The Dark Messenger

by Milo Spires

  Suddenly there was another uproar from the coven members, and this time Hoidrious, who had been glaring at them in fury, looked down at his guards and ordered them to set fire to their caves. The guards below responded instantly; they thrust their bows out in front of themselves and pulled back on their drawstrings before touching their arrow’s tip into a flame by their side. They paused, pointing the lethal archaic instruments of death up towards the caves, as they waited for Rex to confirm the order of death.

  ‘Check your doors,’ Rex thundered, ‘and you will find that you have all been locked in. Believe me when I tell you that you are on the last chance with me.’

  Then, suddenly, against his own beliefs and to the surprise of all, he ordered the guards to stand down. They obeyed immediately; their arrows were extinguished again and the archers’ bowstrings fell limp.

  Hoidrious furrowed his brow and cursed inwardly at Rex’s obvious clear weaknesses. He reasoned that the old buzzard should have killed at least some of them. After all, they would be so easily replaced by a couple of nights’ gluttony. No matter, he thought, and laughed. Stage One of his plans to overthrow the leader’s reign was about to be set into motion.

  Rex hearing him laugh and having no idea why he had, he simply turned and gave Hoidrious a stern look.

  Then he spoke and his voice thundered through the room. ‘Now, before we move on, let us not forget that one of you just told me I was an old fool…” He looked around at the gathering, knowing full well who it had been.

  ‘Lance. You just dared to say I had gone mad, didn't you?’ he yelled. Everyone turned to look at Lance, who said nothing in response but looked extremely guilty.

  Lance was 5ft 10 in height and about 1500 hundred years old. He looked quite athletic for his age, and his body shape was still very much strong and muscular. He had long blonde hair that flowed down past his shoulders before being tied back into a low ponytail, centered between his shoulder blades. He was dressed all in black like the guards that Kaine had passed on his way down the stairs, but his cape had a red lining to it, and he wore pure white silk gloves.

  Unusual attire, Kaine thought, as most vampires wore all black to these meetings out of respect for Rex. There’s always one though that likes to bend the rules, so it’s not surprisingly that he too was the one who had just opened his big mouth. Kaine glanced up at Rex to see if he was giving off any clues yet to the punishment Lance was obviously just about to receive. No one came to Rex’s coven without the utmost respect for him, and everyone knew there were severe punishments for stepping out of line. The way Lance was dressed was sure to make Rex angry enough, let alone calling him mad and an old fool.

  ‘So. Lance, have we not known each other for over a thousand years? You dare to try to ridicule me, make a fool out of me in front of my fellow brothers and sisters? Well, I don’t take kindly to your comments, so get yourself down here! NOW!’ he screamed.

  There was a huge roar of laughter, and all the other vampires started banging the walls again, forgetting that they had just been warned to shut up.

  Lance placed his hands firmly on the small ledge in front of himself and then took a huge leap out of his cave, landing down hard beside Kaine. As he did, a huge cloud of dust roared up into the air all around him, so much so that it covered the face and body of the older prisoner, who was standing nearby. She started to choke and then began to cough, like a cat that had a huge fur-ball stuck in its throat. She was furious, and cried out in rage as she rubbed the dust from her pain-filled eyes.

  Lance walked towards her sniggering and put his hand out to prod her. As he did, she let go of the little girl and lunged for him. By the look on her face it was evident that if the chain hadn’t been there, she probably would have done him as much damage as she could. Kaine could hardly believe what he was seeing; the woman’s rage was unlike any rage he had ever seen before in a human. Somehow she was different—fearless with no regard for her own safety.

  Kaine could see that, just for a second, Lance was glad that the chain was still around her leg. The vampires above saw too, and started laughing at him.

  Lance felt embarrassed. ‘How dare she challenge me!’ he thought as he leant down and grabbed the chain. He pulled it so hard that the shackle dug deep into the woman’s flesh. The woman screamed in agony. Seeing the effect, he then hoisted it high in the air and quickly snatched it backwards to cause her even more pain. She fell to the floor and lay there screaming, her ankle spewing blood onto the ground beneath her.

  Kaine looked at Lance disapprovingly, and then allowed his gaze to be raised up to the vampires who were cheering above.

  Kaine tore the chain from Lance’s grasp, and stood between him and the injured woman. ‘No more,’ he said simply, glaring at Lance.

  The vampires above were screaming down at him disapprovingly. One of them even spat at Kaine and then another threw a huge rock, which bounced and landed inches away from him and then rolled past his feet.

  Ignoring it, Kaine narrowed his eyes and said, ‘Lance you are pathetic picking on someone who can’t begin to fight back. Why don’t you fight me instead?’ Kaine pointed to his own chin. ‘Go on. I will give you the first few punches.’

  Lance knew what would happen if he did fight Kaine though, and knew it would be an unfair fight from the first throw of the fist. There was no doubt that Kaine would kill him. The rumors about him in battle were enough to dissuade him from even trying, so he bowed his head and stepped aside. It was a vampire’s way to step out of a duel, but if he did, he would be shamed forever for doing so. With all the hundreds of vampires above that were glaring down at him with intense hostility, he knew it definitely would be forever too.

  ‘Lance!’ Rex shouted down at him. ‘Do you know what time it is, by the way? Because I have a surprise for you.’

  Lance was confused. He knew it must be a trick question, and with his limited intelligence he was going to have to be very careful about how he answered it.

  ‘Yes I do,’ he said warily as he looked down at his watch that was encrusted with diamonds. ‘It’s just turning 12pm.’

  ‘Aha. Then—everyone, it’s time,’ Rex chortled. He looked across at a guard to his far left and nodded once.

  Suddenly a three-meter-length spear was hurled through the air and hit its target perfectly. The spear went straight through Lance’s leg just above the kneecap, before burying itself deep into the dirt on the other side. Lance let out a huge roar, and nearly passed out from the severe pain. Leaning down, he desperately grabbed at the wooden shaft and tried to snap it in two. He was surprised to find that he couldn’t; his normal powers had faded from within. Then suddenly a hidden doorway opened beneath Rex and four guards ran out carrying a huge steel net. The evil leader nodded to them and they launched it into the air. Then it came down on top of Lance and crashed to the ground all around him.

  Without warning, the woman and girl began screaming and clutching their faces. Kaine had no idea what was going on, but by the deeply worried expressions that were on the guard’s faces, he knew that it wasn’t good whatever it was. The guards then turned and fled towards the exits.

  Reaching the doors, the fleeing guards found they had been locked in like everyone else. Shocked, they turned to look at Rex high above, and then when they were met with a stone-cold stare, in desperation they turned to look at the second in command, Hoidrious.

  Hoidrious ignored them though and Rex who was showing no signs that he was going to grant their escape, simply grinned. The evil leader then turned to the other vampires in their caves and said, ‘Now, about the planet’s cure. Please watch and take note.’

  Chapter 4 - The Fight

  Lucius didn't wait around when he saw the women begin to change. Instead, trembling with fear, he ran through his door and locked it from the other side.

  Kaine glanced to his right and saw to his astonishment that the woman prisoner had just started changing into a werewolf. Her body had outstretched and her l
egs had dislocated from their sockets in front of him. The young girl wasn’t that far behind in her transformation either.

  He couldn’t believe his eyes. Werewolves? How? Had the war not been won against them? Surely they were extinct, Kaine thought.

  The vampires in their caves were in an uproar, as they sensed the great possibility of bloodshed. Rex then held his hand up and signaled for them to wait.

  Kaine who sensed he hadn’t much time before the beasts would be upon him, then flew up to a ledge beside the old fool and turned to watch.

  The four guards in the arena beneath him, who were trying to open the exit door to escape, then drew out their swords with the intent to save themselves from being eaten.

  Lance was shouting out for help from his own coven members, but no help came. His own coven members were just looking at him and grinning.

  Realizing that he was in deep trouble, he made a desperate attempt to save himself. Somehow he managed to finally summon up enough strength to snap the spear. Screaming in agony, he slid it back up through the other side of his leg. As the splintered remains from the end of the shaft pulled backwards through the massive hole, the pain was immense. More damage was being done inside his leg from the timber spikes, and his blood was everywhere. Then as he finally managed to crawl out from underneath it, he was ripped to pieces by one of the werewolves.

  ‘That fool came here dressed like that? How dare he test me in my own coven!’ Rex shouted out loud, then grinned and broke into a cold, demonic laugh.

  Meanwhile, the spectators were scrabbling to get as far to the edge of their caves as possible. They were shoving each other out of the way, desperate to get the best view.

  ***

  As a human chained in the arena below the vampires, she was only a 14-year-old girl, but as the infection from the moon had raced through her body, the young child that she was began to change. The first thing that happened was that her jaw outstretched, then her eyes glazed over heavily as they sunk back into her skull. Then her back split and her forearms pushed forwards and grew. Claws replaced her fingernails, and a huge tail dropped down from between her legs. Masses of fur sprouted out all over her body and her eyes turned into orbs, glowing brightly in a fierce shade of red. Her back legs were the last to change, and her ankles swelled as her feet began to look extremely evil and grotesque. Fully changed, she craned her neck back and howled. Then she turned and charged for the guards who were still trying to get through the door.

  Swinging their swords wildly was not enough; in a flash of a moment two of them were down. One was underneath her, his sword laying some distance away, and her claws were firmly sunk deep inside his chest. The other tried to stand, but in another slice his chest came apart and like a fountain of crimson red, his blood sprayed across her and the ground too.

  The bigger werewolf smashed into one of the guards at the door, causing it to rattle. On the other side, Lucius, who had summoned up enough courage to kneel down and peep through a small hole, was terrified by what he saw. The sight of the beasts made him drop his keys and, panic-stricken, he charged up the stairs, desperately looking for somewhere to hide.

  Kaine looked on in disgust as the guards were being torn to pieces. He knew that he had to save them. It was clearly obvious that this massacre was meant for the viewing pleasure of the assembled vampires. In all the time that he had been there, Rex had only once mentioned saving the planet.

  Leaping down, he bolted straight across the floor towards the big werewolf, who spotted him coming at the last second. Kaine side stepped it though and grabbed its furry neck. Then he swung it around and threw it into the rock wall behind himself.

  A sullen look exploded across Rex’s face, which vanished as a grin emerged instead. This was an unexpected treat; seeing Kaine fight, he realized that what was going on before him was actually giving him more pleasure than his original plan.

  Kaine swung himself over the top of the beast and from behind began punching it at the base of its head. Then he leant forwards and slipped his hand inside its mouth. In one move, he took hold of the upper jaw and thrust backwards and snapped its neck. The sound was like a huge branch breaking in the woods.

  When the little girl werewolf saw that her partner had been slain, she howled and abandoning her attack of the last two guards, she launched at Kaine.

  Leaping in a backwards somersault, Kaine only narrowly cleared her jaws. The beast then turned and swung her paw, which missed him by a hairs breadth. Running forwards, he jammed his razor-sharp fingernails deep into her eyes. She howled, then fell to the ground and desperately clawed at the wounds. One of the guards threw Kaine his sword; deftly catching it, he lowered his body, his weight helping the blow deliver its full effects, the sword passed straight through her neck.

  Watching from above, Rex paused for a moment as the wild energy inside him slowed to a settle. Then drawing his arms out wide, he brought them in for a clap. Everyone paused, hardly believing the old crone looked happy for once in his life, and he was giving his unheard-of approval.

  ‘Fellow vampires, you can see just how ferocious and full of rage these beasts are,’ Rex announced loudly. ‘It was my idea, rather than to make them totally extinct, to keep ten. With the planet dying I now see I was clever and wise. This is the end of our problem; we could release these creatures, and they will kill most of the human race.’

  Rex knew that it wasn’t his idea at all though, but there was no one to say otherwise. Many years before, a vampire had told him that mother nature would be dying in the future, and that he should keep ten werewolves. He was told that if he did, releasing them against the humans at the time of crisis, the planet could be saved. If he didn’t listen, there would be serious consequences, and the Earth would die.

  Rex had laughed and although he did keep the beasts, he had still ordered the informant’s ignominious death. The vampire’s arms had been ripped off at the sockets, and then his mouth was filled with holy water. The burning smell that had come from within made it obvious he was suffering unbelievable pain.

  Furious, Kaine shouted up at Rex, ‘What the hell do you mean, kept a few? How many more of these beasts are there?’

  Rex sniggered and said, ‘Oh since we started breeding them in captivity, we now have forty-eight. There were fifty, but you just changed that.’ Rex laughed, then added, ‘Oh by the way, well done down there. Your fighting skills are still amazing I see. What a stunning show of skill and courage!’

  Rex then turned to where a guard of his had just appeared and gestured for him to come closer. As the guard then leant across, there was a sudden glint, and the blade of Rex’s small silver dagger buried itself deep into his head. Rex then pushed him away and he fell over the edge.

  As the body thumped to the ground, Rex asked, ‘Kaine, would you be so kind as to reach down and pull my knife out of his brain.’ There was a slight sneer on his face.

  Anger swelled up in Kaine, and he roared back at him, ‘Get it your fucking self, and if you kill another guard whilst I'm here, I will kill you, you old dirty crone!’

  Rex sighed. He responded in a patronising voice, ‘He was worthless, Kaine--just a guard and nothing else.’

  ‘Test me you old fool, see if your guards will protect you,’ Kaine growled.

  A second then passed of ominous silence, but it was broken as a voice spoke: ‘Shall I leave now, my Master?’

  Visibly relieved at the interruption, Rex smiled and turned to the speaker.

  ‘Yes. Longinus. It is time.’ He clapped his hands and said loudly, ‘Guards prepare the time travel ritual.’ As they scurried to obey him, the old vampire addressed his servant, a newly arrived vampire who stood just inside the doorway.

  ‘Longinus, you have only been in this coven of ours for some eighty-five years, and already you have impressed me a lot. I let you stay initially because of the information you gave us about the priest, but that does not mean your life here is guaranteed. Fail me and it will mean much pain
, and keep in mind that you cannot hide from the dark spirits. Make sure you find this human woman, Jenny Barker, in Brighton. When you do, you must turn her into a vampire. The location you have.’

  ‘Yes, my master,’ came the reply.