The Royal Family of vampires, known as the Moonshadow Vampires, had once drunk the blood of the Moon Goddess at the dawn of time. This ancient act connected them to the moon itself, making their origin magic stronger—blessed by moonlight and soaked in divine blood.
Prince Vlad Lunastre of the Moonshadow Royal Clan, the only son of the King and Queen of the Vampires, had never awakened this power. Among his people, he was loathed—a shameful stain on the Royal name.
One day...
In the dead of night, at the peak of the highest mountain in the world, within its thousand-year-old frozen ground, two figures hung naked, bleeding, crucified on ancient crosses. Their hands were chained and impaled.
Crimson-eyed onlookers surrounded them, taking pleasure in the chilling spectacle.
Crunch. Crunch.Footsteps echoed through the snow, approaching the crucified pair. A woman stopped below them, her glowing crimson eyes gleaming with amusement. A fanged smile curled on her face.
On one of the crosses, the younger figure looked down at her with wide eyes. A gut-wrenching scream escaped his lips:"Mother!"
She smiled widely and said in a mocking, sorrowful voice,"Now, now, dear son. I will properly mourn you and your father's passing."
Another set of footsteps approached. A towering man embraced her from behind. She looked up at him, and they kissed like old lovers—separated for centuries, now trying to convey centuries of longing in a single kiss. As they pulled apart, a thin streak of saliva still connected them.
With a fanged smile, he looked into her eyes and said,"Don't worry, sister. Your brother will always be with you."
A gut-wrenching scream tore through the heavens,"My own mother is the wench of her brother!"
A girl stepped closer to where the young vampire hung crucified. Her crimson eyes sparkled, and her long hair blended seamlessly with the night. She stared at him with a mocking smile."Don't worry, dear Vlad the Vampire Prince, shame of the Moonshadow Clan. Your mother truly loves her brother."
She tilted her head playfully."After all, weren't you the one who told me that love is everything?"
A mad, hollow laugh echoed through the mountains and shattered the silence of the night.
The older man beside Vlad—the King of the Vampires and the strongest vampire who had awakened the power of the Moon Goddess's blood—just stared at them with dead eyes.
Vlad screamed through bloody tears, turning toward his father,"Father, do something! Please, kill them!"
Cackling echoed from all the crimson-eyed people standing nearby.
The man hugging his mother replied coldly,"He can't. We gave him the special blood from werewolves that negates all his powers for a little while... about two days."
Then he added,"Let's leave. The sun is coming up, and here, sunlight is very harsh."
They vanished into the darkness of the night.
In an instant, the sun rose, washing away the shadows and burning the crucified ones.
Vlad's scream tore through the frozen night, but his father remained silent — not a groan, not a sound escaped his lips.
With a primal roar, the King clawed at the heavy wooden cross binding him. His fingers tore through splintered bone and sinew, freeing his hands but leaving only ragged strips of flesh nailed to the wood.
He shattered the bones of his feet with sickening cracks, freeing himself.Crunch.
He collapsed face-first onto the snow, his burning flesh melting the ice beneath him, only for the cold air to freeze the blood into icy shards.
Summoning the last of his strength, he crawled toward his son's cross, each movement agonizing, fuelled by raw, desperate love.
Slash!With nails sharp as daggers, he raked across the wood, splinters flying like shards of glass in the freezing air.Thud!The cross fell on the ice.
He gripped his son's cross, still writhing in pain and flames licking at his skin, and dragged him away through the icy field.
Near the cliff's edge, the King let go, pushing Vlad with the cross. Then, with fierce determination, he followed, their bodies tumbling down the icy slope.
They crashed a little far away from the peak, just at the edge of an icy mountain. There, right around the corner, stood a little cave devoid of sunlight.
Sunlight still reached here. The King's hands and feet were already burned down to the bone. His father dragged Vlad with raw strength and threw him into the small cave ahead.
Vlad's feet remained outside, exposed to the rising sun. The light reached up to his waist, his screams still echoing in the hollow cold mountains.
His father became a shadow against the sunlight, standing firm at the cave's entrance like a living shield.
Vlad, still wracked with pain, opened his heavy eyes just a little. He saw his father's moon-like eyes glowing through the bare burning skull.
Then, a hoarse voice came from the bony visage:"Son… Live."
Suddenly, his father's body exploded outward, sending an avalanche crashing down, completely sealing the cave's entrance.
Unbeknownst to the Vampire King, inside the cave his son lay motionless — already dead. Vlad was not strong enough to survive. His will had been shattered by betrayal — of his lover, and his own mother.
Yet, those final words from his father stirred something deep within — a flicker of defiance that clung to the last remnant of his soul.
It refused to let go, waiting for a miracle to rise and fulfill his father's dying words.