Dark Warrior

Jade Cooper

Published by Eroticaromance.net at Smashwords

Copyright © 2009 Jade Cooper ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING:

The following material contains graphic sexual content described in explicit detail. This book is intended for mature readers only. This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. They are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.

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Dark Warrior

By Jade Cooper

Preface

The Leonid Meteor Shower occurs every thirty three years. However, it was only every four hundred and twenty nine years that the meteor shower brought chaos to Earth. For a few short hours during the event, fragments and dust from the meteors passed through the Earth’s magnetic field, rousing an ancient power.

It was during this time that a fiery red amulet known as the Leonid Stone came to life. Whoever possessed the stone, wielded its ultimate power. The power within the stone heightened the bearers speed, agility and strength making them nearly invincible.

Werewolves had, in ancient times, possessed the stone; until it was taken from them in battle by the vampire army. Vampires, who were close cousins to the human race, had always seen it as their duty to protect mankind from evil. Until that time, the werewolves had used their position of power to fulfill their evil desires. Enslaved humans were used for food and sport.

The stone remained in the possession of the vampires for over five thousand years; until 1169ad. The vampires were betrayed by one of their own. The amulet was stolen from them and given back to the werewolves. Vlad’s father, Sorin, the protector of the amulet, died in battle trying to recover it from Vasek, the leader of the werewolves. It had seemed that all hope was lost. Vasek was the most fiercely evil creature that had ever lived. Although he was able to take human form, Vasek was anything but human. His animal instincts combined with an ancient evil, making him the most feared creature on Earth. No one other than Sorin had ever dared to challenge him to single combat.

Vlad was eighteen years old then. Seeking to avenge his father, he set out to kill Vasek. His father had told him stories about the werewolves. He warned his son of their treachery, their lust to kill and their insatiable desire for power. Vasek’s cruelty and heartlessness was well known to all. Vlad knew what he was up against and didn’t give himself favorable odds for surviving. Vlad fell in combat, but not before severely wounding Vasek. Vampires were the first to find them. Their bloodied and battle torn bodies laid lifeless in a field sprayed red with blood. They took Vlad, along with the amulet to safety where he healed for many months. In his weakened state, Vasek was imprisoned.

Vlad spent years observing the beast Vasek. He took it upon himself to learn all that he could about his enemy and the werewolf species. It was speculated that during the time of the celestial event, Vasek’s tribes would once again try to gain control of the amulet. With the power of the stone, they could easily overthrow the vampires and free him. The vampire clans combined into one powerful force under Vlad’s command. Many of the vampires had human mates. It was through those connections that they were able to make an alliance with the humans.

Generation after generation of humans and their families took an oath of secrecy in which they pledged their lives to guard the beast. If Vasek were to escape, it would be the end of all things good on Earth.

November, 1580. The Leonid Meteor Shower is at its peak after a four hundred and twenty nine year period

Vlad stood poised on the battle field. His black armor shielded his tightly muscled body. He was the vampires’ most lethal warrior; the only one with enough knowledge and power to lead them in battle.

While it was difficult to kill a vampire, they could be wounded. A wounded vampire was no good on the field, so they clad themselves in armor like their human cousins that fought with them. Vlad looked over the field of soldiers behind him. They stood in formation, poised and ready for battle.

The werewolves moved in agitated circles across the field. They were fierce fighters, none of them afraid to loose their lives. Being more animal than human, they didn’t battle in formation as the vampires did. They may not have been an organized mob, but they were soulless, merciless opponents. They crouched low to the ground, their hackles raised and snouts snarling with razor sharp fangs ready to tear through flesh.

Vlad’s vampire soldier’s eyes glowed red. Some of them had already released their fangs. Their human cousins were poised and ready for battle, but Vlad could see the fear and trepidation in their eyes. He couldn’t blame them. The human’s had a good reason to be afraid. They faced almost certain death, but they accepted their fate with pride. Vlad felt honored to stand along side them. He walked out beyond the front line. His muscles rippled under his clanking armor. His voice roared out over the men and echoed into the Carpathian Mountains.

“Tonight we face something more evil than the snarling beasts before us. We fight against something more sinister than the darkness that lurks in their hearts. They would see every creature on this planet become their slaves. But I tell you this night that they have come here in vain! I tell you now, that never again will humans suffer under their tyranny. Nor will my brethren be forced to watch our human brothers die at their hands. Never will our children be held as livestock for them to feast upon. My brothers, you are all free, for that we fight! For that we stand on this field tonight, ready and willing to spill the blood of the creatures who would take that from us, from your kin! Tonight we will fight and we will die for our sons!” The roar of thousands of men and vampires thundered. “And their sons!” The roaring became coupled with the clanking sounds of their swords against their chest armor.

Vlad turned to see the beasts more agitated, snarling and howling they hungered to kill. He would slay as many of them as fate allowed. Above him, the first evidence of the brewing celestial storm streaked across the sky. The amulet hanging around Vlad’s neck began to glow. The streaming white beams multiplied until the battle field was lit up. Vlad could feel the power surging through him. His fangs burst out from beneath his gums, razor sharp claws elongated from his finger tips and his already muscular body swelled with incredible mass; threatening to tear his armor apart.

Across the field, the werewolves moved in agitated patterns. One by one they transformed from their wolf embodiment into their more powerful partially human form. They rubbed against each other, while they howled and snarled. While they rose to their hind legs, their eyes glowed and their snouts elongated. Their sharp fangs dripped with bloodlust.

Vlad clenched his fists tightly in front of him, absorbing the power bestowed on him. He stretched his arms above his head and with one loud bellowing growl led them into battle.

Two Years Ago:

Vlad sat perched at the top of an evergreen tree overlooking a valley in the Carpathian Mountains. He embraced the silence. The wind was still, and the Earth was calm and quiet. The full moon illuminated everything as far the eye could see. Stray clouds hung low against a blanket of blue-black sky sprayed with stars. He absorbed the silence. This was his land, his home.

As he crouched and held on with his hands, he balanced his feet on the branch. It was peaceful, serene. He often used this place as his sanctuary for thought. Vlad came here time and again to plan his next great adventure. It was a way of keeping himself entertained and his thoughts away from the empty loneliness that consumed him most of the time. Without a mate, he would never be complete. The every growing darkness inside him beckoned him to do things that he knew weren’t right. But he was strong; the strongest vampire that existed. He remembered those that had gone before him. Family and good friends had passed through his life and the distant memories he had of them brought him comfort and pain. But sometimes it was better to feel pain than nothing at all.

His time was approaching, he could feel it. After so many years of living without a mate, he finally accepted that he was destined to be unmated. A decision needed to be reached. He needed to end his life before he defied the sacred rule of not killing his prey and became a turned vampire. He loathed turned vampires. He hated them more than almost anything else on Earth. He supposed it was because he was the one who had often been charged with capturing and destroying them. They were sickening creatures who became addicted the adrenaline laced blood of their human victims. He knew all of the turned vampires he had hunted and killed. Some of them had been friends, a few had been family. Every one of them had taken a piece of his soul. He hated that they were too weak to resist the beast that lingered under their skin. He hated them for making him kill them. Vlad swore to himself that he would not share their fate.

It had been four hundred and twenty seven years since the last Leonid meteor storm. Vasek, the beast, had been contained and guarded by the secret alliance of men and vampires. The werewolves had been so badly beaten at the last battle that they retreated into the shadows; only a few lone wolves surfaced now and then to wreak havoc in the modern world. And those that were caught were destroyed quickly. Vlad could feel the danger building. He knew that after all of these years, they would have had more than enough time to increase their numbers significantly. They would have had time to prepare for another strike against the vampires and humans. After freeing their leader, they would lay siege to the rest of the world. Vlad expelled a long held breath. It was time to prepare for a battle.

Along with Stefan, the political leader of their people, and Stefan’s brother Weis, Vlad would gather what vampires still existed and pad their army with the humans that belonged to their secret alliance.

Chapter One

Modern Day: