by Luke Metcalf
“Well, well, well. Delivered right into my hands. You truly have outdone yourself, Mitchell.”
The powerful voice stopped the fighters in their tracks and they looked up to see Mephris, Lord Ruthen, the Comtesse LeDuijou, and three other vampires standing in the street, along with Cady Sunner. To Emily’s utter shock and horror, her mother and Mr. Denman were with them.
Mitchell snarled at the vampire who had spoken and who now bent to pick up the book. “Baelaar.” There was a look of utter hate and bloodlust in his eyes, a wicked smile forming on his lips as he rose to his feet. “Finally, after all these years.”
Emily stared at the vampire Mitchell had called Baelaar. So he was the one. His hair was professionally dyed blood red and he wore it slicked back. His skin was pale and he wore black eyeliner smoked out. Across his shoulders was a bright-green crocodile-skin cloak with fur trim that hung down past his knees. Crocodile-skin boots and black pants along with a skull belt and black dress shirt completed his outfit. In his right hand he held a black cane with a gold skull with diamond eyes on the end. On his fingers were bejeweled gold rings. Wrapped around the fingers of his left hand was a tiny, bright-green snake. On his left shoulder sat a large raven.
“See?” Cady Sunner crowed. “I told you we would find him here. I saw him in the warehouse that night with the girl.”
Mitchell glanced at Lord Ruthen with seething hatred.
“Hello, Mitchell,” Ruthen purred.
“Once I’m finished with Baelaar, you’re next.”
“Hey, Freakshow, give me that book,” Tom snarled at Baelaar.
Mephris looked him up and down, amazed at his audacity. “Who is this bit of meat in the clown costume?”
“Pipe down, pig face. I wasn’t talking to you.” Tom strode over to Mephris and stood before him, hands at his hips. “What? You some kind of tough guy?”
Mephris lunged for him but Tom pulled the vampire’s coat over his head and began punching. The others watched in shock, trying to figure out how a human could possess such strength and speed.
Emily watched in disbelief from the window, her face deathly pale and her bottom lip trembling. “Mom?” she muttered. She stared at her mother and Mr. Denman standing by Cady Sunner, the man who had murdered her father, as though they were friends. She vaguely realized that the person in Tom’s grasp was the vampire named Mephris. She didn’t recognize the rest, but they all had the inhumanly pale skin of vampires. She couldn’t tear her eyes off her mother; there was something about her that wasn’t right; she looked like the others. Had her mother been turned into a vampire? Had she been in league with them all along? It was too horrifying to imagine.
“Is that why dad didn’t trust her?” muttered Emily as she held up her wand and opened the front door.
“Run, Mom!” she shouted. “Get away from them! I have you covered. If any of them come after you I’ll blast them with a lightning bolt.”
“What on Earth are you talking about, dear?” her mother asked. “And why are you pointing that stick at us? Please, please listen to me. I know this is a terrible shock to you but let me explain. Mr. Denman and I have been together for a little over a year. A little while ago Cady Sunner and Mephris contacted Mr. Denman about shipping some things over from Europe. They were offering a huge amount of money. They were also looking for an antique captain’s desk from a ship. By the time I understood what was going on and that your father was involved, they had killed him.” Her eyes grew wide and wet as she pleaded with her daughter. “You have to believe me. Then they said they would kill us if I told the police. I didn’t know what to do. Then late last night they, they turned us into vampires.”
She glanced nervously at Mephris and Tom fighting. Then she looked back at Emily who was slowly shaking her head as tears ran down her cheeks.
“No, no, no, no, no,” Emily muttered.
“Come to mommy, they’ve promised they won’t harm us if we turn you into a vampire and they promised to make us rich.” Her eyes brightened. “We’ll be able to live together as a happy family. There are a lot worse fates in this world than being rich and immortal, Emily.”
Tom shoved Mephris away and burst out laughing. “Your mother is one of those blood-sucking freaks!” He pointed at Emily. “What a burn! You just got totally burned! Ah ha your life sucks, you loser!” Mephris pounced on him and they continued fighting.
“Come and live with you and Mr. Denman and the people who murdered Dad?’ Emily screamed. “As a family? Oh my god, you are psycho! That’s why Dad didn’t want you to know about it; even back then he didn’t trust you.”
“What?” her mother asked.
“You are a psycho!” Emily screamed.
Baelaar finished flipping through the captain’s log and closed it, pulling out a cell phone and punching some numbers into it.
“Mmmm delicious delectable Mitchell,” murmured the Comtesse LeDuijou. “Still looking soooooo gorgeous!”
Emily pointed her wand at Comtesse LeDuijou, filled with fierce jealousy. “Who the hell are you?”
“Thank you for the coordinates, Mitchell,” said Baelaar. “Now we will be on our way.”
As fast as lightning Mitchell kicked Baelaar in the chest, sending him flying backward into a parked car. The impact crushed the side of the car and the windows exploded. The raven let out a squawk of fright and frantically flapped its wings as it rose into the air.
“Mephris!” Baelaar shouted as he got to his feet. “Stop fooling around! Everyone, follow me, leave the girl for later.”
Mephris managed to struggle free of Tom. His eyes blazed red with rage, and he growled like an animal. A split second later, Baelaar was gone, racing down the street like the wind, followed by his raven and the other vampires. Mitchell sprang after them.
Cady Sunner stared at the demolished car in horror. “My car!” he cried, drawing his gun and pointing it at Tom. Emily aimed her wand at Cady, but Tom was faster. He knocked the gun out of Cady’s hand and punched him in the jaw, sending him crashing into another parked car. Then Tom spread his hands wide and an area of glowing green swirling vapor appeared all around him until it was as if his whole body, except for his eyes, had disappeared into it. The cloud of green vapor then flew after the vampires, leaving Cady Sunner lying unconscious in the street.
Emily took out her phone and dialed.
“Detective Scannel? Cady Sunner is smashing up parked cars in front of my house, waving around a gun… Great, thanks… I think it might be the same gun as the one he used to kill my father… Thanks, oh also, my house is on fire.”
She hung up and turned to Mercurios, who had appeared on her shoulder, gawking at the spectacle. “Mercurios, I think the vampires are going to use their power over the elements to go to the bottom of the ocean after the Well. Is the Sphere of Protection strong enough to keep the water away from me if we follow them?”
“Yes.”
“Good, then let’s go.”
“But, Emily, you have Cady lying unconscious in the street! He is helpless, perfect for your first kill. Blast him unmerciful, Emily!”
“It’s not my right. I am not the judge, jury, and executioner. That is not how a civilized society works. It’s not how my father raised me.”
“Ah, but our good friend Mitchell would not hesitate to kill him, Emily. Cady is a murderer, you know he is, and Mitchell hunts murderers. If it’s okay for him to kill, then why not you? You know for certain that Sunner is guilty.”
Emily looked down at the unconscious body of her father’s murderer.
“Yes,” continued the imp. “Surely, there is nothing wrong with killing a killer, Emily. He rightfully deserves it.”
“My father… My father would be ashamed, and besides, Mitchell is a vampire and…”
She paused, remembering something Mitchell had told her.
“What?” asked Mercurios. “That makes it okay?”
“No. You just gave me an idea.”
*
Mitchell flew like a bullet through the night after the other vampires with Tom close behind. As they barreled toward the shore he could see dozens of other vampires joining the group up ahead.
*
Emily plucked her pendant from around her neck, placed it on the ground, and spoke the words of command. The chest swelled to full size. She opened it and took out the Skull of Monster Summoning.
“What are you doing?” asked Mercurios. “The Skull of Summoning is only for summoning beings of darkness, Emily. Monsters!”
“I know.”
“Well then, what are you doing? Very curious, what monster might you be intending to summon?”
“Just trust me.”
Emily found a stone lying in the grass and used it to trace a circle on the ground in front of her. Then, she held the skull and spoke the command words, channeling the magical energy. Soon, the skull’s eyes began to glow. It sent out a shockwave that made Emily stumble but she was prepared for it this time. Emily spoke a name in a firm, clear voice.
“Who, in the burning bogs of Caeltrethon, is Sylvain DeLune?” Mercurios asked.
Twenty-Six
Mitchell hurtled past the warehouses and down to the shore. Reaching the water, he used his control over the elements to freeze an icy path beneath him as he ran. Dark clouds massed overhead and he could hear thunder rumbling in the distance. An area of darkness, blacker than the surrounding night, gathered ahead of him, stretching out over the ocean as he rushed toward it.
With a final crackle of energy, Emily stumbled backward, gasping for air. The summoning had taken so much concentration and effort that for a moment she thought she might faint. But it had been worth it. Standing before her, wreathed in ruby mist, was Sylvain DeLune, exactly as Mitchell had described him. He looked as though he had just stepped out of a party thrown by Marie Antoinette herself. He carried a sword by his side and held a crystal glass filled with what looked like blood. He was in the middle of uttering something when he appeared.
“And that my friends is why I never— WHAT ON EARTH?” Dropping the glass, Sylvain looked around in wild confusion. “What the… Where… What is happening?”
“Technically vampires are beings of darkness,” Emily told a stunned Mercurios. “Monsters.” She then spoke the command words to turn off the skull. She put it back in the chest, shrunk the chest and snatched it up before turning her attention to Sylvain. “Hello, Sylvain. I’m a wizard and I summoned you.”
He looked her up and down and one eyebrow rose suggestively.
Emily could feel herself blush a little. “I’m a wizard from another world. I used a magical skull to summon you.”
“Are you mad, woman?”
“No. There’s no time to explain. Your friend, Mitchell Keats, is in trouble. The Priests of Mezzor are after him. If we don’t help him, they will enslave the whole world!”
“Mitchell? Where? I haven’t seen Mitchell in ages!”
“He told me you swore an oath to repay him for the kindness he showed you.”
“I did.”
“Then hold my hand!”
Sylvain hesitated for a moment and then clasped Emily’s outstretched fingers. Visualizing the waterfront area clearly in her mind, she activated her Ring of Teleportation. Just as the sound of approaching police sirens grew louder, they were gone.
*
Mitchell watched the group of vampires stop. Bursts of lightning exploded between the ominous clouds and thunder rolled all around him. The vampires disappeared into the ocean. Mitchell summoned all of his supernatural power and drew his sword; the water in front of him parted as he plunged into it. It felt like he’d jumped off a cliff as he fell. He had surrounded himself with a bubble of air about fifteen feet in diameter, using the strength of his will to keep the millions of tons of water from caving in and crushing him.
*
The command words were barely out of Emily’s mouth before she and Sylvain materialized on the waterfront.
“Impressive!” said Sylvain. “How on earth…?”
“Shh. There’s no time to explain.” Emily stared into the distance. Ahead, across the water, she saw the storm brewing. Lightning flashed in the clouds and the distant rumbling of thunder was almost continuous. “There they are.” She pointed. “They’re under those storm clouds – I’m sure of it.”
“Let the vampire deal with this,” said Mercurios, appearing on her shoulder. “Very dangerous indeed.”
Sylvain stared at the imp in amazement. “What on earth is that… thing?”
“Never mind. Sylvain, Mitchell is out there, at the bottom of the ocean. I can’t get us there, because I don’t know exactly what it looks like. Can you get us there?”
Sylvain looked out at the water and then back at her. “My dear, I can make my own road to walk on as I please.”
“Okay, then don’t mind me. Just go.” Emily climbed onto the vampire’s back.
Sylvain leaped forward. He ran, freezing the water beneath him into an icy pathway, just as he’d boasted he could. As they sped over the waves, Emily prayed that they weren’t too late.
*
Mitchell plunged into the abyss, the flames from his sword flickering and dancing on the walls of water that rushed by, plummeting hundreds of feet each second. He saw the dim shapes of the large group of vampires submerged below him. Down, down, down he fell. The pressure was mounting every minute, but Mitchell was strong. He had gained a great command over the elements. As he plunged deeper and deeper he was able to keep the crushing weight of the water at bay, falling faster and faster. Tom was close behind him.
One by one Mitchell overtook the Initiates. One young vampire appeared out of his depth. As Mitchell hurtled by, he slashed him brutally with his flaming sword. The young vampire screamed in agony, lost control and was swallowed by the ocean, the pressure crushing him and bursting his bones into millions of pieces, as it had done to Mitchell so many years before.
More Initiates appeared out of the darkness. He passed a dozen more in his plunge and one after another they each met the same fate as their companion. The immensity of the ocean around and above him felt all too familiar. At last, he landed on the bottom. The flames running up and down the blade of his sword illuminated the surrounding area. Lying on its side on the ocean floor before him, like the skeleton of a long-dead whale, was the sunken ship they were after. As Mitchell approached it his feet sank into the wet sand. He entered the hull, still surrounded by a bubble of air. He walked through a couple of cabins on what was once the starboard side of the ship but was now little more than rotted timbers interspersed with rocks and sand. Ahead of him in the liquid darkness, he saw a glow.
Emerging from what had once been the main storage area, carrying a magnificent silver bowl covered in strange-looking runes, was Baelaar with his raven once again perched upon his shoulder, surrounded by the gang of vampires. A magical, swirling mist filled the silver bowl, emanating an unearthly light. That’s it, Mitchell thought in awe. The Well of Many Worlds.
*
When they reached the spot where Emily had seen the vampires disappear underwater, she activated her Sphere of Protection, and Sylvain drew his sword, plunging straight down through the waves. Emily held on for dear life as they dove through pitch-black darkness. She cast an illumination spell on Mercurios, making his gray skin glow with a bright, silvery-blue light that lit the ocean around them for a hundred feet.
*
Mitchell hesitated momentarily, entranced by the artifact’s beauty. Baelaar, Mephris, Lord Ruthen, the Comtesse LeDuijou and six other elders saw him and drew their swords. They were joined by a large group of Initiates. Their combined power created a dome of air at least forty feet across. It rose twenty feet above them, as though they were all standing in an immense glass room. He set his gaze firmly upon his archenemy, while Baelaar focused on the Well. His eyes glowed with lust as he caught glimpses of other worlds materializing and dissolving again and again in the mist inside.
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“Well, Mitchell,” he said eventually, his voice filled with awe. “You truly have outdone yourself. I thank you. With this offering, you have repaid me for my gift of immortality to you.”
“If you join us, Mitchell,” the Comtesse LeDuijou coaxed, “you can be my master.” She winked at him.
Mitchell ignored her.
“Baelaar, I may not be able to out-fight all of you. But I can assure you that I’ll be taking you with me to the gates of Hell. I am no longer that reckless youth you sent to the bottom of the ocean all those years ago. Every ounce of my being has been focused to a dagger’s point. There is nothing that will save you from me. No power in existence will stand in my way. You are utterly doomed.”
“Well said, Mitchell.” Lord Ruthen spoke up, slowly turning to Baelaar. “All right, Baelaar. Give me the Well.”
Baelaar tore his eyes away from his prize. “What?”
“You heard me.”
Mitchell was staring in shock at Lord Ruthen when Tom fell from the ocean above, landing in the middle of the group. The vampires stared at him, confused, trying again to comprehend how a human could possess such power.
“What is this?” Tom looked around. “Some kind of underwater freak convention? You.” He pointed at Mitchell. “I’m going to make something very clear to you, so you never forget it.”
“Who is this bucket of blood,” Baelaar demanded, “and how does he have these powers?”
Tom spun around, leaping at Baelaar and punching him in the face. Baelaar flew backward, slamming into an enormous wooden beam, splintering it and dropping the Well. The raven squawked and flew about. There was a blinding flash and a bolt of energy leaped out of the Well, exploding into Lord Ruthen’s chest. The vampire was blasted backward with such speed and force he shot hundreds of yards into the black, crushing water that surrounded them. While two of the other vampires attacked Tom, Mephris rushed at Mitchell, who vaulted over him to face Baelaar, aiming a deadly strike at his head. Baelaar dodged the deathblow by inches and Mitchell sliced a deep wound through his arm. Baelaar let out a shriek. Mephris, the Comtesse LeDuijou and more than a dozen of Baelaar’s minions turned to attack Mitchell together, leaving one to brawl with Tom.