The smile suddenly wavered as the pack leader noticed something new on the air. He grabbed his radio and warned, “We have more vampires coming from the south. They’ve baited us into their trap!”
Marek turned to look behind them and it took a moment before he noticed the dark forms bounding across the rooftops. Quickly looking east and west, the vampire could see that the team to the east had gained a moment’s rest. They were down at least one, but he couldn’t tell who. It didn’t matter as he called, “Team 2 join us to help defend.”
Team 3 was to the west and still fighting. He wondered how many would die there before they could pull free. Noting the movement of Mike and Nicola’s second team already on the way, Marek let out a slight sigh of relief. They would consolidate their power, if only from the two groups. It had to be enough, he hoped.
Nick and his team met the new threat gamely. They were short a man and these were more dangerous than the vampires they had fought up to now had been. He could feel the power radiating from the three. The voran had never fought an enemy so powerful and, after facing the strength of Eric, Nick worried that he wouldn’t be strong enough to defeat these creatures.
A woman with red braided hair tied back in a ponytail met him first. She wielded two swords tipped with silver. The woman looked like some valkyrie unleashed upon the modern world. She wasn’t large, but he could feel her power. How old this vampire must be to have gained so much power, he couldn’t know.
The redhead was a flurry of slashes and thrusts. She tried to land a kick thinking him a novice. Nick dodged the maneuver like the basic move it was. His counter thrust was blocked easily, however. As the battle prolonged, he could feel the others struggling around him. He needed to find a way to stop this woman!
“What are you?” the woman gasped as even the vampire was getting winded.
Her flow faltered and Nick found an opening. He caught her left arm causing her to drop her weapon. Shock registered a moment before his second blade used the new opening to go for the heart. Dropping her only remaining weapon, the redhead sank to her knees as her breath left her. The aura blade couldn’t kill this ancient vampire so easily.
As he drew his sword, Nick left the blade buried in her chest. White vampire eyes stared up at him as her mouth remained open unable to draw in any air. His right hand raised the sword for the killing blow and he said simply, “I’m a voran.”
As her head left her body, a flame burning blue singed his clothing even from a blades’ length. Patting at a particularly smoking piece of his jacket, Nick turned to see a giant vampire swat Ray aside and grabbed Edgar by both arms. Before Nick could try to react, the powerful vampire ripped the man’s left arm from his body. The scream of pain over powered the noise of the fighting around them.
“Weakling,” the monster said before he plunged his talons into Edgar’s chest. The man’s screaming stopped as his body erupted in flame and turned to dust.
Grinding his teeth in anger, Nick flew at the giant. Aura blades tore at the creature and caused the vampire to scream. Both blades stuck in his back and quickly the scream stopped as his lungs were held in paralysis.
“Now, Ray!” the voran shouted his order. He could feel the giant’s power as the monster tried to pull him free. Focusing on his blades, Nick refused to let the vampire go.
Even without breath, the giant tried to fend off Ray’s attack. Pushed away once, Nick struggled to hold him still. Ray snarled as his claws sank into both of the giant’s upper arms. Werewolf jaws went for the vampire’s throat and ripped out the front half leaving black blood spurting in front of his exposed vertebrae.
Still refusing to die, Ray finished the monster by driving his claws into his chest to rip out the black, beating heart. Crushing it to dust in front of the vampire’s eyes, Nick leaped back as a fire twice as hot as the woman’s exploded outwards trying to burn all within its range.
Dumb luck and a double attack from Jake and Lex drove the last lieutenant back squarely into the flames of the giant. The fires couldn’t kill so powerful a vampire but, as he reeled from the shock, Nick attacked the man from behind like the last.
Blinded by the flames and held by the aura blades, Jake beheaded the last lieutenant with his sword. His flame seemed inconsequential beside his fallen compatriots and as he winked out of existence, the team nearly all sank to the roof in exhaustion.
Nick sat on his knees looking at the remains of the vampires and team 5. Jake looked worn, but healthy. Ray had several cuts and burns that could be seen as he reverted to his wholly human form. Lex was even worse as he slumped to the ground holding his side. A slash from the vampire’s claws had nearly disemboweled the werewolf. Aubrey was wounded so severely that she was found lying in a pool of blood. The girl was still alive, but barely.
“Lex stay with her and try to bind both your wounds. The three of us need to try and get to Cyrus. The quicker he dies, the quicker it ends.”
The werewolf nodded and picked himself up to walk to his fallen pack mate.
Ray looked at Nick and Jake grimly. “If this Cyrus has any more lieutenants, we may not make it.”
Nick, though exhausted, put all he could into his sixth sense searching as far as the base. “A few pawns, but only one strong essence. He’s put all his forces into the field now.”
Ray looked at him with curiosity. “I don’t know how you can possibly know that, but I’ll trust that you are right.” Taking a deep breath, the werewolf started towards the building center and Cyrus.
Chapter 30- Outnumbered
Eric and two of his men, Brian from the second house and Sam from team 2 joined Mike to confront the dozen coming from the center. Marek with Logan and the big wolf John Blackman stood ready on either side as a group looking twice as large came in from the south. The women stood centered between the two lines of men waiting to assist either side, knowing it was likely that their force was going to be crushed between the two.
“Teams 3 and 4, get here as soon as you can. We’re about to fight over thirty here,” Marek said calmly into his radio as he watched southern vampires rushing to attack.
He could sense that at least one more lieutenant moved with this new group. The vampire wished he had Nick’s senses. The voran always seemed to know where a vampire was, even when smell and sight were unlikely to help.
A war cry came from the south as the superior numbers made them even surer of themselves. They had the advantage and both sides knew it. Sword ready, Marek met the first of the new wave and prayed that his people’s skills were high enough to make up for the number of attackers surrounding them. They needed help or a miracle, preferably both.
Nick heard the call to arms from Marek and considered changing their plans. Perhaps saving the others first was the better option. If they could beat all the guards and lieutenants, Cyrus would surely be no problem then. The only thing that stopped him from running to their aide was the fact that Cyrus could run while they were distracted. If that were to happen, then this whole thing could easily happen again. His friends and allies were suffering losses. If Cyrus rebuilt his army, they would be that much weaker to fight him again.
Over thirty vampires, even if everyone were to help, his forces would be outnumbered. There was nothing for it, but to end Cyrus’ evil now. If they were lucky, whatever control he had over the newer vampires would die with him.
Glass doors with numbers on them stood near to large garage doors. Names of companies no longer based there were fading or scratched off. Someone had taken some red spray paint and placed the name, Bloodworks, on the side of the building in their arrogance. Nick’s senses led him past it to a part of the building that looked to be strictly offices. Shapes moved in the darkness and even his excellent sight had problems making out what was going on inside.
He pointed at the door and three tall windows that reached from just above the ground to about seven feet with only three cross braces of metal breaking up their height. About waist high to Nick, wind
ows could be tilted out for warm weather. It would be risky to break through any of the windows, but if they could get an advantage on the people waiting inside perhaps it was worth it.
Ray took matters into his own hands as he pulled the stone tire block from the pavement and threw it through the middle window. “Come on. Let’s get this guy!”
Charging the window, Ray led the other two, who had to back him up now that strategy had been imposed on them. The werewolf launched through the window with Jake following in his wake. Nick tested the door and found it unlocked. Opening the glass door, the voran let his senses search for the enemy.
“Stop!” a scratchy voice ordered as the three men entered the office. It was about fifty feet wide and more than seventy deep to the far wall. Abandoned desks and low room dividers hid the people within from an easy attack. Nick noted something he had missed before, of nearly twenty essences, less than half were vampires. The rest of the people felt human.
As he made that realization and chided himself for being so exhausted as to have missed it, a figure stood up to be clearly seen. A man of less than six feet in height, Nick could sense that this vampire’s strength exceeded even that of the powerful giant. He was the elder. He was Cyrus, the vampire they were searching for and he held a young woman’s neck in his grip.
“Cyrus,” Nick stated simply. His allies stood on a pair of desks near the window to see over the dividers as best they could. Their attention roamed the room looking for more enemies.
Noting the girl was human; the voran chided him for not expecting more to be around. They were vampires after all and would need a food source. He was surprised that there weren’t more in fact to feed such a large army. Then he realized why even an army of vampires this size would need so much space. The building center and its many garage doors most likely hid dozens, if not hundreds of bodies. Nick’s gut twisted in a knot.
“Take another step and I will snap this girl’s neck,” the ancient vampire ordered as he stepped forward with the girl. Nick felt a half dozen weaker vampires moving closer under the cover of the dividers. The leader was merely trying to buy time until they could get into position.
“Sorry, vampire, but you’d kill her anyway,” Ray snarled. “The only reason we don’t attack you right now is because your weaklings are closer to us than you are.”
The vampire chuckled. “Well, I should have known that at least one of you would have sensed them despite our scent being all over this building.
“Get them, you fools! They know you’re here anyway.”
Half a dozen vampires, mostly women, rose up to rush the three men. Two were the recruiters that they had met a few nights ago. If they were here, then that truly meant all of the vampires of his clan must be here.
The three moved into the fight quickly with Jake and Ray tearing through their first two easily. Nick used his aura blades to stun the blond Lenora from a blow to the head. Victoria, her redheaded friend, checked up in fear in front of him and she fell next to her friend in the same state. He figured to keep them alive at least long enough to interrogate them after the battle. They might have some useful information about the workings of the Bloodworks that they would need to know.
A one sided affair, the scuffle was over before the men could even get out of breath. Cyrus frowned at the lack of success from his minions. Glancing at the girl still in his hands, the ancient vampire simply shoved her aside.
“Well, I guess that I’ll have to do this myself. Once I kill you, I’ll make sure that my trap has killed the rest of your two clans. We’ll erase your very existence and make Chicago our own.”
“You’ll alert the police and be exterminated either way. You’ve been too reckless, Cyrus. Now we’ll finish you and try to clean up the mess you’ve made. It’ll be hard to hide the existence of vampires after your stupidity, but I’ll do my best,” Nick stated as the three men moved a bit closer to the remaining vampire.
“Stupidity? I’ve been alive for six centuries, pup. You humans are easy to fool and it will be as it always is. A small army removes the pests from my way and we kill for a few years until it is time to move to the next city. Place a bomb in a building and suddenly terrorists or a disgruntled employee has killed hundreds. With all the new technology, these humans still can’t catch on.”
“Glad to hear that,” Ray said. “So once we kill you, we can make it look like something normal. Now enough of your talk, die, vampire!” the werewolf charged Cyrus intent on the kill.
Nick and Jake moved to either side following the wolf’s lead. They all knew that it would take all of them to kill this immortal.
The battle on the roof was too large to watch out for anyone other than that person on your right or left. Marek battled beside Logan and big John at first. The numbers of their enemies drove them back and Nicola and Charlotte appeared on either side of him. Just as quickly the werewolf disappeared into the chaos to appear on her brother’s right once more. Audrey moved in between Logan and him to make up for the werewolf’s change of place.
The vampire leader heard the sounds of violence all around him and knew that Eric and the others were putting up the best fight they could. They had twice as many of the elder vampires fighting them and despite the numbers Marek faced, their battle was perhaps the tougher of the two.
Eric faced one of the lieutenants while Mike struggled with the other. The wolf pack leader had never faced anyone that he felt inferior to in power. Other wolves and vampires had crossed his path over the last century and Eric had never failed to beat them. Facing this lieutenant, the wolf felt worry.
A weaker vampire moved between the wolf and elder to be cut down in contempt by the werewolf. His attention remained focused on the blade wielding monster that smelled of power and death. No mere gnats would keep the two from their fight.
Mike cried out in pain as a blade cut the outside of his shoulder and as he staggered back, Sam’s fully transformed upper body could be seen from the edge of Eric’s sight as the wolf met the lieutenant with fang and claw. The scrappy werewolf’s attack forced the second elder back briefly and Brian felled another of the lesser vampires beside him. Vanessa and Marta appeared cloaked in their wolf forms on Eric’s left. They would keep the swarm from getting behind him as they flanked the groups forming a circle.
Mike reappeared even as Sam was forced to give way to the silver tinged blade. Smoking wounds from the blade proved that the werewolf could not hold the lieutenant by himself.
When team 4 showed up, Derek and Sophia dropped off the twins, Min and Sally. They had carried the two across the rooftops faster than the wolves could have moved since the girls were small and light. Both pulled their pair of blades upon hitting the roof. Despite being werewolves, the little girls were dangerous as any wolf with their swords in hand.
Hitting the enemy from the east, the four were soon joined by the males of their group as they leaped and climbed to the roof almost a minute later. Tom Woo attacked the lieutenant fighting Mike and the elder slapped his sword aside. Like the girls, Tom was excellent with a blade, but once disarmed the man became the wolf.
Eric could see as the werewolf launched in again without his sword and the lieutenant made him pay. Fending off Mike with one blade, the second lashed out severing Tom’s head in one clean blow. He hadn’t seen the move coming and as the werewolf’s head came free of his body it caught fire from the silver weapon. The body in flame crashed to the ground between the vampire and the ones beside it.
Gritting his teeth angrily at another of his pack being killed, Eric fought harder than ever to try and defeat the powerful vampire before him. The lieutenants were too much to ignore and the lesser creatures all bore similar blades. The battle was starting to go towards Cyrus’s forces.
When team 3 finally arrived to help, it was a crippled unit. No vampires were with the wolves led by Terrell. Marcus and Cheryl had been at the point of a fight that had their team outnumbered more than two to one. Mostly military men, t
he soldiers were among the best of Cyrus’s guardsmen and had brought more expertise to the fight. Along with their numbers, the men had been so skilled as to overwhelm first Cheryl and then Marcus as his grief for his lover made him careless. If not for Terrell’s leadership, all of them would have been lost. As it was, they lost a wolf named Victoria and all three remaining men were scarred and bleeding from the battle.
With all their remaining forces gathered, the allies fought to gain some momentum of their own. There were no more to come unless Nick and team 5 could achieve their goal soon.
Eric was tiring and injured from fighting the lieutenant, but the vampire was looking almost as weakened from the battle. Forced back a step, the pack leader felt the line begin to falter on his right where the other elder fought Mike and Sam. Both men were so beaten up it was requiring the two just to keep from dying from his twin blades. Brian to their right fought against three or four at a time to try and hold his end.
When Vanessa slipped in from the left and scored a nasty cut with her claws across the vampire’s ribs, it caught everyone off guard. The woman had felt her lover starting to fall back and leaving Marta to guard her left she had struck a game changing blow.
Eric lunged forward as the vampire recoiled and managed to drive his claws into the man’s stomach. Black blood ran from the creature’s mouth and flooded from the wounds. A second strike severed the creature’s neck and, as it fell, it burned bright and hot.
His victory celebration was postponed, however, as a second flame came from his right. Mike screamed as the other elder stabbed him in the heart. Sam was nearly beheaded by the same creature and would have been overwhelmed if Eric had not just defeated his own opponent.
The pack leader slashed at the lieutenant leaving Vanessa to guard his left side from another vampire. The elder reacted too quickly to him and fended off the attack. Sam slumped to the ground too injured to stay conscious. Eric could do nothing as he watched in shock as the elder stabbed Brian from the side with his second blade. The werewolf screamed in pain as two of the other vampires tried to take advantage, the wolf with his last dying breath leaped forward claws slashing for their throats. As two more blades pierced the werewolf’s chest, two pillars of fire exploded into dust as the werewolf crashed into them.
Vorans and Vampires (Book 1): Voran the Night Guardian Page 25
