by Alice Wade
“You took long enough,” she yelled out in jest.
Athradien shook his head and pushed another dead body over the wall.
* * * *
Dace was drenched in sweat by the time his blade tingled that he was at his destination. He’d run down through the underbelly of the palace and now emerged into a cavernous room so massive it was startling that he didn’t know it was here.
He was tired and felt his strength starting to fail him, so when he emerged into this room he stumbled to a stop. Kaen was nowhere to be scene, but the blade was telling him he was near, somewhere off to the left. Not letting his guard down, Dace did his best to calm his heart and catch his breath.
“Pup, you are weak.” That had Dace spinning around to face the darkness. “Your human blood does not allow you stamina. Did your little elf think to give you that?” Kaen stalked forward into the low light. “No? Pity.” He moved so quickly Dace almost missed it. His assault was blocked by the blade and fended off with a clang of colliding metal. Kaen hissed, hollering in frustration when he realized Dace wasn’t going down easily. That blade he carried enabled him to be an equal opponent. He growled at the human and let his rage flare into an inferno.
“What is that you carry?” He sniffed in the direction of the blade. “Elven magic. So, your friend gave you a gift did she? Clever.” His blurred strike that was blocked again. Kaen became increasingly angry because he couldn’t strike him. He couldn’t get past that damn blade! Realizing this, he decided to run. He knew he’d not win easily and needed to focus on other tasks at hand.
Dace had enough. “No you don’t,” Dace taunted, holding Kaen here with is words alone. He circled around, determining where the vampire would shift to when Kaen moved too quickly for his eye to track. Dace feigned a strike in the opposite direction, sending Kaen flying to the spot Dace hoped he’d shift. In a spinning motion, Dace swung the blade wishing it to be a staff with a razor sharp tip and heard a howling screech as it collided with Kaen’s torso. He felt the vibration of the impact up his arms and the spear embedded in Kaen’s midsection.
The vampire wasted no time and teleported out, leaving Dace and the bloody spear confused but happy he’d drawn first blood.
Knowing he was alone, he wished the blade to return to normal and tracked his prey. He merged with the blade to track which direction to move in. South and above ground.
A feral smile broke his face. This hunting was fun. With one last amazed look at the weapon in his fist, he realized he’d regret handing this weapon back to Cuilwen when this was all over.
“Come out, come out where ever you are,” he called, the children’s rhyme echoing off the walls of the cavern. “I’m coming, Kaen. There will be no hiding this time,” he said just before he blinked out to continue his hunting.
* * * *
Lainey was a blur of ferocity as she defended herself against the hordes of newborn vampires. Intermixed among the mobs were elder vampires that were doing their best to control the actions of the young ones, but ended up fighting for their lives instead.
Fighting alongside Lainey were the ten other warriors plus Cuilwen; all those that had helped free her from the garden. They fought in pairs, making sure everyone had a partner.
Lainey pressed her back to the elf who backed her and waited for the next wave to attack. She was winded but pulled on the stamina of her vampire blood. The wound at her neck already healed and that increased her confidence in her new heritage. One newborn darted forward and she drove her blade into his heart, pulling free quickly to wait for the next.
They continued to circle like this around the closing space that would soon collapse on them when the tidal wave of newborns overwhelmed the small party.
Her fearless determination earned the elves respect quickly but they recognized that she was still untrained. Whether she liked it or not, they had to assist when it became overwhelming, and they did so willingly. Lainey groaned under the effort of fighting. It was exhilarating to fight with her vampire skills and the little that Kailani had taught her had come in handy but it was quickly becoming ineffectual by the sheer number that was now spilling over the edge of the rampart. “I hope Faelwen sets that spell soon,” she whispered to her partner. If Faelwen didn’t succeed, they wouldn’t stand a chance.
* * * *
Kaen knew when he felt the blade connect with his torso that Dace had made first strike. It was at that moment that he knew he needed to get out of there or he could make another mistake. Oh, Kaen knew he was being pursued, so decided to bring the fight to center stage. He traveled to the base of the bell tower where he felt the strongest push taking place and knew that Talon probably had something planned or his coven would not be reacting as they did.
“Faelwen?”
His friend grinned into his mind, clearly having way too much fun at the moment, “Just about to subdue the square, Kaen. There are only eleven of them, so this should not take much.” His voice suddenly stopped as if he were distracted. “Something is happening. I’ll report in a moment.”
Kaen snarled. He hated surprises. Before he went to the tower, he needed to finish one thing first. He needed to find Deandra. She was abandoned in the chaos of that first attack and now he wanted her at his side. “Dearest? Where are you?” He reached out with his mind and was reassured when he felt her vibrant and strong.
The sound of her snarl alerted him that she was close by, “Turn around, husband.”
Kaen rotated on the ball of his foot and shuddered at the sight of his wonderful wife in pure vampire form. She was magnificent. Her eyes were glowing blue and her fangs extended. Very little humanity remained. “Why dear, you look stunning,” he purred.
“Yes, I know.”
“I wish you at my side, but we must hurry. Dace is chasing and not far behind. We need to get up to the bell tower to see what Talon is up to. Shall we?” He extended his hand to her.
Deandra sniffed loudly releasing a snarl that had his cock swelling to a firmness that was near painful. He would never stop accepting that she really was magnificent when angry. He felt a shooting pain in his side just then and looked down at the burning cut that Dace had delivered. It wasn’t severe enough to slow him down, but eventually that taint would burn through his skin and not stop until he was consumed. He needed time to heal it but realized time was a luxury at the moment.
Deandra approached with caution and eyed his side, “You’re injured.”
“It is nothing. Come,” again he held out his hand more insistently. The moment she placed her palm in his, he moved them to the tower and launched into the foray of the fight, sending two elves sailing over the side with little effort. Kaen had a fleeting thought that Deandra really was a natural at this and then returned his focus to the fight at hand, for Talon approached with his damnable double swords.
“I see you’ve come to play, Kaen.” Talon called as he circled the vampire.
“You sent a pup to do the work of a man,” Kaen said.
Talon motioned with his head to the wound on Kaen’s side, “Seems to be the pup has sharp teeth.”
Kaen shrugged, “Lucky bite.”
Off to their left Deandra had zoned in on Kailani. The two snarled at one another with animalistic sounds. Kai had shifted to her vampire form and now matched Deandra in magnificence, feature for feature. They were evenly matched with one exception—Kailani had age and experience on her side.
“Let’s dance,” Deandra sneered when she charged, colliding into Kailani. They smashed into the side of the bell tower wall, Kailani dropping her blade upon impact. Debris rained down on their heads coating them with a grey dust before they tumbled to the ground in a snarling mass of hisses and claws.
Talon and Kaen had also engaged and the two were slashing, stabbing and blocking with their blades. They were moving so quickly around the open
space that the elves stopped trying to keep track and focused on just on defending their space to get the damn spell set and released.
Kailani linked with Talon and shared a disorienting double vision as she fought with Deandra. The woman really was tenacious but she’d soon overpowered her with experience. As she blocked another slash from the princess, her second sight watched in horror as Kaen’s blade slipped past Talon’s guard and sliced cleanly into his middle, dropping her mate immediately to the floor in a heap of writhing pain.
He doubled over, stunned, shocked and in tremendous pain, but his first thought was Kai. His eyes looked up, searching for her. Kaen took advantage of this and struck him again, running him through where he kneeled.
Talon’s strength left him and he collapsed to the ground. He clung to consciousness as he lay in a growing pool of blood. What just happened? He shouldn’t have missed that but Kaen’s blade slipped past his sword. Kaen’s blade must be enchanted to counter his own swords—evading the blocking spells and be able to get past his protection. There wasn’t other explanation.
Talon grew numb and couldn’t move. He heard the sounds of the fight around him and fought to stay awake. Searching, he tried to find Kai with his eyes and fought the darkness that crept around the edges of his vision.
Because they were connected and linked so intimately, his pain was her pain and Kailani too dropped to the floor, writhing. She sought out his face, finding his glazed eyes watching her just before she felt the biting pain in her chest. Deandra took advantage of the moment and slashed across her chest, then again her back. She then kicked Kailani forcing to collapse onto her side in a ball as the pain consumed her.
Kailani howled in utter agony as the burn from Deandra’s talons seared through her mind. They were beaten and this was it. Kai reached out and clung to what was left of Talon’s mind and succumbed to the darkness that called her. Her last thought was to Talon, “I love you,”
Kaen staggered back and released a bellow of success. He’d won! He’d taken down Talon and his annoying mate once and for all. Gloating over Talon’s fallen form and kicked him a few times to vent his frustration causing the elven vampire to roll onto stomach and curl into a ball. “You deserved this Talon. You ruined all my plans time and time again. Not this day. This day is mine!” Kaen raised his sword in a killing blow that would sever his head, smiling as he heard Kailani’s frantic plea to her mate. How touching.
Just as the blade began its downward strike, Dace exploded out of thin air. He sailed through the empty space front leg extended, both arms raised over his head in double handed swing. In one smooth motion, sliced cleanly through Kaen’s upper body, severing him in half. Kaen died instantly. Dace regretted that, because he wanted Kaen to suffer. He’d been forced to give him a quick death and he didn’t feel any pain when his two halves slide in different directions to the ground at Dace’s feet.
Once Dace skidded to a stop, it took him one glance to see that both Kailani and Talon were down and that the rest of the elves moved quickly to set the final strike.
He was denied any celebration as he rushed to Talon’s side in a panic.
“Oh no, oh no, Talon!”
Talon spat out a mouthful of blood and coughed up more, “Kai,” was all he said before he passed out.
“No!” Dace rolled the vampire over and saw the extent of his injuries and groaned. There was no hope. His mid-section had been ripped cleanly open and the wound too great for any chance of survival.
His head shot up and located Kailani. Deandra was poised in a killing strike but looked up in a feral hiss as if to taunt him. “Get…away…from…her!” he roared at the same moment he charged.
Deandra had a fleeting feeling of fear. She knew she had no chance. She wasn’t as experienced as Kaen and wasn’t prepared for the enchanted blade. It was all very eerie as she watched him approach, staring at his murderous eyes the entire time. It was as if time slowed, allowing only Dace the freedom to move.
The blade wanted blood and moved unerringly towards Deandra’s neck. Dace put her down in one stroke and watched as she toppled to the ground. Her head landed near his feet with her eyes turned up towards the sky and Dace watched the blazing blue eyes fade to a dull color. She was gone.
Dace rushed to Kailani, his face bathed in tears. He rolled her over and found her semi conscious but obviously in a state of shock. She had multiple slashes that had her torso ripped to shreds, causing a large amount of blood to stain her clothing and pool on the ground beneath her body. “Kai? Answer me!”
“He’s gone. He’s gone. He’s gone,” she kept chanting. Blood gurgled from her mouth when she coughed. Like Talon, her consciousness faded and she collapsed in Dace’s arms.
He could also see her wounds were severe with little hope of repair. He pulled her limp body to his and cried in to her hair. This could not be happening. This could not be happening! They were supposed to survive! They were supposed to be a coven of four! They can’t die and leave them alone, not now. Not after all they’d done. There had to be something that could be done to save them. Just then, he felt a vibration at his leg and realized the blade was glowing. What now?
With a tear-streaked face, he looked up to the sky in time to see Athradien complete the spell and stand below the massive bell in the tower with Faelwen and Nethlhindornien at his side. The three linked arms with their heads thrown back. The three elves chanted something in a language he didn’t understand and the air around them crackled.
The pressure built until the bell above their head was peeling with a painfully loud sound. Suddenly, the three released their grasp and forcefully clasped their hands above their own heads, standing with their arms extended. The spell released, and a blast of power exploded outward, killing every vampire it encountered on contact, with three exceptions—Talon, Kailani, and Lainey.
* * * *
Down below, Lainey fought for her life. Cuilwen was at her back now and together they fended off unimaginable numbers of vampires. She was just about to admit defeat when a large mob of men exploded behind the lines of vampires and started cutting them down, thinning their ranks from the outside in.
Cuilwen sobbed when she saw Omar at the lead and that sight renewed her energy to fight. Omar touched his blade to his forehead in her direction before he began his brutal slaying of anything that moved within reach.
Lainey too saw who had come—the renegades, her family, her friends. She only saw Omar but knew they were all there. They had come and they stood behind him giving her hope.
She dispatched three more vampires when she suddenly crumpled to the ground. She was circled and protected by the elves as she became incapable of defending herself at the moment.
She felt the death of Kaen at the exact moment Dace’s blade struck true. She felt the last of his hold on her disappear completely; it was as if it never had been.
At the same moment, the newborns faltered and slowed, all looking towards the tower because there was a pressure building; they could tell something was about to happen.
Lainey saw the three forms beneath the bell and heard the musical chime fill the air as their magic built in power. When it was released, she watched in utter amazement when the shock wave moved through the city. She watched the rolling wave cascade through the crowd, rolled through the city streets killing all vampires it touched. The resonating sound of the bell rang loudly and probably extended far into the countryside as well.
After the bell stopped tolling, the silence that followed was unsettling. Its eeriness drew the attention of the remaining elves and renegades who looked around in confusion. They half expected some rabid creature to bust from the alcove or scale the side of the rampart. But no such creature came.
Cuilwen knelt over Lainey and checked her face, “Are you well?”
“He did it,” she sobbed. “Dace did it! He killed
Kaen!”
That warmed Cuilwen’s heart as collected the pixy woman in her arms and adjusted so she cradled her in her lap, “It appears they all have, Lainey. Look around you. It’s over.”
Lainey let her eyes roam over the wreckage. Bodies littered in piles around their tiny circle of freedom. A circle she noticed was shrinking.
“So it seems.”
While they were admiring their success, Athradien appeared with Dace at his side. Both wore grave faces slowly approaching their women. An ill foreboding chilled Cuilwen’s blood but she straightened her back to receive the news.
“What has happened?” she whispered, knowing Athradien would hear her.
He released a single sob and stumbled to her side, kneeling emotionally before her, “Talon and Kai have fallen.”
Cuilwen’s mind went blank as she looked at the man she loved. She didn’t believe him.
Lainey overheard the announcement, standing and stepping back in shock. Dace collected her into his arms as her grief consumed her. Her world spun and images of Kailani and more importantly, Talon, flashed through her mind like a vision. They couldn’t be gone. It was a mistake. Athradien lied. Talon would come back; he had to come back.
Athradien approached Cuilwen slowly. He gathered her in his arms and held tightly until she finally felt the utter despair of what he just announced.
Talon was dead.
Chapter Twenty
Lainey was in a dazed state of shock when her weeping finally faded to a few hiccups and sniffles. She remained in the shattered heap she had collapsed in when Dace announced that Talon and Kailani were dead. Nothing else mattered; not the eerie stillness around her or the feeling of exuberance that the battle was finally over. All she felt was immeasurable sorrowful pain and the strong arms that circled her while she fell apart with weeping that threatened to break her mind and soul apart with its intensity.
