by Stead, Nick
I was just getting to my feet when Dhaer roared again. But this wasn’t the wordless scream it had made before. This was an actual cry of “NO”, a shout of defiance and refusal to submit to the lesser beings who dared to attempt to send it back to Hell. And with that cry, the demon unleashed another burst of energy which knocked us all to the ground, and extinguished the flames encircling it.
Dhaer leapt into the air and rose up on those bat-like wings, and the pit it had been sinking into closed up as if it had never been. Its paws landed on the tarmac a moment later, its eyes burning with an even greater fury than I’d sensed in the dungeon.
Most of the Slayers never even had time to pick themselves back up before it was breaking more bones and tearing flesh. Several of them reached for the guns torn from their hands as they’d fallen, only to have the fingers bend at unnatural angles, making it impossible to pull the trigger.
One or two managed to fire a round of ammo before they too fell to the demon’s power, and I could hear the witches and warlocks beginning a new chant, which also turned to screams seconds later. The battle was lost.
I was just preparing to flee, when the last human standing ran into the chaos. Will had finally entered the fray, possessed once more. His sword was alight with Hellfire and his features were Jaken’s, the gashes on his face unmistakable as those of his master.
Dhaer turned to deal with this new threat but too late. All its power had been focused on the Slayers and it wasn’t quick enough to redirect it. Demon Will was already leaping towards it, sword reaching out like an extension of his arm, aimed at Dhaer’s chest.
The blade found its mark, plunging into that empty cavity where a heart and lungs should have been. Demon Will landed at the creature’s feet, his sword sticking out of its chest as though the missing organs were there and the metal had buried itself in them. But to my eyes the cavity remained empty, the blade floating in mid-air.
Dhaer gave another cry of pain and hatred, though this roar did little more than raise my hackles. And before its scream had even begun to die off, its entire body burst into flame.
I watched with a kind of morbid fascination as the thing took flight once more, a meteor blazing through the sky. It climbed high enough to take on the appearance of a fireball, no longer recognisable as a living creature, demon or otherwise, burning overhead like a second sun. Then that fireball seemed to explode, and Will’s sword fell back down to Earth.
It landed with an almighty clatter. The flames along its edge had already gone out and it appeared unscathed from the fight, but the speed with which it hit the tarmac looked to cause some damage to the blade. Will walked over to retrieve it, his face his own again and his expression unreadable.
The screams of the doomed humans went on. I stalked over to the nearest one and bit into his flesh, gulping down great chunks of meat like it was my first meal in days. The bloodlust threatened to rise up again but I wrestled it back down, only wanting to satiate the hunger for flesh and then get to Gwyn. I still didn’t trust Will or his master for one thing. If anything, I trusted them even less than before my out of body experience, and I wanted to keep my wits about me while I fed. That wouldn’t have been possible with the bloodlust driving me into a frenzy.
But it was more than that. All the trauma my body had been through was taking its toll, even though the transformation had repaired the damage. A wave of weariness crashed over me and all I wanted to do was sleep.
More exhausted than hungry then, I rose from my prey and looked across at Will. He nodded at me as if sleep was also on his mind, and together we walked back to the car, weary but triumphant.
It wasn’t quite over for our enemies. Still the screams went on as they died their slow deaths, but they were no longer any concern of ours. The threat they posed had broken with their bones, and after everything their faction had put me through, mercy was the last thing I wanted to give them. Death would eventually release them from their pain. But I would sleep easier knowing that they would suffer first.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
A Wolf in Slayers’ Clothing
My body was so tired that I slipped into a deep, dreamless sleep the moment I sat in the car. The lack of nightmares was perhaps a blessing after all I’d learnt from Jaken, though I wouldn’t be able to avoid them forever. There was no escaping the terrible knowledge of the fate awaiting me after death. The torment I’d suffered at the hands of Dhaer was but a taste of what was to come, and unless I could find a way to break the deal Selina had made and embrace the peace of oblivion, then my soul was doomed. Then again, in some ways oblivion scared me more than the idea of Hell. To never think or feel or know again – I wasn’t sure which was worse.
I awoke to find we were back on the road. Night had fallen and we were on some narrow country road with little traffic and no streetlights. It was the perfect driving conditions if we wanted to keep a low profile.
Will looked to be alert in the driver’s seat, apparently rested and ready for more action. I looked across at him and wondered if I was looking at my own future. Jaken had said I wasn’t His servant in the same way Will was, but I was more troubled by the thought of the demon having power over me than I was by what I had to look forward to in the afterlife. And presumably it was not just Him who commanded such absolute obedience, but other demons as well. Had I just gained self-control over my own monstrous urges and dark desires, only to lose that control to the demons instead? Could I ever trust myself around my friends and allies again, knowing Hell might command me to turn on them and there wouldn’t be a damn thing I could do to stop it? Would my life ever be my own, or was I fated to remain a slave to the darkness, if not from my own curse then from my demonic masters? Despite the good sleep I’d had, I felt a fresh wave of weariness. Just when I’d been given hope at a life of freedom, away from the Slayers and the killing and the human world I could never return to, I’d found myself back in chains. It was beyond unfair.
“Finally, you’re awake,” Will said, his eyes never leaving the road.
“Yeah. I’m amazed you didn’t disturb me and have me change back to human again.”
“I decided it was worth the risk this time. You needed the rest and besides, any Slayers left in the immediate vicinity will have enough on their hands with the aftermath of that last battle. We’re fairly safe on these country roads, for now at least.”
I nodded, satisfied with his answer. “Where are we going?”
“We had a deal. I’m taking you to Gwyn.”
Relief chased away some of the tiredness. I was happy to hear those words, especially after I’d been half expecting to have to fight for it. Deal or no deal, I hadn’t really trusted him to uphold his end of the bargain without the use of some kind of forceful persuasion.
“Is it far?” I asked.
“No. I chose that specific town for the summoning as much for its nearness to our next destination as anything. It was on the right side of Northamptonshire for where we need to be. We should be able to free Gwyn before the night is through, then I’ll drive you back to the coast and your allies, and you can go back to attempting to flee the country, if that is your wish.”
“Thanks.” I paused, my mind full of questions. I didn’t really expect him to be any more talkative than he’d been so far, but I had to at least try. “I saw your master after you shot me. From the sounds of things, His orders are all that have kept you from killing me when you’ve had the chance. Do you want to tell me why you were out to kill me?”
“Not really.”
“Then maybe you can answer this, since I didn’t get chance to ask your master. Why me? Why am I so important to Him and why go to all this trouble just to make me one of Hell’s earthly pawns?”
“That’s His business. Does the why really matter? Knowledge can’t help you change anything. All that matters is what is, and learning to accept it.”
“Fine, then how about this,” I growled, frustrated. “For all your claims I was the only one
who could help defeat Dhaer, in the end it was the Slayers who had the biggest part to play in securing that victory. You never needed me at all. So what has all this really been about?”
Will was quiet, his eyes still on the road, and I didn’t think he was going to answer that either. But he surprised me by saying “Maybe when Jaken learnt of your intentions to seek out a place in the natural world, He felt the need to take steps to ensure you remained on a dark path, and to remind you of all that is at stake. You can turn your back on this war for a time, but it will find you again eventually. The Slayers are everywhere. You can’t hide from them forever.”
“Maybe not, but you saw how the vampires are treating me these days, at least in this country. I can’t fight the Slayers with only Lady Sarah, Zee, Selina and Gwyn on my side. What else can I do?”
“Just remember where you came from, and who you are. That is the message I believe my master wished to deliver.”
As was his wont, Will fell silent again and nothing more was said until we reached the base where he assured me we would find Gwyn. Did I believe him? I wasn’t entirely sure, but for as long as Jaken wanted me alive rather than dead I was probably safe. Probably. So long as Will didn’t find a loophole in the orders he’d been given, one which would allow him to get me killed in some indirect way as opposed to delivering the fatal blow himself. His master had forbidden the latter so that was one less thing to worry about. But I thought back to the way he’d told me getting Dhaer on my side was my only hope against the Slayers. Keeping some level of suspicion around him seemed healthy, and I didn’t want to just blindly follow him into another battle without some proof Gwyn was actually being held there like he said.
We came to a stop in what looked to be the middle of nowhere, but the moment I stepped out of the car I caught the scents of humans and gunpowder. Will had taken me to a group of nearby Slayers, that much was true.
“Stay here,” he said. Surprisingly, he didn’t retrieve his rifle from the boot this time, nor his sword. Maybe the latter had been too damaged to do him any good.
“Why?”
“There’s guards posted around the area. We’ll have to get past them before we even reach the base, and it will be easier to slip through undetected if I take them out alone. We might not need to kill them all if this goes smoothly, but if you’re seen they’ll raise the alarm, and we’ll have a much harder time of it.”
I didn’t like the idea of letting him go on ahead, not when it would give him the perfect opportunity to tip them off about my being there. But if he was planning to sneak us in rather than charging into another hard battle, it seemed like I was going to have to go along with it.
“Okay,” I growled, watching him slink off into the darkness. I waited a moment, then decided to follow, keeping enough distance so as not to be spotted by our enemies, whilst still keeping him in my line of sight, in case he was about to try anything.
Moors stretched out along either side of the road we’d parked on. Two Slayers patrolled the patch of moorland Will had gone into, both men and fitted with more armour like the soldiers at the base in Wales. I watched as he approached them, confident and at ease. The lie was told for him before he had any need to open his mouth, his body language saying ‘I am one of you and I have as much reason to be out here as you do’. It was all he needed to get close without being challenged, the men nodding to him and standing to attention, like they were expecting to be given new orders. The blades were in their throats a moment later, twin daggers drawn from his belt. In one fluid movement he plunged the weapons in the gap between the protective collars around their necks, and the helmets protecting their heads. Neither man saw it coming. They never had chance to do anything other than die, falling to the ground with nothing more than a gurgle.
“I thought I told you to wait by the car?” Will said, turning round to look me in the eye.
That made me uneasy. How had he known I was there? I doubted he’d heard me coming. “I needed to know you weren’t trying to double-cross me.”
“Well since you’re here, we need you human again, and then you can help me strip one of them.” He gestured at the men he’d just killed.
“Strip one of them?” I asked, though I did as he said, letting go of my lupine features until only the teenage boy remained.
He gave a curt nod. “We’re going in there as Slayers.”
“That’s your great plan?” I stared at him incredulously. “Dress me up as a Slayer and just walk on in and hope no one recognises me?”
“The armour will hide most of your face. As long as you’re with me, no one will suspect anything.”
“You don’t think they’ll have caught the two of us together on CCTV somewhere?”
“They’ll believe whatever story I tell them,” Will said, confident as ever. “The other option is I take you in as my prisoner, but I thought you’d like that even less. Plus it would make escaping harder.”
“You thought right,” I growled, shivering as I knelt beside him. He’d almost stripped one of the corpses himself, the head and torso now bare. I pulled the man’s boots off while Will unfastened the belt, then together we worked at freeing the trousers. A moment later the clothes and armour were lying on the ground, like they were waiting for me to put them on.
Clothing remained an alien sensation now I was spending most of my time living as an animal, unused to the feeling of fabric against my bare skin. The warmth it brought was welcome in the absence of my lupine pelt, but I would have preferred to do without, especially when we would soon be sheltered from the elements in the Slayers’ base. My biggest objection was the armour though. It was beyond unnatural, and even if I had still been accustomed to wearing clothes, I doubt it would have felt any more comfortable. There was little wonder most of the Slayers didn’t bother wearing it for going out hunting undead. That and the fact many of them seemed to be little more than cannon fodder, who those in power didn’t want to waste resources on.
Will helped me struggle into the armour. It wasn’t particularly tight but the rigid material restricted my movement, depriving me of some of my body’s flexibility. There was also the added weight. It wasn’t much of a problem with my supernatural strength, but for a human it probably wasn’t ideal.
The warmth of the clothing underneath also disappeared as quickly as it had come. These toughened fabrics offered no protection from the damp or the cold, my new shell soaked with its previous owner’s sweat and blood, letting in the night’s chill once more. I would have gladly ripped it off again the instant Will fastened this horrible outer casing around my body, if it weren’t for the fact the Slayers would know something was wrong the instant they saw me without it. So I was forced to endure the discomfort, reminding myself it was for Gwyn’s sake. He was going to owe me for this.
“We’re almost ready,” Will said, handing me a gun. I noticed I also had a dagger attached to my belt. “Have you ever done anything like this before?”
“No.”
“Confidence is key. Act boldly and no one will challenge you. But give them a reason to suspect you don’t belong and we’re in trouble.”
“I’m a predator, I get it. Acting like prey among hunters gets you killed. Acting like you’re the toughest predator of them all earns you respect and a wide berth.”
“Exactly. Stay close and let me do all the talking. If all goes to plan, we’re going to get Gwyn and fetch him out without the need to kill a single Slayer.”
“Aren’t you going to kit up as well?”
“I’ve no need for disguises. I’m their best warrior and they know it. Not everyone knows me on sight and those that do will be all too happy to believe my lies, so long as I can convince them I’m still on their side. They’d be more suspicious if I went in there wearing armour – I’ve always turned it down in the past.”
“Won’t their leaders have shared your picture and warned their people you’re a traitor though?”
“My master interferes where
He must. Some will question my loyalties, but He will have taken steps to ensure the situation has not gotten beyond our control. He’ll protect my position among the Slayers for as long as it is useful to Him.”
“Okay. But one other thing – I’m not going in there till I have confirmation Gwyn’s definitely inside. So far I only have your word on that. I want to hear it from at least one of them as well.”
“We’re trying to avoid suspicion, not arouse it.”
“Then you’ll just have to hope that tongue of yours is as slick as you believe it is. Come on,” I said, taking the first step towards where my senses told me the entrance to the base was.
“Not that way.” He grabbed my shoulder to keep me from going any further. “We’re Slayers now, humans come to offer our services in ridding the world of the undead. We keep to the road.”
I nodded, realising that would make more sense, and fell into step beside Will, letting him take the lead.
The road branched off after half a mile or so, a dirt track leading away from it and towards the base. They had another perimeter fence in place but this time we were granted access through the main gates, unchallenged as Will had promised. We still had to pass the guards stationed either side of the entrance to the building though, and again I wished my friends were with me. It would have been nice to have either of the vampires ready to place the humans under their spell, if it came to it.
The men wrinkled their noses as we walked up to them. I tensed, wondering if the stench of death clinging so closely to me was about to give us away. If Will shared my concerns he didn’t show it, his face impassive and his eyes as cold and hard as ice.
“Bloody hell, mate,” one of the men said, looking at me. “You smell like an abattoir. Those undead bastards been giving you trouble out there?”
