The Vampire Prince, Part 2

CHAPTER 5: A KILLING MISSION

Draven sat in his father’s study, staring at a painting that hung above the ornate fireplace. The painting had always puzzled Draven, for it was of his mother, Tana. Draven’s parents had divorced right after Draven was born and he didn’t understand why his father kept a painting of the woman who he wasn’t married to anymore.

Of course, his father had done lots of strange things after the divorce. He had forced Tana, Draven, and Draven’s older brother to live in the castle, even though he later married another woman, Maryanne. As well, he hardly spent any time with Draven and his brother even though they lived in the same house. The only time they even saw him was when he called them into his study twice a week to talk about their school work.

“Draven,” his father said, drawing Draven’s attention away from the painting.

“Father, why did you call me here?” Draven asked.

His father, Azarel Hellson, sighed and closed his dark eyes. Draven could tell that his father hadn’t slept well the night before, for there were dark lines under his eyes, aming him seem older than his fourty-two years. That made Draven wonder even more why his father had called him here. Usually, if his father was really worried about something, then he wouldn’t sleep until he had decided what to do. What ever Azarel wanted Draven to do, it had to be something that weighed heavily on his mind.

“I want you to kill someone,” Azarel murmured.

Surprise coursed through Draven. Killing someone wasn’t an uncommon thing for Azarel to ask of his Trackers. Since Azarel had taken the title of Retuna Hellion, he had received many enemies in the Human Lands. Most of the time, Kelemen, Draven’s step-uncle, was sent to deal with them, but sometimes, Azarel gave the other Trackers the chance.

“Is that what has been bothering you, Father?” Draven asked. “I know that you didn’t sleep well last night. I can tell by the lines under your eyes.”

Azarel sighed. “Yes, this has been bothering me for some time now, ever since that rouge showed up at the Moon Phase Contests a few moons ago,” he said.

“Is this about what he said?” Draven asked. “Is this about the rouge named Ien?”

“Yes,” Azarel admitted. “I’ve done some research on this Ien and I have found… that he has power beyond comprehension. He must be dealt with now, before he tries something.”

“All I need is the address of his home and the city name,” Draven said, his voice as cold as stone.

Even though he hated to kill people, he knew that it was for the good of the Clan; for the good of the vampire race.

“Here,” Azarel whispered, holding out a manila folder. “Everything that you need to know is in there.”

Draven nodded and took the folder. Standing, he left the study and walked down the hall. Opening the folder as he walked, he pulled out a information page and several photographs.

On the information page it listed the city and address in which the rouge lived and the places that he frequently visited. It also listed his name, the names of his parents, and his date of birth.

‘This rouge is only two years older than me!’ Draven thought as he glanced down at the date of birth on the page.

“Hey!” a voice shouted from behind him.

Draven turned around to see his half-sisters, Erika and Erin waking towards him.

Erika was two years older than Erin and by far the smarter one. She had long silky black hair that was cut evenly at the middle of her back and black eyes. Erin looked almost identical to her older sister-even down to the heart-shaped face-, except that her hair was tied back in a braid and she was a few inches shorter.

“Where are you going, Shackles?” Erika asked.

Draven wanted to grimace at Erika’s nickname for him. He had hated it ever since she’d come up with it.

“I’m on a mission, Erika,” Draven muttered, hoping that Erika would leave him alone.

Erika pouted and asked, “Why doesn’t Father let us have jobs? We graduated from school near the top of our classes and Dwyn has already offered to be my Zennya Master.”

Draven shrugged and said, “Maybe it’s because you two are as lazy as werewolves and Father would rather not having you two complaining about your work loads.”

Erika stiffened in rage and was about to say something when Draven cut in.

“I’d best be on my way. Good bye, lazy werewolves,” he said in a gleeful tone.

Waving good bye over his shoulder, he made a face that they couldn’t see and walked down the steps that connected the entrance hall to the upstairs living quarters.

Leaving the mansion, he breathed a sigh of relief and looked down at the picture of the rouge, Ien. He looked somewhat familiar, but Draven couldn’t think of why he would have seen him before. Draven rarely made trips to the Human World and when he did go, it was always while he was on a mission.

Glancing up at the sky, Draven noticed that the moon was just starting to rise in the sky. ‘Perfect,’ he thought. ‘The moon is up and now it’ll be easier to find the rouge’s place.’

Smiling to himself, Draven ran down the path that led from the castle to the village. Racing through the silent streets, he reached the front gate and pushed it open. It squeaked quietly as it swung open and closed, but Draven didn’t pay attention. His mind was completely focused on the forest that lay between him and the Human Lands.

Heading North-west, Draven hardly saw the trees of the forest as he ran past them. He was focused like a tiger waiting for its prey to come a little closer so it could go in for the killing blow.

Passing the Forest Spring, Draven took out the picture again. Staring at it, he couldn’t shake the feeling that he had seen the rouge somewhere before, a long time ago perhaps, when he was a child.

Shaking his head, he put the picture away. ‘I have to stay focused,’ he thought. ‘Focus, Draven. Focus!’

Turning west, he neared the edge of the Vampire Lands. He’d been running for about an hour now and he knew that within the next few minutes, he’d be in the Human Lands. Jumping up into a tree, he looked down a steep hill and smiled. Below him lay the peaceful little town of Sera; the home of the rouge, Ien.

Slinking down the hill, he wondered why a rouge would trouble his father. It’s not like he was their responsibility. He wasn’t from their Clan or anything.

Walking silently through the empty streets of Sera, he glanced by at the colorful buildings of the Meşter District. ‘Why do these people paint their buildings in such strange colors? Doesn’t it make it hard to camouflage the city from enemies’ he wondered.

Shrugging, he sighed and continued on. Turning off the main street and into an alley he saw a strange shape up ahead. It looked like one of the tigers that Draven had seen when he’d visited the zoo when he was a child, except that this creature was silver colored and there were several feathers growing out of the back of its head.

Suddenly, the creature turned around toward Draven and looked at him with its cat-silted, silver eyes. Frozen in shock, Draven could only stare as the creature stepped out of the shadows. Its body was just like a tigers, but it didn’t have fur; it had long silver feathers that were smoothed against its body. The giant silver paws had long black claws that were about the length of Draven’s middle finger. But there was something strange about the griffin. Griffins were supposed to have feathered wings, but this one had fell wings; wings like a bat’s.

‘A griffin!’ Draven thought as the creature got closer. Draven stiffened as the griffin sniffed his leg. Suddenly, the griffin recoiled away and hid in the shadows, growling.

‘It’s afraid of me!’ Draven realized. ‘Why? I thought that griffins couldn’t feel fear.’

“It’s okay,” Draven murmured, holding his hands up. “I am not going to hurt you. I may be a vampire, but I don’t have anything against you.”

“Who are you?” the griffin asked, its mysterious voice ringing in Draven’s ears like a bell toll.

“I am Draven Hellson,” Draven said, putting his hands down as he saw the griffin relax.

The griffin seemed to sigh and it asked, “What are you doing here, Draven Hellson?”

“I am here on a killing mission,” Draven explained. He didn’t know why he was talking to this griffin, who was supposed to be his greatest enemy. “I have been sent here to kill a rouge.”

“You mean Ien?” the griffin asked.

Shocked, Draven stuttered, “Y-yes. The rouge, Ien.”

Nodding, the griffin muttered, “I told him that you would come for him eventually.”

“You know Ien?” Draven asked. He wondered if he could get information about the rouge from this griffin.

The griffin threw back his head and laughed as griffin laugh. It sounded like a mix between a growl and a deep-throated human laugh. “Do I know Ien? Ha! I am Ien!”

Draven’s eye widened and his mouth fell open. Ien was supposed to be a rouge vampire, not a rouge griffin!

“I can see the confusion on your face,” the griffin laughed. “I’m supposed to be a vampire, yet I look like a griffin. Let me explain it to you. I am half-vampire, half-griffin. My father was a vampire and my mother was a griffin.”

“Who was your father?” Draven asked, anger rising in his eyes. “Is he from Hellion Clan? If he is, then I can report him to Father and he shall be punished for having a child with a griffin!”

“You know my father better than you think you do,” Ien hissed. “He was the one who locked you up in the dungeon of Hellion Castle for ten years.”

Draven stared at the griffin. “Your father is Kelemen Rushie?”

“No! My father is your father!” the griffin shouted.

“What?” Draven asked. “That isn’t possible! My father only has four children! Me, Erika, Erin, and my older brother!”

“What is your older brother’s name?” the griffin asked.

“Lucien.”

“What are the last three letters of his name?’

“I-E-N.”

“And what does that spell?”

“Ien.”

“Exactly, little brother.”

Suddenly, Ien’s entire body dissolved into a cloud of feathers. As the feathers drifted down toward the ground, a dark form took shape inside the cloud. A man with light brown hair, blue eyes, and very tan skin walked out of the dark form.

“Recognize me, little brother?” the man asked.

Draven stared. He now realized why he’d thought that he’d seen the man before; his face was exactly like his father’s when he was younger.

“Lucien!” Draven shouted. “Y-you’re alive!”

Lucien smiled and said, “Of course I. Did you really think that Kelemen as able to kill me did you?”

“W-well… Dad told me that he’d found your body in the forest,” Draven explained.

Lucien laughed and hissed, “Dad is a liar and a murderer. You know that.”

“Yah, but I was sure that he’d tell me the truth about your death,” Draven whispered. Then he asked, “Wait a sec, if you’re half-griffin, doesn’t that mean that our mother-”

“Was a griffin? Yah, she was. I found that out after I left the Clan,” Lucien said. “I have a friend named Peter who is also a griffin. He knew Mom when she was a child and after he found out who I was, he told me.”

“But we never saw her in her griffin form!” Draven exclaimed.

“She was one of the Van der Aart family; one of the noble families of the Griffin Court and she was one of the most powerful griffins in the Court. She had the ability to control when she turned into a griffin, unlike most griffins and she was able to keep herself in human form during the Moon Phase,” Lucien explained.

“That would explain it,” Draven whispered. “But why have I never turned into a griffin during the Moon Phase?”

“Our vampire blood slows it down,” Lucien said. “The first time I morphed, I was seven years old. Of course, there might be more vampiric blood in you than in me.”

“And it also might be because Draven has lived among the vampires more than you, Ien,” a voice said from behind them.

“Peter!” Ien shouted as Draven whipped around.

Peter was an elderly man with thick brown hair and deep brown eyes. He limped slightly even though he walked with a cane and his skin was unusually tan for an elderly man. His cane was made out of a dark brown wood and the handle was carved into the shape of a wolf’s head.

“Y-you!” Draven shouted. “You know my brother?”

“Yes, I do, Draven,” Peter said as he got closer.

Ien looked from Draven to Petar and back again. Confusion spread across his face as he watched Draven back away from Peter.

“Do you two know each other?” Ien asked.

“Last year, your father sent Draven to kill me,” Peter explained. “I was the one who told him that you were alive and well. Of course, he didn’t believe me even after I showed him your picture.”

Ien’s eyes widened. “Dad sent you to kill Peter?” he asked.

Draven nodded, his mouth hanging open in surprise. His dark eyes were wide and then he murmured, “You were telling the truth.”

Peter smiled and said, “Not all humans are liars.”

Draven lowered his eyes in embarrassment. His cheeks turned light pink as he lowered his eyes even farther.

“Don’t feel too embarrassed, Draven,” Ien said softly. “When I first came here, I didn’t trust anyone because they were humans. Its just natural for us since we’ve been told our entire lives that humans are evil.”

“Sometimes I hate it when you’re right, brother,” Draven muttered.

“I know,” Ien laughed as he smiled. Then he became more serious as he asked, “Do you know why Dad sent you here to kill me?”

Draven shook his head. “No, I don’t.”

“Its ‘cause I am the oldest,” Ien said sadly.

“What does that have to do anything with this?” Draven asked. Then he realized what that meant. “You mean to say that he is afraid that you will use your powers to overthrow him?”

“Yes,” Ien murmured. “You know the stories that have been told on the day of my birth.”

“That the Bringer of Prophecy told Dad that you would overthrow him?” Draven asked slowly.

Ien nodded. "Apparently, that was the true reason behind why Dad forced us to live in the castle. He wanted to keep an eye on me."

As he took in this new information, Draven asked, "Ien, how powerful are you?"