King of Sin

by Nick Freo

  I nodded. I did not understand all the complexities of her plan, but it sounded well thought out. “Do it.” I settled into the padded seat and watched in fascination as a guardsman’s car sped past with lights and sirens blaring. Between Pride’s illusion and Alia’s careful driving, we might as well have not existed.

  “So I guess you’ve got big plans for this stuff back at the cathedral huh?” Alia asked, glancing in the rearview mirror. “It’s pretty amazing what Pride can do with it.”

  “Yes,” I agreed. “And she will be capable of concealing the entire cathedral. Which I believe is necessary. It was not so well fortified, unlike the power plant. It took longer to steal the fuel than it did to invade the vampire king’s stronghold and kill him. Could we harness the same security measures as the power plant?”

  Alia raised an eyebrow and glanced at me, her focus remaining on the road. “The departed king was about as old fashioned as could be. He didn’t even have a computer, and he made me keep mine in my room because the sound it makes annoyed him. He was against the idea of installing modern security measures. In his mind, having that kind of convenience to rely on would have made us as soft as the humans.”

  I stroked the coarse stubble on my chin. “So we could still improve our defenses using this world’s tools? I do not think we would require identical defenses, but surely there are more subtle tactics that can be equally effective.”

  She smiled. “You bet your ass there are... my lord. I mean, with the kind of money you’ve got, we can afford just about everything the plant had other than the armed guards. Salaries add up quickly. But we can also afford a whole slew of other fun things. I think this is going to be my favorite project at that damned cathedral.”

  “What do you have in mind?”

  Her smile widened, displaying those sparkling fangs. “Landmines, tripwires, maybe some electrified nets... you’ve got a lot to learn, my lord.” There was nothing snide in her tone, for once. She seemed earnestly interested in teaching me.

  “I know what a tripwire is, and an electrified net seems self-explanatory now that I understand the fences at the plant. But what are landmines?”

  An evil chuckle emanated from her throat. “Landmines are devices you conceal on or just beneath the ground. Basically, if there’s an area that you don’t want anyone to cross through, you fill it with mines. Anyone steps or drives over them, they go boom. Modern ones started seeing use in World War Two.”

  I frowned. “These devices must be rather large and expensive.”

  She laughed. “They range in size from one of my hands to the circumference of your head. And they’re dirt cheap. Hell, if you want to save a few bucks we can buy some of Cyborg’s homemade brand.”

  I blinked. “Your friend Cyborg can build explosives?”

  She made a long left turn and got the truck straightened out before responding. “Cyborg can build pretty much anything if you give him the right incentive.”

  “Impressive. You are becoming more and more useful,” I said, stroking my chin again.

  “Gee, thanks,” she retorted sarcastically.

  “Tell me more about that World War you mentioned. World War Two? So there was a first? And a third?”

  She shrugged. “Yeah, there was a World War One. Some call it the Great Conflict. As for World War Three... it’s either currently ongoing, or never going to happen. It depends on who you ask. But yeah, World War Two inspired a massive arms race and some huge leaps in technology. I’m a bit of a history buff when it comes to the wars, I guess. A lot of modern inventions that we take for granted would never have existed without those drawn out conflicts.”

  “It sounds rather fantastic,” I agreed. “The entire world at war. Even I never accomplished that feat.”

  “Oh, the world wars didn’t involve the entire world,” she said. “They were just called that because they were the clash of the major military powers of the time, and pretty much spanned the globe. Especially World War Two.”

  “Oh,” I said, feeling slightly let down. “Still, that is war on a scale I have never witnessed. A world... it would require such an immense level of organization. The knights alone would make up armies. And weapons like I have never imagined. You said there were advancements in technology during these wars?”

  Alia turned the steering wheel hand over hand, guiding the big truck into a large covered structure that was empty save for the rotted out husk of what might have once been a car. A parking lot, she had called it. She stopped the car in the corner and silenced it before breathing out a long sigh of relief.

  “Okay,” she said. “We should be good now. We’ve just got to wait out the barricades. No way will they keep them up longer than twelve hours. They’ll think we made it out of their perimeter.” She twisted in her seat. “I guess we’ve got time for a little history lesson. So, you know about crossbows, right?”

  I nodded. “I prefer mounted archers for most skirmishes, but a fist of crossbows can be a valuable weapon in the right spot.”

  She grinned wolfishly and raked her hair out of her eyes. “I guess the guys who invented the first guns must have thought so too, because they created something that went further in the direction the crossbow had already started. Early long guns were called muskets, and they were less accurate than a bow or a crossbow and took forever to reload. But they had a massive advantage when it came to projectile speed and penetrating power.”

  I nodded in rapt attention. Oh, how I fancied the weapons of war.

  “Pretty soon guns were all the rage. We created rifling and shaped bullets, which made them even more accurate than a good crossbow, and found a bunch of ways to reduce load times. In World War One automatic weapons changed the face of land combat, although they didn’t become reliable, handheld assault weapons like those CAR-15s until World War Two. Hell, these days half the manufacturers out there still can’t make a decent assault rifle that doesn’t jam halfway through the first magazine.”

  “Guns seem like... clean weapons, though,” I said. “More like a sharp sword than a mace. An expert can choose to give an opponent a swift death, or merely cripple him for life.” I pawed at the sword on my hip, which had been forced laterally across my lap when I sat in the seat.

  “That’s only because you haven’t seen a shotgun yet.”

  “A shot-gun?”

  She gave a low whistle. “Okay... think about it this way. So most guns control a small explosion in order to propel a bullet—a slender projectile—along a specific trajectory. It’s like threading a needle, or shooting a tiny, ultra-powerful crossbow. Shotguns are not clean. Rather than firing a single projectile, they propel many tiny projectiles in a conical blast. It’s like... fuck, I don’t know. A whole bunch of tiny crossbows shooting in the same general direction.”

  “Sounds deadly,” I commented, “and difficult to evade. You humans certainly do have a tendency towards loud weapons. I am surprised you did not venture into other fields of combat. Magic, for example.”

  “I’m not human anymore,” she reminded me, red eyes peering from beneath long, hooded lashes. She shook her head. “We may not know magic, but we know madness, and a lot of other shit. I bet some of the biological and chemical warfare we’ve implemented over the years would make even you want to run to a different world.”

  I leaned close to her. “You think so, do you?”

  She shivered and licked her lips. “Okay, maybe not. Maybe you’d just be impressed. We’ve done some nasty things with gases, diseases... pretty much anything that can be turned against the human body has been considered fair game at some point.”

  I nodded. “The weaker the warrior, the more ruthless they must learn to be. I can certainly see how diseases would make a fine weapon. On my world it was commonplace to poison an enemy’s water supply or catapult corpses over the walls during a siege. But how could one adequately control a gas for use on a battlefield?”

  “By not actually using a gas,” she said with a wink, and
then flinched away from a distant wolf’s howl. Or perhaps it was a dog, which seemed more commonplace in the city.

  “Damn coyotes,” she muttered. “Anyway, some genius, I can’t remember his name, figured out a way to disperse some highly toxic chemicals as a fine mist. It could travel over significant distances without dispersing too much, when the wind was right. It was a gamble, but everything in war was back then. Hasn’t changed much, I guess.”

  I leaned back in my seat, trying to imagine the human soldiers of years past dying to disease and toxins while they fought with ineffective firearms. “Perhaps the people of this world are not as weak and helpless as I thought.”

  “Helpless,” she repeated. “That’s not what I’d call the people of Earth. We’re more likely to blow our entire world up than be overtaken by aliens, I think.”

  I chuckled. “Surely you do not have explosives of that magnitude.” My merriment froze. “Do you?” I sat forward and turned fully to look at her.

  “We call them nuclear bombs. Nukes for short. They’re big enough to wipe out small islands and countries, and we have a lot of them. Especially here, in this country. We’re considered the world’s main superpower by most, to be honest.”

  I raised a confused eyebrow. “So the vampire king spoke the truth?”

  “No, no... the president rules the country, if you can call it ruling.”

  “President? This is the first I have heard of a president. I should like to meet this man. He has a challenge to answer.”

  “He won’t answer your challenge. He’s surrounded by security guards at all times, and he likes it that way.”

  “A coward?”

  “You’d find most of our rulers weak and helpless in an actual fight. The ones with the greatest power aren’t soldiers and warriors. At least in the places you’d want to live.”

  I frowned. “That is a difficult perspective for me to consider.” I lifted a hand and flexed it in front of my face, trying to imagine it being frail and wasted. Powerless. I could not. Even my defeat at the hands of the Enemy had been a glorious battle. None who had observed it would dare say differently.

  The silence between us lingered as the flashing lights of a police car sped past the lot. I looked out for a long moment at the dusty shadows. I felt a brimming sense of confidence. I had barely been on this world a few days, and already I had overthrown a king, liberated slaves, and begun building a seat of power that could resist this world’s threats. But was I so certain of that? Suddenly, I found myself considering how small my place in that vast world really was. Perhaps I knew weakness more closely than I allowed myself to realize.

  “So,” I said gruffly, “we are in a kingdom ruled by a man who hides behind a wall of guards, yet wields an arsenal capable of leveling the planet.” I tried not to grit my teeth as I thought of the amount of power this president wielded. “I underestimated the humans of this world. I must have some of this amazing power for my own purposes. I will have it, all of it.” I rubbed my hands together as I imagined this world burning all around me, forcing those who survived the carnage to bow at my feet.

  “You’ll have it,” Alia said. “When I first met you, I knew you were different. Powerful. Important. That’s why I brought you to the king so easily. I knew you deserved his position. That you deserve any position you want.”

  I smiled and reached out a hand to caress her cheek. Her skin was as soft as it was pale.

  “Your words drip with honey,” I said. “But know that if you deceive me, I will end your life. And not quickly. Believe that.”

  She gulped. “I do. My lord. But I promise I will become so useful to you, you’ll want to keep me at your side forever.” She leaned closer, almost purring in my ear.

  “See that you do,” I replied. “I will admit you have performed admirably thus far.”

  “Thank you,” she pulled back innocently and bit her lip. “I wish I could see inside your mind, to understand all the plans you’re hatching. You can share it all with me, my lord. I’m your servant.”

  “In due time.” I patted her leg. “I will need your assistance with many aspects of my planning. But for now, I must think on things.”

  “What’s your plan?” Alia asked.

  “To conquer the world and prepare for my Enemy,” I replied simply.

  “I don’t know who that is...” she trailed off.

  I did not look at her this time. Neither do I.

  Chapter 15

  Eventually, the deep shadows of night shrank away beneath the brilliance of the rising sun. Despite the parking lot’s roof, I could see the burning fiery orb peeking between two buildings as it crested the horizon. I glanced over and realized that Alia had fallen asleep. Rather than rouse her I opened the door leading to the storage compartment and waved at Pride.

  The first of my Viceguard looked up from where she had been concentrating on the punctured barrel. A thin film of sweat coated her brow from maintaining a static illusion for so long without the proper rituals. If we did not return to the cathedral soon, she would certainly exhaust herself.

  “Hold strong awhile longer,” I told her. “We must be safe to move out by now.”

  “Have you been having a pleasant time with your new toy?” Pride asked waspishly.

  I smirked. I wonder if either of the women would believe that both had referred to the other as my toy.

  “She has been teaching me much of this world’s ways and most particularly their wars. Do you know they have had three great wars, called World Wars? And one of them is still ongoing, though seemingly so secret she doubts its existence.”

  “No, I did not know that,” my second replied.

  “I am learning more and more of this world’s might—might that could become my own.”

  She nodded, and we said no more on the matter. I returned to the truck’s cab and sat beside Alia, closing the door behind me.

  “Is everything alright?” the vampire asked.

  “Splendid,” I replied.

  She gave me a funny look, with her brow crinkled and her lips pursed.

  “Are you unwell?” I asked. We could not afford for her to take ill suddenly.

  “No,” she replied, “it’s just... something you said sounded strangely familiar. Like... I dunno. Something my grandpa would have said.”

  “Many guessed me to be ancient, but I am much younger than the lords of old,” I informed her.

  “Shut up,” she replied, crossing her arms. “Are we getting out of here?”

  “Yes, but remember we are invisible and need to take the necessary precautions.”

  “You think I would forget something like that?” she asked.

  “Get us back to the cathedral,” I said. “Many tasks await us.”

  Alia carefully navigated the early morning streets, made more difficult by the increased traffic of the waking populace. There were several close encounters with other vehicles, but we soon neared the familiar neighborhood of archaic buildings surrounding the cathedral that had become my base of operations.

  “Stop here,” I commanded, pointing at an empty alley where the truck would fit.

  “Why?” she asked but followed my direction with the big vehicle.

  “Are we there already?” Pride’s muffled voice came through the door leading to the cargo area.

  “No,” I called. “We will not be moving for the moment. Solidify your illusion and get up here.” A moment later, the elf poked her golden head through the doorway. “Something is amiss,” I said. “I taste malice in the air. I would wager our former world that there is an ambush waiting for us ahead.”

  “Those are high stakes,” Pride mused, “but I sensed something as well. I thought I was weary from the constant use of my magic, but there is something else. A foreboding note.” We both nodded.

  Alia looked from one of us to the other, both eyebrows raised so far they hid behind her bangs. “Are you two really that superstitious? You actually think you can sense when trouble’s
ahead?”

  “We can,” I said simply.

  “Oh,” Alia shook her head. “Fuck. I wonder if we earthlings screwed ourselves out of magic when we decided to develop technology. Oh well. Guns are cool. So, what’s the plan now?” She always wanted to know the plan.

  “Perhaps I should access the Pridehold.” I looked out at the darkened alley, its shadows too deep for the young daylight to reach in. “We do not wish to risk losing the starfire.”

  “I am already weakened,” Pride pointed out. “If you go there now, I fear I may not be able to take you there again until I have rested. Without the starfire, we will be more vulnerable, unable to conceal this truck, which is known by the authorities.”

  “Not just the authorities,” Alia pointed out. “They’ll have informed the general public that there’s a truck on the loose carrying barrels of uranium, and given out the license number plus description. I could change the plates, but most people will see through that.”

  “No, Pride is right. We have fled enough for one day. Whoever waits ahead will regret the decision to ambush me. Alia, you will stay here and guard the truck, although you should be safe beneath Pride’s illusion. So long as the truck remains still and you inside it, you will not be seen. Pride, with me. Let us see who this bold fool is.”

  We climbed out of the truck, and I saw Alia pull one of the guns, or rather rifles, into her lap. She did not appear to feel safe, despite the powerful weapon and the impenetrable illusion. She wanted to remain by my side, her hunger clear in her eyes. Her hunger would have to wait.

  The wind tugged at Pride’s golden ponytail as we moved side by side through the streets. Still tired, she had cloaked us in the most rudimentary of illusions, doing just enough to conceal our armor, weapons, and identities.

  The long hill leading down to the cathedral gave us a full view of the street and sidewalk. There was no one in sight, but four long, heavy cars sat silently at the curb in front of our base. They were unfamiliar to me, although I was sure I had seen their like in my adventures throughout the city. They were all black.