Vampire Hunter D 16: Tyrant's Stars

by Hideyuki Kikuchi

  The lance gleamed in his right hand.

  “My hands, and my whole body, are moving on their own. Please, you’ve gotta stop me!”

  His voice was joined by a cry that was even more morose.

  “D, don’t kill my brother!”

  The voice belonged to Sue.

  “That’s an illusion too,” the hoarse voice told him.

  What did D make of these three voices? As he stood there, still and vacant, he didn’t demonstrate the tiniest inclination to fight back.

  Matthew shifted the lance. Despite his words, murderous intent filled every inch of him.

  “Please, stop it!”

  Matthew bent backward.

  “Stop it, D!” Sue cried out.

  “They’re just illusions, I tell you,” the hoarse voice muttered, and a second later D was swallowed by the rumbling of the ground and the cloud of dust.

  The lance flashed out.

  A cry from Sue that would make anyone want to cover his ears streamed through the air.

  D was in the air, too. Just before those iron-shod hooves could trample him, he’d dodged the lance and bounded over Matthew’s head.

  Over what head? It was gone. As the horse galloped on, there was still a knight on its back. But his head had been cleanly removed, and fresh blood spouted from his neck. Some of that blood became a vermilion fog carried by the wind.

  As D landed without a sound, there was a dull thud to his left. It was likely the head hitting the ground.

  Not bothering to watch the horse run, D looked up, hearing the flapping of wings overhead. He saw the tiny form of a bird rapidly approaching. In less time than it took to draw two breaths, it became a great eagle with a wingspan of more than thirty feet. Beating its wings fiercely to remain at a height of sixty feet, the bird opened a beak that seemed almost metallic. Inside it was Sue’s face. A face drenched with tears and fear.

  III

  “You killed my brother, didn’t you?” Sue shouted, tears flying through the air to accompany her cries.

  One of them fell on D’s shoulder. As he turned his striking features to look at the winged form above, there was nothing on them that might be termed an emotion.

  “You killed him even after I asked you over and over not to. Kill me, too—do it!” she cried.

  The giant eagle went into a dive.

  “Stop! Don’t kill me!” Sue screeched as they fell.

  D didn’t move.

  The great eagle’s talons snapped open. A white flash mowed through the air. Bones snapped, and then the enormous talons went flying, severed from the bird. It was the giant eagle’s left leg. The right one caught hold of D’s shoulder, and the bird began to fly with terrific force.

  As it beat its wings mightily, the giant eagle craned its head to look at D. From its mouth, Sue was heard to whimper, “D—please help me. I—I’ll be eaten up. I beg of you. Hurry! Quickly—you have to save me!”

  Her usually determined face was a mess of tears as the Hunter’s sword shot toward it. Instantly killing Sue with a thrust that penetrated her throat and went all the way to the brain stem, D pulled his sword back out and directed another slash toward the giant eagle’s right wing. The great bird let out a death rattle.

  They’d already climbed to an altitude of over three hundred feet. Although the creature made a desperate effort to keep flying, it went into a tailspin.

  “Jump!” the hoarse voice bellowed. It was shouting at D. “Are you gonna jump or ain’t you? We’ll crash!”

  Seeing that it got no response, it continued, “As landlords go, you sure are a pain in the ass!”

  Just as it muttered that remark with disbelief, the earth swallowed up the gigantic bird.

  Saying nothing, D found himself gazing at Sigma. It was clear that everything he’d just experienced had been an illusion created by the machine. And the young man had consented to what had happened and what he’d done.

  “So, is the test over or what?” the hoarse voice whispered.

  “Only the first part. However—”

  The computer’s voice broke off.

  “Is this the emotion they call surprise? My creator gave me the ability to feel it, but this is the first time I’ve actually experienced it. For the two situations I just presented, I hypothesized five thousand and twenty-five possible reactions you might have to each. And you’ve done a remarkable job of exceeding all of them. Truly you are a man to be feared . . . Who are you?”

  “Return the children,” D said.

  “The test is not over,” Sigma replied. “And if you should still live when the test results are in, then I shall dispose of you in keeping with my second directive.”

  The world turned white.

  The snow gusting at D already came up to his knees, and the north wind was so cold it threatened to freeze everything it touched as its howls shook a heavy, gray sky. Every breath froze his lungs, and they’d nearly ceased to function. Yet the steps he took through the snow were strong and precise, as befitted a dhampir.

  “We’re almost to the summit,” his left hand said to him. “He should be waiting up there. Hope you’ve still got some strength left.” In lieu of a reply, D halted. At the summit of the graceful white slope, the wind and eddying snow hindered his vision, but a figure had come into view. In D’s eyes, he looked like a towering black wall.

  “So, you’ve come?” said the voice that fell from the sky—the voice of a great being. “You’ve done well to make it this far. However, you won’t be leaving, D. Not unless you slay me.”

  A white light connected heaven and earth. The falling thunderbolts enveloped D, striking every inch of him with blistering waves of electromagnetism. In the depths of the white light, his left hand rose. The light wavered like a heat shimmer, churned, and sucked like a glowing mist into the mouth that opened in the palm of the Hunter’s hand.

  D kicked off the ground. When he landed in the snow, he left no footprints. Perhaps he knew where the figure’s weak point was. The sword he swung from high over his right shoulder caused the sound of cutting flesh and ribs as it bit into the form.

  Soundlessly, the figure and all signs of his presence disappeared.

  D landed on the opposite side of where the shadowy form had been.

  “It felt like you made contact,” the hoarse voice said. “To give him some lumps—or a slash, in this case—you really must’ve got—”

  The voice broke off when it noticed what D was looking at.

  About fifteen feet from him, a figure in a white dress stood in the snow. Snowflakes clung like white jewels to the black hair that billowed in the wind, but they quickly faded away. Dark eyes as clear as a holy night quietly reflected his image.

  D! she said, her voice every bit as lovely as her eyes. Lay down your sword. And come into my waiting arms. I never got to hold you even once.

  The woman opened her arms, and then looked up in the air in wonder.

  The young man came down like a supernatural bird, showing no hesitation as he sliced through the woman from the top of her head down to her crotch.

  “You cut down your mother, too?” Sigma said to the young man in black, the machine’s voice carrying all-too-human emotion. It had never imagined he’d do such a thing. “Where do you come from, and where are you going? Who—or what—are you?”

  “Give me the children,” D said. “Your test is finished. If you won’t give them back, I’ll take them.”

  The young man took a smooth step forward. He was imbued with force and an unearthly air. Sigma’s components began conjuring up the emotion known as fear.

  A thin beam of light from the ceiling speared D. The Hunter’s expression warped with pain, and his body melted away.

  “That enzyme dissolves bodies—your mind is deeper and stronger than I’ll ever know, but your flesh isn’t. .

  A warning signal resounded somewhere in Sigma’s electronic thought centers. An intense “pain” shot through it, and its “eyes” were drawn to
the blade of a sword stuck halfway into its casing. Blue electromagnetic waves stretched from it in all directions.

  “That’s my ... vital spot.. . You really are . . . something else.”

  A puddle of ooze lay on the floor where D had been. It stood up. For an instant, it was only visible as something wearing clothes, but Sigma knew the strapping figure with dark eyes could only be D.

  “DDDwhowhoareareareyouyouyouuuuu?—you?—you?—you?”

  Sigma’s field of view rapidly dwindled to a spark of light in the Hunter’s dark eyes, and before long even that had faded into complete darkness.

  “You cut your father, killed your mother, even did this to me,” Sigma said, its voice sounding a million miles away. Undoubtedly that was what a machine that had come to know great sadness sounded like. “Is this the thing human beings term ‘fate’? The test has ended. You may go, D. Your demise I shall leave to the assassin I’m about to produce.”

  Once again the golden space appeared between D and Sigma. Sue and Matthew stumbled out of it. The boy managed to catch himself, but his sister collided with D’s chest before she finally stopped. As she slowly slid down him, he scooped her up to keep her from falling. The threads of strength that had been pulled taut had all been snapped by her relief.

  D gazed at Matthew for a few seconds as the boy’s shoulders heaved in his battle to catch his breath, then said, “Let’s go,” and tossed his jaw.

  Though the direction he indicated wasn’t the same way he’d entered, it was the right door nonetheless.

  There were three cyborg steeds tethered at the entrance to the valley—horses purchased in Marthias. D had intended to bring the two children back all along. Sue had somehow managed to regain consciousness, but the Hunter put her on the back of his horse and pulled the extra mount along behind them.

  From a distant rock pile, a trio of figures watched.

  “This is a hell of a thing. All three of them are fine,” Curio the Preacher groaned in amazement, making no attempt to disguise his shock.

  Beside him, one of the others said, “It would appear the effects of my song have faded. But that’s no reason to be ashamed. He’s incredibly powerful. It really is unavoidable.”

  It was the fiendish diva Callas. As she watched the rider who’d dwindled down to the size of a pea, her eyes and her voice—which had caused Curio and Speeny to look at her so suddenly—seemed to melt away into rapture. But the two fierce gazes of condemnation returned to normal when the woman declared in the same delirious tone, “I won’t fail a second time, though. This fearsome man has made a mockery of my song and myself—and I, Callas, shall see to it that my song brings about his end.”

  “But I don’t understand this. Did my sermon not work? There’s no way that could be.”

  “Everyone makes mistakes," Callas said, a faint grin rising on her lips. She wasn’t trying to console him.

  “Why did Grand Duke Valcua tell us to take those children hostage? Wasn’t his goal to kill the two of them?”

  This was something the assassins had already discussed at great length. And they hadn’t reached a conclusion.

  “At any rate, let’s go back. We must form our next plan. Speeny!" he called out to the third member.

  There was no response.

  Turning, he found no one there.

  “Where has he gone?”

  A thought bubbled up in the preacher’s brain.

  “Well, now. I think I’ll be going,” Callas said, and though she looked around, it was apparent at a glance the action was purely perfunctory. Of all the assassins, this beautiful woman was the most lacking in the spirit of cooperation.

  As dignified as any philosopher’s, Curio’s expression was tinged with something that resembled sorrow as he said, “Don’t tell me that idiot’s doing what I think he’s doing."

  CHAPTER 3

  I

  "Hey, Sue!” Matthew called out, and the girl, who had her hands around D’s waist and her forehead pressed against his back,

  lifted her head. She sensed irritation in her brother’s tone.

  “You’re fine now, right? Get on that free horse.”

  “I guess you’re right. Okay.” Before she could change her mind, Sue told D, “Stop, please.”

  The gaze she trained on the Hunter’s back held a sort of dependence. But as she put both hands against the horse’s rump and started to lift herself up, D told her, “Wait.”

  “Why?” Matthew asked, his lips promptly tightening in a scowl. “You get over here, too,” D said.

  “What?” Matthew exclaimed, sticking his chin out defiantly. “On your horse? Can it even carry three?”

  “It’ll carry us. Come on.”

  “You’re crazy. I thought you were only after Sue.”

  Sue grew pale at her brother’s horrid remark.

  “Matthew—what a thing to say!”

  “Well, it’s the truth. Something’s been bugging me for a while now. You’ve gone sweet on him, haven’t you, Sue?”

  “Matthew!”

  “Now hear this: There’s no way in hell I’ll—”

  Matthew’s tirade cut off. A black form had sailed through space, pushed him back, and taken a seat in the saddle. The horse broke into a gallop.

  “Holy!” the boy managed to exclaim, frantically grabbing D around the waist. The Hunter held Sue under his left arm.

  Behind them, a terrific flash of light exploded.

  “Get down!” D shouted, ducking.

  Not sure what was going on, Matthew followed suit.

  A massive rock hit the ground in front of them. The instant they went around it, a wave of blistering heat struck Matthew’s back. Melted rock whizzed noisily through space.

  “Where the hell are you going?” Matthew bellowed, because they were clearly galloping toward a cliff. However, had he looked over his shoulder, he wouldn’t have had any cause to complain. Behind the trio, flames and shock waves were closing on them. Again the blistering heat struck Matthew’s back, and a second later it burned the back of his neck and head.

  “Holyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! ” he cried again, in fear of the reality that greeted his eyes.

  They were falling. Flying off the cliff, the cyborg horse plummeted like a stone toward the water flowing fifty yards below. Matthew shut his eyes, and then he lost consciousness.

  Wrapping his right arm around Matthew, D dismounted the cyborg horse in midair. He’d decided the load would be too much for the steed to bear.

  Holding the siblings upright, the Hunter was just about to enter the water feet first when a terrific shock jerked up all three of them.

  D let go of Matthew, and the boy fell the last three feet to the water without incident, instantly regaining consciousness. On madly rising to the surface, he saw that flames licked at the sky from the chunks of rock falling toward him. He dove underwater and swam down for all he was worth. A smoking piece of rock struck him square in the back. Matthew was the lucky one.

  A thread had descended from the sky and wound around D and Sue. After releasing Matthew, D had grabbed his sword and struck the thread without being able to cut it, and now he and Sue were rising higher and higher at a speed of one hundred and twenty-five miles per hour. They’d already reached an altitude of six thousand feet, and showed no signs of stopping. Sue had fainted.

  “Time for me to do something?” the hoarse voice from D’s left hand asked, trembling with expectation. “It’s been decades since I got to do a kissing scene. Hey, don’t cramp my style now!”

  D gazed into space without saying anything.

  They hit ten thousand feet.

  Fifteen thousand.

  Twenty thousand.

  Thirty thousand.

  Fifty thousand.

  The sky had a deep purple color.

  At an altitude so high it was impossible for human beings to breathe, D met a lone, spiderlike man hanging in midair.

  “I’m Speeny,” the man said by way of introduction. His voice did
n’t reach them. But D’s ears could catch the slight movements caused by the sounds. “Welcome to my battlefield. I hate to do away with such a handsome fellow, but let’s just call it my worldly obligation.”

  Taking a quick glance at Sue, the spider man narrowed his eyes.

  Although it would be impossible to prevent a human being from suffocating in the stratosphere without using some kind of mechanical device, D’s left hand was covering the girl’s nose and mouth.

  “What a strange thing you’re doing there. I thought it would rattle you if I made the girl suffer, but it seems I missed the mark. You should be in a lot of pain, however,”

  Even D couldn’t put up much of a fight in the stratosphere, where the temperature was sixty below zero and there was essentially no oxygen.

  “If I did nothing right now, even a dhampir like you would die. If you were returned to the surface, you’d probably come back to life, but

  don’t worry—I’d stab you through the heart before that could happen. Do you think you can cut this thread? Well, you can’t. A very important person gave this grand thread to me. The only things that can cut it are the fingernails the great one bestowed on me!” Speeny said, holding his right hand in front of his face for the Hunter to see.

  As ridiculously tapered as his arms, the nails had been filed to razor sharpness at the tips and along the edges.

  “The line you’re hanging from comes from me. But you can’t tell where the line I’m on comes from. It actually stretches from the moon. I was born in a lab in the Nobility’s Lunar Palace. Of course, I only learned that when a messenger from the great one came to offer me a position as a bodyguard in the Lunar Palace. Up until that point, my mother and I had lived in the slums. I thought I was dreaming. I was sure I’d end my days in that lousy pigsty, but in a solid-gold room in the palace, the great one informed me of my pedigree and ordered me to serve as one of Valcua’s bodyguards. You understand what I mean by pedigree? I, the great Speeny, am the cream of an elite crop, manipulated from the time I was an embryo to be a superman. When I was just a kid in the slums of the moon, where they say only one in a hundred survives to adulthood,