Chapter 114: Two-Pronged

As promised, he had a force of one hundred extra men ready to follow him into the vampire lands within half an hour. As he led them away from the camp, he heard captains yelling and getting their subordinates into formation for a full march.
He did not doubt that the thousands of werewolves near the border would be mobilized for an attack long before they needed the backup.
They rode back to the path they had been following and found the two wolves they’d sent ahead waiting for them where they had parted.
“What did you find?”
They shook their heads, “It’s weird. The path leads into the canyon area, twists and turns then vanishes. We’ve scoped out a few potential paths.”
Adolph nodded, “We’ll follow your lead.”
They nodded, climbing onto their horses and riding forward. He could feel Laurel growing closer the longer they rode, but he couldn’t speak to her through their bond or get a sense of how close she was.
The air grew colder as they rode forward. The sounds of wild animals died out, replaced with an unnerving silence. His father had spoken about the inner depths of the vampire lands, He’d said it was a place where even the babbling of a river seemed heavy with death and despair.
Adolph had never been so far into the vampire lands, but he smelled the stench of a vampire nearby and glanced around as no one else seemed to notice it. Sitting in the trees were three vampires, eerily still and watching them. They were far enough away to seem non-threatening, but there was no way he would believe they weren't a part of either Eden’s forces or the vampire queen’s forces.
Adolph shifted into his wolf form, leaping towards them. His men drew their weapons as he flew through the air. He landed on the branch as they scattered and climbed up the craggy rock face. Adolph shifted to his human form and clamored after them. He caught one of them off guard, but barely missed cutting him with his sword.
The metal of the blade clanged and echoed through the canyon as the vampire pushed off the canyon’s wall and caught himself on the other side. They scrambled up and Adolph leaped after them, using his sword to help him climb in his human form and following them as fast as he could manage.
“Follow them! Archers ready!” Chasel called from below. They climbed easily across the face of the canyon, darting back and forth between the two sides of the canyon until they reached a dead end and climbed harder, hanging easily from the ledge as Adolph hung below them.
They had the advantage of speed and agility, but they were outnumbered. There were no other vampires in the area.
Why would they lead them to this strange corner?
Adolph readied himself to leap again but halted at the sound of one of their voices.
“You’re pretty good,” one of them said. “An honor to meet King Adolph the Invincible in person.”
Adolph glared up at them. The leader held the golden charm bracelet that Adolph had given Laurel about his head.
Chasel gasped and he heard the archers getting ready to fire.
"You're here for Laurel, aren't you?"
Adolph growled, “Where is she? What have you done with her?”
“She’s fine,” he said and waved the bracelet. “Feisty too. She made me swear to bring it back to her after it got your attention… and bet me ten silvers that you would come with a small force.”
He wanted to call the man a liar, but the man put it back into a velvet pouch and tucked it into his armor.
“She said promising she planned on having a lot of midnight picnics in the future and a lot of days off for your honeymoon in the future as an apology for this mess would make you agreeable to listening.”
Adolph narrowed his eyes and sheathed his sword, keeping his eyes on them.
“She says next time she’ll let someone else sign the paperwork… a bird? Raven or something?”
Another vampire scoffed, “You’re the worst message carrier, and a hundred men plus three. You owe her ten silvers.”
“I’ve owed bigger debts to less beautiful people,” The man shrugged, rocking back on his heels, balanced unnaturally on the thin ledge as if he weighed nothing. “Fair enough, Goddess-Blessed King?”
Adolph swallowed, “What do you want in exchange for Laurel?”
He shook his head, “We’re here to trade information and services. Laurel, will be returned to you if that is what she wants. We’re under orders not to harm her or detain her. You might find she’ll wander her way back to you with enough time. She seems like the crafty type.”
That had to mean she was with Eden. The vampire queen wouldn’t have kidnapped her just to seemingly not care about her detainment. There was a chance that they were lying, but his instincts were telling him that wasn’t true.
“She says that Morrigan, the vampire queen, needs to be stopped. She agrees, at least with that part of the plan, but the vampire queen’s castle isn’t a stronghold you can break into without help and we need your numbers.”
This was the most information they had about the vampire queen’s stronghold. It could be a trick or a trap, but he had to remain calm and use this conversation to get the information he needed to find Laurel.
“You work for the vampire queen. Why should we trust you?”
The man sneered, “I wouldn’t work for that vicious wench if my life depended on it. And it doesn’t. Are you agreeing to listen or not?”
The man’s words rang true, but there was something at the back of his mind that bothered him.
“What do you want?”
“This evening, we’re storming the castle. We need you as the second prong of the attack.”
Adolph let himself slip down to the ground as Chasel drew closer. He felt Chasel get closer, "Your Majesty--"
“Let’s pretend I believe you,” Adolph said. “When do I get my wife back?”
The man smirked, “Let’s pretend we care. We don’t need you to trust us. Just listen. Your father got fairly deep into vampire territory, as have your scouts, but you have never even seen the vampire queen, Morrigan, have you, King Adolph?”
Adolph narrowed his eyes, “What of it?”
“The castle of the Ash monarchy is cloaked in magic, laid when Wiccans and vampires still got along. It keeps people from accidentally discovering it. We plan to storm the castle on two fronts: the main path through the castle’s gates, and the fortress’ only weak point accessible to werewolves.”
“We need your numbers and unique talents. You need our information. We’ll need to work together if we want to get rid of that wench sooner rather than later” He nodded to one side, “These two and our compatriot on the road will show you the path to the queen’s castle that will take you through the defensive barrier.”
“How are we meant to get through it?”
“The barrier doesn’t distinguish between animals and your wolf forms.”
“This compatriot… is a werewolf?”
“He is,” he gave him a vicious smile. “He hates Morrigan only slightly more than he hates your son.”
Adolph frowned, “...My son?”
Basil had never stepped foot outside of the territory. Why would any werewolf in Eden’s back pocket care about him?
“He’s a survivor of the Gray Ash pack.”
Adolph flinched and his heart clenched with grief. He felt his shoulders slump in shame as he nodded. Of course, he had been getting up to speed about everything that had happened while he was away at war since returning. The fate of the Gray Ash pack and several others had felt like knife wounds in his chest of betrayal and guilt.
Several of the men of his first platoon had been members of the Gray Ash pack.
“You shouldn’t worry about how he feels about you…” He smirked. “He’s quite happy that the great King Adolph would come all the way here for this. Do we have a deal?”
“And where is Eden?” Adolph said.
“He’ll be at the castle leading the second prong of the attack,” he said. “You can probably take your grievances up with him then.”
Adolph's instincts screamed that the vampire was lying about something, but he couldn’t pinpoint what it was. It was a distant danger, something to be aware of but not guard against just yet, like a warning from the goddess, so he nodded.
“We have a deal.”
“Your Majesty,” Chasel said coming closer. “I don’t know about this.”
"At first chance, Chasel, you will grab Laurel and get her out of here." Adolph glanced at him. "We should all be prepared to cut through droves of vampires to get out of here…"
Chasel swallowed, "And the queen?"
"I'm more concerned about Eden," he clenched his fist. "I'll kill him myself."