Magestorm: The Reckoning

by Chris Fornwalt

  “Hello there, mage. We’ve been hunting everywhere for you.”

  “And now you’ve found me, bloodsuckers. What are you going to do about it?”

  The third vampire entered the room, they began to spread out and circle around, trying to surround him. He closed his eyes and began whispering something inaudible to the others. A sudden bite on his shoulder made him wince, but it didn’t stop him from speaking. The vampires were surprised at how little he was fighting back.

  The vampire with the crimson shirt had begun working to drain him, enjoying the sweet taste of blood, when suddenly it changed. Before the other vampires knew what was going on, the vampire had let go, fallen to his knees, and was coughing the blood back up. It was black and smelled horrible, and he realized he was going to die.

  Dhane looked toward the other two, no expression on his face. They weren’t sure what to do, but the one in the trench nodded for the other vampire to attack. With a quick rush, he thrust the mage against the wall, forearm on his throat.

  “Think you’re clever? You won’t when I rip your tongue out.”

  Even though the vampire was trying to cut off his oxygen, Dhane’s lips began moving again. The forearm dug in harder, but it didn’t matter. When the vampire looked down, he realized his opponent’s hand had reached inside the vampire’s chest. With horror in his eyes, he looked up at the wizard and released his hold slowly and carefully.

  “If there is reincarnation,” Dhane whispered, “I hope you remember this lesson: never get too close to the great wizard.”

  A tug of his arm as he spouted the undoing spell of merging, he pulled his hand from the vampire’s chest, clutching the heart. The creature dropped to the ground, dead. Now there was only one left. Tossing the heart over his shoulder, Dhane stepped forward, towards the remaining supernatural creature, spouting a few more spell words as he did so.

  The vampire stepped back, waiting for the words to do something horrible to him. The mage finished speaking, his eyes cold as ice, and a grin crept across his face as he continued towards his foe.

  “Next.”

  Instead of launching a desperate attack, the vampire ran from the cabin and into the woods, leaving Dhane alone in the cabin. A quick check confirmed that the first vampire had died from the blood poisoning spell. The room was safe for Samantha to return. Now his focus returned to his remaining prey…

  Tracking the creature was easy. The last spell he had spoken was the homing spell, which would lead Dhane right to him. Running was pointless for the creature, as eventually daylight would come, and he would have to stop. The mage didn’t have to stop, and wouldn’t stop, until the bastard was dead.

  It took almost an hour to reach him, but finally he did. The idiot was hiding in a batch of poison ivy deep in the woods. Using the merging spell, Dhane put the poison ivy literally into the creature’s skin. It was tempting to leave him there, itching until he was insane and unable to break free of the leaves which were now imbedded in him. But the vampire broke the vines and stood up. The vines were hanging from it like some tree fairy or a comic book villain. He ran from the approaching footsteps but didn’t get far.

  This time, cries alone were enough to lead the mage to his would-be victim. At the edge of a cliff, clawing at his skin until it was bleeding, the creature begged for his life. Dhane felt no sympathy.

  “I’m only following orders. Please let me go, I won’t tell them where you are. You can trust me. Elisabeth, Charles, Sebastian, they are your enemies, not me.”

  “You are a devil, like those you follow. Witches, werewolves, vampires, all working to take control of the world by any means possible. Their time is coming, soon enough, and they’ll join you in hell.”

  The vampire stumbled away as the mage approached and lost his footing at the very edge. He fell a couple hundred feet, screaming until he started bouncing against the cliff. Finally he crashed through the trees. A branch must’ve impaled him, because Dhane could sense his life had ended.

  He sat on the edge for a while, listening and thinking. These vampires were dead, but surely they would be missed. If the searches were being done systematically, as Terrance had said, then someone knew they were in this area and would undoubtedly come searching for them. But perhaps there was a way to throw them off…

  5

  Samantha approached the cabin cautiously, surprised to see that the front door was wide open. A glance inside revealed to her the carnage Dhane had left behind. Two dead vampires, each was lying in a pool of his own blood. Her heart raced as she carefully approached the door. Her eyes darted all around the room for signs of danger, but the room was still.

  “Dhane?” She called out cautiously.

  No answer. Instead of doing anything stupid like walking into an ambush, she turned and ran back toward the other cabin. She reached the door, chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath. She beat on the door quickly, and glanced around behind her with wide eyes. Then there was a scream in the distance and her heart dropped, her skin went cold, and she thought she might faint.

  Was that another vampire? Was it Dhane?

  The door opened and Samantha pushed her way inside and slammed it shut. Amber was startled at being knocked out of the way. Her heart began to race and she had to calm herself. It was close to full moon, so her ability to control her change was limited. Claws formed briefly, but that was the extent of the flash of aggression.

  “Samantha, what’s going on?”

  Cassandra stepped into the room from the shower, water still running inside. Her hair was dry, so she hadn’t yet gotten in when she heard the ruckus at the door.

  “Vampires. We’ve been found!”

  “Oh God! Where’s Dhane?”

  Samantha stumbled backwards and nearly lost her footing, but Amber caught her and helped her sit on the bed. It was difficult, but she managed to get her wits about her again and focus on telling Cassandra what was going on.

  “I don’t know. There are two dead vampires in our cabin. And... and I heard a scream from somewhere in the woods. I just don’t know…”

  “Jesus Christ, we have to go look for him.”

  Amber was back to her feet and naked in seconds, then transformed into a hairy beast of extreme power. Out the door she stepped, sniffing at the air, and peering into the darkness for any signs of movement. A rabbit was not far off to the right, and an owl swooped overhead. The mage was not nearby, however. Without waiting for the others, she vanished into the woods, hunting for signs of their friend.

  Once she had dressed, Cassandra grabbed Samantha’s hand and they hurried out after the werewolf. It would be nearly impossible to find him out here at night, and they would be lost in no time. To prevent that, she cast the homing spell on the cabin before continuing into the woods.

  The two of them crept quietly through the woods, using the moonlight to guide them and listening for any noises. If was eerily quiet until a wolf’s howl replaced the silence. Samantha froze, her breath caught in her chest.

  “Relax, Sam, I’m sure that was Amber.”

  She nodded and let out the breath she had been holding. Cassandra was glad that worked, and just hoped she was right about that. At least they could press on and hope Dhane was somewhere nearby.

  Ahead they saw a wolf-like figure in the moonlight, standing at the edge of a cliff. Cassandra knew instantly that it was her lover and marched ahead without fear.

  “Any signs of him, Amber?”

  “There’s something down there, at the bottom of this cliff. Something dead. Dhane’s scent is here, but that doesn’t mean anything. Stay here while I go check it out.”

  They both nodded to the werewolf and sat down in the grass while Amber made her way around the cliff, finding ideal spots to climb down on. The witches waited nervously, expecting the worst. Silent prayers went through both of their minds as they sat silently, waiting for Amber to return. Of course, if the vampires, knew where they were, that also meant Elisabeth knew where they w
ere, and it was probably about over for them anyway. Surely reinforcements were on their way.

  Seconds turned to minutes, minutes to hours, and finally, over two and a half hours later, Amber returned. Once she reached the waiting women, she changed back to human form and caught her breath as quickly as she could, the steep climb having been exhausting.

  “It’s not him. It’s another vampire, dead. Oh, and his fangs are missing.”

  Amber sat down between the two witches, and silence encased them once again. Cassandra was stunned by Amber’s last statement. Could Dhane really do something like that? Samantha seemed to be in shock, afraid she had lost another friend in what had become a war which they were clearly losing.

  As for Amber, there was only one thing going through her mind. Dhane was still alive, somewhere. The question was, where?

  6

  The morning sun crept over the hills in Thauma and Charles charged into the council room. Elisabeth rolled her eyes as he stormed up to where she sat and waited for her to acknowledge him. Since he wasn’t going away without speaking to her, she finally glanced up at him.

  “Yes?”

  “I’ve got three patrols that didn’t check in. We need to get a search party out there immediately. It could be the mage.”

  “Where did these parties go missing?” She went back to looking over the spell book, wondering just how powerful she would be once she memorized them all. There was little interest in Charles’ concerns. It was doubtful Dhane and his friends were nearby. By now, she expected they had moved to another continent.

  “One group was North. The other two were at different distances out East. That’s nine vampires missing.”

  Slapping the book shut, she tossed it on the table and leaned back in the chair. This was beneath her, and really the whole reason Charles and Sebastian had high positions in the council. They were supposed to handle these things themselves and only bother her with important things.

  “Did you talk to Sebastian about this?”

  “Of course, but that animal could care less. He won’t raise a finger unless you order him to. His laziness will be the downfall of what you’ve built here.”

  With a huff Elisabeth stood up and grabbed the book. She walked to the wall and locked it inside a safe. Finally she marched across the room towards the door.

  “Fine, I'll go and speak with him.”

  She trudged down the hall and stopped at a room near the rear of the Grand Hotel. Loud music was coming from within, completely drowning out her knocking. A quick check of the handle revealed the door to be unlocked. Inside, the room was a mess, with clothes strewn everywhere.

  “Hello?”

  There was no answer, so she ventured in further. This room was combined with the next, merging Sebastian’s with Rachel’s into one larger apartment. A short hallway now existed between the two, which Elisabeth ventured down. As the music grew quieter behind her, there were different sounds behind the door ahead. It was cracked open, so she pushed it and found the werewolf she was seeking, but not alone.

  Rachel was completely naked, hands tied behind her back and a gag in her mouth. Leaned over a table, her man was behind her, pounding into her with utter force. Grunts and groans escaped her as he alternated tugging her hair, slapping her ass, and clutching her breasts while not losing rhythm.

  “When you two are done, I need to talk to you, Sebastian.”

  In stride, he looked over, nodded, and continued. Elisabeth shook her head with a grin and walked back to the other room. She turned down the stereo and cleared a spot to sit down on the couch and wait. The pounding and grunting came to a halt, and a few minutes later the shower turned on, and then the werewolf walked into the room. He grabbed a bottle of wine, and took a swig from it.

  “Aren’t you going to put some clothes on?”

  “Why? Like this is the first time you’ve seen me naked.”

  Smiling, she stood and walked over to him. She slid her hands across his broad chest, down his defined abs, and around his waist. With his strong arms, he picked her up and kissed her. His body was so hot against her that it made her want to strip down.

  “How long does it take her to shower?” she asked coyly as he put her down.

  “A long time. I put her in there still tied up.”

  With a grin, Elisabeth pushed him down onto a chair. He unfastened her pants and yanked them down to her ankles. She slid them the rest of the way off and climbed on top of him. The penetration was nearly all she needed, him being the largest, thickest she ever had inside of her.

  “Get busy,” he ordered, slapping her bare ass hard.

  Slowly she tried to stand back up, only to have him yank her back down, hands clutching her waist. They repeated their game until she was biting her lip to try and stay quiet. Rachel would kill them both if she found out, but Elisabeth simply couldn’t resist.

  With a muffled cry, her legs turned to jelly and she collapsed on him. He grinned and tossed her off of him and onto the floor. Then he grabbed her hair, pulled her towards him and gave her a final order.

  “Finish it.”

  This was the one part she hated. It was too big to comfortably fit in her mouth, but he pushed that on her whenever possible. Once he had finished, she washed her mouth out in the sink. He walked over and put his arms around her from behind, kissed at her neck, and slid a hand between her legs.

  “Don’t you ever get enough?” She sounded exhausted.

  “Never. Besides, it was you that came here to get fucked, did you not?”

  “No, that’s actually not the reason I’m here. That was just a… bonus.”

  He laughed and let her go to get dressed. With another drink of wine, he waited for her to continue with her real reason.

  “It’s about the missing vampires...”

  “Oh God, Charles came whining to you.”

  “Of course he did. We need them for now, at least until we find and kill the others. Then you can dispose of them however you see fit. Until then, can you send a couple of your boys out East?”

  Slowly he nodded, not happy, but he would do it anyway. The vampires, with their sheer numbers, did have their purpose for now. He hungered for the day he could be rid of them, however.

  “Good. Now, why don’t you swing by the council room later for some private strategy discussions, if you can get away.”

  With a wink, she strolled out the door and left the over-confident werewolf shaking his head. Women would be the death of him, he was sure, but he was going to enjoy the ride until then.

  Sebastian strolled into the bathroom and glanced at the shower floor. Still sitting there, tied up, gagged, and soaking wet, was the witch he’d been sleeping with for some time. She was glaring at him for leaving her like that. He kneeled down and grinned.

  “Well now, you’re just as I like you… wet.”

  7

  The two vampire bodies from the cabin were dragged off into the woods and dumped over the edge of the cliff by Amber, while Cassandra and Samantha worked at cleaning up the blood splattered on the floor. The next part of their plan involved moving further north and hoping Dhane was okay. They wanted to search for him, but they had no clue where to start. A small ounce of hope remained that he would show up before they had to go.

  Amber returned and changed back to human form. Dawn had just arrived and they wanted to be on the road soon. Having already packed for Cassandra and herself, Amber began to do so for Samantha and Dhane. They would leave no signs that they had been there, if possible.

  “Do you think Dhane will come back,” Samantha asked sadly.

  “I’ve thought before that he was gone forever, and he’s always returned. I’d say chances are...”

  “Good.”

  Dhane stood in the doorway, blood splattered all over him. His face was expressionless, but there was exhaustion in his eyes. The women all stopped what they were doing and watched him enter the room and walk over to the kitchen area. He grabbed a glass and sat i
t on the counter. A clinking sound made them all curious. Without saying another word, he stepped into the bathroom and turned on the shower.

  “What the Hell is going on?”

  Angry that he hadn’t provided an explanation, Cassandra stormed over to the bathroom and charged in. The blood soaked clothes were piled on the floor and the mage was in the shower facing away from her. She was beyond boundaries at this point and yanked the curtain out of the way to confront him.

  “What the fuck happened here?”

  There was no reply, no response at all. He didn’t glance over his shoulder or pull the curtain back into place. Instead he stood silently, lost in thought as the hot water rushed over him.

  “Cassandra...”

  Looking to the other witch, Samantha was holding the glass and looked pale, as though she may be sick at any moment. Cassandra walked over and looked down. Inside there were fourteen vampire teeth. The two vampires they had found in the room still had theirs, so where did these come from, they all wondered. She was not going to let Dhane get away with not talking about it.

  “Can you two give me some time alone with him?”

  Amber and Samantha both nodded and headed off to the other cabin. After twenty minutes, the shower turned off and Dhane walked into the room to find new clothes. When he didn’t begin an explanation right away, it was time for his former teacher to start grilling him.

  “Dhane, what happened?”

  “The vampires found us, so I had to put them down.”

  “And? Where did you go after the fight here? What’s with the vampire teeth?”

  “Oh, those.” He couldn’t keep from smirking about that as he put on a pair of jeans. “When I killed the ones that showed up here, I realized that more would come. So, I found other patrols out East and extinguished them. They’ll investigate those first, being more of their kind missing.”