Adek smirked as he and his men crested the hill and stared down at the castle below. It had been a long march from his home in the frigid north, but he was here. Here at Moldova, he only wished that the reasons for this trip were of a less serious manner.

He walked quickly down the hill and made his way through the courtyard. As soon as he came to the bridge his heightened lycan senses picked up the unmistakable stench of blood and death. Hundreds of good men and women had died to retake and defend this castle. It had been hell. Morale was down and they were getting weaker by the day but he was here now and he hoped that meant something. The guards let him through; as he passed he tried to ignore the bodies that were still floating lifeless in the moat.
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Adek felt every eye fall on him as he pushed open the heavy oaken doors and walked into the main hall. He kept his head up and continued to march down the large room where the other generals were waiting his arrival. Raine stood in full armor in the center of the room with her top advisors flanking her. She smiled at the site of one her most trusted friends finally arriving.

Raine was a great general. Before the revolt, she had been one of the top fighters in the vampire army until they tried to kill her for her belief that vampires and lycans (werewolves) could live in harmony. She had saved him from a life of pain and suffering. Finally showed him the way to controlling the beast that lived within him. Before she had come along, he had been a monster, tearing through the country side with no disregard for life.

He came to a halt a foot in front of her. He was fully aware off the crushing weight of a hundred eyes bearing down on him. He knew that while of these people believed in the message that the races could coexist, old habits dies hard. For centuries, their people had been at war with one another. He knew that he was to earn their trust; he would have to do something drastic.
He heard the sound of all the jaws in the room dropping at once, as he tilted his head and exposed his neck, the vampiric sign of submission. Raine smiled as she stepped forward and lightly bit at the nape of Adek’s neck, she then stepped back and with her right hand drew her long raven hair away from the nape of her neck as she sank down onto her left knee. Adek caressed the top of her head, as was the wolven custom. As she rose, she pulled Adek in for a tight embrace, showing both how close she was to him as well as showing her skeptic army that she trusted him fully.
“Adek” she said happily “we have been excepting you.”
“Yes” he replied as he snaked out of her embrace “but this is not the time for pleasantries”
She stiffened immediately “yes, Lord Adek, you are right.”
He nodded to her softly. He then turned to silver, Raine’s head advisor, “What do we have?”

Silver was tall and stern. He had sharp about his face and his long, jet-black hair was pulled behind him in a neat ponytail. He stared at Adek with lusterless eyes for a moment before turning to look at her charts. “It has not been good, my friend.” He said with a sigh. “By some miracle, we have managed to repel the wolves, and now that you’re here they refuse to fight.” Adek sighed in relief and thanked the gods for small blessings. Silver waited a moment and then continued. “However the vampire army has grown stronger than ever. They have taken on new recruits. Humans recently turned to slaves against us. We have done our best to keep them at bay, but now they have regrouped. They are ready for a full on attack.”

Adek stared down at his feet trying to keep his composure. His hand tightened nervously around his silver war hammer. “So how much longer?” he asked.

“The enemy is gathered.” Silver answered raggedly. “You should suit up, my friend. The battle begins at sundown.”
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Adek stood atop the battlement as the sun began to fade in the west. Raine stood as still as a statue in full armor to his right, Silver stood at his left. In the distant he could hear the beating drums of the vampire army thundering near them. As the first of the enemy forces crested the hill and began marching into the clearing that would be there battlefield, the horns sounded. “Battle stations all!” Adek shouted over the sound. “We have a war to win.
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The army was formed up and on the battle grounds. A hundred yards in front of him stood the enemy forces. Adek stood before the masses of his forces with Raine beside him atop her white horse Athena. He stood as the wolven general. All the lycans here looked at him as their alpha, just as all accepted Raine as the vampire Sire. He raised his hammer from the loop on his hip and pointed its crushing silver head at the enemy leader.
“It is no accident that you are here.” He bellowed. “They would have us tearing at each others throats. I ask you, what good is that? My friends, you and I are no different. We are all made up of bone and blood and soul.” Adek beat his chest with his fist. “Here you will find a heart, the same as yours. And, it is by our heart that this alliance was formed.” He walked up and took Raine by the hand. “If not for the kindness Raine has shown me, this union would not be possible. I hold as family, just as I do each and every one of you. Wolf and vampire alike, we are not enemies, but instead we are brothers.” He again pointed the hammer at across the field. “They have hunted my kind for centuries because they considered wolves a threat. And now, they are here because together they consider us a great threat. My friends let us show them how right they are.” The army erupted into cheers and roars. When they died down, he turned and looked up at Raine. “Anything you would like to add, sister?”

Raine placed her hand on his shoulder. “Thank you Adek together we will defeat them.” She looked up and faced the crowd and shouted, “Together we rewrite history. Together, we show them that we can coexist. Together we show them that we will not SURRENDER!”

As she drew her sword, she turned and started galloping toward the enemy. Adek lifted his hammer up to the heavens and shouted “CHARGE!”

The sound of the armies clashing together was thunderous. Shields bashed against one another as sounds rang out in a deadly chorus. Adek slammed his hammer into his foes one after the other. The faces became a blur as he spun and parried, crushing each foe under the might of his hammer. Heads exploded and ribs shattered as his beat his bloody path through the bulk of the enemy forces. Around him, his brothers fell, but for each one of his brothers that fell, he saw to it that two of the enemy joined him in Hell.

From his left, Adek heard the tell tale sound of a crossbow being fired. He turned to face it but was too slow to stop it, the bolt landed firmly in his right thigh. He crumpled as all his weight was now supported solely by his left leg. Grunting, he examined the wound, the bolt had pierced all the way through. The tip of the head glittered on the other side of his leg. Hissing in pain, he broke off the tip of the bolt and pulled the shaft out of his bleeding thigh. He tried to stand, but again failed as he again fell down to the dirt. His vision was beginning to blur as he heard the sound of a booted foot pounding the earth. It was the leader of the enemy coven, the vampires sworn to kill him. He looked up at the man as the butt of his crossbow slammed into the bridge of his nose. Adek’s head flew backward and crashed onto the hard ground of the field.

He sat there fighting off the ever-welcoming blackness of unconsciousness. The world began to fade as he saw a white blur fly over head like a great saving angel. Athena came crashing down as Raine dispatched the general, sparing Adek’s life. Sword flailing, she quickly slew all the remaining foes that surrounded them.

Raine jumped off of her horse as Adek began the final descent into the abyss. Death called to him, singing a sweet lullaby. Form what seemed like miles away, he heard Raine’s frantic voice begging him to live. He was vaguely aware of her tears that fell upon his head like a spring rain.

“Adek” she sobbed. “Please, wake up. I can- I can’t lose you” She looked around for any help that was available. Seeing that there was no one that could help and knowing that time was of the essence, she did the only thing that was sure to save his life.
Adek gasped softly as Raine’s fangs entered his neck. The sweet sensation of here drinking his blood was as intoxicating as the strongest of spirits. With each gulp that she took, Adek could feel himself being pulled from the cold death that comes blood loss to the warm sensation that is the dark kiss.

“Here, brother,” Raine said breathlessly as she cut her wrist with her side dagger, “Drink, please don’t leave me. I need you. Adek, drink.”

The blood that fell on his lips was warm and inviting. He clasped onto her arms and began hungrily gulping the crimson life that flowed from her veins. Her blood spread through him like liquid fire. Each drink brought strength and the certainty of survival. Raine withdrew her arm, and he collapsed back with his face covered in his most trusted friend’s blood. He was alive but he was still weak. In the distance, he could hear the sound of the enemy retreating.

“It’s all right, Adek” Raine said softly. “It’s all over. We can finally have peace; we can finally rest.”

“It’s over” Adek said happily. He then laid down his head and let the darkness take him. As he slept, he dreamt of the new world that they had created, a world in which lycans and vampires could live in harmony, a world in which he was finally free.