“Guess that means you’re with me,” Scott said to Melissa.
“Straight ahead then, sir?” she asked.
“Straight ahead,” Scott confirmed and took the lead, with her Psi-mech following.
* * * * *
Chapter 25
On the other side of the mountain, a lone vampire stood watching the night. She was bored and upset at being assigned such a terrible duty in service to lord Mavet. Once, long ago, her name had been Emily. Her hair was shoulder length and blonde, her eyes blue and skin fair. She was even more beautiful now than she had been when she was alive. In her short years as a human, once she came of age, she’d captivated the men of her village. They all longed for her, each and every one of them, whether they admitted it or not. She’d seen it, how they’d stolen glances at her in church or watched her as she walked away across the fields where the crops were grown. Neither thin nor fat, her body was well shaped in the manner most men dreamed of. She was fantasy given flesh. Her beauty was why she’d been turned instead of merely fed upon and discarded. Since that night, she’d become an apex predator in the world of men, her attractiveness augmented by slight telepathic nudges to her victims’ minds. Emily had been a child’s name, and she’d discarded it a century ago. She called herself Selena now, believing the name fit her in terms of both beauty and deadliness.
When the god Mavet had returned to Earth, she had swooned at his feet. She longed for him as human men did for her on the evenings she stalked the streets in search of blood. Selena had been sure she would become Mavet’s bride and rule at his side as his queen. There were few, even among the undead, that rivaled her beauty, and fewer still that could match her brutal coldness. She was crushed when Mavet showed no interest in her. His only true love was the devastation and darkness the release of his master would bring. Never once had he even summoned her to his bed. Instead, he had played with a half-vampire thing that was more human than undead. The mere thought of his doing so sickened her. Finally, when she could stand no more, Selena had steeled her courage and gone after him. Her reward…being passed to his male masters as their plaything, then being dumped here to guard the rear entrance of the mountain.
Selena hissed and raked the rock that composed the walls of the cave’s mouth with her long fingernails. Sparks flew across the rock as Selena’s rage burned within her. She was still thinking of how wronged she’d been when the shimmering portal opened up just beyond the mouth of the cave. Selena felt the rounds from the automatic shotgun tearing into her body before she heard its thunder. They sent her staggering deeper into the cave, leaking stale, black blood from the wounds punched in her chest. The rounds had been silver, and try as she might, Selena couldn’t will the wounds to close. An unseen force grabbed her, lifting her from the ground, then tore her head away from her body. Unable to scream, Selena erupted in flames as she entered the true death.
“Dang, man!” Richard shouted at Ringer. “She was hot before Eddie shot her. Did you really have to finish her off like that? The image of her neck being torn apart is going to haunt me in my nightmares for the rest of my life.”
“It had to be done fast,” Tonya answered in Ringer’s place. “If Ringer hadn’t, you might be under her control right now, Richard.”
“Still…” Richard protested.
“We don’t have time for this!” Katherine snapped, drawing her katana. “Let’s get moving, people!”
Katherine and Selah were both armed with swords as they entered the mountain. Ringer carried no weapons at all. The powerful telekinetic didn’t need one. Richard toted a P-90 loaded with Hank’s new silver/wood combo rounds. Tonya was packing an AK-47 with her new pistol holstered on her hip. Eddie was busy reloading his automatic shotgun as he followed after them. Normally Eddie would have ported away, but not tonight. Tonight the psycho-porter was sticking around for the action.
Tonya skidded to a halt, her eyes going wide. “Mavet knows we’re here.”
“So what?” Katherine snapped. “We’re still going to kill the bastard.”
“He’s sent Elick and the demon after us,” Tonya said.
“Yay,” Selah said sarcastically. “Then we can kill them, too.”
The shadows thickened in the tunnel ahead of the group. A spiral of dark vapor rose from the floor, spinning and twisting, wrapping around itself as it coalesced. Out of the darkness stepped the leader of the Dark Mages, Elick.
“I think you shall find that easier said than done, child.” Elick laughed, raising his fingertips toward the group of psychics. Bolts of crackling energy flew from them.
“Oh, no you don’t,” Ringer said, stepping in front of the others. Elick’s energy bolts splashed against the telekinetic shield Ringer called into being between the dark mage and the group. Ringer lowered the shield as Elick’s attack ended so those with him wouldn’t be blocked from going after him.
Richard went transparent as he changed into his wraith form and ran toward the wall of the tunnel, disappearing into it. Selah and Katherine charged Elick as one, forcing Tonya and Eddie to hold their fire.
Elick laughed as the two women came at him. Casting several rapid spells, he got ready to meet them. His skin hardened, becoming like rock, his arms transformed into long sword blades, and mystical energy flowed through his very veins.
Katherine reached Elick first, slashing at his neck with her katana. The dark mage blocked her blow easily with his right sword arm while countering a strike from Selah with his left. Sparks flew as blades clanged together over and over in rapid succession as the dark mage, the half vampire, and the psycho-metabolist engaged in a deadly dance.
Ringer was about to end it but never got the chance. A legion of zombies came pouring into the cave through its mouth behind the group. Whether Elick had summoned them from the woods outside the cave or simply conjured them into being, they forced Ringer to deal with them instead of him. There had to be close to a hundred of the rotting monsters. Ringer extended his hands, brow furrowing in concentration, as he erected a shield to keep them at bay.
“Frag me!” Eddie yelped at the sight of the zombies. “Where the hell did they come from?”
Before Tonya could answer, a voice rang out behind where Katherine and Selah fought with Elick.
“Get them!” a tall vampire dressed in modern-style combat armor bellowed, pointing in their direction. As he did so, a group of vampires came bounding along the tunnel toward them. A few of the vampires skittered across the roof of the tunnel, hanging upside down as they moved. The rest charged forward with impossible speed. Eddie sprang into action, saving Tonya’s life. The psycho-porter threw himself at her, taking her into his arms as he hurled them into a portal that shimmered into existence next to the telepath. Eddie and Tonya toppled out of the portal into another tunnel, much deeper inside the mountain. Torches burned on its walls, but there was no sign of vampires awaiting them there.
“Eddie, where…?” Tonya began to ask.
“Don’t know,” Eddie shook his head, “but at least we’re not dead. There were too many of them for the two of us to fight.”
“What about Ringer?” Tonya worried.
“The guy can handle those vampires and the zombies. Don’t worry about him,” Eddie reminded her.
Tonya calmed, knowing Eddie was right. Ringer could likely bring the entire mountain down if he wanted to.
Eddie was looking around, trying to decide which way to go. In front of them was a massive doorway, and behind them was another open tunnel. “I say we try the door,” he suggested.
“Fine by me,” Tonya nodded.
Approaching the massive doorway, Tonya and Eddie stood before it.
“Ladies first,” Eddie said with a smile. “You are the ranking field operative, after all.”
“Frag you, Eddie,” Tonya told him, stepping up to inspect the door. It had no knob and didn’t appear to be locked. Tonya reached out to press against it, and the massive door swung inward to reveal a vast room. The floor of the room was deco
rated with a pentagram-like symbol that pulsed with energy through the coat of wet red that slicked it. The smell of rotting flesh and blood was so powerful it made Tonya gag and take a step back from the doorway. Torches like those in the tunnel lit the room. Mavet stood in the center of the room at the edge of a deep pit there, shouting words from a language so old she could feel the power in each word.
Tonya glanced over her shoulder at Eddie. The psycho-porter had gone pale.
“That’s Mavet,” he whispered.
“He doesn’t know we’re here.” Tonya tried to calm the psycho-porter. “Mavet’s too wrapped up in whatever he’s doing to notice us.”
“But you said he already knew we were here,” Eddie reminded her.
“Then…yes. He must have dispatched the others to deal with us and went back to…that.” Tonya pointed into the room at Mavet, who had dropped to his knees, his arms raised in worship above his head.
“We can’t take him on alone,” Eddie cautioned. “We need to wait for the others.”
“Whatever he’s doing, we need to stop it, Eddie,” Tonya ordered.
Tonya stepped into the vast room. The moment her feet made contact with its floor, Mavet spun on her, the god vampire’s eyes not just glowing but raging with supernatural fire.
“You!” Mavet snarled. “How dare you enter this place!”
“Good to see you again, too,” Tonya said, leveling the barrel of her AK-47 at Mavet and holding its trigger tight. The rifle bucked in her hands, spraying Mavet with a barrage of silver rounds. The god vampire made no move to dodge, nor did he cry out in pain. He let Tonya’s bullets tear through his body, shredding flesh, puncturing lungs, opening his guts to the air around him.
Eddie joined the fight, stepping into a newly conjured portal to emerge on Mavet’s right flank. His automatic shotgun boomed in a rapid series of thunderclaps. All ten of Eddie’s rounds struck the vampire in his side and shoulder, mangling the meat of his body and shattering bone, but still Mavet remained unflinching.
Both the psycho-porter and telepath’s weapons clicked empty. In less than the span of a heartbeat, Mavet was whole once more. All his wounds vanished, and his bones knitted back together. He cocked his head in Eddie’s direction.
“Of all of them, I might have let you live,” Mavet said, “but you have spoiled that now and will pay the price for doing so.”
Slime-covered tentacles burst from the floor around Eddie, surrounding him. Eddie opened a portal beneath his feet, dropping through it as the tentacles lashed out at him. They slashed through air where he’d been only a fraction of a second before.
Tonya let her AK-47 slide from her hands and jerked her pistol from where it was holstered on her hip. She raised it toward the god vampire in a two-handed grip.
“We’re not that easy to kill, Mavet,” she challenged.
Mavet laughed. It was a sound that chilled Tonya to the very depths of her soul.
“Child,” Mavet purred, shaking his head, “you amuse me.”
Reaching out with his own version of dark telepathy, Mavet entered Tonya’s mind, crashing through her mental shields like a juggernaut. Tonya’s head jerked back as if someone had punched her in the face. She staggered as Mavet telepathically clawed away at her thoughts, her memories, and the very essence of who and what she was. Tonya struggled to fight against the god vampire, erecting one mental barrier after another. His power burst through them all. Tonya’s expression contorted into one of intense pain as she collapsed to her knees. Mavet walked calmly over to Tonya, towering over her.
Richard came sprinting out of the room’s wall, a ghost running across the floor toward the god vampire, opening up on Mavet with his P-90 as he came. Silver bullets tore and ripped at Mavet’s body. Again, Mavet showed no sign that he felt any pain at all. He flung a hand in Richard’s direction. Richard froze where he was.
“A noble effort to save your friend, indeed,” Mavet said, “but pointless, as she is dead already.”
Tonya’s lifeless shell toppled over onto the floor and lay there, unmoving. Her eyes were rolled up to show only whites, and blood leaked from the corners of her mouth, ears, and nose.
“No!” Eddie howled as he reappeared behind Mavet clutching an AS50. The powerful rifle barked as Eddie peppered Mavet’s back with .50 caliber sized holes. It was finally enough to send Mavet staggering. The reeling god vampire whirled about at Eddie.
“Don’t you people ever learn?” Mavet raged and leaped at the psycho-porter. Eddie was ready for him. As Mavet came at him, Eddie flung aside the AS50 and grabbed onto Mavet, pulling him into the portal forming next to them.
The world around them became nothingness as the two of them entered the trans-dimensional space Eddie accessed via his doorways. They spun about like wrestling astronauts in zero G.
“What have you done?” Mavet roared.
“I’ve taken you out of the game, Mavet.” Eddie grinned. “It’s over.”
“I think not,” Mavet rasped, clutching Eddie by the chin with one hand to hold the psycho-porter still as the fingers of his other grasped the psycho-porter’s forehead.
Eddie shivered as the god vampire tore into his mind with such force that he nearly blacked out.
“Take us home,” Mavet demanded, and a portal opened once more that led into the room Eddie had taken them from.
Mavet flung Eddie away as the two of them emerged through the portal. Eddie bounced across the floor of the room, unconsciousness.
During Mavet’s brief absence, Richard had discovered he could move again. He snatched up Eddie’s discarded AS50 then ran to check on Tonya. He was still kneeling next to her corpse when the god vampire reappeared in the room. Richard stared at Mavet in utter horror. He instinctively became immaterial, the atoms of his body phasing out of alignment with the physical world around him.
Mavet walked toward him in an unhurried manner. “Children…” Mavet sighed. “I battle children.”
Richard leaped to his feet, running toward the closest wall, trying to get out of the room and away from the god vampire. Mavet stopped him with a wave of his hand.
“Her mind was strong and powerful, Richard,” Mavet pointed at Tonya’s body. “Yours is weak. Tell me what I need to know of your own free will, and I will make your death a quick one. Where is the one you call Ringer?”
Unable to move or even speak, Richard thought the word. Never.
“So be it then,” Mavet said, stepping closer to Richard where he was frozen in place by the god vampire’s will.
Richard’s screams were long and loud, seeming to stretch on into eternity. Mavet allowed them, for they were such beautiful music.
* * * * *
Chapter 26
Donald had entered the mountain with the other psychics. They’d forgotten about him altogether, however, and that was of his own making. He wore a prototype personal cloaking device that Hank had made for him and insisted privately to Tonya that she mask his presence as well. Donald had stayed out of the fight with Elick thus far, letting his mother and Selah have their go at the leader of the dark mages. When the vampires came to join the battle as Ringer held back the hundred or so zombies trying to enter the cave, the young precog had slipped by them. He didn’t like abandoning the others, but that was part of his plan; it had to be in order for it to work. Out of sight and out of mind, Donald moved through the tunnels that lined the interior of the mountain. He still couldn’t see the long-term future, but his awareness of what lay ahead now stretched further than a mere matter of minutes. Two sai were sheathed on both sides of the belt he wore. In his hands he carried a plasma rifle, also designed by Hank. The weapon was heavy and awkward for someone of his size and build, especially with the long cable that ran from its stock to the backpack he wore. Hank had warned him the rifle would likely burn itself out after only a single shot, but Donald figured one shot was all he was going to need.
Creeping along the tunnels that wound their way through the mountain, with the
battle behind him, Donald searched for his prey like a hunter. On several occasions, the young precog encountered groups of vampires, and one cluster of dark mages, all running toward what he assumed was the mountain’s upper entrance. There was an even larger battle happening in that direction, from what he gathered from their frantic chatter. He remained hidden, refusing to engage any of them. His personal cloaking device worked like a charm, living up to Hank’s bluster about it. As another group of vampires came sprinting by, Donald felt a sharp pain tear through his mind. The young precog let out a grunt he couldn’t contain. He knew what the source of the pain was, and it brought tears welling up in his eyes. Tonya was gone. She was no longer with him or any other member of Psi-Mechs, Inc. He couldn’t mourn her loss now, though.
Donald pressed himself flat against the side of the tunnel, holding his breath. The vampires that had been passing by had stopped at the sound he’d made. Their red eyes darted about, searching for its origin as they sniffed at the air. Donald was sure he was about to be discovered, and his knuckles went white as his grasp tightened on the plasma rifle he carried. He didn’t dare waste it on such low-level lackeys. It had been designed to kill a vampire god, and that was what Donald intended to use it for. His luck held, though—not that Donald was a believer in such things—and the vampires didn’t find him. They grew bored with the search, and their attention returned to the battle they’d been headed for. As one, they charged along the tunnel out of sight. When they were gone, Donald finally exhaled, then sucked a deep breath into his lungs. The encounter had been far too close to blowing his cover. Ever so cautiously, the precog began moving again.
Tonya’s death had felt as if it were close by. That made no sense at all, because she was supposed to be with the squad of psychics he’d left at the mountain’s lower entrance. Still, somehow he knew that wasn’t where Tonya had been when she died. Eddie had been among the group he’d left behind. The psycho-porter could have taken her anywhere inside the mountain, but why? The reasons were beyond Donald’s ability to discern, but he trusted his instincts that that was indeed what had transpired.
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