“If that were true, you wouldn’t be faltering right now.”
Now only a few yards from the three broken companions, the demon slowed his assault, but not by his own freewill. The cracks were starting to show on the outside of the demon’s shell; Steven was breaking through, one step at a time.
“You’re doing it! Keep fighting, Steven!”
“Shut up!” the demon cried out in apparent agony, “Don’t say another filthy word!”
“Become the man we always knew you’d be! Be stronger than the hate that boils in your stomach!”
“I thought that I told you to shut your mouth!” the blood demon shouted as he grabbed Samuel by the throat and lifted him off the ground. “Shut your filthy mouth! I’ll tear you apart… I’ll cut you limb from limb… I’ll… I’ll…”
“T-that’s it,” Samuel croaked, barely able to breathe as the demon’s hands closed around his esophagus, “Fight him… fight him with everything you’ve got.”
The blood demon dropped Samuel to the ground and let loose a shriek that shook the very ground beneath their feet, unbinding from the life form he so desperately tried to cling to.
With the sound of cracking thunder, a bright red burst of fire shot out from Steven’s body. A blast that engulfed everything it saw in a blinding light that tore through their subconsciouses on its way back down to underworld from which the demon came. Beaten, the demon retreated and left the group stranded, bloodied, but still alive. The war was officially on and they had been dealt a vicious blow, one from which they might never fully recover from.
“Are you happy, vampire hunter?” Xander asked as he picked Emily from off the ground, “Whether it was by your hand, or not, a hundred of my children lay dead. You would’ve made your elders very proud today.”
Samuel had no response to give, for he was beginning to believe that he may very well have led this doom to their doorstep. Had he never brought Steven into this life, he never would’ve been able to be used for such wicked motives. He trained Steven, but while he thought it was to protect the summoner, it was in reality to be the perfect bomb.
Xander was right in a twisted way. Lady Amata had delivered a striking blow to their side, one they might never recover from. Now, it was their turn to repay her in kind.
“If they’ve truly started the war,” Samuel said as he rose back to his feet with vigor, “Then it’ll be a war we finish— together as one!”
Chapter Five
The resulting explosion had far reaching consequences, much farther than either Xander or Samuel could’ve predicted, and the Hunter’s Guild now burned with the same fires that once spread across Xander’s home. It was on ablaze, and nothing anyone of them could do would stop the flames from completing their desired outcome. The elders had played with fire, now the demon would see that they burned for their transgressions.
Dozens of hunters and students ran around in distress, each trying to salvage what little remained of their lives at the Hunter’s Guild, but the flames were too strong and drove them out of their beds and out into the courtyard. They were so paralyzed by the mysterious attack that they didn’t even see the two shadows enter the castle grounds under the mask of nightfall.
Lady Amata and her trusted protector, William, strolled on the grounds amid the confusion and walked past many of the hunters that only wished to live another day. There were, however, many that had little love for those of the undead kind and took up arms.
“Die, vampire scum!” one of the men shouted as he charged towards the hulking William. He was quickly sliced in half by the vampire’s large broadsword, a reminder to the others foolish enough to try, that they would find no victory here.
Several others joined in the attack, but they were cut down by the vampire queen and her right-hand vampire. The battle didn’t last long and soon the rest of the hunters realized the futility of their actions and backed off accordingly.
“Impudent creatures, are they not?” Lady Amata asked her loyal follower.
“Not even worthy to lick the dirt from off my boots,” William replied.
They made their way up the main staircase with goals of reaching the inner sanctum of the Hunter’s Guild, where the hellish blast seemed to originate.
“My lady,” William said as they reached the top of the stairs, “A wall of fire blocks our path… we can go no further.”
“You’ve done well to trust in my guidance, William,” answered Lady Amata, “Don’t start with all that doubt and mistrust now. Witness my power… and take heed of what knowledge of the forbidden arts can do for one of our kind.”
Lady Amata blew upon the flames with a wind that howled from a relentless anger buried deep within her. The fires crackled and hissed at the thought of servitude to the vampire’s wishes, but soon they, too, fell under the command of the sinister Lady Amata.
“If you play your cards right, one day you’ll command such power over the elements,” Lady Amata replied, “Come now, let’s see what fate has befallen our most irrational of allies.”
They continued down the dimly lit corridor, aided only by the light from all that burned around them. Eventually, they made their way to Elder Ulic’s chambers, where all five elder’s lay sprawled across the stone floor. The powerful blast that erupted from Steven’s tormentor had ignited upon the very pentagram they used to call upon the dark lords of the underworld, a price they paid with their lives.
“Do you see the carnage unleashed by their failure to control what they could never hope to comprehend?” Lady Amata asked her stalwart companion.
“I do, mistress,” the lumbering William replied as a look of disdain spread across his face, “…A mistake they’ve paid for with their lives. We shall not make such a mistake.”
“Yes,” Lady Amata said, full of sepulchral melancholy for those that had been lost, “Still, these hunters had their use… and with them we’ve finally discovered the location of Xander’s mysterious fortress, long forgotten among our people.”
The elder’s might have been reckless in their hasty decisions, but they had been a useful tool when Lady Amata called upon them to take up arms against the summoner threat; but like all tools, they broke under a burden they couldn’t control.
“Send a message to the rest of our allies,” Lady Amata commanded as she knelt down and picked up the charred arm of one of the elders. It was burned to a crisp and barely resembled the man that once connected to it, a sign of the sheer power they had allowed to run amok on the world.
“What would you have me tell them, mistress?”
“Tell them that we move for House Franson under the next full moon,” Lady Amata continued, “I want all of our forces to descend on their castle, and like a plague upon the underworld, we’ll make him pay for his audacity.”
“Yes, Lady Amata. I’ll make the preparations right away.”
“Good,” Lady Amata said with a sickening grin, “If Xander believes that he can withstand the scope of my power, then we’ll show him exactly how misguided those thoughts were. The elder’s may have started the war for us for us, but we’ll take it to the next level. With swift action and relentless opposition, I’ll see him undone by his own impudence… there’s nothing that can save them now… nothing at all...”
The End
A Woman Scorned
Chapter One
“Wake up,” a gentle breeze whispered into Emily’s ear, “I need you to wake up.”
Emily opened her eyes to find herself far removed from reality and placed back upon the never-ending shores where she was reunited with her deceased mother. It had been months since her summoner awakening, yet it was like Emily never left, not even for a moment.
She could see the same school of dolphins gleefully playing in the crashing waves, while above, the seagulls continued to circle the same current; and in the trees, she could see the monkeys, each in hysterics over Emily’s bewildered appearance. These animals were in tune with a higher understanding among this blis
sful aperture, and the world saw their every need fulfilled. And so, with no reason to ever feel fearful again, they chose to stay in this paradise— everything, the same as it always would be.
“And as it should be,” the breeze carried forth, as if completing the thoughts tracing around in Emily’s mind.
“Mother?” Emily asked, “Is it you?”
“I’m here for you, my child,” said the breeze, streaming from inside the jungle. “Come to me…”
As Emily headed cautiously towards the looming shadows, the monkey’s laughter turn to jeering and an overwhelming sense of panic came over her. She wasn’t wanted here and wasn’t to be trusted.
They started to throw rocks and other miscellaneous objects at her; things best not given a closer look, and she forced herself further into the ominous landscape. It was all happening so fast, but Emily could feel the anger emanating from the very ground below. It wasn’t just the monkeys that wanted her gone; it was as if the plane’s collective entity was trying to expel her from this universe, like an infested disease that needed to be purged from its existence.
She rushed into the jungle without so much as a second thought; headed for the direction she last heard her mother’s voice. If this was the land of the summoners, long forgotten and outside the realm of time and space, then nothing would allow her to escape from their grasp and see her mother again.
They didn’t want her here. She wasn’t to be trusted.
“Mom, where are you?” Emily asked as she stopped for a moment to search through the thick foliage. With heart racing, sweat beading, and her breathing becoming increasingly more difficult, Emily felt a panic attack strike when she needed it the least. “Mother, I can’t do this without you!”
“I have so much to tell you.”
Her mother’s words gave Emily a new breathe of life and she turned run into sprint, hopes of reaching her mother, Amanda, once again fresh in her mind.
“There’s so much that you’ll want to hear.”
“You’re not making any sense,” Emily said to the cold breeze as it passed by with ferocity, “Where are you? Why have you forsaken me?”
“I miss you very much.”
“And I you,” Emily replied, “Both Steven and I have kept your memory alive… both you and father.”
“My only daughter, you are wise beyond her years and brimming with untapped potential. Why… why did you turn your back on me?”
“That’s not true!” Emily protested as she continued deeper into the jungle. It was getting darker, but it wasn’t the absence of light that hid the path from her, but instead, it was growth of darkness, unbridled and allowed to seep through the very soil below. The darkness was strong here, and it was getting stronger with every step she took.
“This… this is my fault,” Emily said as she slowed to a halt and dropped to her knees, “I’ve done this to you, haven’t I?”
“The fault is my own.”
“What are you talking about?” Emily asked, “I’m the one that betrayed their trust! I’m the one that walks with vampires! I’m the one that fell from their good graces! If their justice is so black and white, then let them make attempt on my life, not yours!”
“I’m getting so weak.”
“I’m not afraid of you!” Emily screamed to the sky above, now sheathed in a cloak of shadows and darkness, “You bring a war down upon my mother’s head… you bring a war down upon mine… and now you expect me to bend a knee to your power? I will complete your mission… but only to see my mother’s death hold meaning!”
“It’s so dark… and I’m so very weak.”
“I’ll save you, mother!” cried Emily as she called upon every fiber of her being to lift her from the darkness and see the battle continued. Someone was counting on her, and she wouldn’t see their suffering be in vain.
“Getting darker…”
Emily could feel the rage building from inside her, waiting to explode upon anyone with the gall to dare harm her mother. She would see her vengeance exacted, even if it took everything she had left.
It wasn’t like her to let anger control her, but something in this awful place permeated death and decay, and seeped into her soul through the most violent of thoughts. She struggled to keep a level head, but every bone in her body beckoned for justice. She wasn’t going to lose her mother again.
“Getting sadder…”
The voice was getting louder now, and Emily’s spirits rose with revelation that she might just make it through this, after all. She wouldn’t have allowed herself to admit it, here and now, but there was a moment when she thought this was nothing more than a sickening game, played out by those with interest vested in her demise.
“No! Please, keep back!”
Her words came with a forceful gust of wind and threatened to knock Emily onto the ground. She pressed onward in hot pursuit of her mother’s attacker. If it was a fight they were interested in, then it would be a fight she’d be happy to give them.
“Get away from me!”
Emily was getting close, but she feared it may not have been fast enough. She could barely see her hands outstretched through the darkness, much less whatever going on with her mother. All she could do now was pray that her mother still had a few tricks left up her sleeve.
“Don’t you dare touch take a step further!”
Like a beacon of light, Amanda lay atop a stone slab in the middle of a small opening, motionless, but very much alive. Emily could see no one else there with her, but who knows what lurked between the shadows? For all she knew, this had been nothing more than a perfectly executed trap, orchestrated by her malefactors.
“I’m here, mother!” cried Emily as she took her mother’s hand and pressed it tenderly to her breast, “Please… tell me that you’re okay.”
The only response Emily received was the dead look in her mother’s eyes as she lay staring up to the non-existent stars. Whatever had happened upon this alter, she had not been privy to its knowledge.
The darkness was still encroaching, a reminder that Emily had little time to learn the fate that had befallen her.
“Not even those I seek could be so cruel!” Emily called out to her unknown aggressors, tears streaming and filled with the rage of her mother’s spirit, “You act like you’re better than the monsters you created, yet here you are… acting exactly like them! How do you expect me to see the light when you’re all so clearly mad like the darkness that engulfs this entire plane? I denounce you! I denounce every last one of you—!”
“Foolish, little girl,” said her mother as she woke from her catatonia and grappled onto the arm of her daughter, “How very foolish of you to betray your own people… all over the slightest misunderstanding.”
“I-I don’t understand,” Emily stuttered, in shock from recent developments, and still not completely aware of what was truly going on, “You’re not m-making any sense, mom.”
“M-mom’s not h-here right now, l-little g-girl,” she mocked, “How easy it was… to bend you to my will. You’ve no hope in defeating me, girl… no hope in the entire world. Not even your summoner heritage can save you from the hellfire I’ll unleash upon you.”
Suddenly, the darkness overtook them and tore them from each other’s grasp. Emily could feel the hate and resentment infused in the darkness’ mantle, clawing its way down her throat and choking her off from the world she so carelessly left behind.
The darkness seemed to gather the nourishment it needed from Emily’s soul, and receded back to the nether realm below, just as quickly as it had overtaken her.
“It’s good that we have this time to ourselves,” said a voice’s voice from behind the shadows, “Step closer… and let’s get a good look at you.”
As Emily shuffled closer, unsure of the fate that had befallen her; a single white light seemed to shine down to the ground below, where a beautiful young woman sat atop a golden throne. Her beautiful brown locks cascaded down her lightly-bronzed neck and shoulders,
right down to the cleavage bulging out of her black corset. She was a beauty, aged to perfection and wanting everyone else to know it, as well.
Wherever Emily was, she wasn’t among the summoners; and likely, she never had been.
She was in the vampire queen’s world now. A land where Amata reigned supreme and all would fall upon her feet in servitude.
“I wanted to take this opportunity to introduce myself,” the vampire queen said, “It’s hard to believe such a young girl could’ve evaded my grasp for so long, but here you stand, rebellious as ever, ready to finish what your elders so carelessly began.”
A Moonlit Night - The Complete Saga Page 17
