Viss pov
The castle bells ring at midnight.
I've served King Aldric for over three hundred years. In all that time, I've never heard the alarm bells ring like this.
I run to the east tower where the sentries keep watch. My second in command, Lieutenant Kain, is already there. He's staring at the sky with wide eyes.
"What's happening?" I demand.
Kain points up. "I'llI grab the nearest sentry. "What else did you see? Anything
"The forbidn rier," the sentry says. He's young, Maybe only fifty years old. "I was watching the border, everything was good until suddenly the river started boiling, the steam was everywhere. Also I heard animal screams."
"What kind of animal?
"Wolf," he says.
My blood goes cold. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, Captain, I've been stationed on the border for ten years. I know what wolves sound like."
"Anything else?" I push.
"The sky goes dark, Lightning dance around the sky, Thunder rumbles, the whole sky changed in seconds. It felt like... like heaven punishment."
I release him and turn to Kain. "Send runners to every outpost, I want reports from all border stations. Now!."
"Yes, Captain." Kain disappears down the stairs.
I look at the red moon again. In three hundred years, I've never seen anything like this.
But I've heard Old stories, an ancient prophecies that the elders whisper about when they think no one's listening.
Stories about blood moons and the end of the world.
I need to tell the king.
I run through the castle, Straight to the royal chambers.
The guards at the king's door try to stop me. "The king is sleeping–"
"Wake him up," I order. "This is an emergency, do it Now!."
They exchange glances. Then one knocks on the door. "Your Majesty? Captain Voss requests urgent audience."
A moment later, the door opens, King Aldric stands there in his sleeping robes, his eyes are sharp despite being woken. "This had better be important, Voss."
"The moon, Your Majesty," I say. "It's turned red, and there are reports of disturbances at the forbidden river."
His face goes pale. "Show me."
I lead him to the east tower, Queen Seraphina is already there. She must have seen the moon from her own chambers.
"Aldric," she says when she sees him. Her voice is tight. "Tell me this isn't what I think it is."
"I don't know what it is yet," Aldric says, but his expression says otherwise. He knows exactly what this is.
"Summon the council," Seraphina says. "All of them. Immediately."
"At this hour?" one of the guards protests.
"Now!" Seraphina's voice echoes off the stone walls. "Every council member, young and old, I want them in the throne room in ten minutes."
The guards scatter to obey.
Aldric and Seraphina exchange a long look, they communicate with just their glance, their expression getting more heavier is not a good sign.
"Could it really be?" Seraphina whispers. "After all this time?"
"We'll know soon enough," Aldric says.
Ten minutes later, the throne room is full. Sleepy elders stumbling in, Council members grumbling and demanding to know what's happening, Everyone talking at once.
"Silence!" Aldric's voice cuts through the noise. Everyone stops immediately. "We have a situation."
He gestures to the windows. The red moon hangs there like a wound in the sky.
Gasps fill the room.
"The blood moon," an old elder named Cassius whispers, He's over a thousand years old. "I never thought I'd see it in my lifetime."
"What does it mean?" a younger council member asks.
"Get the prophecy scroll," Seraphina orders. "From the vault, the ancient one."
"Your Majesty," Cassius says slowly. "That scroll hasn't been opened in five hundred years."
"Then it's time," she says. "Get it now."
Two guards leave, the wait feels endless, everyone start to talk again. They are speculating and panicking.
I stand by the door, watching and listening. Trying to piece together what's happening.
Finally, the guards return. They carry a metal box covered in dust and strange symbols.
Cassius opens it carefully, Inside is a scroll, the parchment is yellow with age, the writing is in Old Tongue vampires, used thousands years ago.
"Read it," Aldric orders.
Cassius unrolls the scroll, with a shaky hands. "When the wolfless one finds love in the fangs of darkness, the blood moon shall rise, and the continent shall burn in eternal night. Only death can break the curse."
The room explodes.
"The prophecy!"
"It's coming true!"
"We're all doomed!"
"SILENCE!" Aldric roars. The room goes quiet. "Panic helps no one, we need to think clearly."
"The wolfless one," Seraphina says. "That means a werewolf without a wolf."
"Fangs of darkness," Cassius adds. "That's us, Vampires."
"So the prophecy is about a wolfless werewolf and a vampire falling in love," another elder says. "And when they do, the blood moon rises."
"Has anyone crossed into werewolf territory recently?" Aldric asks, looking around the room. "Has anyone violated the treaty?"
Silence.
"Answer me!" Aldric demands. "This is not the time for secrets!"
Still silence.
Then Kain enters the room. He approaches me and whispers, "Captain, we have a problem."
"What now?" I ask.
"Prince Stark," he says. "He's not in the castle, we've searched everywhere, his chambers are empty, his bed hasn't been slept in."
My stomach drops. "When was he last seen?"
"Yesterday evening," Kain says. "He said he was going for a walk, but he never came back."
"Your Majesty," I say loudly. Everyone turns to look at me. "Prince Stark is missing."
Seraphina's hand flies to her chest. "What?"
"He left the castle last evening," I report. "He hasn't returned."
"Where did he go?" Aldric demands.
"Unknown, Your Majesty. But there's more." I hesitate. "Several servants report seeing him leave through the east gate multiple times over the past few months. Always at night alone."
"The east gate," Seraphina says slowly. "That leads toward..."
"The forbidden river," Cassius finishes. "The border with werewolf."
"No," Seraphina whispers. "No, he wouldn't, he knows the treaty, he knows the danger."
"Unless he had a reason," Aldric says. His voice is hard. Cold. "A reason important enough to risk everything."
"You think he's involved in this?" another council member asks. "You think the prince is the vampire in the prophecy?"
"I think," Aldric says slowly, "that my son has been keeping secrets. And those secrets may have just doomed us all."
"We need to find him," Seraphina says. "Immediately. Send search parties, check the river, check everywhere around the border"
"Wait," Cassius says. He's still reading the scroll. "There's more to the prophecy, a second part."
Aldric steps forward. "What does it say?"
"I'm not sure," Cassius admits. "The writing here is faded. Almost illegible. I can only make out a few words. Something about... silver flame? And true darkness?"
"What does that mean?" Seraphina asks.
"I don't know," Cassius says. "The rest is too damaged to read."
"It doesn't matter right now," Aldric says. "What matters is stopping the first part of the prophecy before it gets worse. Voss!"
"Yes, Your Majesty?" I step forward.
"Take a hundred guards," he orders. "Search the border, the river and every nearby forest around it, find my son. And find out if he's been meeting a werewolf."
"And if he has?" I ask carefully.
Aldric's face is stone. "Bring him back, by force if necessary. And prepare a message to the werewolf. We need to arrange an emergency meeting."
"You're going to negotiate with the dogs?" an elder asks, shocked.
"I'm going to prevent a war," Aldric corrects. "If our prince and one of their wolves triggered this prophecy, both kingdoms need to decide what to do about it. Together."
"The werewolves will demand blood," another elder warns. "They'll want the prince executed."
"And we may want their wolf executed," Aldric says. "But we will discuss it like civilized beings, not like animals."
"What if Prince Stark refuses to return?" I ask.
"Then you remind him,that his duty is to his kingdom. Not to some werewolf girl, and if he still refuses..." He pauses. "Then he's no longer my son."
Seraphina gasps. "Aldric, you can't mean that."
"I mean exactly that," Aldric says. "I will not let personal feelings destroy the entire continent, even if those feelings belong to my own child."
He looks at me. "Go find him, bring him home. We have hours before the werewolves declare war, days before the prophecy progresses. Whatever's happening, we need to stop it now."
"Yes, Your Majesty." I bow and turn to leave.
"Voss," Seraphina calls after me. "When you find him... tell him his mother loves him, no matter what."
"I will, Your Majesty."
I gather my hundred best warriors, we arm ourselves with silver weapons, silver nets, and everything we need to capture a vampire prince if he resists.
We ride hard toward the border where the forbidden river flows, where hell is going rampant.
As we ride, I see the red moon hanging above us waiting.
And I think about the prophecy.
The wolfless one finds love in the fangs of darkness.
If Prince Stark really is in love with a werewolf, if he really triggered this prophecy, then we're all in more danger than anyone realizes.
Because the prophecy doesn't just mention a blood moon.
It mentions eternal night, the continent burning, the end of everything.
We reach the river just as dawn breaks, or should break. But the sun doesn't rise, the sky stays dark.
"Captain," one of my warriors says. His voice is shaking. "Look."
I follow his gaze. The river is still boiling, steam rising in thick clouds. And on the bank, there are Footprints.
One set is vampire, I can tell by the pattern, the cold depression in the earth.
The other set is werewolf, larger and clawed. But strange.
They lead into the forest.
"They went this way," I say. "Follow the tracks."
We follow them for miles. Through dense forest we reach where there is blood on the trees, claw marks in the bark, but the track still continues so we follow.
Finally, we find a cave, hidden behind bushes, the tracks lead inside.
"Careful," I warn my warriors. "If the prince is in there, he may not come willingly."
We enter the cave slowly, we wield weapons readily.
But It's empty.
There are signs they were here, there is a blanket on the ground some medical supplies, food and blood.
"They were here recently," Kain says, kneeling by the blood. "Within the last few hours."
"Where did they go?" I wonder aloud.
"Captain!" A warrior at the cave entrance calls out. "You need to see this!"
I rush outside. The warrior is pointing at the sky.
The red moon is growing brighter. Brighter and brighter until it's almost painful to look at.
And from somewhere in the distance, we hear howling. Not just one wolf. Hundreds of them.
"The werewolves are mobilizing," Kain says. "They're preparing for war."
"We need to get back to the castle," I say. "Now. The prince isn't here, and if the werewolves are mobilizing, we need to be ready to defend our borders."
We ride back as fast as we can, but in my gut, I know the truth.
We're too late.
Whatever the prophecy warned about, it's already started.
And nothing we do now will stop it.
We reach the castle gates just as a messenger arrives. He's riding a horse, with werewolf insignia
He carries a message sealed with the Fang pack symbol.
I take it and rush to the throne room, Aldric and Seraphina are waiting.
"Report," Aldric orders.
"The prince is gone, Your Majesty," I say. "We found evidence he's been living in a cave near the river. With someone else, but they disappeared before we arrived."
"And this?" Aldric points to the message.
I hand it to him. He breaks the seal and reads aloud:
"King Aldric. Emergency council meeting required, at the neutral ground amphitheater, tomorrow at sunset. We have captured the werewolf involved in the prophecy incident, we assume you will bring the vampire,come prepared to negotiate, or prepare for war. Alpha Dante of the Fang Pack."
Silence fills the throne room.
"They captured her," Seraphina whispers. "The werewolf girl, they have her."
"Which means they'll use her as leverage," Aldric says. "To get what they want."
"Which is?" I ask.
"Blood," Aldric says simply. "They'll want our prince's blood. In exchange for hers. Or they'll demand we execute him to stop the prophecy."
"What will you do?" Cassius asks.
Aldric looks at his wife, then at the red moon hanging impossibly in the sky.
"I'll do whatever it takes to save the vampire kingdom," he says. "Even if it means sacrificing my son."