A Shade of Blood (A Shade of Vampire 2)

CHAPTER 5: DEREK

Focus, Derek. Ignore everything.

I stood still and upright, my feet shoulder-width apart. My left hand kept a relaxed grip on my silver bow’s handle. I retrieved an arrow from the quiver slung across my bare back.

Drown everything out. All that matters now is that you hit the target.

Beads of sweat were trickling down my temples. I’d been at this all night. I started with boxing before moving on to sword practice, then firearms practice, and eventually every other training the Crimson Fortress’ grounds had to offer until I reached the archery range.

From the corner of my eye, I could make out the thick walls of the Crimson Fortress towering at least a hundred feet above me. They surrounded the island, protecting us from everyone who sought to invade us throughout the past centuries. The mere thought of the towering fortress and all its fortifications threatened to bring back a slew of dark memories that I’d long wanted to forget. I cleared my throat and refocused.

Shut it out. Don’t let the past haunt you. Not now.

I shut my eyes as I nocked the arrow and positioned its shaft onto the arrow rest. I took a deep breath.

Let your instincts take over.

I positioned the weapon to hit the target that I couldn’t even see. Using my back muscles, I pulled my right elbow backwards until my right hand was placed firmly against my jaw. I held my stance for a few seconds, trusting my instincts to aim right.

Then came the release. The arrow pierced through the cold night air and I heard a loud thud. Before I could even open my eyes to check if I’d actually hit my mark, I heard something that took me aback. From behind me came the sound of applause.

I opened my eyes and saw the arrow had indeed hit the bull’s eye, cutting right through the first two arrows I shot before it. I longed for the sense of satisfaction that came with a shot like that. Nothing. It only served as a cruel reminder that most of what I knew about combat, I had learned from hunters – back when I was one of them, the time before I became the Lord of vampires and Prince of The Shade.

“Well done, your highness,” the familiar voice of Cameron Hendry, with his thick Scottish accent, boomed through the training grounds. “It seems four hundred years of being the Sleeping Beauty has not dulled your fighting skills one bit.”

I tensed. The last thing I wanted now was company and it seemed I had an entire flank of soldiers surrounding me. I tried to relax as I faced my good friend. Cameron and his wife, Liana, were two of The Shade’s fiercest warriors and had both fought and bled with me many times in the battlefield. The Hendry clan represented one of the few clans among the Elite that I trusted with my life.

“Hendry.” I nodded his way. “Up and about so early?”

“Early?” he scoffed, his red hair messed up and tousled as if he had just tumbled out of bed. “If The Shade had sun, it’d be midday. Yuri says you’ve been using every single weapon we have available to murder some unknown force for the past eighteen hours. What or whom are you planning to kill, Derek?”

“Midday, huh?” I asked, quick to change the subject. “Since when do we start training troops at midday?”

“Truth be told, we haven’t trained much since the war ended and you went off to sleep.” The large man, only twenty-eight years old when he was turned, threw his arms up in the air with a shrug. “There hasn’t been a major attack on The Shade since your witch friend, Cora, kept it hidden with her curse.”

My jaw tightened. “That has to change. We won’t be safe for long. We can’t afford to have untrained troops. Our adversaries are innovating their weapons, developing their skills, while we sit here, lazy and lounging around like there won’t ever be a tomorrow.”

Concern sparked in Cameron’s brown eyes. He stepped forward and spoke in a low tone – just loud enough for only me to hear.

“What’s going on, Derek?”

“I remain Commander-in-Chief of The Shade’s military force. Am I correct?”

“Of course,” he nodded.

“Well, as of this day, the initiative starts. Within the next couple of weeks, I expect every single vampire living on this God-forsaken island to be drafted for duty.” If I weren’t in such a sour mood, I would’ve been unable to keep myself from letting out a large guffaw at the way Cameron’s face contorted with shock. But I was dead serious. I stood to my full height, summoning all the power I knew I had over every single citizen of The Shade. “That’s what’s going on, Cameron.” I looked at all the men listening in on our conversation. They were a sorry bunch to look at; weak and withered by time. “Does anyone dare object?”

I was met with downcast stares and a tense silence.

I smirked. “Of course not.”