Chapter 7 ∣  The Fallen Commanders

-Maverick

"Uhh," The trees pass us by, Orion moving quicker than any hunter I've seen before, thanks to being turned into a vampire, he is able to keep ahead of me, "umm...uhh—Orion? Where are we?"

He ignores my question, continuing to run until we come to the edge of a small town. Just like every other small and remote town out here, the sign for this one is almost missed. Half of it is broken and as Orion moves closer to the buildings, I stop running, walking up to the half-broken wooden sign.

"Ple-an mp," I brush the fallen snow away from the top of the sign, narrowing my eyes on the letters, but I just can't figure out exactly what the sign reads as.

Orion rolls his shoulders, stretching while he gazes out to the snowy mountaintops, the runes of the town looks like no one inhabits it any longer. Letting the snowfall to the ground, I walk toward him, my eyes prying into everything they can, gazing at the broken homes and shattered lives.

"Pleasant Camp," Orion states somewhat coldly, but not toward me, more like a distant memory.

"What is this place?" I ask, walking around, my heightened sense of smell picking up the faint, but the distinguishable scent of blood, "Why did you bring me here?"

Orion replies calmly, "I brought you here, so you can understand the past and what led to this treaty being signed."

"I know a little..." my voice trails off, the scent of blood becoming stronger as I near Orion.

"I had Kadessa and Enock capture your mother," Orion begins and I tense, not having ever heard of this part of the story before, "her and I, we shared the same want and desire to see this world come to terms and bring about peace. Lucca nor Locaine would ever allow any hunters or myself willingly close to her, so, I had her captured and brought her. Well...beneath here." He motions to one of the broken homes, hiding dark secrets within.

I don't speak, feeling angry that he had taken my mother away.

"I didn't know she was pregnant with you at the time, not until I was about to have her killed," Orion appears remorseful, his actions are what caused that battle to take place, the one Cristela was talking about, "instead, you began to siphon her very life and at one point, caused her heart to stop. I brought your mother back more than once, my only hope for peace residing in her."

I breathe out slowly and ask in a hushed tone, "Why is there blood here?"

"Kadessa slaughtered Henri, because of your grandfather's mistake. She was a very talented and powerful ranger, just like her brother and I hadn't realized their growing betrayal until it was too late," Orion sighs, frustrated with himself, as though he could have done something to stop it from spiraling out of control.

I know a Henri, he is talked about a lot, just like many other missing coven members I hadn't ever met. Did this feud cause their deaths? Is that why I never heard anything about where fate carried them?

"Come, Maverick," Orion ushers me away from what had been a battle for lives, pushing open the door to the broken home. He kicks a rug away with his boot, revealing what appears to be a secret trap door. I edge closer, closing the door behind me and feeling an uneasiness take root in my chest.

Orion pulls back the latch, revealing a dark tunnel that runs down into an underground road. He descends the steps, taking them two at a time while I follow behind him, my eyes capturing every part of the dark entrance. When we reach the bottom, Orion heads to the far wall, a tunnel splintering off and half hidden from plain sight, our footsteps and breathing are the only sound.

Moving through the darkness, we walk down through the long tunnel, until we come to an opening that spills out into a very large and round room. On the other side of the room, holds three doors that once had the ability to make steel spikes plummet from the roof, closing off tunnels however the person controlling it sees fit.

The smell of blood is much stronger here and as we move through the tunnel opening, I see the stains on the center of the floor, the dirt kicked up.

"This is where your grandmother tested her blood magic against my own, protecting the coven and the remaining members. At this point, I was ready to kill your grandfather, as you are aware, he left me to die many, many years ago. At the time, I wanted revenge for his complete and utter disregard for the innocence of lives. I had nothing to do with his war at the time, yet it was fun for him and his brother to leave me to die," Orion is angry now, his pain coming back as though it happened yesterday.

"Your father's blood was the only thing that could keep your mother sustained, that's why I didn't kill him, though...there were others who did die," Orion continues, walking around the room and picturing the confrontation, "Darius bravely stepped in between the bullet that was meant for your grandfather, your grandmother having stepped in front of him as well."

I clench my hands into fists and glare at his back, "You had them killed...for protecting their way of life."

"Yes," Orion doesn't hesitate, "we didn't see eye to eye and purebloods craved absolute power, that's why I couldn't let your grandfather live."

"But he is alive," I retort, suddenly jogging to keep up with Orion as he walks down one of the three branching corridors.

Orion doesn't say another word, not until we come to what appears to be a dungeon door, the silver, heavy and the lock, powerful. Orion simply pushes it inward; the lock is broken for what has been many years. He steps into the room and I feel a foreboding feeling envelop me, the fear and stench of death is strongest in this room.

I can see that there are three cells lined up along the wall directly across from the two of us, my heart skipping a beat when I smell blood that is familiar. It is like Arlynn's blood, but different somehow.

"It was here, I was betrayed by my two rangers, locking me in with the pureblood beast I had grown to hate with every fiber of my being," Orion walks closer to the bars, touching them gently and turning around to face me, "hate is a powerful thing and it can consume you, blinding your senses from the truth. If I hadn't held onto the rage and anger toward Locaine, his two commanders would still be alive, Henri and Darius would still be alive, and you more than likely wouldn't have met me."

Rynn and Eryx...the renowned commanders that died in battle against the hunters...were murdered in cages, like animals. It was only a glimmer of light, that Orion hadn't been the one to kill them, otherwise I am sure my grandfather would never have forgiven him.

"Your grandfather forgave me, and I forgave him, letting go of the pain since the day I was left to a life of seclusion. I created this underground city in hopes to give the hunters a refuge away from the vampires and it did work until we no longer needed it after the treaty. This place, no one comes here anymore, except for our little visit," Orion concludes, walking away from the cells and to the open dungeon door.

I stand still, my eyes glancing at each one of the cells, picturing that my family could have been murdered here, just as Rynn and Eryx had.

"Why?" I ask, my voice shaking.

"Why what?" Orion asks, stopping his movements and turning to look at me as I continue to stand still, lost in my emotions. I can feel the spark and pulsation of my blood magic, the warmth racing through my veins with each beat that my heart gives off.

"Why did you tell me all this? No one else knows, none of us children," I furrow my brows, breathing and relaxing my anger.

Orion walks back over to me, kneeling so we are looking into each other's eyes, his stare somewhat intrigued, "Because...you're not a child anymore, Maverick. If anyone needs to learn about the past, it is you. Look around you," he motions with his arms, my eyes following them, "anger and hate brought more death. No good can come from losing control and that is exactly what I wanted you to learn."

"I-" he cuts me off, narrowing his eyes on mine.

"If you don't learn to control your blood magic or your emotions, this is what you have to look forward to in the future," he sounds disheartened, wondering if the words he speaks are getting through to me.

They are.

I don't want any more of this, it causes too much pain to my family and I can never hurt another like this, not in cold blood.

"Please, Orion...teach me," I say, watching as his eyes brighten for the first time since he had seen me back at my father's coven.

Published on Amazon as an ebook and paperback.

The Rogue Pureblood Vampire by K. A. Young.

If you don't have a Kindle and can't purchase the book off Amazon, you are more than welcome to join my Patreon page and receive downloadable PDFs under the Pack Tracker Tier.

Please click on the link on my bio.

https://www.patreon.com/SerenityR0se