REWRITTEN PROLOGUE POSTED: January 7th 2019

Hello wonderful readers!

So I have yet another Aveyond story to post:) This one is actually different from my usual story writing preference as instead of writing a semi-cannon OC story or a post cannon story I'm actually attempting my first ever true AU fic.

Now when I say AU I'm not talking about a modern day story with just the existing Aveyond characters, I'm doing a rewrite or the existing Aveyond 3 storyline.

The idea that sparked this fanfic was quite a random one for sure. I completely blame this on my sleepless nights, I come up with some pretty crazy stuff when I'm lying awake at night.

Anyway, this all started because of what was supposed to be a cannon-compliant one-shot and somehow spiralled into an AU style story that rewrites over half of the original story.

This is quite the writing challenge for me since I've never actually written about vampires or Darklings or taken an original storyline and altered it as dramatically as I plan to with this.

The important characters in this story will still play a major part in my story but I plan to explore their personalities a lot more then they were explored in the game such as Edward, Stella and Gyendal just to name a few.

Hopefully, you enjoy and I look forward to hearing what you guys think!

Prologue

The moon shone brightly over a dark forest, wind whistling through the trees. The call of frogs and crickets echoed, the occasional hoot of an owl adding its own song to the sounds of the forest.

Then all at once, there was silence. Small bit by small bit nature ceasing its call along a snaking path through the forest, red hair glinting in filtered gaps of moonlight.

A predator feared by monster and man alike.

The gravel crunched ever so slightly under booted feet as a young teen skidded to a halt before the bottom of a large mountain. In front of her lay several large boulders, standing taller than the young woman before them. In her hand she carried two chickens, cleanly killed and waiting to be cooked. She glanced around her cautiously, before stepping up to the stones, and with an inhumanly strong push moved the large stone several feet to the right.

Carefully she slipped in, violet eyes scanning the room until they fell upon a small lump on the floor covered in blankets.

"Gyendal, I brought food." The young woman murmured, putting down her bag down and kneeling next to the lump.

Back the blanket was pulled, to reveal the tousled black hair of a twelve year old boy. The child rolled, sniffling slightly and glaring up at her.

"I'm not hungry Te'ijal." He snapped tiredly, curling up tighter.

"You don't have a choice, we need to eat. Starving ourselves makes us vulnerable, we don't have anyone to look out for us. I hate eating regular food as much as you now, but we don't have better options. And meat sits better than vegetables and fruits." Te'ijal answered tiredly.

Her eyes lingered on the two fang scars that glowed in the light of the firepit, before with a rough shake of her head she turned away to prepare and cook the chickens. The scent of blood made her mouth water but she forced herself to resist. That same craving is what killed her parents, she couldn't dishonour her parents like that.

"How long do we have to stay here, I hate it here." Gyendal said quietly, Te'ijal glancing over to see him settle next to her.

His head rested tiredly on her shoulder and she looked down at him. They had both been tired, it was a steady exhaustion. Their bodies were still trying to grow and age, and without properly feeding their body it left them lethargic and tired.

"Here, I've left it as close to rare as I dare with a chicken. Tomorrow I will find a cow from a neighbouring farm, perhaps that'll sit better." She instructed gently, handing him a stick with meat speared off the end.

Gyendal nibbled apathetically at his meal and Te'ijal stared down at her own with disgust. Some days she wondered if she made the right decision turning her brother that night. If there hadn't somehow been another way to save him from the vampire that chased after them when they had escaped from the house. So distracted by her thoughts, she didn't hear the noises approaching their little cave until it was too late.

The sound of metal being pulled along metal made the siblings jerk to attention, leaping up from their seats to face the shadowy figures in the entrance. The fire reflected off of a sword, and Te'ijal grabbed her brother to force him behind her. From her right she reached down to grab the bow and arrow she kept close, her hand near trembling.

"Children? But it was clearly marks of a demon being outside, the way the bones look and the path of the stones movement." A booming voice echoed, sounding baffled by their findings.

Another stepped from the shadows, a greasy looking man with silver and wooden weapons hanging from his belt.

"This ain't normal Jeb, couple of kids here like this. C'mere, you had better come with us to the nearest town." Was the nasally command, the man reaching out towards them.

Instantly Te'ijal cocked the arrow and yanked it back, her newfound strength momentarily forgotten until with a loud snap the string was ripped free of the bow completely. She froze, staring down at the broken pieces of her weapon as the men in front of them recoiled.

"...these are no human children. They are spawn of some dark creature!" The greasy one sneered, his companion gripping his weapon tighter.

"Changlings!" His companion growled.

The bow slipped from Te'ijal's fingers, cold fear coursing through her. They may have new strength, but they were not strong or fast enough to overpower the humans and escape. Slowly she backed away, pushing Gyendal towards the deeper areas of the cave where light didn't reach.

The larger man let out a low shout, rushing forward towards Te'ijal and swinging his blade. Quickly ducking and rolling, she narrowly missed the blade coming down towards her shoulder. Her eyes were wild as she looked all about for something she could use against the man, to hurt or kill she didn't care. She had to get to Gyendal, and she had to get them both as far away from this place as she could. Across the way she got a glimpse of her brother pinned by his neck up against the wall, tears filling her eyes and trickling down her cheek as she desperately searched for a way out.

Before she could find anything however the tension was cut by the sound of a dying scream. The man before her turned, letting out a horrified shout of his own and stumbling back towards the entrance to reveal a sight like something out of a nightmare.

Her brother was on his hands and knees, clearly having been dropped from where he had been pinned against the wall. His fangs were bared for all to see, dripping with the blood of the dealthy pale fallen man in front of him. He greedly licked his fangs and lips clean.

The burly companion let out a string of curses, turning and fleeing out the mouth of the cave without a backwards glance. Te'ijal lurched around the fire, stumbling to her brothers side to collapse to her knees next to him. She grabbed him and held him close, trembling as she considered how close they had both come to death.

"I had to. He was going to stab me, so I killed him. I'm not hungry any longer." Her brother said, his voice soft but unwavering. "Please don't hate me…"

Te'ijal closed her eyes, taking a deep breath before releasing it slowly.

"I couldn't hate you Gyendal, no matter what you did. You are my family, we're all we have left."

Then she looked out into the darkness outside the cave, eyes narrowed. One was dead, but the other lived. So long as he was out there, she and Gyendal wouldn't be safe in this cave or through the forest. He could retrieve others, he could come back prepared.

"Stay here, there's something I need to take care of." She ordered, rising to her feet and exiting the cave. She pushed the stone as far over the entrance as she could, leaving room for Gyendal to leave should he need to.

Then she began to run, her pace measured. The hunger gnawed on her with painful intensity, her gait uneven from it. There was a different type of stabbing in her chest, as a knowledge she had been trying to fight settled in. The time to honour a dead memory was gone, their parents had died to save them. Gyendal and Te'ijal were out of options, there were no humans that would protect them or help them now. She and her brother were the enemy, it was kill or be killed.

And when she found the second attacker, there was no hesitation left.

She returned an hour later, entering their hidey hole without expression. The body had been laid out in the corner of the cave, just barely visible in the light of the fire. Gyendal sat before the warmth, seeming more alert and awake then he had in months.

"He's dead." Gyendal stated, looking to Te'ijal.

There was no doubt in his voice, he knew what his sister had done.

Te'ijal nodded. She watched as her brother turned to face her, barely containing a flinch as she looked into his eyes. No longer could she see forest green, so much like their mothers. Now she saw red, as scarlet as the blood that marred both their clothing now.

She looked down at her skin, already far paler than it had been hours before. It wouldn't be many more feedings before there would be nothing human about their appearance left.

"We need to leave, get your things." She finally ordered, gathering the meagre possessions of her own they had gone back to their childhood home to get after the raid.

"Where will we go?! We can't go to a human village now, we can't go anywhere!"

"We need to find other vampires. There is no other option left, now that we've fed." She said lowly.

"Other vampires?!"

Te'ijal saw the shock and nervousness on his face but said nothing, putting out the fire before grabbing Gyendal's hand and leading him out into the forest. They began to run, matching each others pace with ease. Te'ijal looked over at her little brother, a mage but not a physical fighter. Everyday it felt like the odds stacked further against them…

"Goddess please, I don't know if you hear our prayers with what we are now." Te'ijal whispered, words stolen from hearing by the whistling wind. "I give him to fate if you'll only protect him."

The softest bird song echoed through the trees, the world feeling lighter for a mere moment.

Somewhere, someone had heard her prayer.

She had set something in motion she could not yet possibly realize, a clash of fates that would be centuries in the making.