by Toni Cox
Soon she reached the first camps. She was surprised at how many had already encamped around Greystone and she carefully picked her way past the tents, camp fires, watchmen and horses. It was another half hour before she reached the stones and there she found that a perimeter fence had been set around the circle. She walked around it, looking for a way in. The fence was made from wire and she could have easily climbed through it, but it had bells attached to it and she suspected that even the slightest tinkle would alert the men around her.
She contemplated for a while and then tried something she had never done before. She already had a cushion of air around her, so now she channelled more of it towards her feet, hoping that it might lift her. At first, nothing happened, then she started to wobble. She lost her concentration and almost fell. Breathing harder, she steadied herself before trying again. This time she tried to keep the concentration of air constant on all sides and just increased the pressure at the bottom. She was starting to sweat, even in the cool of the night, but soon she was hovering steadily above the ground. The feeling was even stranger than walking without seeing your feet and it took all her concentration. She increased the pressure marginally and she rose higher. She milled her arms as she wobbled again, but then she was steady again and rising. She tried to judge where her feet were as she reached the top of the fence, but then lifted her legs for good measure. Soon she was on the other side and carefully she lowered herself so she would not make a noise when she landed.
This was it; she was in the circle of stones; there was no going back now. Once she activated the energy to take her to Naylera, the men around her would know that someone had gone through the Gate, but by then it would be too late.
She stood at the centre and closed her eyes. She had never been to Naylera and did not know what awaited her on the other side. But she was determined to follow through with her plan. She called forth the energy, concentrating on her destination and the last thing she heard before the energy took her was the alarm that went through the camp around her.
He had spent days spying on the camp and gathering as much information as he could. Right now, he was ready to kill them all, Elves included. They were scum to plan such atrocities as he had heard mention here and it made him sick that his own kind could conceive of such things. There was a total of twenty-nine Elves allied with the forty-three Vampyres in this stronghold. They were biding their time, waiting for some signal that was to come some time in the near future, but Blaid had as yet to determine that date.
But he had learned enough to be worried. This was not the only stronghold. There was a total of five of them around Grildor and he believed this particular one to be the smallest. The bigger ones were situated closer to Greystone, with the largest hiding within the dark forest where he had rescued Maia last year.
One of the main missions of this stronghold was to take out as many military personnel as possible, which is why the delegation from Stoneloft had been completely wiped out. Another group had been in charge of killing Maia and he now realised that most of the Vampyres he had been following earlier in the year had been of this group. As their mission had failed, an unnamed man had volunteered to take the matter into his own hands and it was this mystery man that Blaid had followed to Shadow Hall. He now wondered if it had been wise to leave Maia.
This group was waiting for their signal to strike within this region, but they were still waiting for reinforcements. Their time frame was, as yet, unknown to Blaid. The groups on the other side of the lake had already received most of their reinforcements, but were awaiting the arrival of the Vampyres’ main army. But even that was still some time away, as far as he could tell. What worried him the most was the detailed plan of attack the Vampyres had devised. Although there were some holes in the information he had been able to gather, it was clear that the Vampyres planned to attack on multiple fronts. The last war had been centered around Greystone, with the Vampyre army coming through in three consecutive waves. This time, they had been slowly amassing their numbers within Grildor for Moons in advance and once the main army came through the Gate, the smaller forces would attack from the rear.
There was also talk of some new weapon, as well as a new breed of soldier. Werewolves were to be used again, but one of the Generals had expressed concern about the number of animals that were able to travel. Blaid assumed that he was talking about bringing the Werewolves through the gate. Transporting animals was impossible…unless they had the ability to travel on their own. In his mind, he reassessed the creatures he had been hunting. They were cunning and fierce and had often managed to elude him, but they had never tried to communicate with him, so he was unaware of their mental capabilities. To the eye, they simply looked like brute beasts and it was easy to assume that they were just dumb creatures.
He had to get back to Shadow Hall and get word to Lord Longshadow. He had been here too long already. But he could not let this group of Vampyres and traitors live and carry out their missions. They had to be eliminated.
The group was well armed and always alert. It had so far taken all his skill not to be discovered. To attack by himself was foolish, but he felt a rage building within him that he struggled to control. To let them live might mean death to the people of the Crystal Mountains, to try to kill them might mean his own death. The choice was clear.
He waited until nightfall. The Vampyres didn’t sleep, but they often rested when they were not on duty. His first priority was to take out the night guards around the camp. He decided that he would not be able to sneak up on all of them and kill them silently while in his wolf form. But he had memorized their routine positions and now, having acquired a knife from one of the supply tents, he summoned his shadow travel.
He landed precisely behind his first victim and without hesitation cut his throat. The Vampyre slid silently to the ground. Then he concentrated on the next position. As he materialized again, he saw that this guard had wandered off to the right and he had to run up from behind to avoid detection and the Vampyre raising the alarm. Again, his knife spilled the life blood of the Vampyre and he eased him to the ground. They would eventually be discovered, but by then it would be too late.
His next position held two guards, he knew, but it did not deter him. They only had a brief moment of surprise as the black smoke formed between them and then his knife had already done its work. One of them fell to the ground, the other toppled off the cliff.
The next two were Elves and although he did not hesitate, he felt the bile rise to his throat at having to kill his own. He vented his frustration on his next four victims and then stood, barely breathing harder, on one of the vantage points overlooking the camp.
He had successfully managed to kill all the guards on the high cliffs around the camp without arousing suspicion. He knew there were more guards closer to the bridge, but they would not interfere with the work he had to do here.
Down in the camp nothing had changed. Most of them were sitting around their fires, talking, drinking, playing their strange stone games. A small group, about five of them, patrolled the perimeter of the camp and it was those that he targeted now. He managed to kill three of them without any noise before the fourth yelled out in surprise as Blaid slit his companion’s throat.
Quickly he silenced him with a well-placed cut, but it was too late; the Vampyres were now aware of his presence. Immediately the warning went through the camp. Everyone drew their weapons and converged on where he stood. Blaid only had a moment to size up the situation before they were upon him.
Armed with only his small knife, even he was no match for what he now faced. Shadow travelling between them he managed to kill another few, before he himself received his first cut. Blood streamed down his right arm and before he managed to vanish into smoke again, he got stabbed in the side by a spear.
He screamed in pain and rage and without thinking he transformed into the wolf. With his shaggy black fur flying and his large teeth bared he ripped into the nearest Vampyr
e. He was vaguely aware of some of the Elves stepping away as they realised what he was, but they soon rejoined the fight.
Now it was tooth and claw against bare metal. They came at him with swords and spears, arrows, and axes. The world dissolved into twirling red mist as his blood sprayed in all directions. He tasted the Vampyres’ rancid flesh and the sweet blood of the Elves and in that moment, it was all the same to him. It was not about survival anymore, but simply about how many of them he could take with him into death. He knew not for how long he fought or how many he killed; there always seemed to be another one to take the place of the one who had come before him. The pain of his injuries was dulling his senses and he lashed out blindly towards the end. Finally, he felt pain no longer and his vision dimmed as the loss of blood made it impossible for him to remain on his feet. His legs gave way beneath him and the last thing he saw before the darkness took him was a Vampyre running towards him with a sword aimed at his heart.
Maia staggered as she landed within the circle of black stones. The first thing she noticed was the lack of air. She gasped as she tried to hold on to the bubble of air that surrounded her and protected her with invisibility. She cursed herself for not having accounted for this. She had learned that the composition of air on Naylera was different from Elveron. There was less oxygen, more carbon dioxide and some other gasses her body was unaccustomed to. She stood there for what seemed like ages as she struggled to maintain, not only her invisibility, but also her composure.
All around her there was activity. It seemed that the Vampyres had erected some kind of shelter over the stones and it was acting as a base from which they operated. At first, she was afraid that they would have noticed her arrival, but as she stood there, she realised that others were arriving too. Three other Vampyres arrived within minutes of her arrival, so she had aroused no suspicion. She contemplated this for a short while, wondering where these Vampyres were coming from, but then pushed the thought to the back of her mind; she had a job to do now.
She waited a short while longer before she dared to move. The inner circle was cleared for the arrivals, but within the second circle were crates with weapons, boxes of armour and even some elven clothes. Only one side had remained clear of all items and Maia assumed that that was where the army was supposed to file through the stones to travel to Elveron.
The outer circle was furnished in much the same way; caches of weapons, armour and clothing. Vampyres were inventorying the crates and making notes. Carefully she stepped past them and finally reached the canvas wall of the immense shelter that had been erected over the stones. She waited by the entrance until a Vampyre lifted the flap to exit. Ducking down low she followed him out unnoticed.
Outside, the air was worse. The air around her wavered dangerously before she managed to get it under control again. She had not realised how bad the air on Naylera was. She knew that Vampyres did not need to breathe very often, needing very little oxygen to survive. It must have been some adaptation in their development due to the nature of their planet.
Naylera was the planet of volcanoes; it was home to more than ten times the number of volcanoes than on any other planet. Frequent eruptions made at least half the planet uninhabitable and had contributed to the composition of the gases in the air.
Nevertheless, the Vampyres had once been a thriving people. Trade between Naylera and the other planets used to flourish, but it was a very long time ago. Dwindling resources must have been the trigger that had driven the Vampyres to their now violent lifestyles. Maia had learned that Vampyres had always had a taste for blood but, many thousands of years ago, it had been more of a ritualistic habit and not for sustenance. Sometime during the last millennium this had changed and they had become complete carnivores. Maia shuddered at the thought of what these creatures ate.
Standing outside the tent over the stones and in the middle of their military activity, she looked around and realised that they were anything but animals. There was order and a strict hierarchy seemed to be in place. Although she did not understand their language well, the tone with which higher ranking members were addressed left no doubt as to their status. Orders were given and followed with alacrity.
Tentatively she stepped away from the tent. The activity around her frightened her and she used all her will power to remain calm; if she were to lose concentration, she would be discovered. She had seen what they had done to Somas and she had no intention of ending up like him.
The ground beneath her feet was red; just rocks and sand without any vegetation. It could have just been from the constant activity around the gate but, somehow, she knew that nothing could grow in this rocky soil even if there was no-one here to trample it. Besides the faint glow of the Vampyres’ Eläm and the somewhat stronger glow of the Werewolves around her she did not pick up any Life-Forces for miles in either direction.
Carefully she wound her way between the crates and equipment scattered around the stones. She noticed another tent-like structure about half a mile away and she hoped it would be something like a base for the Generals to conduct their planning.
The terrain here was much the same as on Elveron; gently rolling hills with mountains in the distance. But the vista could not have been more different. There was a faint red glow that saturated everything and even the mountains were tinged in red. There was smoke on the horizon and the sky was an awful grey colour that hid the sun so well she did not know what time of day it was.
Time on Naylera moved much the same as on Elveron. If she spent three days here, she’d be gone from Elveron for roughly two days. So it mattered little what time it was right now, but she somehow felt adrift not being aware of the time of day. She took a steadying breath and carried on.
At one point, she passed a group of tethered Werewolves. They were of the larger, stronger kind and looked well cared for. They were resting with their muzzles on their outstretched paws, but as she walked by, all five of them lifted their heads and lifted their noses in her direction. She felt their eyes follow her as she walked by, but none of them rose to challenge her.
Finally, she reached the tent. There was little activity around here and she wondered if she had guessed right. She waited for a short while, but when no-one seemed to be entering or leaving the tent, she eventually lifted the tent flap and quickly slipped in. The tent was completely deserted. In the centre stood a large table with some papers on it and the rest of the tent was packed full with crates and other items. She was about to leave again when something made her approach the table.
She inhaled a sharp breath and almost coughed as she accidentally sucked in some of Naylera’s air as she beheld the map spread open on the table. It was a large map, showing not only Grildor, but its neighbouring countries as well. Clearly marked on this map was Greystone, as well as all the larger cities of Grildor. Certain spots along the Trade Route had been marked with large X’s and strange symbols decorated certain areas within some mountains and forests. There were too many for her to remember them all, but the one just behind Shadow Peak made her skin crawl.
Quickly she rifled through the other papers on the desk, hoping to unearth some plan of attack or other information, but the only things she found were more maps. Some detailed maps of the cities, others general maps of the northern hemisphere of Elveron. Maia wondered where the Vampyres had obtained these maps. To steal one map was entirely possible, but there was a whole collection of important maps on this table and she suspected that someone had given these to the Vampyres. The thought that there was, indeed, a traitor among the Elves sickened her.
Carefully she peeked through the flap of the tent. She waited for a lone Vampyre to pass and then quickly slipped through. Once back outside she surveyed the area. The base of operation the Vampyres had erected around the Gate was fairly large; about a square mile. But, besides the tent she had just been in and the larger one that had been erected over the stones, the only things she could see in either direction were crates of equipment, provisions,
and strange machines of war. She took careful notice of these so she could explain them to her father when she got back.
She stood there a while longer, monitoring the Vampyres’ movements. Most were busy carrying boxes or inventorying items, but some where going to and fro on what seemed to be a well trodden path just to the east of where she stood. She decided to follow it.
Painfully aware that she was walking in the company of Vampyres, she concentrated hard on maintaining her invisibility. But the Vampyres were completely unaware of her presence and only the odd Werewolf would briefly glance in her direction before losing interest again.
After about ten miles, a full military camp came into sight. The sheer vastness of it took her breath away. Thousands of tents, set up in neat rows, surrounded what was clearly the centre of operation; a large, solid structure, build out of red brick. As she came closer she noticed that this place was well guarded. A perimeter fence made of what looked like bone and wire had been set around the entire complex and guards were patrolling at regular intervals. The path she was on led to what she thought was the main entrance; a large gate where guards checked credentials of everyone that passed through it. But the path also curved around the complex in either direction and soon disappeared into the distance. She wondered if she should chance going through this main entrance or if there were smaller, less guarded options further along the perimeter fence.
By now she had been here a couple of hours already and time was of the essence. She did not know how far away the next gate would be; if there was one at all. She made the decision to use the main entrance.
