Death Banishes (Mortis Vampire Series Book Six)

by J. C. Diem

  Looking down, I saw something scuttling towards me that made me utter a sound of profound disgust. It was around the size of a small dog but I was pretty sure it was actually an insect. Its legs and body were the same brown colour as the dirt and multiple purple eyes were clustered on a head the size of my fist. Mandibles dripped clear fluid that was probably toxic, going by the putrid smell. Its dozen legs moved with unnerving speed as it closed the distance between us. Long and roughly oval in shape, it looked far too much like a cockroach for my liking. I’d never been a fan of them as a human and even now that I was a monster, seeing one this big gave me the heebie-jeebies.

  Taking an involuntary step left, I put myself in full view of the cell. Heads popped up and purple eyes latched onto me. It wasn’t shifting dirt that covered the droid but half a dozen mutant roaches. Leaving the metal carcass, they focussed on a meal that they thought might be tastier; me.

  The quick glance I had of the dead droid was enough to tell me I didn’t want to be bitten by any of the insects. His metal skin had been eaten away and his inner workings were on display. The fluid dripping from the insect’s mouths must have been acidic as well as toxic.

  With a flurry of stubby wings, the roach to my right launched itself at me. I sidestepped, changed the setting of my death ray to destroy flesh and zapped it. I was relieved to see the bug disintegrate. It wouldn’t really have surprised me if it had been impervious to the blast. Scientists had predicted that roaches could survive a nuclear blast and these insects lent weight to that theory.

  The other six joined it in cockroach heaven then the black ooze that clogged my veins tried to run cold at the skittering sounds that came from all around. I’d assumed that most of the cells to be empty but I’d been wrong. They were infested with metal and flesh eating bugs that were now aware that they weren’t alone.

  Racing back the way I’d come, I shot beams of deadly violet rays at the roaches that tried to bar my way. One leaped at me and I booted it against the wall. Viscous guts splattered in a smear of brownish goo. Too many of the insects had bunched together in front of the exit for me to zap so I picked up speed and jumped over them. Landing safely on the other side, I pulled the gate shut but had a feeling it wouldn’t hold the bugs for long. They would just use their acid spit to melt their way to freedom.

  It occurred to me that there was probably more than one entrance from the cells to the arena when I began crossing the killing floor. Fluttering wings and skittering legs came from several directions. I had to get everyone out and hope the Kveet could move faster than the bugs or they would shortly end up as roach treats.

  I was about two thirds of the way back up the stairs when I heard the panicked rush of feet coming towards me. Spreading my hands out, I stopped the Kveet before they could rush past me. Without the translator bot they couldn’t understand my words but my expression was enough to deter them from rushing headlong to their deaths. Pointing silently, I urged them to start circling around the arena rather than continuing downwards. I mentally crossed my fingers that there would be another exit on the other side of the stadium.

  Igor was the first of my friends to reach me. He carried the dismembered translator droid over one shoulder. “I take it you encountered the unknown danger below?” he asked me sardonically.

  I grimaced and gave him a short nod. “Giant roaches. I’ll tell you all about it later.” I wasn’t about to admit that my nosiness had just put us all in danger. “I guess the droids found us?”

  Nodding sourly, he indicated for his apprentice to keep moving when Geordie bounded into view. The teen sent an anxious glance at me before sprinting along the row of seats. “We heard them wheezing and clanking in our direction,” Igor explained. “They will be here at any moment.”

  “See if you can find another way out of here. We’re about to be caught between two enemy forces.” Not waiting for the Russian to acknowledge my command, I started making my way upwards. The Kveet veered off the main staircase and started racing around the ring of seats when I blocked their descent and pointed for them to flee.

  Ishida, Kokoro and Gregor didn’t stop to ask me questions and simply headed where I indicated. Luc and M’narl began herding the last of our diminutive allies to safety when I reached them and gave them a quick explanation. The Kveet elder couldn’t understand me but followed my hand signals. Luc nodded without meeting my eyes but at least he had listened and hadn’t ignored me in a fit of pique.

  To buy our group time to escape, I headed back down towards the arena floor. The roaches had just finished eating their way through the gate that I’d propped shut. Fluttering their wings, they gave chase as I turned to run.

  Reaching the top of the steps, the droids began to descend. The corrosive dust had done enough damage to the robots that they no longer moved smoothly. Clanking jerkily, they made enough noise to cover the sounds of my friends and allies fleeing towards the far side of the stadium.

  Leading the oversized bugs upwards, I dodged fire from death rays as the droids finally caught sight of me. The roaches realized a banquet had just presented itself and their antennae went up. Debating for a short moment, they abandoned their chase for me and flowed up the stairs towards the small army of killbots.

  Electronic shrieks of alarm sounded as I quickly made my escape and sprinted around the circular row of seats. Blasts from the death rays lit up the main staircase behind me as the insects swarmed over the droids.

  Another wide set of stairs took me back up to ground level. My friends and allies were clustered around a door that wouldn’t budge. It hadn’t been designed to be a main entrance and was probably where the staff and combatants had once entered. Igor and Luc were trying to force the door open but they weren’t having much luck.

  “Let’s zap our way through,” Geordie suggested and pointed his death ray at the door. Although it was set to destroy metal, he waited for the pair to move before shooting. The bright light left a slight dent in the metal and that was enough encouragement to have all of us firing our weapons at the same spot. It took a few minutes to make an opening large enough for everyone to squeeze through.

  Checking on the battle that was raging on the far side of the arena, I was disturbed to see the death rays were no longer lighting up the stairs. While I hoped most of the roaches had been destroyed, something told me enough had survived that they would still be a danger to our group.

  I wasn’t alone as I guarded the rear. Geordie and Ishida were beside me when the first skittering noises came. We began firing even before we saw the giant mutant roaches appear. They didn’t have a brain that was capable of rational thought but they weren’t entirely stupid. Flinching away from the bars of light, they scattered into the rows to hide. The two teens and I continued to lay down fire until I sensed our allies had moved far enough away that we might actually be able to escape from the ruins without being eaten.

  Zapping a final bug, I pointed to the hole in the door. “Let’s go before they rally and attack us again.” Neither teen needed to be told twice and bolted for the exit.

  Following my remote senses, we caught up to the tail end of the Kveet force as they made their way towards the edge of the ruins. We had learned our lesson and now knew that it would be safer to brave the storm and try to avoid roaming droid armies than to risk entering any of the devastated cities again.

  .~.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  We hadn’t managed to cross all the way through the city when fleeing from the droids but had moved far enough away from the entry point that I hoped we wouldn’t be followed. We spent the next hour trotting as quickly as the Kveet could manage. I secretly wondered if all of the underground facilities were now being guarded. Dawn would be here before long and we needed to find somewhere safe to rest.

  Ishida and the Kveet technician started pushing the buttons that operated the subterranean doors. Eventually, Ishida lucked out and waved to indicate he’d found what we hoped would be a safe haven this time
. I felt no sense of doom when I checked the main hallway but made sure to search for enemies before calling everyone inside.

  It was far too dark inside for the Kveet to be able to navigate their way easily. Their technician activated the lights and the hallways became bright. Dust sifted off us to coat the metal floor. It gritted in my eyeballs and was stuck between my teeth. I was pretty sure I’d taste it for the next year or so.

  M’narl and most of his warriors had reached the edge of their endurance. We didn’t bother to traverse the distance to the sleeping quarters and instead bedded down in the empty rooms halfway down the hallway. Even after our frantic flight, I was wide awake as the sun made its appearance. So were my six closest friends but we all pretended to be as tired as everyone else and chose a spot to lie down. Geordie lay beside me but my other side felt cold and empty without Luc. Determined to distance himself from me, he had chosen to sleep in one of the other rooms.

  When we roused after nightfall, I searched for the closest group of Viltarans and found them nearer than I’d expected. They had mostly been sticking to the northern end of the planet but now appeared to be moving in a southerly direction. The group I was concentrating on halted momentarily then moved towards us at a blinding speed that I could barely keep up with. When they stopped, they were only one underground area away from us.

  Gregor could tell something was wrong from my expression. “Has something happened?”

  Kokoro stopped trying to finger comb the dirt out of her hair to listen, as did everyone else who was futilely attempting to tidy themselves.

  “A bunch of Viltarans just hopped out of an elevator nearby,” I said to the group.

  “Are they heading towards us?”

  I shook my head, still concentrating on our adversaries. “They’re not moving at all at the moment.”

  “We should move in and attack them before they can get away,” one of the four remaining Japanese warriors said. Not including Cristov and Aventius, there were only two Europeans left. On one level I’d known just how few of my kin were left but I was somehow shocked anyway. We’d started out with twenty-nine and we were now down to fifteen. I’d deliberately not allowed myself to learn the names of my allies because I’d known most of them would die. A tiny part of me had hoped that I’d somehow be able to thwart destiny and save my people from extinction. That hope withered and died, just like the false love that Luc had once felt for me. A hollow emptiness began to form inside me.

  “I have a bad feeling about this,” Geordie murmured as we headed towards the Viltarans.

  “You always have a bad feeling before we go into battle,” Igor pointed out.

  “True. But this time I have a really bad feeling,” his apprentice said.

  I also had a bad feeling but it was about my life in general rather than just the battle ahead. Luc had dropped back to the rear and I could almost feel his accusing gaze boring into my back. Was he regretting all the times we’d been naked together? Of course he is, my subconscious sneered. Remember how he reacted the first time he had to sleep with you? As if I’d ever forget it. Luc had covered his eyes with his arm when we were done that first time and his misery had been palpable. I was the last person he’d wanted to do the horizontal mambo with. The fact that he had changed his mind about not wanting to have sex with me so swiftly was proof that fate had stepped in and forced him into line.

  Sensing my despair, Geordie glanced at me then back at Luc before shaking his head. “Once this is all over, you two need to talk.”

  “What’s the point?” My tone reflected my dejection and defeat. “He doesn’t love me and he never really did.” I spoke so quietly that not even Igor could hear us and he was only a few yards away.

  Turning a look that was far wiser than I’d seen before, the teen shook his head again, presumably at my stupidity. “Luc does love you. You’re just too insecure to admit it.”

  “If he loves me then why is he avoiding me?”

  One of his shoulders went up then down in a half shrug. “He is probably angry and disappointed.”

  “Of course he is!” I said miserably. “He just found out that everything he feels about me is a lie.”

  “He does not care about that,” Geordie said. “I don’t think he believes in your theory at all.”

  Stunned, I almost missed a step. “Then why is he so upset with me?”

  Proving he was more mature than he appeared, the teen leaned in to whisper the answer. “He would lay down his life for you. He would tear heaven and hell apart to keep you from harm and yet you do not believe in him. You do not believe your feelings for him are real.”

  “They feel real,” I said in a small voice.

  “Then why would you hurt the man you profess to love so much?” Leaving me to think over his argument, Geordie dropped back to his mentor’s side.

  My inner voice gave me only a few seconds to mull over what Geordie had just told me. You know he’s full of crap, don’t you? It was snide and nastier than usual. Why are you being such an arsehole, I asked it. The answer was unexpected and sounded genuine. I’m just trying to save you from getting your heart broken. You and I both know how this is all going to end. Luc and the others are going to die and you will be the only vampire left in creation. Isn’t it better to make him hate you now so it won’t hurt so much when he is gone?

  There was something flawed about my internal argument but I didn’t have time to address it just now. The Viltarans were only a few short hallways away and I had to concentrate on the battle ahead.

  Gregor raised a hand to stop us and dropped down to one knee to divulge his battle plan to the Kveet. He wanted them in the flanks with us in the middle. We had a far greater chance of being able to dodge the blasts from a death ray. The Kveet would target the automatons and the undead would fire at the Viltarans.

  It was a simple yet solid plan and no one objected to it. Cristov stayed near Aventius, ready to lend assistance if needed. The ex-Councillor seemed to have aged several centuries during the past few nights. He handled his weapon gingerly even though I’d seen him blast plenty of droids previously. I couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d given up and no longer wanted to go on with his unnatural life.

  Moving as quietly as possible, we crept up to the corner of the hallway where I could feel the group of Viltarans lurking. At M’narl’s signal, his people began to shout as they raced around the corner. As planned, they split into two groups and kept to the sides of the hallway. The evil aliens were ready for us, as if they had somehow known we were coming.

  Instead of a hundred silver droids facing us, there were only ten. All held the strange new weapons that I’d dreamt about. Four of the droids were disintegrated before they could pull their triggers. The other six fired and suddenly dozens of what looked like small darts were flying towards us. I had enough time to realize they were full of iridescent yellow fluid then the first wave struck.

  Halting in their tracks, the Kveet who sported a dart in their flesh gasped for breath. Dropping their weapons, they clutched their heads or chests and their tiny bodies began to transform into something else. Screaming in pain, they shuddered, writhed and their brown skin changed to grey. Rapidly growing half a foot in height and much bulkier in size, they studied their new imp bodies and faces in wonder.

  Turning in confusion, they spied their former kin. “Food?” queried one.

  “Food!” another responded and brown blood began to flow as they fell on their friends and family members.

  Anguished screams and piping roars of rage and despair sounded as the Kveet turned their weapons against their own. The transformation had happened in seconds and another wave of darts was already heading towards us. Ishida blasted the last murberbot into oblivion but it was already too late and the missiles were on their way.

  At the front of the line, Luc turned his head and met my gaze. There were too many projectiles heading for him, he’d never be able to dodge them all. I read deep regret in his black e
yes and acceptance of his fate.

  Thwarting destiny, Aventius stepped in front of my one true love. Hit by over a dozen darts, he staggered and went down. Luc caught him before he hit the floor and eased him onto his back. Sparing a pitying glance at the fallen vampire, Gregor waved the others forward as the Viltarans ran for the elevator further down the hall.

  Unlike the Kveet, Aventius wasn’t instantly transformed into an imp. He had already been infected by their nanobots when he’d been turned into a vampire five thousand years ago. Eyes wide in terror and pain, they changed from black to red then back again. His skin alternated from white to grey then became a sickly green as his flesh swelled and bulged before shrinking again.

  Dropping to his knees, Cristov watched on in anguish as his leader thrashed in agony. His ears lengthened and curled at the ends and his nose became squashed and batlike. Thin fingers thickened, lengthened and turned into claws. Meeting Cristov’s gaze, Aventius beseeched him wordlessly to end his misery.

  Obeying the silent plea, Cristov pointed his death ray at his leader and violet light spread over his body. The dust motes that had once been one of the rulers of a vampire nation settled to the floor as the rest of our diminished party returned from their chase.

  Ishida grimly eyed the carnage and our wounded. “We killed all of the Viltarans.”

  Stunned that Aventius, one of the few of my kin that I had allowed myself to get to know, was now dead, I slowly climbed to my feet. “How did they know we were coming?” I asked Gregor.

  Running his fingers through his mussed hair, he looked disgusted at himself. “I believe we must have triggered a silent alarm when we switched on the lights. They realize we have the ability to find them so they set a trap and we walked right into it.”

  Shattered by their losses, the Kveet tended to their wounded. I met M’narl’s accusing gaze then Cristov’s grieving one. I couldn’t let anyone else die, not when I was unkillable and had the means of hunting down our enemy. “I think you should all head back to the caves and let me handle this from now on.”