Behind Enemy Lines!!…

*I am the villain of this story!!...*

**Vlad's POV**
Temple lost in time, Bucuresti

With a giant stride, I zipped into the dark sky, ignoring the feeling of being watched in the 'Temple lost in time'. I felt that someone was watching me, but I couldn't see it.
Now, who the hell would dare to do that, to sneak on the deadliest predator in its own territory? I turned around to watch, but strange that my predatory eyes couldn't detect anyone. But I knew someone was there as I could smell the sweet fear of the poor thing watching over me. Nevertheless, I ignored the feeling and leapt up high. The sky had taken a turn of a deadly one, with thunderous clouds roaring and cracking with the bolts of lightning. My eagle eyes narrowed on a group of animals lurking in the forest.
My poor prey!!
The beating in their chests played like a rhythm of death as they ran for their lives from me, Vlad-the impaler, the most dangerous predator that dominated the forests and the sky above. I didn't just chase and kill my prey...no; I like to play with them. I was gaining on them, and I could almost taste the defeat in their minds. They were ready to let me pounce, take what their body had to offer and let me finish them off because fighting me was foolish.
It gave me pleasure in the idea of the feast I would soon be tasting.
"Not going to make it, little rabbits!" My voice warned them through the trees echoing off the barks of every tree in the forest, making the air ripple.
I landed on the ground, facing the little rabbits...or should I call them wolves!!
The six wolves lined before me.
Fucking Wolves!!
Black and huge, twice the size of the regular wolves, with long snouts that showcased the bloody fangs. They all were waiting for their turn till I made a snack out of them. They are the predators of the forest that know only how to hunt, terrify and kill. And well now...now they will know what it feels to be a...prey!
I moved to close in the space, and my eyes started to change from deep blue to deep crimson. As my eyes of death locked onto them, they began to back away. It was as though they saw something that had spooked them; they began to retreat.
"Caught at last, little rabbits," my demonic voice growled through the woods. I could sense the fear travelling down their spine, making their feet locked on the floor. I curled my lips and bared my fangs at them, having the last laugh as I snarled, "Mine!"
With sharp agility, I leapt on the neck of one of the wolves, tightening my hold on it. The wolf howled in pain. Its eyes started to turn deadly white as I sucked out its life. It fell on the forest floor and rolled over and over before it slumped motionless on the floor.
I sensed two wolves attempting to ambush me from behind. Snarls of anger ripped through the air as I struck out my talons and pierced them straight through its spine. They were sharp enough to cut through the bone as if it had been strawberry jam. Thus, rendering it severe into two parts. Another one lost its hind leg as it tried to escape, now dragging itself back to the trees' safety. I sucked in a furious breath, landing straight on its back, twisting its body and then rearing up on its hind legs, dislodging them both from its back and tearing into its flesh.
With another quick movement, I jumped straight onto the head of the fourth wolf, spilling both jaws in the opposite direction, tearing them off from the rest of its head. After this, I gripped the other wolf's head, holding it and curling my talons around its skull before lifting it. It tried to twist free, but it was no good. The twisting stopped as I crushed its head, and it dropped dead on the ground. I was about to charge at the last one, but a banging sound stopped me in my tracks.
"What the fuck!?" I muttered, tilting my head on the far end, making out the shadow of the 'Slayer's castle' wrapped with the deadly blanket of mist.
"Time to get my girl back!" I muttered, and with a thundering rumble like the Earth was being split open by Poseidon himself, I stretched my hands, opened my wings, twisted slightly and took flight towards the Slayer's castle. I roared as I felt every muscle in my body tense and crack with untamable power coursing through my veins. I flew higher and higher through the mighty mountains of the Carpathians, and the barren landscapes of Transylvania-A place where the sun never rises, for it's been infested by the creatures of the night. I leapt towards the city of Bucuresti, which sits on a valley surrounded by the jagged Carpathians.
I descended, flying over the colossal wall that looked like a giant wave. It was hundreds of miles long and made up of rusty orange-coloured rock. Bucuresti was the walled city of Wallacia. The walls are to keep the rogues out, for they cannot fly higher than the height of the walls. No low-born vampire can, except for my mother- the Queen Carmilla of Bucuresti, my father- King Theron, my stepmothers and me. The others must pass through the gates lined up with the impaled bodies. The older impaled bodies with just the bones are closer to the entrance, while the recent ones, still in the different stages of decomposition, are on the outer side, with a swarm of scavengers poking holes for their meal.
The main entrance surpasses the height of the wall and looks like a giant vampiric bat, with two big holes where the eyes should be. The shadow vampires guard it. It also has a single row of fangs pointing to the ground like carved stalactites that looks ready to crush you into pulp. It is not called the City of the Dead for no reason. It is the place that consumes you whole and devours your soul.
The city was built around 1000 years ago but underwent a major makeover during the Tudor period. The first part of the city, near the huge wall, was a tight-knit collection of houses with barely any space in between. They mainly belong to the low-life. They were narrow and shanty because of the rocky foundations they were built upon. Their roofs looked unstable as if made out of scrap wood ripped off the boat. A cobbled street ran up through the centre of it all and passed through the bigger wooden houses with proper cone-shaped roofs and chimneys. They were beautifully and strategically constructed near each other, creating narrow alleyways. Both sides of the street were cram packed with an array of shops.
I flew deep into the city and rose higher over the mountain of grey rock. It has a strange kind of magnetic field that repels the Earth. Thus, it remains suspended in the air as it overpowers the Earth's gravitational force.
Slayer's castle was an architectural marvel. It was carved out of an entire grey mountain, as its walls looked seamless—also called the anti-gravity palace of Transylvania. The constant fog that seems to rise from it gives it an ominous appearance. It is on the edge of a terrific cliff. A stone falling from the window would fall a thousand feet without touching anything. Its three sides are impregnable.
And a separate wall surrounds the fourth side of the castle, which is a series of white arches. Battlement walkways connected them. The palace is a giant network of towers surrounding a larger one. They looked like colossal dark grey shards had risen from the suspended mountain. They were spiked with iron strips interweaved, making them look like a cage. They all were connected by hundreds of feet-long arched bridges hanging in the air. They looked like veins connecting to the heart of the castle.
I landed outside the main courtroom with a thundering crack, shedding my shadow Dracula, stepping forward from the mist of black particles. My shadow, Dracula, is a dark essence of my powers that would sink in the shadow and follow like a dark cloud until I call for it.
Striding to the colossal doors decorated by hundreds of large iron rivets, I moved with the edges of my cloak jacket brushing along the thick maroon carpet rug that ran towards my throne room. Long lengths of crimson cloth hung down the walls, which I barely noticed as I was more interested in what my minister had to say.
"Princess Proserpina has arrived, my honour!" The minister stood in front of me, awaiting my further instructions.
I knew she was not Proserpina because neither I nor my shadow Dracula could sense her as my mate.
"The girl-" My minister was trying to tell me something, but I cut him off the second I had his throat in my armoured hands. It rolled down from my large shoulders and ended with the curl edges. My chest was on the show, while simple trousers covered my legs.
"Where is she?" I demanded with a roar of rage.
He closed his eyes for a moment and allowed my anger to wash over him, and with a throaty breath, replied, "She is downstairs."
"No, she is not here! She is not Proserpina! She is not my mate...she's a fucking imposter!" I snarled before letting him go, wishing I could cast blame his way when, deep down, I knew it was my own doing. I should have personally escorted her from the Northern kingdom and sealed her in my lair.
Fuck!
I was losing my fucking cool.
"Take the imposter and the king, and lock them to the lowest level of dungeons. Torture them till they beg for death. The shackles should be pierced through their skin." I growled angrily with fisted hands, intending to destroy every damn piece of furniture in this place had I not had more important shit to do, like finding my mate and my dear brother!
'Like I wasn't busy enough!' I thought, holding back a frustrated sigh when facing yet another new thorn.
Fuck! I just want my girl back.
"Prince!" My army general Luke approached me in a fearful voice, still cautious of my mood.
"Not now!" I growled and angrily dragged a hand through my hair, nearly tearing a fistful of strands from my head.
"It's about Prince Hades."
"This better be good news for your sake, you idiot," I threatened.
"Our spy harpy intercepted him." He spoke. At least those fucking harpies had been useful for some cause. I had already lost hope after searching for him by tearing every realm apart. I curled my lip at the mention of my damn brother, looking outside the arched window. No matter how much I loathe him, but I still miss him. His wolf and my shadow are legendary and the only one of its kind; hence we both were unbeatable strength in battle.
"Why the fuck is he not here!?" My tone was rough and grated.
"Belphagor and his lackeys were upon him, but he killed them." He said, lowering his head. Now, this got my attention.
"Come again?" I said in a dead calm that I knew wouldn't last long.
"He killed Belphagor and his lackey!" He said in a wavering tone.
"I don't give a fuck about them. Where is Hades...Damn it!" I roared and fisted my hand into a painting.
"We lost him," and there went my calm.
"Fuck!" I roared; my voice no longer belonged to me but more to the blood-thirsty monster. He flinched as the rage exploded through me. And then the sound of glass cracking and furniture destruction echoed through the place. Even the walls and ceilings cracked as if surrendering to my anger.
"Prince Vlad-"
"You fucked up by losing him again. I want Hades! I want him fucking here! Bound in shackles...dragged on bare feet...on his knees!" I roared, making him swallow a heavy lump.
"We underestimated him," Luke commented, making me growl back.
"Yes, and I overestimated you! I fucking want him here- Which part of this shit do you not understand? If he is not here, then your head will be the next on those spikes, " I spoke, looking out of the arched window at the impaled bodies of the enemies. They were long gone, with just their bones stretched out by the poles. They were floating in the mist, resembling a ghost version of a scarecrow, imbibing an ultimate fear in the spine of a person who dared to stand against me.
"Where was he last seen!?" I asked with a pissed-off voice, cursing every damn thing for the outcome not going in my favour.
"Tombs of Condenmed', the woods at the edge of the Northern Kingdom."
"I know where the fucking tomb of bloody condemned is, damn it!" I snarled through gritted teeth.
"I'm sorry. But if you can just approve, I'll myself go as we already have his lead." Luke spoke, his head still hanging low in fear and shame.
"I want Estrella here by next fucking night!" I snapped, making him gulp a ball of fear.
"But she is at the devil's lair...Vampire king..." He was at the loss of words.
"I don't give a fuck! Just tell her where Hades is heading, and she will handle it from there!" I snapped, this time making him nod.
"And how did he let that fucking street-rat harpy alive? Shouldn't it be dead like the rest of them?" This question bothered me, as this is very unlikely of Hades. He had killed every damn spy I'd sent to intercept him. Then, how come to a stupid harpy no better than a useless piece of shit escaped his clutch.
"It succeeded in shooting wolfsbane in Prince Hades' body as he was busily assisting his friend."
"Jericho!? That wingless low-life!?" I asked cocking my eyebrow and gritting my teeth.
"No, she was a female friend!"
"Female friend...interesting!" My face was death, and my eyes flashed crimson at the mention of this interesting piece of information. Every damn muscle in my body tensed at the mention of Hades' female friend. I swear if I had flinched right now, then I could have fucking snapped my own bones. Because I know my brother well enough as not the type to make female friends unless she is more to him,
A fucking mate!
Proserpina!!

*She is mine, only mine, strictly mine!!...*