The Dark Rising (The Hidden of Vrohkaria Book Two)

I move swiftly, plunging my blade into the stomach of a rogure, the metal easily piercing its gray, rotting flesh. It snarls, it teeth whipping around for me but soon falls on its side. I move over to the next that’s fighting with an Elite, aiding him as I slash its flank while the Elite aims for its throat. Blood gushes from its body, bathing it in red as it collapses to the ground. There are so many rogures, more than I have even seen at one time and the thought of a large pack of them like this entering a village makes bile rise at the back of my throat.

The Elite looks over me, a furrow in his dark brow and I turn quickly, looking for the next and adjusting the half mask on my face, making sure only my eyes are visible.

Darius thought he could lock me in his room again, he was so fucking mistaken. As soon as he left, I donned the Elite armor I found in his closet, a few blades, and then I undid his magic on the door just like the last time. Though it took me a little longer as he strengthened it. Once I reached outside without being seen, I moved silently around the castle walls, following a small group of Elites as they called orders. Joining them in formation, I made sure that I stayed hidden and at the back. Then I watched in awe as Darius commanded and encouraged his men. Chills coated my body at the Elites all shouting their agreement and acknowledgement to their Alpha. It was mesmerizing.

And eye opening.

It’s easy to forget just who Darius is with everything going on. He’s in control of hundreds of Elites, all trained to kill. And Darius is the deadliest one of them all.

Walking over dead rogures and Elites alike, I scan the bloodshed around me. The scent of death potent as well as the metallic taste of blood in the air. What was once a lush ground of green is now bathed in red and entrails. I haven’t seen this much carnage before, never been in a fight like this.

Why did the rogures come here? They usually go for smaller villages, not stone fortresses.

Groaning reaches me along with the sound of grunts and small whimpers as I walk past more bodies. I wipe the sweat from my brow beneath the hood I have pulled up. It’s attached to the leather covering my chest instead of putting on a cloak that could hinder me more than favor.

Looking up, I spot Darius in the distance, swinging his black blade with ease and striking down one rogure after the other, showing just how skillfully he can move and destroy those in his path. I’m still watching his every move when a weight crashes into me from the side. We go down, landing on top of something hard yet soft, and I bring my blade up to the drooling black jaws aiming for my face. I growl low as its claws sink into my side, ripping through the armor and my skin as I take aim for its bone colored eye. It shrieks in pain when it pierces it, blood already dripping down on me as it thrashes above. I waste no time pulling my blade out and stabbing at its side while my glove-covered hand pushes its jaw away. One, two, three stabs and the rogure lets out a little cry before it collapses its full weight on me. I let out an umph, barely breathing from the weight of it. Dropping my blade to the ground, I try to use my hands to shove it off of me, but it doesn’t budge.

“Fuck,” I pant, pain radiating through my side. I bend my legs, feet planted firmly on the ground before lifting my hips and pushing with my hands to eventually roll the fucking thing off of me. I breathe in lungfuls of air, gasping for breath as it feels like it’s crushed my damn ribs. Getting squished to death is not how I want to go out in life. Definitely not.

I sit up, looking for my blade and pause when I realize I’m sitting on a dead body. I scramble to my feet and turn, looking at the lifeless eyes of the male. His throat is gone, ripped out of his body and black, bubbling foam drips out of the wound. I cough, and then cough again and shake my head, reaching down to pick up my blade as nausea swirls in my belly. The dead male’s essence slowly begins to leak out of his body. The light, small orbs float up and gather on the slight breeze, to be carried away and into the night sky. When a rogure bites you and you have its poison running in your body, it takes longer for your essence to be released, sometimes if there is too much poison in your veins, your body doesn’t release your essence at all, forever stuck in the below.

No one wants their whole being, their soul and essence stuck down in the below, forever waiting with no hope for rebirth.

I sigh, seeing the essence of others begin to gently escape and I once again start to move. Only a few rogures are left, easily dealt with by the many Elites left over. I grip my side with a grimace, seeing the blood seeping out. I search the battleground, looking for a familiar male and I spot him walking out of the forest. His closest are with him, dragging two men behind them by ropes attached around their ankles.

I narrow my eyes, wondering what in the Gods he’s doing when a breeze catches my hood, blowing it down and revealing my hair that I braided. Darius’s head snaps my way, like my hair was a beacon in the moonlight and I freeze.

Fuck, fuck.

His mouth moves, and the others look over at me. I see their eyes widen before they look at the other Elites near me who have paused to do the same. I swallow and look at the Elites surrounding me from the corner of my eye, gripping my blade tight but keeping my back straight.

Show no weakness.

Black mist spreads along Darius’s body until two masses form behind him, thick and moving viciously as he begins to stalk over toward me. I hold my ground and wait, wait for whatever is about to happen because I just fucked up. My heart beats wildly and I lick my dry lips behind the mask, nervous of how this will go.

An Elite moves closer to me from the left and I turn slightly, looking at the stern face and brown eyes full of curiosity.

“And who are you?” he asks, his voice gravely as he looks me over, pausing on my armor-covered chest.

I tilt my head at him. “Who are you?” I repeat, keeping an eye on some of the other Elites as they come closer.

He chuckles, reaching out a black, covered hand. “I’m Maverick.”

I look at the hand he’s holding out and study it. Will he attack me if I reach out, do I back up and head toward Darius? I look at another Elite out of the corner of my eye before I tentatively place my hand in his, my body stiffening in case of an attack. But all he does is grip my hand gently, giving it a squeeze and then releases it when a growl rumbles through the air.

My spine straightens, and my head snaps toward Darius, ignoring the pain thrumming at my side. He comes to a stop a few feet away from us, the other Elites moving closer, stopping at the arrival of their Alpha. Darius’s nostrils flare, his eyes going to my hand and then to Maverick’s before looking him dead in the eye and snarling.

“Do not touch her, Maverick,” he growls low from his chest, the sound seemingly echoing in mine and filling my body with his possessiveness. My heart beats painfully as he comes closer to me, not stopping until he’s at my side. Leo, Damian, Zaide, and Jerrod move closer, forming a semicircle around us.

“I did not know the little warrior was off limits, Alpha,” Maverick says, dipping his head in respect. “I hear you loud and clear.”

“Make sure you remember that,” Darius says before raising his voice. “Make sure all of you remember that.” Then his eyes move to me, cold and furious. “What the fuck are you doing out here,” he growls. “Can you just do as your fucking told for once!”

My hackles rise. “I’m not a fucking dog,” I snap at him. “And I wanted to help. You tried to lock me in the room again, who do you think you are doing that?” I go to shove at his chest, angry at him for thinking he can order me around, but two things happen simultaneously.

The Elites gasp when I put my hands on their Alpha, the tension rising at wanting to take my hands off of him but knowing they can’t, and then me hissing in pain, the move causing my side to stretch and more blood to trickle out of it.

Darius stops me in a second, turning me to look at my side as I try to swat him away. “Still,” he commands, an edge to his voice as he bends down to get a closer look. “It’s not deep, make sure to concentrate on the wound with your magic like you did before, make it heal faster.”

“I am, asshat,” I mutter, my cheeks heating with all the attention on us right now. I’m not sure if Darius knows or even cares that his Elites are looking at him like he grew a second head. “You’re hurt,” I say, looking at his arm and not liking seeing him bleeding there.

He pauses for a moment when I reach out and touch around the wound. “I’m fine,” he murmurs, standing straight and looking down at me. Anger still swirls in his eyes, but concern shines through it. “Elites,” he commands, and they come toward their Alpha. Those in wolf form shift back, unbothered about their nakedness and I try not to blush at all the male forms in my vision.

My gaze moves back to Darius warily, wondering what he’s doing. I wasn’t exactly wanting to be seen here. The men that are tied up by their ankles curse and whimper, laying on the ground behind Jerrod. I glance at them in confusion as Darius waves a hand and Jerrod and Damian drag them forward before him, landing in between Maverick and I.

“These men are traitors,” Darius says, his voice loud and clear and my heart skips a beat. “I am Alpha of the Elites, I am Heir to Cazier. Those who do not like that, now is your one and only time to openly challenge me and I will not take your life.”

I swallow hard, my hand flexing on the hilt of the blade at his open challenge. I look around and see some Elites shuffle on their feet. Nervousness can be felt from everyone, coming in all directions while some have faces of fury at the two men at Darius’s feet. My gaze moves down at the two men on the ground and startle as their eyes land on me.

“Evil,” one spits, and I flinch. “You’re one of them, aren’t you? Your kind should have never been born, you should have been hung as a babe and fed to wild wolves.” Darius lifts his foot and kicks the man in his face, blood spurting from his nose as he cries out.

“Why is he saying that to you?” Maverick asks me, and I look at him and then Darius, seeing his black mist like tails suddenly swishing behind him.

“Remove your mask and show them, Rhea,” he tells me, and I hear Maverick suck in a sharp breath, no doubt at my name.

I shoot Darius a questioning look and wonder if he is sure. He nods, his eyes hard but a sliver of softness I’m not used to seeing shines through. It’s that little light in his green eyes that makes me reach up behind my head and untie my mask, knowing he will protect me from what this may cause. I bring the material off of my face slowly, breathing heavily as I’m revealed to those around me.

Mutters and curse words float around me now that they know who I am. Some are just shocked while others are downright full of disgust. My anger builds at that.

“You are a stain.”

“Murderer.”

“Traitorous piece of shit.”

I turn sharply toward the one who called me a traitor, aware of Darius watching my every move. The male’s lips peel back in a snarl as his light eyes fill with hatred. I drop my mask to the floor and walk toward him, other Elites parting for me as I call upon my markings, showing them all just who the fuck I am.

I am wolf.

I am Heir to Zahariss and protector of all.

Yet why should I protect him?

I move until I’m standing in front of him, and he tries to stop the tremors racking his body as I let loose my dominance. Elites drop to their knees that are near me, and the man in front of me cowers under the strength of it.

“What has been told about me is wrong and I was falsely accused. I am wolf, just like you are,” I spit at him, my eyes hard as I sense Darius move to stand behind me. “I am just like you, I bleed like you, I hope like you, I fight like you. Yet you sit there with your tiny, pea brain that doesn’t have a thought of its own and blindly follow the word of a man and his rats without so much as thinking for yourself.” I feel heat at my back, the tingle of power coming into contact at my waist and my own reacts. Blue and black mix at the touch against my waist that brings comfort and strength as others watch on. “Your Alpha is the Heir to Cazier, and I am his counterpart. Are you loyal to your Alpha?” He swallows and bends his head, telling me all I need to know. I turn my head and look at Darius, his face stern and a snarl on his lips aimed at the pathetic wolf at our feet.

“The Highers have betrayed us, betrayed the lands by stealing pups from their homes and using them how they see fit,” Darius shouts, and I hear the resounding shock of the Elites. “Rhea was captured by her family and Lord Higher Charles at seven years old and was kept in her basement until she escaped before she turned eighteen. What we were told was a lie, a cover up to what they wanted to do to her, an Heir,” he growls, and the Elites look toward me, their eyes wide as Darius tells them the truth. “She is no traitor. She spent her life protecting others as best as she could in Eridian, saving those abused in their own home, where they should have been safe.” I shift on my feet, uncomfortable with the attention on me but I never let myself falter, keeping my head held high. “Will you support that the Highers are willing to take children to abuse? Are you willing to let them take your pups?!”

Deadly growls surround us at Darius’s words. I gaze at them all, at the Elites looking at Darius with trust, knowing he won’t steer them wrong. Hope fills me as they look toward me, dipping their heads in a show of respect and I let loose a sigh of relief. They are loyal to their Alpha, and this Alpha has spoken for me, that’s enough for them.

“The Highers are more concerned with arranged matings than letting the people take safe haven inside the castle walls, you have seen it for yourself. Is that who you want leading Vrohkaria?” Darius asks them, and ‘no Alpha’ can be heard echoing around us. “Are you unloyal to me, your Alpha?” Darius calls, and the Elites bring their palm to their chests, the sound loud in the silent air as they tip their heads to the side in submission. “Then you are loyal to me and me alone. The Highers have our loyalty, strength and numbers no more.”

“Rah,” the Elites call and tingles spread throughout my body as the sound vibrates through me.

I look upon the Elites around us, all pledging to him and him alone. At this moment, I really feel that we stand a chance, a chance to make a change and right the wrongs. We could make the lands right if they stand by Darius. He has clearly earned their respect and I can’t help but feel pride in the male at my back.

I look back down at the Elite before me. No, not Elite, a rat in wolf’s clothing. A solid touch at my hand has me looking down at Darius’s strong fingers wrapping around mine on the hilt of the blade. My eyes move to his, and he tilts his head toward the vermin on the floor.

“Rise,” Darius orders, and the Elites do, looking at their Alpha for their next order. The rat in front of me goes to do the same, but I put a hand on his shoulder to keep him knelt. His hateful eyes snap up to mine. He won’t be loyal to his Alpha. “Do what needs to be done,” Darius says, his breath in my ear. He turns my head so he can see my eyes. “And remember,” he growls, his voice rising. “If anyone touches her, you will be next.”

I realize now my enemy would destroy the lands and put it at my feet. I can see it in his eyes. The determination, the claim, the… adoration. I’ve never felt anything like this.

I don’t think twice.

I grip the rat’s hair in my hand and tilt his head back, my heartbeat pounding in my ears.

Then with no remorse, Darius and I bring the blade up to his neck and slice.