Carpathian Vampire, When You've Never Known Love

by Lumi Laura

CHAPTER 43 The Arsenal

  While Silent Scythe recruited an army from those in the Cathedral for an assault on the Ichor Dome, Alex, Jaklin and Mikhail returned to the Estate. They stopped off at the vampire sacred hill designated for Shadowrise and viewed part of the ceremony although they didn't have time to participate or even watch it all.

  Catherine was waiting and called them upstairs. She had little Andra wrapped in a pink baby blanket clutched tightly to her bosom. "Silent Scythe is armed with battle gear that they've been using against rogue vampires for centuries. You three, however, have skills they don't, and I might have some things to assist you in the coming battle."

  Alex had missed Andra terribly and took her from Catherine as they entered the upstairs. She watched Mikhail pull a chord that hung from the ceiling, and a section of it swing down and unfold into stairs. This was the entryway into the attic that Alex had explored months before when she'd found Catherine's journal.

  Catherine shined a flashlight, and once they had all negotiated the stairs, Alex stood aside playing with her baby who seemed to miss her mother as well. For the first time in days, Andra laughed when Alex made a face and didn't cry to be put down. Alex felt as if her batteries were being recharged.

  Catherine took them farther into the room flashing the light on the walls for them all to see. She stopped before the cage Alex had wondered about when she was in the attic before.

  "After I became a vampire," said Catherine, "my caretakers became obsessed with treating me and killing my kind. I was locked away for months in this cage while they looked for a cure. I had all form of doctors, witchdoctors and priests visit. Although many professed such a talent, none could change me back. All the while, Alu tried to spring me from my one-woman prison. Many battles were fought outside and in the rooms of this house in the months that followed. He and my vampire aunt eventually freed me, and we were all to escape the area, but something extraordinary happened to my aunt. At the time, I didn't know what. Alu and I fled along the Danube into the Black Sea and on to Istanbul without her. Since returning to Sinaia, I learned that Velinar, ninety years earlier, had turned my aunt back human, much to the consternation of Alucius. He eventually returned to Sinaia, but forbid me to return even to the cavern, so afraid was he for my safety. Or at least, so he said. Now I realize that he's always been afraid that I'd get turned back because I wished for such a miracle." She smiled and looked at Alex. "Something my great granddaughter did shortly after I escaped the Ichor Dome."

  Catherine had Jaklin and Mikhail pull a cupboard away from the wall. Then she fidgeted with a loose board, tripped a latch, and swung wide a hidden door. She shined the flashlight into a small room filled with strange devices.

  "This is the arsenal my family used to kill vampires. The weapons should be of as much use today as they were ninety years ago."

  The arsenal was not large, but what it lacked in quantity it made up for in quality. The weapons were all in excellent condition and made of silver, the one element other than wood and holy water that can kill a vampire.

  "If they're made of silver, why haven't they tarnished?" asked Jaklin.

  "I'm not sure," said Catherine.

  "Because they're coated with rhodium," answered Mikhail. "It's a metal from the Ural Mountains in Russia and naturally alloyed with silver."

  "Their use on vampires was devastating," said Catherine. "Alu greatly fear them." Her flashlight lit up the small room.

  Jaklin was ecstatic. "Look!" she said. "All the weapons shown me during my initiation." Most weapons were stacked on the floor or standing in corners, but one was mounted on the wall. Jaklin ran to it and stood staring, mesmerized. "Was this yours, Catherine?"

  "None belonged to me. I've never fought. Alex can attest. I'm no good at it."

  Jaklin turned to Alex. "It must be yours. I was told during my initiation of such an instrument. Achilles wielded it when he slew Penthesilea, the Amazon. Following Achilles death at Troy, the weapon vanished into the mists of time. And here it shows up on the wall in your attic. It has to be yours, Missy, the souls of ancient Amazons told me that one day I would meet a great warrior who could wield it. You are the greatest among us. It must be yours." She took it from the wall, felt its heft and balance. "Perfection incarnate," she said, and handed it to Alex.

  Alex took it, and although an incredible weapon, somehow it felt foreign. "I'm not so sure."

  "You're not in a fight, Missy. When the time comes, you'll warm to it."

  "It wouldn't be Achilles' actual sword," said Catherine. "These weapons were all made in the last century. It's probably a replica of a replica of a replica."

  "Still," said Jaklin, beaming.

  They picked through the arsenal, setting aside those items they thought might be useful against the ferals. Among all this were several items of body armor, which were also quickly snatched up by Jaklin.

  "These are brand new, as if never worn," Jaklin said, strapping them on.

  "You and Mikhail take them," said Alex. "They don't feel right for me. Besides, the experiences I've had tell me that I'm not physically vulnerable. The only thing I really need is my cross. Alu once told me that it was the most powerful weapon devised by man, and that only I could wield it. Somehow, I think I haven't learned to use it properly."

  "Wow!" said Jaklin, looking at herself in a faded, full-length mirror leaning against the wall. "I have to say, I'm a steely-eyed warrior woman. Much hotter than wearing a miniskirt and sporting cleavage."

  Mikhail raised an eyebrow and looked at Alex, who nodded in agreement.

  Jaklin insisted that Alex take the sword. She'd already named it Achilles, and reluctantly, Alex accepted it. Still, she felt more comfortable with her grandfather's walking stick. Mikhail settled on a crossbow but would have to grease the loading mechanism that had deteriorated through years of disuse and restring it. "I'll augment this with a simple stake," he said. “I’ll augment this with a simple stake.” But before leaving, he also selected a silver sword. “A rhodium keepsake from the Urals,” he said.

  They left the arsenal, taking only the weapons they felt they'd need, closed the door, turned the latch, and pushed the cupboard back in place.

  "You need to trash those high heels," said Alex.

  "Hey! They look great."

  "Where we're going, you'll need to do more than strike a post. You've got some low-heel boots."

  "I get the message." Jaklin looked concerned that she'd been so naive.