Death Banishes (Mortis Vampire Series Book Six)

by J. C. Diem

  Those of us who were still resting woke shortly after sundown. Geordie rubbed his eyes and glared around crankily, searching for something to whine about. Igor met his apprentice’s gaze and shook his head once. Grumbling beneath his non-existent breath, the teen rose, brushed himself off and joined us.

  Moments after we had all gathered together, a screeching sound came from the far side of the cavern. Luc pointed his death ray at the noise but it turned out to be our ride to the surface. A metal cage had appeared in the wall as a door slid aside. It looked like an ordinary elevator and would have been at home back on Earth. It was large enough to carry all of us, as long as we didn’t mind being squished in together.

  Once we were all inside, the doors closed and we slowly began to ascend. Holding the robot arm like a club, Gregor was on my left and Luc was on my right. Geordie stood right behind me, fidgeting like he needed to go to the bathroom. Knowing him, he was probably bored. “The ride on the way down was a lot more fun than this,” he complained, inadvertently proving my point.

  Finally, a door opened above us and sulphur tinged air wafted inside. The elevator rose to ground level and we stepped out, wary of a trap. As soon as the last of our group left the elevator, it descended into the ground and a sheet of metal slid back into place. The wind would blow dirt over it again soon enough, concealing it once more.

  Ishida spotted the equipment that had been left for us in several large baskets. They appeared to have been made out of the same material their clothing was made from. Since there was no plant life, apart from fungus, I had no idea how they made their clothes. They probably scrounged it from the cities, I reasoned. Maybe they’re made from fungus, my inner voice countered.

  Four of the Japanese warriors sprinted over to the supplies. One held up a long, thin explosive and another held up the same type of black shirt and pants that Robert had worn. The clothing had apparently been adjusted to fit us. Ishida’s monitor came to life, showing M’narl and the crippled translator droid. “We have provided you with spare clothing and enough weapons to destroy the factory,” the elder said with the droid dutifully translating. “To use the weapons, tap the top and bottom at the same time then throw the device. It will explode after five of your Earth seconds has passed.”

  “Thank you,” I said then bowed. The tiny alien hesitated uncertainly then offered me a short bow in return before the screen went blank again.

  Ishida and his warriors seemed amused that I had lapsed back into using their customs but it had seemed appropriate somehow. We gathered around the baskets and sorted through the clothing. I had no idea how they had pulled it off but the Kveet had stitched an outfit for each of us that fit nearly as if they had been tailor made. It took some swapping before we all had the correct outfit. Gregor looked at the clothing distastefully but deigned to change out of his stained and filthy jeans and hooded sweater.

  Donning the black pants and shirt someone handed me, I was surprised at how soft the material was. Somehow, I’d expected it to be scratchy. The Viltarans didn’t strike me as if they would be able to care about the comfort of their mechanical servants.

  The monitor in Ishida’s hands came to life once more, showing a map of the area. The child king pointed roughly northward. “One of the underground buildings is just ahead.” A short walk later, Gregor used Robert’s arm to grant us access to the stairs.

  Once we were all inside, Gregor shut the door again. Since Ishida was the one with the map, he and several of his people took the lead. The warriors ranged ahead and remained on the lookout for signs of trouble. The faint glow from Ishida’s monitor was the only light and glancing at it briefly was enough to ruin my night vision for a few seconds.

  Sending my senses out on a routine sweep, I almost missed a step. We’d been trotting steadily for several hours along the dark hallways, following the map on the monitor. Luc caught me beneath my elbow as I righted myself. “What is it?” he asked. His tone was sharp enough to draw everyone’s attention.

  “We’ve got company,” I said grimly.

  .~.

  Chapter Seventeen

  Distant shouts of alarm came from somewhere ahead. Kokoro grabbed Ishida before he could sprint to the aid of his people. Rapid footsteps sounded and three of the five warriors appeared at the far end of the hallway. Two made it to safety but the third was caught in a blast from a death ray. Violet light seared our eyes and the warrior winked out of existence.

  “Hunt them down!” The gravelly shout was spoken by a Viltaran.

  “Yes, master,” several identical droid voices responded.

  Anger surged through me that our already low numbers had just been reduced by three. Luc urged us to race back down the hallway and around the corner. We piled into a room and my beloved took up a stance beside the door with the stolen death ray held ready.

  Much stealthier than they should have been at their size, the robots entered the hallway. Luc waited until they were almost too close before stepping out and sending a blast of violet light at the group of metal men. Like the droid that had been ambushed by the Kveet, these robots were the same dull silver as the hallways. Only their red eyes and size were the same as what I presumed were the personal servants of the Viltarans. Unfortunately, the weapon had no effect on them at all, except to blind them momentarily. Swearing in a blend of Italian, French and English, Luc leaped forward to battle the droids by hand.

  I was right beside him and grabbed the first robot’s weapon hand before he could fire. Vampires boiled out of the room behind us, intent on killing the machines before they could reduce us all to dust. One of the Europeans joined the Japanese warriors in death before we were done tearing the automatons to pieces.

  Booting a robot’s head down the hallway, Geordie scowled after it. “I forgot their weapons don’t have any effect against metal.”

  Luc touched the teen’s shoulder briefly. “None of us remembered, Geordie.”

  Aventius stared bleakly at the spot where his follower had been. A few flecks of ash settled to the ground on the spot where he’d been obliterated. Ishida was equally devastated to lose three of his people. We were now down to only twenty-five.

  “Perhaps we should see how well these things work against the Viltarans,” Igor said as he scooped up one of the death rays that had been dropped by a droid. Cristov, Ishida and three others nabbed the other weapons. With murder in his black eyes, Ishida darted back the way we’d come.

  Four grey skinned, red eyed Viltarans panicked when we rounded the corner and came face to chest with them. The death rays worked just fine on them and they became dust motes floating in the stale air.

  “Is it just me or does it seem like a stupid idea to arm robots with weapons that don’t harm them but can kill their masters?” Geordie said as he waved dead alien particles away from his face.

  “These creatures are as arrogant as they are bloodthirsty,” Gregor replied. “They have pillaged, sacked and destroyed so many planets that it is inconceivable to them that anyone or anything could fight back.”

  “They should be used to it to some extent,” Luc said dryly. “The Kveet have managed to both elude them and destroy their droids for centuries.”

  Ishida roused himself from his grief. “We will be reduced to becoming like the Kveet if we do not kill the remaining Viltarans. I for one do not wish to cower in caverns below the ground for the foreseeable future.”

  “I’m sorry I let my guard slip,” I said. Both Aventius and Ishida looked at me as if I’d said something idiotic.

  “We are at war, Natalie,” Kokoro said on their behalf. “There are always casualties in battle.”

  “I could have prevented their deaths if I’d been more careful,” I argued.

  Geordie slipped his hand into mine and squeezed my fingers gently. “You know to keep your senses at full alert now, chérie.” Continuing to beat myself up about my lack of vigilance out loud would only sound like I was whinging so I kept my self-abuse to myself.

/>   Ishida had dropped the monitor during our rush to escape from the ambush. Instead of smashing to pieces on the floor, it hung about a foot above it. Once he touched it, the screen came to life and it settled back into his hands. I could barely fathom how creatures advanced enough to create technology like that could be a race of murdering savages so bent on destruction that they would almost destroy their home planet as well as their own species.

  Really? My subconscious rose up to say. Just take a look at what humankind has done to Earth and to each other over the past few hundred years. I hated to admit it but my alter ego was right. It seemed the more advanced we became, the more we trashed our world and the people in it. The humans could very well end up just like the Viltarans, reduced to less than a hundred globally and forced to live beneath the ground due to the toxic air up above. Plenty of books had been written about just such an occurrence but they were all fiction. It was terrifying to think that it could become a reality. Then again, why should I even care what happened to my former home?

  Ishida took the lead again but this time no one ranged too far ahead. His monitor led us unerringly towards our goal and I remained far more vigilant this time. My senses picked up signs of life well before we heard the distant and distinct chirping of Kveet imps.

  Clustering around the monitor, we were dismayed yet unsurprised to see that our route would take us directly past the cells where the little monsters were kept.

  “I have a bad feeling about this,” Geordie said.

  Igor nodded, eyeing the screen suspiciously. “The Viltarans may have figured out our destination. This would be the perfect opportunity to lay underground traps to impede us.”

  “I would like to know how they knew where to set their traps,” Ishida said. “How could they know we were heading this way?”

  “Maybe they locked on to the trackers Colonel Sanderson put in our arms,” the youngest of us joked.

  Gregor looked stunned for a moment then smacked himself in the forehead. “Of course! I should have thought of that.”

  “I was just kidding,” the adolescent said, amazed by Gregor’s reaction.

  Gregor stripped off his new black shirt to remove the tracking device that had been implanted in his upper arm. Igor did the same, revealing a pale torso covered in a thick pelt of hair. I glanced at Geordie when he removed his shirt and he gave me a cheeky smirk. His ribs were far too prominent and I hoped he would be able to eat again soon. I almost wished we had kept one of the Viltarans alive so we could top up on blood but that probably wasn’t a good idea. Who knew what would happen to my kin if we continued to drink the blood of our alien ancestors?

  I was the only one who hadn’t been implanted with a tracker by Sanderson. I shielded Kokoro and some of the other more modest females from view as they removed their shirts and tore the tracking devices out. Just as the last implant was dropped to the ground and crushed, I realized our mistake. “Maybe we should have left this area before destroying the trackers,” I said uneasily.

  “Why?” Geordie queried as he donned his modified shirt again.

  Several corridors away, doors slid open and Kveet imps began to emerge from their cells. I was the only one who understood their never ending verbal quest for food but I and the others stirred nervously as hundreds of tiny grey feet began to shuffle in our direction.

  “Run!” I whisper-shouted and we stampeded back the way we’d come. Apparently we weren’t quiet enough and high pitched cries of “Food?” followed us.

  Now that we weren’t following the map, we quickly became lost in the maze of never ending hallways that all looked the same. Either the imps were being guided or they knew the place well. No matter which way we went, we seemed to be running straight towards them.

  One of Ishida’s female warriors recognized where we were. “The exit should be this way!” She took off at a sprint and we were fast on her heels. Her memory was accurate and we reached a long hallway that ended in a set of stairs. Gregor pointed Robert’s arm at the steep staircase and the door slid open. The smell of sulphur wafted down to meet us just as the Kveet imps came into sight. Cries of rage and despair at missing out on a meal echoed after us as we raced up the stairs. Even if they could have reopened the door after Gregor closed it, they would have been unable to follow us into the poisonous wasteland.

  Leaving the imps behind, I sensed nothing following us as we hurried across the inhospitable surroundings. We had already jogged through most of the night and dawn would soon be upon us again. Ishida located another underground facility and I searched it with my senses before giving Gregor the go ahead to let us in.

  Instead of darkness, soft light filled the silver hallways. Geordie huddled at my side, afraid to voice his fear and give away our position to possible enemies. His trembling was enough to tell me he was in the grip of another bad feeling.

  “What do you suggest we do?” Luc asked his old friend.

  Gregor glanced at the horizon. It was still dark but that would soon change. “We do not have time to search for another sanctuary. I am afraid we have no choice but to enter.”

  Just like a GPS driven map back home, Ishida’s map had recalibrated with our change of direction. We continued our trek and it once more guided us towards the factory. We were halfway there now and we were making good time. No one wanted to stop to rest. Even tottering on his feet and half asleep when the sun rose, Geordie didn’t slow us down. Igor and one of the Europeans slung his arms over their shoulders to make sure he wouldn’t fall on his face.

  Detecting a new kind of life form, I couldn’t figure out what it was. It was similar to the imps but different somehow. “There is something up ahead that might be more imps,” I said to my friends and allies.

  “How many are there?” Igor asked.

  “I’m not sure.”

  “You can’t tell what they are?” Luc asked me.

  “I think they’re different from anything we’ve seen so far.” No one was happy with this but we had little choice but to continue onwards.

  Treading quietly, we inexorably closed in on the alien presence and my tenseness grew with each step. The same female warrior who had guided us to the exit earlier glanced up and down each hallway we came to with a puzzled frown. “This place is different from the others,” she said.

  “How can you tell?” Geordie slurred. If Igor and the other guy hadn’t been holding onto him, the teen would have been on the ground long ago.

  “The layout is different,” she replied. Stopping at the next junction, she turned her head left and right then pointed straight ahead. “I think we are going to come across a large open area at the end of the hallway.”

  I wasn’t the only one dreading what we would find on the other side of the door that blocked our path.

  .~.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “What is that noise?” Geordie whispered as we started down the corridor.

  “It sounds like water,” Igor replied.

  “A whole lot of water,” someone else clarified. Liquid sloshed inside the room that the Japanese female warrior seemed to think would be sizable. Nervous at what we might find, I made sure I was the first to step inside when the door hissed open.

  Ishida’s warrior was correct. Far larger than any room we had come across so far, a gigantic pool took up most of the square space. There were no safety fences to stop the unwary from falling in. Wet patches on the silver floor meant something had been in here recently. Ripples were making their way from the centre of the pool outwards. Tiny tsunamis splashed onto the narrow walkway that ran around the outside of the pool.

  According to Ishida’s map, our route would take us past the pool and through a door directly opposite from where we stood. There was no sign of the creatures I’d sensed but I could feel them somewhere close by. We were armed only with six death rays and one robot arm. Not that the arm would be of much help, unless we wanted to open or close a door in a hurry.

  Taking charge, Luc pointed at tw
o of the death ray wielding vampires to stick with him and for Igor, Ishida and Cristov to band together. Under his silent direction, our group split in half and began filing around the edge of the pool. Geordie was torn between staying with me and following his mentor. I gave him a light shove towards Igor’s group and he trotted to catch up to them, covering a yawn with one hand.

  Luc and Igor headed the two groups. Ishida and his armed warrior went in the middle. Cristov and the final armed European went last. We were halfway around the walkway when I felt a strange presence rapidly approaching. Before I could warn anyone, gigantic grey tentacles burst out of the water. Four feet wide at their base, they thinned down to almost delicate tips and sported the same mouth holes that the octosquids possessed. Some of the holes were easily the size of my head. Up this close, I could see tiny teeth gnashing thin air as the holes incessantly opened and closed. Two of the tentacles grabbed the European next to me by the waist and tore her in half. Black ooze splashed on the wall, me and anyone else in the nearby vicinity.

  Rising out of the water, the misshapen top section of the creature split almost in two as a gigantic maw appeared. It opened wide to expose concentric rings of razor sharp teeth that were easily large enough to rend us to pieces. The vampire who had been ripped in half silently begged me to save her. I grabbed for her hand but she was yanked out of my reach and thrown into the mouth of the beast. No one but me could have healed damage that extensive and I knew there was nothing I could have done to save her yet guilt made my insides clench. Sending out more tentacles, the monstrous imp snatched up someone else and tossed them into its mouth as well. Both vampires would disintegrate the moment they died so they wouldn’t be much of a meal for the hideous abomination.

  Luc and the others who were wielding weapons fired blasts of violet light at it but they only inflicted a small amount of damage. Geordie screeched in alarm as Ishida was snatched up by the ankle. Twisting around, the teen fired into the open orifice of the imp. It flinched in pain, causing a mini tidal wave to wash over everyone on the opposite side of the pool. Smacked against the wall by the wave, the vamp next to me dropped his weapon. Luc was already sprinting around the edge of the pool as Igor and Cristov fired their rays into the creature’s mouth.