Confessions of a Vampire Queen

Prologue: Enemy at the Gate

------------------------------- The Grand Assault----------------------------

"Move your ass, old man!" The werewolf Hero's voice thundered above the chaos as his human-sized shield deflected a barrage of arrows and flames. His massive form charged up the final flight of stairs toward salvation, each step threatening to give way beneath them.

"Curse that vampire witch! She knows I have bad knees!" Grim the Undying growled through gritted teeth as his young master dragged him by the neck. Grim's aged joints protesting each frantic step. Below them, the staircase crumbled with increasing hunger, devouring their escape route stone by stone.

The Wolf Knights-the Princess's most elite brigade, or the Goddess's own warriors for the truly devout-had originally begun their final assault on the Vampire Queen's castle, five strong:

- Rowan, the Werewolf Hero

- Grim, the Undying

- Vixen, the Strange

- Gregor, the Large

- Tim, the Maidenless

But now only two remain.

"I see it! The exit!" Rowan's voice carried hope as he barreled toward the door like a living battering ram.

"Thank the goddess!" Grim wheezed, his armor caked with the sweat and grime of thirteen perilous flights. This final ascent had proven especially treacherous, as if the castle itself fought to keep them from their goal.

Amongst the Wolf Knights, warriors had fallen and been replaced throughout their decades-long crusade since the Princess first forged their brotherhood. But Grim the Undying had earned his title honestly-fighting in every front-line battle and living to tell the tale. Only Rowan matched his record of survival, and over the years, their brotherhood-in-arms had deepened into something more profound: the bond between father and son.

"What's wrong, young master? Open the damn door!" Grim's urgency peaked as the collapsing steps finally gained on them.

"S-sna-snake!" Rowan's trembling finger pointed ahead. Even a garden snake could freeze his blood, but this anaconda-this personal gift from the Vampire Queen-seemed crafted from his nightmares.

"Stay back, son. Grim's got this!"

One slash of his trusty longsword separated the serpent's ugly head from its stupid body-a marked improvement, in Grim's professional opinion. But there was no time to admire his handiwork as he lunged for the door handle.

"Oh shit!" The words barely left Grim's lips as the handle triggered another of Queen's mechanisms. The door erupted in a storm of metal and shrapnel. Without hesitation, Grim threw himself forward, using his body to shield his young master from the blast.

"Grim!!!" Rowan's anguished cry echoed as he clutched Grim's scorched, bloodied, and metal-studded form. They cleared the exit together just as the final step disappeared into the abyss behind them.

All this work, all this suffering, only to return to where they'd already stood the night before. Rowan's gaze lifted to confirm their small victory-the Vampire coven's flag, symbol of the Sisterhood, had indeed been replaced by the Princess's standard. The same emblem of justice that now decorated both Grim's shattered, bloodied plate mail and Hero's battle-scarred shield bore silent witness to their sacrifice.

------------------------------------ Last Words---------------------------------

"I guess that she-devil finally got her wish. She wanted you and you alone to come, and now she's got you," Grim's words came between bloody coughs, each breath a greater struggle than the last.