“If they’re anything like this other guy then we can’t let that happen,” Clyde states as he picks up the jar of blood. Forcing the dwarf’s mouth open, he pours some of it inside and places the container on a nearby stump. “We’ll deal with the Nyte side of things when they arrive. I’d like to get this done before that because we all know that won’t go smoothly. Try to track our targets from the shadows Mab. Shouldn’t be a problem since Stephanie isn’t out there directing you into Duragian strongholds. The rest of us will be right behind you.”
“Are you sure we should leave him behind?” Bob asks while poking Decker’s face with a stick.
Clyde scowls at the question before walking away from the groaning vampire. “As Mab said, he chose his side long ago, so this is where he belongs. Let’s go before we have to deal with an army of psychotic Dawn Fangs. I have a bad feeling things are about to get even messier than we expected.”
13
“The helmet can go, but the ring stays on,” Archillious says as he places Lost at the mouth of the cavern. It takes him a few minutes to remove the screws from the vampire’s neck before he can gently pull her head free. “The poison will be wearing off slowly, which gives us plenty of time to talk. Here’s your bunny who I assure you has been left unharmed. The great Archillious would never hurt the innocent pet of someone who can give him immortality and power. Do you remember promising me that?”
Unable to move anything more than her eyes, Lost pays more attention to the dirt-covered floor than Archillious. She tries to use her telekinesis to control her bunny, which is draped across her lap. A surge of heat runs along her spine and into her skull to give the sensation of her brain melting. The pain is extreme enough to make her muscles violent twitch, but her jaws remain locked shut. She glances at her hand to see that the strange ring has red and blue veins running from the gem into her skin. The energy throbs beneath her flesh and threatens to burst her veins if she continues fighting against its restrictive magic. With the poison still in her system, Lost eventually loses the strength to continue struggling and lets her body go completely limp. The little energy she has left is used to clench her eyes shut and avoid seeing Archillious standing over her.
“I don’t understand why you’re so scared of me,” the man calmly states. Taking a seat on a nearby boulder, he takes out a bag of dried fruit and swallows the pieces whole. “Only those who have made me an enemy or find themselves my target have anything to fear. I would never put you in either category. You calling me to your side revealed a new world of strength and possibilities. It’s ridiculous that these Dawn Fangs stay in the shadows, which is something we always agreed on. What changed?”
Finding the strength to roll onto her stomach, Lost tries to move like a caterpillar towards the cave’s exit. A firm foot on her lower back presses her to the ground and she reflexively lashes out with her powers. The agony strikes again to make the vampire arch her back to the point where her toes are able to touch the top of her head. All of her muscles lock up again from the sudden strain, which leaves her stuck in the uncomfortable position. She topples onto her side and whimpers at the feel of cold, rough stone on her exposed stomach. With a cry, Lost musters enough control of her body to unfurl, which causes all of her ribs and limbs to snap from the pressure. Feeling a violent cough coming on, she tries to aim the blast of bone chips and tendrils of poison at her captor. The pathetic expulsion hits the man’s leg and he casually reaches down to brush the debris off.
“Perhaps you’re too young to understand my true greatness,” Archillious replies as he walks to the cavern entrance. Checking the sky for birds, he frowns at the large flock of sparrows that is traveling over the forest. “I’ve always been more appealing to older and mature women. For the best since I could never see you in that way. You will always be the child who showed me the truth even if you were to continue aging and develop into a woman like your mother. Now, that is a fantastic body. Anyway, it’s your powers and status in the Dawn Fang world that I’m interested in. To be turned by anyone else would be an insult to everything we’ve been through together. Do you remember the time those bullies went after you with the socks? They drove you right out of mortal school. Well, the cunning Archillious took care of them. No death, but a lot of terrifying visions. They’ll never hurt anyone other than themselves again. Wouldn’t I make a perfect vampire?”
“No,” Lost blurts out, her voice cracked and weak. Using her only functional leg, she pushes herself across the cave until she hits the wall. “I don’t want to keep my promise to you. When I made it, I didn’t know what you were like. Now, I know what you will do. Clyde may be scary, but he’s right that Dawn Fangs need to stay hidden. People will be too scared of us and then everyone could die.”
The mortal scratches his head and chuckles while he sits down to dip some crossbow bolts into fresh poison. “You’re exaggerating. There will always be survivors, which is how the world should be. Mortals and the old-world vampires don’t have a chance against the Dawn Fangs, which is why I demand to be on the winning side of history. One day, the secret will be out and the war you all fear will explode. If you wait too long then a man with my unique talents won’t be alive to assure your victory. The destruction of the Dawn Fangs will be entirely on your head if you continue to deny me.”
“You want to kill and destroy,” the girl says as she pulls herself to her feet. She nearly falls over when she bends down to pick up her bunny, but a strong grip on the wall saves her. “I saw your mind when I controlled you two years ago. The other times you kept your walls up and I was too polite to pry. All I saw beyond the barrier was murder, death, and cities crumbling into dust. You don’t even want to rule the world. The great Archillious wants nothing more than to destroy.”
“And is that so wrong?”
“Of course, it is!”
“I merely want to finish what the Great Cataclysm started.”
“Bunny and I will run away again.”
“To your not-father? I’m sorry, but Xavier Tempest is my friend and backs me entirely.”
“What?”
“The power of Nyte is stronger than what Clyde wields, so who do you think will win?”
Ignoring the numbness in her limbs, Lost leaps to the ceiling and clumsily scrambles towards the entrance. Four crossbow bolts hit her in the legs, the poison they deliver making her feel like a fire has been lit within her marrow. She is about to use her telekinesis to stop her fall, but remembers the ring an instant before she makes the attempt. Crashing face first into the ground, the girl kicks Archillious in the groin as she rolls away. The glancing blow is enough to drop him to his knees, but his wide grin never falters. The expression sends a chill through Lost’s bones, so she frantically tries to remove the enchanted ring. Flesh separates from bone and reveals that the network of red and blue veins has spread throughout her entire body. Distracted by the pain and shining lines, the Dawn Fang never realizes that Archillious has stood up until he already has her by the ear. She thrashes and kicks, but the frantic blows are easily blocked and dodged by the Utukku. She is about to bite into his wrist, but stops when she fears that doing so will transform him into a vampire.
Archillious shoots a poison-tipped bolt directly into Lost’s head to make sure she is momentarily stunned, which allows him to drag her out of the cave. She does her best to put up a fight, but he is still able to lift the girl into the air by her ear without much effort. The massive Utukku army cheers and claps at the sight of their beloved savior, who can only stare in horror at the unwashed mob. Every face brings up a memory of dark thoughts that mirror those that rattle within Archillious’s mind. Lost is finally dropped to the ground and those at the front begin to inch closer, their hands stretching out to touch the Dawn Fang. Having to yank the bolts out of her quivering legs, she is unable to get away from the drooling warriors and the rough groping of her face brings her to the brink of vomiting. When she tries to crawl back into the cave, she bumps into a pair of l
egs and look up to see Archillious’s smiling face.
“You promised all of us, little vampire,” he says while the Utukku start to line up. He pushes the others back and rolls up his sleeve to expose his wrist to Lost. “Time is running out. You will change us right now. That’s what you said you would do. If people simply ran around breaking promises then the world would fall into total anarchy. So, bare your fangs and give me what I deserve.”
The smile on Archillious’s face nearly falters when Lost backs towards the cavern, but he licks his lips to hide the twitch. He draws a long dagger that is dripping with a red poison, which sizzles against the ground. Others begin to grab their weapons and get closer thinking they can earn their transformation by force. All of them jump back when the Dawn Fang lets out an ear-wrenching scream of pain and stretches her arm out to her side. The magic ring hums and glows as she struggles to use her telekinesis, the colorful veins appearing along her entire body. Her brain can be seen throbbing against her forehead as the invasive magic batters the organ and threatens to tear it apart. With a guttural growl, Lost ejects the relic from her body along with the flesh of her finger, which comes away with an echoing tear. Gritting her teeth, she continues pushing the ring away to extract the red and blue cords from her body. The sensation makes her feel like her real veins and arteries are being pulled out, but she refuses to give in to the agony. A final, adrenaline-fueled push sends the root-like network flying out of her body and it splatters against a nearby tree. Free of the ring, she immediately has her bunny jump onto her shoulder and bare its yellowed teeth at the nearest Utukku.
“Leave us alone!” Lost shrieks at the top of her lungs.
*****
The Dawn Fangs stop at the crest of a crocus-covered hill that looks down on a decimated clump of forest. Trees have been knocked off with their roots still attached and all of the bushes have been piled against the southern side of the area. Only a few animals can be seen, but the rabbits and squirrels remain cowering in the thickest parts of the devastation. The Utukku are spread out around the ruined forest with their weapons drawn and their attention on a cave directly across from the hill. Gusts of wind and dust repeatedly blast out of the opening, the gales occasionally hurling rocks out to scatter the nervous warriors. Already invisible, Bob waves and points at where Archillious is standing, but nobody notices him until he materializes between Titus and Luther. The Utukku leader is within the center of his army and swinging two curved blades, the people closest to him always diving for cover whenever he makes a wide gesture. It is unclear what he is trying to have his people do since his signals are rapid and unlike anything the vampires have ever seen before.
Wanting to keep the element of surprise, Clyde waves for Luther to transform and Bob to creep into the crowd. The others crawl back down the hill and move to get in position on the other side of the army while their leader continues to watch from his perch. Masking himself with the illusion of a tree that has been knocked over, he licks his lips in anticipation of his first real fight in a long time. He struggles to hold back his Lord’s Rage and barrel into the mortals, who have begun hurling debris at the cave. Clyde barely notices the darting form of Lost’s bunny as it appears to kick the trees and boulders back at the Utukku. The animal never goes beyond the edge of the entrance, which makes the Dawn Fang wonder if there is something that has trapped Lost inside. He cannot tell what the situation is with the way Archillious moves and sends his people surging forward only to get launched back or mind-controlled to do any number of ridiculous actions. To his surprise, there are no corpses on the battlefield, which he takes as a good sign that Lost has not gone berserk.
Without warning, a series of poison canisters explode around the bottom of the hill and Bob is briefly visible. Having taken a breath as soon as he stepped on the tripwire, the Dawn Fang is able to move while the Utukku rush his position. Tendrils of purple fog trail off his unseen body, which allows them to partially track him. Those with crossbows and throwing axes aim for the spot just ahead of the drifting poison, but they are unable to hit the agile elf. Bob eventually slides into a hole left by a fallen oak and covers his body in dirt before his enemies can surround him. They stare down at the invisible vampire, but are unsure if he is there due to the lack of poison. A whistle from Archillious causes a female dwarf to pull a glass orb out of her pocket and she is about to throw it when another explosion happens in the sky. Luther plummets to the ground, his feathered body covered in poison that steadily weakens his muscles. He transforms into his real form at the same time Bob leaps out and spins to knock everyone away with his lance. Rushing to his injured friend, the vampiric elf pulls out his bottle of Lord’s Rage blood and prepares to feed it to the forest tracker. He yelps when a crossbow bolt hits him in the wrist and he drops the jar, which rolls into the crowd. Even though he turns invisible, he is easy to track as he hurls Utukku out of his path until he regains the food and heads back for Luther, who is struggling to defend himself. Leaping in front of his friend, Bob smashes the jar into the other Dawn Fang’s face and spins with his lance held out to keep the enemies away.
“That’s not how you help a friend,” Titus says as he charges into the fray. Slashing at everyone within reach, he pauses when two bolts bounce of his metallic shirt. “Those things are going to be a problem. Does anybody know where Archillious went? I don’t see him and I doubt these guys will fight without him.”
“I wasn’t paying attention, but he can’t have gone far,” Chastity replies as she hits several Utukku with her charm mist. To her surprise, their eyes bulge and foam flies from their mouths before they start fighting each other. “I didn’t tell them to do that. These people must be under some other kind of mind control or charm magic. My powers are causing a conflict, which means the enchantment matches me in power. Couldn’t be Lost since her influence is psychic and mine is more magical.”
A man screams before vanishing into his shadow and being replaced by Mab, who is immediately pounced on by his friends. She slashes and bites her way out of the pile while receiving only a few stab wounds to her back. Kicking a woman’s head off, the Dawn Fang dives into the next pack of Utukku while leaving the rest to Titus. The burglar rapidly slices her way to where she last saw Archillious, but finds that there is a thick wall of warriors in her path. She pushes against them only to be shoved back and stabbed in the shoulders by two spearmen. With a cat-like snarl, Mab whirls around to snap the weapons in half and drops into a shadow with the intention of attacking from below. She has almost disappeared when a metal orb comes rolling towards her and sinks into the darkness. Having never seen such an object before, she does not try to run away and continues to vanish. The instant she sinks into the void, the poison-filled weapon explodes and envelopes her in a purple cloud. Getting a full blast into her lungs, she barely has the strength to reemerge and is completely surrounded by the Utukku. Mab is nearly beheaded, but Titus smashes through the warriors to scoop his sister up and feeds her his canister of blood while he continues running to the far side of the battlefield.
“Why are we having so much trouble with these guys?” Clyde asks himself. Watching his friends mow down the Utukku, he suddenly realizes that there is a green shimmer running along the ground. “There’s another poison down there. No idea what it does, but it must be what’s giving us trouble. Chastity is barely holding her own. Luther and Bob are being driven to the corners the battlefield. Titus takes two darts to eyes and now there goes Mab’s blood jar. Okay, I think it’s time for me to join the fun.”
Dropping his illusion, Clyde looks for Archillious and spots the man inching towards the southern road. He leaps with enough force to shift the top of the hill, which draws the Utukku’s attention to the approaching Dawn Fang. Hurtling towards his enemies, he becomes vaguely aware of clear bubbles that stick to his body. A single shot from Archillious sets the hidden traps off and they explode into a churning patch of black poison. Clyde comes out of the mess covered in tar-like muck that c
hars the ground beneath his feet. With a roar, the vampire unleashes his Lord’s Rage enough to burn off the toxic layer and rushes forward to attack the mortals. He splits one man in half and punches a hole in a woman’s chest before he loses track of Archillious in the rapidly thinning mob. It takes the Dawn Fang a few minutes to think through the bloodlust and realize that the Utukku army is shrinking faster than he is killing people. Catching a gnome by the face, he gradually crushes the warrior’s skull while he watches the others retreat over a nearby river.
“I think you scared them a bit too much,” Bob says as he joins Clyde. Taking another drink from a dying fireskin, he offers the draconic Utukku to his friend. “These people taste kind of funny. Not mortal or vampire, so I don’t know how to describe it. I don’t recommend taking more than a few sips unless you have to heal. Should we go after them?”
“No, I think we need to focus on Lost,” Clyde replies as he bends down. He runs his hand through the trampled grass and examines the green shimmer on his fingers. “Archillious drugged his own people. I think it made them feel numb, so they could keep fighting as long as it wasn’t an instantly fatal wound. Might explain why so many kept fighting after losing a limb. This guy is a real bastard, so I’m glad to see he isn’t a Dawn Fang. Then again, I think he did it to himself as well. Let’s tell Lost that everything is okay and it’s time to go home.”
The ground shakes for a minute before a large mound appears in the center of the destroyed forest. The growing pile of dirt abruptly splits down the middle and sends deep fissures throughout the area. Fallen trees and dead bodies tumble into the cracks while the Dawn Fangs jump away from the splintering earth. No sooner have they been herded directly across from the cave, the ground rumbles and moves back together. The sound of crunching wood and bones can be heard even after the fissures have become nothing more than faint lines in the dirt. When Clyde takes a step forward, the destruction begins again and forces him to move back to his friends. Refusing to give up, he picks up Chastity and Mab while Titus grabs Bob and Luther. At the count of three, the two men leap with all of their strength to clear the shaking ground and land in the cave entrance. Hearing a crack from above, they sprint into the gaping tunnel as the ceiling collapses and prevents them from making an easy escape.
Lost (War of Nytefall Book 2) Page 23