Carpathian 05 - Dark Challenge

count too greatly on it," Darius replied.
    "The sun is rising, my friend. Let us go."
    "It will not be so easy living within my rule," Darius cautioned softly.
    Julian's eyebrows shot up. "Really? As I answer only to my Prince, I think I shall find it an interesting experience."
    Darius began to dissolve into a fine mist. It was easier to travel without a body in the light of the sun.
    Even so, the brain insisted that the eyes were swelling, turning red, streaming in the terrible light.

Chapter Seven
    The wind blew through the thick stand of trees, and the branches swayed, danced, and bent low to sweep the ground. The leaves rustled with a rush of sound, a glittering display of nature's music. Below the earth the notes resounded, luring the two slumbering hunters back into the world. The two hearts began to beat simultaneously. The sun was slowly sinking below the line of the mountain.
    There was a muffled blast as dirt spewed high into the air, first one geyser, then, several feet away, a second one. When the dust and soil settled, two elegantly clad men stood facing one another. One was a golden menace, the other dark and dangerous. White teeth gleamed as they silently acknowledged each other.
    "My sister?" Darius got down to his chief concern.
    "She will sleep until this distasteful task is completed," Julian answered, his glittering eyes finding the exact spot where Desari lay beneath the earth.
    "You are certain of this?" Darius arched an expressive eyebrow skeptically.
    Julian's golden eyes iced over, cold and harsh. "I can handle my own lifemate—make no mistake about that."
    If Darius had been able to feel amusement, he was certain this would be the moment. Dara was an ancient, a direct descendant of the original Dark One. She might be a female, one of tremendous Generated by ABC Amber LIT Conv erter, http://www.processtext.com/abclit.html
    compassion and goodness, but she was far more powerful than Julian was giving her credit for.
    "Have you known many of the females of our race?" Darius asked with deceptive mildness.
    "No. Very few remain. They are guarded at all times, as they should be. It is almost unheard of for a woman to be unattached after her eighteenth year."
    Darius swung around to stare at Julian. "This is the truth? Eighteen is not yet a fledgling—in truth, yet a child. How can this be?"
    Julian shrugged his broad shoulders. "With so few women, so few children born to our kind and surviving, with little hope and so many males on the verge of turning, it is the only safe thing to do. Any unclaimed woman is too unsettling."
    "But the woman could not possibly hope to contend with a powerful male at such a young age. She would barely have had the time to learn the most simple of our gifts. How could she develop her own talents and skills?" Darius sounded a bit disgusted with the males of his own race.
    Julian's golden eyes glittered for a moment. "If you found one who gave you back colors and emotions, who brought your dead soul to life and showered it with light, would you be able to walk away from her because she was yet a fledgling? Perhaps her skills are not developed, but her body is that of a woman, and any male under the circumstances would be more than happy to spend centuries aiding her in the learning." His body was beginning to shimmer, to dissolve into tiny droplets of moisture. "What are you waiting for, old man? If you did not get enough sleep, I assure you, I can handle this task on my own."
    "Old man?" Darius echoed. He made his own transformation with astonishing speed. The sun, although it was sinking, was still bright enough to hurt his sensitive eyes. He had noticed that Julian blinked and squinted a bit, but his eyes weren't streaming in reaction as Darius's were. "I have to ensure you do not meet with any more near misses."
    A layer of fog streaked across the sky, racing the sun toward the cliffs. Julian's iridescent colors intermingled with Darius's, and the cliff soon loomed before them, an intimidating sheer rock wall. Julian solidified, arms folded across his chest, watching with interest as Darius began to weave a strange pattern along the layers of granite. Darius moved unhurriedly, as if he had all the time in the world, as if he were unconcerned with the sun sinking or the vampire awakening.
    The vampire was locked deep within the cliff wall, but he was very much aware of the two hunters prowling so close, aware of the exact position of the sun and of how much time