Princess's Revenge: Slave to the Soulbound King Chapter 100

Draven

The acrid smell of smoke and death hit my nostrils before we even crested the hill overlooking Greymill village. I raised my fist, signaling my elite squad to halt as we surveyed the carnage below. What had once been a thriving farming community was now a blackened scar against the green countryside, wisps of smoke still rising from the charred remains of homes.

"Goddess preserve us," whispered Lieutenant Kieran beside me, his usual stoic composure cracking at the sight.

I dismounted, my boots hitting the ground with grim purpose. "Form up," I commanded, my voice cutting through the morning air. "Document everything. Every claw mark, every scent trail, every detail that seems out of place." My twenty hand-picked warriors spread out with military precision, their expressions as dark as my own.

We descended into what remained of the village like phantoms investigating our own crimes. The main road was littered with debris—overturned carts, scattered belongings, and bodies. So many bodies. Men, women, children... none had been spared. Some bore the unmistakable marks of werewolf claws, others appeared to have been torn apart with savage brutality.

I forced myself to examine each scene with clinical detachment, though my stomach churned. Even during the war three centuries ago, when blood ran thick between our peoples, werewolves had never engaged in such deliberate cruelty. We killed swiftly, efficiently. This was torture masquerading as warfare.

"Commander!" Kieran's voice pulled me from my dark thoughts. "You need to see this."

I followed him to the village's edge, where deep gouges scarred the earth. Werewolf claw marks, unmistakably. But as I knelt to examine them more closely, something nagged at me. The spacing was correct, the depth appropriate for our kind, yet...

"These marks are too deliberate," I muttered, running my finger along one of the grooves. "Look at the pattern." I pointed to a series of scratches that formed what appeared to be territorial markers. "We don't leave calling cards, especially not in human settlements. Our raids are swift—we take what we need and disappear."

Kieran nodded grimly. "There's more, sir. We found similar markings around the other two villages."

My military instincts screamed that something was wrong. In thirty years of commanding raids, I had never seen werewolves leave such obvious evidence. We were predators, not vandals seeking recognition for our kills.

The sun was beginning its descent when I made my way to the village's small chapel. The stone building had been systematically destroyed—every window shattered, the wooden cross splintered, the altar overturned. This level of desecration spoke of hatred that ran deeper than mere territorial dispute.

As I stepped through the ruined doorway, Thalia's protective amulet grew warm against my chest. I paused, my hand instinctively moving to touch the silver chain. The warmth intensified as I moved deeper into the chapel, drawing me toward the destroyed altar like a compass needle pointing north.

Moonlight streamed through the broken roof as dusk settled over the ruins. In that pale illumination, I saw something that made my blood run cold—a fine layer of black powder dusted across the altar stones, nearly invisible except where the moon's rays touched it.

Under that celestial light, the powder shimmered with an unmistakably purple hue.

"Shadow Dust," I breathed, my voice barely a whisper in the destroyed sanctuary.

I had encountered this substance only once before, during the great war when we fought alongside humans against the vampire covens. Shadow dust was used by vampires to mask their scent and conceal their magical workings—a dark alchemical creation that few outside their kind even knew existed.

My mind raced as the implications crashed over me like a cold wave. If vampires were involved in these attacks, then someone among my own people was collaborating with our ancient enemies. Someone with enough knowledge to stage convincing werewolf raids while covering the tracks.

Carefully, I collected a sample of the powder in a small vial, my hands steady despite the turmoil in my thoughts. The evidence needed to reach Lycanthar immediately.

"Kieran!" I called as I emerged from the chapel. "We're moving out. Now."

We mounted our horses as full darkness settled over the devastated village. I pushed our pace harder than usual, my instincts screaming warnings I couldn't ignore. The forest path that normally felt like friendly territory now seemed filled with shadows and potential threats.

We had traveled perhaps two miles when the very air around us changed. The normal chorus of night sounds—owls calling, wolves howling in the distance, the rustle of small creatures in the underbrush—simply stopped. The silence was so complete it felt oppressive, like the moment before a thunderstorm breaks.

"Defensive formation!" I barked, but my warning came too late.

Black mist began seeping from the trees on both sides of the path, flowing toward us with unnatural purpose. Within the mist, dark figures emerged—tall, gaunt shapes wrapped in midnight-colored robes that seemed to absorb the moonlight itself.

"Vampire blood mages," I snarled, even as my mount reared in terror at the supernatural presence.

The robed figures moved with fluid grace, forming a perfect circle around my squad. I counted at least a dozen of them, their faces hidden in shadow but their intentions crystal clear. Ancient words in the vampire tongue began spilling from their lips, and I felt the familiar tingle of hostile magic building in the air.

"It's a binding circle!" I shouted to my men. "They're trying to contain us!"

Red light began to pulse between the vampires as their spell took hold. The magical energy pressed against us like invisible chains, and I felt my connection to my wolf form wavering. Around me, my warriors cried out in pain as their transformations were forcibly suppressed.

But Thalia's amulet blazed with warm golden light against my chest, creating a protective barrier that held the worst of the magic at bay. While my men collapsed, writhing in agony as their lycanthropic nature was constrained, I retained enough strength to move.

"Protect the fallen!" I commanded those who could still function. "I'll break their circle!"

I charged toward the nearest gap in their formation, managing a partial transformation that left me in my hybrid form—larger and stronger than my human shape, though not at full werewolf power.

At the center of their circle, the largest vampire—clearly their leader—raised his arms high above his head. Blood-red energy coalesced between his palms, growing larger and more intense with each passing second. The magical construct pulsed with malevolent power, designed specifically to tear apart werewolf physiology.

"Break away!" I roared to my surviving men. "That spell will kill us all!"

The blood magic hurtled toward me like a crimson comet. I threw myself sideways, but the magical energy clipped my left shoulder, sending searing pain through my entire body. Thalia's amulet flared one final time, absorbing much of the spell's power, before the silver chain snapped and the protective charm clattered to the ground in pieces.

The residual magic felt like liquid fire in my veins, and I could taste copper in my mouth as internal injuries made themselves known. But I was alive, and that was more than the vampires had planned.

"Pursue the stragglers!" the lead vampire commanded in his ancient, gravelly voice. "The commander must not escape!"

I stumbled toward the forest depths, drawing the hunters away from my wounded men. Behind me, I could hear them splitting into two groups—one following my trail, the other hunting down my scattered warriors.

Blood ran down my back from the magical burns as I forced my battered body to keep moving. The protective amulet was gone, my connection to Thalia severed, but I still carried the evidence that could expose this conspiracy.

Whatever it took, I would reach Lycanthar alive.

The sound of pursuit grew closer as I plunged deeper into the moonlit forest, vampire magic crackling in the air behind me like approaching lightning.