The Rise Of The Daywalker

CHAPTER 5: The War Begins

KAREN'S POV

One night, they said. Just one night to prove I wasn't a threat. To them, I felt like prey in a gilded cage. But I wasn't the same girl who walked into these woods. Not after what Isolde told me. Not after the moon carved its truth into my blood.

My senses sharpened, pulling the world into brutal focus. I could hear water dripping from a hollow in a nearby tree. I could smell the musk of a predator crouching in the shadows long before its red eyes blinked open.

The first one lunged silently from the branches. A creature twisted by hunger. I moved without thinking, instincts flaring like a blade drawn too fast. My body bent and spun, and my dagger found its throat before I knew I had drawn it.

Warm blood splattered across my hand. It didn't sicken me. That scared me more than the monster ever could.

By midnight, the woods knew me. They feared me.

But the hunger was there too, curling deep in my gut, whispering that steel and silver weren't enough. That only blood would satisfy the ache growing sharper with every breath. A snap behind me pulled me around, my blade raised again, only to meet familiar eyes in the dark.

"Cassian!! You're not supposed to be here," I hissed, heart kicking hard against my ribs. He stepped out of the shadows like the night itself had shaped him.

"And leave you to die? Not happening."

"If she sees you…"

"She won't," he said sharply. And before I could argue, the ground shuddered. Branches split. Something bigger than anything I had faced slithered through the trees, its shape half-shadow, half-nightmare.

"Run," Cassian snapped, shoving me behind him as Tarok lunged.

It struck with jaws like a bear trap, but Cassian met it with steel flashing under the blood moon. The impact threw him into a tree, splintering wood, but he was up in a blink, moving faster than I could track.

I joined the fight, muscles screaming, blade sinking deep into Tarok's flesh. We battled for what felt like forever, and Tarok was going hard on Cassian; it seemed personal. This was when I launched an attack and struck from behind. It didn't see me coming; it fell to the ground, breathing heavily. It was bigger than a bear. I drew out a dagger and took out its head. And blood was spilt all over. I was shaking, clothes torn and slick with blood that wasn't mine.

"You okay?" His voice was rough and urgent.

"I… think so." My breath came in ragged bursts. His scent—dark and warm—wrapped around me like something dangerous.

"You fought like hell," he murmured, his thumb brushing a smear of black from my cheek.

"I'm not the same anymore," I whispered.

"No," he said, and his eyes burned like embers. "You're not. Come on, let's go." We lunged out of the woods with Tarok's head in my hand, still dripping blood. We were already out of the cursed woods and headed in the direction of Vaeloria when we stopped to catch our breath. We didn't notice the figures until it was too late. Shadows slipped between the trees, and five, or maybe six, crossbows were drawn, bolts tipped with holy oil. Hunters.

"Karen Veyra!" one barked. "By order of the Hunter Council, you are sentenced to death!"

Ice clamped around my chest. Cassian stepped in front of me, blade raised. "You'll have to go through me."

They fired, and Cassian blurred, deflecting two bolts, but a third tore across his shoulder. The smell of burning flesh hit the air. He grunted but didn't fall.

Then chaos exploded. Arrows, steel, screams. Cassian cut through two before a third slammed into Cassian, driving him to his knees.

It was all happening so fast. I saw another hunter raise his bow and aim for my heart, but as soon as he pulled the string, a figure pushed me, and it hit her. When I turned to see who it was, it was my grandma. She was on the floor, hurt and then something inside me snapped. The world went red. Power ripped through me like wildfire, burning every vein, every nerve. My vision sharpened until I could see the hunter's heartbeat. Smell his fear. And then I moved. One blink, and I was behind him. My hands were now claws, black and gleaming, and I ripped his crossbow apart like paper, and his throat followed.

Screams tore through the clearing as the others fell back. But I wasn't done. My body moved like a liquid shadow, fangs cutting the air, claws slicing through steel and bone. When it ended, silence crashed down. Hunters lay broken around me, the earth slick with blood that still steamed under the moon.

And I wanted more.

"Karen," Cassian's voice cut through the haze. He was on his knees, eyes blazing with something raw. "Stop."

I froze. My hands dripped red. My breath came in harsh, hungry gulps. I rushed towards her at the edge of the clearing, blood pooling from a wound in her chest.

"No," I whispered, stumbling toward her. "No, no, no."

Her eyes found mine, glassy but gentle. "I… tried to warn you," she rasped. "They were coming."

"Don't talk," I begged, cradling her head. "Please, don't……"

Her cold hand pressed weakly against my cheek. "You have… her eyes," she whispered.

"I will make sure you get proper care, grandma, please don't give up on me." Tears rolled down my face.

"Your grandfather is coming for you, run!!!" Her breath stopped before I got a chance to say another word. My world crashed. The sound that ripped from me wasn't human. It was a snarl, a scream, a pain carved in blood. Cassian pulled me against him as I shook, his arms iron bands around my breaking body.

"They'll pay," I choked. "All of them."

"They will," he swore.

"The only person who ever loved me is gone!!" I wept, and he held me tighter.

"That is not true; you still have me," he said calmly.

"You do?" I asked, confused. His jaw clenched, and then the truth fell between us like thunder.

"I haven't been frank with you, Karen. i wasnt in the woods to watch your mother when she ran away with you; i was sent to kill you and your mother because she defied everything the Vampire council stands for, your birth was a mystery, and your existence threatened the council, your mother ran away because she knew they would kill you both if she stayed, but if she left, your safety was assured. I was in the woods to kill you both, but I couldn't."

My breath caught, sharp and painful. "You… what?"

"I saw you," his voice broke with something I had never heard from him before. "Screaming in your mother's arms. I was supposed to end you, Karen. But I didn't just spare you because of your blood." His hand lifted to my face, fingers trembling as they brushed my tears. "I spared you because I've loved you since the first time I saw you cry."

The words shattered something inside me and built something new in its place.

I closed the space between us before I could think, crashing my mouth to his before he could say another word. His kiss was fierce and desperate, the taste of blood and grief and promises burning in the dark. It was not just a kiss; it was a promise of a new beginning. When we broke apart, his forehead pressed to mine, his voice was a vow.

"We're done playing by their rules," he said. "Hunter or vampire, council or crown, they will all fall. If they try to come after you."

I fell into a vision and saw my grandfather heading to the woods with a new set of hunters.

"They are coming," I said in a distant voice.

"Will will take them out, all of them!!"

I buried my grandmother in the woods, at the same spot she died, took the head of Tarok and headed to Vaeloria with Cassian. I need the sovereignty of the royal clan of Vaeloria so I can fight against the black hunter led by my grandfather, and Tarok's head was going to pacify the Queen. I was done with one war, but a greater one awaited me.