Dauntless

by Thomas G. Atwood Jr.

  “You might want to run,” I hissed as he tumbled backward in surprise. “Leave your walkie-talkie.” He dropped the item and raced down the path. I pressed the call button and grimaced at the hiss of static.

  “Whoever is on the other end of this, listen close,” I hissed. “I want you to give Drake a message. Tell him I took down Pyrus, I took down his guards, and I’m coming for him. He might want to start running.”

  I tossed the item away before marching toward the cave. The fog faded, and Ripper walked up to the side of me, his sword gleaming in the dim light of the camp. Kat and my dad jogged to catch up, and I scowled at the blood running down the flat end of his blade.

  “I neutralized the guards, so let’s go,” he said, flicking the blade. Bright, crimson blood fell onto the floor with the motion.

  “Do they live to tell the tale?” I asked.

  “They’ll be in need of some serious physical therapy, but yes. They’ll be alright. Good plan, kid.”

  “How long until you stop calling me kid?”

  “A few decades,” he replied as we walked into the mine. Everything was silent except for the soft dripping of water in the distance. Rot covered the cracked tracks, and rust covered every inch of them. The air was stale and dusty, each breath causing a tickle in the back of my throat. We walked down the path, searching each corner and shadow for Drake or his henchmen. We descended, revealing a wide open chasm surrounded by a narrow ledge. I felt a hand on my shoulder, forcing me to jump. Aidan smiled at me before raising a finger to his lips.

  “Glad to see you’re all right,” he said, wrapping me in a brief hug. “Laurie?”

  “She’s fine. Frank’s taking her home.”

  “Good.” He bowed his head before pointing off in the distance. “Come on. I’ve found Drake.”

  We walked along the narrow passage until we found a well-lit area. Vampires hissed and howled at each other, blood dripping from their fangs as they huddled over a group of corpses. They lapped at the crimson liquid in mad thirst. They crawled around, snarling and snapping at each other whenever one of their companions came too close. Drake and the unknown woman watched the sight, an impassive gaze on their faces. Dozens of cages covered the walls, each one reeking of the smell of human waste. The occupants begged for mercy and freedom, but their cries fell on deaf ears.

  A series of swirling lines, circles and stars lay carved in the middle of the room, while people dressed in rags worked in silence around it. They nodded to each other, and they pulled a trough from a hole in the wall. Molten gold flowed out of it, filling the symbols. The air shimmered, and the gold solidified in an instant. Drake walked to the center as workers moved a series of light brown pillars around him.

  “You’re certain you can pull this off?” the woman asked, brown eyes searching for any flaw in the symbols or pillars.

  “Yes Mother,” Drake returned, rubbing his eyebrows as he tapped at a keyboard.

  “Mother?” Kat asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

  “Morrigan,” I hissed as I took a step toward them. I felt Aidan’s hand rest on my shoulder and press down as he shook his head.

  “This isn’t the time to make a move,” he replied. He pointed, and Ren appeared, a column of vampires marching behind him. Each one gazed at Ren with reverent stares and stopped dead in their tracks as he raised his fist. The creatures spread out, walking around the room and licking their lips as they gazed at the captives.

  “Anyone who even lays a finger on the captives will be kissing daylight,” Ren bellowed. The creatures ducked away at the threat, hissing at Ren as they did. “Everything is ready for you, my lady,” he said, bowing toward Morrigan.

  “This was my idea,” Drake grumbled. Ren ignored him, causing Drake to grind his teeth. “Don’t forget who you’re working for. I’m the one who brought you on to do this job, not her.”

  “Yes, a job for which we haven’t received payment,” Ren snarled. “A job that has resulted in the death of many of my recruits, and a job that I have had to fly halfway around the world to finish due to your incompetence.”

  “How was I supposed to know the girl was going to be trouble?”

  “She is the child of two great hunters, and you expected her to be a pushover? You are a bigger fool than I imagined.”

  “I orchestrated this entire plan! I’m the one who found the diaries-”

  “You pulled one from the burnt wreckage of an abandoned lab and wrested the other from the hands of an eighteen-year-old intern. How mighty you must be to accomplish such a task,” Ren sneered, sneering down at Drake.

  “It doesn’t matter. The point is that I figured it out, I gathered it all together, and I hired you to do a task that remains undone.”

  “Gentlemen,” Morrigan said, her voice a command that made both men stop still. “This is not the time to get into these matters. Are you sure that everything is ready, Daniel?”

  “Yes. If the figures are correct…”

  “You haven’t checked them?” she asked, her eyes flashing as she scowled at him.

  “I…there wasn’t time. The girl had finished them before we went out to meet Kacey.”

  “Do you at least have the Bloodstone?” Drake dropped the stone into her hand. “Excellent. I can feel its power. Do you have any idea what we can do with this?”

  “We can perform the ritual that will make me a God,” Drake said, a grin crawling across his face as he reached for it.

  “One thing at a time,” Morrigan said, closing her fist around it. “Where is my daughter?”

  “We have a bit of a situation.”

  “What kind of situation?” Morrigan asked, her voice echoing off the walls of the mine.

  “We’ve lost track of her. She…she killed Pyrus.”

  “I’m well aware of his demise, thank you. He was one of a kind,” she said, reaching up to grab Drake’s shirt. She pulled him down to gaze into her eyes that burned like red hot coals. “I pulled him out of a two-bit fighting ring in Greece, hid him from everyone and transformed him into a force of nature. I invested everything into him. He served me for over twenty years, and yet he couldn’t survive two months with you. I should pluck the eyes from your sockets, peel the flesh from your bones and leave you to die screaming. But,” she said, giving him a gentle slap on the cheek, “I am a loving mother. I’m willing to forgive your ineptitude this time. We will continue as planned, and you will have to make it up to me.” Drake trembled as she let him go, backing away from her.

  “Sweetie, what do we say?”

  “Thank you, Mother,” he grumbled.

  “Good boy. Get to work!” she barked. Drake pointed at the workers who slid the rows of cages onto a wheeled platform and began rolling them away.

  “Keep your eyes out,” Morrigan said, scowling at Ren. “Smart money says…what the hell do they call her?”

  “Kacey,” Ren grumbled back to her.

  “Kacey. Such an ugly, common name. I can’t believe they would give my daughter something so hideous. She’s still out there, and odds are she’s coming for us.”

  “We’re prepared for her.”

  “See that you are. I’m willing to forgive my son’s mistakes. I will not be so merciful to you. No one goes through that passage,” she said, pointing to the gaping hole in the cave. “If a single person manages to slip in there, I will take out my frustrations on you.”

  Ren chuckled. “Has anyone ever told you that you’re a charming woman?”

  “I don’t need to be charming; I need to be effective.”

  “Of course. We will kill anyone who comes near you.” Morrigan raised a finger at him, and he scow
led as he backed away. “Except your daughter. I will deliver her to you myself.”

  “Thank you, Ren,” she said, reaching up to pat him on the shoulder. “I knew there was a reason I liked you.”

  Morrigan walked through the passageway as Aidan let out a low whistle. “That is a lot of vampires,” he said, watching as the creatures skittered across the floor.

  “It is, good thing Frank left us with some party favors.” I handed Aidan the backpack, and his eyes went wide as he inspected its contents.

  “He throws one hell of a party,” Aidan returned, tossing one to me.

  “It would be rude not to use them.”

  “Aim for a large mass of the creatures or for something that can cause a secondary explosion,” Ripper replied, handing one out to everyone. “Shrapnel will toss them around and hurt like hell, but it won’t kill them.”

  “They made this mine a century ago,” Aidan returned. “Do you think it’s going to be able to stand up to explosions?”

  “One way to find out. Besides, if the place caves in, it will trap Drake inside, and we win.”

  “Good point.” The grenades landed with a clattering noise on the floor. One slid on the ground at Ren’s feet. His eyes went wide, and he faded to mist right as the room lit up with a series of fireballs. The deafening din bounced off the walls, roaring as it assaulted our eardrums. The earth shook with the force, sending me tumbling to the open area below. Support beams shattered under the force, their wooden splinters becoming shrapnel as they filled the air. Rocks rained from the ceiling, forcing me to run and dodge the massive boulders that threatened to crush anything in their path. I watched, my eyes wide as the chaos came to a close. My breath came in rapid gasps as I looked at the resulting devastation.

  “Holy shit,” I said as the assembled vampires melted into black, slimy ooze as they died. “I need to never do that again.”

  “Truer words,” a voice behind me snarled. I felt pressure on my neck as a red mist coalesced into Ren’s snarling body. His outstretched arm grabbed my throat as he lifted me into the air.

  “You are a nuisance, girl. One I am glad to be rid of,” he hissed as he drew me close.

  “Hey, remember, your boss wants me alive.”

  “Correct, her orders were to keep you alive,” he snapped back, tossing me into the stone wall. I slammed into it, sliding down the wall as my vision swam.

  “Healthy was not part of our deal,” Ren spat back.

  “Go!” I waved everyone away as they rushed to me. “Drake’s the real threat. I can handle Dracula.”

  Ren snarled, ignoring them as he grabbed his sword, hanging it over my head. “I have lived for centuries, girl. I have seen dozens of wars, hundreds of battles, and killed countless combatants. I am a soldier born from the forge of war. Who do you know that can even come close to matching me?”

  His blade descended toward me. He blinked Aidan tossed aside the blow with a massive black battle-axe. Aidan kicked the stunned vampire away from me, sneering as he advanced.

  “Me,” Aidan spat back, glaring at him as he stood between the monster and me. “You do not touch her. You do not hurt her. You don’t even get to look at her.” A chill surrounded the air, causing frost to crystallize on the cave walls and snowflakes to appear. White hot rage flashed through Aidan’s eyes as he stalked toward the creature. Plate-mail as black as midnight materialized over his body. Within seconds, he was clad head to toe in gleaming black armor, and cracking flame erupted from his visor as he snapped it down.

  “You send a fairy boy to defeat me?” Ren asked, howling with laughter as he watched the transformation. “Where are your wings, pixie? Shouldn’t you be off frolicking in a forest somewhere?”

  “Oh holy crap, you have no idea who he is, do you?” I asked as I tried to stand. “It was nice knowing you.”

  Ren howled in rage as he hurled himself toward Aidan. Aidan stood, no expression visible as he waited for the vampire to attack. He tossed Ren aside and advanced on the stunned vampire. The massive battle ax, almost as tall as Aidan himself, moved with incredible speed as the two clashed. Aidan wielded it as if it weighed no more than a feather. It crashed against Ren’s sword time and time again, each strike sending an impact that made my hair stand on end. Ren’s weapon moved with lightning speed, but each blow glanced off. The sound of clashing weapons echoed as they stalked across the cave floor.

  Ren glanced at a boulder, and it floated at his gaze. The rock arced toward Aidan and a dozen others moved to join it. The weapons slammed into Aidan with a heavy blast. One by one, the impact reduced the boulders to pebbles, and the air ran heavy with dust. He laughed in triumph as Aidan vanished from view. The dust cleared, revealing the two glowing embers of Aidan’s eyes. Ren struggled to back away as Aidan advanced on him.

  “That’s…that’s not possible. What are you?” he whispered. Aidan remained silent, forcing him to scramble away. “What are you!” he bellowed, the voice a deafening accusation as he tried to escape.

  “Your executioner,” Aidan returned, holding his weapon high in the air. The vampire snarled and vanished into mist. It arched like a bullet before coalescing around me. He grabbed my neck, sneering as he lifted me into the air. I grabbed one of the shards of wood as he snatched me and slid it up my sleeve.

  “Back off, fairy,” he shouted as he held razor-sharp claws to my neck. “Back off or I will make your girlfriend a corpse.”

  “Wait, what?” I returned, struggling against his grip. “I am so not the damsel in distress. Let me go, asshole.”

  “Quiet, fool. You aren’t important anymore. I am going to walk out of this cave, and you are going to let me.”

  “No, I’m not,” I said, gripping the shard of wood and testing its edge as Ren kept his wide-eyed attention directed at Aidan.

  “I’m not talking to you!”

  “You should be. After all,” I started as I slammed the shard into his chest. Mystical energy fueled my muscles as the makeshift weapon sliced through his skin and shattered his ribs.

  “I’m no one’s damsel,” I finished as Ren howled in pain. Blood flowed from the wound, and he erupted into dozens of bats, each one screaming as they flooded out from the cave.

  “What the hell? I thought a stake through the heart killed them?” I asked, picking myself off the floor as I glared out the cave.

  “It does. You must have missed,” Aidan stated as his armor melted away. He beamed at me, holding me at arm’s length as he inspected me.

  “I don’t miss!”

  “It happens to everybody. Sooner or later, everyone has problems getting their wood in the right place.” He snickered as I dusted myself off.

  I rolled my eyes at him as I ran a hand through my hair. “Are you okay?”

  “I’m fine. It takes more than that to kill me.”

  “Let’s not test that theory.” I walked over and gave him a quick peck on the cheeks as I grabbed Ren’s sword. The hilt was cool to the touch, and as I gazed at the blade, I could swear I saw faces screaming below the surface.

  “This could come in handy,” I said, sliding the sword in its sheath.

  “Are you sure?”

  “I assume Drake took the one you gave me, so until I get a new one, this should do.” I walked toward the passageway, stepping between crumbled rock and debris. “By the way, you seem stronger with that armor on.”

  “I am.”

  “Why don’t you always wear it?”

  “It’s a long story,” Aidan returned in a flat voice. “Let’s say I don’t like who I am when I wear it.”

  “Right. Come on; it’s time to save the world.”

  C
hapter 25

  I expected a battlefield when I walked into the cavern. I wasn’t disappointed.

  Chains pinned Kat and dad to the far wall, surrounding them like serpents as they struggled to get free. Morrigan stood in the middle of the room, a contemptuous glare on her face as she watched Ripper hurl himself at her. Every time his blade arched toward her, a piece of metal flew to deflect the blow. The metal moved so fast it seemed to scream. An amused grin crossed her face as he huffed, exhausted, at her.

  “I must admit,” she said with glee. “You are tenacious. Far harder to deal with than your friends.”

  “Shut up, witch.”

  “Witty too. You must be the cream of the Sentinel crop.” She held up her forearm and dragged the tip of her needle-like fingernails across it. Blood spurted from the wound and seemed to evaporate into a crimson cloud that clung to her arms.

  “You should be honored. I don’t do this trick for anyone,” she said as she waved him forward. Ripper ran to her, but a blast of scarlet energy slammed into his chest, blasting him into the far wall. The rocks moved with a mind of their own as Morrigan made a stirring gesture. The rocks turned a brilliant scarlet as they rolled over him, covering Ripper in a massive sarcophagus. It hung suspended in the air, and Morrigan waved her arms like a conductor until it lay against the far wall. It slid with a gentle thud, as Morrigan gave a satisfied grin.

  “It would have been easier to kill them,” Drake grumbled.

  “I’m not your executioner, dear,” Morrigan said, her voice a high, chipper tone. “I’m going to make sure the ritual gets performed. I want to give you every chance to succeed, not do it for you.”

  “Besides,” I shouted, drawing the vampire’s sword as I ran to her. “If you kill them, I kill you.”

  Morrigan glanced up as Aidan and I rushed in the room. A grin crawled across her scarlet lips as she threw her jacket back on.