Call Of The Dark

Olya had said that the dragon flew west. Lazarus had traveled the remaining night and was compelled to stay in a cave for the day. Even though he was dead tired, he couldn't sleep. He had asked Magnus and Olya to go back to the cabin because he was sure that no one had discovered the cabin.

The whole day inside the cave, he paced. Blood had caked over his tunic and trousers and face. Madness was taking over. In a frenzy, he punched the wall of the cave, sending debris flying around. He felt like he would lose himself if he didn't find Emma.

Lazarus was not the patient kind. He was not the unforgiving kind and her was certainly not the kind who liked if anyone took what belonged to him. As the time passed, his anger over Nephie grew to a mad rage. The dragon should have brought her back to him, instead it was nowhere to be seen.

Lazarus traced and paced, his restlessness growing rapidly. What if Nephie took her to Yizinia. "Nooooo!" he bellowed, the thought like a sharp shard in his chest. He was going to tear the realms and get her back. He was so furious that he stepped out of the cave in bright sunlight and immediately his skin started burning like a leather strop slowly running over it. The burn was nothing compared to his insane state, to how he missed one person who he had come to… love.

Titan, who was nibbling on the scanty shrubs, came running to his master and pushed him inside the cave. "Titan…" Lazarus said as he leaned on his tall frame. "Do you know where Emma is? Take me to her… Please." The horse let out a whinny in response and pushed him further inside.

Lazarus lost his appetite. An antelope ran in front of the cave, yet he just sat there in the shadows and watched it running away, his mind full of Emma. As soon as the sun traveled down the horizon, he rushed out. Titan was waiting for him. In one swift move, he was on the horse. As if knowing what his master wanted, Titan started galloping to the west.

They continued to run west until the stars were all up, until moonlight dazzled the white snow. Yet there was no sign of the dragon. "Emmaaaa!" Lazarus bellowed, coming to a standstill. He rubbed his hand over his face as fatigue caught up with him. His chest felt hollow and he felt like clawing his black heart and throwing it away. But what purpose would that be? His heart would regenerate. "Emmaaaa!" he bellowed again but his bellow echoed in the mountains, returning to him without an answer.

Lazarus nudged Titan to run again. He wasn't going to give up finding Emma even if it would take a lifetime. Vampires were known to live for thousands of years. And Lazarus was a pure-blooded vampire.

At midnight, the moon traced its familiar path to the center of the sky. Lazarus turned his face up to feel its cool rays on his skin to calm down, as if to ask it where she was. His reverie broke when Titan let out a soft neigh and stopped in his tracks a few meters later. Lazarus looked in the direction where Titan was focused. It was a very dense cluster of trees. Lazarus got down from him, his nostrils picking up her scent.

His chest flooded with crazy emotions and he had to purse his lips to stop making a sound. He heard a low growl and was sure that Nephie was around. Though he appreciated that she protected Emma, he was furious that she didn't bring her back to him. At the same time, his fears allayed because the dragon didn't take Emma away from him to her realm.

Slowly he started walking towards the trees. Another low growl alerted him that the dragon would attack him if he did anything wrong. With his hand on the hilt of his sword, he worried for Emma's safety. He hoped that she was still with Nephie and that she was safe.

He closed the gap cautiously and when he entered the cluster of trees, he found Nephie sitting over a pile of pine and fir needles, staring at him with her arctic blue eyes. Her wings are tucked to her side. She let out a growl of warning.

"Where's Emma?" Lazarus asked her in a calculated voice, coming to a stop a few meters away from him. His grip on the hilt of the sword tightened. If he had to fight a dragon for Emma, so be it.

Nephie let out a sound that was akin to a snuff. Then slowly and very carefully she opened her right wing and right there, beneath it, tucked next to her body was Emma.

So many emotions surged through him that Lazarus sank on the ground, his body buckling under relief. He continued to stare at his mate, whose heartbeat was like a lullaby to his agitated nerves. He clenched his jaw as he watched her sleep. He rubbed his chest and a chuckle left him. Lord Lazarus had come to his knees for his mate.

Emma fluttered open her eyes when a cool gush of air brushed over her skin. She saw Lord Lazarus sitting on the ground and watching her. "Lorza!" she squealed. She got up from her place by taking Nephie's support and then rushed on her wobbly feet to him. He opened her arms for her and Emma hurled herself right in his arms. Lazarus closed her in his embrace, his heart beating wildly. "Found you." He buried his face in the crook of her neck as she buried hers in his chest.

She was crying and he caught the back of her head as she made his tunic wet with her tears. He was never going to let her out of his sight again. The past few hours had been excruciatingly painful. Lazarus had never known this kind of a pain and he intended never to experience it again.

After a few minutes, he picked her up in his arms.