by James Somers
“Only he can wield that sword,” Gregor says. “Even if you managed to steal it somehow, it would only return to West. The sword is connected to him by blood. It knows its master and will not serve another.”
By the time the elevator doors open, I’m feeling completely hopeless. How can I kill the man I must kill? Is there no way to defeat him? I ask Gregor this very question before we step out together.
“Brawn is not the only weapon we have,” he says. “Solomon will find a way to destroy West. He may be powerful, but he also has weaknesses we can exploit. His grandchildren for one.”
I don’t like the sound of this one bit. He’s referring to Cassie and Garth. Surely, Mister Solomon doesn’t have plans to harm them. I wouldn’t allow that, and he knows it.
“What is that supposed to mean?” I ask, looking for clarification. “I won’t be a part of anything that would hurt Cassie and Garth.”
“But you would like to get them away from Brody West?” Gregor asks.
“Yes, of course,” I answer.
“By getting them away from him, we would both save them from his influence and make him think they were in danger if he did not surrender himself,” he explains, raising an eyebrow at me, tapping his temple with his index finger. “You see?” he says. “We may be unequal in many ways, but a powerful mind is stronger than the mightiest opponent.”
I can’t help smiling at that. He had a good point. Wish I had thought of it. At any rate, Gregor makes good sense and my faith in Solomon is instantly restored. Rather than hurting my friends, we would save them from the one who has destroyed my family. We can save Cassie and Garth before West decides to harm them himself.
When we step out of the elevator, it feels like Gregor and I have made some sort of connection through our discussion. Maybe, vampires aren’t the vicious creatures created by man’s myths and legends. Maybe, the movies are wrong about them. Then, the doors to this underground training facility part before us, and I realize myths are not as wrong as I might hope.
The first sight I lay my eyes upon is what appears to be a climbing wall. At least, this is my impression because of the number of vampires scaling it. However, there are no hand-holds to be found anywhere on the concrete edifice. These Breed soldiers are practically running on all fours up and down a sheer wall. It’s like watching a bunch of spiders, and they’re fighting one another in the process.
Men in black fatigues—all of them are wearing the same uniform—leap from one wall to another not far away. The only difference between these teams are the armbands, some yellow and others red, worn around their biceps. They fly at one another, clawing, kicking, and punching each other with terrible ferocity. Some fall away from their wall while their opponents move on to the next combatant.
It's pretty brutal stuff. I spot severe wounds on one fallen man. He’s bleeds for a moment. Then, the wounds close up and the bleeding stops. I guess they have a similar healing factor working for them like I do. The wounded vampire springs back to the wall, entering the fray again.
“Am I supposed to do all of that?” I ask, feeling a little apprehensive about jumping into the midst of a bunch of vampires.
“Mr. Solomon has expressed his desire for you to train with the Breed,” Gregor replies, grinning noticeably.
He looks like he can’t wait for me to take on some of his soldiers. Maybe he is smarting after I beat down one of his men in Solomon’s office, or maybe he’s unhappy with the favor his master has shown me since my arrival among them. Either way, I get the feeling training isn’t exactly what Gregor Malakov is most concerned with here.
A hand claps my shoulder then, surprising me since there was no one in the elevator with us. I turn my head to find James Solomon standing there behind us. He is dressed in a finely tailored suit, as seems to be usual for him.
“I’m sorry, Jonathan but I’m afraid Gregor’s instruction will have to wait,” he says.
Malakov shoots him a curious look.
“Something has happened,” Solomon says, “and we must act fast if we are to make the most of our opportunity.”
Minutes later, I am whisked away with Gregor Malakov and his host of tactically outfitted vampires. James Solomon conveys our team of hundreds toward a gate within the facility. Only the gate doesn’t appear to go anywhere. It just stands like a frame against the concrete wall. I stand with Malakov at the head of the group, waiting like everyone else for James Solomon to make clear our intentions. He waits for our assembly to form up and quiet down before speaking.
“Brody West has been located by one of our scouts in Paris,” he begins. “Clearly, my network of detection spells has paid off. He and his group triggered one at Stonehenge, and our scout was able to follow them through their portal to Paris. I suspect this will be West’s attempt to escape this world with your friends. If that happens then we may never be able to rescue Jonathan’s friends.”
We can’t let West go. There is no time for any training on my part. We have to catch up with West and save Cassie, Garth, and Holly. And I must kill Brody West, although I have no idea how I am going to accomplish what seems to be such a monumental task. Still, West killed my parents. I want to be the one to take his life.
My mind buzzes with every word Solomon says, which is weird because my head is literally hurting. This is just like earlier when my anger burned for the monsters under West’s control. My vision blurs as I listen to Solomon’s instructions.
The tension in the room is high. We’re going to intercept West in Paris, hopefully before it’s too late to rescue my friends. With a motion, Solomon applies his great power to this underground gate, energizing it.
The space of wall within the large frame is suddenly replaced by a bright green light that quickly coalesces into a window to another place. There is light and trees and a paved road. People pass by, going in different directions. In the distance, I now see a huge structure dominating the cityscape. It’s the Eiffel Tower.
Tower
“What do you mean we can’t teleport any closer?” Brody exclaims, pointing at the tower rising over Paris. He is practically yelling at Isaac now.
Asha tries to intervene, placing her hand on Brody’s shoulder. “It’s complicated,” she says. “It’s meant to be complicated to keep enemies away from the entry point.”
Brody sighs in his exasperation. “You realize we’re being followed.”
“That’s impossible,” Isaac counters.
“Are you certain?” Asha asks, ignoring Isaac’s protest.
Brody ignores the young man, focusing on Asha. “I felt someone reopen the portal construct leading away from Stonehenge.”
“I didn’t notice anything,” Isaac says. “After all, I’m the one who activated the portal in the first place.”
Brody looks at him. He has no desire to get into the details of his own abilities or the depth of his power in comparison with Isaac. As talented as he may be, he doesn’t appear to comprehend how much difference there is between himself and one of the Sons of Anarchy.
Asha, on the other hand, considers Brody’s warning carefully. “What should we do, stand and fight?”
“Considering James Solomon’s true identity, I think that would be a bad idea,” Brody says.
“We should get to the portal now,” Garth adds. “If they can’t breach the barrier to Haven then that’s probably our only hope of getting away from this angel.”
Brody and Asha nod together.
Isaac, looking defeated, finally concedes to the notion that his portal nexus has allowed their enemy to find them and probably guess the identity of the gateway into Haven.
“Let’s hurry then,” he says.
“What is it, a mile away?” Holly ventures, shielding her eyes from the bright sunshine to gauge the distance.
“About half a mile,” Isaac offers bleakly. “We didn’t want them getting close enough to notice traffic through the gate.”
“If we are being followed, then why haven
’t we been attacked?” Cassie asks.
“A lone watcher wouldn’t make himself known,” Asha replies.
“But he would certainly notify Solomon,” Brody adds. “If he shows up this is going to get ugly fast.”
“We could split up and meet at the tower,” Isaac offers. “They wouldn’t know which one of us to follow.”
Brody shakes his head. “More likely they would pick us off one by one easier that way,” he says.
“Like lions separating the young and weak from the herd,” Asha adds, watching his eyes.
Brody smiles slightly, returning her gaze for the briefest moment of recognition. “Exactly.”
“So, they want us to open the gate,” Garth says in frustration. “Maybe we shouldn’t try to go through to Haven just yet. They’re waiting on us to open it so they can also come through, right?”
“But if we wait now, and they’ve already guessed the location, then we’ll never get through,” Holly says.
“So, this is our best opportunity,” Cassie adds.
Brody starts walking toward the tower, motioning to others to follow. “We’ll have a fight on our hands, but we’ll make it,” he says. “Just be ready.”
The rest of the group follows, each checking what weapons they have on hand. Garth brushes his fingers across the pommel of his sword for reassurance. Brody turns his head to find Cassie catching up to him. He can see it in her eyes—she is going to plead once more for Jonathan.
He whips out his hand, Malak-esh appearing in his grip. He holds the sword out to his granddaughter. “Take it!”
“Your sword?” she asks, forgetting her previous question in her surprise. “But I’m not a swordsman. Garth taught me a few basics, but I’m far from his level.”
Brody smiles. “Just point the sharp end at the people trying to kill you. If they don’t run away, then hit them with it until they stop breathing.”
Despite their situation, Cassie smiles at this, taking the sword from her grandfather. “Thank you. I’ll try not to lose it.”
“As long as I live, Malak-esh will always return to me when I call,” he says.
Asha catches up to Brody. “I will weave a glamour to distract human eyes from our progress. We will need all of your power focused upon our adversary.”
He smiles weakly at her compliment. “I only wish I had the power to stop him,” he says. “Malak-esh is the only thing I know that can withhold an angel’s power.”
“Still, if God is willing…” Asha offers.
Brody smiles broadly at her now. “An excellent point,” he concedes. “Thank you, Asha, for reminding me.”
“It’s too bad Malak-esh is not a gate rather than a sword,” she says jokingly.
Brody’s eyes widen upon hearing it.
We pass through Solomon’s portal into the city of Paris. I must admit, this wasn’t what I was expecting. Nevertheless, if this is where Cassie and Garth and Holly are, then I need to rescue them and stop Brody West.
Malakov waves skyward to his vampires and immediately many begin a rapid transformation, taking on the forms of various kinds of birds. The majority appear to be ravens. They leap into the air, beating blackened wings, shedding their earthbound forms as quickly as smoke disappears on the wind.
Gregor remains with me. I don’t have this vampiric power of transformation and, apparently, the Breed commander is unwilling to let me out of his sight. Maybe, Solomon ordered him to keep an eye on me, since he hasn’t followed us through the portal.
Garth is the first to see the horde of vampires rising into the air in the form of birds. Others rush toward their location upon the ground, weaving through pedestrians on their way to and from the famous Eiffel Tower monument. The humans don’t appear to notice anything peculiar yet.
“Here they come!” Garth shouts to his companions as they run together toward the tower.
Brody finds their pursuers, noticing the same combat gear and uniforms as those who took Jonathan from the cell. Then he spots Jonathan running alongside their leader and wearing the same dark garb as the others. He can’t help but believe that Jonathan has turned against them.
There is no doubt in his mind now: a serious fight is about to erupt here below the tower in the midst of all these unsuspecting human bystanders. They might not notice the strangers among them due to the power of glamour, but when humans started dying they would all be exposed as the masses turned into a panic-stricken herd out to save themselves.
Then an idea comes to him: a way, perhaps, to save some of these innocent people before the worst happens.
“We’re going to have to split up!” Brody shouts to the others. “Asha, Isaac, and Holly, you must go on to the tower and open the portal. Keep it open until we can get there.”
“But what are you going to do?” Asha asks, ready to offer up complaint. “You said we shouldn’t split up.”
“We can’t allow all these people to die when this cuts loose,” Brody says. “However, I might be able to save them and create a nice diversion in the process to cover your progress to the tower.”
“How are you going to do that?” Garth asks, still watching the approaching army of vampires with Jonathan at the head of their ranks.
“How do you start a stampede?” Brody asks.
Holly chimes in, “Make them think they’re going to die?”
“Precisely!” Brody says, igniting a fireball between his open hands and then hurling it into a group of parked cars ahead.
The resulting explosion is anything but concealed from the human public around them. In fact, everyone for several miles hears the blast. It shatters windows for one hundred yards in every direction. It sends a massive plume of fire and black smoke rising into the air in plain view of everyone in the vicinity. And it causes all the humans to instantly flee for their lives, believing some manner of terrorist bomb has just been detonated at this historic landmark in Paris.
However, while the mortals are now aware of the danger around them, and they were running desperately to save themselves from whatever terrorist threat might be among them, they are not all running in the same direction like a herd of cattle, or a school of fish. Chaos has erupted below the Eiffel Tower.
Brody signals his companions and they break away from each other, taking varying paths towards the tower. Instead of presenting a clear target for the onrushing vampires, they are now ants rushing among a swarm of other ants, nearly indistinguishable from the crowd running from the explosion near the base of the tower.
Still, some of the vampires manage to locate them among the crowd. They fly in on the wings of dark birds, transforming themselves into warriors once again to attack. Brody pummels them with concussions and hurls lightning at them, setting many ablaze. He misses Malak-esh in his hands, but giving the sword to his granddaughter was the right thing to do. She needs its protection, and he has many other defenses at his disposal.
For his part, Garth stays close to his sister, wielding his Malak-esh with flourishes, faints and thrusts worthy of any samurai warrior. Brody looks on in admiration, though the distance is growing between him and his grandchildren as the vampires continue to attack. The resulting violence only furthers the panicked atmosphere below the looming tower.
Malakov and his vampires rush toward West and his companions. For a few moments, I spot Garth and Cassie. I wonder how I can both save them and kill Brody West. However, before I can formulate any sort of plan, an explosion rocks the area, originating with a car bomb or some such thing in one of the parking lots ahead of us. The human bystanders panic, running for their lives in every direction.
I lose sight of Cassie and the others in the ensuing chaos, but I still have West in my sights. Gregor has gone into the fray, leaving me to my own devices. I pause at a parking meter sitting atop its metal post fitted into the concrete sidewalk. Realizing this might be my last opportunity to save Cassie, I tear the meter and post from the concrete in a sudden burst of berserker like rage.
With my crude weapon in hand, I stalk West through the raging crowd of swarming humans, keeping his back to me until I am close enough to strike. He turns as I rush him, a pale light flashing with his sudden ignition of electrical discharge. I catch the odor of ozone and something burning as the charge connects with my metal post, but I do not falter.
The blow glances him. Despite his late defense, the glass casing on the parking meter shatters upon impact with his left side. I feel something in him give way, hear the snap of bone. I’ve not done the damage I hoped, but I’ve definitely wounded the man.
Brody falls to the side, bracing himself against a parked vehicle. Only then does he find, a look of astonishment and regret upon his face at the realization. It seems he cannot believe who has gotten the better of him.
I cry out, coming at him again while his own bewilderment has him tamed. A shield of some kind, air vibrating at terrible frequency to produce a bubble around him, comes between us, blocking my assault. I do not relent, hammering at it in my fury with the steel post and battered mechanism.
“If only you had been strong enough to kill me when you killed my mother!”
I’m screaming now, unleashing all the hate I hold in my heart for my mother’s murderer. It’s quite simple: I want Brody West to pay for her life with his own. I mean to exact this price personally.
I had no idea when coming through Solomon’s portal how I might ever accomplish my revenge upon West. My ambition appeared completely out of reach. How easily a simple flanking maneuver with a basic sucker punch takes down the mighty.
His shield holds, but I can see the pain on his face. His breathing is ragged and shallow, that much I can see through the intensely vibrating air current protecting him. No doubt I’ve fractured several ribs with my initial blow. There might even be a punctured lung involved. He is growing weaker by the second.
The buzzing in my brain is at a fever pitch now, spurring on my anger and determination to end this man’s life. For all he has done to me and my family, for all he might still do to my friends, I will end him. The pressure and pain in my head are held at bay as long as I continue to batter his defenses.
