Ascendancy Origins Trilogy

by Bradford Bates

  John faked indignation. “Stubborn and cocky, huh, says the walking fur factory.” Sarah darted forward and punched him in the shoulder. John got the point and stopped talking, and I could see him rubbing his shoulder out of the corner of my eye.

  I laughed at their byplay before speaking. I was lost in my thoughts for a moment, thinking of what it was like to be young and in love. “Listen. Your relationship is not the only reason I called you both here today. That was something I thought I would mention so you knew that both of you have my support. I wanted to make sure that you were fully aware that you have my blessing, and I wish you nothing but happiness.”

  I could see the smiles spread on their faces as they sat back in their seats, finally starting to relax. “The other reason I called you here was because of our continued difficulty tracking down the Fallen Dimitre. We know that he is here in San Francisco, but so far, we haven’t been able to get a single lead on his whereabouts. It feels as though we have destroyed half the nests around the city with no discernable results. It is time to bring in fresh faces to this fight. New blood is needed to generate new ideas on how to find and destroy him.”

  I watched as they took in the information, hoping what I saw in their eyes was the anticipation of the hunt. All I could think of was all the effort we had expended to find out the information and how little we actually had to go on. “All we know so far is that he came into the city in the spring. He quickly took over every vampire nest in the city, and now he has at least one of his own people in control of each nest. We can only assume there is some greater purpose for him being here. The simple fact that we can’t find him is enough to know whatever he is planning will not be good for us.”

  Again, John was the first to speak. He always liked to try and take control of a conversation. It was actually one of his only character flaws. I normally just wrote it off as youthful exuberance. “Not to be rude, Adam, but we only tackle Demons now. Almost every other Ascended would be more capable of handling a few of the Fallen.”

  Sarah gave him a quick glance before speaking. “Adam, do you really have no information on this Dimitre? The hunters have not been able to get you any solid information on why he is here? Is there anything else happening in the city we should be aware of?”

  I sat back and had to think about how much I wanted to tell them. I really wanted them to come to their own conclusions about what was happening. I knew I would tell them about the Brotherhood’s involvement. I normally had a much better pulse on the city’s underground than I did at the moment.

  I started to think of the reports I’d received on other things that had been going on during the summer before I was sure of my answer. There had been a report of an unknown artifact moving through the city. It was something of power, but like the Fallen, we hadn’t been able to dig up much information on it. “We have heard rumors that the Fallen have taken over one of the docks. They have humans under their control, working for them during the day, while taking a more direct role in securing and moving packages through the docks at night. We haven’t been able to track any deaths near the docks so we had left them alone until now.”

  I started to think to myself that if the rumors were true about artifacts being moved through the city, it was as good a place to start as any other. If they control that particular dock, it is worth at least going to check it out for clues. If it bears fruit, then it was worth the time. If it doesn’t, well then, it will be as useful as the rest of our searches have been. I looked across my desk at Sarah and John. It was time for them to do what they did best.

  “Go to the docks. Start there and let me know what you find. We have to figure out what they are up to before something big happens. The Brotherhood north of the city has been having some issues with the Fallen as well. I’ve included their report with the file I have for you.” With their orders received, John and Sarah left my office and headed out to get to work.

  4

  John

  We broke into a warehouse building on the opposite side of the street from the docks. With almost all of the shipping traffic coming during the day, we were relatively sure we should be able to settle into the building for the night and keep an eye on the docks without being seen. This was the part of the job I hated the most. Sitting around and waiting for something to happen just was not my style. On the other hand, Sarah always enjoyed this part. It must be something in her Lycan heritage. The stalking made the thrill of the hunt that much better for her. For me, I liked to jump straight into the action using my gift to level the playing field. Sitting here staring out a window was a slow torturous death for me.

  I pulled one of my swords from behind my back and started idly spinning it in my hand. Sarah pulled herself into a low crouch on my left and was watching out the window for signs of movement. Her enhanced night vision was always a huge help in these instances. I briefly looked over the file Adam had given us and then handed it to Sarah. She was a much better detective than I was. If there was something in the file that would point us in the right direction, she would see it right away.

  After about four hours, I must have fallen asleep in my chair. I woke up to a low growl coming from Sarah’s throat. Outside the window, something was moving around. I leaned forward, gently wiping the glass to improve my view. Her posture told me something was happening, and I shook myself to wake up and focus. If we had to act at a moment’s notice, I wanted to be ready. Looking down, I realized just how lucky I was not to have cut myself when I leaned forward to look out the window. Once again, I had fallen asleep with a sharp knife in my hand. I berated myself silently, then slipped the blade snuggly back into its sheath over my shoulder.

  My grogginess must have also been responsible for me not hearing the sound of the horses pulling the wagon that now sat outside below our window. The real shocker was that I hadn’t heard the car pull up, either. Cars were still rare, and expensive. So whoever came in it likely had a lot of money—or backing. Probably someone with a little bit of influence in the city as well.

  Almost all delivers in the city were made during the day, so this nocturnal activity had us on alert. A man in an expensive suit stood next to the car, watching some workers as they loaded boxes into the large covered wagon. He addressed the dockworker who seemed to be supervising the process, but we couldn’t hear what they were saying. The man in the suit pulled an envelope out of his inner coat pocket and handed it to the dockworker, who opened it briefly and then slipped it inside his own coat.

  I looked over to Sarah. “What do you think: follow the money or follow the car?”

  Without taking her eyes off the men outside, she answered. “I think we follow the money. If we can catch that worker, we should be able to get the name of the buyer and find out what he was purchasing. If we make the wrong choice now, it won’t be a problem to come back here tomorrow night to see if that car shows up again.”

  I nodded in acceptance of her logic and sat back in my chair, waiting for them to finish loading the wagon. The key to this was going to be letting the buyer get away so we could catch up to the dock worker without him seeing us. As luck would have it, the buyer got into his car before they even finished loading the wagon and drove away. From our vantage point, it looked as if all the boxes had been loaded into the back of the wagon. Now we just had to wait for the wagon to leave the docks. Sarah tapped my arm, stirring me from my thoughts. The worker with the money was walking back across the dockyard alone.

  I looked at Sarah. “Ready?”

  She smiled with teeth that were just a little too big. “I’m not the one that fell asleep with a knife in my hand.”

  I placed a hand over my heart and pretended that she had stabbed me. Her focus never left the man walking across the street.

  We quickly headed downstairs and out the side entrance of the warehouse. Making our way across the poorly lit street without being seen was not too difficult for us. Lycans had a natural affinity for the darkness; the shadows seemed to wrap
themselves gently around them. On the other hand, I had to use my gift to accomplish the same thing.

  The pools of illumination cast on the dock by the hanging lights were easy to avoid. The lights were positioned to highlight the center of the wide dock, leaving the edges bathed in shadow. Our target ambled down the deserted dock, from one pool of light to the next, making him easy to follow. By staying well away from the center, we were able to hug the shadows and advance undetected. The dockworker moved slowly, taking the time to light a cigarette and look out at the ocean. The smoke from his cigarette floated away on the salty ocean breeze. We watched as he moved down the docks heading toward a tall, one-story building attached to a larger warehouse.

  The main building looked as if it had seen better days. The paint was peeling, and the sign hanging on the outside was faded. The owner obviously did not care about maintaining any kind of appearances. The man flicked his cigarette into the water and walked into the building, closing the door behind him. I broke into a sprint with Sarah close on my heels, trying to reach the door before it was closed. Arriving too late, I gave the door a slight pull anyway, only to confirm that it was locked.

  I looked back at Sarah and asked, “Loud or quiet?” Sarah put a finger to her lips, then gave me a quick wink. I reached for the door handle and called on my gift, heating the lock inside until it melted. Opening the door silently, Sarah and I headed into the building. Once inside, I closed the door and fused the lock closed behind us. If we had to leave in a hurry, it wouldn’t matter because I could blow the door off its hinges during our escape. The goal was to make sure passersby would not notice that anything was amiss.

  Sarah pointed ahead, and I could just see the heel of a boot going around the corner. I got behind her and motioned for her to take the lead. I hated doing that, because I always worried that something might happen to her. But I knew it was more important that we rely on her superior hearing and sight to make sure the coast was clear, and she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

  Sarah assumed the lead without any hesitation. In her human form, she had increased senses, as well as heightened strength and speed. Once she shifted, Sarah was eight hundred pounds of pure muscle. There was nothing like a few bullets to make my lady go from her normal adorable self into an eight-foot-tall killing machine. I loved the look on people’s faces when it happened. No one ever expected it. Since she traveled with me, they always thought Sarah was just another Gifted, until it was too late. Her enhanced abilities as a human also made it so that she made almost no noise while walking. I let her take a larger lead into the warehouse, hoping the noise I was making behind her was not loud enough to alert our target.

  We heard a door close at the end of the hall and picked up our pace. The hall T’d, with dark corridors left and right. The wooden door in front of us had a frosted-glass center with the office name stenciled across it in gold. We stayed off to the right side of the door on our approach, with Sarah still in the lead. I moved up behind her and tapped her left hip with my hand even though I was sure she had already registered my exact position. She held up two fingers to let me know there were two people in the office. I was ready to rush in and get to work, but she held up her hand to signal for me to wait. Though I could tell there were two people talking, I could not make out what they were saying. I knew my partner was not having the same problem. She was listening to everything they were saying. I heard her sniff a few times, and she turned back to me and mouthed the word Fallen.

  The Fallen were eerily silent and tended to travel in large groups. Most of the bloodsuckers we had run into looked and acted like normal humans. One of the benefits of being in America was that not too many of the older Fallen had come over from Europe. The powers of the Fallen tend to get stronger as they age, first physically and then mentally. An older Fallen could use its powers of persuasion to control almost any human. Most of the Fallen were able to use it for short-term control, but it was suspected that the oldest of the Fallen were able to do quite a bit more. You can’t tell the age of a Fallen just by looking at it, so it’s always safest to assume it’s older, which means incredibly fast, and stronger than you think. Better to be pleasantly surprised by how easy it was to kill one than to be on the other end of a fanger’s teeth.

  The Fallen started to create controllable beasts to help protect their nests. We like to call them Berserkers. They are completely feral and only follow the commands of the one that turned them. These particular Fallen are twisted versions of the humans they once were. They tend to be abnormally pale white and mostly run on all fours. Their mouths and heads have been elongated as part of their transformation. This happens when they are starved of blood for long periods of time. The need for blood starts to drive them mad, and their bodies begin to shift into a stronger form for hunting prey. Besides the larger head and pale skin, they come fully equipped with a set of extra-large fangs that poke out of their lips top and bottom.

  The Berserkers’ only function is to be ready at all times to give their life for their master. Mostly, they are tasked with guarding the nest from outsiders. The Berserkers are always ready to tear the throat out of anyone their master commands. While Berserkers have no mental powers, their bodies have been augmented by starvation, making them stronger and faster than other Fallen. If that was not enough to make them one of the ultimate killing machines, they also have longer nails that are hard enough to cut through solid steel. When the Fallen warred against each other, they typically used Berserkers to fight the initial battles. They would then commit the newly turned into the fray, to finish off any resistance. If the attackers won, the nest was given one chance to submit to their new ruler or be destroyed. It was a brutal society, one in which power and influence ruled all.

  Still unable to hear the conversation in the office, I turned my attention to the darkened corridors just in time to see the outlines of shapes running toward us. Berserkers were closing in on us from both corridors, crawling against the walls and bounding along the floor. A single Fallen stood in the hallway we had just come from. He was ready to watch the coming battle unfold. There was no way we could have guessed that this crappy warehouse building would have these kinds of guards. I heard Sarah’s clothes rip as she changed into her beast form. Normally, I would take the time to glance at her to take in the change, but the Berserkers were closing in on us fast, and the time just didn’t seem right for ogling.

  It was surprising that the Fallen were watching this particular warehouse. I wondered what was so important that they would risk sending so many to face us at once. Even the Berserkers had some value, if only the time it took to replace them. I anticipated that we would be able to handle the Berserkers with ease, but the wildcard would be the Fallen that was just watching us from the hallway. I checked my blades to make sure they would be loose enough to pull out when I needed them. The pull of my gift sharpened my senses as the power entered my body. Sarah let out an ear-shattering howl as she finished her shift, shaking off the last of her ruined clothing.

  She sprinted down the corridor to the left of the door, charging into a pack of three Berserkers and ripping into them with uncontrolled ferocity. Before I turned away, she had already killed two of them; twisting the head off of one and ripping out the throat of the other as she landed in a crouch. I could see that they had landed a few blows to her body, but Sarah’s healing ability was already sealing the cuts. She was lost in the lust of combat, and as much as I wanted to continue watching her destroy the Berserkers, I had my own problems that needed tending to. Hoping the momentary distraction did not give my enemies any advantage, I turned to face what was rushing toward me.

  The Berserkers coming from the other direction had already cleared half the distance between us while my back was turned. I used the power I had pulled into myself to create two orbs of bright blue fire. With a thought, I hurled the orbs down the corridor. The blue light they generated was oddly beautiful in the dark space. It reflected off the walls,
giving the corridor the appearance of being underwater. The small orbs of blue flames incinerated two of the bloodsuckers on contact. Their bodies turning to ash as the magical fire consumed them.

  The ashes from their bodies filled the air, slowly falling to the floor in a cloud of grey. The last three Berserkers burst through the cloud of ashes and launched themselves at me. I pulled my silver-laced swords from the sheaths behind my shoulders and, with a practiced movement, cut the head off one Berserker while spinning and slicing the leg of another as it rushed past me. I knew Sarah would be ready for it when it got to her. The wound I inflicted on the Berserker’s leg would be enough to slow it down, not that she needed my help.

  I stole a quick glance in Sarah’s direction before turning back to face what I hoped was the last of the charging bloodsuckers. It had not been distracted by the death of its fellows. The creature had one singular purpose to accomplish: killing me. As I completed my turn, it barreled into my chest, knocking me to the ground, its weight on my chest pushing the air out of my lungs. I was lucky that I didn’t lose the grip on my two swords. The Berserker reared its head back to strike at my unprotected neck. That move gave me just enough room to plunge both my blades into its chest. As the blood poured out past my blades still imbedded in the creature’s chest, I hoped that I’d bought myself a little more time.

  The Berserker’s jaws continued to snap at my throat, and I could hear a wet click each time they snapped closed. When the creature’s jaws opened wide, I could see its lips had been shredded by its own fangs. The creature’s breath was bad enough to make me gag, and I was happy those fangs hadn’t found purchase in my flesh just yet. The Berserker pushed itself further down into my blades, ignoring the harm it was doing to itself in the hopes of killing me. Blood continued to leak from the wounds even as they tried to heal around my blades. The silver in the swords was keeping the wounds from fully closing.