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Description
Hi everyone ^^ I had a lot of difficulty writing up a description story for this so had a lot of help with my sis for this by doing a little rp. Hope you enjoy it

~

It was a calm evening, the last of the stringing twilight having faded away into a more pleasant dimness. It would have been a picturesque night, if it wasn't for the heavy cloud cover. Silvia would almost have been worried about another blizzard coming but the clouds were far too high, and she could just glimpse of the moon in the rare gapes in the cover high above. So, while the weather wasn't bitterly cold yet several people had decided to enjoy the night out in the gardens.

Ares was one of them. And when he had asked her and his adopted son if they'd like to join him she had decided it wasn't a bad idea.

Silvia breathed in the cool air with a happy sigh, it was refreshing. Behind she could hear Ares chatting amicably to the captain of the guard Aphose, whose personal mission seemed to be to guard the kindly vampire lord. Aphose for his part didn't talk much, just gazed about for threats, but Ares didn't seem to either mind or notice.

"It's quite nice out tonight, kinda rare to get perfect nights like this." A young male voice spoke as they approached her from the side, the hybrid prince also gazing up at the cloudy sky with gently glowing purple eyes. "It would usually be either storming or be too cold for most folk to tolerate for long." His gaze shifts around to look over at his father, a soft smile on his face.
"It's nice though, I hardly get to see my father come out here to enjoy it. Usually he'd be too caught up in his work to come out to relax on nights like this, I'm glad he can have a night to relax for once. Even if his bodyguard isn't the chatty type."

Silvia turned and smiled at the young man, a warm feeling fluttering in her chest at the sight. She didn't know what the feeling was per say, but it was a positive one.

"Me too, he's always so tired, I almost didn't think he'd feel up for a stroll." Silvia muttered softly, looking back at the pair. Considering it was quite late into the month now Ares really didn't have a lot of energy to spare. It wouldn't belong till he took that trip to the far off cabin at the apex of his course. But the night air really seemed to be helping.
"At least Aphose doesn't seem to mind either." She commented as the brown haired vampire finally sighed and responded to something Ares had said. As they walked Silvia looked about, noticing how this part of the garden drifted close to the edge of the woods that bordered the manor. A strange feeling then stole over her, this uncanny feeling that they were being watched. She stole a quick glance around, not seeing anyone. Ares seemed calm enough, but not Aphose. Although she had never seen him exactly calm before.

Daren chuckles as he listens to her speak, giving a couple nods to show that he agreed.
"Aphose can put up with a lot of things as long as it doesn't hinder his job too much, but it would be nice to see him relax for once too." The young male says softly as he slowly looks around his surroundings, he had the same feeling of being watched, but shakes it off as a owl or some animal being too curious.

"We probably could have brought a few snacks and drinks, it would have gone great with the weather tonight."

Aphose might have heard that part as he gave a very pointed look to the young pair, not looking terribly impressed by the suggestion of him relaxing. Silvia gave a faintly nervous chuckle and looked away, still a little uncomfortable around the stern bodyguard.
"Yeah, we could have had a picnic or something, oh well. Maybe when we go in we can have something on the terrence." She suggested with a fond smile. It was so rare to do nice outdoor stuff here, she didn't know how people didn't go completely stir crazy when forced inside so long. Sure the manor was big and there was a lot to explore, but still. As they walked the small group slowly made there way towards those woods, the snow covered path twisting towards an empty statue pedestal. Silvia noticed it and looked back at Ares.
"Um...isn't there meant to be a statue or something here?" She asked, knowing he could hear her. Ares looked at it, those gentle violet eyes narrowed briefly in thought.

"Hmm...I think I got the spot commissioned but never could decide on what to put out here. Some people say dragon, some lion. Tricky to decide at times." He mused. Ares then turned, looking like he was about to ask Aphose's option, then paused at the expression on the other vampire's features.

Aphose had gone completely still, his eyes focused intently on some point in the dark trees, a hand on the hilt of his long silver sword.

A shiver of dread slowly stole over Silvia as she turned to follow his gaze, eyes trying to pick out what had spooked the guard so much. She didn't notice straight away the shadowed figure of something BIG hidden within those trees, tracking each movement they made intently, sights fixed mostly on the blonde vampire.

Daren grew worried as Aphose goes tense, his eyes moving to also look at the trees to see what is going on. He also doesn't see the large figure and lifts up a hand to move his ring a little bit, just enough for him to flick out a forked tongue, smelling and tasting the air to see if there was any threats.

A strange scent hit his tongue in that instant, the exact same time that figure moved, a gleam of red flashing in the dimness of those trees. The scent was strange and somehow threatening in of itself, a combination of new and old blood, soot and leather.
Aphose narrowed his eyes, noticing that movement as he in turn moved protectively in front of Ares, his sword pulling free with a soft hiss of sound in the cool night air.
"Who goes there?!" He demanded. The answer was a cold chuckle from the trees, the sound raising the hairs on the back of Silvia's neck. That laugh sounded terribly familiar.

Daren grew tense quickly and his slow heart began to speed up, able to tell now what the threat was and boy did he wish he haven't left his sword back in his room. Adrenaline began coursing through his body and his purple eyes glow brighter in response to his rising fear, slowly he reaches out to Silvia and tries to move her back towards Aphose and his father where it was safer than her current spot. A low hiss of warning leaves his lips as he slowly backs away towards his father with his arm still in front of the girl, his gaze locked on to the large figure and refused to look away.

Silvia let Daren move her back towards the safety of the guard and the lord, but still kept closer to Daren, because that laugh had sparked her memory of a rather terrifying night several weeks ago. She had told everyone of what had happened to that hunter camp, but after no sign of their target turned executioner could be found. She had honestly started to wonder if people had started to dismiss it all.

So, could it be?

Slowly the figure peeled away from the darkness, and her suspicions were confirmed as the figure moved into the faint light the waverly moon gave above. The figure of a somewhat malnourished young man, with ash black hair tipped with white came into sight. Those were the most normal of the man's traits. Red eyes stared through the mess of tangled hair, the left one brilliant crimson and the other maroon, and slitted like a cat. Sharp fangs peeked over his licks and a horrid scar marred the right side of his face, and a smaller one across the tip of his nose. Claws gleamed in the dimness, several on his hands, and more on the tips of his large bat-like wings, almost as crimson in colour as his eye. At perhaps seven feet tall it looked like one of the monstrous illustrations of a demon from several of the books inside the manor had come to life.

For all she knew he had.

Ares gave a soft gasp of shock at the sight of the young man, while Aphose only gave a faint hiss and a narrowing of his eyes. Those red eyes gleamed at the bodyguard a moment before a cruel looking smile passed the demonic man's lips.
"You're shaper than most..." The young man purred, his voice coming out a bit lighter then one would expect as well as having a faint accent that Silvia couldn't pin. Although she could make out the malice within those words, and those chilled her. Those eyes then slowly glanced over the whole group, pausing on Daren a moment, a puzzled look passing those scarred features before pausing on Silvia. A surprised look and recognition showed on his features before with a grit of teeth he tore his gaze to the blond vampire stunned still at the back. An evil smile, barring ferociously sharp split his features, and Silvia's blood went cold even as her heart gave a sharp ache.

That was the look he had given those vampires before he ripped them to pieces...

Daren saw that look and quickly moves to stand in front of his father and Aphose, baring his sharp teeth with a defensive hiss while pushing Silvia back into safety with his father. "You leave my father alone!" The young man spat, his round pupils shrinking into slits as his fear slowly twitches to anger. "You so much as even lay a claw on him, I'll make you wish you never came here!"

The demonic figure looked to Daren again, his smile fading back into a rather arrogant looking smirk, which Silvia was a little more thankful for as it hid those teeth again.
"Father you say? Heh, wouldn't have imagined it, what with you smelling of snake." He said with an arrogant air to his voice. Silvia had the feeling he had heard about Ares' adopted son before this point. That awful smile then returned once more as he raised a hand, barring those claws in a scary display that had her heart aching more.
"Oh? And what do you plan to do about it? I'm sure that green haired hybrid girl there has filled you all in. What makes you think you can stop me?" He hissed in a murderous glee. Silvia had seen a touch of the first time she met him, right before killing at least four vampires with apparent ease. And those were the only ones she had made out before the sight of the slaughter had caused her to hide her eyes. Sure, they were hunters that she had no doubt would have been happy to do the same to her if she hadn't released the man, but still. It had been awful.

But, right after his attitude had changed.

As this passed her mind Ares let out a faint growl of his own and spoke up at last.
"Whatever your gripe is with me don't include my son into it. Why have you come and threatened my family and friends?" He demanded. He would have looked and sounded intimidating with Aphose would let him advance. But the guard forced back the blonde vampire easily with just one arm. This made Silvia wonder briefly if Aphose was just that strong or was Ares that weak right now?

The demonic being at the question let out a long hiss, his smile fading as he stared at the vampire lord.

"I have come for your blood. The blood of the two vampire races, the worst of both in one weak little vessel. And your friends are in my way..."

A loud snake-like hiss fills the air as the Dhampir Prince of the snow kingdom steps forward towards the half demon, his face twisted into a snarl as his nails lengthen into razer sharp claws. "I'll assure you that I'm also one hybrid you don't want to mess with unless you want to end up as my food, I won't let you touch him or anyone else here." He hissed as he flexed his clawed fingers. "I'll fight to my very last breath to defend those I care about, so back off you halfling bat demon."

The threat was only met with another almost insane smile and chuckle, the man moving into a crouch.
"You guessed huh? Well bring it snake boy, I'd LOVE to see what your blood would do to my fire..." He purred. Silvia gasped, quickly looking over at Ares and Aphose. The pair shared a brief look of surprise and realisation. He was a hybrid too?!
Suddenly it made a lot more sense why those hunters had wanted him dead. A demon was bad, but hunter vampires did have a special hate towards hybrid vampires. No wonder they had been so close to the village, they tended to prowl the borders hoping to catch fleeing hybrids who tried to reach Ares's lands to hide. Although in this case it seemed this demon mix wasn't fleeing. He seemed geared to attack the vampire lord, and might well hurt or kill Daren and Aphose to do so!

'You saved me, I am truly in your debt'  The memory of the young man's words drifted to her mind, the earnest, almost vulnerable look that had been in those red eyes after the camp had gone silent. He hadn't seemed so murderous then, just thankful.
Silvia steeled her shoulders, then ducked sharply to the side and rushed to stand between the pair, arms flung out wide as Ares called out in alarm and Aphose made a quick unsuccessful grab at her. She hadn't been close enough but he still tried, the duck was more for Daren trying to grab her.

The demonic hybrid looked a little taken aback before he hissed at her.
"I'd stay back if I were you." He said, his smile gone which she decided to take as a good sign.

And she was right about Daren trying to grab her, he hissed when he missed his grab at her. "Silvia! What are you doing?! Get back!" He hissed, growing worried about her getting hurt. He was tense and ready to attack Incase the half demon does anything, hissing loudly at the demonic hybrid and flashing his fangs.

Silvia gulped and looked back at Daren briefly, smiling weakly to try and put him at ease before looking back. She trusted to have her back to Daren, and was not willing to do the same with the demonic hybrid in front of them. Her sore heart was pounding.
"Please, I ask you not to do this, these are good people." Silvia asked the man, trying to sound earnest, but the vice around her heart made her voice come out a little weaker and higher than intended. The young man stared at her before he startled her by beginning to laugh, a hand clutching his side like he'd bust a rib from it.

"Yeah right. Vampires are monsters, and they make monsters like me, maybe you and the snake boy aren't, yet. It's only a matter of time. And that one is the worst." He finally muttered, looking highly amused once the laughing fit had passed. Silvia didn't risk looking back but she imagined that Ares wasn't looking terribly amused by being labeled a monster, which he wasn't. He then narrowed his eyes.
"Now stand aside, and maybe I won't hurt the snake boy too badly..." And like that the amusement was gone, eyes filled with malice once again.

Silvia winced, well the pacifist solution didn't seem to be working the best...but the memory of those vampires spurred her to try one last time, one last idea.

"What's your name?" She asked weakly, watching as surprise briefly passed the man's features before he growled impatiently. She was getting the impression that he didn't think he'd get delayed so much in attacking Ares. Silvia didn't think he'd answer, probably would just think it was another delaying tactic, which it was. But he surprised her again.

"Raava..." The word left his lips hesitantly, like he was unsure about it himself, and for a moment Silvia thought it was the beginning of another growl instead of a name. Well, it was a start.

"Well, Raava? I remember, back when I released you from that cage you said you owed me." Raava must have remembered it because his features had suddenly deadpanned, which made her a bit uneasy, but she continued on in hope. "-If you meant that, then you can repay me by not attacking these people." There was silence for a long moment, before a slow, long and enraged hiss escaped Raava's lips, one that had her skin crawling.

Daren only grew more and more angry as he listens to the conversation, his loud hissing now laced with growls. His fangs lengthen and small patches of his skin began gaining a scaly look, his ring was sparking and glowing as it strains to hold back the prince's hidden naga form. The young man was too furious to form words, he wanted nothing more than to rip off his ring so he can go all out and murder this cocky bastard. No one calls his father a monster!!!

The further growls and snarls from Daren didn't seem to be helping. In fact, by the pitch and degree of Raava's hisses they might have been further riling up his building rage.
Silvia looked back at Daren with a beseeching expression on her features, wanting him to calm down.

Taking her eyes off Raava however, even just for a moment was a mistake.

All she heard was the sudden crunching of snow before a large clawed hand grabbed her by the back of the jacket and spun her around, causing her to gasp in scared shock as she found herself staring up into the furious eyes of the demon/vampire hybrid looming over her. He was so close her entire vision was taken up by his features and his massive red and white wings, and the claws of his left hand barely inches from her face.

"HOW DARE YOU!". He roared in anger as the red from his irises seemed to slowly bleed out into the whites of his eyes.

Daren opens his mouth in a roaring hiss and lifts his clawed hands in ready to attack, his slit pupils shrinking into thinner slits. His body tenses up in ready, now only moments away from launching himself at the other male hybrid. The prince was so far into his blinding rage that he wasn't aware of his heart beginning to hurt from the strain of the rapid tempo it took on, nore was he aware that Silvia was also having heart problems and could have another heart attack.

Silvia was vaguely aware that Daren was hissing, Raava had also lapsed into a similar jarring roar as his eyes quickly turned into pools of glowing red. Only the pupils could be made out.

She might have been screaming a bit herself, she knew her mouth was open but all that could heard was the angry hissing roars the two male hybrids made. She might have made out Ares's voice somewhere in that, panicked but she really couldn't be sure. Her heart was hurting so bad it was hard to think, hard to breathe. Yet she had enough thought to weakly hold back an arm, a rather futile attempt to keep Raava and Daren back from each other while the other was raised in a rather pathetic way as if to hold back those claws. That she knew she had no chance of, his hands were as big as her head!

Regardless, Silvia refused to take her eyes away from Raava's.

"Please...". She tried one last time to say, the word coming out as a weak wheeze, just as her heart gave an agonizing clench within her chest.

Something of it must have shown in her eyes before she crumpled, as Raava's own widened a moment, same time the grip on her jacket loosened enough for her to drop.

White noise filled the young woman's ears as she clutched at her heart, now beating to fast, to unevenly. It hurt so bad!

The sight was enough to stop Raava's furious hisses, a look of pure shock passing his features as Ares seemed to find the energy to rush past Aphose towards the fallen girl.

Daren froze as he watches Silvia collapse in front of him, his eyes widening in alarm as his anger switched to fear. He stood there frozen even when his father rushed over to the young female, a hand absentmindedly touching his chest as his heart began hurting even worse from both adrenaline and emotional pain making it beat harder and a little irregular which was dangerous for the snow prince. Tears roll down his face and he falls to his knees, dark thoughts running through his head. How could he not notice the signs that she was hurting?! He wanted to protect her from any pain and yet here she was suffering another heart attack!! It's all his fault....

Raava watched this in a numb sort of shock as Ares fell to his knees beside the pair, such fear and worry in his gaze for Silvia and now Daren that it caused him pause in furthering his attack. It would have been so easy, Ares was right there! And his guard only now was hurrying to defend him. The vampire lord wasn't even watching his own back, one swift strike with his claws would be enough. But his gaze lingered on the girl lying within the snow, weakly writhing in pain, her heartbeat weak and erratic. Something which the snake hybrid seemed to be experiencing on a weaker scale. As he listened Silvia's did seem to calm as Ares laid a hand against her side, the other on Daren's shoulder as the vampire lord tried to calm the pair.

Silvia was too out of it to notice the demon hybrid slowly backing away, but Ares did. He looked up, violet eyes quickly catching and glaring up at the red of the hybrid, expecting the attack and almost daring him to. He'd defend these two with his life no matter what.
But the look in Raava's eyes caused some of his anger to debate. The murderous intent was gone, only confusion and fear were on the hybrid's features. He looked incredibly young in that instant.

Then, before their eyes Raava turned on his heel, massive wings snapping wide as the young man launched himself into the air, the wind somewhat buffering them with snow for a brief moment. As quick as it stopped, Raava was gone.

He didn't have time to dwell on it as Aphose was by their side, sword back in its scabbard.

"We need to get these two back to the manor." The guard said, already reaching out to lift the young woman into his arms. Ares let him, he wasn't strong enough right then to carry her back, but he could help Daren.

"Daren? He's gone now, please look at me." Ares muttered, gentleness and urgency straining his voice as he placed both hands now on his shoulders.

There was no response at first, but then slowly those young glowing purple eyes shift their gaze to the older vampire. The pupils was dilated and looked unfocused, but recognition was visible and showed that the young male knew who he was looking at. More tears roll down his face while his appearance slowly reverted back to normal, but the poor guy was still in great pain physically and emotionally. He gives a sharp wince and a pained hiss as his heart tensed up for a moment in, the muscles in the organ giving tiny spasms in an attempt to keep beating, but finally it loosened enough to resume it's painful irregular tempo.

As his heart calmed a little more Ares managed a small smile, trying to make it as reassuring as he could.
"There you are...Come, let's get you back to the manor as well. Treat your heart as well." He said softly, lightly wiping at one of those tears with his thumb carefully, not wanting an accidental cheek slice with a claw in this moment. Didn't need to needlessly stack anything else on. Ares had a fair idea what might have triggered the attack, knowing his gentle son well.

Daren just simply blinks slowly at his father, but understood what was said. Shakily he slowly started standing up with a pained grunt, stumbling for a moment before finally getting up onto his feet. His hand clutching his chest still, tears was also still pouring down his face in streams as well and was starting to freeze there.

Ares carefully wrapped an arm around Daren's back, and took his free hand not clutching at his heart and looped it and the arm attached around his shoulder. He then begun the walk after Aphose, who was a deal ahead with Silvia.
"There we go, at least it's not too far to the manor." Ares spoke gently as he guided his son along.

~

And there we go ^^

Really enjoyed drawing this picture, got inspired by this YouTube vid: youtu.be/AnaeJiyoBbQ I've been watching a fair amount of OC videos on YouTube lately and I admit their giving me ideas of my own XD But any would be long in the future right now.

But I can still do pictures, and I've been experimenting in my shading and lighting a lot lately, like the lights in their eyes X3

Anyway this is likely a precursor image to this one I have done previously: and as you can see, bit of a shaky meeting XD it will get better, eventually...
this might still be a long way off at this point XD Also tiny bit of interesting info for this story, the idea is a lot of hybrid vampire's in this universe tend to have some sort of weakness, both Daren and Silvia have heart problems, which is really common. Their hearts occasionally try and stop themselves because they think their in the final stages of transformation. This will however be fatal for most. With Daren it surely will, but its unknown with Silvia.

Raava on the other hand actually lacks a weakness entirely! His bloods have blended shockingly well considering

Anyway I hope everyone is doing well, as always comments are welcomed!

Ciao for now

Description
Hi everyone ^^ I had a lot of difficulty writing up a description story for this so had a lot of help with my sis for this by doing a little rp. Hope you enjoy it

~

It was a calm evening, the last of the stringing twilight having faded away into a more pleasant dimness. It would have been a picturesque night, if it wasn't for the heavy cloud cover. Silvia would almost have been worried about another blizzard coming but the clouds were far too high, and she could just glimpse of the moon in the rare gapes in the cover high above. So, while the weather wasn't bitterly cold yet several people had decided to enjoy the night out in the gardens.

Ares was one of them. And when he had asked her and his adopted son if they'd like to join him she had decided it wasn't a bad idea.

Silvia breathed in the cool air with a happy sigh, it was refreshing. Behind she could hear Ares chatting amicably to the captain of the guard Aphose, whose personal mission seemed to be to guard the kindly vampire lord. Aphose for his part didn't talk much, just gazed about for threats, but Ares didn't seem to either mind or notice.

"It's quite nice out tonight, kinda rare to get perfect nights like this." A young male voice spoke as they approached her from the side, the hybrid prince also gazing up at the cloudy sky with gently glowing purple eyes. "It would usually be either storming or be too cold for most folk to tolerate for long." His gaze shifts around to look over at his father, a soft smile on his face.
"It's nice though, I hardly get to see my father come out here to enjoy it. Usually he'd be too caught up in his work to come out to relax on nights like this, I'm glad he can have a night to relax for once. Even if his bodyguard isn't the chatty type."

Silvia turned and smiled at the young man, a warm feeling fluttering in her chest at the sight. She didn't know what the feeling was per say, but it was a positive one.

"Me too, he's always so tired, I almost didn't think he'd feel up for a stroll." Silvia muttered softly, looking back at the pair. Considering it was quite late into the month now Ares really didn't have a lot of energy to spare. It wouldn't belong till he took that trip to the far off cabin at the apex of his course. But the night air really seemed to be helping.
"At least Aphose doesn't seem to mind either." She commented as the brown haired vampire finally sighed and responded to something Ares had said. As they walked Silvia looked about, noticing how this part of the garden drifted close to the edge of the woods that bordered the manor. A strange feeling then stole over her, this uncanny feeling that they were being watched. She stole a quick glance around, not seeing anyone. Ares seemed calm enough, but not Aphose. Although she had never seen him exactly calm before.

Daren chuckles as he listens to her speak, giving a couple nods to show that he agreed.
"Aphose can put up with a lot of things as long as it doesn't hinder his job too much, but it would be nice to see him relax for once too." The young male says softly as he slowly looks around his surroundings, he had the same feeling of being watched, but shakes it off as a owl or some animal being too curious.

"We probably could have brought a few snacks and drinks, it would have gone great with the weather tonight."

Aphose might have heard that part as he gave a very pointed look to the young pair, not looking terribly impressed by the suggestion of him relaxing. Silvia gave a faintly nervous chuckle and looked away, still a little uncomfortable around the stern bodyguard.
"Yeah, we could have had a picnic or something, oh well. Maybe when we go in we can have something on the terrence." She suggested with a fond smile. It was so rare to do nice outdoor stuff here, she didn't know how people didn't go completely stir crazy when forced inside so long. Sure the manor was big and there was a lot to explore, but still. As they walked the small group slowly made there way towards those woods, the snow covered path twisting towards an empty statue pedestal. Silvia noticed it and looked back at Ares.
"Um...isn't there meant to be a statue or something here?" She asked, knowing he could hear her. Ares looked at it, those gentle violet eyes narrowed briefly in thought.

"Hmm...I think I got the spot commissioned but never could decide on what to put out here. Some people say dragon, some lion. Tricky to decide at times." He mused. Ares then turned, looking like he was about to ask Aphose's option, then paused at the expression on the other vampire's features.

Aphose had gone completely still, his eyes focused intently on some point in the dark trees, a hand on the hilt of his long silver sword.

A shiver of dread slowly stole over Silvia as she turned to follow his gaze, eyes trying to pick out what had spooked the guard so much. She didn't notice straight away the shadowed figure of something BIG hidden within those trees, tracking each movement they made intently, sights fixed mostly on the blonde vampire.

Daren grew worried as Aphose goes tense, his eyes moving to also look at the trees to see what is going on. He also doesn't see the large figure and lifts up a hand to move his ring a little bit, just enough for him to flick out a forked tongue, smelling and tasting the air to see if there was any threats.

A strange scent hit his tongue in that instant, the exact same time that figure moved, a gleam of red flashing in the dimness of those trees. The scent was strange and somehow threatening in of itself, a combination of new and old blood, soot and leather.
Aphose narrowed his eyes, noticing that movement as he in turn moved protectively in front of Ares, his sword pulling free with a soft hiss of sound in the cool night air.
"Who goes there?!" He demanded. The answer was a cold chuckle from the trees, the sound raising the hairs on the back of Silvia's neck. That laugh sounded terribly familiar.

Daren grew tense quickly and his slow heart began to speed up, able to tell now what the threat was and boy did he wish he haven't left his sword back in his room. Adrenaline began coursing through his body and his purple eyes glow brighter in response to his rising fear, slowly he reaches out to Silvia and tries to move her back towards Aphose and his father where it was safer than her current spot. A low hiss of warning leaves his lips as he slowly backs away towards his father with his arm still in front of the girl, his gaze locked on to the large figure and refused to look away.

Silvia let Daren move her back towards the safety of the guard and the lord, but still kept closer to Daren, because that laugh had sparked her memory of a rather terrifying night several weeks ago. She had told everyone of what had happened to that hunter camp, but after no sign of their target turned executioner could be found. She had honestly started to wonder if people had started to dismiss it all.

So, could it be?

Slowly the figure peeled away from the darkness, and her suspicions were confirmed as the figure moved into the faint light the waverly moon gave above. The figure of a somewhat malnourished young man, with ash black hair tipped with white came into sight. Those were the most normal of the man's traits. Red eyes stared through the mess of tangled hair, the left one brilliant crimson and the other maroon, and slitted like a cat. Sharp fangs peeked over his licks and a horrid scar marred the right side of his face, and a smaller one across the tip of his nose. Claws gleamed in the dimness, several on his hands, and more on the tips of his large bat-like wings, almost as crimson in colour as his eye. At perhaps seven feet tall it looked like one of the monstrous illustrations of a demon from several of the books inside the manor had come to life.

For all she knew he had.

Ares gave a soft gasp of shock at the sight of the young man, while Aphose only gave a faint hiss and a narrowing of his eyes. Those red eyes gleamed at the bodyguard a moment before a cruel looking smile passed the demonic man's lips.
"You're shaper than most..." The young man purred, his voice coming out a bit lighter then one would expect as well as having a faint accent that Silvia couldn't pin. Although she could make out the malice within those words, and those chilled her. Those eyes then slowly glanced over the whole group, pausing on Daren a moment, a puzzled look passing those scarred features before pausing on Silvia. A surprised look and recognition showed on his features before with a grit of teeth he tore his gaze to the blond vampire stunned still at the back. An evil smile, barring ferociously sharp split his features, and Silvia's blood went cold even as her heart gave a sharp ache.

That was the look he had given those vampires before he ripped them to pieces...

Daren saw that look and quickly moves to stand in front of his father and Aphose, baring his sharp teeth with a defensive hiss while pushing Silvia back into safety with his father. "You leave my father alone!" The young man spat, his round pupils shrinking into slits as his fear slowly twitches to anger. "You so much as even lay a claw on him, I'll make you wish you never came here!"

The demonic figure looked to Daren again, his smile fading back into a rather arrogant looking smirk, which Silvia was a little more thankful for as it hid those teeth again.
"Father you say? Heh, wouldn't have imagined it, what with you smelling of snake." He said with an arrogant air to his voice. Silvia had the feeling he had heard about Ares' adopted son before this point. That awful smile then returned once more as he raised a hand, barring those claws in a scary display that had her heart aching more.
"Oh? And what do you plan to do about it? I'm sure that green haired hybrid girl there has filled you all in. What makes you think you can stop me?" He hissed in a murderous glee. Silvia had seen a touch of the first time she met him, right before killing at least four vampires with apparent ease. And those were the only ones she had made out before the sight of the slaughter had caused her to hide her eyes. Sure, they were hunters that she had no doubt would have been happy to do the same to her if she hadn't released the man, but still. It had been awful.

But, right after his attitude had changed.

As this passed her mind Ares let out a faint growl of his own and spoke up at last.
"Whatever your gripe is with me don't include my son into it. Why have you come and threatened my family and friends?" He demanded. He would have looked and sounded intimidating with Aphose would let him advance. But the guard forced back the blonde vampire easily with just one arm. This made Silvia wonder briefly if Aphose was just that strong or was Ares that weak right now?

The demonic being at the question let out a long hiss, his smile fading as he stared at the vampire lord.

"I have come for your blood. The blood of the two vampire races, the worst of both in one weak little vessel. And your friends are in my way..."

A loud snake-like hiss fills the air as the Dhampir Prince of the snow kingdom steps forward towards the half demon, his face twisted into a snarl as his nails lengthen into razer sharp claws. "I'll assure you that I'm also one hybrid you don't want to mess with unless you want to end up as my food, I won't let you touch him or anyone else here." He hissed as he flexed his clawed fingers. "I'll fight to my very last breath to defend those I care about, so back off you halfling bat demon."

The threat was only met with another almost insane smile and chuckle, the man moving into a crouch.
"You guessed huh? Well bring it snake boy, I'd LOVE to see what your blood would do to my fire..." He purred. Silvia gasped, quickly looking over at Ares and Aphose. The pair shared a brief look of surprise and realisation. He was a hybrid too?!
Suddenly it made a lot more sense why those hunters had wanted him dead. A demon was bad, but hunter vampires did have a special hate towards hybrid vampires. No wonder they had been so close to the village, they tended to prowl the borders hoping to catch fleeing hybrids who tried to reach Ares's lands to hide. Although in this case it seemed this demon mix wasn't fleeing. He seemed geared to attack the vampire lord, and might well hurt or kill Daren and Aphose to do so!

'You saved me, I am truly in your debt'  The memory of the young man's words drifted to her mind, the earnest, almost vulnerable look that had been in those red eyes after the camp had gone silent. He hadn't seemed so murderous then, just thankful.
Silvia steeled her shoulders, then ducked sharply to the side and rushed to stand between the pair, arms flung out wide as Ares called out in alarm and Aphose made a quick unsuccessful grab at her. She hadn't been close enough but he still tried, the duck was more for Daren trying to grab her.

The demonic hybrid looked a little taken aback before he hissed at her.
"I'd stay back if I were you." He said, his smile gone which she decided to take as a good sign.

And she was right about Daren trying to grab her, he hissed when he missed his grab at her. "Silvia! What are you doing?! Get back!" He hissed, growing worried about her getting hurt. He was tense and ready to attack Incase the half demon does anything, hissing loudly at the demonic hybrid and flashing his fangs.

Silvia gulped and looked back at Daren briefly, smiling weakly to try and put him at ease before looking back. She trusted to have her back to Daren, and was not willing to do the same with the demonic hybrid in front of them. Her sore heart was pounding.
"Please, I ask you not to do this, these are good people." Silvia asked the man, trying to sound earnest, but the vice around her heart made her voice come out a little weaker and higher than intended. The young man stared at her before he startled her by beginning to laugh, a hand clutching his side like he'd bust a rib from it.

"Yeah right. Vampires are monsters, and they make monsters like me, maybe you and the snake boy aren't, yet. It's only a matter of time. And that one is the worst." He finally muttered, looking highly amused once the laughing fit had passed. Silvia didn't risk looking back but she imagined that Ares wasn't looking terribly amused by being labeled a monster, which he wasn't. He then narrowed his eyes.
"Now stand aside, and maybe I won't hurt the snake boy too badly..." And like that the amusement was gone, eyes filled with malice once again.

Silvia winced, well the pacifist solution didn't seem to be working the best...but the memory of those vampires spurred her to try one last time, one last idea.

"What's your name?" She asked weakly, watching as surprise briefly passed the man's features before he growled impatiently. She was getting the impression that he didn't think he'd get delayed so much in attacking Ares. Silvia didn't think he'd answer, probably would just think it was another delaying tactic, which it was. But he surprised her again.

"Raava..." The word left his lips hesitantly, like he was unsure about it himself, and for a moment Silvia thought it was the beginning of another growl instead of a name. Well, it was a start.

"Well, Raava? I remember, back when I released you from that cage you said you owed me." Raava must have remembered it because his features had suddenly deadpanned, which made her a bit uneasy, but she continued on in hope. "-If you meant that, then you can repay me by not attacking these people." There was silence for a long moment, before a slow, long and enraged hiss escaped Raava's lips, one that had her skin crawling.

Daren only grew more and more angry as he listens to the conversation, his loud hissing now laced with growls. His fangs lengthen and small patches of his skin began gaining a scaly look, his ring was sparking and glowing as it strains to hold back the prince's hidden naga form. The young man was too furious to form words, he wanted nothing more than to rip off his ring so he can go all out and murder this cocky bastard. No one calls his father a monster!!!

The further growls and snarls from Daren didn't seem to be helping. In fact, by the pitch and degree of Raava's hisses they might have been further riling up his building rage.
Silvia looked back at Daren with a beseeching expression on her features, wanting him to calm down.

Taking her eyes off Raava however, even just for a moment was a mistake.

All she heard was the sudden crunching of snow before a large clawed hand grabbed her by the back of the jacket and spun her around, causing her to gasp in scared shock as she found herself staring up into the furious eyes of the demon/vampire hybrid looming over her. He was so close her entire vision was taken up by his features and his massive red and white wings, and the claws of his left hand barely inches from her face.

"HOW DARE YOU!". He roared in anger as the red from his irises seemed to slowly bleed out into the whites of his eyes.

Daren opens his mouth in a roaring hiss and lifts his clawed hands in ready to attack, his slit pupils shrinking into thinner slits. His body tenses up in ready, now only moments away from launching himself at the other male hybrid. The prince was so far into his blinding rage that he wasn't aware of his heart beginning to hurt from the strain of the rapid tempo it took on, nore was he aware that Silvia was also having heart problems and could have another heart attack.

Silvia was vaguely aware that Daren was hissing, Raava had also lapsed into a similar jarring roar as his eyes quickly turned into pools of glowing red. Only the pupils could be made out.

She might have been screaming a bit herself, she knew her mouth was open but all that could heard was the angry hissing roars the two male hybrids made. She might have made out Ares's voice somewhere in that, panicked but she really couldn't be sure. Her heart was hurting so bad it was hard to think, hard to breathe. Yet she had enough thought to weakly hold back an arm, a rather futile attempt to keep Raava and Daren back from each other while the other was raised in a rather pathetic way as if to hold back those claws. That she knew she had no chance of, his hands were as big as her head!

Regardless, Silvia refused to take her eyes away from Raava's.

"Please...". She tried one last time to say, the word coming out as a weak wheeze, just as her heart gave an agonizing clench within her chest.

Something of it must have shown in her eyes before she crumpled, as Raava's own widened a moment, same time the grip on her jacket loosened enough for her to drop.

White noise filled the young woman's ears as she clutched at her heart, now beating to fast, to unevenly. It hurt so bad!

The sight was enough to stop Raava's furious hisses, a look of pure shock passing his features as Ares seemed to find the energy to rush past Aphose towards the fallen girl.

Daren froze as he watches Silvia collapse in front of him, his eyes widening in alarm as his anger switched to fear. He stood there frozen even when his father rushed over to the young female, a hand absentmindedly touching his chest as his heart began hurting even worse from both adrenaline and emotional pain making it beat harder and a little irregular which was dangerous for the snow prince. Tears roll down his face and he falls to his knees, dark thoughts running through his head. How could he not notice the signs that she was hurting?! He wanted to protect her from any pain and yet here she was suffering another heart attack!! It's all his fault....

Raava watched this in a numb sort of shock as Ares fell to his knees beside the pair, such fear and worry in his gaze for Silvia and now Daren that it caused him pause in furthering his attack. It would have been so easy, Ares was right there! And his guard only now was hurrying to defend him. The vampire lord wasn't even watching his own back, one swift strike with his claws would be enough. But his gaze lingered on the girl lying within the snow, weakly writhing in pain, her heartbeat weak and erratic. Something which the snake hybrid seemed to be experiencing on a weaker scale. As he listened Silvia's did seem to calm as Ares laid a hand against her side, the other on Daren's shoulder as the vampire lord tried to calm the pair.

Silvia was too out of it to notice the demon hybrid slowly backing away, but Ares did. He looked up, violet eyes quickly catching and glaring up at the red of the hybrid, expecting the attack and almost daring him to. He'd defend these two with his life no matter what.
But the look in Raava's eyes caused some of his anger to debate. The murderous intent was gone, only confusion and fear were on the hybrid's features. He looked incredibly young in that instant.

Then, before their eyes Raava turned on his heel, massive wings snapping wide as the young man launched himself into the air, the wind somewhat buffering them with snow for a brief moment. As quick as it stopped, Raava was gone.

He didn't have time to dwell on it as Aphose was by their side, sword back in its scabbard.

"We need to get these two back to the manor." The guard said, already reaching out to lift the young woman into his arms. Ares let him, he wasn't strong enough right then to carry her back, but he could help Daren.

"Daren? He's gone now, please look at me." Ares muttered, gentleness and urgency straining his voice as he placed both hands now on his shoulders.

There was no response at first, but then slowly those young glowing purple eyes shift their gaze to the older vampire. The pupils was dilated and looked unfocused, but recognition was visible and showed that the young male knew who he was looking at. More tears roll down his face while his appearance slowly reverted back to normal, but the poor guy was still in great pain physically and emotionally. He gives a sharp wince and a pained hiss as his heart tensed up for a moment in, the muscles in the organ giving tiny spasms in an attempt to keep beating, but finally it loosened enough to resume it's painful irregular tempo.

As his heart calmed a little more Ares managed a small smile, trying to make it as reassuring as he could.
"There you are...Come, let's get you back to the manor as well. Treat your heart as well." He said softly, lightly wiping at one of those tears with his thumb carefully, not wanting an accidental cheek slice with a claw in this moment. Didn't need to needlessly stack anything else on. Ares had a fair idea what might have triggered the attack, knowing his gentle son well.

Daren just simply blinks slowly at his father, but understood what was said. Shakily he slowly started standing up with a pained grunt, stumbling for a moment before finally getting up onto his feet. His hand clutching his chest still, tears was also still pouring down his face in streams as well and was starting to freeze there.

Ares carefully wrapped an arm around Daren's back, and took his free hand not clutching at his heart and looped it and the arm attached around his shoulder. He then begun the walk after Aphose, who was a deal ahead with Silvia.
"There we go, at least it's not too far to the manor." Ares spoke gently as he guided his son along.

~

And there we go ^^

Really enjoyed drawing this picture, got inspired by this YouTube vid: youtu.be/AnaeJiyoBbQ I've been watching a fair amount of OC videos on YouTube lately and I admit their giving me ideas of my own XD But any would be long in the future right now.

But I can still do pictures, and I've been experimenting in my shading and lighting a lot lately, like the lights in their eyes X3

Anyway this is likely a precursor image to this one I have done previously: and as you can see, bit of a shaky meeting XD it will get better, eventually...
this might still be a long way off at this point XD Also tiny bit of interesting info for this story, the idea is a lot of hybrid vampire's in this universe tend to have some sort of weakness, both Daren and Silvia have heart problems, which is really common. Their hearts occasionally try and stop themselves because they think their in the final stages of transformation. This will however be fatal for most. With Daren it surely will, but its unknown with Silvia.

Raava on the other hand actually lacks a weakness entirely! His bloods have blended shockingly well considering

Anyway I hope everyone is doing well, as always comments are welcomed!

Ciao for now