"Sure. Maybe enjoy a bit of time up here? The-- three of us," Tierney whispered as if embarrassed by the proposition.
"Under the moonlight," I added. "Sure, count me in."
"You'll need to do much better than that, Vampyre. I'm not so easy to please," Freya said. "And to add, I think you were quite wrong when it comes to the Serpent's leaders. Look over there," she added, pointing at the far wall.
"Oh, shit," Tierney cursed. "Those are the three leaders." She balled her fists and stormed up to them.
"Stop!" I yelled and used my shadows to pull her back. A massive club struck out from behind a wall passing just where her head had been. If she'd even made two more steps, it would have split her skull wide open.
Tierney looked down at her legs and glanced my way before she darted left and launched herself into the air.
"Thanks!" she shot me as she created space between herself and the unknown assailant. The spiked club pulled back slowly, digging itself free from the wall where it struck moments ago. Splinters of rock and debris dropped to the ground as the weapon disappeared beyond the corner.
"Freya! Anything you could cast on me? Some spells to improve my abilities?"
"Sorry," she replied and took to the air, leaving me behind. From behind the wall, the rattling of chains creeped the shit out of me. Slow, loud footsteps followed along with a menacing growl.
"You're saving us the time of searching for you? Thank you, creature," I said as it came to view. And what a creature it was. I wasn't well versed in the supernatural, so I didn't know what it was, but it was ugly and seemed super-strong. Thick, trunk-like arms and legs sprouted from a torso five times as big as mine. The head was bald and full of cysts, both pulsating and dead. Two large, round eyes stared back at me as it snapped its teeth. Spittle flew in all directions as it roared.
"Damn! That's one ugly fucker!" Tierney called out from above. "Just look at those muscles! He has muscles atop his muscles!"
I snorted at her commentary, but it was precisely the way I felt. This freak was hideous and muscled beyond possible.
"It's an Ogre," Freya said. "This one looks like he's about a thousand years old."
Chapter Seventeen
"What?" I cursed. "A thousand years old?"
"Yeah, and he's intent on killing us. Ogres, when aggressive, go all out until the end."
The club shot out right at my head. I sidestepped, but the spikes along the cudgel scraped my left shoulder. I grimaced, more annoyed by the bastard tearing my shirt apart than drawing my blood. Suddenly, the chain snapped right next to my face. I turned around just in time to see the weapon coming right back at me. I ducked, but only narrowly avoiding any more damage.
I darted in toward the Ogre with my claws at the ready, but there was the damn club again. His attack was slow and wide, but deadly if it hit. The most significant advantage I had seemed to be my speed and small size. There wasn't much room to move in between the small houses and buildings.
My long, sharp nails raked the side of his left arm, but they deflected right back at me harmlessly. I darted in past him and raked my claw across his back, but again the same result.
"Hey, Freya! Can you tell me a little more about this creature?" I asked ducking under another blow aimed for my head. A chunk of the wall took off flying when the weapon struck the stone and sent it flying toward Freya. She batted it aside, hissing at the creature.
"Impenetrable skin, tremendous strength, and immunity against bleeding, poison, and anything similar. That's about it."
"Just? Bah!"
I moved around him, almost dancing through the shadows, striking at weak joints, but he had none. "Shadows! Come to me!" I ordered and held my hands out. Two thick and pitch-black three-foot blades appeared around my hands. I struck at the Ogre's exposed arms but barely managed to scratch him.
"This isn't working!"
"No shit! I can't help you there," Tierney shot my way, but then did something unusual. She produced the sword she'd entrusted me back when I just turned into a baby Vampyre. I snatched it up and sliced along its right arm. The Ogre dropped the club with a roar and backhanded me, knocking me against the wall. My bones felt like they shattered, but I could still move.
"Any help?"
"No, sorry!" Tierney yelled. "I'm too weak for that!"
"And Chernobog won't be of much help either, for that matter," an ancient, gravelly voice spoke from the shadows. My heart skipped a beat when I recognized it.
"My nemesis," Dracul hissed in my mind. "Don't let your guard down, or even turn your back on him. He's much stronger than you at the moment."
I cursed and moved to put the two to my front as the Ogre bent over slowly and picked up his club.
"You are?" I asked as I reinforced my body with whatever shadow I could bring up.
"Nosferatu. I'm damn well hurt that you didn't recognize me, Ivan. After all, I know everything there is to know about you."
I narrowed my eyes on his ancient figure. He looked like his body had been put through a grinder many times over, his skin puckered with festering wounds and tiny, bleeding holes.
"I see," I replied, not quite able to comprehend the situation. So the bastard was still alive after all these years. "Can I give you my thanks for taking care of the three that ran the Serpents?"
"You can, but that won't change the fact that you must die. However, maybe it won't be today if you're good enough."
"Freya?" I reached out mentally. "Why aren't you doing anything? You're a goddess!"
But she didn't reply, not then, and not half a minute later.
"What? Cat got your tongue, boy?"
"No. I'm trying to come up with what you want from me."
"Oh well, isn't that obvious! I want you to turn into Dracul so I can steal your powers and become what I always should have become; the destroyer of this world!"
I frowned.
"So you want me to become so strong that you won't stand a chance?"
He shrugged and looked up at the girls. Suddenly, there was another person there, no, not a person. It was a woman that looked partially like a bird. She had talons for feet and claws for hands. Her red-green-blue wings fluttered, keeping her floating in the sky.
"And you won't until you figure out how to get to stage three. Maybe if I kill your girl, you'll be able to become that man," Nosferatu jabbed.
"Oh trust me, I'll become that man without anyone here dying!"
"Ivan!" Tierney cried. "She's strong!" I looked up just in time to see the woman slash her talons across Tierney's back, ripping her wide open.
"Tierney!" I shouted and launched myself in her direction. A chain caught my legs and brought me slamming down against the cobbled stone. The metal was searing hot to the touch and burned my skin right to the bone.
"No, no. That won't do. If you manage to kill my son over here, you can go for my daughter, but not before then," Nosferatu stated as he waggled his index finger. Oh, how I wanted to rip it right off his hand and push it right into his eye-socket. I looked at the insanely old creature in disgust and spat.
"You are here to sacrifice your children? To whom? You're already ancient and powerful."
He shrugged.
"They're still young. But if it's to be, then they'll die here tonight. If it isn't, then you will be the one doing the dying."
I winced, still caught by the chain. It burned just like in the battle with the guard Captain. The same? Did this ancient have anything to do with the Vatacan? No, now was not the time to think about it. Tierney was in trouble, and for some reason, I couldn't count on Freya.
I lunged in again and slammed my shoulder into his right knee. The Ogre staggered a step back and waved his arms around to steady himself. Using the shadow from my hands, I struck into the back of his knee, narrowly puncturing the thick skin.
"More, more, more!" I ordered. More shadow and pure darkness heeded my call and kept on pushing against the weak-spot for anything with limbs. The club came down
as I expected. I turned to mist as the weapon headed right for me. He stopped it halfway and looked around in confusion. I guessed that with all that muscle, the amount of brain-power it possessed wasn't that large. Using his confusion, I grabbed it from his arms and reversed the spiked side toward his face and slammed it right home.
"Hurry up, she won't make it much longer," Freya's voice lingered in the back of my mind just for an instant before it disappeared again.
I pulled the club back and swung it for a second time, sending it crashing right against his face. A thick spike passed right the Ogre's left eye and a second through the nose, embedding them into its head.
The Ogre bellowed and thrashed around, but it was far from dead. It brought it's thick fists down and struck me from the sides. Unable to dodge, I reinforced my arms to block the incoming blows, but it didn't help much as my left arm snapped at the elbow. It followed up with a head butt that hammered me straight into the ground. Using his left foot, he stomped on my right knee, shattering it beneath his weight.
Caught off guard, I had no idea how such a big creature was able to move so quickly, even after it was enraged. He was big and strong, but this was something else. And then I saw it. The same look in the creature's eyes just as in the Captain's when he had transformed. I would keep this to myself for now as I didn't want to raise any red flags yet, but we would need to get to the bottom of this.
"Nosferatu," I hissed speaking his name with as much malice as I could. "You don't happen to have any spare black crystals with you?"
He looked up at me questioningly as if I'd gone totally insane.
"What crystals? Have I missed something?"
"No, never mind," I said and jumped backward landing on my right leg. All the damage the Ogre inflicted healed up again pretty quickly, but before I had the chance to go on the offensive, was on me again. "Bind him!" I ordered the massive group of shadows that gathered in between the two towers. The shadows sprang forth and gathered around the Ogre's neck, choking him. I darted past him and grabbed hold of the club, jumped up and struck him against the back of his head. It deflected slightly, but I still managed to crack its skull.
"Yes, yes! That's it! The savagery! Kill him, Ivan!" Nosferatu roared. He laughed like a madman enjoying the occasion to its fullest, But I tried not to pay him any heed. First, the Ogre, then the bird-woman.
I swung the gigantic club again, hitting the same spot for the second time. Still it deflected, but I managed to change its path into another strike using my shadows. The third blow cracked its skull wide open. I pulled at it, wanting to hit him again, but It wouldn't give way as the spikes were too far in.
"Make a hammer!" I ordered as I stepped back and took the gigantic piece of darkness in both hands. The Ogre tried to turn around to defend itself, but I didn't let it as I brought the hammer down with all my strength, ramming the spikes all the way through his head. Blood and brain matter spilled all over the dirty ground, his one good eye hanging loosely by a thread. Slowly, he toppled over onto his belly and died.
I sighed and dropped to my knees, trying to steady my breathing, when a presence loomed over me. My head shot around, only to see Nosferatu standing over me with his hands wipe apart. It was as if he wanted to embrace me in a bearhug.
Darting out from his grasp, I rolled toward Tierney's sword and grabbed it, then launched myself up into the air where Tierney and the bird-woman grappled for dominance. Tierney was clearly on the receiving end, shown by the numerous cuts all over her body, but she was still holding on.
The silver sword sang through the air as I passed by the woman, slicing through one of her talons, and cutting it off just above the ankle. It shrieked so loud I got an instant headache. My mind rattled, I lost balance for a moment and dropped a couple of feet.
"She's a damned harpy!" Tierney cursed. "But I have no idea why she's so strong!"
I swept in again, slashing at her with the sword, but she evaded deftly and sent a gust of wind my way. It enveloped my body and tore at it like a hundred tiny blades. I cursed and called on shadow to press the gust outward, but it wouldn't give way.
"Harpy!" I yelled. She turned her head toward me and flapped both wings to stay afloat. I was mad at the whole ambush situation, angered beyond measure. Tonight should have been a fun night once we dealt with the three leaders, but not anymore.
"I'm not a harpy!" she screeched after taking a lungful. "Do not wave insults my way, Vampyre! I am a goddess!"
"Oh, no you won't, don't even think about it!" Nosferatu screamed. "She's been with me for a long time, Chernobog!"
"Maybe it's time for her to go back the way she was then," Freya snapped. I had to admit Freya did worry me for a moment when she wouldn't reply.
"Call her by her true name, Tierney! You know who it is! You came here to look for her in the first place!"
"Huh? What do you mean I came to look for her? We came here to destroy the Serpents and take over Bran!" Tierney shot back as she dove out of the bird woman's way. "Oh, wait! Gamayun? Is that you?"
"Hah! Children! You even forget the reason you came here! What will be in a hundred years? Will you be so senile that you'll forget to take a piss?" Freya hissed.
"What the fuck are you yapping about?" I snapped. "And why the hell were you silent all the time?"
"What's happening to her?" Tierney asked as Gamayun started convulsing, and stopped flapping her wings. She dropped atop the castle's highest roof with a loud thud. Tierney stayed back near Freya, obviously afraid of Nosferatu, but so was I. Freya seemed fine, though the droplets of sweat atop her brow revealed she had been busy doing something else while we were fighting.
"Fine!" Nosferatu hissed. "You win today, but there will be another day tomorrow, and the day after! There are hundreds more where these two came from," he cackled.
"Isn't it time you leave?" Freya asked. "I've beaten you three times now. Don't push your luck."
"Maybe, but that doesn't mean I can't tell my long lost 'friend' one last thing, no?"
Freya snorted, waving him off like he was a mere nuisance.
"Be quick about it. And if you try anything stupid, don't expect to get out of here in one piece. Ivan still has a big role to play in what's to come."
"My business isn't with him as much as it's with my brother Dracul."
"I see you still haven't gotten over it," Dracul's voice left my mouth. "Shouldn't you be hiding away up north in a cave somewhere?"
"Not anymore. I felt your return last year, brother, and though I should pay my respect and come say hi. After all, my dead wife, daughters, and son wouldn't have it no other way."
Dracul's emotions rocked me from the inside as Nosferatu said that last thing. They were all over the place
"I see that even after all this time you won't forgive me?" Dracul asked.
"I don't have the intention to ever do that. Keep one thing in mind, brother. I'll be there, waiting for you to reclaim your throne. This time it will be me who takes everything from you. Mark my words."
His body started shimmering and distorting as if he was turning into shadow, but then he disappeared, and all of the high pressure and killing intent vanquished. Dracul vanished into the back of my mind, cutting off the only way I could speak to him. This wasn't the first time, but it was definitely the worst one to date.
"Freya? Care to explain what happened during the battle?" I asked, turning to my goddess. "You mentioned something about three victories?"
She nodded with a heavy sigh.
"We didn't battle the way you two did," she said as I flew up to Tierney and inspected her wounds. They were closing, but not quickly enough, so I offered her some of my blood. "Our fight was more on a mental plane. He tried to strip me of my power. Not for good mind you, but for long enough so he could have his fun. I beat him down all three times, and that's why he left in the end. He was exhausted."
"In that case, I thank you, my goddess. Many different thoughts raced through my mind, to be honest.
In the end, you are who you are and work on a different plane than we do," I replied, cradling my Vampyre queen. She was obviously shaken from her near-death experience, which was good. We were never allowed to forget just how fragile we were against the unknown.
"How about you check on that bird woman? She might die if left unattended," Freya said. I cursed myself mentally for forgetting about her so quickly in the first place, but the revelation about Dracul and Nosferatu had somewhat shaken me.
"Come," I said, pulling Tierney down to the wounded Harpy. She nodded and put her hands around me as we dropped onto the roof. Gamayun bled profusely from her wounds and was barely breathing when I knelt beside her. It was almost unfathomable to see someone in such a state after playing with Tierney like she was an infant.
"Gamayun. Do you want to live?" I asked while using darkness to press down on the wound.
Her eyes fluttered open, and her lips moved slightly, but no sound came from them. She wheezed and coughed, spitting blood all over her chest and chin.
"Hey, blink once for yes, two times for no. Alright? Do you want to live?" Tierney asked coming up with a solution. She blinked once and stared up at us with her big, yellow eyes.
"In that case, I'll leave the honor to you, Tierney," I said moving out of the way. She leaned in closer and cut her palm, then placed it over Gamayun's mouth. The droplets of blood took forever to fall, or so it seemed as I observed the situation from the side. One, two, and finally, three drops of blood. The wound closed before any more blood left her palm.
"Am I-- turning into one of you?" Gamayun asked visibly recovering. What a little bit of high tier Vampyre blood could do was wondrous. We'd have to find a way to restore her leg, but even if we couldn't, I'd use shadows to keep her up or whatever.
"No, you're not. My blood is helping you recover quickly. Sleep now, we'll talk when you're all healed up."
She nodded once before drifting off to sleep, her chest rising and lowering slowly. Suddenly, she started changing from a half-woman and half-bird to a real woman. She looked so peaceful after turning back that it was almost soothing to look at her. Freya landed beside us with the missing part of her leg in hand and reattached it like it was nothing.
Lord of Shadows book 2: Bloodlines Page 13
