Two more figures sauntered up on either side of him. The human vampire brides had joined the party. How had they traveled in the mist? Understanding filled my face as I spotted an open roof access door previously cloaked by the fog. I guess I had opted for the hard way to reach the rooftop.
“Did Naja put you up to this fool’s errand? What did she promise you for murdering me? Sex? Money? Immortality?" Ravanok shook his head and sighed. "Little Naja never knew how to play well with others. I guess if she can’t have me, no one will.”
Man, this bastard sure had no self-esteem issues? Part of me wanted to laugh in the vampire’s arrogant face, but the bevy of stunning monsters suggested the bastard had a way with the fairer sex.
Ravanok eyed his harem of pale-skinned, modelesque beauties as if guessing at my thoughts.
“Naja could never get it in her lovely head that I would never give up my other wives for her. It’s a pity,” he said with a shake of his head. “She was quite something.”
No shit, I thought.
Ravanok returned his attention to me. “As a mage, you should know better than to turn against a loyal member of the Cabal.”
He thought I was some Cabal acolyte who had fallen hard for his ex. This might give me some kind of opening. At least it was preferable for him believe I was some lovelorn stooge than to suspect the truth.
For a split second my gaze shifted to the bell tower. Man, I wished I could have plucked that giant bell right out of its moorings and sent it crashing onto the roof like a missile. Unfortunately, my skill level wasn’t there yet. Maybe one day. If I made it through this next few hours alive, which was questionable.
Ravanok took another step toward me, but I stood my ground, machine pistol leveled. The reason I was stopping myself from squeezing the trigger was simple—I didn’t have sufficient ammo to take out the whole gang, especially since they had the irritating talent of turning into fog. Even if I got lucky and hit the master, his horde would descend on me, and their sheer numbers would quickly overwhelm me.
Fuck, it was hopeless. What kind of damn vampire can prance around in sunlight, anyway?
A smile played across Ravanok’s monstrous visage. Almost as if he had read my thoughts, he said, “You wonder how my kind can brave the sun?”
He was right. Despite the gravity of my predicament, I was also curious. Why weren’t these vamps turning into a collection of Roman candles?
My stomach dropped as I realized the only possible answer. There was one force in this world capable of bending the rules governing supernatural creatures. The same force could alter the laws of physics. A power I was becoming increasingly familiar with.
Magic.
Ravanok had tapped into the power of the slain Guardian’s blood.
These vamps might not drink the blood of someone already dead without risking their own survival, but they sure as hell had no problem bathing in it. Some of its magical properties must have rubbed off on them. It would explain why his harem had gathered on the roof while the remaining members of the Coven remained inside the rotting walls of the monastery. I figured the brides all took their turn sleeping in Ravanok's coffin. The image of these creatures rutting away, blood running down their pale bodies, made my stomach turn.
“You’ve seen what my weapons and magic can do,” I said, trying to sound like I was in control of this situation. I leveled the rune-marked machine pistol at Ravanok’s harem as I spoke. “If you care about your lovely brides, you’ll tell them to back the fuck off.”
The vampire king stared at me incredulously for a beat, then burst into laughter.
“You’re in no position to make demands, wizard. By the time the sun goes down, I will have fed on your blood, and you will have joined the ranks of the living dead below.”
I didn’t like the sound of this at all, so I opted for a different tactic. My gaze bored into the vampire king as I threw out a challenge of my own.
“The Cabal knows what you’ve been doing Ravanok. You’ve gotten greedy, haven’t you? You tapped into the magic you were supposed to protect.”
The vampire lord’s inhuman eyes narrowed.
“I wonder what the Seven Masters will think about you using the magic of their enemy,” I said. “Bet they won’t be pleased. And you know what they do when they’re unhappy.”
Man, I was talking up a hell of a good game, and to my amazement, it was working. I barely knew anything about the seven mages who ran the Shadow Cabal, but I understood that just dropping their name was making this vampire real nervous.
“The Shadow Cabal won’t appreciate you killing one of their own,” I continued. “And I am not without friends in high places.”
Ravanok regarded me. “Then I will make sure they never find out.”
Not the response I had been hoping for. Fuck it. This conversation was getting boring anyway.
Ravanok appeared to feel the same way. A split second later, the vampire master began to change.
A giant pair of ebony bat wings exploded outward from his back. Albino skin turned black and membranous while his human features took an animalistic turn. The powerful muscles thickened even more. The bat monster advanced as the lovely ladies who made up Ravanok’s harem watched, their growing excitement obvious as they moaned and writhed. I guess seeing their king morph into a giant bat and maul his victims was an aphrodisiac among vampire brides. To each their own kink. Most disturbing was the thrilled expression on his two human conquests. There was no disgust or terror on their perfect features as they licked their lips in anticipation. Crazy wenches.
This wasn’t the first supernatural beast I’d faced, and I promised myself it wouldn’t be the last. Fortunately, by turning into a winged nightmare, Ravanok had provided me with a way out of my current predicament.
I let the monster draw closer and did my best impression of a victim paralyzed with mortal fear. It wasn’t exactly difficult. Ravanok was massive and seriously pissed off. Encouraged by my frozen state, the winged vampire master homed in on me, eager to bury his wide-open jaw into my throat. The distance between us shrank, twenty feet, fifteen feet…yet I continued to hold my ground. The timing would have to be just right.
Closer.
Closer.
NOW!
I pulled out my silver chain whip and hurled the end at Ravanok. The whip snapped around his neck, the silver hooks burying all the way into the mottled flesh. An inhuman shriek cut across the roof. The other vampires took a step back, stunned.
As Ravanok’s claws scrabbled at his neck, I increased the pressure on the whip, driving the chain’s silver spikes even deeper into the monster’s leathery hide.
The vampire lord let out another shriek that swelled into a roar of rage and pain.
Music to my ears.
Finally understanding that he wouldn’t get free from the barbed silver whip, Ravanok took to the air. I guess he expected me to release my chain rather than being dragged along for an aerial ride. Nothing was further from the truth. I wanted to get off this roof, and the vampire lord would be my ticket out of here. But I planned to take my flying lesson under my own terms.
I held on tight to my end of the whip, preventing the beast from shooting all the way into the sky. The agitated creature flailed above, wings flapping. I toyed with the idea of gunning Ravanok down as he strained against the extended chain but decided against it. For one, I wasn’t sure if my pistol would be enough to finish off the vamp. For another, I would still find myself trapped on this roof with a ravenous harem of vampire brides. Not to mention the bloodsuckers biding their time below. No, my best—my only—chance of getting out of here was Nosferatu Airlines.
Ravanok continued to shriek in agony. I wasn’t letting go of my end of the whip, and he wasn’t powerful enough to pull me into the air, so the vampire made gravity work for him. He shot toward the edge of the roof with an unexpected burst of strength borne from his growing desperation and irritation. Once over the edge, Ravanok would no doubt surge
down the mountain below. The maneuver would either force me to let go of the chain or send me over the ledge myself.
Instead of fighting the descending beast or being dragged along behind him, I ran after the flying creature at full tilt. As expected, Ravanok passed the edge of the roof and vanished from view.
I stayed right behind him and launched off the roof at full speed. Like some crazed skydiver I hurtled after the winged monster fifteen feet below me, one end of the whip tight in my hand and the other still wrapped around Ravanok’s throat. The creature's ten-foot wingspan made it an ideal target. Before my little infusion of dragon blood, my plan would have sounded awesome on paper but would have failed miserably. Fortunately, the monster blood pumping through my arteries gave me the edge I needed to pull this off.
And I did.
I landed on the winged monster’s back and hung on for dear life. If I let go, there wouldn’t be a second chance. Dragon blood or not, a fall from these heights would break every bone in my body. I hooked my hands under the silver chain wrapped around the bucking beast’s muscled neck.
The creature dive-bombed toward the ground, swooped upward again, and spun wildly through the sky, but I wouldn’t let go. I was riding this monster like a wild bull. I felt the strength leaving the creature’s body with each failed attempt to shake me off its back. The vampire’s inhuman howls of agony rent the night air as the chain ate away at his sizzling flesh.
I had worried Ravanok might return to the roof, but the bastard was too worn out. We were headed for a crash landing. I hoped that the creature’s body would take the brunt of the impact.
Ravanok knew who was in charge now. In case there was any doubt left in his mind, I leaned over his bat ear and released the twin blades. The sound of the knives shooting out spoke louder than words. Steel gleamed in the fading light. It would take only one quick move on my part to drive the knives through the creature's leathery shoulder blades.
Resigned to the reality he would have to play along at least for now, Ravanok plummeted toward the mountain side. He tore past the tree line, and branches lashed me from all sides. Damn it, we were coming in too fast. Ravanok’s plan was becoming all too clear. At this speed, I wouldn't be able to hold on to the beast for much longer.
A tree branch shot out at me, and this time it rammed into me full-force. I was hurled off the bat creature and went flying. Somehow I maintained the wherewithal to trace a triangle into the air as I soared over the top of the trees. On a furious downward trajectory, the ground rushing up at me with bone-shattering speed, my Shield Spell activated. A protective energy bubble engulfed my wind-milling form. Not a moment too soon as I slammed with devastating force into the hill, clouds of dust rising around me.
The shield had cushioned my landing somewhat and diffused the impact, my magical bubble sparking and flashing as it bounced over the rocky ground. I landed in a nearby thicket, which brought my mad tumble down the mountain to a crashing halt.
The energy bubble dissolved. I inhaled dirt and choked it back up in a raspy cough. I felt like I had gone a few rounds with a vicious MMA fighter. I didn’t even want to think of the bruises I had just added the my growing collection.
What did you expect, Marine? I asked myself. You just rode a monster down a mountainside.
It was a goddamn miracle I hadn’t broken every bone in my body.
A savage bellow thrust me out of my head and reminded me of the imminent danger. I turned toward the sound and saw the winged beast shake my silver chain whip off its neck in one violent burst of motion. Faster than I would have believed possible, Ravanok rushed toward me, insane with rage.
This was my chance. Instead of seeking cover the way any person in their right mind would have, I launched myself at the creature of darkness. We collided in mid-air, and the gauntlet’s twin blades tore through the monster’s already mauled throat. A bestial scream filled the forest, and black ichor streamed from Ravanok’s shredded throat, drenching me. A beat later, I found myself buried under the bat-creature's heaving bulk.
I pushed the dying monster aside. The whip had mortally wounded the vampire master. Only his rage had kept him going. Now that was running out as the gash spurted black blood.
A chorus of inhuman cries echoed Ravanok’s dying roars from the monastery high above. The lamentations of the vampire king's brides, a dirge of the damned.
In my mind’s eye, I pictured their tormented expressions the moment they grasped that their precious master had fallen. Even at this distance, I knew they all stood at the edge of the roof, their superior senses directed me.
Make your move, I thought.
And they did.
One by one, the figures lining the monastery’s roof leaped toward the forest, a hail of meteors rushing toward the ground, driven with a singular dark purpose—the annihilation of the monster hunter who had slain their beloved master.
Ravanok's harem was after me.
And they wouldn’t rest until they had avenged Ravanok’s death.
It was high time I got my ass out of this forest. My jaw tightened as I ran down the mountain, tapping into whatever reserves of energy were still left in my near-empty tank. The trees soared past me as I flew down the hillside. I regretted not grabbing Ravanok’s skull, the only part of the vampire lord that had remained after the ashing process. It would have looked nice in Octurna’s collection, but there was no time to stop and collect souvenirs.
Speaking of the sorceress, where the hell was she?
“Right in front of you, Jason.”
For a split second, I thought I had imagined the voice in my head. Then I spotted the wooden cabin that seemed to have sprung out of nowhere. Nuala stood in the cabin’s open doorway.
I picked up the pace.
So did my pursuers.
The fading sunlight conjured winged shadows on the forest floor.
And then I was through the cabin's door.
I risked a glance behind me. Unlike Ravanok, his brides hadn't undergone a full transformation. Their porcelain-skinned bodies and faces remained gorgeously human, but giant bat wings had sprouted from their backs. Those wings sliced through the air, on a direct collision course with the cabin.
Nuala slammed the wooden cabin’s door shut seconds before the first winged abomination reached us.
Then I wasn’t looking at a cabin door any longer but a stained-glass church window which showed a painted version of my winged pursuers frozen in a tableau.
A shadow fell over my face as I looked up at a smiling Octurna.
“Welcome back, my knight,” she said. “Did you miss me?”
The truth was I had.
6
Octurna held up the chalice with the slain Guardian’s blood, and for one moment I almost expected her to down it as if she was a vampire herself. As she studied the cup, I detected a note of sadness in her perfect features. The blood was all that remained of her close friend, whoever it had been.
I wondered how the sorceress planned to tap into the blood’s power. She kept telling me how limited her magic had become since her exile to this castle, but compared to my own developing abilities she was a serious badass. It made me wonder what dark miracles she might be capable of if she was in full command of her power.
“So what happens now?” I asked.
Octurna didn’t respond, in a world of her own. I’d never seen her like this before. She always projected strength and power, but she was now showing an unfamiliar level of vulnerability. The sight of the fallen guardian’s blood was deeply affecting her. I wished there was something I could do to help, but if I reached out in comfort now, she would turn away.
At last her glassy eyes cleared, and she blinked away tears.
“More work remains for us before we can tap into the blood's power.”
There was an ominous quality to her words. I had a feeling I wasn’t going to like whatever came next.
Octurna tilted her head at the bright windows, and I followed her gaze.
The wall of windows shifted into one large painting of what appeared to be a wasteland of broken rocks and timbers. I stepped closer, and the painted image shimmered, turning into a real picture. The stained glass windows were working their magic, becoming our portal to the outside world. To my surprise, I recognized the debris field framed by a series of green mountains.
I was staring at my handiwork—the ruins of the Cabal’s Los Angeles lodge, which I had leveled to the ground with the help of Octurna’s magical bomb. Images of the structure disintegrating before my stunned eyes still haunted my dreams. I had seen plenty of explosions during my Marine service, but none had rivaled that one for destructive force. Where the mansion once stood, only a giant black crater remained, a terrible scar in the Malibu landscape. Nothing would grow in the scorched earth for generations to come.
“Why are you showing me this now?”
“Take a closer look, Jason.”
I leaned forward and screwed up my eyes. At first, I detected no sign of life in the black crater. Weeks had passed since the explosion, and the authorities had long completed their investigations. I wondered what they thought happened to the lodge. Then my eyes widened as I spotted movement among the mansion’s scorched ruins. A black shape was making its way through the apocalyptic landscape.
Now that I had spotted the mysterious figure, I couldn’t pull my eyes away from him. The wraith's medieval cloak fluttered in the wind as he methodically combed the ruins of the Cabal mansion. The window locked on the stranger and zeroed in. I knew I was looking at a man, but his features remained hooded by his black cowl. He sure as hell didn’t look like an arson investigator even though he appeared to be studying the site in the same methodical fashion, almost as if he was taking mental notes along the way.
The figure grew still and then whirled toward us. I glimpsed a granite face, and the figure’s eyes lit up with a spectral blue light. The brilliance extended outward and filled the magical viewing screen. I recoiled as everything went supernova, white hot light devouring the landscape for an instant before the windows went dark.
Night Slayer 2: Monster Quest Page 7
