To Protect a Friend

by little-angel-mice

Henry has a secret he has been keeping from Vlad for a while now, he is a half blood. As Vlad grows more powerful, Elysia and the slayers are not the only ones to notice. When Vlad is put into danger, Henry will do anything he can to protect his friend from a threat he isn't even aware existed.

Henry made his way home, slipping between houses and slinking down alleyways. The light, slightly warm air ruffled his hair as he approached his house. He had just finished up his nightly patrol of the neighborhood and could not wait to get home and collapse in his bed. Quickly, he jogged up the steps of his house and reached into his pocket to grab his house key, only to find his pocket empty. Henry groaned and slumped his shoulders upon the realisation that he had forgotten his house key. He could ring the doorbell and have one of his parents, or even Greg come open the door for him. But it was almost 1:30 in the morning and Henry did not want to wake his family so he stepped off the porch and slunk behind the house in hopes that the back door was open. After closing the fence gate behind him, Henry made his way to the back porch, but stopped when he felt the hairs on the back of neck stand on end. Something was watching him. Henry froze and listened to the night intensely, waiting to hear anything out of the ordinary, but all that could be heard was the sound of the trees rustling overhead and crickets chirping. But Henry knew not to ignore his instincts, they were the reason he was still alive at this point. Henry looked around at is surroundings while he slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out a gold coin. It was about the size of a drachma, and at a glance someone might mistake it for one. But this coin was far more than a simple drachma, it had the image of a bow crossed with a quiver of arrows on one side, and the profile of the god Apollo on the other. Henry gently rubbed his thumb over the image of Apollo and felt the coin grow heavy and elongate in his hand. He also felt the weight of something materialize on his back as well as the pressure of a thick strap of leather press across his chest. Henry pulled an arrow out of the quiver now on his back and notched it on the string of the beautiful golden bow in his left hand. Henry scanned his backyard one last time and noticed a glint of something in the bushes along the back fence. He realised a moment too late that it was a pair of glowing red eyes.

A hellhound burst from the bushes and lunged at Henry. He knew he would not have time to draw his bow, so Henry quickly jumped to the side, but not quick enough. The monster managed to rake its claws through the flesh of Henry's right shoulder has it sailed over his head. Henry screamed as he fell to the ground and the hellhound landed several feet behind him. Henry knew with a busted shoulder he would never be able to pull back the sting of his bow. Thinking fast he dropped his bow and transferred the arrow to the hand of his much stronger left arm. Henry rolled onto his back and looked at the hellhound, it had turned around was preparing to attack again. Henry felt his muscles tense, waiting for the monster to make the next move. The hellhound lunged at Henry again and he smirked, monsters were so predictable. Henry watched as the monstrosity soared through the air, claws out, ready to tear him to shreds. Henry waited until the monster was nearly on top of him to jerk his left arm up and sink the arrow into the stomach of the beast. The hellhounds claws had barely pierced the soft flesh of Henry's chest before the monster went limp, which was a relief, but that did not prevent the beast's dead body from landing on top of Henry. His shoulder screamed in protest of extra weight pressing into it, as did his ribs, of which Henry could feel at least one snap. Using all this strength Henry managed to push the body off of him, it had already started to turn to dust. Henry gave himself a few moments to catch his breath before pushing himself off the ground, both his shoulder and his side screamed in pain, but he pushed through it and picked himself up with a loud groan. Henry touched his side to feel his rib cage and he winced at the pressure, yeah definitely broken. Turning his attention back to the body next to him, he pulled his arrow out of the monsters crumbling stomach and wiped the monster guts on his pant leg before placing it back into his quiver. Henry picked his bow off the ground and rubbed the image of Apollo on the the bow shrunk and the weight of the quiver lightened until it was gone and Henry was left holding a gold coin in his hand. He brought the coin up to his lips and kissed the surface before slipping it back into his pocket.

Henry finally made it to his back porch and tried the handle of the back door. He sent a little thank you to the gods when it opened. Henry stumbled into his house and somehow made it up the stairs before all but falling through the doorway of his room. He staggered over to his dresser and opened the top draw. Henry ruffled through the clothes a bit until his hand wrapped around a glass vial. He pulled it out and looked at the amber colored, slightly glowing liquid in the vial. Henry knocked the liquid back in just a few gulps, enjoying the taste of gooey, toasted marshmallow, melted chocolate, and crisp graham cracker as it slid down his throat. He sighed as almost instantly the throbbing in his shoulder and ribs lessened, and the ach he felt all over his body eased a bit. Henry dragged himself across the room to his bed and threw himself into it, asleep before his head even the pillow.