Chapter Three

It was quiet in Frostmarris; too quiet to be good.

General Scipio Bellorum watched with an air of cold calculation, his grizzled face pulled into a well-practiced expression of steel. He was absolutely furious that his plan to rid himself of the Vampires had failed. It should've been fool-proof: however, there was always some variable that threw even the simplest course of action to the wind. Still, he should've known that the ruler of the abominations that caused him the most grief would find a way to wriggle out of his grasp. Bellorum drew a tiredly resigned breath. Oh well; there was no use on dwelling on a past action in this particular war. His "Lightning War" would destroy the Icemark and their queenling in a matter of weeks. Resistance was futile by now, even if he hadn't succeeded in crushing their moral by killing the Vampire King.

A breath of wind brushed against his scarred cheek and the General narrowed his eyes. There was something amiss, but he couldn't put his finger on it. His stump ached; that was a signal of trouble in of itself. Behind him, Octavius and Sulla rode up to stand at a respectful distance.

Octavius spoke, voice quiet with resignation. "Father, there some kind of energy arrows falling from the forest. Already three of our best men have fallen to these projectiles. What's our next course of action?"

Concentrated fury rolled through Scipio's hardened frame and he turned his horse to face his sons. His icy-gray eyes gleamed with sharp intelligence as he forced his charger into a swift trot towards the border of their encampment. Both young men followed in silence, knowing that speaking was likely to get them in situation that was almost certain to be deadly.

The head of the Bellorum clan spoke, his voice sinking to a purr of cold fury. "We bomb the trees the next three times we attack that blasted city. These abominations will not be tolerated!".

Her Vampiric Majesty nearly staggered back into the central caverns, fatigue radiating off her lithe form. Almost two days straight without much sleep was starting to take its toll on the undead ruler. Now she was beginning to feel a burning ache bite through every muscle and bone in her body. Still, being bone-crushingly tired wasn't the worst thing in the world; at least she could have an excuse to sleep on her consort's chest.

A slight smile came to her face as the queen thought of just passing out in His Vampiric Majesty's arms. Ever since the incident with him and that thrice-damned general, she'd started to think about an existence without him. And, without a second's hesitation, she admited that it would be a waking hell if she couldn't be with the man who had become her whole world.

She entered the cavern, trudging over to where His Vampiric Majesty reclined in a divan, and plopped down next to him. The Vampire Queen sighed loudly and curled up on his chest with a slightly hollow thud. A frown creased his face as he began to run his fingers through her delicate, silky curls. "Dearest heart, are you sure you're feeling okay? Oskan told me that I'm free to go and injure myself once again if you're not up to the evening raid."

Something rose into Her Vampiric Majesty's throat, squeezing her windpipe with crushing force, and she curled up closer to his chest. "No; I don't want you getting injured again just because I'm a little worn out. I'll be fine, but you're still on the mend."

The king's frown deepened, but he didn't say anything else. Their Vampiric Majesties sat in complete silence for a long while, resting in a single perfect moment that they thought shouldn't ever end.

But of course, it would be ruined by a scream of rage from a mortal female above.

The Vampire King allowed an irritated sigh to pass between his parted lips. An irate glare was leveled at the offender above through the granite ceiling, and he tightened his arms protectively around the woman curled up on his chest. "You know, if that idiotic woman comes down here, I'm tempted to simply ignore Thirrin's orders and eat her."

A laugh erupted from the queen's throat and she pressed a kiss to the line of his cheekbone. "Dearest heart, please don't be rash. Just lay here with me for a moment longer. I'm too tired to get up and start killing people right now."

"I didn't say you had to kill her; I simply said that I'd be forced to eat her. Besides, I could still eat her and hold you at the same time; I am rather talented when it comes to multi-tasking."

When no response met his comment, His Vampiric Majesty looked down to find that his consort had fallen into a peaceful sleep on his chest. He smiled gently and ran a finger across her delicate cheekbone; gods, she had worked herself to the bone. And despite that she tried to hide it, he knew she was scared - no, terrified - that she was going to lose him. It could be seen whenever he tried to coax her into letting him fight once more, or when he trained himself each day. The fear of losing him would light the depths of those gorgeous blue gems, and she'd sit in desperate, pleading silence for almost hours on end.

The Vampire King frowned slightly, placing a gentle kiss atop his queen's silky midnight curls. She would never lose him. Not ever. Time would collapse before he'd ever let go of his light, his love, his everything. She was the one thing that made this dull, monotonous existence bearable. He'd be damned if something were to seperate them.

A thin, drawn-out howl weaved its way into the cavern; the air-raid warning. The king glanced down at his still-sleeping queen. She was so exhausted; it was painful to watch her go through this day after day. An idea popped into his sharp mind and he managed to slide out from under his sleeping consort without much difficulty. He placed her in their shared coffin and gently kissed her on the forehead. "Darling, forgive me, but I cannot stand idly by while you destroy yourself. I'm fighting this round. I love you."

Without hesitation, His Vampiric Majesty strode out of his cavern to prepare for battle. His loyal chamberlain Lugosi floated along behind him, an expression of carefully measured concern lining his unchanging face. "Your Majesty, if I may be so bold as to ask why you're deciding to let Her Vampiric Majesty sleep through this particular raid? Truth be told, she's been very worried about you as of late."

The king quickly pulled on his elegantly-forged black armor and glanced at Lugosi over his shoulder. "I know, Lugosi. But she's hurting herself, and I cannot allow my queen to keep fighting this war all by herself. I will gladly accept all the consequences she has to offer for me if it means she can get a few extra hours of rest."

Lugosi nodded sagely, but said nothing further. There were times when being a chamberlain sucked; this was one of those times.

His Vampiric Majesty screeched a challenge out over the skies, folding his massive wings and diving towards a rather large Imperial Sky-ship. The wind whistled and howled in his ears, rushing over his flesh like icy water, and the thrill of battle roared through his entire being. Yes! This was more like it! He crashed into the decks, transforming into his humanoid form, and immediately ripped the throats out of four healthy young men. Blood dripped down his face and neck in rivers. It poured in gallons across polished wood like so much liquid rubies.

The king's pupils dialated until the depths of his eyes were nothing more than deep, soulless pits. Soldiers screamed in terror as they fell before him, such was the wrath of this undead horror. He wouldn't stop until each and every soldier under General Scipio Bellorum was dead. And at the rate he was going, that wouldn't take very long. Four massive galleons had already fallen, along with countless numbers of wasp-fighters.

The order to retreat could be heard on Bellorum's flagship, The Pearl, and screeches of elated triumph erupted from the victorious Vampires and Snowy Owls. They'd beaten Bellorum once more! And though they might've been exhausted physically, mentally they could've taken on ten times the number of men they'd fought today. His Vampiric Majesty screamed out an order to reform, watching in satisfaction as his soldiers reformed into squadrons as one writhing black mass. Rank upon rank of disciplined undead soldiers swooped down to land within the Frostmarris square. They shifted back into their human forms one by one, cheering loudly at their success in driving back the hated Polypontian masses.

And then along came Her Vampiric Majesty. . .

"YOU STUPID, IDIOTIC MAN!"

The Vampire King had to consciously keep himself from cringing at the fury in his wife's screech. He turned sheepishly towards the sound of her voice, immediately blanching when he caught a glimpse of her face. Furious was too tame of a word for what was etched onto her gorgeous features now; livid would even be an understatement, although it was rather closer to what his consort was feeling at that particular moment.

"Dearest heart, I can explain - "

The queen raised her hand sharply, azure eyes glinting up at a rather scared king. "Don't even try that with me! The next time you try something this stupid, I'll rip your limbs off with my bare hands and force-feed them to Grishmak while you watch! IS THAT COMPLETELY UNDERSTOOD!"

His Vampiric Majesty gulped loudly and nodded. He waited in quiet silence for a moment before his consort let out another angry squeal, turned on her heel, and stalked away at a pace he didn't even think would be possible for him to match. Commander Bramorius Stokescue came up from behind, placing an encouraging hand on the king's shoulder. "Your Majesty, I don't mean to be crude, but I'm pretty sure you've severely pissed off your queen."

"Bramorius, normally I'd flay you alive for such a remark. But this time, I cannot deny the fact that you're right. I just hope she doesn't follow through with her threat to feed my limbs to Grishmak tonight."

I'm !

After one ridiculously long hiatus, your favorite psychotic Vampire supporter is back in town! And she seems to think that her writing has improved. . .

Yes. . . . No. . . . . . This is the kind of thing that the blue button in the page's crotch is for people. You know, the one that says "review" on it.

Welp, tell me whatcha think and I'll see if I can work on a new chapter in the meantime.

With lots of love and thanks,
BlackRosePoetry