only crushed grass and violent wind remained.
Silas blinked.
"...Fast."
Sirius narrowed his eyes.
Too fast.
Even for an awakened royal vampire.
The executioner looked toward the forest.
"Follow."
Brahm stepped forward.
"Should we stop him?"
"No."
Sirius' answer came immediately.
"He needs freedom."
Then his expression darkened.
"But we remain close."
The executioners vanished into darkness.
Damian ran.
No...
he flew.
The forest blurred around him.
Ancient trees passed like shadows.
The wind struck his fur.
His body moved effortlessly.
No exhaustion.
No restraint.
Only speed.
And freedom.
For the first time in his life
he felt unchained.
Darkheart.
Nobility.
Etiquette.
Politics.
Expectations.
All of it disappeared.
Only instinct remained.
And strangel...
he loved it.
His paws crushed stone.
He leapt over fallen trees with unnatural ease.
The moon above seemed brighter.
Closer.
As though watching him.
Then...
he found it.
A deer.
Standing beside a narrow stream.
Damian stopped atop a rocky ledge.
The animal had not sensed him.
It drank peacefully.
The prince stared.
And his instincts exploded.
His mouth watered.
The hunger frightened him.
As a vampire, blood had always been pleasure.
Luxury.
Controlled.
But this...
this felt savage.
Cruel.
His wolf desired flesh.
His vampire desired blood.
Two predators.
One body.
The deer raised its head.
Too late.
Damian attacked.
The animal tried fleeing but Damian reached it instantly.
His jaws closed.
CRACK.
Bones shattered.
Warm blood flooded his mouth.
The sensation struck him like lightning.
Heat.
Life.
Raw vitality.
His wolf shivered.
And for several moments
he forgot himself.
The forest echoed with feeding.
Violent.
Primitive.
When it ended...
Damian stood above remains.
Blood stained his muzzle.
His breathing slowed.
And slowly...
his reason returned.
Silence followed.
He looked down.
The sight disturbed him.
He had killed before.
But never like this.
Never without thought.
His chest tightened.
"What..."
His voice emerged strangely
half growl.
Half human.
He stared at the blood.
Then...
the forest changed.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
No birds.
No insects.
Even wind disappeared.
Damian froze.
His instincts screamed.
Danger.
He turned slowly.
And saw someone.
Far ahead.
Between ancient trees.
A figure.
Tall.
Motionless.
Watching.
Damian narrowed his eyes.
The stranger wore dark robes that concealed their body completely.
No scent reached him.
That alone disturbed him.
Everything carried scent.
Everything alive.
Yet this figure...
nothing.
Only emptiness.
Then Damian saw the eyes.
Silver.
Bright silver.
His body stiffened.
Those eyes
they felt familiar.
Not from memory
but from somewhere deeper.
The figure spoke.
Its voice sounded wrong.
Too many voices layered together.
"Moon-born child."
Damian growled.
"Who are you?"
No answer.
The figure remained still.
Then...
"The blood remembers."
Cold spread through Damian's body.
He stepped forward.
"What blood?"
Silence.
Then the figure moved.
One step.
The forest itself seemed to tense.
Damian's instincts screamed louder.
Run.
Yet he remained.
Because fear...
and curiosity
had chained him equally.
The figure tilted its head.
"You carry two curses."
Damian frowned.
"I'm no cursed creature."
The silver eyes watched him.
And then...
they spoke words that froze his soul.
"Not creature."
"Key."
The forest darkened.
Damian felt his heartbeat slow.
"What are you talking about?"
The figure raised one hand.
And suddenly...
pain exploded inside Damian's head.
His vision twisted.
Darkness swallowed him.
Then
he saw it.
An abyss.
Endless.
Ancient.
And within it, chains.
Massive silver chains wrapped around something impossible to fully see.
Something breathing.
Something alive.
Then
a single crimson eye opened.
It looked directly at him.
And a voice thundered through his skull.
COME.
Damian screamed.
"ARGH!"
The vision shattered.
He staggered backward.
Blood dripped from his nose.
His breathing became violent.
He looked up...
the figure remained.
Watching.
Silent.
Then
it spoke one final time.
"The Crown awakens."
"And the gods shall soon remember your name."
The figure vanished.
No spell.
No sound.
Nothing.
Gone.
Damian remained frozen beneath moonlight.
His heart hammered.
The wolf growled uneasily.
And for the first time tonight...
Damian Rake felt fear.
Not of battle.
Not of death.
But of something he did not understand.
Far behind him
hidden among shadows
Sirius watched everything.
His eyes narrowed.
Because he had not seen the figure.
Only Damian
standing alone... speaking to darkness.