Vampires Realm Prophecy 01 - Child of Light

you.” Dmitri put his arm around his shoulders.
    Valentine sighed and pushed his friend away.
    “Mia will tell her—” Dmitri started.
    “No!” Valentine cut him off, half shouting half growling the word. “I will tell her if you will shut up about it.”
    “You will tell her?” Dmitri’s expression was serious. Valentine had expected him to laugh again, not give him a look so full of concern, and it shook him a little to see it. Both Mia and Dmitri seemed to have taken to Prophecy.
    “I will tell her,” he whispered. “Before this battle begins, I will find a way.”
    “Then we are good, no?”
    Valentine nodded. Dmitri smiled and then shifted guise, his bones changing position as fur erupted across his skin in a black wave. The werewolf growled at him and then sprinted into the forest.
    Valentine stood still for a moment, attuning his senses to the scent of Dmitri and trying not to think about what he’d said. He would find a way to tell her. Time was running out, and she had to know before they went to war. Anything could happen to her, or to him. She needed to know and he had to tell her.
    Slipping into his vampire guise, he picked up the bag and ran into the forest after Dmitri. He smiled when he heard a distant howl. It had been too long since they had sparred like this. He’d forgotten how thrilling it was to let his more demonic instincts take control. Whenever he fought the vampire hunters, he always remained in his human guise so they didn’t get the pleasure of seeing his true face until they were tasting death. Besides, hunters he could easily defeat without calling on the added strength and abilities unleashing his demonic guise gave him. They weren’t really a challenge. The only challenge to a vampire was another vampire or a demon, like Dmitri.
    He ducked under a branch and sprinted through the trees, weaving through the trunks.
    He kept his senses sharpened on Dmitri’s scent while he ran and let his thoughts drift. Werewolves weren’t the only demons that vampires shared the world with. There were the under-demons, those born of Hell, some of which were far more powerful than both himself and Dmitri. Some of which were mercenaries. He was sure that Arkalus and Kalinor had placed a princely sum on Prophecy’s and his own head, large enough to attract the most deadly breed of the mercenary demons, the Aleaeries. Even if the prophecy was fulfilled by the destruction of the lord of Tenebrae, these demons would still come for them. A price was a price. To an Aleaeries there wasn’t an expiry date on it and no vampire, not even his own Lord Kalinor, would dare to disagree with one. Prophecy and himself were going to have to be careful for the rest of their lives. The chance of spotting an Aleaeries was slim due to their shape-shifting abilities. It made them the perfect mercenary. They could slip in unnoticed to capture their prey.
    Another wolf howl caught his attention, bringing it away from thoughts of the under-demons that were probably searching for them.
    He barely had time to duck and roll as Dmitri pounced. He came up behind a tree, using it for cover and smiling to himself while he watched Dmitri prowling the open area on the other side of the trunk. Putting the bag down and his claws away, he waited for the perfect moment to attack. When Dmitri turned his back, Valentine ran out and leapt at him. Even in wolf guise, his old friend was bigger than him. He kicked off him and back flipped, landing firmly on the ground and springing forwards just as Dmitri ran at him. Punching him solidly across the jaw, he smirked when Dmitri growled and swiped at him. He skilfully avoided Dmitri’s claws, ducking backwards. While Dmitri was still in the process of swiping at him, he landed another punch and then another.
    Just as Dmitri was about to attack him, a twig snapped in the distance. They both raised their head, sniffing at the air.
    “Deer,” Valentine announced and Dmitri nodded in agreement.
    He watched his friend change out of his werewolf guise and shook his head at the state of his clothes.
    “Mia will kill you,” he said but Dmitri just shrugged and looked down at his torn trousers. They were going to look a state when they walked back into the village inn in just their trousers and with scratches all over them.
    “Let us not think of women. Let us hunt.” Dmitri grinned and sprinted in the direction the noise had come from.
    Valentine laughed. If his friend thought he