Thaumatology 08 - Ancient

by Teasdale, Niall

  Lily nodded. ‘I’ll be fine, Mistress,’ Lily said, obviously playing the demon pet role. ‘Aden would never do anything to me.’

  Ceri came to a decision and unbuttoned her coat, slipping it from her shoulders and handing it to Lily. There was enough defiance in going to see Britain’s oldest vampire in a dress which barely covered her arse to kick in Ceri’s dominatrix attitude. Without another word she headed for the inner door, opening it without knocking and walking through.

  The room beyond was dimly lit, the concrete walls softened by the shadows. There was an old, oak table and a huge, throne-like chair, but the room was dominated by a four-posted bed with thin, almost ragged curtains drawn all the way around it. There was no light within the curtains, but Ceri’s sight showed her a humanoid shape within, picked out by the aura of negative thaumitons it was giving off. The voice which came from the bed was thin, but Ceri could hear the undertone of authority which was probably all anyone else heard.

  ‘Good morning, Doctor Brent. I appreciate you coming to see me.’ There was, indeed, a German accent in there, though it sounded like she had not been in her homeland for a long time.

  ‘I’m told you’re a very old and powerful vampire,’ Ceri replied. ‘It would seem unwise not to. Besides, it would be rude.’

  A rasping laugh; Braun still had a sense of humour. ‘I hope you don’t mind me remaining behind these curtains. To most I can appear as I did when alive, but I’m told you see through such tricks and I’m not as pretty as I was five hundred years ago.’

  Ceri struggled to keep the surprise out of her voice; five centuries was a hell of an age for a vampire. ‘Most considerate of you. Might I ask why you asked me here?’

  ‘I’m sure you can guess.’

  ‘Raynor.’

  ‘He was a thousand years old when he turned me. I was the daughter of a shoe maker in Hamburg and nothing to him. I made the mistake of being in his path one night. There was nothing I could do but join his army when I woke up. We were weak, quick to age, easy to spot. We fell and only I escaped with the Ancient.’

  ‘What does he want?’

  ‘Everything. Dominion over all. The rise of the vampires to their true place in the world.’

  ‘Not much then?’

  Another dry laugh. ‘No, not much, but now the world has changed. Now he might have a chance of succeeding. He cannot be allowed to achieve his goal, Ceridwyn.’

  ‘Pardon me, but shouldn’t you be cheering him on?’

  ‘You might think so, I suppose. Vampires have been accepted by society. We are even valued in some circles, no longer the monsters of the night we once were. Raynor will destroy that. His foolish crusade will see us hunted down and destroyed. I know you’re not fond of us…’

  ‘I… have changed my mind a little over the last couple of months. Not all vampires are monsters.’

  ‘The detective’s wife.’

  ‘Lorna. She’s a good woman. What happened to her…’

  ‘Was deplorable. I have few illusions at my age. There are vampires who deserve to end.’ The hard edge to her voice was obvious; she was not dissembling.

  ‘Raynor then. What can you tell me about him?’

  ‘His story tended to change as he retold it, depending on the listener.’ Her rasp of a laugh accompanied the statement. ‘I heard enough different versions to come up with a composite truth. I believe he was the son of a Teutonic noble, possibly cast out for the murder of a holy man. He claims he was visited by an angel who gave him a sacred duty, but I’m sure that what he found was a Fallen One. It turned him, somehow, into the creature he is now.’

  ‘I’ve been doing some research,’ Ceri broke in. ‘The most likely method seems to be some sort of demonic hybridisation.’

  ‘Not impossible. He claimed that his task on Earth was to bring about the Blood Rule. Vampires had been created by God to rule the world, and he had been chosen by God’s representative to see that it happened. He always made it sound like he was the first and only one of his kind, but he lied. These Ancients do not seem to play well together. They avoid each other, tend to come to blows if they meet. They are as susceptible to fire as any vampire. Their eyes work in light or dark, but their bodies burn in direct sunlight. That is not so great a vulnerability, however, since they can… weave darkness about themselves like a cloak. Of course, they almost always turn anyone they drain and they do not decay.’

  ‘Basically then, he won’t be that much harder to take down than a normal vampire?’

  ‘He’s faster than us, stronger, and he’s had centuries to learn to use his powers, but yes. If you can find him, get past his soldiers, get past his zombies, and stop him from escaping… Under those circumstances he’s not much harder to kill than I am, for example.’

  Ceri smiled at the dimly lit canopy. ‘I get the picture.’

  ‘I’m sure you do. I’m afraid I don’t know where he is, but he prefers to stay below ground, somewhere holy or venerated if he can find something. If anyone loyal to me discovers his location, I’ll get word to you, but beyond that I am of little help.’

  ‘You’ve been of great help, Miss Braun.’

  There was the rasping laugh again. ‘Hildegard. That’s a very nice dress you’re wearing. It’s a shame I’m not a few centuries younger.’

  Ceri allowed herself a chuckle, though the actual idea of having anything physical to do with a vampire that old was likely to make her throw up. ‘I should be going. I have work to do tomorrow.’

  ‘One more thing. A gift, if you will. Lorna Radcliffe’s Elder, the vampire who turned her, is named Lo Chan. He was turned in China during the Boxer Rebellion. After John Radcliffe destroyed his operation in the north of England, Chan moved south and rebuilt. He is as dangerous personally as he is efficient as a drug lord, and he holds grudges a long time.’

  ‘Thank you,’ Ceri said, though she was not sure what to do with the information; was it a lead, or a warning? ‘Perhaps we’ll meet again.’ She turned, starting back toward the door.

  ‘Perhaps we will.’ There was an almost wistful tone to the vampire’s voice. As she opened the door and walked out to a smile from Lily, Ceri wondered how lonely it was being a five-hundred year old woman almost alone in a room buried beneath one of the most vibrant cities in the world.

  Kennington

  ‘Fifty people attacked, five of those are in the morgue.’ The phone line probably cut out some of Kate’s fatigue, but Ceri could tell she had had no sleep since yesterday. ‘We’ve had another seven missing persons reports on top of that, including two uniforms who went missing from Hammersmith.’

  ‘I checked in with the pack,’ Michael said at the phone; speakerphones were great for remote conferencing. ‘A small pack of vamps started causing trouble in the park just before midnight.’

  ‘Anyone hurt?’ Kate asked.

  ‘Three of the vamps won’t be rising again. A couple of scratches on our guys, but they healed quickly enough. We got word from the Dog Boys as well. Their Alpha female, Freya, is a bit more… communicative. A group of vamps was playing around the docks. According to her you’ll find the bodies of four of them floating near Greenwich View.’

  ‘I’ll get someone on it. Special Tactics nailed another three last night. Not all of them are new vamps. It looks like Raynor is recruiting as well as turning.’

  ‘Great,’ Ceri said sourly. ‘Where’s John?’

  ‘Home with Lorna, which is where I’ll be in thirty minutes. They insisted. I’m staying in their guest room… mostly.’

  Ceri grinned. Kate had been helping to feed Lorna for a few months now and while they did keep it semi-clinical some of the time they did not do so all the time. ‘I need to have a chat with you. Privately. Probably when this business is out of the way.’

  ‘Mysterious. Okay, I’m sure we’ll be able to sort that out sometime.’

  ‘Good. You go get some rest. You sound tired.’

  ‘That’s better than I feel. Later.’ The
line went dead.

  Lily reached out and switched off the speaker, disconnecting their end. ‘So what are we going to do?’

  ‘Get dressed,’ Ceri replied, rising to her feet. ‘We’re going to church.’ She headed out toward the stairs leaving Michael to raise an eyebrow at Lily, and Lily to shrug back.

  City of London

  The view was spectacular. Vertigo inducing, but spectacular. Below and around them was the City, the real City of London. They were atop the tallest point, the spire of St Paul’s Cathedral, which was on top of Ludgate Hill, which was one of the three hills in London. It was one of those weird items of terminology, in a way; London City was huge, but the City of London was just a tiny bit of it.

  They were alone on the narrow walkway known as the Golden Gallery. Even here there was more of the building above them, but this was as high as you could get without climbing gear. They were alone because Ceri had flashed her warrant card and said that they needed to clear the gallery for thirty minutes. ‘You were right,’ Lily said from the other side of the walkway, ‘there’s one up here.’ Ceri started walking around.

  ‘I don’t see anything.’ That was Michael. He would not be able to see what they were looking for.

  Ceri rounded the building and saw the humanoid figure outlined in the Earth’s magical field. She had figured that if they were going to find an angel it was going to be up here; even if that was only because this was the highest point in the city rather than because it was a church. ‘I need to talk to one of you lot,’ Ceri said to the angel. It ignored her. ‘It’s about an Ancient vampire,’ she added.

  She could see energy flooding in toward the immaterial shape as it solidified in front of them. Michael took a step back; the thing was barely six inches from him and between him and Lily. The half-succubus could sense them, or rather the distortion they made in the magic field, but her perception of them was not as precise as Ceri’s Sight. The angel appeared as a young man dressed in street clothes; a white T-shirt, blue jeans, and a leather jacket. It bent forward and leant on the rail.

  ‘We are not in the habit of providing information to atheists.’

  ‘Except when you need help kicking an opposing angel and his army out of the country?’ The local angels had been enigmatic when Ceri had become involved with fighting an army of angels from Brazil, but they had been very keen to make sure she dealt with it. ‘You owe me. I nearly died, twice, taking out Gadriel.’

  The angel looked at her. That was when she realised his eyes were a uniform black, no whites at all. It was probably thinking that would be intimidating; angels tended to like a little awe. ‘We owe you…’

  ‘No, I’m not expecting you to be nice about it. Never mind the intimidating eyeballs and the attitude, Raynor was made by a Fallen. That’s why angels don’t like vampires, right?’

  The angel returned his gaze to the skyline. ‘We have observed the vampires becoming more violent recently. Why do you mention an Ancient?’

  ‘Because one woke up in Hamburg and came here. He’s the one pushing the vamps. His name is Raynor and he was turned by a Fallen in the Dark Ages.’

  Energy boiled around the spirit though physically it appeared quite calm. ‘We will contact you,’ it said, and then it dissolved. Ceri saw its spirit form rise into the air, vanishing skyward.

  ‘Ungrateful bastard,’ Michael commented.

  ‘It’s gone,’ Ceri told him.

  He shrugged. ‘Doesn’t make him any less ungrateful.’

  ‘Do you think they’ll actually help?’ Lily asked.

  Ceri sighed, took one more look across the city, and turned to head back down. Over five hundred steps for two minutes of possibly wasted time. ‘Well, we can hope.’

  ‘Have faith?’ Lily suggested.

  Ceri winced.

  Part Six: The Blood War

  Soho, London, June 2nd, 2012

  Full moon was three nights away and the Jade Dragon should have been humming with boisterous werewolves as well as the humans who enjoyed the kind of atmosphere which resulted from them. Instead it was almost empty. Friday night had seen more vampire attacks and the government had called for a state of emergency. The streets were full of police and army units armed with incendiary rounds. They were not taking prisoners and vampires had been warned to stay off the streets entirely.

  ‘This sucks,’ Ceri commented. ‘I feel guilty taking the pay for this evening.’

  ‘If you have a brilliant idea on how to find Raynor,’ Carter replied, ‘I’d be happy to pay you to go out and do that.’ He was not his usual ebullient self, even though Cheryl was there in a very short, backless dress. ‘He’s bad for business. You realise a lot of places are shut tonight so we’re getting the people who would be elsewhere… and this is all we have.’

  ‘You could always close up early,’ Cheryl suggested. ‘It’s your birthday tomorrow.’

  The wizard shrugged slightly. ‘Honestly, I’d rather wait until it’s light before we head out. Normally I’d have taken this week off, but the way things have been…’

  ‘You’re going out to Winchester?’ Lily asked. Her eyes were on the customers, even if there were few of them.

  ‘Alec is driving,’ Cheryl said. ‘I have my laptop to work on.’ She looked at Ceri. ‘There’s no real need for you to go into the lab. How’s the work on the cross-channel line coming?’

  ‘I’m still working on the maths, but so far I can’t find an interaction between the normal space medium and the sub-membrane conduit. It’s looking good.’

  ‘What sort of power do you think you can generate out of a line like that?’ Carter asked.

  ‘Megawatts certainly,’ Cheryl said. ‘We’ll know more when the Army have finished building their collector in the Bremen base.’

  ‘I had an idea that might get us more,’ Ceri added. ‘I need to do some more work on it. A ring system to let us put more collectors in the stream. When I have the maths worked out I’ll pass it to you to check, Cheryl.’

  ‘You think you can do that?’ Cheryl asked, sounding enthusiastic.

  ‘So far it’s looking good.’ Ceri grinned. ‘Would you believe I dreamed it up? I woke up one morning last week and there was this idea sitting there in my head.’

  Cheryl chuckled. ‘Not unheard of. Kekulé supposedly figured out the shape of benzene after having a daydream. He saw snakes biting each other’s tails to make a ring or something.’

  Ceri giggled. ‘I saw dragons doing it. I figure it was my tattoo. There were eight dragons and they sort of merged into one big one.’

  ‘With you it would be dragons,’ Carter commented.

  ‘Sometimes it’s wolves,’ Lily said.

  ‘Yeah,’ Cheryl agreed, ‘that’s true. Maybe she can do wolves biting tails tomorrow night.’

  ‘Werewolves don’t have tails,’ Alec said from across the bar.

  Ceri frowned at them. ‘If I dream of werewolves biting each other in the butt tonight…’

  Northern Line, June 3rd

  There were four of them on the platform at Embankment; three men and a woman dressed in too much black. Ceri saw them through the window, and her Sight showed her the bloom of negative thaumitons around them. She relaxed, a little, when they got onto one of the cars further toward the front of the train.

  ‘You see them?’ Lily asked.

  ‘Vamps.’

  ‘I figured. They moved like vamps.’

  ‘The question is, what kind?’

  Lily shook her head. ‘Vamps either like being vamps, or don’t. Lorna’s the latter type. Those were the former, but it doesn’t make them Raynor’s.’

  ‘No, but did that sound like a scream to you?’

  Lily reached into her coat and produced her daggers. ‘Let’s assume it was, just in case.’

  Ceri nodded and lifted her hand, a ball of orange, flickering light forming in her palm. She usually used area effect fire against vampires in groups, but in the confined space of the train that was too dangerous
. She would be limited to single targets.

  The train pulled into Waterloo. No one screamed or ran off. No one simply walked off and there was no one waiting to get on. Ceri was starting to relax again as the train pulled away, but that lasted about three seconds before the connecting door slammed open and one of the vamps could be seen standing in it, his face covered in blood.

  He let out a howl of glee as he spotted Ceri and Lily, and took two steps into the car before Ceri’s fireball hit him in the chest. Lily was on her feet and moving down the carriage before the remaining three could get past his falling body. They were vampires, fast and strong, but young ones and without Lily’s training. One of them swung a clawed hand at her and she simply slid under it, her blades slamming forward into his chest. The female screamed and swung a fist at Lily’s head. Ceri’s power flared and the vampire let out a yelp as she hit skin like iron. Lily turned, yanking her knives free and spinning. The woman screamed as Lily rammed an enchanted weapon in under her armpit, the change of position gave Ceri a shot at the last man, and his throat evaporated as the flame bolt hit him.

  The woman was still standing and she made a grab for Lily’s throat with her left hand; the right one was useless now. Lily felt fingers touching her and slammed her second knife upward, right through the girl’s wrist. Then she felt a third flame bolt passing her head and the vampire’s scream of pain was cut off as half her face turned to ash.

  Lily pulled her knives out of the body and straightened up. ‘Remind me not to piss you off.’

  Ceri gave her a grin and walked over to the emergency stop lever. ‘Think that one’ll live?’

  Lily looked down at the man she had stabbed. ‘He’s a vamp. It’d have killed a human, but…’

  The train pulled into Kennington station and Ceri yanked the lever. ‘At least the Chief won’t tell us off for killing them all.’