Greece, 1222BC

Sweat dripped down her back as she fended off his strikes, her arms twisting easily as she whirled around and struck her sword against his own. Arcadius grunted as he swung, Lysandra pushed back as their blades met. "Tired yet?" She jested and he grinned, pushed back against her. "Absolutely not," he retorted as he dodged her strike.

Lysandra clenched her teeth as she spun around, her foot striking around against his leg before she swiped her own blade towards him. Arcadius jumped back, holding his blade out in front of him in warning. He straightened out of his crouch. "Almost, Lysandra. You must learn other ways to disarm those who wish to do you harm. You could have an injured leg in a battle and be unable to use it. Think of other ways, sister." He stated firmly.

She straightened out of her crouch, sighing softly. "It won't matter regardless," she huffed. "Severus has made it clear nothing would stop him taking me next week. He says I must or he will turn you into a beast." She continued and his jaw tightened. "He will make me a beast regardless of what you do, Lysandra. He will to punish me for defending you over the years." He stated coolly.

Her eyes softened a little and she moved forward. "I would rather die than allow you to become like them," she whispered, trying to meet his eyes.

But they weren't focussed on her; the blue orbs were focussed on something behind her. A crunch of sand and stones told her they weren't alone anymore. Arcadius gave a slight tilt of his lips upwards, and his blue eyes drifted down to her own. "Somehow, I don't believe you will have to go to such drastic lengths in order to keep me safe, little sister," he drawled as his hands clasped her shoulders, gently turning her around.

Blood pounded in her head as she took in the sight she'd been wishing for over the last almost eight years. She couldn't stop her feet even if she had tried to do so; her sword dropped to the sandy beach with a metallic noise. She ran forward, her sandaled feet sinking into the scorching hot sand. She stumbled into stone cold arms, the coolness making her inhale sharply as she remembered the sensation from all those months ago. She wound her arms around him, feeling his arms hesitantly come around her in return.

Still not one for humankind then.

Lysandra pulled back, her eyes bright as the glistened with tears. "You returned," she gasped out, ruby red eyes meeting her blue ones. She swallowed, hearing her brother approach from behind.

A cold hand cradled her face, Caius's red eyes sweeping over her face, as if he was trying to find the twelve year old who had saved his life in her face. He didn't disappoint himself. She was still the same, just older, different in how she looked, but not in how she held herself, how she spoke, how she felt. He nodded, swiping his cold thumb lightly over her cheekbone, the touch akin to that of a stone feather in her opinion. "I said I would." He answered simply.

Arcadius nodded his head from behind her. "Caius," he greeted, the immortal tearing his eyes away from Lysandra for a moment to look at the now matured man in front of him. "Arcadius," he responded curtly, his eyes looking into the forest briefly before back to the two humans in front of him. "I assume you've had issues with the wolves?"

The blonde stiffening in his grasp gave him all the answers he needed. "I need you to last one more night. I need to feed before I even consider turning the both of you. It isn't something I have done before, at least not successfully. I need to be sated fully before I make you like me."

Lysandra looked up at him through her lashes, her eyes soft. "Will it hurt?" She whispered and he looked at her. "No," he answered curtly and she nodded, her head resuming its position on his chest. Salt water clung to her cheeks from his cloak. She wore his old one over his shoulders, his cold hand resting on her lower back.

Arcadius nodded. "When will we need to be ready for your return?" He inquired and Caius looked at him. "I will return for you at nightfall. There is an island an hours swim from here, going at my speed. I will transfer you both across under the cover of darkness. There we will remain while you go through your newborn period as an immortal. It will be too dangerous to travel with you both through others territories while you are both unable to control your urges." He drawled, his eyes brightening at the thought of all the carnage, destruction and bloodlust that would follow in the upcoming year.


A beaming smile couldn't be taken from her face as she dashed around the small cave they both called home. A small pouch was being filled with the things they held nearest and dearest to them both; it would go with them into their new lives, but nothing else would. She had been told to bring none of their garments; there were some waiting for them.

Arcadius had left to go and keep watch over the cave entrance a while ago. He didn't trust Severus. He knew he would come earlier, an attempt to catch them by surprise and lull them both into false security in thinking they had another week of freedom.

It was finally happening; she was free. Her mind drifted back to the embrace on the beach. Had she imagined it? The feel of his hand resting against the small of her lower back as he embraced her back? Did his feelings match hers? A sad smile came to her face. She doubted it. To him, although she wasn't to be soon, she was still the same creature he despised. Could you love something you hated so much? She didn't think so, but that tiny sharp of hope in her heart didn't go away, no matter how she reasoned with it that it just didn't make sense and wasn't true.

A clattering noise drew her attention, and not a second later, Arcadius came storming through, his face a mask of sheer panic. He seized her hand, her free hand enclosing around the little pouch filled with their sentimental belongings. He began to pull her out of the cave.

Lysandra seized up in terror as she heard the shouts along with the distant glow of fire torches. "Is that him coming for me?" She cried out, seemingly rigid with fear, and he pulled her away towards the cliffs. She tripped and crashed into him. Arcadius wound an arm around her waist, keeping her upright as he began to run at full speed towards the cliffs.

Her heart thrummed its terror too as her eyes displayed it. Caius hadn't came a day too soon. She should have known Severus wouldn't have let her have another week when it was so close to him getting her on a full moon. She had heard horrific stories, some he had made sure reached her personally from the villages they occasionally ventured into. Some contained tales of how amazing it was to be a being beholden to the moon, how you found and experiences pleasures beyond a mere mortals comprehension, and others were horrific, about how their wives became so savaged each full moon with their frantic couplings that their bodies became mere mangled images of what they used to be.

She didn't plan on finding out.

Arcadius skidded as he came to the top of the cliffs, just managing to stop himself from pulling both he and Lysandra off the edge. Rocks crumbled from the edge and disappeared into the dark ocean below, lost in the fast approaching nightfall.

A group emerged from the forest behind him, Severus at the forefront. He grinned, his rotten teeth lighting up in the torchlight. He laughed. "Cornered, you foolish man." He jeered, eliciting several laughs from other members of his hunting party. He walked forward, Lysandra shaking with each step he took as he grew nearer. "I'm going to enjoy making you one of us, and making you watch as I mount your sister in front of the whole pack." He sneered.

Lysandra looked back at the waters, her eyes widening when she caught a glimpse of blonde hair amongst the black waters. She looked back to Severus, discretely nudging her brother and taking a step back. She squared her jaw and tipped her chin up. "Your arrogance will be your downfall, Severus," she answered calmly, her bones no longer shaking with fear as she took another step back. Arcadius had too noticed what she had, and he joined her with two steps back, both of them on the edge of the cliff, rocks crumbling beneath their feet.

He looked back at his group and laughed, the sound rattling through her head painfully. "Is that so? And why is that?"

She smiled widely as she gathered the courage to jump to the icy, dark waters below. "You neglected to kill the immortal man who I hid away from you and healed when I was only twelve summers old." She revealed, not missing how his smile dropped, his teeth bared and how he snarled at the mention of the blonde man who had evaded death at his hands. "I cleaned his wounds of your venom and kept him safe while you hunted for him, and I have spent every three hundred days since awaiting his return, just as he awaits both Arcadius and I in the ocean below." She sneered back.

Severus let out a bone chilling laugh. "There isn't a way out of this where you both survive, Lysandra. If you jump from this cliff, every bone in your body will break on impact with the water, you know that. He will probably leave you in the water to drown, the both of you." He laughed again.

A small smile took hold of her lips and she shook her head. "No, he won't." She whispered before she let herself fall backwards. She saw her brothers eyes widen before he too fell backwards. Her eyes drifted shut as the wind rushed past her falling body. Something warm and wet hit her face, a rusty smell filling her senses, and she heard shouting before she hit the hard surface of the water, pain splintering all over her body before the world faded into darkness.