by James Somers
Grayson Stone watched Brody from his table on the far side of the main dining room. He had spun a glamour about himself that rendered him to watching eyes as an elderly gentleman sitting with his wife. The wife was pure illusion, though she gibbered away, henpecking her husband about his atrocious table manners. Grayson was confident that not even Brody, as powerful as he was supposed to be, could see through his manifestation.
He saw Brody’s conversation with the vampire woman, but he was too far away to hear anything given the murmuring din in the room. Still, he knew what was transpiring from his father and his part in all of this. When Brody finally closed his eyes, Grayson felt the young man’s power exerted upon the spiritual plane and upon everyone within the restaurant. He remained immune to Brody’s mental coercion, but this was still the moment he had been waiting for.
Grayson closed his own eyes and began to add his power to Brody’s as he attempted to open a gateway into the vampire-controlled realm of Greystone. This matter of releasing the vampires had been by design, and he meant to see it done, though for reasons completely separate from having the Lycan princess released, or for the benefit of the vampire lord’s daughter reuniting with her people. Grayson’s father had plans in motion, and all of these fools had played into his hands.
He was surprised by the skill Brody possessed. The young man appeared to have learned much from Oliver James, and more still from his teachers while studying in Tidus, not to mention the natural instincts inherited from the fallen angel, Southresh. Grayson attempted to aid Brody’s efforts without revealing that help. It was a subtle business, but not impossible. After all, the young American lacked experience, and Grayson had been trained in these matters all of his life.
As links began to coalesce from where they were in the mortal world, through the spiritual plane into the realm of vampires, Grayson was startled to find another force at work. He could not identify the entity adding more power to their efforts, but clearly someone was working toward the same end from the other side, from within Greystone itself.
A vortex of power was forming that threatened to suck him within. Grayson noticed Brody caught in this phenomena also. The young man was attempting to anchor his mortal body to the physical plane. Grayson followed his example, establishing links to his surroundings. The building groaned around them. Walls were bowing to the forces exerted upon them, as the realm of Greystone fought with the mortal world for dominance.
Kron stood upon the roof across the street from the famous Tap Room restaurant in central London. He and his Lycan warriors had followed Brody West and his butler, Uriah, to this place with the hope of gaining proof concerning his connection to the vampires and their role in the kidnapping of Princess Sophia. With any luck, the royal heir had already been killed. One loose end he wouldn’t have to contend with contesting his rule in Tidus.
The vampires were definitely present. They had scented them at the restaurant, witness the woman, Charlotte, entering the Tap Room dressed for dinner. Kron had made sure that his warriors understood the implications of what they saw. Already, the Lycan soldiers were itching to get inside and deal with both the vampires and Brody.
However, something unexpected had occurred. Kron and his soldiers watched as the Tap Room began to shift upon its foundation. The walls popped in places as the building shifted in relation to its surrounding, buckling in places and swelling in others. Cracks formed in the windows. Some exploded as pressure upon the structure increased. He had no explanation for what he was seeing.
Tom tried to scream as Tiberius knocked his makeshift sword away and lunged at him, fangs aimed at his neck. Two white hot daggers plunged into his flesh. His body became paralyzed almost instantly. He could hardly breathe. His life ebbed away, as the vampire lord drained the lifeblood from his veins.
His grip on consciousness became tenuous. Tom knew that he would be dead in moments. Already, his Lycan companions had been killed, their bodies torn apart by the ravenous vampires accompanying Tiberius to the giant’s castle. The giants themselves were currently meeting a similar fate, as the vampires sated their maddening thirst.
Tom imagined himself clinging to the edge of a cliff by a straining few fingers. Death yawned beneath him like a monstrous beast waiting to devour him completely. He would lose what grasp he had left in seconds. His blood was draining out under the vile control of Tiberius. An ocean of life drawn into a vortex, and Tom caught in the current unable to stop his imminent demise.
Then he remembered something about his blood that he had forgotten—preparations he had made just before saving Brody’s life back in London. He had meant the measure to be for the boy’s safety, rather than his own. But he clearly needed it more. Tom had established a blood bond so that either of them could immediately open a portal link between them.
As his grasp on life waned—his body only supported now by the vampire sating his thirst at Tom’s expense—he reached out through the spiritual plane, using the blood bond as the means to fasten himself to Brody. He didn’t have to know the boy’s location, or even have the strength to breach Greystone’s natural barriers. The power of the blood bond would do all of the work for him.
He felt resistance at the last, when Tiberius stopped drinking from him long enough to crow about his victory. The vampire was speaking into his ear, as the blood bond tore him away from Tiberius’s grasp, hurtling him through the spiritual plane toward his young friend somewhere in the mortal world. He had no strength left in his own body, but Tom managed a smile as forces beyond his control catapulted him from Greystone and the reach of the vampires.
Chaotic
I felt Tom’s presence on the spiritual plane a fraction of a second before my eyes flew open, still sitting across from Uriah and Charlotte in the Tap Room. I was facing a huge wall mirror across from our table, watching a young man’s seemingly unconscious body thrown toward me. As the body in the mirror drew closer—for it seemed to be falling toward the mirror’s surface from within—my breath caught in my chest.
“Tom!” I shouted.
Despite an apparent earthquake rending the structure around us, both Uriah and Charlotte followed my gaze toward the giant looking glass just as Tom’s body struck the mirror from the other side. He exploded through the glass, tumbling across several tables before landing limp like a rag doll upon ours.
He was barely awake, but did manage to look up into my eyes with a weak smile. “Hello, Brody,” he managed. “Did you miss me?”
“Tom?” Charlotte shouted.
The restaurant was shaking violently, as though a train were bearing down upon it, about to strike at any moment. All eyes were off of our little exchange now. Persuasion or not, the mortals were fully awake to the unfolding drama. There was nothing that could be done about their awareness now.
Alexander stood, shouting toward me. “Treachery! Kill them!”
The vampires flew into action immediately. Alexander grabbed hold of Sophia, preparing to end her life. I rallied what strength I could muster, hoping to defend her. Uriah stood to his feet, ready to defend me.
“Brothers!” Uriah bellowed.
From the walls, invisible forms coalesced. Troll warriors leaped into the room, going after the vampires with swords, battle-axes, and war hammers in hand.
“No, Alexander!” Charlotte cried.
“Uriah, get Tom out of here!” I shouted, as the roaring cacophony and structural twisting increased in magnitude.
Alexander hoisted Sophia into the air, ready to strike her down. I looked into her pleading eyes. I would not be able to stop him in time. I disappeared and then reappeared, my hand holding Sophia’s. Chaos intervened.
A temporal shift occurred, bringing the realm of Greystone into direct confrontation with the mortal world. Normally, these two stood in relation to one another like ships passing in the night, barely aware of one another. Those ships had now collided head on.
A castle from the realm of Greystone smashed into the famous Tap Ro
om, driving the London eatery completely from its foundation. The roof collapsed partially, as the walls were pushed out, leaving the flooring and most of the tables still standing. All combat stopped momentarily, as the vampires and trolls took stock of what had happened.
However, with the temporal shift, all glamours had fallen. The Descendant combatants stood completely exposed together before the mystified mortals in the restaurant. That’s when the screaming began.
Alexander had dropped Sophia, as a block wall from the castle slammed into him. But I still had a hold on her hand. Alexander recovered almost instantly, leaping toward us. I had no time. I vanished with Sophia, reappearing next to Uriah.
As Greystone merged with the mortal world here in central London, the vampires dwelling in their realm realized the way out had been opened to them. Tiberius and his Breed flooded into what was left of the restaurant, leaping upon human prey as quickly as they could find them. My fears about opening Greystone were already coming to pass.
I looked at Charlotte, standing in her evening dress with her hair falling down around her shoulders in a disheveled mess. “Well, you got what you wanted,” I said. “I hope you’re happy.”
Uriah laid hold on Tom, picking up his unconscious body from our table as we prepared to leave this unfolding catastrophe. Charlotte grabbed Tom’s shoulder. Quick as a flash, Uriah whipped a pistol from the holster beneath his suit jacket.
“I wouldn’t do that, Miss,” he warned.
Charlotte stared at him, but she did not let go of Tom. “I owe him a life,” she said. As her grip tightened on his clothing, tears of frustration welled in her eyes.
I was in no mood to fight Charlotte, with all that was happening around us. Redclaw and his trolls were fighting with Alexander, barely keeping him away. We had no time for this.
“Fine,” I said. “Carry him out while Uriah runs interference.”
No sooner had the words left my mouth than Charlotte hoisted Tom over her shoulder, ready to run in the opposite direction of this calamity. We turned, only to find Kron and his Lycan soldiers running into what was left of the ruined building.
“Princess!” one of Kron’s soldiers shouted when he spotted us.
“West has joined the vampires!” Kron shouted. “Kill them before they assassinate the princess!”
The situation had now gone completely out of control. I shielded our group with an invisible extension bubble. The Lycans and vampires hit us at about the same time. I quickly flexed the bubble inward then out, flinging those around us across the room, sending them tumbling among the wreckage of the Tap Room. We had nowhere to go.
Vampires were still coming through the rent in the spiritual plane. Their feeding frenzy upon the mortals had devolved into an all out battle with Redclaw’s trolls and Kron’s Lycans. A war between the Descendant clans had erupted in downtown London, and there seemed to be no way to stop it.
The weather had also gone haywire. A tremendous thunderhead had formed above the rent between the planes. Vortexes churned debris into miniature tornadoes, while bolts of white hot lightning connected between Earth and sky over and over again. The air had turned frigid, and sleet was already mingling with rain in a downpour, threatening to grow worse still.
In the midst of it all, I still had no idea how the situation had gotten so out of control. I had felt other forces at work during the creation of the links to Greystone. Perhaps, someone had wanted this all to happen. At the moment there was no way to know.
I mustered my reserves then, creating a link to my library. Everyone within my extension would be drawn into the portal with me, though I could feel the effort sapping the last vestiges of my strength. I had simply exhausted my energies during my efforts to open Greystone.
As I released my control on forces now in motion, I noticed Alexander again. He was standing in the midst of the fray, seemingly invisible to the other combatants, for they paid him no mind now. He grinned at me in a way that made my blood run cold, and I knew that I had seen him before. The face was different, certainly, but the person behind the face seemed the same. Lucifer.
He made no further move toward us. In seconds, we were gone from central London, arriving in the same moment at my home in Highgate. I knew immediately that we had been caught up in the fallen angel’s machinations again. There seemed no escaping him, in fact. Moreover, I wondered if our next move had already been anticipated. Would we continue to play into his hands and what would the result be?
“Retreat!” Redclaw commanded.
The battle between the Lycans, his troll warriors and the vampires had quickly turned against them. The Breed were flooding through the rift where Greystone and the mortal world had converged. It seemed as though Tiberius had brought his entire army with him.
So far, only one of his fellow trolls had been killed. Amazing, given the number of Descendants battling in this demolished restaurant. But the Lycans and the vampires were clearly focused on one another now. Their natural hatred for one another had given Redclaw the opportunity he needed to get his men out of here before matters turned worse. After all, he had only agreed to provide cover while the princess was rescued. Brody had just teleported them out, so he was free to withdraw.
His fellow trolls complied with the new order immediately. They became invisible again, dispersing with minimal effort while the battle between the Breed and the Lycans intensified. Redclaw took a final glance back at Kron and his werewolves, as they began to be overwhelmed.
“Serves you right,” Redclaw commented. He spit upon the ground and turned away from the fighting, following his invisible troops in retreat.
The circumstances had changed drastically since Kron and his soldiers had arrived on the scene to find Brody West fleeing with Lycean’s daughter and the female vampire. The vampire lord had come with overwhelming forces, now that Brody had opened Greystone to them. The boy’s treachery was certain now.
“Fall back!” Kron called to his soldiers.
They could not sustain the fight now. He had to withdraw. However, with what he had learned today, Kron was ready to call upon his people to wage war upon the vampires and Brody West.
“Chase the dogs back to their holes,” Tiberius told Alexander.
The tall vampire bowed to his master. “My lord, they will attempt to flee to Tidus. Should we pursue?”
“No,” he said, wiping the fresh blood of a mortal victim from his lips. His eyes shown bright crimson now. “Leave them stinging for now, but do not pursue them into their realm. In due time, we will strike at Lycean and his dogs.”
“I am informed that their king has been assassinated,” Alexander said.
Tiberius smiled broadly, then began to laugh. “Wonderful news after we have suffered so long in our confinement,” he said. “Still, we must bring our people through the rift in order to feed. I spared the mortals their due for a time. Now, we will claim our rightful place in this world and we will begin by bleeding this city dry.”
“As you wish, my lord,” Alexander said, bowing again. “I will make arrangements for our people immediately.”
Tiberius caught his general by the arm. “My daughter, Alexander,” he said, “I thought I saw her here briefly, when we first came through the rift.”
“Yes, my lord,” he replied. “She arranged for your release from Greystone. However, I believe she has been taken under a spell by a young man.”
“The elf, Tom?”
“Actually, a ward taken by Oliver James before his confinement with Black in Tartarus,” Alexander said. “He is a near Descendant of Southresh, my lord.”
Tiberius shook his head. “So much has happened that I have been unaware of, Alexander. I must have my bearing.”
“After I have made arrangements to bring our people to London, I will see that you receive all of the information you will need as to our current situation.”
“My daughter must be saved,” Tiberius said. “The boy, is he powerful?”
“He is
indeed, my lord,” Alexander reported. “He may even surpass the ability of Oliver James. Still, he lacks experience. And I am confident that we may have an ally in another young Descendant.”
“Another? Who is he?”
Alexander smiled. “His name is Grayson Stone, my lord. I can arrange a meeting, if you like.”
“Very good, Alexander,” Tiberius said. “I am grateful for your continued service. Do not think that I will not reward such faithfulness.”
Around them, vampires continued to gather through the rift. The Lycans were on the run with a small vampire troop chasing after them. Every mortal that could be found in the vicinity of the demolished Tap Room had been drained of life. Their bodies had been discarded like trash where they fell.
Alexander bowed himself again. “It is my pleasure to serve my king.”
Necessity
“There,” Charlotte said, pointing to the bite as she turned Tom’s head gently. “He has been drained almost to the point of death.”
I stood by her with Sophia and Uriah, watching and wondering what might be done for my friend. “Will he be transformed into a vampire?”
Charlotte sighed then gave me a pained look. “Have you learned nothing yet, Brody?” she said. “That’s a myth among mortals. One cannot become a vampire by being bitten. We are born not made.”
“Sorry,” I said. “Honestly, it’s never come up.”
“What can we do to help him recover?” I asked.
“Do you honestly believe she can be trusted?” Sophia asked. “After all that she’s done?”
I stood between the two of them, hoping to avoid any further violence.
“I did what I did in order to save my people,” Charlotte said hotly.
“Yes, and look how many died today when your father came through Brody’s portal into the mortal world,” Sophia shot back.
