by T Nisbet
Chp. 48
We followed the combat-dressed leader out of the grove surrounded by other men dressed in para-military gear. I noticed as we walked across the grass towards the mansion that only some of the men had their guns trained on us, most scanned through the downpour and gathering darkness around us with their laser beams, as if expecting an attack.
“The Vampire Council hasn’t attacked yet, eh?” I said aloud to a man nearby. “Hope you have some wooden bullets in that thing.”
He didn’t say anything, but I could tell by his movements that he was scared.
Toby laughed in front of me.
“Doubt that would do any good.”
“Soyez silencieux!” the man said in French.
The wind whipped leaves and other debris up around us as the clouds opened up even more. A torrential downpour began in earnest. The rain obscured my vision, but I could have sworn I saw movement near some bushes surrounding the patio we were about to enter.
“You see that Tob?” I whispered loud enough for him to hear.
“Yup,” Toby confirmed.
“Silencieux!” the man growled.
The flagstones of the patio were slick because of the impossibly heavy rain. I could feel the traction give slightly beneath my leather boots as I stepped across them. With the footing so treacherous, there wasn’t going to be much we could do.
“Get ready Tob,” I said.
It happened so fast I couldn’t do more than pull Ivy down.
The sound of suppressed machine gun fire erupted around us, the spent cartridges tumbled onto the flagstones, ringing out dully. Impossibly fast, dark shapes blurred around the bushes leaping towards our guards. Some of the shapes seemed to shiver in the air as bullets riddled their bodies. The Frenchmen beside me opened up on one shape hitting it repeatedly as another dark cloaked shape lifted him from the ground and threw him into a low stone wall with a sickening crunch.
“Get inside!” Guldan’s clear voice rang out in the confusion.
I struggled to my feet holding Ivy closely and ran behind Toby and Carla towards the French doors leading into the Mansion. A dark shape appeared beside Carla and then cried out in mortal agony, dropping to the pavement. I briefly recognized the Zil’kris in her hand.
To my left, I saw Bronn go down as his thick right leg erupted in blood. Gill was there immediately, helping him to his feet once more.
Toby didn’t bother opening the glass door, but charged right through it instead. The glass shattered into a million fragments, dusting Carla with tiny shards of glass as he pulled her after him into the mansion. Moments later Ivy and I joined them, followed by Gill, Bronn and Lord Lathris who held Brianna in his arms.
The patio outside was a macabre battle scene as Vampires swarmed around the mercenaries who sprayed bullets at their attackers. The un-earthly screams of the vampires mixed with the shouts of the men trying to form ranks. Laser sights and muzzle flashes mixed with the lightning. Several large explosions rang out accompanying the thunder as a couple of the soldiers managed to throw grenades at their attackers.
Guldan leapt through the broken door, sword in hand.
“Hurry!” he shouted. “Through that door!” he said pointing further into the mansion. He whipped around suddenly, his blade a blur. A dark clad figure lurched to the side, headless, then exploded into dust.
We hurried through the door and into a hallway. Guldan was the last to enter shutting the door behind him.
“We need to block this,” he said. “Find something, hurry!”
Toby grabbed the end of a massive cabinet along the wall and slid it towards the door. Gill and I pushed the other side until it was in place.
Splinters flew inward as someone on the other side emptied a magazine of bullets into the door. Fortunately no one in the hallway was hit.
“Help me bind it!” Ivy was saying. I turned and saw her working on Bronn’s leg. It was pumping blood at an alarming rate.
“It’s nothing lass!” the stout dwarf growled, but he let her work on it. Gill ripped the sleeve from his shirt and handed it to her. Her hands glowed, but not nearly so brightly as they had in the other world. Beneath her hands the bleeding slowed, and then stopped. She tied the cloth around his leg and knotted it tightly.
“That’s the best I can do for now,” she said.
“Thanks lass,” Bronn smiled, pulling his huge axe free from his back.
He nodded at Guldan who returned his nod.
“Over here Magi,” Lathris said. “Lady Brianna needs your help.”
Guldan rushed over and helped Lathris lay Brianna down on the carpeted flooring of the hallway. She was unconscious. From where I stood, I could see a nasty gash over her temple. As Ivy hurried to over to join them, Bronn grabbed my shoulder.
“We need to secure this hallway. You and your giant friend guard the doors at that end. The guardsmen and I will take the other. Go!”
Toby heard and nodded to me. Together we sprinted around the group caring for Brianna and ran down the hall towards a set of large oaken doors.
When we arrived at the doors, I reached for Gwensorloth and let a small curse out finding the scabbard empty again. Toby pulled his massive war hammer off of his belt and shrugged at me.
“Say ello to my lil frien,” Toby whispered, doing his best Scarface impression.
“Bastard,” I whispered back laughing at the absurdity of his timing.
Putting my ear against he door, I heard boots pounding against the floor on the other side as reinforcements ran past. I put a finger to my lips. Toby nodded, then looked behind me in the hallway, a shocked look on his face.
“Fifi?” he whispered.
I turned and saw Toby’s Rottweiler padding up to us.
“What the… Carla?” I asked shocked.
The huge dog rubbed against me affectionately, then went over to Toby and sniffed his crotch. Toby crouched down and hugged the dog.
“Carls, is that you?” he asked the dog in astonishment.
The huge dog put its mouth around Toby’s forearm and gnawed it playfully.
“Son of a bitch!” Toby whispered in awe.
If I had a gun the first thing I’d shoot would be a charging Rottweiler.
“They have guns, Carla, that might not be the safest thing to be right now,” I whispered.
“Yeah Carls… “ Toby began, as the Rottweiler began to shimmer, becoming indistinct.
I watched spellbound as the shape seemed to collapse upon itself then started to resemble a bird of some kind. The feathers became more defined, until the shimmering faded altogether and a small hawk unfolded its wings and jumped into the air. It flew around Toby and I once before landing on Toby’s massive shoulder.
The beautiful raptor stared at Toby’s face and cocked its head sideways. Toby stood back up mesmerized, a wonder-filled grin on his face.
“Wow…” he breathed, “can you change into anything?”
I could have sworn the sparrow hawk shrugged.
“Maybe sometime you can change into Melisa Lambert then, and…”
The tiny hawk reached forward and bit Toby’s nose.
“Ow!” Toby winced. “Just kidding Carls.”
I laughed quietly as Toby rubbed his nose. Several more concussions reverberated through the walls bringing me back to the danger of our situation. I looked back down the hallway and saw the others hurrying towards us. I glanced at Toby with the hawk on his shoulder. He had his game face on again, gripping the massive war hammer tightly.
Guldan was the first to arrive. He looked at the bird on Toby’s shoulder curiously for a moment, and then he nodded towards the door.
“Troops ran past a few minutes ago,” I whispered.
“Okay, Lady Brianna says this door leads to another hallway. The third door on the right will take us into the servant’s quarters. From there we can get to Mephiso’s throne room.”
“He’s got a throne room?” I whispered back incredulously.
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Guldan smirked.
“Apparently so. That’s where she thinks we’ll find him.”
The others arrived as he finished talking. Ivy and Lathris were supporting Brianna between them. She seemed a little unsteady on her feet, but she was awake.
I put my ear to the door and listened, ignoring the pounding of my heart. I couldn’t hear anything and turned, nodding to Guldan. Returning my attention to the door, I turned the handle slowly and pulled the door open just enough to look into the other hallway. Like everything in the mansion it was extraordinarily opulent. It was wide enough to drive a car through and lined with bronze busts of famous leaders throughout history. The walls were hung with large paintings depicting historic battle scenes.
I didn’t see anyone to the right and opened the door a little bit more to see down the left hand side. The huge hallway was clear for the moment, so I stepped through the doorway praying another group of soldiers wouldn’t appear.
Hurrying down the hallway, I opened the third door on the right, and seeing the passage empty, gestured for everyone to follow as another series of explosions went off somewhere.
I held open the door for the others, then closed it after Gill and Bronn who were bringing up the rear. I fell in behind them as we quietly made our way down the narrow corridor and into the servant’s quarters. There was no sign of servants or soldiers anywhere. Some of the doors we passed had been left open. The interior of the rooms showed signs of a hasty departure by the occupants.
When we entered the kitchen, I saw the table where we’d eaten a quick meal before starting this adventure. It didn’t lessen my anxiety, but I did have a sense of where I was at least. If I had to I could probably find the front door.
Guldan turned down a corridor at Brianna’s suggestion, and we left the kitchen area. The corridor was mostly devoid of any type of decoration. The low-cut carpet was worn in the middle. It was obviously used by servants to carry food or other refreshments to areas of the mansion where guests wouldn’t observe them. Passing several branches that led to other parts of the immense structure, the corridor emptied into a large sitting room. Guldan and the others were stopped ahead of me, so I moved to the side to get a view of the room.
There were several doors leading from the immaculately appointed room.
“Which way?” Guldan asked.
Brianna pointed to a doorway opposite us just as it began to open. Guldan jumped over a red leather couch and sprinted to the opposite side of the doorway as the butler, Geeves, entered. He didn’t seem at all surprised to see us, and hardly flinched as Guldan’s sword pressed against his neck.
“The master will see you now,” Geeves said in his thick British accent.
Guldan closed the door behind Geeves and guided the servant further into the room.
“Put your hands where they can been seen,” Guldan said.
Geeves lifted his hands slowly.
“I assure you, I an unarmed. If you would be so kind as to follow me, the Master and his quests await.”
“What are you playing at Geeves?” Brianna said, moving forward under her own power.
“Lady Brianna. Your father will be so pleased to see you,” Geeves said unruffled, attempting as much of a bow as he could with a sword blade held at his neck.
“Surprised you mean!” Brianna shot back.
“I highly doubt that Lady Brianna,” Geeves said, and then looked down at the sword pressing into his neck. “I can give surety Master Elf that I will attempt to do nothing that will lead to your harm. I was sent merely to lead you to the Master.”
Guldan lowered his sword.
“We are expected?” he asked.
“Of course. The Master would not have sent me to bring you along otherwise.”
I watched as Guldan sighed and sheathed his sword.
“It appears the element of surprise is gone,” Guldan said, addressing our group. “It would seem that there is nothing left for us but to follow the butler to Mephiso.”
“I don’t trust this stuffy bastard Guldan!” Bronn growled.
“I completely agree my short friend… do you have a suggestion?” Guldan asked shrugging.
Bronn growled again, but shook his head.
“Be alert, under no circumstances does he gain that which is no longer his.” Guldan said looking at me.
I nodded.
“If you lead us into a trap, I will let my dwarven friend here cleave you in two with his battle axe. Just so we understand one another,” Guldan said to Geeves, as though he were talking about the weather.
“Very good sir,” Geeves said in his irritatingly calm voice. “This way.”
The Kline’s butler led us through the door he had just come through and into a large, empty reception area. The room was at least twenty-five feet high where the painted white walls met the ornately carved ceiling. Two rows of chairs with red velvet cushions lined the walls before a massive door.
Geeves walked to the door and drew it open.
“The Master and his guests await,” he said bowing before us with a gesture that we should enter.
From my place in the group, I couldn’t see much of the interior of the room aside from a golden ceiling and immense crystal chandeliers. As I filed through the door, I was aghast. The throne room was palatial in scope, and luxuriously appointed. From the golden ceiling to the golden throne it was grand beyond my imagination. Exquisitely sewn banners hung from the walls down to a marble floor that had been inlaid with gold and semi-precious gems.
“Come in, come in, we’ve been expecting you,” said Brianna’s father from where he sat upon the throne opposite the door. A group of heavily cloaked figures with their hoods drawn low to hide their features stood to one side of the dais watching us as we entered. I almost recoiled from the wave of malevolence that emanated from them. I had a momentary flashback to the Chamber of Sacrifice, then looked away from them concentrating of the throne room instead.
The room was intimidating, much like the mage’s council chamber in Lockewood, I expected that was the intent here as well.
“The Vampire Council and I have just agreed to an armistice of sorts, until certain matters relating to your quest are brought to bear, that is,” Mr. Kline said, lightly as we drew nearer.
I glanced at the cloaked figures more closely and noted their pale features. They were vampires, obviously not of the Covenant.
“Princes Guldan and Lathris, King Hammervil, may I have the honor of presenting the internal lords of the council of vampires,” Mr. Kline said indicting, the cloaked figures. Several of the figures inclined their heads briefly.
“Who are these others?” asked one of the Vampire lords from beneath his hood.
“Forgive me my breach of etiquette,” Kline pandered. “They are: ‘the Light-Bearer, the Guardian, the Brother-not, the Sorceress of Sighs, the Changeling, and my daughter, the Vampire Queen.”
The vampire council murmured at the introduction. The vampire who had spoken stepped forward.
“Were you successful Light-Bearer?” he asked eyes glowing a deep red.
I forced myself to stand tall, star back defiantly and nod.
“They were, just as I mentioned before they came in,” Kline offered.
The vampire held up his hand for silence. I saw a spark of anger briefly light Mr. Kline’s eyes, but he sat back on his throne and nodded towards Guldan.
“Indeed, the Demon is trapped. Being the demon’s seed Mephiso knows this,” Guldan said looking back at Mr. Kline.
Kline laughed.
“Well done, Immortal. Indeed I was the Demon’s seed.”
“Was?” Bronn growled spinning the heavy battle-axe in his hand as though it was as light as a feather.
“Past tense, I assure you, King Hammervil,” Kline chuckled. “The moment the Light-Bearer trapped the Demon within the stone, I was no longer tied to the Demon.”
“Demon seed you still are, regardless of what capacity the fallen has to con
trol you,” the vampire said raising his voice in anger and pointing a pale, withered finger at Brianna’s father.
“Perhaps that is so, High Lord Belnar,” Mr. Kline said, holding his hands before him as if to show his innocence. “But it lost whatever power it had over me when it was captured within the stone. I was the last Demon seed. For now the stone either holds, or the Demon breaks free of its prison and Armageddon begins. There is no longer a half way and no reason to give any power to its seed if it is loosed. If anything, my defiance will earn me agonizing eternal punishment.”
“Defiance?” the loathsome vampire lord said curiously.
“Certainly, I helped set up the Demon’s fall.”