It didn't take long for Lucian and his forces to climb the snowy mountain and reach the area that Soflera, the 5th Nocturnal Knight had pointed out as an opening.
Around him, Lucian watched as the other group leaders led their groups to the other mountains in the range.
This is... Strange. I feel as though we've gotten here too easily.
"Is everything okay, Lucian?" Taliah asked from beside him, placing her hand on his shoulder.
She seemed to ask the question with genuine worry, as though she thought he taking on a burden that was too heavy for him.
Most would take offence in being looked down on, but Lucian didn't. He knew that she was asking out of good faith.
"No, I'm fine, thank you." He turned to face the rest of the vampires, which numbered nearly a hundred. "Are you all ready?"
He kept his voice low, but loud enough to be heard by all. The Eversleepers nodded their heads and tightened their grips on their weapons.
Lucian saw many men amongst them watching him, waiting for his orders, even though most were older than him.
"Soflera, can you reveal the entrance?"
The 5th knight stepped up the incline, and placed her hand against the snow, brushing against it and clearing it away.
As she did, a large rustic metal door had been revealed beneath it.
Woah...
Lucian bent over and pulled on the handle of the door, and to his surprise, it creaked open.
"It's not even locked. It's like they've set some sort of trap." He said to the knights beside him.
"Well, whatever trap they've set I'm sure it's not strong enough to take down Lucian The Prodigy." Soflera joked as she pushed him playfully on the shoulder.
Lucian ignored her jests and gestured for the others to follow him as he stepped through the door.
At first, the door led to a dark small corridor, that was hard for the entirety of his forces to even fit through. But slowly they made their way through.
Lucian remained on guard, keeping his senses as ready as possible the entire time.
"It's obvious now. The eery silence, this is a trap." A woman spoke from behind him.
She was the 10th-ranked Knight, and her voice was heavily accented. Her hair was long and brown, and she wore knuckle dusters on both wrists.
Lucian didn't know her well, but her name was Celestial, and she was known for her brute strength over blood magic use.
"Yeah, something's off." He replied. "But it doesn't matter. We can take on whatever comes our way"
Finally, after minutes of walking, the corridor ended, opening them up to an incredibly large room that must have taken years to carve out from the mountain.
The stone walls and flooring were carved into artistic patterns, similar to a throne room, but less royal.
This was where they found their enemies.
The Werewolves were ordered into a strange formation. A large open square.
At the centre of the square was a man standing there, and instantly his eyes locked with Lucian's as he entered the room.
The vampires behind Lucian prepared to strike, some even conjured blood magic from their hands, but Lucian held up a hand to stop them.
"Vampires, you've arrived." The man at the centre of the square said as Lucian's forces filtered into the room, placing themselves behind him.
The man was large, incredibly large. His body was unnaturally hairy, including his face, which sported a large grey beard and a long mane of flowing hair.
He wore no shirt or shoes, only long flowing trousers. His body was muscular and toned.
He's double my size...
The man looked at Lucian with a raised eyebrow.
"You... I recognise the women behind you, they're the Knights. But you I have never seen before. Has Draven really allowed a little boy to lead a group of vampires?" The man let out a mocking laugh that echoed through the large room.
Taliah went to step forward towards the man in anger, but Lucian held out his arm to stop her.
"But Lucian-"
"It's fine." He said bluntly, cutting her off.
Lucian looked around at all the Werewolves in the room. They had roughly the same amount of force as he did.
But they didn't seem hostile. It seemed they had faith in whoever the man was standing in the centre of the square.
"Who are you?" Lucian asked him, "And what do you want?"
The man pointed to the ground in front of him and gave Lucian a menacing look.
"My name is Pedantris Silverclaw, Captain of the First Peak, and isn't what I want obvious? I'd like to duel. We need not settle this in a large battle that ends in our forces being decimated. Let's scrap it out, leader against leader."
The Nocturnal Knights looked at Lucian with questioning eyes, whilst he stood there in thought.
I see. It makes sense.
It wasn't a trap, but rather an invitation.
...
It's like the Great duels, but on a smaller scale.
He stepped forward, leaving his vampires behind him and entering into the square.
"Lucian, you don't have to do this," Taliah said from behind him, but he did not answer her.
The others seemed to trust him enough to allow him to follow through with what he had planned.
After all, Draven had demanded them to follow his orders vehemently.
As he made his way to face off with Pedantris Silverclaw, the other vampires filtered into the room, increasing the size of the square.
Eventually, Lucian and the werewolf stood face to face, with roughly two hundred vampires and werewolves around them, creating what looked like a makeshift arena.
Now that he was closer to the man, he could see just how large he was.
Lucian was roughly 50 kilograms heavy, and 5'2 feet tall. This man must have been at least triple his weight, and over 6'6.
"You really are tiny." The Werewolf said with a smirk on his face, but Lucian did not allow himself to be taunted by his words.
Instead, he placed his hand on the hilt of his katana and drew the blade from its sheathe.
The sliding sound of the metal was music to his ears, and the silver of the blade glinted in the light of the chandelier above their head.
The katana had always felt like a personal weapon to him. It was a friend since the first day he picked it up.
The werewolf allowed his claws to grow from the tips of his fingers, protruding to a gruesome length, each longer than the fingers themselves.
They were sharp and cruel. A genetic weapon made for tearing through flesh.
They both stood in a crouched readied position.
"Shall we begin?" Pedantris said, face twisted in excitement.
Lucian remained calm, despite it being his first time in battle.
His heart rate slowed to a pace he was comfortable with, and he felt the blood flowing through his veins.
Then finally, amidst the silence, he nodded his head.
And the Vampire and Werewolf dashed towards each other, preparing to clash.