Fledgling (The Vampire Manifesto, Book Two)

by Rashaad Bell

  “Holy shit, incoming!” I screamed, diving back from the window, pushing Aiden to the ground.

  The Golem struck the Navigator with its battle-axe, the potency of the blow so intense that every window on the cul-de-sac shattered. The SUV was airborne, hurtling towards my residence, smashing into the front of the house where the first floor concluded and the second floor began. The house shuddered as almost the entire second floor was demolished, the Navigator barreling through it. Wood and plaster detonated around us, electrical wiring spitting electricity everywhere. I looked up from my position on the ground and could see the sky, the entire upper half of the house nothing but a fragmented husk.

  I began to stand, knocking wood beams and chunks of plaster off my back. “Everybody, sound off!” I screamed.

  “Did somebody get the license plate of that truck?” Asked Girard, pulling herself out of the rubble.

  “Help!” Came a muffled cry.

  “On it.” Girard proclaimed, digging through mounds of wreckage until she found Abigail curled up underneath it, pulling her free. “You okay?” Staci asked.

  “I am now.” Abigail declared.

  I looked down at Aiden. I had dived on top of him, trying to shield him with my own body. I gave him a slight shrug. “Hey, you good?”

  “Yeah.” He answered. “Just… give me a minute.”

  I looked out and saw the Golem steadily getting closer, his massive battle-axe kicking up sparks off the street as he dragged it behind him.

  “We don’t have a minute.” I said. I looked around. “Dakota!” I yelled.

  “I’ve got her.” Girard confirmed. “She’s unconscious.”

  I hurried over to them and saw her, crumpled up like a secondhand ragdoll. There was a substantial sized wedge of fragmented wood impaled through her chest. I fell to my knees beside her. I didn’t know what to do.

  “She’s hemorrhaging a lot of blood.” Girard said. “I don’t think she’s going to make it.”

  “She has to.” I whispered. It appeared as if time was decelerating. I was evaluating everything around her. The stability of the debris field, the girth of the wood spiking out of her, how much blood she losing, how much viable blood was still left in her system, heartbeat rate of speed, how shallow her breathe was, how quick her lung was collapsing, how many ribs were broken, the amount of steps left before the Golem reached us if he maintained his current speed. I calculated it all in my mind within seconds.

  I bit into my wrist savagely, tearing a chunk of flesh away, positioning the laceration over Dakota’s mouth, letting the blood drain down into her throat.

  “What are you doing?” Girard asked.

  “I want you to pull that thing out of her chest.” I instructed.

  Staci inspected the wound, how deep the piece of wood was entrenched within Dakotas’s body. “I don’t think that’s such a good idea Madison.”

  “Just do it.” I yelled.

  Girard hesitated for a moment. She peered out towards the street, watching as the Golem got closer. She reached for the wood, her fingers enfolding around it securely then yanked it free. I kept force-feeding Dakota my blood, remembering how I was turned into a Vampire, how Connor did the same to me with his blood. Except that complete memory was fabricated, implanted in my head. As far as I know, I’m not even doing this accurately. Inside of Dakota’s chest I could hear her heartbeat strengthen, starting to increase its tempo, speeding up significantly.

  Staci was examining Dakota wound. “The laceration is repairing itself.” She pointed out. “I think it’s working.”

  It was working. I could see it. See the injury in her chest had started to close up. Her respiration was nowhere near as shallow any longer. She was still comatose, but she’s wasn’t going to die. I felt reassured. Dakota’s going to be okay. She’s going to live. In fact, she’s going to live forever.

  May god have mercy on my soul.

  I got up. “What are we going to do about Mount Everest out there?”

  “I know how to beat a Golem.” Girard exclaimed.

  “You wanna fill in the class?” I asked.

  “No, not particularly.” She stated. “We don’t have enough time.”

  Staci Girard shot forward, faster than even I can move myself, coming to stop just in front of the Golem, her feet leaving skids marks in the pavement. She crouched low and let out a snarl, her skin changing, darkening to a grey, blue color. Her teeth sharpened as her ears began to elongate somewhat.

  “A warrior?” The Golem exclaimed proudly, its voice a deep baritone. “I was beginning to think this world devoid of its kind.”

  The Golem swung its fist, hitting Staci with an uppercut. Her body shot out and somersaulting up into the stratosphere so high and far that I was unable to keep track of her and in an instant she was lost from even my Vampiric sight. I never saw where her body landed.

  “Titian!” The Golem called out. “I request an audience.”

  I made my way out of the rubble that was my house, calling the Blade of Osiris to my grip. I took my time as I walked towards the Golem, trying to figure out some type of strategy on how it could best be defeated. Finally, I decided on the most easiest of stratagems. Just keep stabbing it with the pointy end until it stopped moving.

  I stopped a mere foot or two from the Golem.

  “I am Jeremiah Freeborn of the Dark Sin Clan.” He announced. “And I have come to deliver you to my master.”

  “Freeborn and master do not belong in the same sentence.” I declared.

  “The Clan of the Rose shall accompany me to Olympus.” Jeremiah continued.

  I raised the Blade of Osiris. “We’re not going anywhere with you.”

  Jeremiah Freeborn flung his battle-axe, the great weapon cartwheeling head over end and as I moved to circumvent its path, I understood that I was not the intended target. Aiden was observing us from afar and the battle-axe sliced into him at his shoulder, then continued on, embedding into a wooden beam behind him. Aiden staggered, then his left arm slid off from his body and fell to his feet. He stumbled again then toppled backward to the ground.

  Jeremiah Freeborn of the Dark Sin Clan raised his hand and flexed his palm and the battle-axe tore itself free from where it had come to rest and returned to his grasp.

  “You have a decision to make, Titian.” Jeremiah’s voice boomed in my ears. “Accompany me to Olympus and your blood kin may yet survive this day.” He gripped his battle-axe with both hands. “Or we both can commit to a glorious death so ambitious that the bards will surely sing ballads of our battle for centuries to come.”

  I could hear Aiden’s heartbeat from here. It was consistent, but it wasn’t strong and he was losing blood by the second. I needed to do something and it needed to be done now. I couldn’t wait. This monstrosity, the Golem, Jeremiah Freeborn simply waited for me to make my choice.

  “Let’s go.” It wasn’t something that I wanted to do, but for Aiden, if it could save his life…

  “Bodyslide by five.” Said Jeremiah.

  I felt a tingling in my chest as my actuality curved around me and the world about us began to transmute. In a blink of an eye, we were no longer standing in the middle of my cul-de-sac, but rather what appeared to be a trophy room full of magnificent stone columns and hand woven tapestries of ancient cities. There were sculptures entrenched inside of the walls, so meticulous that they almost give the impression of being alive. It was as if everything was constructed in bleached ivory and gold. The mammoth chamber opened up to a veranda and beyond that was a series of multiple mountain ranges that floated in the air and extended up in the sky further than the eye could perceive. Jeremiah was next to me and he seized Aiden by his only remaining arm, dragging him across the floor, a streak of blood trailing behind them.

  “Where are you taking him?” I called out.

  “To the Genesis Chamber.” Jeremiah replied. A section of the wall slid away and the two of them disappeared beyond it.

  “World Mind.
” I called out. “Where are we?”

  Current location is within the Celestial thinking ship Olympus. We are currently in a geosynchronous orbit around the planetary body designated: Neptune.

  Abigail bent down to check on Dakota. She was still unconscious, but her breathing was normal.

  “Celestial thinking ship?” I asked.

  Olympus is a sentient, Genesis class star craft, which contains Mount Olympus, the dimensional capital to the Celestials.

  From the sky came two gold and black marble chariots being pulled by galloping white mares. They flew through the sky without wings and when they came closer, I could perceive that they were not alive, but rather some variety of automatons made to bear a resemblance to a horse. Inside each of the chariots was a Marauder and once they came to rest, they beckoned us to them.

  “Get on.” Amastacia yelled out.

  Tentatively we made our way to them, climbing on board the chariots, gripping the hand rails as the mares that pulled them began to turn, suddenly launching into the air. We were outside, ascending higher into the heavens. There were smaller mountains all around us, floating in the sky, waterfalls cascading over the rocks, vanishing into the firmament underneath us. In the epicenter of the multitude of smaller, floating mountain ranges was one gargantuan mountain, which appeared to go on ad infinitum.

  This superior mount wasn’t just constituted of rock, but rather a number of wilderness mountain ranges, with clusters of forested coves all about it and within those were settlements of glass and ivory. Clouds concealed most of the larger mountain making it problematic to perceive, but with my Vampiric eyes, I could see forms moving about, human forms within those cities.

  Higher and higher we rose, through the clouds, so high that the lesser floating mountains had vanished and there was only the lone immense mountain and I was in reverence.

  “It’s beautiful.” Abigail whispered.

  “It is the realm of the gods.” Komchot answered. “It is Mount Olympus.”

  For over an hour, we climbed higher and higher, to the point that I wondered if Olympus even contained a peek. The horses began to level out and made for one of the cities that were clustered on the gigantic mountain. As we drew closer to this city, a metropolitan landscape that was as large as Florida itself, we came upon a coliseum and within moments, we landed in the center of it. We made our exit, all of us and the horse drawn chariots took to the sky and disappeared in the clouds.

  I was looking up towards the mares when the heavens about us began to falter.

  Celestial energy matrix detected…

  From the bleed of reality, Osiris stepped forth and with him was Connor, yet it was the woman beside him that made me take a step back in confusion. I knew her face immediately because it was the face that stared back at me in the mirrors reflection. The individual standing next to Connor was an exact replica of me, from the way she moved, to the styling of her hair. She wore a picturesque hand plaited dress, that was all white in appearance and I recognized it instantly. It was the dress from my dreams and as I looked up this version of Madison Rose, I realized that it was my dreamself come alive in the mortal world. The only thing that separated us, the one defining attribute that set the difference between us two was the fact that both of her hands and arms were still human, while I possessed the Blade of Osiris, forged within my being so deeply that it changed my physical appearance.

  Even still, the Marauders were present with Connor as well, Amastacia and Komchot, while standing next to her was Ethan Blackwood.

  “Connor.” I called out to him, but it was as if he didn’t hear me or could it be that now that he found his heart’s desire, he no longer cared?

  “She looks like me.” My doppelganger announced.

  “She may look like you.” Connor stated affectionately. “But she is nothing like you.”

  “Welcome to Olympus.” The Celestial cried out.

  “Why did you bring me here?” I demanded.

  “I offer a choice to the Clan of the Rose.” Osiris stated. “Ragnarok has come to your dimension. Stand as one of our Olympians or burn with the rest of your wretched reality.”

  I raised my arm and the Blade of Osiris appeared in my grasp. I fired the Gunblade, hitting Amastacia in the middle of her chest, her soul being torn from her carcass and devoured by the Blade of Osiris. Her body burned to ash and blew away with the mountainous breeze. The reminder of the Marauders moved to attack, but the Celestial held up his hand and they stayed their ground.

  “I’ve never killed a Celestial before.” I challenged. “But I suppose there is a first time for everything.”

  “Come to me, my angel of death.” Osiris held me in his gaze, as Connor kneeled before him. “Educate this Titian about the error of her ways.”

  “As you command.” From Connors back was an explosion and from this explosion, feathered wings began to take shape and form, blistering wings made of flame, smoke and lava. His wings began to flap and he rose up into the sky above us. He held out his hands and a blazing longbow materialized with his grasp.

  This was it at last. I’ve always secretly accepted the horrifying reality behind my affiliation with Connor in the back of my mind. This certainly wasn’t a surprise. Despite everything, I’ve always recognized how it was going to end between us. I understood that because of who he was and who I refused to become, that ultimately there was going to be a head-to-head confrontation between Connor and I. That one day a line was going to be drawn in the sand and I was going to find him and myself on opposing sides, neither willing to back down from the definitive battle between us that would only climax with the demise of the one or the other. I just never thought it was going to be today.

  My dark haired savior.

  He fired a cascade of arrows from his longbow and they showered down all about me, detonating as they came within close proximity, erupting hellfire up into the atmosphere. Liquid hell showered down from the sky and I had to focus, moving as fluid and swiftly as possible, traversing at a velocity that not even I myself knew I possessed. He was attempting to burn me alive.

  I’ll never let him burn me again.

  He rushed headfirst, diving suddenly, both his fist connecting with my chest as he wrapped his wings about me and we tumbled across the ground. I could feel their all-consuming caress upon my body, scorching their way through my clothes and searing their feather like patterns into my skin as each individual wing tipped inferno pressed against me.

  “Bring me the head of the other Post Human.” Ordered the Celestial.

  Komchot and Ethan skulked forward, making their way towards Abigail.

  I was able to pivot, throwing Connor off me, yet the ends of his wings adapted, metamorphosing into hundreds of singular grappling hooks, each one either seizing the ground around me for balance or attempting to wrestle and dig into my flesh. I scythed away at them with the Blade of Osiris, severing all that came close to me. He was on his feet, his wings lifting him off the ground, this glorious visualization of man and fire. I attempted to come to Abigail’s defense, but a fortification of intense lava exploded up from the ground, a tidal wave of burning magma blocking me off from her.

  “I kill you, but you just won’t stay dead.” Ethan declared.

  Abigail was moving backwards, stopping just before Dakota’s unconscious body as Komchot and Ethan closed in for the kill, yet it appeared as if each step the Marauders took becomes more and more challenging. Komchot collapsed to one knee, a low siren wail of torment and agony issuing forth from her lips. She clutched her face in a futile attempt to shield herself from some incorporeal attack that was devouring her alive from the inside out.

  “Get out of my mind!” She bellowed in utter defiance as a torrential gush of blood began pouring out of Komchot’s ears and nose. Without warning, there was this sickening, stomach-turning popping sound from the inside of her skull and she collapsed to the ground, dead.

  Abigail pointed at Ethan. “Now it’s your turn die.
”

  Connor came at me, faster than I’ve ever seen him move and struck me hard in the chest, knocking me backwards. He went in for the kill, but I swung the Blade of Osiris at him, missing him totally, as he seized my sword arm.

  He was just too fast! He had always been quicker than I, stronger as well, but this was something else altogether. The veins in his body protruded and swelled and I could detect an inferno thrusting through them, as if the blood in his body had been substituted for lava. He twisted my arm, yanking it from its socket as he maneuvered my hand behind my back, forcing me to the ground.

  Ethan Blackwood was faltering, his steps becoming sluggish and deliberate, blood beginning to trickle down from his nose. That’s when I saw him wolf out, his human body shifting, growing, restructuring itself into the massive Werewolf, snarling and howling. The Werewolf charged towards Abigail, seemingly impervious to her cerebral onslaught. When he was close enough to her, he sunk his teeth into Abigail’s throat while wrenching at her hair with his claws, tearing her head from her shoulders. Blood gushed out of her decapitated body as it collapsed to the ground still twitching.

  The Werewolf made its way towards Osiris, dropping Abigail’s head at the feet of the Celestial.

  Connor raised his hand and a blazing sword materialized within it. He plunged that weapon into my chest and I could feel its firestorm burning through me, working its way through every limb, depleting all my strength. I fell to my knees, my strength all but gone, the angel of death standing before me ready to pass sentence. Connor raised up that blistering sword high above his head, grabbing it with both hands in preparation for the final blow.

  A second Celestial energy matrix detected…

  “STOP!” Came a booming voice.

  In front of Osiris, another Celestial came into existence. He was slight, his physique nowhere near as hulking as Osiris, yet still infinitely greater than that of any human being. Around his frame were extensive strips of fabric that draped about him loosely. His skin was translucent, yet nowhere near as opaque as Osiris. Within him, a crimson firestorm fulminated, while above each of his ankles was a singular feather comprised of gold and liquescent mercury.