"Nightmist…" Gavriel said and Zolan's eyes widened in fear. He quickly got the prince to lean against the wall and immediately checked on his wound.

"Fuck. It's indeed nightmist!" Zolan cursed.

Nightmist was the most lethal poison ever created because there was no known antidote for it. This poison could only be obtained by the vampire's royal family and it was said that there was only a very little amount left in the possession of the royals. No one knew who created this poison. All they knew was that this Nightmist had been gifted to a queen long, long ago.

"No need to panic. This poison would kill a vampire in an instant, but you know this poison can't do much to me, much less kill me." Gavriel said calmly. But the prince had started to look a little paler than usual, and his eyes was starting to show a dazed look.

Zolan knew that Gavriel had been poisoned before. Back then, it took him five days to battle and clear off the poison in his body. Since this particular poison does not have any antidote, it was always an instant killer. But Gavriel had managed to survive. Zolan theorized that the prince must be immune to any poison or the blue blood running through his veins was the antidote. But then, why did it take days for the poison to linger in the prince's body before he could fully rid himself of the poison?

"Damn. I can't believe this is happening. Who could have inflicted this wound on you?!" Zolan's voice was deadly. "Was it that Gallas?!"

Gavriel opened his eyes as he leaned his head against the wall and looked at Leon who was standing there, stunned and shocked. Gallas never managed to come close enough to wound him. All his wounds were all from the skilful manoeuvrings of Leon. Leon himself was still shell shocked, standing there stiff and unblinking – trying to understand where or when Prince Gavriel had the opening enough to be introduced to the deadly Nightmist.

Aware of dangerous poisons, Gavriel never let himself get wounded during battles against vampires. But in the fight against the half-bloods, he was confident that the half-bloods would never pull off dirty tricks. They would never resort to using poisons because they were prideful creatures who also thought of themselves as the strongest and that sole reason was enough for them to strongly decline even if the emperor had ordered it.

"It seemed Caius put poisons on your sword without you knowing." Gavriel scoffed at the still frozen Leon.

The half-blood pulled out his sword and took a closer look at it, carefully sniffing at its blade. When he picked up the faint trace of poison on it, humiliation and quiet rage immediately blazed in his eyes. He could not believe the crown prince had lowered himself and did this. He remembered that he had sparred with the crown prince before they attacked Dacria because of the crown prince's request. It was then that the crown prince asked them to exchange swords for one round.

Leon fell onto his knees, his sword clanging to the ground. He could not believe the crown prince was this shameful and deceitful to his own men. "I deserve to die!"

"Get up, Leon. This is not your fault. Your death will just be a waste. And like I said, this won't kill me."

"Yes, you won't die," Zolan butted in. "But you'll spend days to –"

"Enough, Zolan." Gavriel rose. "This is one of the goals in their attack. Since they doubted my origins, this poison is the easiest way for them to confirm that I am indeed of true royal descent since they all know that this poison kills everyone but the vampire blue blood. It's a genius move I must say. Caius really used his brain this time." Gavriel complimented sarcastically.

At that moment, Samuel was back. The big man was surprised at the sight of Gavriel leaning against the wall, but the prince did not let him question.

"Report now," Gavriel demanded, and Samuel told him that Caius and his army had indeed left Dacria and were now headed towards the imperial capital. "It seemed Caius is also aware of what will happen to a royalty under the influence of Nightmist." Gavriel chuckled.

"That's right. So, this was why he retreated. What a scaredy cat." Zolan scoffed.

"Alright, you have to bring me to my confinement now before I start to do something regrettable." Gavriel said, still in a playful voice. But what he said sent violent shivers down Zolan and Samuel's spine.

Samuel did not waste a single moment and immediately took hold of Gavriel's arm and draped it over his shoulders. They then leapt towards the castle.

"Wait here and heal up, Leon." Zolan told the half-blood before he followed after Samuel and Gavriel.

The three secretly landed on one of the castle's veranda. They headed directly to the library and Zolan immediately moved to one of the shelves that looked identical to the rest in the room and fiddled with something there. A hidden wall suddenly swung open, and Samuel supported Gavriel as they went through the secret door. Another path opened on the floor revealing a stairway heading to the darkness beneath.

Gavriel pulled away from Samuel and descended the dark stairway alone, using the walls to support himself. He turned before his head disappeared into the darkness. "If Caius returns with his army, just free me from here… however, I doubt he'd return though."

"Yes, Your Highness." Samuel nodded solemnly. "What about the princess? What should we tell her if she starts looking for you and ask questions?" Samuel was thorough and covered all bases. He knew that Lady Evie would definitely be asking after her husband if she did not see him while the rest of them were there.

Gavriel froze in shock. It had slipped his mind for a short moment due to the influence of the poison on his mind. He opened his mouth to reply but instead of an answer to give to Samuel, a groan escaped his mouth. His eyes began to change their colour in the dark and as it blazed with unholy light and locked unto them with mind-numbing bloodlust, Zolan quickly grabbed Samuel and dragged him out of the secret pathway as the floor closed.

As soon as they stepped out of the secret door, the thick walls silently closed and all traces of it vanished from view, as if there was nothing there in the first place.

___

AN: Dear spellbounders, i just want to inform you guys that this book will go premium later today. the gift button is also finally opened. ^^ I am hoping for your continues support. Love you all.

~kazzenlx