Maximus chased after the unknown vampire who had Zelda slung over his shoulder, equal parts rage and terror racing through him as he ran through the trees. He knew the chance of finding them was slim to none, the thick forest surrounding Vlad's castle was perfect for defense for just this reason, but he couldn't make himself go back without trying.
The disturbance had been a distraction to get him away from Zelda and it had worked perfectly. The scream that had silenced all noise inside the ballroom had sent pure ice through his veins. It had only taken him seconds to vault over the other guests, Vlad's voice raising to order the other guards to seal off the exits as Maximus had lunged for the source of the scream.
Even the seconds it had taken him to reach outside had been too many. Zelda's tear streaked face flashed in his mind, the terror painted on her face souring his stomach as he scrambled to think of who would do such a thing.
Briefly his mind flashed back to the clearing where he'd first had to reveal what he was to her. He had killed their attacker, thus losing any information they might have had from him. Now he wished he hadn't ended the miserable man so swiftly. There was apparently someone out for Zelda's blood and if his hunch was right, that person had her now.
Or would have her soon, if they couldn't save her in time. The thought of what someone could do to his beloved made him want to stop to lose the contents of his stomach. She was only just starting to recover from her last trauma and this happened.
As he thought on how it would effect her if the person who'd taken her sexually assaulted her, a wrath unlike any he'd every felt before screamed to the surface. He would get her back, and if anyone had dared breath near her in such a way… He would show them why he had been feared during the Crusades as one of the most vicious fighters.
As long as she survived, he could help her through anything else. He sent up a prayer for her safety as Vlad's voice called him back to the castle.
Reluctantly, he followed. Chasing blindly was never a good idea especially in such heavily wooded areas as Romania. As he walked back, his stride increased as a thought struck him. Leila. She could track Zelda!
She had plenty of essence trails to choose from and if she didn't he had more than enough himself. Before his next thought he was running full pelt back to the castle. If they moved fast enough they could stop the captor from leaving with Zelda…
Maximus came to a skidding halt in front of Vlad, feeling every inch the wild animal as he spun to Leila. "Do you have an essence trail?"
Leila grimaced, shaking her head but already moving toward him. "No, she doesn't like me touching her for long, but that's why we called you back."
He stayed perfectly still while her hand traced his shoulder, the memory of when her arms had locked around his neck not thirty minutes ago made a fierce ache start in him. He forced himself to focus and to not spiral into despair. They could still save Zelda, they had to. It wouldn't be the last time he held her.
It took only a moment for Leila to declare that she knew where they were headed and with that, their destination was set. Maximus followed behind Vlad as Leila led the way through the forest, his heart aching with every minute he and Zelda were separated.
If they got her back unscathed he would never let her out of his sight again. Forcing back the wild panic, he focused his energy on a more useful thought process. What he would do to the person who'd dared to remove her from his side.
A dark thrill went through him as possibilities of the punishments he could do blazed through his mind. He hadn't used most of those methods since his time in the Crusades, the brutal techniques something he was more than happy to leave behind, but now nothing seemed more fitting than tearing Zelda's kidnapper apart in every painful way he knew how.
As Leila announced their approaching the destination, he forced a calming breath. Please let her be alive and unharmed when we get there…