That night as Ryvian and Arkonus were about to say goodnight and close their bedroom door, Hagren stuck his foot out to stop it from closing.
"Oi, have you forgotten about our agreement?" He asked, sounding annoyed.
Both Ryvian and Arkonus looked at eachother and then back at Hagren.
"Agreement?" Arkonus asked, looking confused.
Hagren shoved his way into the room and pointed at Ryvian.
"Yeah, the agreement for me keeping your little secret" He said.
Realization fell over Arkonus's face.
"I thought that was a one time thing" Arkonus said, glancing over at Ryvian to gauge her reaction.
She nodded in agreement.
She had thought the same.
"When did I ever say 'one time'? I said let me share your Bloodletter, I never specified for how long" Hagren said, looking mischievous and triumphant.
Arkonus rubbed his eyebrows with his hand and sighed in frustration.
"Unless you want me to bite you instead?" Hagren said jokingly as he winked at Arkonus.
"Okay" Arkonus agreed, sounding completely serious.
Hagren was caught off guard and looked surprised.
His face turned a soft pink and he cleared his throat akwardly.
"As.. inticing as that sounds, your blood won't fix my hunger." He said as he gently grabbed Ryvians wrist and brought it to his lips.
Ryvian shut her eyes tight, waiting for him to bite down, but the bite never came.
She opened her eyes and saw Hagren watching her expressions closely.
He let go of her hand, a sad and frustrated look in his eyes.
"If you don't want me to I won't" He said, "You seemed to enjoy it last time, so I thought..." His voice trailed off.
He cleared his throat again and quickly left the room before either of them could say anything to him.
Ryvian instantly felt guilty.
It wasn't that she didn't want Hagren to bite her.
If anthing it was the opposite.
But she had felt like her choice had been taken away, he had been about to bite her without her consent and she had felt cornered.
Arkonus wrapped his arms around her in a tight hug, sensing how she was feeling.
"You did nothing wrong" He said "Hagren can be manipulative sometimes. It's pretty typical of vampire royalty. I'm actually surprised he took your feelings into account"
Ryvian nodded against his chest.
"I can't tell if he's a good guy or not" She mumbled. "One second he seems really sweet and the next second he sounds like a dick"
Arkonus laughed.
"He's kind of both." He explained "I think he is trying to unlearn some toxic vampire royalty traits"
Ryvian sighed and looked up at him.
"I had something I wanted to talk to you about" She said, looking a little uncomfortable.
Arkonus looked a little worried but nodded his head.
"I know you've noticed that Hagren is flirting with me." She said pointedly. "I can't get a good read on your expression's when its happening so I wanted to ask you how you felt about it"
Arkonus looked confused but then realizations set in and he smiled softly.
"Monogamy is a human invention. Vampires don't typically get jealous." He explained, giving her a gentle kiss on the forehead. "So what matters is what you feel about it"
Ryvian nodded slowly.
"I didn't even think about the possibilty that vampire relationship dynamics are different from humans" She said.
Arkonus led her to the bed and sat down next to her, his hand holding hers.
"Maybe we should take some time to talk about it then, and figure out what we do and don't want" He said, rubbing her hand between his in a reassuring manner.
Ryvian nodded again and turned her body so she was facing him crosslegged, Her short ruffled skirt just barely covering her knees.
"I actually noticed that you almost seem to like it when Hagren is flirting with me" She said, watching his expressions closesly.
Arkonus was taken by surprise and his whole face went red.
"I, well, I mean" He stuttered, looking flustered.
He sighed in defeat.
"Me and Hagren have been friends since the war ended. I've been denying it, but I definitly have feelings for him." He said, looking down awkwardly. "But I'm still unsure if I can trust him or not".
Ryvian was surprised but realized she was unbothered by him having feelings for Hagren.
"Okay, but that doesn't explain why you seem to like watching him flirt with me" She said, looking confused.
Arkonus thought for a minute before answering.
"I think it's because I could tell you kind of liked it, and seeing the both of you get along makes me happy. " he said "Plus it turns me on sometimes, but I don't know why" His face was still bright red, and he didn't make eye contact with her.
Ryvian smiled.
How much had Arkonus changed since she had first met him? He used to be so regal and, not 'emotionless', but much more careful about the emotions he showed.
She thought for a second and realized he hadn't changed, he had just begun to trust her enough to show her his vulnerable side.
That made her feel warm and happy that he felt so comfortable with her and trusted her with his feelings and emotions.
"Does that bother you?" He asked, pulling her out of her thoughts.
She shook her head.
"No, not at all. I don't think I am a jealous person. I've never been in any other relationship before, so I'm still figuring things out." She said, feeling embarresed by her inexperience. "But I don't think I am monogamous because I am completely okay with the idea of you liking other people. I guess my only request is that you tell me when you have feelings for someone"
Arkonus nodded and smiled.
"I feel the same way" He said, "definitely let me know if you have feelings for anyone, maybe I can be your wingman" He winked at her.
Ryvain laughed and threw her arms around his neck, pushing him down onto the bed.
She cuddled up to his chest.
"I love you" She whispered, saying it for the first time.
Arkonus froze and then wrapped his arms around her tightly.
"I love you too" He whispered back.
The next day was their last day at the castle before leaving for the raid.
As much as Hagren tried to pretend like nothing was wrong, Ryvian could still sense he was still upset.
Finally she couldn't take the awkward undertones anymore and she grabbed his arm and dragged him into the library, Arkonus following behind with an amused smirk on his face.
"Uh, can I help you?" Hagren asked, looking both amused and surprised.
Ryvian spun around once they were in the library and looked down at her feet awkwardly.
"I just wanted to talk to you about the other night. I wanted to make sure you knew that it wasn't that I didn't want you to bite me or that I don't like it; I just felt like you were taking my choice away, I felt like I was pushed into a corner and it didn't feel consensual"
Guilt flashed across his face as he realized what she was saying.
"I didn't-, that wasn't my-" He stuttered awkardly but then sighed "I'm sorry"
Ryvian shook her head and gave him a wink.
"Next time just ask"
Hagren smiled and nodded his head.
"We head out tomorrow night for the raid right?" Ryvian said as she sat down on one of the soft chairs.
Arkonus picked her up, stole her seat, and placed her in his lap.
Hagren chuckled at them in amusement before answering.
"Yep, we leave around 6pm so we have time to get there and prepare."
Ryvian looked back and forth between the two boys.
"So this is going to be a really dangerous situation and there's no telling if we will all come out of this alive" She said pointedly.
Hagren shrugged.
"I mean I guess, yeah." He said "What's your point?"
Ryvian stared at Arkonus, trying to get her meaning across.
Arkonus took a second to realize what she was getting at, but once he got it he shook his head quickly, looking both embarressed and terrified.
Ryvian silently egged him on.
"Are you two telepathically communicating right now? Because I feel like I am missing out on a super important conversation" Hagren said, raising an eyebrow at them.
Arkonus got up and placed Ryvian on the chair.
He tried to walk away, mumbling some excuses under his breath.
Ryvian grabbed his sleeve and he looked down at her, still looking scared and embaressed.
"It's okay if you don't want to, but I really feel like you should tell him. If anything happens to either of you I feel like you both would regret not saying anything." She said gently.
Arkonus paused and then slowly nodded.
He sighed and then looked up at Hagren.
"I already know" Hagren said before Arkonus could speak, a teasing smile playing across his lips. "You don't hide it very well"
Arkonus looked surprised, confused, and unsure what to say.
Suddenly Hagren grabbed Arkonus by the back of the neck and kissed him.
Ryvian watched them in surprise and smiled.
Hagren let Arkonus go and booped him on the nose with his finger.
"I was waiting for you to say something, I thought you were going to the other day" He said teasingly.
Arkonus was still blushing and looked shell shocked, but happy.
He snapped out of it and punched Hagren in the shoulder.
"Why didn't you say anything you jerk? I was worried for nothing" He said, annoyed.
Hagren grabbed his chin and made him look up at him.
"I couldn't help it. Your flustered face is so cute" He purred at him.
Arkonus pouted at him.
Ryvian giggled in amusement. She had never seen this side of Arkonus before.
She had never seen him give bottom energy before.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Time seemed to go by uncomfortably fast and before Ryvian knew it it was 6pm the next day.
All the vampires had piled into black vans and had begun the long drive to the Hunter's meeting house.
Arkonus opted for a motorcycle, saying it was easier to dodge anything the universe might throw at Ryvian on the way there.
Strangely there were very few near death moments on the road there and Ryvian could'nt tell if it was a good or bad sign.
The caravan of vampires stopped before reaching the meeting house, where they all stood around as Hagren reminded them of the plan.
"Now remember, you all must be very quiet as we approach the meeting house. Keep your eyes open for any traps or alarms and take out any look outs. Our goal is to take out as many hunters as possible and destroy their leaders. If you feel you are capable enough change as many of the hunter's family members as you can." He said "Break up into the groups I put you in and then move out, we attack at exactly 8pm."
The vampires quickly formed into their designated groups and then disappeared into the forest.
Arkonus and Ryvian met up with Hagren as he began stretching like he was getting ready for a race.
"You ready for this?" He asked them.
Ryvian and Arkonus looked at eachother and nodded solemnly.
Hagren stretched one more time and then ran into the forest, his footsteps so quiet Ryvian could'nt hear them.
Ryvian climbed onto Arkonus's back and he ran after Hagren.
She couldn't breath they were moving so fast.
The wind whipped her hair painfully across her face and no matter how carefully Arkonus avoided the tree branches and sticks, some still smacked into her face and arms, leaving small scratches and bruises.
Once they were close enough to the meeting house Arkonus jumped into a tall tree, landing on the branch next to Hagren.
They had a perfect view of the house, which was a large brick building.
Ryvian could'nt help but feel it looked like a prison.
at least 50 cars were parked outside the building and several guards were wandering around the premises.
Hagren pointed towards the right side of the building.
"The main meeting room is to the right on the bottom floor" He whispered. "The leaders will be located there as well as the majority of the other hunters."
Arkonus nodded and checked his watch.
Half an hour left until they would attack.
Suddenly loud screaming could be heard from all around them and a silver tipped arrow whizzed by Arkonus's face and stuck into the tree trunk behind them.
"Damn it! They've noticed us!" Hagren said as he dodged another arrow that came from out of nowhere.
"Get to the ground and head towards the meeting room! If we don't take out the leader's they're not gonna hold back on their next attack against us" Hagren yelled as he scooped Rivian into his arms and dropped from the tree, Arkonus following behind.
They ran quickly throught the forest, zig zagging between trees as arrows and the occasional dagger zipped past them.
Hagren let out a pained grunt as his arm was sliced open by an arrow and began making a sizzling sound.
Finally they reached the open yard of the building.
Vampires and Hunters were attacking eachother left and right, blood being splatted across the green grass as throats were ripped into and chests were stabbed with daggers.
Even more hunters were spilling out from the buildings double doors, daggers, swords, and crossbows at the ready.
Ryvian burried her face into Hagren's chest, fear filling her as she witnessed the absolute chaos that was going on around them.
"Through the window!" Arkonus yelled as they got closer to the building.
A couple hunters tried to stop them but were taken out by lower royalty vampires.
Arkonus broke throught the glass first, paving the way for Hagren and Ryvian.
Hagren threw himself through the window, shielding Ryvian from the broken glass with his arms.
The room they had jumped into had 4 hunters in it, ready to attack, daggers at the ready.
Ryvian's heart sank as she realized their were women and children behind the 4 men.
They we're protecting their families.
The hunters lunged at them and Hagren shoved Ryvian behind him, getting ready to fight back.
Before the hunters could reach either him or Ryvian, a black shadow flashed in front of them and all 4 hunters dropped to the ground, covered in blood, their eyes lifeless and terrified.
Ryvian looked around for what the black shadow had been and gazed in awe and horror as she realized it had been Arkonus.
His hands were dripping with blood, and he was breathing heavy.
His back was still to Ryvian and Hagren, but she could feel that something wasn't right.
Arkonus began walking purposefully towards the women and children who were tucked into the corners of the small room crying and screaming.
"Ark!" Ryvian yelled, running up to him and grabbing his sleeve to stop him.
Without turning around he shoved Ryvian back, forcefully.
Hagren caught her and covered her eyes and ears tightly.
Even through Hagren's big hands covering her ears she could still hear the terrified screaming and tearing of flesh.
She ripped Hagren's hands off of her eyes, and her heart sank as she saw the carnage that lay before them.
Arkonus stood over the bodies of the women and children, blood was splattered across the walls and floors, and every single human in the room was dead.
"Ark, you still with us?" Hagren asked carefully.
Arkonus slowly looked back at them, his eyes glowing a bright red.
His expression was cold and emotionless, until a very creepy, maniacal smile stretched across his lips.
"Shit" Hagren said as he shoved Ryvian behind him again.
He readied himself for a fight, but Arkonus merely turned around and walked out the door.
The sounds of fighting, screaming, and death, came from the hallways.
"What are we gonna do?! We have to help him!" Ryvian said trying to run toward the door.
Hagren grabbed her by the arm.
"We can't help him right now" He said gently "In fact him being like this is probably the safest for him, at least until the fighting is over"
Ryvian's eyes filled with tears.
She hadn't liked seeing Arkonus like that.
And the thought of what had just happened made her increasingly sick to her stomach.
Hagren picked Ryvian up again and ran to the door.
"We don't have any time to waste" He said "We need to get to the meeting room and take out the leaders"
Ryvian closed her eyes to avoid seeing the absolute carnage that Arkonus had left behind in the hallways.
He had taken out at least 20 hunters in a matter of seconds.
They had no trouble getting to the meeting room, which was a very large gym.
The carnage had led them right to the double doors.
Hagren slowly entered the gym with Ryvian.
Ryvian opened her eyes as they entered and gasped as she saw Arkonus on his hands and knees on the ground.
She jumped out of Hagren's arms and ran to his side.
"No! Stay back!" He yelled, holding up a hand "They filled the room with some kind of gas!"
Ryvian didn't care and dropped to her knees next to him.
Despite the state he was in she was so glad he no longer seemed to be an emotionless killer.
Hagren dropped to his knees by the doors and began coughing.
"Vampire's really are the dumbest of the dumb" Came a man's voice from the darkest corner of the gym.
They all looked up as an older man dressed in tactical gear walked out from the shadows, along with another man wearing a gas mask.
A tall skinny man with white and black peppered hair.
"Traitor!" Hagren yelled "What the hell are you doing with them!"
"Trust me, I would much rather not." Vyromere said, his voice muffled by the gas mask. "It was the best route to victory" He shrugged as if it was nothing.
Both Hagren and Arkonus growled at him angrily.
"Now now Lord Hagren, if you're good I won't kill you." He said as they both began walking closer. "The only one who has to die tonight is Lord Arkonus."
He reached down and grabbed the weakened Arkonus by the chin tightly, forcing him to look up at him.
"You have no idea how long I have waited to kill you" He hissed through his teeth.
Ryvian without thinking grabbed Vyromere's arm, yanking at it in an attempt to get him to let go of Arkonus.
His arm didn't even budge at her feeble attempt.
He threw her off of him with vampiric strength and she flew across the gym, her head smacking off the hard floor.
Pain washed through her skull and the room spun.
"Ryv!" Arkonus yelled, trying unsuccessfully to crawl to her.
"I have my own plan's for you, my little Achilees" Vyromere purred, looking back at her.
Ryvian slowly lifted her head to look at him in surprise.
"Oh yes, I know all about you. A little birdy with red hair told me all I needed to know" He said.
Ryvian's eyes filled with tears of betrayel as she realized he was referring to Amy.
"I didn't believe it at first, which is why I had to test if it was true of course" He said as he grabbed the silver tipped dagger that hung at his waist and began to play with it. "Those van's aren't cheap you know"
"The car crash was your doing?!" Arkonus said, malice filling his voice as he glared up at Vyromere.
The whole time during this exchange the older man had stood next to Vyromere, not saying a word, his eyes never leaving Ryvian.
Slowly he began to walk towards Ryvian, a very fancy gold dagger dropping from inside his sleeve to his hand.
A cold and foreboding feeling ran down her spine as she watched the older man approach.
Every cell in her body was telling her to run.
She got to her hands and knees and began to get to her feet but stumbled, the room still spinning from hitting her head.
The older man grabbed her by the neck and held her in the air.
She struggled aginst his grasp, desperately trying to break free as he crushed her windpipe.
"Hey! I said leave the girl alone!" Vyromere yelled walking up behind the man "I need her so we can clone her"
The man suddenly flipped the gold dagger around and sunk it into Vyromere's chest without looking.
Vyromere's eyes rolled into the back of his head and he dropped to the floor instantly as the man yanked the knife back out.
Arkonus had already begun army crawling his way to them and his eyes widened in shock as he saw Vyromere drop in front of him.
The man held the dagger up to Ryvian's face as she struggled to breath.
"Do you know what this is?" He asked her, his voice grough and emotionless. "It's the god killing dagger."
Arkonus's face suddenly turned pale and he froze. Hagren's did the same and they both looked terrified.
"No, please." Arkonus pleaded "You can kill me, just not her. Please, she has nothing to do with this"
Tears were already streaming down his face.
"She has everything to do with this." He said as his grip lightened on Ryvian enough for her to get some shaky breaths in. "If I let her live it's only a matter of time before you vampires make an army of nearly unkillable soldiers and a never ending blood supply."
Suddenly and without warning he plunged the gold dagger into Ryvian's heart.
It didn't feel like the death's she had experienced before.
This time a coldness she could not explain ran through her veins and she shivered violently.
The man let go of her and she dropped to the ground.
The unexplainable cold, was worse than any pain she had ever felt, and she gasped for air, as she fought a losing battle against it.
"Ryvian!" Both Hagren and Arkonus yelled in horror as they watched her fall to the floor.
Arkonus, now at Vyromere's body put on Vyromere's gas mask and lunged at the man with the dead vampires dagger.
The man jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the blade.
Arkonus whipped around, slowly regaining his vampiric speed and strength and lunged at him again, meeting his gold dagger with a loud clang.
Hagren, slowly dragged himself to his feet, using the edges of the bleachers to hold himself up. Carefully he disappeared into the shadows.
Arkonus continued to fight against the old man, daggers clashing over and over again.
The old man was being pushed back and was on the defense but somehow he was keeping up with Arkonus's vampiric speed and strength.
"How dare you take her from me!" He yelled in rage, his eyes redder than they had ever been before. "I'll kill you!"
The old man's expression never changed as they fought.
"Anyone that isn't human and is an abomination should die" He said calmly as Arkonus's dagger sliced across his cheek. "You all are freaks of nature that shouldn't exist".
Arkonus saw a someone hiding in the shadows around the bleachers behind the man and with a truimphant yell he shoved the man backward.
Caught off guard he stumbled back, only to be grabbed by Hagren, who ripped into his neck with a loud growl.
The old man's yells turned to gurgles as he choked on his own blood and went limp.
Hagren threw his body to the ground and stumbled back against the bleachers.
He began coughing, and spitting out the man's blood with a disgusted look on his face.
Arkonus immediately turned and ran to Ryvian's side.
She was still gasping for air, but her whole body was ice cold and her pulse was weak.
"Ryv!" He yelled as he dropped to his knees next to her.
He put a hand on her cheek and tried to look into her eyes, but her gaze looked past him like she couldn't see him anymore.
"Fuck, Hagren I don't know what to do" He yelled behind him.
Hagren was sat against the bleacher, his breathing unsteady and sweat dripping from his brow.
"That dagger was the god killing dagger Ark" He said, his voice filled with dispair
"I thought it was a myth, but it can kill literally any creature, even a semi-immortal one. There's nothing we can do to help her"
"No no no, there has to be something" He begged, tears running down his cheeks.
Suddenly he froze, and then ripped the gas mask off his face.
A look of desperation and a small glimmer of hope flashed across his face as he bit into his own wrist.
Hagren realized what he was doing immediately.
"Ark, if it doesn't work you will be putting her through excruciating pain for nothing" He said, tears now running down his cheeks as well, but the same glimmer of hope showing in his eyes.
Ark nodded, giving him a knowing look, before placing his lips against Ryvian's.
His blood dripped from the corners of her mouth.
Ryvian couldn't see or hear anymore. The only thing that existed to her was the never ending cold she felt.
It permiated her very soul, but somehow she still clung to the small glimmer of warmth that was her life.
Suddenly through the cold she could taste blood.
Sweet, warm, coppery blood, trickled down her throat and coated her tongue.
The cold, the glimmer of warmth, and the taste of blood slowly faded and all that was left was nothingness.
Arkonus begged for her to come back to him, but as the black ring around her neck began to fade he realized she wasn't coming back.
He continued to sob as he held onto Ryvian's lifeless body, the glimmer of hope now gone from his eyes, replaced by despair and loss.
Hagren had made his way to them slowly, as the gas in the room began to disperse, and was now rubbing Arkonus's back gently and crying along with him.
Arkonus thought he felt Ryvian move, but thought he was imagining things, until a delicate ice cold hand was placed against his cheek.
He looked down and his heart swelled with relief as he saw two beautiful red eyes staring back at him.
"Ryv! Thank god!" Ark yelled as he hugged her tightly.
"Ow ow ow, not so tight" Ryvian grunted out.
"You really scared us princess" Hagren said wiping the tears from his eyes and hugging them both.
"How are you feeling? Are you okay?" Arkonus asked, letting go of Ryvian long enough to look her over.
Her skin was now pale white, her hair a darker brown, and her eyes a deep red color. The ring around her neck was still missing.
"I think I'm okay, I feel really weird and almost sick though" She said, as she pushed her face into Arkonus's shoulder.
Hagren rubbed her back and Arkonus wrapped his arms around her again.
"It's because your body is going through the change still, It should stop in the next 3 days, but I'm not going to lie to you, its going to be a very painful process" Hagren explained. "Although if we want to last that long I suggest we get out of here"
Arkonus nodded and got to his feet, lifting Ryvian up in his arms.
Her body had began to shiver uncontrollably, as she felt simultaniously cold and hot, and she slowly started to lose consciousness.
"Rest my love, we will get you to safety and you'll be waking up in bed in no time." Arkonus reassured her as he gently kissed her forehead.
Ryvian nodded and then slowly darkness took over her vision and her body went limp.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~