The challenge
1017 Words
Zafar regretted the journey more with each passing day.The safety of his child haunted him. If only he had listened. Why didn’t he listen?
The child was gentle—he never cried unless he was hungry. But there was something odd about him.
He didn’t feed on blood.Not once. He sneered at its smell.
The nurse resorted to feeding him formula instead, which he gulped down as if his life depended on it.
“Why is my child like this? I don’t understand,” Zafar muttered.
He was a vampire. So was Marida. Why was their offspring drinking milk?
The nurse tried to reassure him. Maybe it was just a preference in the early stages. Not all vampire infants fed on blood right away—some needed time, especially if there were health issues. But it was hard to believe.
Their journey continued, but Zafar’s heart felt heavy in his chest.Was his son… human?
Marida had once been human before she turned. Could it be?
He glanced at the baby. Pale as moonlight, with red lips and soft brown hair—just like his father. But the appetite… that was from Marida.
“Patience,” the nurse said, noticing his constant gaze. “He’ll love blood soon.”
Zafar looked at her. She was a full-blooded vampire. Was it even safe for her to care for his son?
He was overthinking again.
“Maybe he is human,” she said gently. “Like Marida once was.”
Zafar stiffened. She knew.
“Don’t you dare touch him. I’ll kill you,” he warned coldly.
“Same goes for you,” she shot back. “He’s not safe with either of us.”
He clenched his jaw, fury bubbling beneath his skin.
She cleared her throat.
“There is one way,” she offered. “You could convert him. Make him a vampire. Then neither of us would want to kill him, and he’d feed on blood—just like us.”
It was a tempting idea.But Zafar shook his head.
“No,” he snapped, crushing dry leaves beneath his boots.
“That’s the only way to save him.”
“How I save my son is none of your business. He’ll remain human. That’s final.”
She nodded and walked beside him in silence. The baby cooed, then whimpered. The nurse hurried to prepare another bottle.
Zafar bit his lip.
He remembered the promise he made to Marida:If any of their children were born human, they would belong to the human world. He had promised to take them to her family—let them live among her people.
Marida had wanted a piece of herself to remain in the world she left behind, even though she’d risked everything to love a vampire.
Ryan was all he had left of her.
But how could he let go of his only child?
They walked until hunger caught up with them. Stopping at a hidden blood bank, they drank from flasks like it was juice.
Then Zafar froze.
A sound.
A cry—faint, distressed. His sharp ears picked it up instantly. A woman was in trouble.
“Be quiet,” he whispered to the nurse, then crept toward the source of the noise.
But when he arrived, there was no one.
Just an open clearing, scattered blood stains, and deep claw marks in the earth.
Near a river, a fishing rod lay abandoned. An old building loomed in the distance.
Zafar crouched, picked up some sand, and sniffed.
“Someone was attacked here… but they got away. Probably saved by someone else,” he said, nodding toward fresh human footprints leading down a lonely path.
“Oh…” the nurse murmured, clearly uneasy.
He stepped into the building. The air was foul—rotting blood and mold. A bed, still made. Bandages soaked in blood on the floor. And then he saw it:
An arrow. One of the same kind used to slaughter his kin.
His heart skipped.
“She was here,” he growled. “The vampire hunter came through with the girl.”
The nurse flinched. Zafar noticed.
“The journey will only get more dangerous from here,” he warned. He gently took the baby from her arms. “Go back. Tell the head nurse and my sister what we’ve seen. Bring them if you must.”
“But… the road is blocked.”
“Find a way through the cliffs and narrow paths. You’re small enough to make it. I can’t—I’m too large. And if I disobey the prophecy, I might die.”
“Then let me take the child back with me,” she offered, holding out her arms.
“If he’s human, he belongs with his kind. We can’t keep him among predators like us.”
She nodded solemnly and gave the baby one last look.
“Are you sure you don’t need me?”
“I have his food cooler,” Zafar said with a faint smile. “We’ll manage.”
She nodded and turned away.
Zafar felt something in him break as she disappeared into the forest.
Now he was alone—with a fragile, hungry infant in a world full of threats.
He pulled out a worn map, eyes darting across the routes.
Marida’s kingdom was still far. Two weeks if he was lucky. A month if not. He was exhausted. But nearby—a small town.
Good.
He kissed his son’s forehead and looked back toward the river.
He needed a plan. One to trap both women. One to extract their secrets and take what he needed.
But first, the one with the weapon must be neutralized. He wasn’t taking any chances with her.
Once the mission was complete, he’d deliver his son to Marida’s people and return to his clan.
Simple.
Zafar looked up at the sky.
“I can wrap this up in weeks,” he muttered. “Why the fear? Why all the fuss over the silver comet?”
He scoffed.
Just two women from a forgotten kingdom.What’s the worst that could happen?
- Writer
