Moonlight War- Act II (The Realmers Book 3)

by William Collins

“Miss me, brother?” Falawn asked.

  He was just as she remembered him. It sickened her that Falawn even slightly resembled Arantay. Fortunately, the resemblance was small and Falawn’s repugnant expression further distanced himself from his brother. But the loathing for everyone else still glimmered in Falawn’s dark green eyes, and his lips were still curved into that repulsive smile which held no mirth at all.

  Hatred surged in her veins. Jack had been kind to her; he’d seemed the most human of all the vampires.

  “You bastard!” she cried.

  Falawn shrugged. “Battles have casualties. You should know that, Venator scum.”

  A Dark-Venator stood at Falawn’s side. She had bright pink hair pulled into pigtails and blue flames danced in her hands.

  Arantay was edging toward Falawn slowly, a look of naked disbelief on his face. The shock of being reunited with his brother once again soon contorted into unadulterated rage.

  “You’ve always claimed to loathe Venators,” said Tay. “Yet now you are one, you fool.”

  Falawn chuckled. “No, the Rakarn are nothing like you.”

  “You killed them, Falawn,” Arantay rasped. “Our family, all of the elves.”

  “Are you still on about that?” Falawn raised an eyebrow. “That was a while ago now, brother.”

  A strangled scream erupted out of Arantay as he broke into a run at his brother, his sword striking out fast.

  “Kady,” Falawn cried.

  The Rakarn by Falawn’s side, Kady, jumped in front of him, firing off a blast of flames and driving Tay back.

  “Sorry, no time to chat.” Kady smiled at Brooke before placing both her hands together and shooting a torrent of blue flames upwards, hitting the giant chandelier in the middle of the room and setting it ablaze.

  Brooke and Arantay were forced to leap away as the chandelier crashed to the ground, spreading its fire around the church in seconds.

  Eskal and the rest of Kaymor’s coven used this distraction to escape out of the broken window from which they’d entered, as others ran to put the fire out.

  She saw Lok attempt to stop Falawn and Kady as they ran past, but he wasn’t fast enough to catch them.

  Tyrell quickly conjured the water element, dousing the flaming chandelier.

  Amongst the commotion she looked up to see Eskal climbing up the wall like a skeletal spider and diving back through the window.

  Falawn and his Rakarn companion Kady were the last to reach the broken window.

  “The Dark-Venators offer their greetings,” Falawn snarled. “And they offer you an invitation. Come to the Bektul warehouse, where we will finish it once and for all. Oh and dogs, your crazed moon brothers serve them now. You don’t stand a chance, they will destroy you all, especially you,” he looked to the Venators.

  And then he was gone, melting into the night.

  “No!” Arantay scrambled back to his feet and leaped through the window after Falawn.

  “Arantay, stop,” she cried, but he paid her no heed.

  She looked to her fellow Venators for help, but they were busy putting out the fire.

  Vore’s pack and Hallia’s Coven faced off at opposite ends of the hall, unsure whether they were still meant to battle.

  Vore himself was coughing violently, his chest covered in his own blood. It appeared the gaping wound Eskal had sliced into his throat had healed itself, however. If Vore was a normal wolf and not a Hellwolf, the cut would’ve killed him.

  As Brooke’s mind struggled to register all the chaos that had whirled around her the past few minutes she saw Kane rise. He howled in rage and stepped forward to resume his battle with Cazantian, but Tyrell stepped in between them shouting down the whole church.

  “Wait!” The Moonlight races swivelled their red and gold gazes onto him.

  “Didn’t you hear them,” Tyrell continued. “Eskal admitted their alliance with Velkarath, and that the Rakarn were the ones who turned your kind mind to chaos. It wasn’t Hallia’s Vampires and it wasn’t us. You shouldn’t be fighting each other, you need to join together to have a hope at driving the Dark-Venators back.”

  “Silence, meatbag,” Kane spat, taking a swipe at Tyrell’s head.

  As Tyrell ducked, Vore thundered in, smashing Kane to the ground.

  “I heard them,” Vore boomed. “But we will not join with vampires.” He cast a scathing glance to Hallia’s coven. “My pack will rip these Rakarn limb from limb, without your help.”

  “Why do you have to be so stubborn, Vore?”

  Brooke was shocked to see that the angry speaker was Quinn.

  “You dare speak to Vore that way?” Serren shrieked.

  Quinn only glared at her through his scruffy hair, his yellow eyes big and bright as the sun.

  “The Rakarn have brought nothing but chaos to both our homes,” Quinn addressed everyone, “and that is what they meant to do. I say we go together and punish them for causing all this.”

  Serren moved to strike Quinn, but Vore pushed her back as he had Kane.

  The mountainous leader looked to his pack. “What say you, moon brothers? Should we band with these blood suckers just this once, to rid our homes of this evil?”

  Many of the wolves shook their head in anger, but many more agreed, perhaps they were the ones who had been closest to the kin that’d been cursed by the Rakarn.

  “There’s your answer.” Vore turned to Hallia. “We will ally ourselves with you to destroy the Dark-Venators only, then we shall once again keep to our own.

  The head-vampire did not speak, but nodded her head gratefully; more emotion than Brooke had ever seen out of her.

  “That’s settled then,” said Tyrell, relief showing on his face. “I suggest both of you gather your forces and that everyone here has time to heal. Tomorrow night we’ll meet the Dark-Venators and their vampire coven, and we end this.”

  *

  Adrenaline still flooded Falawn’s body as he and Kady neared the warehouse the Rakarn had holed up in.

  It felt surreal seeing his little brother again. Arantay was still as whiny as ever. His brother had always acted like he was the one hard done by. But it was Falawn who’d been dealt the bad cards in life.

  Arantay acted like he had to suffer everyday. Falawn looked forward to the day he would end Tay’s suffering. And that day was imminent.

  “Good job, elf.” Kady grinned at him. She’d been ecstatic ever since they’d left the church. It had been her idea to attack when the Venators and the vampires least expected it.

  Kaymor and his coven had ran on ahead, using their inhuman speed. Several of their number had been injured in the fight, so he assumed they’d hurried off to drink blood and heal themselves. Filthy creatures they were, just like Arantay.

  Falawn knew Kady had wanted to attack early in hopes of defeating the Venators and being the one who led the Rakarn to victory. Even in the short time since he’d joined them, he could see the politics at play amongst the Dark-Venators.

  He, however, didn’t care why Kady wanted to ambush the church, he merely wanted the chance to slay his brother.

  Kady had told him to convince Kaymor and his coven to join them in the assault, but they hadn’t planned on the wolf pack being there too.

  “Why are you happy?” he asked. “We didn’t kill any of the Venators?”

  Kady shrugged. “No biggie, we’ll get ‘em next time. Nice touch in telling them where we’re staying by the way, that will make Selina look even worse.”

  “So that’s why you’re happy,” he grunted. “Now the vamps, wolves and Realmers are better prepared to face us, you think it’ll reflect badly on Selina?”

  “In the mission report back on Velkarath, after this is all over, I’ll conveniently let slip to the Masters that Selina enabled the Moonlight Races to know of our plan to ruin this city,” said Kady. “Of course, I had intended for tonight to be my crowning moment. But this is a silver lining. I can tell the Masters how Selina’s incompetence pushed Lond
on’s vampires and werewolves into an alliance against us. Their side won’t win of course, but Selina will be furious.”

  Falawn nodded. The little Rakarn girl certainly looked foolish, what with her bright pink hair arranged in pigtails and sparkly blue mascara, but she possessed a modicum of intelligence.

  He didn’t know what to think of the Dark-Venators yet. Kady had taken him to Velkarath after he’d tracked them down. It was an impressive place, and Falawn liked that it was a mockery of Veneseron. The Masters there were much more efficient at training young Venators too, and the weak didn’t last long, as it should be.

  But he still loathed magic. Venators and their cursed magic had ruined his home long ago. The Dark-Venators weren’t all that different from those in Veneseron. Falawn held no fondness for them.

  He hadn’t counted on Lord Kurrlan failing though. With Kurrlan’s defeat, Falawn had nowhere else to go. He’d decided to use the Rakarn until he took revenge on his brother, then he’d return to Velkarath, for a while. There, he’d research which realm he could seek sanctuary in. He’d find a world full of elves, where he could live without the taint of sorcery.

  He followed Kady through the doors of the Bektul warehouse, where he could hear an argument already taking place.

  “You’ve ruined everything,” Selina shrieked at Kaymor. “The wolves and the vampires were supposed to be at war with one another, not allied against us.”

  The warehouse was a huge, empty place. Selina and her Dark-Venators stood on one side of the room, whilst Kaymor and his coven gathered at the other.

  As Kaymor and Selina continued to argue, he spotted the twins Rath and Ragul, perched atop a couple of wooden pallets, with Eskal beside them. Eskal was the only vampire on the Dark-Venator’s side of the room.

  The twins were merrily whittling stakes. “Look what we made.” Ragul beamed at Falawn.

  “Yeah, we’re gonna’ get those trampy vampy’s good,” Rath said. “No offense, Eskal.”

  “None taken.” Eskal grinned, picking up one of the stakes and rolling it between his fingers.

  He and Kady moved away from the twins and closer to the raised voices of Selina and Kaymor.

  “But one of your men, the elf,” Kaymor said, “told us it would be best to strike tonight, to catch them unawares.”

  It seemed Falawn had arrived just in time.

  “I did no such thing,” he lied. “Kady and I merely saw you leaving and followed quickly to stop you. By the time we got there, you’d already entered the church.”

  “Liar!” Kaymor roared, lunging at Falawn.

  He readied himself to fight, but Selina made a gesture and Kaymor fell back, pushed by an invisible force.

  “You do not attack a Dark-Venator.” Selina glared at Kaymor. “Even if he isn’t officially one of us.” Selina turned her glare on Falawn, and he knew then he’d made a powerful enemy.

  He considered betraying Kady then. True, she was the Rakarn he knew most, but he’d rather have Selina as an ally than her.

  “It matters not,” Kady interrupted, sneering at Selina. “Me and my boys have enchanted enough wolves and shifters to insanity, seven so far.”

  “Good job,” Selina said begrudgingly. “My force have managed to turn five more beasts insane. You’re right. It doesn’t matter; both the pack and the coven don’t stand a chance against us now.”

  “It’s good that you agree,” Kady said, “since they’re coming here tomorrow to meet us.”

  “What!” Selina snapped.

  “This one,” Kady pointed to Kaymor, “told them they could find us at this warehouse. We should ready for battle.”

  “I did no such thing,” Kaymor growled. “I always wished to avoid bloodshed. Hallia is a pushover; she’d take her coven and leave, once she knew she’d lose. If her coven left this city of their own accord, none of my own coven would perish in the coming battle.” Kaymor tuned back to Selina. “Unlike you, I take the lives of my men and woman seriously. We must-”

  Kaymor stopped speaking with a gasp. Eskal had moved so fast, no one had seen him until he was stood behind Kaymor, holding the stake he’d driven through Kaymor’s back.

  Kaymor looked down at the stake’s tip, sticking out of his chest, right through the heart. He tried to speak, but promptly died. His body sagged to the ground, his flesh already going from a bright white to a dull grey.

  The rest of the vampires hissed and prepared to fly at Eskal. He hissed back however. “I slew our sire. That makes me coven leader now. Stand down!”

  To Falawn’s surprise, the other vampires submitted to Eskal. He shook his head, failing to understand these abhorrent creatures and their ways.

  Eskal turned back to Selina. “That ought to make up for Kaymor’s mistakes.” He shrugged.

  Selina looked at Kaymor’s corpse in mild annoyance. “Yes, he was starting to annoy me. Just get rid of his body. We have a battle to prepare for.”

  Part Six-

  Demon-Spawn’s Daughter

  It will not come to war between Britain’s druids and America’s warlocks. We found the genie gold fair and square. We are confident those stupid pretend wizards will realise that soon. - Quote from Thomas Timbly, British Ambassador for Druids. From a speech to America’s Chief-Warlock, John Smith in 1905.

  Chapter 50- An Old Flame

  At first, all Evan could see was darkness. He saw only the outlines of Cera’s cell, the tops of four small walls. But then, as his eyes adjusted, she came into view.

  He exhaled a huge sigh of relief. The cell wasn’t empty after all, just pitch black.

  Cera lounged against the centre of the far wall, directly opposite him. She wore a dark green dress, faded and filthy, yet the colour matched her vibrant emerald eyes.

  Before Evan said anything, she rose her head and those emerald eyes pierced into him. Cera squinted in confusion for several long moments. Silence stretched between them as he found himself speechless.

  “Evan? Is it really you?” Her voice was soft and ravaged, as if she’d been screaming for a long time.

  “Is this some sort of spell?” she asked again.

  He still couldn’t speak.

  Cera’s hair used to be like black silk, her toffee-coloured skin flawless. Now, her hair was a wild, tangled mane, and her flesh was covered in scratches and dried blood. She looked skinnier too, her face had been beautifully sculpted, but now it looked like the bones in her face were trying to push themselves out. She looked so small and frail.

  After all Cera had been through, sitting alone in utter darkness couldn’t be helping her at all.

  “Evan! Say something,” she rasped, trying to stand, but stumbling. She leaned heavily against the wall behind her, unable to stand up without it.

  Evan immediately felt sorry for her, before he could stop himself. He couldn’t help it. He knew he shouldn’t. He knew he should hate Cera for what she had done to him. But he’d kept making excuses for her in his head. Once the shock had worn off and Evan had returned from Kurrlan’s realm and back to Veneseron, he’d wondered if Cera’s father had put her up to it. Slowly, Evan had convinced himself that it was all manipulation by Mr Sangel and then Kurrlan. Surely Cera would never betray Veneseron like that and deliver him to Kurrlan. But the back of Evan’s mind had always kept reminding him that Cera was responsible for her own choices.

  “H…hi…” he spoke at last. “Yeah, it’s me. No spells.”

  “Really?” Cera gasped, a fragile smile breaking across her face. “I-I never thought I’d see you again. I’ve missed you so much.”

  Her words sent a pang through his body. She missed me?

  “Why would you miss me? When you condemned me to death.”

  His pity for her eroded.

  “Rueda, I’m so sorry,” Cera said in one breath. “It isn’t like you think, Evan. I swear. I swear on my life and the lives of my parents. I never betrayed you or Veneseron.”

  “What do you mean?”

  Evan hated see
ing her like this. She looked ill, feverish. From the sound of her voice it sounded like she was telling the truth. But maybe he just wanted to believe that.

  “Lord Kurrlan forced me to do it. All of it. He said he’d kill my parents if I didn’t bring you to him. I didn’t want to Evan, you have to believe me. I loved you, I still do.”

  Loved me? Now Evan knew she was lying. He’d cared for her a lot, and he thought she’d cared for him too, but they hadn’t got to the love stage. He was glad they hadn’t. He couldn’t stand the way he felt now, if he’d been madly in love with her he doubted he’d ever recover.

  “But you-”

  “And then there was daddy too,” Cera hastily spoke over him. “He wanted me to have sorcery so bad. It was killing him inside. I wanted magic too, sure. I hated seeing all my friends from the city move to the Fortress, year after year, whilst I wasted away. No matter the things father tried, I just wasn’t able to bring my magic out. You don’t know how many hours he tired to wring it out of me. He cut my arms and legs, just little cuts, but it was so I would heal myself. But I just couldn’t. You don’t know how hard I tried, Evan. When Kurrlan gave me magic at last we were all so happy. I’d never seen father smile at me like that. But we couldn’t go back. We had to pay Kurrlan back. I couldn’t have my magic ripped away from me again.”

  “Your father’s a monster,” Evan snarled. “Hurting you to force you to heal the wounds is heinous enough, let alone putting all of Veneseron in danger when he contacted Kurrlan.”

  “But daddy didn’t know that would happen,” Cera gushed. “Honest, Evan. When we father found Kurrlan and they made the deal, all Kurrlan wanted was for me to bring one Venator to his world. I didn’t know he’d invade Veneseron with an army of demons.”

  “If Kurrlan, or even your father were truly forcing you to do it all, then why didn’t you warn me?” Evan asked, his voice breaking. “You could’ve told me what was happening, not lead me into the forest when you knew Kurrlan’s minions were waiting. Then you attacked me yourself, you tried to suffocate me with magic. And during the battle, you led me to Arok and you laughed at me in Kurrlan’s throne room. You weren’t upset at all. It was like you enjoyed seeing me suffer.”