Lynxar Series - The Vampire King: Books 7-13 (7-Book Bundle)

by Hart, Melissa F.

  Chapter Three

  “Archer!” everyone cried out joyously together, as he and Dawn came through the front door of Lynxar’s house.

  “Thank goodness you’re here! How did you know we needed you?” Lynxar asked with a sigh of relief. He’d never been so glad to see Dr. Archer Speedlight or Dawn Bright in his entire life.

  “We were just coming here to talk to you and I saw through your walls that you were in trouble, so I decided not to bother knocking.” Archer said. He moved to Lynxar’s side and tried to remove the manacles from his friend’s wrists, but they had absorbed all of the superhero’s strength and were now many times stronger than he was. Even when he pulled with all his might, the manacles didn’t budge. Fortunately, they only absorbed the powers of the wearer or the situation could have been made even worse.

  Dawn moved to Rachel’s side and tried to remove her manacles too. Because Rachel didn’t possess any supernatural powers, her manacles only had their original strength and Dawn was able to remove them easily. Once her hands were free, Rachel was able to remove the ones from her ankles herself while Dawn moved on to help the Mayor.

  Teasingly, Dawn said to Archer, “Looks like I’m better at rescuing people than you are.”

  Everyone laughed at the joke, even Archer himself, as Dawn finished with the Mayor and moved on to help Vicky. The lighthearted moment was short-lived, however, as it became clear that Archer wasn’t going to be able free any of the three captured superheroes.

  “What are we going to do?” Rachel cried out fearfully, as she rubbed her tender wrists and peered at the clock. She knew the afternoon bell releasing the children from school would be ringing in just a few minutes. She said to Dawn, “The vampires are on their way to Jefferson Elementary right now to capture Lynxiennia and Aurora! The bell will ring any minute, and then they’ll be easy prey for him to grab as they walk out the door.”

  “We can’t let that happen!” Dawn Bright said in shock and horror. Her motherhood instincts took over and she pulled a bobby pin from her hair. She handed it to Archer and said, “Sometimes raw strength isn’t the answer and you just need some clever ingenuity. Try picking the locks instead of pulling them open.”

  The fragile wire bobby pin snapped in half when Archer tried to use it to pick the lock of the supernatural manacles, but he realized Dawn was right. He had to work smarter, not harder. Holding out his hands, he manifested a slender pick made of the golden metals and shining crystals of his home planet of Mathias. The precision tools were delicate enough to fit inside the lock, but strong enough not to break. With his superior eyesight, Archer was able to see inside the lock itself to use the picks to unlock the mechanism. Within moments, all three superheroes were set free.

  Without a moment to lose, the four members of the AHF rushed out the door with lightning speed. Dawn Bright felt tears stinging her eyes as she watched them go, hoping they would get to the elementary school in time to save her only little girl.

  “I just feel so helpless.” Dawn said, as Rachel handed her a tissue to dab her eyes.

  “Don’t worry, the AHF has never failed us and they won’t start now. Our daughters don’t just belong to us; they’re like the daughters of the entire group. Plus, there are plenty of things we can do to help from here.” Rachel said. Even as she spoke, Dawn saw that Mike was already on the phone, using his position as Mayor to summon police forces to the school. Vicky was on her own phone, directing her television news station to broadcast the evacuation protocols directing all citizens to safe locations.

  Dawn sighed with relief to know that everyone was doing what they could, but she still felt useless herself until Rachel grabbed her by the hand and started pulling downstairs. Rachel said to her, “Come on! We’re going to my laboratory downstairs. When Lynxar and Archer capture the vampires, they’re going to need someplace to put them. It’s up to us to have the last crystal coffin prison ready to go!”

  The crystal coffin had been untouched for nearly an entire year and was hidden the corner, buried beneath boxes and piles of papers. The two women worked quickly to uncover it and push it into the center of the lab.

  “We’ve got to increase its holding power to contain two vampires, instead of just one. Otherwise, over time, they might be able to break free of it.” Rachel explained. “I’ve been experimenting with Mathias crystals by growing some in an incubator. These crystals have double the magical properties of the originals. We’ve got to replace the primary crystals in the four corners of the coffin. If we fail, it won’t hold one vampire, let alone two!”

  Dawn felt her hands shaking as she handed Rachel the tools she needed to extract the old crystals. When Mike and Vicky had finished their calls, they came downstairs to help, too.

  “Okay, everybody take a crystal and place it in the slot I assigned you. Do it just like I showed you. If we work together, attaching the crystals simultaneously, we should have it done in time. By my calculations, Lynxar and the others should need this coffin any minute now!” Rachel commanded.

  “Ready!” Vicky said, sounding more confident than she felt as she picked up her crystal and carried it very carefully to her assigned place on the coffin.

  “Me too.” Mike said, sounding equally authoritative and confident. He was grateful that his position as Mayor had taught him how to sound calm under pressure, even when he was terrified inside.

  Dawn couldn’t stop her hands from shaking and wished she could be in control of her fear like the others. Closing her eyes, she thought of Aurora and how her little girl depended on her. Then she thought of Archer and how eager she was to walk down the aisle on Saturday and be his bride. The two people she loved most in this world were both counting on her to help them, and she wasn’t going to let them down.

  When Dawn opened her eyes, her hands were steady and sure. She picked up the crystal and carried it to her assigned place at the coffin. Rachel counted down to three and the four human friends slid the crystals into place, activating a new coffin prison that was stronger than any one before it.

  “We did it!” Rachel cried out triumphantly and they all cheered their victory. She looked at her watch and said “We’re not a moment too soon, because our heroes should be along any minute to pick it up.”

  Chapter Four

  Vladimus sneered distastefully at the cheerfully-painted school building, with its manicured lawn and shining playground equipment. Suddenly, a loud bell sounded and the front doors of Jefferson Elementary school burst open. Hundreds of children poured out of the doorway, laughing and running. Their youthful innocence and joy disgusted the two vampires who were watching them.

  “There she is!” Scarrietta called out. Vladimus followed her pointing finger with his eyes and saw her as well. The six year old girl would have looked like any other child in the first grade with her backpack and her lunch box, if it hadn’t been for the lavender color of her braided hair.

  Lynxiennia skipped down the steps leading away from the school, holding the hand of a little girl with sunshine-blonde hair. Her facial features were the mirror image of her mother, and there was no doubt she must be the daughter of Dawn Bright.

  “Get those two and bring them to me!” Vladimus commanded and Scarrietta rushed to do his bidding.

  Scarrietta swooped down upon them and grabbed Aurora and Lynxiennia around their waists. Suddenly, all the surrounding children began to chant in unison, “Stranger danger! Stranger danger!”

  A barrage of hardbound text books and heavy backpacks rained upon Scarrietta as the children pelted her with painful force. The surprise of the attack caused her to drop her victims, who fled as fast as they could onto the safety of a nearby school bus.

  “You fool! Can’t you capture two simple little girls?” Vladimus shouted in rage. He bore his fangs at the crowd of children and lunged at them, as if to bite them. Screaming in fear, they scattered and ran.

  Feeling embarrassed, Scarrietta said, “The little brats are harder to catch than they look
. Try grabbing them yourself and you’ll see what I mean.”

  Vladimus saw the faces of the two girls peering out of the windows of the school bus, along with all the other children within the vehicle, and his eyes glistened with an evil idea. He said to Scarrietta, “No need to waste our efforts when they’re already so neatly packaged for us.”

  He picked up one end of the school bus and Scarrietta quickly grabbed the other end. The school children inside screamed in terror as the bus was hoisted into the air.

  “Put that bus down! It’s time for you to leave!” a deep voice boomed. The two vampires turned to see Lynxar, along with Archer and Lynxonna, standing in front of the school. Although they couldn’t see him, they both realized the Ghost must be nearby as well.

  “If you want these kids, take them!” Vladimus shouted at the three members of the AHF. Suddenly, Vladimus and Scarrietta hurled the school bus at the superheroes as hard as they could. The bus fell onto its side and began to roll like a clumsy bowling ball against the hard ground. The horrific sound of crashing metal blended with the children’s screams.

  Lynxar and Lynxonna didn’t have to even think about it. They both knew what they had to do. Working together, they used the powers of their minds to levitate the children within the school bus, so they floated safely in the air and weren’t harmed by being tossed inside the rolling vehicle. When the bus finally came to a stop, they gently set the children down on the ground, all of them injury-free.

  Archer leaped on top of the overturned bus and held out his hands, manifesting his bow and arrow. He fired the weapon in rapid succession, releasing a series of arrows at the two vampires. Vladimus, however, manifested his sword and shield, and deflected the arrows harmlessly away. As the arrow struck the ground, they exploded in flashes of light, releasing the pure light of the sun that was contained within their magic crystal arrowheads. The sunlight burned the vampires despite their protective rings, making them recoil from the light. Scarrietta screamed out in pain, swirled her cape around herself and vanished, teleporting safely to some distant place.

  Lord Vladimus hissed angrily at her abandonment and knew that he couldn’t face the heroes alone. Grabbing his cape by the hemline, he prepared to swirl it around himself and make a hasty retreat of his own. An invisible force, however, suddenly whisked the cape off his body, leaving him without the ability to escape.

  “I’ll be taking that! Thank you!” the invisible voice taunted, and Vladimus knew he had been robbed of the cape by the Ghost. Watching the garment move through the air gave the vampire an easy way to know exactly where the superhero was, and he lunged at him with his sword drawn.

  “Bryan, look out!” Lynxonna cried out. She blasted the vampire backward with the powers of her mind, protecting her friend.

  The vampire was still able to fling his sword, despite being pushed backward by Lynxonna. The weapon hurled through the air and struck his intended target. The Ghost cried out in pain and fell hard against the ground, leaving an imprint on the grass where his body lay.

  “Bryan! Are you all right?” Dr. Archer Speedlight cried out in horror. With his super speed, it only took him seconds move from the bus to the spot on the ground where he knew the Ghost had fallen. All he could see, however, was the sword and an imprint in the ground. Archer said “Bryan, if you’re conscious, deactivate your invisibility, or I can’t help you.”

  The image of Bryan fluttered before his eyes, and then slowly came fully into view. He’d been struck in the chest and was bleeding badly. Lynxonna felt her passion to stop Vladimus increase at the sight of her hurt friend. Forgetting to think, she lunged at Vladimus, using all her speed and strength to tackle him to the ground. He dodged her easily and she crashed onto the ground, more infuriated than ever.

  Archer knelt over Bryan’s prone body. He used his incredible abilities of vision to see inside Bryan’s wound, through the torn tissues, all the way to the cut internal organs. Manifesting the surgical tools he needed, and using his powers of speed and supernatural sight, Archer worked to heal the gaping wound, hoping he could keep his friend from dying.

  Vladimus laughed at the sight of Lynxonna rising up from her missed tackle and manifested a fresh sword to replace the one he’d lost. He twirled it in his hands, showing off his skill with the blade and Lynxonna knew better than to charge at him again or she’d suffer the same fate as the Ghost.

  Instead, she blasted at the vampire with her telekinesis, slamming him against the wall of the school building with the power of her mind. The police had arrived and were escorting the children to safety. They screamed loudly as the vampire crashed against the bricks just above their heads and the police had to work even faster to guide them away.

  Vladimus slid down the wall and landed on the ground below. Lynxonna didn’t dare blast him again, for fear the fleeing children might get hurt. It gave the evil vampire the advantage he needed. He grabbed the nearest child he could, a little boy about ten years old. He was the last one in the line the police were escorting to safety, and Vladimus used his supernatural speed and strength to grab the lad by the shirt collar and hoist him into the air.

  “If you touch me again, I’ll snap the boy’s neck!” Vladimus cried out to Lynxonna as Archer kept working to save Bryan’s life. Lynxar was nowhere to be seen, but the vampire knew just how to draw him back out. Clutching the boy closely to his side, Vladimus carried him to the school bus, which still lay on its side in front of school, filled with children.

  Vladimus jumped on top of the overturned vehicle with the boy and said, “I’ll trade this one for the girl with the purple braids.” A gasp came from inside the school bus as everyone realized he was speaking of Lynxiennia

  “Don’t go!” Aurora Bright said, clutching her best friend’s hand fearfully.

  “I have to do something.” Lynxiennia said. Her lavender braids flew behind her as she glanced in every direction, thinking of her options.

  Vladimus shouted down to her “Come on! You don’t want to be responsible for this boy’s death do you, little girl? What would your father think? You don’t want to disappoint him!”

  Suddenly, Lynxar himself came running from the distance, carrying the crystal coffin. He set it down in front of the school bus and shouted up to Vladimus, “Nothing she could do would ever disappoint me. Now surrender, Vladimus! It’s time for you to go back where you belong.”

  Vladimus hissed angrily at the sight of the familiar prison. He raised his sword high above his head and prepared to jump down inside the school bus, where he would slaughter as many children as he could before the superhero could stop him. With any luck, he’d be able to get to Lynxar’s little girl. Vladimus knew he could be captured, but his only desire was to get his revenge first. If he could make Lynxar watch as he killed his daughter, Vladimus would feel satisfied.

  Lynxar gasped in horror as he read the vampire’s mind and knew what he was about to do. He was so far away that even with his superior speed, there was no way he could stop Vladimus from jumping down into the school bus. Feeling helpless, Lynxar could only watch as Vladimus leapt up into the air with his sword swinging and his body moved toward the open door of the overturned bus. Suddenly, a blast of immense power exploded against the vampire’s body, blasting Vladimus a hundred feet into the air. He fell to the ground, stunned and wracked with pain.

  Immediately, Lynxar pounced upon him and was quickly joined by Lynxonna, who was eager to help. Archer had finished healing Bryan’s wounds and it was clear he was going to survive. Trying to sit up, Bryan said, “Let’s get that monster back in his box!”

  Archer gently pushed Bryan back into a laying position and said firmly, “Let the two people from Flonar be the ones to put their enemy back in his prison. My people were the ones entrusted to build the coffins and protect the ones who held the keys that lock them. You, my human friend, are entrusted to care for the humans on Earth and protect the people of Colossal City.”

  “Okay. I’ll let them have the
fun this time.” Bryan said weakly, and clasped his friend’s hand in gratitude for his words of wisdom and for saving his life.

  Lynxonna pulled open the heavy lid to the crystal coffin and a bright light shone from within. It looked different than the other coffins had, sparkling with all the colors of the rainbow. Archer gasped, understanding what the change meant, although no one else knew. He properly guessed that Rachel must have switched the coffin’s crystals for the enhanced ones they’d been developing in her lab. He was glad she had.

  Lynxar picked up Lord Vladimus and shoved the struggling vampire into the coffin and slammed the lid shut, imprisoning him inside. Leaving his patient in the care of Dr. Rachel Deering, who had just arrived on scene, along with Mike and Dawn, Archer strode to the coffin and pulled a crystal key from his pocket. With great solemnity, he shoved the key into the lock and turned it, forever locking the coffin prison. He withdrew the key from the lock and ushered Lynxar and Lynxonna away, saying, “You’ll want to back far off now.”

  Suddenly, rays of rainbow light erupted all around the coffin, blinding them all with its beauty. Then, the rainbow collapsed into itself, as if turning into a black hole. As quickly as the hole in space had appeared, the entire thing disappeared, and the coffin vanished along with it. All that remained in its place was the empty grass.

  “What was that?” Lynxar cried out in shock, echoing the thoughts of all the others.

  Archer said, “It is done. Lord Vladimus will never harm anyone ever again. He’s been sucked back to the vampire realm by the light of goodness. It destroys everything evil that it encounters, and so now the entire vampire realm will be gone. The universe has been saved by the tyranny of the vampires forever. ”

  The crowd of people watching cheered in joy and excitement, and other people were quiet in shock and awe. Lynxar and Lynxiennia pulled open the roof of the school bus, releasing all the children who came running out, all of them completely unscathed.