Vampires Realm Prophecy 01 - Child of Light

be able to see her, not with the firelight obscuring their vision.
    “There,” he said, pointing to something.
    Narrowing her eyes, she leaned her head to one side and tried to follow the line of his finger to see what he was trying to show her. She frowned when she caught sight of the small door. It was near to the forest and around the side where no vampires seemed to go. They were all guarding the front.
    She started when she looked back at them and someone came out of the castle. The armour they wore was familiar. She had seen the same Norse-like helmet in her vision. She wondered if this was the same man she was destined to meet inside the castle. Her eyes followed him as he moved about the others, speaking to each and then disappearing back inside. They all seemed more regimented for a moment, each keeping to their post, and then gradually began to mill around again. Was the man of high standing? Was he their commander?
    She looked back at Valentine to find him scouring the scene below them. He was definitely in command. As much as she liked to believe that they shared the role, she knew that he was better experienced as a leader and she had to bow to his superior knowledge in these kinds of situations. She would have gone straight to the castle rather than surveying it first.
    A smile teased her lips at the sight of him. His long jacket was catching the breeze, slightly tattered looking now after all the fights, but still making him look impressive. He had one hand resting on his knee while the other gripped the edge of the flat rock they were on and his eyes were unmoving from the castle.
    “How many do you think are down there?” she asked.
    His lips compressed for a moment, his whole face darkening, and then he raised his brows.
    “A thousand, maybe more.” He looked up at her.
    “That’s my dance card full... who are you going to fight?” She smiled wide and he shook his head.
    “Whatever you leave me with.”
    Looking down at the castle, she gripped her axe a little tighter. A thousand vampires was more than she’d expected but with Dmitri’s army almost matching that number, she still felt confident that they would win the battle.
    She could do this.
    Her eyes came back to Valentine and she found that he was now standing, his eyes fixed intently on her.
    The whole of her insides flipped and a different kind of nerves threatened to overwhelm her. She could see in his eyes what was coming. She’d forgotten her vision and what was destined to happen in this valley but now the images came flooding back and she didn’t know how to react to anything he might say or do.
    She glanced at the castle, feeling an odd sense of fear loom up inside of her at the sight of it.
    “Prophecy... I—”
    She pressed her hand to his mouth, forcing him to stop. She couldn’t hear it. It must have taken a lot of courage and time for him to build up to telling her his feelings, but she was afraid to do the same, no matter how much she wanted to. She was frightened that by admitting her feelings she would sentence herself to a broken heart.
    “Don’t say it. I don’t think I could bear to hear it.” She looked straight into his eyes and released his mouth, letting her hand drop to rest on his chest. “Just know that I know it. I know the reason why you agreed to remain and help me, and it was the same reason that I tried to make you stay. But there is so much uncertainty on the horizon, so much darkness. I don’t think I could bear to hear you say those words only for me to never hear them again.”
    He looked stunned for a moment and then his expression softened, his eyes narrowing tenderly while his hand grasped hers where it was still pressed against his chest.
    He smiled.
    “But you do know it. Your heart tells you it is so?”
    She nodded and moved closer to him, closing the small gap between them. “It does. It whispers it every time you look at me.”
    Pressing her other hand against his chest, she let it glide upwards towards his face. She delighted in the way his eyes tried to follow it even when it ran over his neck. Cupping his cheek in her trembling palm, she stared deep into his eyes and swallowed hard.
    His fingers grasped her waist, tugging her close to him, and she knew what was coming. What she wouldn’t let him say with words, he was going to show her in his actions.
    He dipped his head but hesitated for a moment, pulling back enough to look into her eyes again.
    “You do know it?”