Chapter 1 Sky
In the shadowed depths of Umberfang Pass, I was roused from a fitful sleep atop a gnarled tree root by a clamor below. Startled, I peered over the cliff's edge and saw a brutal battle unfolding in the ravine. My brief rest, meant to ease the ache of my weary travels, was shattered by the chaos below.
A heavy sigh escaped me as I watched the turmoil unfold in the narrow valley. The confined space was a slaughterhouse of sound—elfman soldiers' cries mingled with the guttural roars of monstrous creatures. These beasts, with bear-like maws and limbs twisted at unnatural angles, seemed woven from a madman's nightmare.
At the heart of the fray stood a woman cloaked in crimson, fighting with fierce desperation. Her silver hair gleamed under the moonlight, her daggers flashing with lethal precision. I didn't know her, but her regal bearing and the grace of her movements marked her as a princess. The banner fluttering among her soldiers suggested she hailed from the vampire kingdom of Aizeken.
Truth be told, I had no stake in their fight. My grandfather's tales painted humans as mere blood banks to vampires, and meddling in their affairs was a dangerous gamble. Yet, as I gripped my ironwood staff—carved with runes by my grandfather, Datu Kalantiao, the wise leader of our tribe—I felt the weight of my father's teachings. He'd trained me to slay the void's monsters, and though I'd sworn to avoid trouble, the sight of this carnage stirred something within me.
A year had passed since my father, a hero of the First Great War, died. His death drove me to abandon my tribe, who pressed me to take his place as their leader. I wanted no part of their expectations, yet here I was, watching a princess bleed and falter against an endless horde of beasts born of black magic. My conscience gnawed at me as her soldiers fell, overwhelmed by the relentless swarm.
My father's voice echoed in my mind, as it often did: *"A hero doesn't choose his battles; the battle chooses him."* I'd dismissed those words before, but now, as the princess stumbled, her blood staining the earth, I knew I couldn't walk away.
"Damn it," I muttered, slinging my pack off my shoulder. I couldn't abandon her—not in a fight this dire, where her courage shone despite the odds, as if she clung to hope for a miracle.
I leaped from my perch, my staff spinning in my hands as I descended. A monster with a boar's head and a serpent's tail lunged at me. I drove the staff's sharpened end into its skull, channeling the runes' power. A burst of white light erupted, and the beast collapsed, its body convulsing as sacred flames consumed it. I landed lightly, my black cloak billowing, and unleashed another surge of power. A massive fireball of white flame roared forth, incinerating a cluster of monsters.
"Fire works on them," I noted grimly.
Across the battlefield, the princess's eyes locked onto mine, wide with astonishment. "Who—?" she began, but a charging beast forced her to dodge.
"You're outmatched! Get out of here!" I shouted, sprinting toward her. My blood pounded with adrenaline, my movements swift and sure.
I slammed my staff into the ground, summoning a magic circle that sprouted jagged white crystal spikes, ten meters tall, impaling the nearest monsters. The princess stood frozen, staring in disbelief, so I shouted again, "What are you waiting for? Go! I'll handle them!"
Her gaze, sharp and skeptical, assessed me despite her labored breathing. "You're not an elfman," she said, her voice cutting like a blade. "Why are you here?"
"Maybe I've got a bad habit of sticking my nose where it doesn't belong," I shot back, dodging a claw that tore into the earth where I'd stood. My heart raced with fear, but my father's training anchored me.
I spun, planting my staff into the ground. Its runes flared, unleashing a shockwave that hurled nearby monsters back. "It doesn't matter who I am—you need to leave!" I urged, keeping my tone light despite the panic clawing at my mind. I knew I couldn't fight a thousand monsters alone.
This was madness, and I regretted jumping into this fight, but there was no turning back. I battled on, felling each aggressive beast with calculated strikes, their hunger to devour me palpable. My grandfather, a master of elemental runes and spiritual weapons, and my father, a warrior hero, had forged me into this—a sage's mind with a fighter's heart.
I moved like a shadow, evading attacks with a dance my father taught me. His words echoed again: *"Strength isn't just in the body but in the will. Courage is the key to victory."* A bat-winged beast with venomous spines dove from above. I rolled, grabbed a river stone, and hurled it with precision, striking its wing and sending it crashing into the ravine.
The princess fought on, her daggers flashing like lightning, but her steps slowed, blood dripping from her arm. In the valley's shadows, I glimpsed hooded figures watching, their faces obscured. Moments later, some monsters retreated, but a new terror emerged—a colossal creature of bone and muscle, its red eyes glowing. It roared, shaking the valley, and charged the princess.
"She's their target," I realized.
I acted without thinking. Sprinting forward, I vaulted over a fallen elfman and drove my staff into the ground between the princess and the colossus. The runes blazed, and a wall of earth erupted as a shield. The beast slammed into it, cracking the barrier but not breaking through. I darted to the princess's side, grabbing her arm as she stumbled. Defeating that monster was impossible—we'd die if we stayed.
"We need to escape, now!" I said urgently, my voice low. "Move!"
"I'm not… let me go," she gasped, but her knees buckled.
I caught her before she hit the ground, my arm around her waist. Her skin was unnaturally cold, and her crimson eyes—sharp and pleading—met mine. For a moment, I thought she'd push me away, but her gaze held a desperate vulnerability.
My father's stories of vampires and their blood rituals flashed through my mind. Before I could process it, she lunged, her fangs piercing my neck.
Pain seared through me, electric and sharp, as her teeth sank deeper. My vision blurred, strength draining like water from a broken jar. I struggled, but her grip was iron. Her body pressed against mine as she drank, my mind reeling with anger, fear, and confusion. *Why me? Why now?*
My senses faded, the colossus's roar swallowed by darkness as it shattered my earthen wall. The world slipped away.
---
When I awoke, I was no longer in the pass. The air was heavy with the scent of rust and ancient stone, my body aching as if trampled by a herd of buffalo. I lay on a cold stone floor, my wrists bound by chains etched with unfamiliar runes—not my grandfather's, but ones that pulsed with a strange, binding energy.
"What happened?" I muttered, heart pounding with dread. I was in a cell, a dungeon. The chains held firm as I tugged, their runes flaring in warning. My staff was gone, my cloak torn, and a sharp pain lingered at my neck where the princess had bitten me.
"Those vampires… after I saved their princess, they lock me up," I growled. Anger flared, but fear crept in. I was a human captive in a vampire kingdom—likely Aizeken, if the stories of obsidian towers and blood rituals were true. Would they kill me? Was this my end?
I staggered to my feet, dizzy, and scanned my surroundings. The cell was carved from black stone, with an iron door and a narrow window high above, letting in a sliver of sunlight. The walls bore unfamiliar symbols, radiating an unsettling energy. I was in Aizeken, no doubt—a place I'd never meant to visit, let alone end up in their prison. But here I was, and all I could think was whether I'd ever get out of this place alive.
"Damn my luck," I whispered, rubbing my neck. The sting of her bite lingered, her desperate eyes haunting me. "I saved their princess, and they threw me in here. I should've stayed in the mountains."
Footsteps echoed beyond the door, sharp and deliberate. I backed against the wall as the door creaked open. The princess I'd saved stepped inside, her crimson cloak replaced by an elegant black gown that clung to her slender frame. Her silver hair was now braided, and her red eyes studied me with a mix of curiosity and suspicion. Two guards followed, their pale faces expressionless, hands resting on the hilts of curved swords.
"You're awake," she said, her voice softer than it had been in the pass. "Good. I wasn't sure you'd survive."
She introduced herself as Aida Vladimir, the second princess of the vampire kingdom.
"What do you mean?" I snapped, my voice sharp as I rattled my chains. Anger surged, laced with a fear I refused to acknowledge. "I saved your life, you bit me, and now I'm locked up here. Care to explain what's going on?"
Aida winced, her lips thinning. She dismissed the guards, who left and closed the door, leaving us alone.
"First of all, you're a human from a foreign land, and your kind is forbidden here. By our law, you should be dead."
She stepped closer, stopping just before me. "You're alive because I won't let them kill you," she said. "But you're here for… complicated reasons."
"Complicated?" My voice rose with frustration. "I helped you. I fought those monsters, kept them from tearing you apart. The least you could do is let me go."
Aida's gaze dropped to the floor, her expression conflicted. "I don't want this either," she said softly. "You don't understand what happened—what you've done."
"Then enlighten me," I demanded.
Her eyes flicked to my neck, then my shoulder, her face shifting to a mix of shame and awe. "Look," she said, pointing.
I glanced down and froze. A mark I'd never seen before adorned my shoulder—a swirling design of a bat in red and black, like a tattoo etched in blood. When I touched it, it pulsed with a life of its own.
My heart raced, panic rising. "What is this?" I asked, my voice trembling with anger and confusion.
"The Mark of Vladimir," Aida said, her voice barely above a whisper. "It's… sacred. Ancient. It doesn't appear lightly."
My mind spun, dread coiling in my gut. "And what does it mean?" I pressed, struggling to keep calm as my chained hands shook.
Aida hesitated, her cheeks flushing—a strange sight for a vampire. "It means you're bound to me. To my blood. The mark only appears when a noble vampire… chooses a mate."
I stared at her, her embarrassed expression clashing with her words. A forced laugh escaped me, but the mark on my skin was real, and her regretful eyes confirmed it. "A mate? You're saying—?"
"You are the one my blood chose," she said, her face reddening further. "In other words, you've been chosen as my husband."
I was speechless, staring blankly at her.
Aida's blush deepened, but her expression hardened. "I didn't want this," she said. "I didn't mean to bite you. I was dying, my instincts took over, and when I drank your blood, it triggered the bonding ritual."
My forced smile faded. "Husband?" I repeated, the word hitting like a punch to the gut. My quiet life, my freedom—gone in a single bite. "No. This can't be. I didn't agree to any ritual."
"Do you think I wanted this?" Aida snapped, her voice rising. "I'm the second princess of Aizeken. I have duties to my people, and marriage is sacred to us. I never wanted a human as a partner, but the mark is binding. It's the will of my noble blood, and even the court cannot ignore it."
I turned away, gripping my head in despair. I'd fled my tribe to escape responsibilities like this—politics, leadership. I saw the hopeful eyes of my people, begging me to be their chief, but I wasn't made for that, let alone to be wed to a princess.
Aida's eyes flashed with anger and defiance. "If it were up to me, I'd free you out of gratitude," she said. "But the court sees the mark as a sign of our tradition. They believe you're meant to carry on the Vladimir bloodline. And if you refuse…"
She trailed off, her gaze dropping.
"If I refuse, what?" I pressed, my heart pounding as I awaited her answer.
She met my eyes, her voice steady despite a hint of shame. "If you reject being my husband, it will be seen as an insult to our blood. The penalty is death."
Her words sank into me like a stone. My simple life in the mountains—free, unburdened, nights without worry—was gone. Now, I faced a choice: marry a stranger or die.
I was a prisoner with no good options, trapped in a nightmare I couldn't escape. "I wish this was just a bad dream," I muttered, staring upward, pleading for a way out.