either send them back or mow them down. It did not matter so long as they weren't here. It was then the Demons created the first Dracul. Using the humans whose numbers were far greater than either ours or theirs, to help fight in the war that raged.
It was then, and only then, that I created the Hunters. A few human families, who had worked with us since our arrival. Assisted in healing those who were injured, gave us shelter and food. Their kindness repaid with a curse of their own. It was only then that the Witches joined our cause, bringing the Lycans with them to assist in our cause.
We fought hard and lost so many." His voice cracks, and I squeeze his hand, so he continues. "Too many, but it was only when the Dracul leaders, broke free from the Demons they were chained to, and joined our side, that we managed to fight back the Demons. The Witches tore a doorway again, one that could only be crossed from this side, and we pushed those who were not dead through it. There were sacrifices made, and then the door sealed. Trapping them, and some of our own, back in the realm of Demons."
A shudder rips through him and a lump forms in my throat, the guilt trapped inside of him from the choices he made, clearly still haunting him.
"You did what you needed to do. There is no shame in that," I say softly, but he shakes his head.
"We should have done more, come sooner."
Silence echoes around the room as everyone takes in his words.
"So what happened to cause the fracture in the factions? If they all worked together during the war, something must have happened to cause the hatred from the Hunters that we've all known?" Creek asks curiously.
"Well, yes, I'm sure Kain and Roman have heard the stories how everyone used to work together, they perhaps even lived it for a while when they were younger but about twelve hundred or so years ago, is when it all broke down." He sighs, scrubbing a hand down his face. My strong warrior is so tired, I wonder if he has every truly known any peace.
"It was then, with the Elder council as they are now, that everything changed. A group of rogue Dracul attacked an Elder gathering, them and their families, but rather than attacking the Hunters, they attacked the children, those who had not been through their awakening, and so, ending their lives for good." I gasp at his words, and the shock, mixed with guilt on Kain's is enough to bring tears to my eyes.
"They killed the children..." Creek says, as if he cannot believe it.
"The Elders declared that they would end the Dracul, but the Lycans sided with the Dracul families, as did some of the Witches. Saying that an entire race should not be punished for the actions of a few, but the Hunters were enraged, fueled by their grief, they would not listen to reason. Those Hunters who did not agree were killed, and then never given the option to become a Hunter again, left to cycle time and again as humans."
His words pull on the thread inside my mind, and I gasp as I feel myself fall into my memory.
I wake from my nightmare, sleep clings to me as I blink in the darkness. It was not a nightmare, they came here, they slaughtered those children. So many lives gone, in the blink of an eye. We were not prepared. We have not been attacked like this before, at least that is what mother said as she curled with me beside the fire. We cried for the sister I would never see again. My first life, I had only gone through my awakening less than three cycles of the moon ago but knowing I would never see her little cherub face again. My chest heaves as my heart threatens to break again, already broken to the point I fear it will never truly heal. She was so young, so full of life. Only six years old.
Father has been with the Elders for the last seven sun rises since the attack, leaving mother and I here alone with our grief over Evie.
I get up, and dress. Today I need to hunt, our supplies run low, and we finished the last of the dried game yesterday evening, and Mother is in no shape to go out. Her grief is festering, turning to