[Backstory] A Battle Won

The battle had been long and hard, but they had managed it.

The Vampires had fought long and hard against the Elves of the neighbouring country. The cowardly Werewolves had been using the Elves to hold off the Vampires for far too long. It was getting boring very quick.

The Elves were good fighters and the Vampires had troubles trying to beat them. It had been going on for weeks.

In the last few days, they had even gotten desperate enough to send a horse to the castle.

The horse returned to the battlefield with a different rider. Prince Marcus.

The man had fought long and hard and enjoyed every moment of said fight.

Now he was sat in their claimed forest on the border of Nalithia and Kenndrick with the last few hovering warriors. Most had gone back home to celebrate. Marcus and a few others had stayed to drink and celebrate on the battlefield itself.

It was foolish to roam so close to the boarder at this time of night, he knew that well enough, though curiosity had always gotten the better of him and he found himself padding through the forest on all fours.

The wolfs hot breath fogged as he panted, darting through trees.

The Elves had been defending these lands valiantly, their loyalties were not to the werewolves, but to the very woods themselves.

Elves were such strange creatures and Colton had wandered out deep to get a glance of the battlefield.

He was an able-bodied wolf, even at this age his body held immense power.

His pace quickened, his paws thudding against the ground and he draw closer to the boarder, a quick look around then he would head back to the city to report his findings.

His father hadn't agreed with the boy's decision to join the fighting forces, through Colt was never one to back down from a fight.

Loud laughter filled the air as the men laughed and joked with each other.

Mid way through a laugh, Marcus raised his hand and all fell silent. He cocked his head to the side, his long, straight hair falling over his shoulder as he listened.

"I will return," he murmured softly.

The man stood and padded off towards the sound he could hear. He only bought his sword with him. His armour wasn't necessary. It sounded like a Wolf. Nothing he couldn't handle.

Marcus moved towards that sound slowly; at a very idle pace.

As Colton drew closer he could hear the laughter, his own hearing would be better than that of a Vampire, he could smell them, it was the smell of blood and death that lingered heavily in the air, causing the night to become even darker.

The wolf paused for a moment, it would not be wise to head straight toward them, he was curious but he wasn't suicidal.

He sniffed the air, trying to catch the scent of anything else, no, only Vampires, he was too young to be able to follow the scent of and Elf.

He made a turn, heading down toward where the Elves had been planning their attack, hopefully there were survivors.

Marcus continued to walk through the forest.

He moved directly towards the Wolf. He'd be able to intercept it and possibly kill it if he had to. Though he didn't particularly want to. Marcus wasn't one for senseless killing off a battlefield and though Werewolves were absolute shits, not all of them were bad. He knew a few Werewolf Nobles in his country that were pleasant enough conversation.

He just wanted to make sure this one wouldn't cause too much trouble for him and his last few warriors.

They wanted to celebrate right now. Not fight another battle because one shitty little Wolf decided to fuck with their fun.

Colt neared where the Elves had last been located, they weren't there, in fact the camp looked ruined, Vampires had been through here.

The wolf gave an annoyed growl, great, now he had to go back with bad news.

His ears flicked back as he heard the stead foot step behind him, he hadn't noticed the fact that he had been followed for the last few minutes.

He didn't quite like this situation, being on the edge of Vampire territory was dangerous at the best of times, he was here directly after a battle had taken place.

The wolf gave a low growl in warning, he didn't want this creature drawing too close.

Marcus pushed on even as the growl sounded through the forest.

He came to a stop when he could see the Wolf.

His head tilted to the side and he gazed at the large animal for a long while, a soft hum sounding after a few moments before he just fell completely silent.

It was a young Wolf. Hardly any trouble for him to deal with.

The two of them stood their simply eyeing each other, Colton had turned to face the Vampire as it grew close.

He stayed on all fours, ready to move at any moment if he needed to.

The smell of the man carried on the wind, assaulting his nose with the metallic scent of blood. This one was older than himself, quite a bit older.

He gave another sniff, he couldn't detect the scent of silver on him, even if they had only been fighting Elves it was foolish to wander so close to a wolf's den without the proper means of defending yourself against it.

Colt's emerald eyes stared up at the Vampire for a long, hard moment before he gave a warning growl and took a step back, he didn't appreciate being followed.

A little smirk curled the Vampire's lips as he was growled out.

"There's little reason to feel threatened," he called out to the Wolf.

If Marcus didn't attack him then he wouldn't attack him back. It was as simple as that. Marcus wasn't looking for a fight right now.

Honestly he wanted to have a few more drinks, perhaps find a man to take to his bed for the night.

A fight wasn't on that agenda. Unless it was a nice rough night in the sack. That was the only type of fight he could tolerate right now.

If you're not a threat, then stop following me.

He replied, his eyes narrowing slightly, he didn't trust the words of others, he knew his own words could be so deceiving when he chose them to be.

If this man had no interest in attack him then he had no reason to be following him around.

Colton stared at the man for another moment, confused and slightly annoyed by his presence. When he had decided that it was time to leave the wolf took off, dashing back into the woods.

"I have to make sure you're not a threat yourself."

It was a simple thing, wasn't it? Common sense.

Someone had approached his camp so he had taken it upon himself to check it out and make sure that there was no trouble.

The man's lips pursed and he gave a soft sigh as the Wolf bolted. He would be running right towards his camp, wouldn't he?

Marcus ran forwards after the Wolf, trying to catch up with him as quick as he could.

It didn't take him long to get close. The Wolf was young. When he was close enough, the man pounced, his intent to wrap his arms around the Wolf's throat and drag him down to the ground.

Colton was on edge and when he heard the sound of the Vampire coming up behind him he raised his hackles.

A loud snarl rippled from the large wolf as arms wrapped around his throat, his head whipped to the side on instinct and he buried his teeth into the Vampire's throat.

He had taken the man's decision to try and grab him as a threat against him and had acted accordingly, digging his sharp teeth into the man's vulnerable flesh.

He had hoped that he could get out of here without incident but that seemed to be too much to ask.

The Vampire gave a soft cry when he felt teeth sink into his throat.

He gripped the Wolf's thick fur firmly but otherwise went limp.

He didn't want a fight. In fact right now, he was trying to avoid getting the Wolf into a fight. Keeping him away from his camp was the best way to keep the pup alive.

The man grunted softly, eyes squeezing shut.

Colton bit down harder as the man went limp, the last of blood coating his tongue fueling his anger at the sudden attack.

It took a moment for him to realize that he had in fact surrendered beneath the force of his teeth and wasn't fight back.

Slowly Colt let go of his throat and shook free of his grasp, his muzzle painted with the Vampire's blood.

He stared hard at the Vampire for a moment before he heard laughter from the direction he had been running.

He had been heading straight toward them...hadn't he...

Colt gave the Vampire a suspicious look as he backed up a little.

Why...

The Vampire slumped when the Wolf shook free of him.

He gave a soft groan of pain as his hand raised to assess the damage done to his throat.

It was quite the gruesome scene. It would take him a few days to heal from this. Not something he wanted. He could only imagine his mothers words if he came back to her with his throat almost torn out.

She'd probably be annoyed at the blood on his clothes.

Marcus merely grunted as a response to the suspicious question.

Stupid vampire.

The werewolf growled as he looked down at the bleeding mess that was his throat. He hadn't meant to attack him, it was a reflex when ever someone he didn't trust went for his neck, it was ingrained into every wolf.

Tentatively he took a few steps forward, still suspicious of him but keeping his body low to show he wasn't currently a threat.

His tongue lapped out over the opened wound, it was his mess and he should be the one to clean it.

Marcus huffed softly at the insult.

He'd been trying to help the Wolf not get himself killed and he was the stupid one? Some gratitude there.

Marcus hissed softly as he felt the tongue irritate the wound. His teeth clenched together and bared, fangs showing in a knee-jerk threat, though he didnt move to follow up on that threat.

Marcus' pain tolerance was fairly high when he was in battle or bed and his adrenaline was pumping, but otherwise he'd rather not feel pain like this. It wasn't a pleasant experience.

Colt gave a soft growl as the Vampire bared it's fangs, it wasn't a threat as much as it was just reminding the man that he didn't like this situation any more than he did.

His tongue swept over the wound a few more times, layering it thickly with saliva, there, he had done what he could to fix his wrong.

Once he felt that he had made up for what he did he back away again, eager to escape back toward town.

This vampire might not attack him but he doubted that it would stop the others.

Marcus pushed himself upwards to sit up.

He could feel thick globs of saliva running down his neck and chest. In their scuffle, the strings holding the shirt together had slipped apart and almost the entirety of his torso was on show. His pale skin was unblemished and his muscles were firm.

The body of a warrior.

"Dont carry on," he murmured, pushing his long hair back. "They'll kill you. Turn back."

As the Vampire's words hit his ears he looked over into the direction the camp was, there was no doubt in his mind that they would kill him.

Instead he padded back past the Vampire, his ears pinned back against his head as he stared at him for one last moment, perplexed by his head.

Such a strange creature.

He did as the man warned, he turned back, running back the way he had came through the forest, following his own scent so he didn't wander off into another camp.

Marcus watched the Wolf walk past him and disappear off through the trees.

Then he pushed himself to his feet and wandered back towards his own camp

____________________________________________________________

Marcus had opted to stay behind after a lot of thought.

It was a smart idea to have at least one person stay behind and protect their newly formed boundaries. He had decided to stay behind and patrol.

Now, a few days later, he was wandering idly in the woods.

he bounced the sheath of his sword idly on his shoulder as he wandered. His shirt flickered in the breeze behind him, currently tucked in the back of his pants rather than being on.

The evening was pleasantly warm.

The Vampires had pushed forward slightly and claim some of the forest for their own, after the success of his last mission to head out and gather information he had been sent out into the woods with a reconnaissance squad to determine how much had been lost and how viable it would be to reclaim it.

The wolves all sprinted through the woods, it was best to do this during the night to see how much of the Vampire forces were still left behind.

The small pack separated to scout out assigned sections of the woods.

Once he got into his sector it didn't take long for that scent to hit him, he knew that smell, he could recall it from the other night, he had tasted his man's blood.

Colt's pace quickened as he bounded through the woods, following the scent.

Marcus hummed to himself as he bounced the sheath of his sword in time with the tune.

His head tilted to the side as the sound of paws thumping against the ground.

Were there Wolves around again? He hadn't seen any since that one a few nights ago. He had hoped that he could at least get some men back before someone decided to venture towards them like this.

Marcus listened out for more. He seriously hoped there weren't many more Wolves in the area.

Colton should have hit himself for even thinking this was a good idea, if someone found out his pelt would be decorating the kings chambers.

Even still, he bolted as fast as he could possibly manage until the Vampire came into view

Run.

He called out to him, knowing the rest of the pack weren't far off, there was some that were far older than he was, the Vampire couldn't take them all on by himself and Colt couldn't smell any others.

Vampire, run, this way.

He called out to the man's mind before running past him and heading diagonally toward Vampire territory, he knew where everyone else was currently scouting and if the Vampire stayed here, he wouldn't last long.

Marcus' brows drew together as he heard the voice echo in his head.

He wasn't used to Werewolves and their strange way of communicating when in this form. The feeling of someone talking to him inside of his head was weird. Especially when he wasn't expecting it.

When the Wolf bolted past him, despite all of his thoughts screaming at him, he did as he was ordered and followed.

If a Wolf was planning to actually attack him, they wouldnt lure him to an area with words. They would just attack him.