8 - The night when he lost it all

«Isabelle...» Ren murmurs, his voice barely a whisper.

The woman stands tall, radiating majestic pride.

In her hand, she grips a sword with a vivid crimson blade, stained by the darker red of her enemies' blood.

Around her swirls a storm of dense scarlet energy.

Her body, half-naked, is covered in blood, her clothes reduced to rags and her flesh torn by countless battles.

Ren, collapsed on the ground, looks up at her with eyes full of respect and gratitude.

Despite the countless wounds covering her body, Isabelle shows no sign of giving up. Surrendering would mean certain death for him.

«Why... why is all this happening?» Ren stammers, his voice trembling with disbelief.

Ren looks around.

All he sees is destruction.

Walls of flames rise into the sky, burning through the darkness.

Explosions echo nonstop.

The clash of swords never ends.

Screams cut through the chaos—raw, desperate, unbearable.

The royal palace is half-collapsed. Hours of brutal fighting have torn it apart.

The ground is covered in corpses. Men, women, children—lifeless, decapitated, lying on a carpet of blood.

Ren walks among them. He recognizes faces. His mother. His younger brothers and sisters. Close relatives.

All Volkoms.

The rest are soldiers. Loyal to the crown. What's left of them.

Then he sees her. Victoria Volkom, his little sister. Only four years old.

Her body is brutally slit open.

She's still holding the teddy bear Ren gave her on her third birthday.

He lets out a desperate scream. He can't hold it back.

«Rennie, I won't let you die! Even if it costs me my life!» Isabelle shouts.

Her voice trembles. It's full of anger and pain. But it's also warm. Reassuring.

To Ren, she looks like a lioness. Surrounded by hunters with rifles. Ready to fight to the death to protect her cub.

His heart pounds. He's close to tears. But he can't cry anymore.

Ren has no more tears left.

«I-Isabelle, promise me...» COUGH. COUGH.

Ren chokes. His words are cut off by a fit of coughing. The blood. The horror.

«Promise me that, if we survive... you'll stop calling me Rennie...» he manages to say.

He tries to smile. A weak attempt to lighten the pain.

«And you promise to accept me as your familiar,» Isabelle replies, playing along.

«I don't make promises I know I can't keep!»

She smiles at him. Soft. Loving.

«The same goes for me.»

Their moment is cut short.

Four soldiers appear, surrounding them. They wear light black armor. A red falcon shines on their chests—the crest of the Dulcar family.

Each one points a weapon at them.

The weapons aren't ordinary. They glow with vampire magic—Sanguis magic. Shiny red, like solidified blood.

«Former Commander Valakys, we don't want to fight you. Hand over Prince Ren Volkom without resistance!» one of them commands, sword aimed at the boy.

Isabelle clenches her teeth. Fury burns in her eyes.

«Four brave soldiers of the Scarlet Army, pointing weapons at their own prince... I'm disgusted. You don't deserve to live another second!»

Her sword glows. A blinding red light erupts from the blade. The aura around her grows.

The four charge at her, using every last bit of their energy.

They were once soldiers of the Scarlet Army. They know how strong Isabelle is.

But she doesn't even need to move.

With a burst of Sanguis energy, she hurls them back.

Then she dashes toward the nearest one and slices him in two with a single downward slash.

Taking advantage of the momentary separation, a soldier quick enough to get back on his feet charges at Ren—his sword ready to strike.

But Isabelle moves faster.

She gets between him and the prince and punches through his chest with a single punch, shattering his heart.

The two remaining soldiers step back, cautious.

They extend their arms toward Isabelle.

From their palms shoot two violent crimson beams, each a meter wide.

The beams merge in mid-air, forming a single, massive energy explosion.

But it's useless.

With one swift slash of her sword, Isabelle dispels the attack before it can reach her.

A second sword materializes in Isabelle's left hand.

She dashes forward like a thunderbolt, leaving behind a red trail.

With a wide horizontal slash using both blades, she cuts off the two soldiers' heads.

Their necks split cleanly, and the heads roll onto the blood-soaked ground.

Isabelle grabs the prince's hand and helps him to his feet.

Together, they resume their escape.

As they run, Ren turns his gaze toward the battlefield and spots Dariam—his father, one of the last surviving Volkoms—engaged in a deadly duel with Markus Dulcar.

Both are extremely powerful vampires, and the area around them is being razed by the impact of their blows.

«Isabelle, let's go back! We have to save my father!» Ren cries out, desperation flooding his voice.

«Don't be foolish! In a one-on-one fight, I could kill Markus without much trouble, but how would I protect you in the meantime? And those bastards have rallied almost all the kingdom's nobles! There are too many even for me!» Isabelle snaps back.

Just as Isabelle finishes speaking, Markus fires a thin beam of red energy from his fingertip.

The beam slices King Dariam's body in two with a clean vertical cut.

The two halves fall apart. The guts spill onto the ground in a bloody mess.

Destroyed by the pain of witnessing his father's brutal death at the hands of his brother-in-law—the man the king trusted the most—Ren collapses into unconsciousness in Isabelle's arms.