He heard the vampire let out a low growl, and as it sprang for him, Bert released the lightning bolt. A small electrical current, not much more than a stun gun, shot through the vampire's body. He fell back to the ground and stared back up at Bert with a surprised look on his face.
Bert put the end of his staff up to the vampire's forehead and started drawing power to himself again. As Bert drew power, his eyes began to glow bright blue. The vampire looked up into the glimmering blue eyes, a look of understanding crossed his face.
“Wizard.” he said, with a sound of both fear and disgust.
“Yup.” said Bert.
The vampires struggling with Rogue and the Boss stopped and simply stood up, starring at Bert with horror.
“But you can't be all too powerful,” said the vampire thoughtfully, “You're just a young one.”
Bert pressed the end of his wizard staff against the vampire's forehead a little harder, and said, “You sure you wanna find out?”
The vampire stared at him with malice, but said nothing.
“Now then,” said Bert, “No one has to die here today. You still have a chance for a fair trial, but that all depends on if our friends are still alive.”
The vampire glared at him, and yelled, “Bring them out!”
There was a clutter of sound as several more vampires came out of the back leading the other three members of the team. They weren't happy, but they didn't appear to be in any worse shape. They were missing their guns, and the vampires didn't seem interested in letting them go.
“Now,” said Bert, “Tell the rest of your pals to come out from hiding.”
“Oh?” said the vampire with a devious smile, “You want to see the rest of my friends eh?”
The vampire laughed and then yelled, “Come on out boys and girls! Come meet our new friends!”
More walls began crumbling, and more vampires began crawling out. They didn't just come from the walls, but from the ceiling and the floor as well. They poured into the room. Bert stared around in horror as he realized that there was at least thirty or forty of them. The vampire at his feet began laughing again, that sickening cackle made Bert's skin crawl.
The Boss quickly stepped over by him and placed a cylinder device on the wall next to the door. Bert wasn't sure what it was, but he assumed that it was a small bomb that would drop the wall and let in daylight, were the vampires to overrun them. Bert started drawing more power to himself. If things went south he could probably take the boards off one of the windows with a solid burst of energy.
“It seems like we are in a good position to make a deal. Eh, Wizard?” asked the cackling vampire.
Bert let loose a small amount of lightning through the tip of staff, causing another minor shock in the vampire. He took it in stride, and began laughing again.
He turned his head toward the boss and said, “You are obviously the one in charge. How much do you care about your team, huh? My friends will rip them to shreds before you could ever get to them. Let me go and your team lives. It's them or me hunter! Which do you want more?”
Bert glanced over at the others. The target was right. There was absolutely no way that they could get through the horde of vampires before the unarmed men were killed. He glanced over toward Rogue. She was standing between several vampires herself, but her hand slid to what looked like a grenade on her belt.
The Boss glanced at the target and said, “I don't ever let a target get away... Ever.”
As soon as he finished the sentence, Rogue was already moving. She hurled the grenade right at their allies. A puff of yellow smoke filled the area, and vampires fell away choking and screaming. It was Garlic! Bert was so surprised by the idea of a garlic grenade that he didn't realize until too late that yet another vampire was shooting through the wall at him. He was knocked from his feet, while the target regained to his.
Before Bert could warn him, the target jumped on the Boss's back and tried to sink his fangs into the Boss’s throat. Fortunately, the entire team had covered their necks with garlic cream. As the vampire's face moved in close it got a whiff and pulled away in disgust. The Boss spun and threw an elbow into the vampire's nose. Another vampire speared him in the stomach and he went down hard.
The target ran toward the back of house, and Bert followed. As he ran through the chaos there was an explosion behind him. He felt the daylight cross his shoulder. Vampires were screaming all around him as the sun burnt them alive.
Bert hit the hallway about a second after the vampire, but he was losing ground. He hefted his shotgun and fired at the back of the vampire's legs. The blast tripped him up, but didn't put him down. Bert tackled him at full speed. They both smashed through a small door, falling into a bedroom.
Bert was still struggling with the target, but the vampire was laughing beneath him. It was then he realized that there were three other vampires in the room. He had walked right into a trap.
They began clawing at him, and he found himself fighting like a mad man. He punched one and kicked another, but it didn't seem to gain him any advantage. Pushed to his back, he couldn't reach his sword, and the staff was no use from this position.
He glanced up and realized that he was pinned beneath a boarded window. His arms were clasped by the cold hands of the vampires, and his back was pinned to the floor. They were moving in for the kill. He used his one free leg to kick at the old planks on the window. On the third kick, he chipped a tiny piece away. It was enough to let in a small beam of light across the face of the vampire trying to contain his legs. He screeched in horror and dove away from the light, taking the whole pile with him.
Bert pressed his legs against the wall and pushed away. He was free for the moment, but he knew it wouldn't last. With his hands free he scooped up his shotgun and swung it around to smack against the head of one of his attackers.
He thumbed the breach release and the barrel flipped open with a light click. He tossed in a shell as the target moved into attack. He didn't have time to aim so he simply fired. The .410 buckshot ripped through the target's knee, leaving the tissue dangling by a small thread. He screamed and fell away.
In his mind he heard his sword say, “Now might be a good time to use me jackass!”
The other three vampires were moving in. He rolled away and called his sword and staff to him. The sword shot out of its sheath on his back and landed in his left hand. The staff flew up from its place on the floor and came to his other hand.
In a blur of movement he swung the sword through the nearest vampire's neck. He fell without a sound. Following through with the momentum of his swing, he brought the sword around and jammed it in the chest of another. Calling all of the power he could manage, he slammed a burst of raw energy against the last of the three. It hit the vampire squarely in the chest and smashed him through the boarded up window. He landed outside in the day light. Bert could hear his screams, but they didn't last long.
He turned toward the target. He was back in the hall, and attempting to crawl away. Bert picked up his shotgun and put in another shell. The vampire wasn't watching him, he didn't even notice Bert walk up until the next group of buckshot slammed into his good leg.
If it were a human, Bert would have never have wounded it like this, but some species of vampires could regenerate limbs. He didn't know for sure that the target could regrow his limbs, but after he had tried to kill him, Bert didn't feel too bad about it.
The vampire turned and tried to speak, but was cut off as Bert's gun roared to life again. The next shot took him in the shoulder and laid him flat against the ground. Using his one good arm, the vampire attempted to drag himself away while cursing Bert. Bert sighed, loaded the gun, and shot him in the other arm.
“Are you done now?” he asked calmly.
“Curse you wizard.” spat the vampire through his pain.
“Yup,” said Bert, “You're done.”
He glanced up and saw that the Boss was approaching him. The Boss looked at Bert, and then
down at the vampire. He nodded, “Good job Waylon.”
“Uh, sure,” said the sword into Bert's mind, “Give him all of the credit.”
“You didn't help until the end.” Bert replied to the sword silently.
“Yeah, well whose fault is that?” asked the sword.
The Boss interrupted his private conversation by saying, “Let's get him bounded up safely and out to the truck.”
Bert helped him bind the injured vampire's arms and legs. He grunted with pain throughout the entire process, but didn't bother trying to put up a fight. Last, they covered his entire body in a dark cloth to protect him from the sun.
They dragged him back to the main room where two of the other hunters scooped him up and carried him out to the prisoner transport they had on the back of the truck. From the outside it looked like a camper shell, but on the inside it was covered in thick bars. There was no way for the vampire to escape.
From outside the Boss yelled, “We're done here! Everyone grab your gear! Let's go!”
Bert still had everything he came in with, so he walked over and helped Rogue pluck their lights off the wall. He handed them to her with a smile.
She glared at him coldly and said, “So you actually managed to get him all by yourself. I guess you aren't completely dead weight.”
“Uh, thanks,” said Bert, and with a grin added, “So do you want to go out some time?”
She rolled her eyes and they started walking out of the old farm house.
“So is that a no?” he asked as he walked toward the passenger seat of one of their vehicles.
She rolled her eyes again and said, “Idiot.”
Bert smiled. He was starting to feel like a part of the team.
For more Moonshine Wizard, Check out the novel…
The First Chronicle of the Moonshine Wizard: A Fist of Thorns
Available in paperback and Amazon Kindle on Amazon.com
About the Author
Phillip Drayer Duncan was born in Eureka Springs, Arkansas and has spent most of his life in the Ozarks. He currently resides in Anderson, Missouri. Along with reading and writing like a madman, his passions include kayakin, canoein, fishin, shootin, video games, and pretty much anything nerd related. More than anything, his greatest passion includes spending time with his ridiculously awesome friends, his wonderful family, and his gorgeous girlfriend. Throughout the warm months, he can be spotted on the river, around a campfire, or at a concert. In the cold months, he can be found hermitting amongst a pile of books and video games. No worries, he writes throughout.
His greatest dream in life is to become a Jedi, but since that hasn’t happened yet, he focuses on writing. His earliest books were written on notebooks, and acted out with action figures. He swears that if people wouldn’t think he was crazy, that he would still spend his days playing with action figures. He still feels this is the best way to write.
For more information about Phillip Drayer Duncan and his writing, or to contact him...
PhillipDrayerDuncan.Com
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First Job (Chronicles of the Moonshine Wizard) Page 2