THE VROL TRILOGY

by SK Benton

  Liliana rushed up to Jennie's cell, getting the woman her clothing that had been hung on a wooden dowel on the wall.

  "Jennie! Jennie! You are ok! I came for you. I was so worried! There are vampires in the castle!"

  Jennie groggily lifted her head and groaned, "No kidding," she said, looking down at the dead body on the ground. "How many are there?"

  "I do not know, but there are many. The ghouls came and Draagh and Krynos and Donus have been fighting them, but they need help."

  Jennie looked around, getting her head together as she regained her senses.

  "Liliana, did you blast me with the gauntlet?"

  "Yes…" She hesitated, afraid that she was going to be scolded.

  "Great, you remembered! You are such a smart girl. Ok, now do it to Max."

  "Really? You want me to?"

  "Yeah, and blast him good. Boys need to be shocked more."

  Liliana got a devilish grin on her face, and standing back, she uttered the same cantus as before, but this time she kept the gauntlet trained on her target a little longer, not knowing that what Jennie had told her was an exaggeration - the woman just wanted to see Max get jolted a bit.

  Max's lupine body was blasted into the back wall with a concussive force that even startled the woman. The werewolf was lying on the ground with not only smoke emanating from his wound where the little girl had pointed her weapon, but he was actually on fire. Luckily, the flames quickly dissipated once his changing form shed the fur that had covered his canid form. Unfortunately, the rancid smell of burnt fur and flesh remained.

  "Um, shit… I think maybe that was a bit too much, sweetie."

  "Oh, Jennie. Did I hurt him? And what does it mean, this shit?"

  "Erm, he'll be fine, and uh… it means…um, just don't say it, ok?"

  "Ok," said the little girl, while smiling broadly.

  Max regained his senses and looked up as the lock on his cell door released with a loud clunking sound. Standing up, he saw Jennie and Liliana staring at him. It took him a moment to realize he was stark naked. Jennie was eyeing him appraisingly, but Liliana looked at him with a face of slight disgust because he was, after all, a boy in her eyes. Max thought this was incredibly unfair, as he had been denied the opportunity to witness Jennie in her full glory earlier in the evening.

  "Wow, not bad, Max, not bad," she said as she wiggled her eyebrows.

  "Oh, shut it, Jennie. Hey, are we done?"

  "Um, no, Max. Liliana knocked us out of phase 3 with my power gauntlet - apparently the castle has been attacked by vampires."

  "Oh, that's what hurt… Holy shit! Vampires?"

  "Jennie, why can Max say shit, but I cannot?"

  "I'll explain later, sweetie. Max, we gotta get up above. We need weapons."

  Max put on his tunic and trousers and walked out of his cell, grabbing his shoes, which were placed on the ground out front by the central barrier (to keep him from sniffing and chewing on his own shoes while in phase 3). He looked at a huge cabinet on the near wall, and bounding over to it, threw the doors open, finding it packed full of swords.

  Calling back, he said, "Hey Liliana, wake some other people up. Just start doing whatever you did to me! Just not as hard… please."

  "Yay! Cool shit!"

  "Liliana, honey, we don't use the word that way."

  "Actually, Jennie, that was pretty good."

  "Shut up, Max!"

  The sweet little girl from future-past just smiled back at the beautiful dega, and then turned her attention back toward the cages. With a wicked grin she started zapping every werewolf she saw, while Max grabbed their katanas from the cabinet. Once the first lycan awoke - a lieutenant named Roy - Jennie briefed him on the situation and the need to get everyone up above. Roy stated he would take care of forming a battle group, and would go up top shortly. He then turned to supervise the recently awoken, while looking for potential crashers. Wishing each other good luck, Max went for the stairs, but Jennie called him out, asking him to hold on for a moment.

  Turning to her little friend, Jennie said, "Liliana - what you did was very brave, but also dangerous. How did you get down here?"

  "I climbed down through little corridors in the walls."

  "Ah, the ventilation and access tunnels - very smart. I am so proud of you, but now I need you to hide. Can you hide?"

  The little pigtailed lycan nodded enthusiastically.

  "Very good - hide and don't come out until the sun rises, ok sweetie?"

  "Ok!"

  Jennie gently helped Liliana to slip the gauntlet off her hand, and then placed it on her own. Turning and running for the stairs, Max took the cue and headed up in the lead. As they had both eaten while in death form, they had ample reserves, but knew they would need to stuff something else in their mouths if they were to last until the sun rose.

  Reaching the first floor, Max and Jennie quickly dispatched a group of bottom-tier vampire soldiers with their katanas, soaking the floor with copious amounts of blood. They then ran through the main hall, Jennie stopping near some piles of ash, which captured her curiosity.

  "I wonder what this is?" she queried.

  "They were vampires, but were killed with platinum or palladium. Even rhodium or iridium - all the same metal family."

  "What's the difference? Why are they ash? I mean, when I kill with my sword they just bleed out."

  "The molecular composition of anything from the platinum family operates on a vibrational frequency antagonistic to the salubots that flow in our system. That's why it hurts when lycans touch platinum or palladium, but with vampires, the metal makes their bots to freak out and basically causes them to self-immolate - if the metal makes contact with their blood."

  "Oh wow, I knew it hurt them, but had no idea it made them burn up. And Earth fiction said that silver was painful to werewolves. Funny, huh?"

  "Yeah, silver. Right," said Max.

  They both chuckled for a moment, and then concentrated on the sounds and smells of the immediate area. The scents of vampires, lycans and, unfortunately, some dead normals littered the air, giving Max and Jennie ample indication of where to go next. Suddenly, and without warning, two werewolves leaped over the hall, going from one side of the mezzanine to the other, startling Jennie.

  "Don't worry, they're wearing Draagh's armor, so they have brains," said Max, noting Jennie's alarmed expression.

  "They're onto something. Leave them, and let's go join the fun outside."

  But before they could get out the doorway to the courtyard, a massive throng of vampires that had waited on the perimeter of the castle during the invasion rushed them. These were not lower-caste sacrificial soldiers, but mid-level troops, and they had the experience to match.

  Jennie and Max immediately converted to their battle form, which instantly doubled their strength. Lycans in day form were already on par with the average vampire - but these were not average vampires. They were stronger than their inferior brothers.

  Nearly overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of rotting troops, Max and Jennie slashed and hacked their way toward the doorway, but each time they seemed to get close they were pushed back by a counterattack. Max threw numerous UV light cantuses, debilitating roughly half the vampires in the hall, but it was a major mistake, as he had nearly depleted his yellow line, and only had room for two more cantuses before he would suffer a substantial timeout period. His inexperience in battle was proving to be his undoing. To fight two or three vampires in an open field was one thing, but dozens of attacking mid and high-level troops in an enclosed space was something he had never trained nor accounted for.

  Suffering numerous bites and scratches, the two lycans were depleting resources at an astounding rate. If a vampire were to bite a lycan there would be no risk of infection, as they lycan virus basically fights off and eliminates the invading organisms, just as the vampire virus fights off that of the lycan when the tables are turned. Still, the wounds they were suffering taxed them severely, as was e
vident by their shrinking health lines in their peripheral readouts.

  Separated from each other for the first time in a battle, Max was overcome with rage and despair. He needed to get to Jennie and fight to keep the enemy off her, but the harder he tried to get through to her the further away he was pushed. He continued to kick, punch and hack the enemy with his katana and all of his enhanced strength, but was unable to get into position and deliver fatal blows. Taking an incredible chance, he levitated himself up over the crowd and saw Jennie back in the corner of the room being beaten savagely, with blood all over her face and clothing, as she used part of a broken table as a makeshift shield.

  He couldn't use a gravecantus to blow off her attackers because he would injure her at the same time - he just didn't have the experience to be able to pick and choose who precisely was affected by his magical skills, especially in the case of an area-wide attack, as was the gravecantus. It was all he could do to protect her with a simple shield - one that kept her from being stabbed by an errant blade, but could not relieve her of the mounting pressure that pushed her back into a corner. He then decided to float over and try to pull her out. If he could not, he would drop down in the crowd and be by her side no matter the outcome. Quickly gliding over, he tried to reach down and grab her hand as she reached up to him, calling his name out, with a look of terror painted on her normally beautiful face.

  She was going to die. Right there - in front of him.

  He failed to grab her hand, and seeing she had a knife sticking out of her arm and was about to go down for the last time, he did the only thing he could.

  If Jennie dies, she dies in my arms and I'll go with her.

  Max dropped down into the crowd and desperately hacked and slashed his way to her side. Pulling out his smaller sword, called a tachi, he did all he could to keep the attacking troops away from the woman, taking the brunt of their abuse and trying to give her precious seconds to live.

  All seemed lost, with everything going by in agonizingly slow motion. As he fought harder and harder while keeping his back pressed up against Jennie and making sure she was pinned back into the corner, he started to lose consciousness. The edges of his vision started to fade to black - his existence was ending right there. With Jennie behind him and in a final moment of desperation he executed a gravecantus, pushing back nearly all of the attacking soldiers - only to see them bound back up and attack again.

  Turning around he wrapped his arms around her, using his massive back as a shield against the marauding troops and whispered, "I'm sorry, Jennie. Please, I'm so sorry."

  His shield cantus was weak and barely kept the sharp edges of blades from slicing him in two. Suddenly, a knife penetrated the meat of his shoulder as clubs beat him over the head, but he was feeling at peace. He had resigned himself to death. His only regret was that he never got the chance to hold her - to tell her how he felt.

  He was near an unconscious state when out of his almost nonexistent peripheral vision he saw a brilliant flash - a blinding white, followed by screams. The pressure on his back was gone. He had no idea what had happened, but he would die while near Jennie. Was it Heaven? Was it some sort of afterlife? He had heard stories of people seeing bright white lights when they died and were later revived.

  Then, without further warning, everything went black.

  Chapter 26 - Regeneration

  Kangor had split off from the group and was dispatching vampires, using the rhodium claw sheaths he always wore during battle. He suddenly found the enemy much easier to defeat, as of a few minutes prior. They no longer had a shield they seemed to possess when they had invaded the castle, and he was able to take out three times the amount of rotting vampires as before. While he easily picked off the remaining lower-caste vampires in his vicinity, he saw Krynos and howled out to his king. Krynos was about to return the gesture from across the hall, but watched in horror as an upper-caste vampire nearly bifurcated the lycan with an uncanny swiftness of the blade, splitting him diagonally and spilling his guts on the cold castle floor. Krynos screamed (as much as a phase 3 could) and leaped up to his trusted friend, turning Kangor's attacker to ash before he could flee the scene.

  The lycan king desperately tried to use his semi-dexterous paws to push Kangor's entrails back into his intestinal cavity, but to no avail.

  "Kangor, hold still. I shall summon Draagh and he shall heal you."

  "My liege, fear not. The ladies do love an attractive battle scar."

  "Your humor is legendary, dear friend, but this is no joking matter. You shall be saved."

  "My king, if I am to be reincarnated, I would wish to be your son."

  "Kangor, you are my son. Hold still. Help shall arrive."

  The brave lycan soldier closed his eyes and saw his entire existence flash through his mind. His childhood; the crippling disease he had suffered as a youth; Lord Draagh using his wonderful magic to heal him. He always had to work harder than anyone, and his self-effacing humor made him the life of every party. He had never married, but he had one love - the one woman he could never hold - Alea. He secretly loved her – desperately loved her, but she belonged to Morgus, and he would never covet the wife of one of his brothers. It was Kangor who discovered the lycan that had betrayed Morgus, and it was he who killed the traitor in secret, not wishing to bring shame upon the man's family. Kangor cared for everyone, and always put others first. Even after Morgus' death, Kangor attended to Alea as a friend. He harbored his affections for her in secret, cherishing more her friendship than her touch. Her treason affected him more than anyone, even Draagh, who was her last lover before being banished from the Rhönen Dominion.

  In his mind he remembered great battles and expeditions; he saw the Aurora Borealis wavering in the winter night sky; he felt the joy that others experienced when their pups were born. Then, opening his eyes, he saw his king holding him.

  "I would really like a cup of mead right about now, but I fear it would be in waste."

  "Why is that, my son?"

  "You see, I have this massive hole in my stomach. In fact, I do not believe I even have a stomach anymore, so I imagine the mead would spill out onto the floor."

  "Kangor, my boy, hold fast. You shall yet see the sunrise."

  Despite Krynos' comforting words, Kangor's long life expired in a single, sighing breath. Krynos threw his massive head back and howled, while an almost imperceptible tear flowed from one of his lupine eyes.

  ###

  Max awoke with a start, sitting up quickly, but was held down by Draagh, who had arrived moments before the young man was to meet his end. However, the first thought in his head was not for his own well-being, but for that of Jennie.

  "Hey Pops, where…is she?" he asked with a painful-sounding groan.

  "Oh my son, please wait. She rests here on the table. We are safe, yes, quite safe, as I have cordoned off this room while I heal the both of you. Now, relax for a moment. I had to remove a spear from your torso, and the healing is not yet finished. I must say, my dear boy, that if there was not a substantial part of me in you… then you would most certainly not be alive right now."

  Max's grandfather pointed to at least half a dozen blood-covered, platinum-covered blades laid out on the ground - all of which he had pulled out of his grandson's body.

  "I need to see her. Please," he said weakly. He looked at his hands and noted his normal nails. He was so depleted he had converted back to his day form, which left him on par with the mid and upper-caste vampire warriors.

  "Draagh, where are they? All of those vamps?"

  Draagh put his hand to Max's shoulder, instigating another massive flood of salubots to assist in healing his stab wounds, as well as multiple other cuts and gouges on his body.

  "I merely dispatched them - to the moat. Well, the ones that remained after Krynos and Donus had attacked. I find it much easier when they group together. It is more efficient. Yes, much more efficient. However, I bring sad tidings. We lost Kangor and Wilhelm to Vla
dros' forces."

  Standing up with some difficulty, Max looked over to a blood-covered Jennie, who was lying motionless on the table next to their position. He stumbled over and nearly fell on top of her. Draagh quickly moved over and steadied him, noting that the young man's eyes had welled up with tears.

  "I'm sorry, Jennie. I'm so sorry, I should have been more careful. We should have fought them out in the open. I was arrogant… it's all my fault."

  Max closed his eyes and dropped his head, tears falling onto Jennie's bloody arm, when he felt her hand brush up against his cheek, with the woman speaking to him in a low whisper.

  "It's ok, hun. Draagh came, but we still need to go back out there. Move back and let him do what he does best."

  Max looked down at Jennie's slightly bruised face. Her eyes - those amazing eyes - they seemed to reflect hope, and he used that hope as his strength. He reached down and brushed her bangs out of her face, and to his surprise she appeared to welcome his touch, slightly moving her cheek toward his hand, while gaining a soft, but weak smile.

  "Max, you're in the way. Move, you dumbass," she insisted, this time with a bit more force to her voice.

  Backing up, Max turned around and looked at his grandfather. He was feeling the effects of the salubots flowing through his system as they regenerated missing tissues and healed wounds. Then, looking at his levels he noticed that they were all peaked, which was unusual, as he hadn't consumed anything of nutritional value. Looking at his grandfather he asked how that could be.

  "Draagh, my levels… they're peaked. How?"

  "My boy, I have certain… abilities, yes I have. I am only glad I arrived in time, as I was rampaging throughout the castle, racing Krynos and Donus and having quite a good time hunting the invaders - but I heard you - I heard your cries, I felt your anguish and hopelessness. Now stand back, and let me heal this wonderful young woman who had her sword over your back, guarding your spine while you used your body as a voluntary lycan carving post in order to protect her."