by Skye Knizley
Aspen recognized the voice, but couldn’t place it, not with the wind howling and the building creaking around her. She drew her pistol and emptied a handful of faerie dust into her free hand.
“Just like you don’t want to harm Rupert, right?” she yelled. “Come and get me, bloodsucker.”
She tossed the faerie dust at the door and cast a spell, sealing the portal against anyone with vampire blood. She then flipped over the metal table and slipped behind it for what cover it might provide and looked for another way out. There was no back door, no other windows. But the walls were made from sheet metal bolted to a wooden platform set atop a concrete slab. All materials she could work magik on. Opening her own door wouldn’t be that hard, if it came down to it.
“Have it your way, little faerie,” the leader replied, and Aspen’s blood went cold. She did know that voice, and he wasn’t a vampire at all. He was a Gallowglass Knight, one she’d wounded as a teenager.
Bullets ripped through the walls and door, kicking up sparks and ripping holes in metal, wood and cardboard alike. Aspen placed a hand on the table and strengthened it with her shield spell, waiting it out until the gunfire stopped. When it slowed, she rolled from behind cover and fired through the ruined door. Two of the advancing figures were hit and fell back, injured, while a third exploded into ash that was instantly carried away on the wind.
“Is that you, Flynn? I thought you’d have given up by now, raised a family and a tree house of your own,” she yelled above the wind.
“You brought me back, Aspen, when you refused to return and face justice,” Flynn replied.
Aspen reloaded and raised her shield spell. “So, what, you allied yourself with the vampires? I thought you said they were godless parasites.”
“Not the vampires, dear girl. The Coven of Eternal Night. They made a pact with the Empress, you in exchange for your half-breed mistress,” Flynn said.
“I’m surprised at you, Flynn. You never did play well with others,” Aspen said. “Is there any way this ends without more people dying?”
Flynn laughed. “You could come out quietly and face the Arena.”
Aspen shook her head. “Not likely. I guess you’ll have to come in and get me.”
“I don’t think so, Aspen-Fyre. You see, I’ve learned from my mistakes.”
Two grenades rolled through the gap left by the shattered door and rolled to a halt next to the table Aspen had used as cover. She blinked at them in surprise then tossed a handful of faerie dust at the wall behind her, sending her magik into it, ripping an opening through the wood and steel. She was just passing through into the trees when the grenades exploded behind her. The incendiaries didn’t have the explosive force of a standard grenade, but it was enough to send her tumbling head over heels through the forest. She landed in a snowbank and rolled, damping the fire that clung to her coat.
“So much for wanting me alive,” she muttered, spitting snow.
It wouldn’t take long for them to figure out what happened to her, and in the darkness the vampires with Flynn would have the upper hand. She needed to confront them, and quickly. Even now she could hear them moving through the storm, searching for her. The blood in her hair and on her neck would make her easy to track, hiding wasn’t an option.
Aspen struggled free of the snowbank and realized her pistol had fallen during her escape and was now lost in the storm. She felt around where she’d fallen, but there was no sign of the lost weapon. With the vampires getting closer, she left the lost weapon and instead moved deeper into the forest, where the trees would offer an edge. The darkness was the vampire’s hunting ground, but the forest was hers. As she ran she touched various trees, asking their spirits for protection. Behind her, their branches intertwined, forming barriers that would slow the pursuing vampires and give her time to formulate a plan. When she’d gained ground, she swarmed up a large oak and hid in the branches, using the fresh scent of the tree to mask her blood. It wouldn’t last long, but she only needed the element of surprise.
Minutes passed and she clung to the tree, her heartbeat matching the rhythm of the forest, her breath almost silent in the storm. One by one, the vampires passed by below, weapons ready, eyes on the forest ahead, not on the trees above. Aspen took a breath and dropped from the tree, using her magik to conjure a sword of blazing violet flame.
The first vampire exploded into a shower of ash before he could even react, his scream caught in his throat. Aspen didn’t slow, she swung her blade again, beheading the next vampire just as he squeezed the trigger. She felt the bullets tear at her jacket and kept moving, using the trees for cover as the other vampires realized what was happening and opened fire.
“Two down, three more to go,” she thought, dodging around another tree.
She slid to a halt behind another tree and pressed her back against it before casting a quick and dirty invisibility spell. It wouldn’t last long, especially in the blowing snow, but it would do.
Less than a minute later the last two vampires strode into view. One was looking the other way with his weapon raised, the other looked right at Aspen.
“I see you, faerie,” he said. “You still glow in the dark.”
“Can’t blame a girl for trying,” Aspen replied. She ducked aside ahead of their gunfire and conjured a bolt of flame. The first vampire was faster than his companion and leapt aside, taking cover in a nearby tree. The second was struck in the chest by the narrow gout of flame and screamed as it bathed over him like a crackling waterfall. A beat later he was gone, leaving nothing but a melted weapon and a pair of smoking boots.
“Neat trick, faerie, but not good enough,” the other said. “I have the high ground, now. Surrender and face your death with honor.”
Aspen rolled her eyes. “You should know better than to climb a tree in a faerie forest.”
She turned and walked away, ignoring the sounds and screams of the vampire being torn to pieces by the tree he’d climbed.
“Come on out, Flynn, its just you and me, and I’m not going back,” Aspen said.
“As you wish, Aspen-Fyre.”
Flynn stepped out of the shadows with his weapon ready. “I will kill you here and take your heart back to Titania for my reward.”
“My place is here, Flynn. Go back, go home to your family and leave me in peace with mine,” Aspen said.
“Your crimes are too great, Aspen. Your carry the weight of your mother’s sin,” Flynn said.
“What sin? Standing up to a traitor? Fighting to protect her child? Those are things any Fae would do. If I threatened yours you would take up arms in a heartbeat,” Aspen said.
Flynn looked puzzled. “Your mother was the one who rose against the rightful Empress.”
“There was no Empress, Flynn. There was a Queen, her daughter Princess Erwynn was the rightful heir. My mother stood up to her murderer and protected me from the Knights,” Aspen said. “Hardly a crime to anyone with any moral fiber.”
“Empress Titania−”
“Used to be Countess Rivven. Titania died thousands of years ago. Don’t you remember?” Aspen asked.
Flynn shook his head. “You’re trying to confuse me.”
Aspen stepped closer to him. “I’m telling you the truth. You and the rest of the Knights are bewitched, Flynn. Let me help you.”
“No! You’re lying!”
He raised his weapon and squeezed the trigger, point blank. Aspen just had time to raise her shield and squeeze her eyes shut before he opened fire. Bullets pinged off the violet surface and ricocheted in every direction. When it ended, Aspen opened her eyes to see Flynn falling to the snow, blood weeping from a dozen wounds in his chest and arms. He dropped his weapon as he fell and lay on his side, staining the snow crimson.
“I’m sorry,” Aspen said as he began to dissolve. “You gave me no choice.”
She waited until
her was gone, then collected his weapons and hurried into the snow. The shack was gone and she still had a wife to find.
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
The Vault, Outcast Island, 2:03 p.m. Dec 24th
The vault was darker than Raven remembered, and there seemed to be dozens more rooms. It was like falling into an old police box and finding it was infinite in size. Within minutes she’d lost her bearings and was wandering almost aimlessly through the maze of tunnels and empty rooms guided only by flickering candles. She tried to let her nose guide her, but scents were lost as easily as she detected them. Instincts told her that was the point of these rooms, it was as much a death trap as the other puzzles she’d defeated in her search for Excalibur, she just had to figure it out.
She paused in a wide oval-shaped chamber and sorted through the equipment belt that was part of the Section Thirteen uniform she’d adopted. Most of it was useless, she had no need of a basic first aid kit, cryptographic sequencer or thermite grenades, at least not here, but the selection of small glow sticks gave her an idea. She snapped one and tossed it into the center of the room. She then crossed to the next chamber and did the same, dropping breadcrumbs ahead of her instead of behind. Soon, she was making progress instead of walking in circles. She passed through a narrow passage into a wide chamber that was open to the sky. Snow fell through the gap far overhead and drifted to the ground in gentle waves that piled up against the walls.
In the center of the chamber was a wide arch that stretched across a chasm that Raven just knew would be bottomless, or at least so deep it was close enough. At its center was a glowing sphere filled with lightning that crackled against the walls like a giant plasma ball.
Nearer, down a narrow staircase that swept to the far side of the chamber, was another altar, one similar to the one she’d seen at the Coven’s mansion, only in the wall instead of the floor. Three witches stood in formation before it, their arms upraised. Rupert Levac hung in the middle of the eye-shaped symbol, nude from the waist up. His head hung limply and blood drooled from his lips, but they were moving. He was still alive!
Raven drew her pistol and descended the steps as quietly as she could. Ice from the melting snow made some of them treacherous, but she reached the bottom without falling into the void beside her and stepped onto the stone platform across the room from the witches.
“Did I catch you at a bad time, ladies?” she asked.
“Not at all,” the center witch said, turning and lowering her hood. The woman was beautiful, with hair the color of a winter moon and skin so dark it was almost black. Eyes the color of blood completed the look and made Raven’s skin crawl. Nobody should have blood colored eyes.
“I’ve been waiting for you, Raven of the Tempeste. We’ve been waiting for you.”
“Run,” Levac croaked. “Run!”
One of the witches stepped forward and cradled his head. “Shh, Rupert. It will all be over soon.”
Raven leveled her weapon at her. “Let him go!”
A new figure stepped through a curtained doorway. “We can’t do that, my childe.”
He was tall, with tan skin, long dark hair and a handsome face marked only by the naked scar that ran down the side of his face. He was dressed in leather from his toes to the high collar of his frock coat, matched with a blousy white shirt and a jeweled necklace marked with the Tempeste crest.
“Strohm,” Raven whispered.
He bowed and clicked his heels together. “Indeed, Ravenel. Welcome back to the fold.”
Raven shifted her aim to him. “How? I killed you. Twice.”
“You have to ask that question given the circumstances? As you say, you killed me twice, and here I stand,” Strohm replied.
He smiled and stepped closer. “Childe, did you think your despicable father was the only immortal? Is that what he told you?”
“Dad and I haven’t really had time to chat, considering your fanatical followers keep cropping up like flies on shit,” Raven said.
Strohm being back was bad. She’d been lucky when she killed him the first time, he hadn’t been at full power, he’d still been recovering from being buried in a box full of silver crosses and left for dead. This time, she sensed it would be different. This wasn’t the weakened vampire she’d faced, this was something different.
“The throne is mine, Ravenel, stolen by your mother. I am the rightful master, join me and−”
“Yeah, yeah, we can rule the city as father and daughter. You’ve got a real Bond villain complex, you know that?” Raven asked. “Let Rupert go and we can talk.”
Strohm spread his hands and shook his head. “I’m sorry, Ravenel, he is needed, but his death will not be in vain.”
Raven shot him in the face. “Good talk.”
She didn’t wait to see what happened next. She was moving before he’d had time to ash…or do whatever else he was going to do. She shot the witch standing next to Levac and kicked the dark skinned one in the face on her way past. She managed to free one of Levac’s wrists before powerful hands pulled her away and pushed her face first into the wall.
“I am not an idiot, Ravenel,” Strohm said in her ear. “I am immune to your father’s little toy.”
“You’re still an idiot,” Raven grunted.
Pain lanced through her arm and she choked on a scream with the sound of breaking bones still echoing in her head.
“Say that again, childe. You have many more limbs for me to play with,” Strohm said.
The agony in her left arm was sharp and intense. It felt as if the entire bone was broken and splintered, tearing into her muscles and soft flesh.
“Fuck you, you pathetic, sick bastard,” she said.
Strohm sighed. “You are brave, childe. It is one of the reasons I want you by my side. But first you must learn respect.”
Without apparent effort he broke her leg and let her fall to the floor. This time, she screamed, unable to fight the grinding pain that lanced through her. Strohm was far stronger than he’d ever been, he’d snapped her leg in two places with nothing but a kick!
She lay on the floor and glared up at him, letting her monsters out of their cage. “I will never be by your side, Strohm. You’re a monster. You’ll destroy the city and then the world. I will stop you or die trying, it’s my duty and my privilege.”
Strohm stood over her and placed one foot on her chest. “Foolish, childe. You could have everything you ever desired.”
Raven met his eyes. “Really? Can I have a pony and a My First Dracula doll?”
“Do you ever stop?”
“No,” Raven replied. She rammed her left blade through his thigh and threw him across the room, letting both her vampire and immortal sides out for the first time. She could feel the power coursing through her veins, it was like lightning crackling just beneath her skin, a barely contained storm of magik healing her wounds and making her stronger. She stood on her healing leg and drew her other blade, which she threw at the other manacle holding Levac. He dropped to his hands and knees retching blood. He was going to need help to get out of here.
‘I’ve got him,’ Aspen said in her head. ‘You deal with the Antonio Banderas wannabe. Catch.’
Raven looked up to see Aspen coming down the stairs with Excalibur held aloft. She tossed the blade to Raven, who caught it in one hand.
‘How did you get here?’ Raven asked.
‘I followed your bread crumbs.’
Aspen dropped down beside her, conjuring her blade of flame as she did so. Raven stood back to back with her as Strohm rose and drew a blade of blackened metal from the scabbard across his back.
“I’m happy to see you,” Raven said.
“Me, or him?” Aspen asked.
“Smartass. Is that gunpowder I smell?” Raven asked.
Aspen shrugged. “I had a run in with some old friends. We didn’t see eye
to eye.”
“You and your pet are going to die,” Strohm said.
“Really? I was thinking the same thing,” Raven said.
Strohm beckoned to the dark-skinned witch, who, for the first time, stepped forward. She conjured her own blood-red sword and approached with the other witch close behind. They were going to surround Raven and Aspen.
‘I love you,’ Raven sent, and the battle was joined. She had to trust that Aspen would hold her own, she had her hands full with Strohm, who attacked with a fury like nothing she’d ever seen before. Their blades clashed and sent sparks showering into the darkness, over and over they met and parted, like two forces of nature determined to destroy one another. After long moments that felt like an eternity of crashing blades and twanging muscles, Raven saw an opening. She ducked beneath Strohm’s attack and slashed with Excalibur, opening a deep gash in his right side. She continued the roll and turned while Strohm growled in pain and checked the wound.
“Have I mentioned this is Excalibur? It can kill anything. Even you,” Raven said.
Fear crossed Strohm’s face, but he attacked again, swinging his blade in an overhead arc that Raven was barely able to block. Her arms screamed at the impact and she jerked away, putting distance between herself and the elder vampire.
“It can kill me, little girl, but can you?”
Raven shrugged. “I’ve already done it twice. I’ve heard three is the charm.”
She flicked her eyes to Aspen, who was dueling with both the dark-skinned witch and her apprentice. She seemed to be holding her own, assisted by her shield and magikal blades. As she watched Aspen leapt over the pair to land behind them, skewering the apprentice in the process. The grey robed witch dissolved away leaving only the Mistress, who screamed in fury.
“That’s my girl,” Raven said, blocking Strohm’s swing.
He smiled. “Indeed, I am proud of your progress, Ravenel. You have done well, your powers are growing far faster than they should in someone your age.”
Raven spun and he blocked with his own blade, but Raven’s heel kick caught him in the side of the head, sending him sprawling again.