The Shadow Realm

Chapter Twelve

The woods were silent as death, and covered with gloominess.

The trees shivered as the wind roughly howled past the dead branches.

Grey leaves brushed over the ground in a small wave. One such leaf landed on the top of my heeled boot.

"I have a feeling your withholding details..." Dante said nervously.

I turned to him with a smile.

"You know me so well," I said, my eyes trailing our new outfits with a pleased smile. I did a good job creating the costumes.

When it came to magic, I had years upon years of experience, but for any fledgling Vamp, it would take time before they would be as comfortable molding their magic. Admittedly, Even Dante wasn't the world's best designer, but with me at hand, he was nothing less than perfect.

Dante was dressed in armor that made him appear three times his already tall and muscled form.

Black metal gleamed under the low hanging moon's beams.

It was large and bulky, and contained fine detailings of sharp lines. Where eyes should be, I used magic, transforming the ghost of a monster of my own making.

A shadow creature, whose whole self was a manifestation of just that- shadows I had gathered from around the abundant darkness.

I on the other hand, was dressed as well in armor. But of course, I couldn't be seen in just some bulk of metal.

I had standards.

A plain black dress was underneath meta plates that made up the dress part of the armor, flowing like metal blades that opened out like a flower from the waist down to mid-thigh.The bodice was simple, and contained swirling designs or red. My heeled boots were metallic and clicked beautifully along the gravely dirt. To finish off the outfit, a red fabric was tied around the waist, flowing behind me like a blood tinged banner.

My hair was braided back into a singular, long braid.

I felt ready to take on the world- especially a whole pack of wolves.

Off into the distance, there was the sound of padded feet running straight for us.

Dante stood behind me, no longer a mere shadow but a beast of chaos.

And I was no longer Queen Rose of The Vampires, but her 'emissary', 'Vivian DeRue'.

From what Dawn could tell, this other pack was not aware that, I, Rose, was here, only that Dawn had come to find them and had taken a detour here.

That was the lie she tried to feed me at least.

The wolves stopped, and their footfalls became near silent, as they continued their approach.

Showtime.

"Rhyn, The Queen's orders were to meet here with the Wolves,"

Dante, who was playing 'Rhyn' nodded, his helmet slowly tilted slightly.

"We are to hear them out, and report back to her Majesty," I said, pointing a finger at Rhyn in enunciation.

When I was readying myself to spout more orders, the obvious rustling of leaves had us both turning on our heels in the direction of the sound.

Dressed in similar clothes of Dawn and her pack members, a man, whose stride was arrogant and haughty stepped out.

The man was muscled and had a mean look in his eyes. He had thick dark brows and long hair tied back. Scars criss crossed what was visible of his skin. Tattoos on his arms were traditional and stood out on his bare arms.