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Another voice echoed from their other side, this one she recognized as Harker. “Protect the Princess!”
The other wolves threw back their heads and howled in unison. The sound reverberated through the air and shook Mina to her bones.
“Horde? A horde of what?” She gasped, grabbing a hold of the pommel to steady herself as he leaned forward, kicking Stormwind into a faster pace.
“I’ll explain later,” he grunted. “Just hang on.”
She braced herself and the horse took off like lightning across the ground, flying faster than it had before. Its muscles moved beneath her with expert grace and for the first time it dawned on her that the creature wasn’t like the horses she had at home, but that was a question for another time.
“On our left!” Lucy cried out behind them, and Mina’s heart dropped. In their haste to make it to the palace, and stay cloaked, she’d forgotten her cousin trailed behind them with the wolf captain.
“Keep them back!” Vlad commanded, and Mina heard a horse rear as Lucy turned away from the group.
“No, what is she doing?” Mina gasped, trying to look around Vlad’s shoulder, but the cloak was too thick for her to get a good view.
“We’re almost there,” Vlad said, and when she turned back to look forward, she saw the gate before them, its metal portcullis looming just low enough to let them pass, and then slam down behind them if need be.
As they approached the gate beyond it opened, and Vlad drove Stormwind inside a few paces before jerking the horse to an abrupt halt.
“Close the gates,” he cried out, leaping off the stallion. Mina gasped in surprise as his cloak whipped away from her, and she scrambled off the horse after him as he raced up the stone staircase behind the gate.
At the top, he stood with his hands splayed against the rock wall, eyes on the horizon. There were three men in black armor, just like the soldiers they’d left back at the camp, and they all stared at her wide-eyed as she stepped up next to the king.
“What is going on?” She asked, putting a hand on top of his.
Vlad didn’t look at her as he spoke. “For the past few years, people have been suffering on the outskirts of my kingdom. A blood sickness. We can’t figure out what’s causing it.”
“A blood sickness?” Mina felt her stomach turn.
“Here, Milady,” one of the guards grunted, holding out a retractable spyglass to her.
Mina gave him a small smile of thanks and lifted it to her eye. She scanned the horizon and then there was Lucy sitting atop her horse, her hands blazing with fire.
“I’ll never get over the fact that my cousin is a witch,” she muttered watching as Lucy threw her hands out, and the grass before her began to burn, lighting up the tree line.
Alaric stood on all fours close to her side, Harker flanking from the other side, and the rest of the wolves were spread out in a line to their right and left. The field fell into a dark silence, so quiet that Mina was sure that her heartbeat was the only sound for miles.
“There,” Vlad said, exhaling the word. “On the right side of the clearing.”
Mina swept her view to where he’d indicated, and her breath caught in her throat. Scrambling through the brush were humanoid figures with pale white skin, but each of the faces Lucy’s fire illuminated was covered in blood. Whatever enchantment existed in the spyglass she’d been handed, adjusted its view with a simple touch, and she could see that there were no fangs in the mouths of these creatures. Just human teeth.
Mina jerked back, looking to the side of Vlad’s face. He looked so grim, his shoulders were tense, his jaw twitching. “They’re human?”
“It seems to affect humans the most,” he said, his voice like gravel.
“And we can’t help them?”
“We?” he arched an eyebrow, turning to look at her finally. “I thought my people were your enemy?”
She glared at him. “I think we both know that nothing here is like I thought it’d be. Now, please, Vlad. Tell me. Is there something we can do to—”
The fire roared in the field and Mina jumped, turning back to the scene before them. Vlad exhaled through his nose and stood up. “Lucy’s fire is the only mercy we can offer them, I’m afraid.”
“There has to be more we can do,” she said, watching as a few of the wolves darted into the trees looking for stragglers, and Lucy squelched the flames. Alaric and Harker had never left her side, and as she turned her horseback to the gate, they followed close behind.
“You’re more than welcome to search the libraries of the Crimson Palace for a cure, or some kind of clue, Starlight. At this point, we need all the help I can get.”
Mina nodded. She had no doubt he meant that. Though it gave her another idea of something she wanted from him. “I want to learn from your soldiers too.”
