Chapter 1
The air in the Shadow Lands did not just carry the cold; it carried the scent of old blood and warning.
Vicky pressed her back against the damp stone of the crumbling archway, her heart hammering a frantic rhythm against her ribs. Every instinct she possessed screamed at her to run, but out here in the open country of the
eternal night, there was nowhere to hide. She had crossed the forbidden border by mistake, chasing a stray lamb from her village during a sudden storm. Now, the heavy mist of the vampire kingdom swallowed her whole.
Above her, the sky bled. A massive, crimson moon hung low over the jagged peaks of the obsidian mountains, casting a surreal, scarlet glow over the dead forest.The blood-red moon.
The omen of the King.Suddenly, the eerie silence of the woods shattered. A terrifying howl tore through the trees, followed by the heavy, rhythmic thud of paws. Shadow hounds.
Vixky didn't think. She bolted. Her boots slipped on the wet moss as she sprinted blindly through the twisting path. Twigs whipped her face, leaving stinging scratches on her cheeks. Behind her, the growls grew louder, closer, heavy with the hunger of beasts that hadn't tasted mortal flesh in decades.
She tripped, tumbling hard onto the cold earth. Gasping for air, she scrambled backward as three massive hounds emerged from the fog. Their eyes glowed like burning coals, and dark smoke billowed from their snapping jaws.
Vicky squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the agony of their teeth.Then, the world went dead silent.The temperature dropped instantly. The furious growling of the beasts choked into pathetic, terrified whimpers.
Vixky opened her eyes. The shadow hounds were no longer looking at her. They were pinned to the ground, their massive bodies trembling violently as if an invisible, crushing weight had just descended upon them.From the shadows of the ancient trees, a figure stepped forward.The fog parted around him like a loyal subject bowing to its master.
He was tall, built with a lethal, predatory grace that commanded the entire forest. He wore a heavy, dark coat pinned with silver crests, his raven hair catching the faint crimson light of the moon. His sharp, flawless features looked as though they had been sculpted from marble by a cruel god.
Malbonte. The Vampire King.
Vicky stopped breathing. The air became thick, charged with an oppressive, ancient power that made her knees feel like water. Rumors whispered that he could crush a man's skull with a thought, that he had watched empires rise and fall into dust.
He didn't look at the beasts. His gaze was locked entirely on Vixky.When his eyes met hers, she felt an electric shock ripple straight down her spine. They were not human eyes. They were a piercing, luminescent silver, rimmed with a dangerous ring of crimson.Malbonte took a slow, deliberate step toward her.
With a casual flick of his black-gloved hand, a deafening crack echoed through the clearing. The three shadow hounds vanished into puffs of black ash, erased from existence in a single second.Vicky trembled, her back hitting the trunk of a dead oak. She was trapped.
"A mortal," Malbonte murmured. His voice was a low, dark baritone that vibrated through the very ground beneath her feet. It was smooth as silk, yet carried the terrifying weight of absolute authority. "In my woods.
Tonight of all nights."He tilted his head, his gaze sweeping over her torn dress, her tangled hair, and finally stopping at the small scratch on her cheek. A single bead of bright red blood was welling up from the cut.The scent hit the air.
Malbonte paused. His silver eyes flared a deep, burning crimson. The air around them grew suffocatingly hot. Vicky watched in pure terror as sharp, deadly fangs slowly extended past his upper lip.He closed the distance between them in a fraction of a second faster than
human sight could track. Suddenly, he was standing right over her. His shadow completely engulfed her.Vicky gasped, bracing to be ripped apart, but he didn't strike. Instead, he leaned down, his sharp jawline brushing against her temple. He took a deep, slow breath, inhaling her scent as if she were the finest wine in existence.
"What a intoxicating creature you are," he whispered against her skin, making a shiver of fear and strange warmth explode through her body.He reached out, his long, pale fingers gripping her chin. His touch was ice-cold, yet it burned like fire where it met her skin.
He forced her face up, compelling her to look directly into his terrifying, beautiful eyes.Vicky tried to pull away, her small hands pushing against his broad, iron-hard chest. "Please..." she choked out, her voice trembling. "Let me go."
A dark, amused smile touched Malbonte's lips, though his eyes remained fiercely intense, dark with an ancient, sudden hunger. The grip on her chin tightened just enough to let her know escape was an illusion.
"Let you go?" Malbonte murmured, his thumb tracing the curve of her lower lip, his gaze dropping to her pulsing throat. "No, little bird. Fate brought you to my feet under the blood moon.
"He leaned in closer, his lips brushing the shell of her ear, his breath sending a chill straight to her core.
"You belong to the darkness now. You belong to me."
Arthur s Note :
"What do you think of Malbonte's first entrance? Drop your theories in the comments and don't forget to vote! ⭐
