Page 11 of Ever Dark Academy: Vol. 1

But he was ready for her. And the anger inside of him fed that fire far better than imaginary wood. He thrust his arms out at her and she went flying backwards. She hit the edge of the metal shelving so hard that some of it buckled, but the sturdier parts didn’t. A long, ragged piece of metal withstood his push and speared her through the chest.

For a moment, the two of them stared at one another. Shock in both of their eyes. He expected death to enter hers in an instant as blood began to rain out of her and patter on the linoleum floor.

But she didn’t die.

She let out a garbled scream of rage and started to inch her way off of the metal spear. More blood cascading down her front. There was the crash of glass as the people at the front door smashed the glass out of the door and started to make their way inside.

There was no one left here to save.

Grayson turned and ran towards the back of the shop. His powers shredded the back door and trash bin beyond and he kept going. He didn’t slow down. He ran and ran and ran. He wasn’t heading anywhere. Just away.

But he knew that there was only one place where he might be safe.

The enemy of my enemy is my friend, the old adage floated through his mind.

He was going to seek the help of the Vampires at Ever Dark Academy.

FLY

Vampire Lord Ryder of the Weryn Bloodline and second-in-command of House Legion flew over the Vampire capital city of Nightvallen in the Ever Dark. The dual moons–one red and one blue–reflected off the feathers of his many glossy, black wings.

He had used the Weryn gift and shifted into a flock of ravens to scout the city. He had done this many times over the months he had resided here, but the city was filled with mysteries and seemed to change when one wasn’t looking. Ryder though was intent on knowing it like the back of his hand. Knowing the terrain was the best way to ensure a defensible position. Not that he or the Weryn feared any other Bloodline, but so many Vampires had not been in one space together since before the War.

And he was careful.

And there was tension.

He flew low along one of the streets that was being prepared for the students. Book shops, coffee shops, restaurants--casual to fine dining--and clothing stores, among others, were all being set up, staffed by Acolytes or even Vampires. The students would only be allowed to leave the Ever Dark and return to Earth through the gates if they were not chosen to be turned. Otherwise, they would spend the entire year in the Vampire World and, if they were very lucky, become a Vampire at the end.

Not that any would be Weryn Vampires out of this class or any other. His Master--Lawson Hughes, leader of House Legion and de facto head of the Weryn Bloodline--had made that clear.

This idea that Vampires must vie with the other Bloodlines for fledglings from a handful of humans chosen by other Bloodlines had to be crushed. Even if it was King Daemon’s idea. The Weryn had tradition and history. That could not simply be ignored and overridden by an Immortal who had gone to sleep before any of them had been born for the first time.

As Ryder flew over the street, workers unloading books, meat or clothes all glanced up at the flock and many narrowed their eyes. A group of ravens was called an “unkindness”, a “treachery” or a “conspiracy” because of the ominous feelings that the birds often engendered in the onlooker. But Ryder simply found them beautiful. And if others found them menacing… Well, all the better.

It was just one of the species that he could shift into. Most Weryn could only shift into one type of animal, but Ryder found that new animals opened up to him all the time. In fact, he had just mastered becoming a bear, but the joy of becoming a new being usually brought him had not been there.

Just a few hours earlier, he had shown his new animal form to Lawson, his Master having come to Nightvallen for the opening ceremonies of the academy. Ryder’s heart had been beating fiercely with pride as he let out a roar in his bear form.

He had shifted effortlessly into a massive brown bear with sharp teeth and a heavy, powerful body covered in thick fur. He had risen up on his hind legs and extended his front ones towards the moons, his claws seemingly trying to rake them and leave his mark.

There were shouts, whistles and claps at his new form from the other members of their House. It was always a celebration when a Weryn discovered their animal form. Of course, normally, it was newly made fledglings--not Vampires over 450 years old--that were showing off their animalistic prowess. But Ryder was the exception to this as he was in many things.

Lawson had called all of House Legion to join him in one of the courtyards of the mansion assigned to all Weryn Vampires. There was one palace for every Bloodline forming a semi-circle with King Daemon’s palace at the center. But no Weryn were able to enter the Weryn Palace, because the Immortal whose Bloodline sired them all had not yet returned to life… or perhaps did not remember themselves yet.

Lawson’s mood had grown darker and darker as he’d watched other Bloodlines coming in and out of their magnificent palaces while the Weryn were excluded from theirs. Not that their accommodations were poor in any way. They were lavish.

The mansion that King Daemon had given them was as large as a whole city block. He had also made sure it was to their taste. There were plenty of courtyards open to the sky with trees and gardens filling them. The Weryn were piled into one of those now and it suited Ryder admirably. He thought the others would love it too, if only Lawson would allow himself to realize that it wasn’t a snub. But Lawson had been brooding and ill-tempered since the Vampire King had returned.

The courtyard was filled with fragrant trees and studded with plenty of places for people to sit and congregate as the Weryn liked to do. Unlike the Kaly Bloodline, for example, which consisted of solitary, sociopathic Vampires who avoided others of their own kind, including their own Masters and Houses, the Weryn were pack-like, enjoying being together more than anything.

His Master--a big man with dark blonde hair and a broad face that was quick to smile and laugh or cloud with anger--was sprawled out on a huge pillow on a grassy area. There was a glass of blood mixed with wine in one of his hands while the other was tangled in the locks of his current paramore, another Weryn Vampire named Natasha Lyon, who, like her name, could shift into the big cat. Unlike Lawson’s usual lovers, Ryder liked Natasha as she was the leader of her own House and didn’t allow Lawson to push her around. Perhaps it was because they were both lion shifters and no lioness would take guff.

Natasha smiled and clapped loudly, too, for him like a proud Mistress. But she caught sight of the fact that Lawson was not celebrating Ryder’s newest animal form. She reached up to take Lawson’s hand from her hair and urged him to clap like everyone else. Lawson only did so half-heartedly and Ryder felt a stab of disappointment and something else.

Tension.

As Ryder went back down onto all fours, he shifted to his human form and stood, proud and naked before his House. His best friend and Blood Brother Demos stepped up beside him and handed him a robe to put on.

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