Prince Among Mortals (Boyxboy)

Chapter 7

~1103, France~ 

   Gabriel Belmont stood at the edge of the mountain. The wind blew through his thick black hair and the moon was covered by thin clouds. The mountains before him enclosed a lushes green valley a hundred feet below him. He followed the narrow path down as it zigzagged down into the valley. In the distance, he could see people moving on foot in between the trees along the river.

He hurry his way down with pebbles rolling off of the edge as he passed, keeping his hand up along the rugged rock wall when voices came from above him. He looked up as two men dressed in white tail coats, armed each with a bow and arrow and a sword, started down the trail.

"Give up, Gabriel!" One shouted. He notched an arrow, aimed, and hit the rock edge in front of Gabriel's feet. Gabriel jumped forward, off the edge and tumble head over heels. His back crashed into the next edge of the trail and scraped against the next one after. Then with luck, his hand reached out and grabbed hold of next edge. He hung by one arm but his palms were sweaty, making it hard to get a grip. Pebbles fell and hit his face. The men were coming down after him.

Gabriel looked down; there had to be at least an another fifty feet or so below him. He looked back at the men as they closed in. One was reading an arrow and aimed at him—

And had a sudden arrow go through his head. Gabriel watched him fall and looked back as a beautiful lady with chestnut hair blowing in the wind with greenish-red eyes and flawless skin. Her green shirt, grey pants and brown boots blended slightly in with the nature around her. She pulled another arrow from her quiver and killed the other man.

Gabriel swung a leg up onto the edge and dug his elbow into the rock and tried to pull himself up, but the rock underneath his foot became loose and his foot dropped from the ledge. His right hand slipped from the lack of strength that was dwindling.

"Hang on Gabriel!" The women called. She hustled down the trail. As she turned the corner, her foot slipped and she lost her balance. 

The valley below was in front of her now and the wind whistling pass her ear. She descended into the trees; her body tumbling through the branches and her arms thrashes to find a branch to grab.

Gabriel struggled, barely hanging on by the tips of his fingers. He sung his weight towards the left and hooked his foot up onto the ledge. Using his elbow, he pulled himself up and rolled onto his back exhausted. The snapping of branches and rustling of the trees stopped when a splash in the river suddenly emerged. He sat up and looked out down at the valley below.

"Odette!" He called out. He listened carefully for a response. Nothing. He got to his feet and headed down the trail into the grassy landscape. The trail lead into the small cluster of trees just below the cliff and a few had been disturbed from Odette's fall. Gabriel stepped through the trees and underbrush, following the river. Small streams of red ran with the flow followed by larger streams that blanked the surface.

There, just up ahead on the rocks with broken tree branches hanging from above, was Odette's crumpled body. Her head cracked against the rocks and her neck was twisted in unnatural way. A silver tipped arrow was pierced into her chest and in the distance, feet ran away through the trees.

Gabriel took off running, there was no time to grieve for his wife. Those hunters needed to die. A great rage swirled up inside of him, those men took away his wife! Now, being blinded by that rage, Gabriel ran faster, readying his knife.

He pushed the branches out of his way and dogged nature's obstacles till a figure was in his sight. He sprinted with all his might and leaped forward. The blade went deep into the man's back and was dragged down as he and Gabriel fell to the ground.

The man just barely let out a gasp as his life ended.

Blood formed a pool on the dead man's back, and Gabriel's instincts kicked in. He drank the blood with one thought on his mind: revenge.

A rustle came from the bushes behind him. He snapped his head towards them and slowly stood, wiping the blood from his lips and chin and turned as a short figure emerged from the darkness with her favorite dagger in hand.

He sneered. "Vanessa, you damn witch. You sent those hunters and killed my wife!"

"Really?" she cooed. She gazed down at the dead man, "I don't know anything about these hunters. However, about your wife. Nasty fall she took, didn't she?" Vanessa met his eyes, "And a snapped neck, that's one way to kill our kind. However, I know how to bring her back but it involves some. . . . .materials"

Gabriel pointed his knife at her, "What the hell are you talking about?"

She smiled, "Bend me your ear and I will tell you."  

Hello people. How are you enjoying the story so far? I'm sorry that this chapter was short. The next chapter will be longer, i promise.

Thanks for reading. =)