Princess of Apocalypse

by Drake Wellington

  “I suppose”, she said coldly, her hair dancing in a gust of wind, “That expresses my general dispositions to the Consul’s employment offer.”

  And with that, all hell broke loose. So many things happened at once, I was unable taking them all in. Victor materialised out of nowhere, right next to Jake and before this one could react, he found Victor’s fist bashing his chin. Jake plummeted backwards and losing consciousness. With incredible agility for such an old scholar, he heaved Annabelle off the ground, turned around and ran back to the portal.

  In the meantime, John struggled with Dimitri, who desperately tried pushing the blade from his throat. Without success, the blade cut deeper, more blood escaped, my heart stopped for a few moments, then Dimitri turned into black smoke. A cry escaped my lips. I knew about his demon half, but wasn’t expecting him to die like one. John was as surprised as I was. Glancing from left to right, feverishly looking for a trace of him. Then, a dark cloud of smoke formed in his back, Dimitri stepped out of it, armed with a dagger. Without mercy, Dimitri stabbed the blade into John’s back, once, twice, three times. John, now even more staggered, sunk to his knees and blew out his last breath. His eyes rolled up, then he collapsed frontal.

  Dimitri turned around, blood dropping from his blade as if to say, who’s next.

  Flee, I mouthed at him, but he did the opposite and sprinted towards me. Boys, what can you say, always doing the exact opposite of what they’re told. Probably comes with the job description of a hero.

  Two Guild members in flapping robes and armed with a long knife blocked his way. I couldn’t see much, but two heartbeats later, the two dropped to the ground. More Guild members came from both directions, but never reached him. Flames shot up in front of them, blocking their way. A swift glance at Tatiana confirmed, she was holding the mob at bay. A second or two later and he was at my side. I was still petrified. This time it was psychological. With the Consul’s sudden departure from the world of the living, his spell on me had vanished. Nevertheless, I was too stunned by the magnitude of what I just did. Dimitri was in his element, he didn’t waste another moment, not even a hi, just heaved me up and slung me over his shoulder. He could have said something, couldn’t he? After all, he was my hero. Then we were speeding towards the portal. Tatiana had been already miles ahead, but Dimitri, despite my weight on his shoulders, caught up with her at the portal.

  I got my head up, trying to get a glimpse of the situation in the hall. There wasn’t the panic I’d hoped to find. The opposite was the case. Lord Brunswick had taken over command, giving orders to his subjects. Recent events couldn’t have gone better for him. He was in charge now. How long had he waited for this moment? And sure enough, he wouldn’t spare their lives as the Consul might have.

  A mob of angry looking robed figures assembled around him. “GET THEM”, Lord Brunswick’s voice roared. “BRING ME THE DAUTHER OF DEATH, KILL THE OTHERS!”

  The mob reacted immediately and set after us.

  Another step or two and we crossed the threshold of the portal. The scene vanished in front of my eyes and in the next instant we were back in the blue room of the palace.

  “We must leave”, I heard Victor saying from nearby.

  “Annabelle”, I called alarmed.

  Dimitri turned to the side, just so I could see my sister. She was still crying, her entire body shaking with fear.

  “Izzy!” she sobbed.

  “All will be good, Pumpkin. Just do what Victor is telling you. He’s a friend.”

  Victor had put her back on her feet, but held on to her hand. Tatiana pushed down the door handle and slipped into the corridor. Victor followed, dragging Annabelle behind him.

  Before I could take a breath, Dimitri was in the corridor too, running like mad.

  “Dimitri, I screwed up, I screwed up so badly.” My voice sounded weepy. “I unleashed the apocalypse. It’s all my fault. All the people who will die...” I couldn’t finish the sentence.

  “You had no other choice, I understand, Izzy. We’ll fix this, I promise.”

  Well, I loved how he said we.

  “Let me down!” I shouted instead, but he was obviously deaf to my words and continued racing the corridors with me as his declared backpack. Of course I liked it. Under normal circumstances we could have done this all day long, but my conscience had caught up with me. I didn’t deserve this, I must be punished and if it’s barely a restraint from pleasure for now.

  “You hear me?” I asked ashamed. “Let me down.”

  At the double doors to the ballroom, he finally got aware of my pleading and placed me back to the ground. “Are you sure?” he asked.

  I blushed in answer.

  Tatiana appeared at our side. “Get a bed later, but now we’ve got company.” She pointed into the corridor, which we just escaped. At the far end was an angry mob of robe-wearers with masks.

  Dimitri took my hand and propelled me after him into the ballroom. People were screaming to both sides, when Dimitri pushed through the crowd.

  We were right in the middle, when Victor and Dimitri came to an abrupt skittering halt, which made me bump straight into my hero. Not that I minded.

  At least half a dozen robe-wearers blocked our way, positioning themselves in a semi-circle around us. Their reinforcement was just catching up with us in our back, closing the circle. One of them Jake. “Kill them”, he shouted spitting his words in agony. “They killed the Consul and my brother.”

  Ups. I’ve forgotten about John already.

  The mob was closing in on us, the other guests retreated into the far corners of the room, while the Guard unsheathed their sabres and immediately reinforced our enemies. A glance at Victor’s face and I knew, there was no backup plan.

  Suddenly, man-tall flames exploded around us, stopping the mob in their steps. I spotted Tatiana and knew the source of the flames. Perspiration was all over her forehead. How long would she be able keeping the mob at bay? Minutes in best case.

  Victor propelled Annabelle behind his back. “The Consul was in league with the Guild”, Victor’s voice sounded over the chatter that echoed from every wall of the room. “He deserved his fate. He captured the Children of Apocalypse. If you don’t believe my words, look outside the palace. The apocalypse is in full progress. She,” he pointed at me, grabbed my upper arm and pulled me to him. “She’s the Daughter of Death, a living witness of the madness that had fallen upon the Consul — a witness of his betrayal.”

  The chatter reached a new climax.

  “KILL THEM”, Jake shouted, his lower lip vibrating in wrath. “KILL THEM IN THE NAME OF THE CONSUL!”

  Adding to my terror the flames shrunk to half its size. Tatiana sunk to her knees, close fainting. I pulled myself free from Victor and Dimitri and hurried to her side, stabilising her. “I got you”, I told her.

  She looked up at me and bit on her lower lip. “If you’ve some powers, now would be a great moment.”

  The first guards tried to overcome the flames, but they were still too powerful and they jerked back after their clothes caught fire, quickly extinguishing the flames with their hands.

  Impressed by the sudden calmness surrounding me, I raised to my feet, facing the crowd. Taking in a breath as if it would be my last, I screamed as I’ve never screamed before, trying to put as much authority into my voice as possible. “TSAR ESCORD! AT MY SIDE! YOU KNOW WHO I AM! DO YOUR DUTY AND PROTECT ME AND MY FRIENDS! PROTECT US AN BE FREE!”

  “What’s that, Izzy?” Jake laughed loud. “Too many Hollywood movies?”

  Then at first one, then another and then one after the other ghost materialised, they’d waited for this a long time, some even hundreds of years. All wearing different uniforms, but united by the same bond to redeem themselves. My army has arrived. I pointed at my enemies. “Demolish them”, I breathed out.

  “HAIL, THE GRAND DUCHESS!” Muskets were fired, there were screams of the dying. Sabres and swords were drawn, steel met steel. In the next moment, total
chaos broke out. Jake was pushed back by two Cossacks attacking him with sabres; he parried them desperately with his foil. They disappeared in the battling crowd and I lost sight of him.

  Flashes zigzagged as deadly missiles from left to right, exploded in walls or in people’s chests when they hit their target in the horror that surrounded us. The air dusted from the plaster that was set free when the magical missiles hit. All around us the scene changed by the second. The delegation of werewolves changed into their true form and joined the fight like the mob of angry wolves, they were — launching themselves upon members of the Guard, Guild, Tsar escorts, even other guests, mainly vampires and warlocks. The situation was by far out of control. Screams, blood, severed body parts, it all mixed into the heat of the battle.

  Victor appeared in front of me, pushing my shoulders with both his hands. “Take Annabelle and run away. Dimitri will protect you.” He placed a kiss on my forehead, then he turned on his heel, took a sabre from a dead soldier and melted into the battle, where Lord Brunswick was already waiting for him.

  Dimitri turned up at my side and placed Annabelle’s hand in mine. He nodded with a confident smirk to die for and pushed forward into the tumult. His blade stabbing left and right, each stab a direct hit, killing or mortally wounding an enemy. Bodies dropped to both sides of me, their blood forming puddles on the floorboards. I didn’t care, moved straight through the blood and jumped over the bodies in my way, my hand never ever letting go of my little sister.

  A guard was blocking our way at the giant doors through which we had promenaded gracefully at the beginning of the night. He was swinging his sabre; Dimitri ducked, escaped the blade and rammed his dagger into the guard’s stomach. He came up, turned the blade and the man coughed out his last breath.

  Another guard blocked the staircase. Dimitri dashed forward, the man stabbed with his sabre frontal; Dimitri escaped to the side, then ran straight into him, leaving him off the ground and threw him over the balustrade. The man screamed in panic, I heard a dull impact when he met the ground. The scream ended abruptly.

  We darted down the red carpet, while taking two steps at once; Dimitri was so quick, obviously too busy saving my life than noticing my handicap with the heels. Why the hell did I bother with the dress-up, if he hasn’t the time noticing my efforts? — Right, that’s what girlfriends do.

  The doors stood already open and we were through and out into the open in no time. Outside, the nightly air was chilly. Goose bumps settled on my naked arms. I looked up to the horizon, which showed a purple flickering light with red flashes soaring to the ground. The apocalypse. Who’d thought the end of the world would arrive with a firework for applause.

  “We’re not safe yet,” Dimitri reminded me and speeded down the few steps in front of the entrance. I tightened my grip on Annabelle’s hand and followed. We’d just crossed half of the steps, when Annabelle dragged me down. “Annabelle, that’s not—“

  Horror struck me. Annabelle had collapsed, her forehead bathed in perspiration, her skin unnaturally pale, her hand hanging lifeless to mine.

  “Dimitri!” I yelled alarmed, my voice had climbed to a never known climax.

  I leaned over her, placing the back of my right hand on her forehead. “She’s glowing.”

  Dimitri turned up and felt her pulse. “It’s weak—“

  “She’s bleeding”, I commented when I saw the blood crawling out of both nostrils.

  A thin line also came out of her right ear, and from the corners of her eyes. “What’s happening?”

  Dimitri shook his head. I’ve seldom seen him speechless and this wasn’t a good omen to begin with. “I don’t know… it must be… the apocalypse”, he stammered.

  “My father?”

  “No, Famine.” The horsemen of plague and starvation.

  “She wasn’t anywhere near him and even then, shouldn’t we suffer the same?”

  “Remember what the Consul said!”

  “Unleash the apocalypse over humanity and spare us.”

  He nodded in affirmation. “Annabelle is human, we’re…” He met my glance and reconsidered his wording. “Different.”

  “We’ve to do something”, I sobbed. Her fate is my fault. I swallowed hard on the bitter taste on my tongue. If I was thinking minutes before I had at least that little victory achieved by saving my little sister in exchange for the rest of the world, now I couldn’t even claim that anymore. That’s when a deal turned sour.

  “There is a way.” His voice was matter of fact.

  I didn’t possess the same confidence he did. “We don’t even know which illness she has.”

  “No, but we know how to end it.” And with that he offered me the hilt of his dagger. Hypnotised, I gaped at the bloodstained blade and waited until my mind adjusted to his train of thoughts.

  “You can’t be serious!” Anger grew inside me.

  His left hand reached out for my face and pushed a loose strand back behind my ear, a smirk forming on his lips. “It’s the only way, you know it is.” His calmness made me even more furious.

  “Dimitri! How can you imagine for one second I would—“

  “What for a touching scene!” The voice came from the top of the stairs.

  “Jake!” He stood there on the top, bathing in the glory of his existence, full of pride and gloating and… pure wrath. At least the latter was mutual. When it came to him there was barely hatred left in my heart.

  Two guards turned up, one to either side of him, both holding a sabre in the hand.

  Jake pointed his foil at me. “Very nice show, Izzy.”

  “It’s Elisabeth for you, we crossed that line when your brother killed my best friend, remember.”

  “Whatever, your show is completely useless. If you could just see the world like I do. We can reign over the world together.”

  My face crumbled in repulsion. “I’m rather dead than standing in the shadow of your self-importance. I’d told you, we’re done.”

  “So be it!” He nodded to both guards. “Kill him first and make her watch.”

  The guards descended down, sabres at the ready, carefully making one step before the other. Jake was right behind them.

  Dimitri placed himself between me and our enemies. He was barely armed with a dagger. How much chance would he stand against three?

  From both sides the guards attacked, Dimitri’s parries became a blur, he was everywhere at once. Jake came frontal, stabbing at his belly, but Dimitri retreated backwards, just in time to avoid the blade.

  I took Annabelle into my arms and carried her to the base of the stairs, out of the immediate danger zone.

  “RUN, IZZY”, Dimitri shouted, ducking another sabre attack. I did the opposite. I was sick of running away. Instead, my hand went under the gash of my dress, to my right leg where Tatiana had hidden the knife and got it out, hiding it behind my back.

  One more combined attack of sabre, foil and sabre came down at Dimitri. He parried two, the foil was supposed to stab his heart, but Dimitri dematerialised into black smoke. He materialised behind one of the guards, reached around his neck and cut his throat. The man spat blood and staggered to the side, slowly the sudden blood loss was taking its toll and he closed his eyes forever, his body rolling down the few steps to the base and landed directly in front of my feet.

  Rage overcame his comrade and he embarked on a series of attacks, pushing Dimitri back to the balustrade. One frontal stab should revenge his comrade, but cut just air, when Dimitri did a sidewards step. The man collided with the balustrade and Dimitri stabbed his dagger though the man’s temple into his brain. Wildly shaking, the man fell over the balustrade and remained there like a cloth someone had put out there for drying.

  But then ”TAKE CARE,” I shouted! A gesture of Jake’s hand conjured an energy wave which lifted Dimitri off his feet and catapulted him backwards, right into a stone statue at the bottom of the stairs. He brought the statue to a fall and plummeted lifeless to the ground. His weapon es
caping his numb hand and landing meters away from him. I was petrified with shock. Dimitri rolled to his back with difficulties, his breath became irregular, his limbs spasmed. Jake descended down slowly, turning his back to me. He stopped right in front of Dimitri and pointed the tip of the foil at his chest. The thin blade slowly piercing though Dimitri’s shirt and skin.

  “Time to die, but before you do, demon-bastard, make sure you remember my brother and that it was me who bested you.”

  Dimitri wasn’t taking his eyes off him. There was no fear, just acceptance of his fate. I didn’t accept. I broke through my fear, and ran over, my hand with the knife reaching back. When I was a step away from Jake I jumped up and brought the knife down, right into his neck. I clashed into him, used the energy of the impact to push the knife deeper. Jake staggered forward and gagged, spat blood. I was holding on to his shoulder with one hand and the knife in his neck at the same time. Jake made a quick turn and threw me off. I didn’t even notice the pain in my back when I hit the ground. My eyes were fully fixed on the bloodstained blade in my hand, which had come free in his counter attack.

  Jake took a few strides towards me, but his legs gave way and he landed on his knees. Words were forming on his lips, but his windpipe was pierced, making him only spat more blood.

  I scrambled to my feet instead, building myself up in front of him. “Get your hands off my boyfriend, jerk.”

  Jake dropped his foil and reached his hand out for me as if pleading for help.

  I shook my head. “I’m the Daughter of Death and Death doesn’t know mercy.”

  His eyes rolled up, then he fell to my feet, a puddle of blood forming around his neck.

  “Ahhh!”