by Kailin Gow
Marcus and Pietre were easier to spot. Marcus lunged at George, and the diner’s owner barely made it out of the way in time. He shot a couple of stakes from his gun, but one missed and the other passed through Marcus’ stomach, missing the heart. Marcus bellowed with rage, but didn’t slow his attack, coming forward with those swords of his.
Pietre was standing on one of the tables towards the back, watching Fallon. He waited for a few seconds and then leapt forward, flinging himself at the younger vampire. Briony reacted on instinct, moving between them and bringing her sword up so fast Pietre barely dodged.
“My, you really do take after dear Sophie, don’t you?” Pietre spun away, back into the fighting, before Briony could strike out at him again. She looked over to Fallon.
“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine, but we have to stop Pietre and Marcus.”
Briony nodded. Marcus was still fighting George. Somehow, the former leader of the Preservation Society had gotten hold of a blade of his own, in the form of a short machete, and was fighting back with it. Even with his vampire reflexes, he wasn’t quite keeping up with Marcus, but he was fighting better than Briony might have thought he could. Even Marcus seemed impressed.
“You should fight on my side,” he said. “I have a use for real warriors.”
“I’d rather just kill you,” George said.
Briony smiled at that, but she smiled a lot less at the sight of Percy trying to creep up on Marcus through the battle. It was a brave move, but a dangerous one. If Marcus spotted him…
He did. In the middle of fighting George, he spun, thrusting a sword through Percy’s throat then spinning to kick George away from him. Briony rushed over, trying to help. She swung her sword at Marcus, but the vampire parried it. Then she lashed out with flames from her spare hand. Marcus threw himself to the side.
“You have grown powerful, Princess. And I see you have a new trinket.”
Briony looked down and saw that the pendant was clearly visible against her shirt. “I won’t let you have it.”
“When I have come so far for it?” Marcus laughed. “You will not stop me.”
“I will.” Kevin plowed into the side of the vampire, smashing them both into the nearest wall. It buckled with the force of the blow. Marcus spun, and in that moment Briony was as afraid as she had ever been. What if Kevin ended up like Percy, so still and cold on the floor? What if…
Marcus struck Kevin twice, the first time with the hilt of his sword and the second with his knee. Kevin fell to the floor, momentarily stunned.
“The scepter is mine.” Briony heard Pietre’s voice behind her and she didn’t even turn. She simply reversed the sword she held and thrust backwards in one movement. She heard Pietre cry out in pain. Right then though, Briony had no time for Wicked’s master vampire. All her attention was on Marcus, who chose that moment to kick Kevin, his foot connecting with the werewolf’s jaw so that he slumped into unconsciousness. Briony started forward automatically.
“Yes,” Marcus said, “show me your anger, Princess.”
Briony lunged for him, and Marcus parried the blow. Again and again she struck, to no avail. Then Marcus countered. What felt like fire blossomed in Briony’s chest as Marcus thrust his left hand sword into her, and Briony felt like she could not breathe. Marcus dropped that sword, reaching out to rip the pendant from around Briony’s neck.
“And so I have what I came for,” he said. He bent, lifting Kevin over his shoulder. “And I have a shifter to get through the gate too.”
He left, so fast Briony could barely follow him. Briony looked around to find Pietre standing, his hand on his wounded stomach. “At least I get to finish you.”
A stake thudded into the wall by his head, then another. Jill kept firing. Cursing aloud, Pietre ran out into the street, his coat pulled over his head to try to shield him from the holy water falling around him like rain.
Briony collapsed to her knees. In an instant, Fallon was beside her. “Is it bad? Briony, what did he do to you?”
Briony tried to answer, but in that moment it hurt too much to. Fallon, meanwhile, was busy looking at the wound in her chest. “But that’s… impossible.”
“What is?” Briony asked, and she was astonished to find that she could get the words out.
“You’re healing.”
“Good.” Briony forced herself to her feet. “Then help me… help me follow Marcus.”
“But he stabbed you,” Fallon argued.
Briony took his face between her hands and kissed him. “He has the scepter, Fallon. He has Kevin. I am not going to stop here.”
Fallon nodded. “All right. If George shuts the sprinklers off, I’ll help you get to him. Where will he have gone?”
“The gate,” Briony said with absolute certainty. “He’ll be heading for the gate.”
Chapter 19
Marcus stalked his way to the site of the gate, the scepter’s head in one hand, the werewolf slung over the other shoulder like a side of meat. Perhaps that would be what Marcus would make of him once he got back through to Palisor, the power of the scepter under his control. As he approached the clearing though, he paused. He would not be careless so close to his goal, not when there were so many potential enemies around. Even the pitiful vampire from this world, Pietre, had proved more cunning than Marcus had given him credit for. He would not risk everything now.
So he stood there at the edge of the clearing for several seconds, waiting and watching, extending his senses. The gate was there, the arch standing with the mist at its center opaque, the pendant in Marcus’ hand pulsing with its closeness. Marcus slung it around his neck the way the princess had, being careful to slip it out of sight beneath his armor as he looked out over the grass of the meadow to the trees dotted around it and the brook running through it.
He was glad of that caution when a dragon flew overhead, the princess on its back. No, not the princess, he realized, another. Marcus almost laughed as he recognized the human girl from before, Maisy, dressed in a rough facsimile of her friend’s clothing. Then he remembered all that he had promised to do if she ran, and his eyes narrowed. He would have to think of that, once he was back in Palisor. Unless he could snatch the human here.
Marcus was distracted from that thought by the arrival of his vampires. They poured after the dragon, chasing it to the clearing without a thought between them. That was enough to make Marcus shake his head. Age had made them strong, and most of them were reckoned cunning enough in war, but there were days when it was clear most of them had learned nothing in their centuries of life. It was almost enough to make Marcus yearn for his brother back. At least Barron had been intelligent. No, Barron had been weak with it. Marcus had no time for the weak.
Some shred of instinct kept him watching a moment longer as the dragon, the princess’s dragon if Marcus had seen it right, circled above the clearing. He was glad that he had when, barely a second later, werewolves burst from the surrounding trees and ran at his vampires.
Werewolves. For the briefest of moment something welled up in Marcus. Not fear, for he had extinguished the last hint of fear in himself centuries back, but worry, certainly. His instincts told him that werewolves were dangerous. That they were fast enough and strong enough to be a threat. That their bites could mean death for his kind. They could be a dangerous problem.
Marcus watched the opening seconds of the battle. A large wolf with black fur tore at his followers, while a much smaller one darted around attacking where it could. Marcus’ vampires kept their distance, trying to use their weapons to keep the beasts at bay, yet some slipped through. They bit and they raked with their claws, battered vampires with their weight and changed into human form long enough to seize weapons from those who could not keep hold of them under the assault.
Yet Marcus’ vampires did not die. They were bitten, yet they did not fall screaming as the deadly reaction to a wolf’s bite took hold. They did not die the agonizing death of the wolf-bitten.
The one that had killed so many vampires when the one over his shoulder, the princess’s wolf, had bitten them. Yet his vampires did not seem to spot that. They still held back from the fight. Still did not give vent to their full fury.
“Fools!” Marcus bellowed. “Their bites will not kill you. Slay them!”
He stepped forward to show them the way by killing a couple of the beasts, but in that moment, he reeled as Kevin’s elbow connected with the back of his head. Marcus stumbled, and the werewolf transformed, hitting the ground on all fours and growling. Marcus did not hesitate, but instead reached out to grab the creature by the throat, dragging it along even as it snapped at him. He drew a sword with his spare hand, ready for the battle to come.
A werewolf threw itself at him, and Marcus sliced a wound along its side, making it yelp and fall back. Another transformed briefly into the shape of a young woman, lunging at him in human form.
“Kevin’s mine!”
Marcus dodged her blows, cutting at her arms with his sword. When she transformed into a wolf again, Marcus was ready, leveling his blade so that it would impale her as she lunged. He had reckoned without Kevin, though. The male werewolf transformed back into his human form and wrapped his arms around Marcus, dragging the vampire back so that his sword barely wounded the female.
“Carol, run,” Kevin yelled, and Marcus gave an amused smile before snapping his head back in a blow that easily broke the young man’s grip.
“Another young woman chasing after you?” Marcus slipped behind Kevin expertly, wrapping one arm around his throat in a choke hold while the other held the sword to his side. “Will she be as sad as the other to hear of your death? If you want to find out, keep fighting me.”
Marcus dragged the werewolf forward, towards the gate, inch by torturous inch. The fight raged around him but no one came near to them. The werewolves clearly didn’t want to risk this one being hurt, while his vampires were too busy fighting to assist. There was still the dragon to think about though. Dragons, because another had joined the first, and they landed together between Marcus and the gate. The fighting ground to a halt at the sight of them standing there, but right then Marcus didn’t care. They could not use their breath against him when he was so close to the wolf, and his vampires were too mixed in with the werewolves in the general melee for it to be helpful there.
The girl, Maisy, slid down from the golden dragon’s back. Steve made his way down from the purple and green one, managing to fall over as he reached the ground. Marcus let out a laugh. It was almost a shame that he would have to kill these humans.
“Let go of Kevin, Marcus,” Maisy said. Interestingly, Marcus could no longer pick out the shape of her thoughts, could no longer taste her fear. Instead, all he could find was a jumble of things that made no sense to him.
“Why would I do that? Your dragons cannot hurt me, I have the scepter, and the wolf will get me through to Palisor as well as one of them could.”
The dragons transformed, taking the human shapes they’d had when Marcus killed King Waltham.
“You have the scepter?” the golden haired one demanded. “Then we won’t let you get back to Palisor. You won’t get through us.”
“Of course I will,” Marcus snapped back. “I have one of the princess’s favorites here. What will you do? Incinerate him to stop me? You can only fight with strength and steel. With those, you are no match for me. No one is.”
“What do you want, Marcus?” Maisy asked.
Marcus let another bark of laughter leave him. The werewolf he held, chose that moment to struggle again, driving an elbow back into him hard enough that Marcus dropped his sword, but that just meant that the vampire could get a better grip on him. He wrenched Kevin’s neck back and bared his fangs, the threat obvious.
“You think we are negotiating? Then let us negotiate. What will you give me to stop me from ripping out this wolf’s throat, killing the two of you for disobeying me, and then making my way home with everything I want?”
“If you kill Kevin, there’s no reason for the dragons not to burn you,” Maisy pointed out. She managed it calmly, as though it didn’t matter to her. Marcus was almost impressed.
“He would still be dead.”
“Do it,” Kevin said, “I’ll be fine.”
Marcus shut him up by tightening his grip a little. “There is a point where bravery becomes stupidity, boy.”
He paused, savoring the moment. He would get what he wanted, for the simple reason that there was little the werewolves and the others could do to hurt him. If they were on the other side, perhaps, or if the dragons had the room to use their flames… but they did not, which meant that Marcus would have victory.
It was almost a shame that the princess was not there to see it. Marcus remembered the moment when he had thrust his blade into her with satisfaction. Better to kill her than leave her alive now that he had the scepter. The others could not take it from him. They were not strong enough. Only magic would do that now, and she had shown too many signs of being able to use the magic of her hugtandalfer heritage. The fireball that had shot past his head had come far too close to let her live.
“Is there anything else you wish to say before I go through the gate?” Marcus demanded. “No?”
“Take me.” The golden haired dragon stepped forward. “Use me as the shifter to get you through the gate, rather than Kevin.”
“Who are you, dragon of the princess? What name do they call you?”
“Archer. I’m Archer.”
“Well, Archer, why would I do that?”
“You know the dangers of taking the wolf. You must.”
Marcus was already thinking of the possibilities. When they got through the gate, the werewolf might return to what it had been before. That meant a bite that could kill him. Marcus might be fast enough to slay it before it could do so, but he might not. It would be far better to have the dragon. A dragon linked to the princess, moreover, which might allow him to control the scepter all the better.
“Do we have a deal?” Archer asked.
Marcus looked at him. “Why offer yourself in the wolf’s place? What trick do you have planned?”
“No trick. I am simply sworn to protect Princess Briony. You taking Kevin would hurt her too much. I can’t allow it. Even if it means you take me.”
Marcus thought for a second, and then pushed Kevin from him roughly, stepping forward to seize the dragon shifter by the arm. “Very well. You will take me through the gate.”
“No. No he won’t.”
Marcus half turned, staring in amazement at the figure approaching. She seemed almost to glow from within.
“Princess. I thought I had killed you. And you have your young vampire with you. I’ll kill him too, before I leave.”
“Kill us?” Briony stepped forward, raising her sword. “It’s not me who is going to die here, Marcus. Give me the scepter, now.”
Chapter 20
Briony had clung to Fallon for the trip to the gate. She had clung to him, and he had leapt his way there in those impossible bounds his power allowed him. She remembered being frightened by that the first time he had done it. Looking back, she could even remember a time when she had been terrified to be pressed so close to the young vampire, for fear of what he might do to her. This time though, she had clung on until he was able to bring her to the situation at the gate, where Marcus was trying to hold Kevin. Briony had been so proud of Archer when he offered himself in Kevin’s place.
Now though, it was her turn to act. She felt it.
Briony stepped forward, and as she did so she could feel the connection between her and the scepter calling out to her. The need to be in contact with it sang over every inch of her body, and as it did so, she glowed. She glowed the way Aunt Sophie had glowed when she first went into Palisor. She glowed the way King Waltham had briefly glowed. She glowed with the power of hugtandalfer royalty, and that power resonated along the path to the scepter.
Through that conne
ction, she could feel the strangest thing. She could feel fear. Real, spine-tingling fear. It wasn’t her fear. Right then Briony didn’t feel anything except exhilaration at the power flowing through her. She knew whose fear it was though.
“What are you afraid of, Marcus?”
“I fear nothing,” Marcus said, turning to face her and drawing his sword. “Nothing!”
Briony shook her head. “Liar.”
Marcus lifted his blade, but in that moment it seemed that he simply could not use it.
“I can feel the fear in you,” Briony said. “I can feel it the way you and your kind feel it in others.”
“I am not afraid!” Marcus insisted. He started to take a step forward, but hesitated just slightly. Briony smiled as she saw the movement.
“Of course you are,” she said. “Fear is at the heart of what you are. You say that the strong should rule, and the weak deserve no mercy. There is always fear there. Fear that there might be someone stronger. Fear that no one will show you mercy.”
“I will kill you and all your kind,” Marcus promised.
Briony ignored that. “Or maybe you’re afraid that someone will be merciful. That it will never end for you. That you’ll just keep on going, killing and frightening people, never growing. Never changing.”
“Why should I change?” Marcus demanded. “I have seen everything that the world is. Every so called transformation. Every passing phase. It always ends up the same. The strong always rule.”
“And those you have killed?” Briony demanded. Still those around her didn’t move. All of them, vampires and werewolves both, seemed to sense that this was a matter for the two of them and no one else.
Marcus laughed, but it no longer sounded like the strong laugh of a leader able to terrify others into submission. This laugh only sounded like bravado. “They deserved to die. Do not mourn their loss, Princess. You will be among them soon.”
