A Moonlit Night - The Complete Saga (11 page)

“Go fetch me their heads, William,” ordered
Amata, pointing towards the carnage in front of them. “And be quick
about it, will you? We’ve got a summoner to find.”

“Yes, my lady,” replied William, his large
hands gripping the axe tightly as he hoisted it off his shoulders
in preparation for battle. “…As you command.”

Chapter Four

Xander and Samuel stood together, their backs
pressed up against one another while the stared down their
attackers. The rest of the pack had arrived, the werewolves’ growls
reverberating through them.

A dozen werewolf’s had descended upon them,
stalking their prey as they ran circles around Xander and Samuel,
trying to confuse and disorient them.

“I hope you’ve got another blade under that
coat,” said Xander, looking over his shoulder.

“I’m a vampire hunter,” replied Samuel, his
hand slowly reaching into the coat. “Of course I’ve got a spare
sword.”

Samuel drew a short sword and handed it to
Xander. Together, they raised their weapons towards the wolves, and
waited for the chance to strike.

The first werewolf to charge them darted out
from the rest of the pack and headed straight towards Xander. He
lunged high in the air, his jagged teeth trying to find Xander’s
throat.

Xander ducked, and drove his sword directly
above him. Slicing through the werewolf as it passed by in the air,
Xander rose to his feet. The blade pushed in deeper as it emerged
from the back of the wolf, now shrieking in pain.

Another used the commotion to launch his own
attack. Approaching from the side, the werewolf tried to take
Samuel’s legs out from underneath him, but a well-timed boot
stunned the wolf. Dazed and confused, the beast never saw the end
coming as Samuel hammered him in the spine with the blunt end of
his sword. A horrifying snap could be heard through the countryside
as the wolf dropped to the ground, his back shattering in half.

“We might actually pull this off!” grinned
Samuel, wiping the sweat from his brow. “I could do this all
night—.”

“You’ve spoken too soon,” barked Xander, his
lip curling as several werewolves dashed towards them. “Here they
come!”

Meanwhile, inside the house there was a
completely different battle going on. A frantic Emily was trying to
wake her brother, still unconscious from his barroom brawl.

“Wake up… you have to wake up!” pleaded
Emily, shaking her unconscious brother violently.

She clung to her shirt, which was covered in
blood, and cried. The tears streamed down her face as she
desperately tried to continue to wake her brother, Steven.

“C’mon, we’ll be safe inside,” said Tyler,
placing his hand on Emily’s shoulder. “I thought they couldn’t
enter anyone’s home without invitation?”

“That’s for vampires, Tyler!” shouted Emily,
wiping the tears from her cheek.

“Are you serious?” Tyler asked. “…Who makes
up this shit?”

She placed a quivering hand on her knee,
picked herself up and headed cautiously towards the front bay
window. Noticing something on the window sill, she bent down and
wrapped her hands around a large wooden stake. Samuel must have
left it in the house, she thought, running her fingers down the
smooth pine.

Suddenly, the sound of a window smashing sent
chills down Emily’s spine. Turning her head to the back of the
house, she hesitantly shifted towards the kitchen.

“Don’t do it, Emily!” yelled Tyler, looking
back at her from the living room. “Come back here!”

It didn’t matter where Emily went, she knew
that if one of those things had gotten inside there wasn’t anywhere
they could run.

A ravenous werewolf had busted through the
window beside the back door. With blood dripping from his mouth, he
tracked Emily across the kitchen with ill intent in his eyes.

Emily gripped the stake firmly in her hand
and braced for the charging wolf’s attack. Her hands trembled and
her heart raced a mile a minute; she had faced down ghouls and
vampires, but she had never been more scared in her entire
life.

The snarling hound dashed towards her, his
powerful claws tearing up the floor as he quickly approached. He
lifted off with his hind legs and went for the throat.

The stake was knocked out of Emily’s hand as
she fell to the floor, her hands wrapped around the jaws of the
beast. It slid across the tiled floor, far out of Emily’s reach as
she battled for her life.

The werewolf growled ferociously as he dug
his sharp claws into the meat of her thigh. The blood poured out of
Emily’s leg, but still, she refused to flinch. The slightest
weakness and the werewolf would be having her for supper; his
deadly canines now only inches from her throat.

“Take this, you filthy beast!” shouted Tyler,
standing over the wolf with the wooden stake in his hand.

He drove the stake into the back of the
vicious animal. It may not have been a vampire, but the stake tore
through the spine of the werewolf, sending him to the floor in
screeching pain.

The werewolf bled out in agony, panting and
wheezing as he looked back up at Tyler with heartrending eyes,
completely mystified as to how he was vanquished by such a normal
man.

Chapter Five

The blood streamed down Lord Korolev’s brow,
dripping on his golden throne and then splattering on the
cobblestone floor. He struggled to open his left eye, the other
completely swollen shut from aggravated trauma to the head.
Defiant, he remained, for a vampire king never shows any signs of
weakness.

“You will not find what you seek,” said Lord
Korolev. “The usurper shall never have my throne.”

A resounding snort was followed by a slow
laughter, his gravelly voice filling the room, capturing the
attention of the feeding youngling vampires, on their hands and
knees and they devoured the rapidly fading councilors.

Crooking their heads, the newborn vampires
all stared intently at the Elder vampire, bleeding out on this
fallen throne. They licked their chops, hoping to get their chance
to feed on the oldest blood in vampire existence.

“What are you laughing at, old man?” asked
Amata, drawing her blade as she approached the throne. “Give me one
good reason not to end your life, right here and now.”

“Do you really think you’re the first vampire
to make claim on my throne?” Lord Korolev asked. “In over 5,000
years, there have been countless attempts on my life. Do you know
how each of them ended? They ended with me staring into their cold
and helpless eyes as I tore out their hearts and fed in front of
them! You are not different, young girl, no matter what gifts that
may have been bestowed upon you.”

“You’re not making a very good case for
yourself, Korolev, if you wish to live,” Amata said. “I do not need
your consent to claim the throne.”

“No, you do not,” Lord Korolev replied.
“However, unless you want 10,000 vampires out for your blood that
is precisely what you need.”

Rage consumed Amata and she found herself
pushing the blade deeper, piercing the skin of Lord Korolev, the
silver burning ferociously as it crept closer to his jugular.

“When I bring them the summoner’s head they
will fall in line!” Amata barked. “I have amassed more than just
this newborn army; werewolves, nymphs, trolls, hunters and witches
have all heeded my call. You’ve given us no other choice,
therefore, you must be left in the dust; a fallen leader from a
forgotten time. If we allow the summoner to live we could all lose
everything… and if it’s going to be a choice between life and
death, I’ll choose life every time.”

“Y—your life ended a long time ago,” Lord
Korolev stuttered. “What remains now is just a scared little girl,
running from life rather than making the best use of her second
chance.”

Lord Korolev started to choke, foaming at the
mouth with blood clogging up his throat. Still, he smiled, with
boldness in his heart. Looking back at Amata, he mumbled, “The
first culling… was a mistake. It was a result of misguided
intentions… and failed diplomacy. If the summoners truly wished to
take our powers back… they could have taken it back at any
moment.”

Amata howled in frustration, pulling the
blade back from his throat. She placed her foot on the chest of
Lord Korolev, her stiletto digging in deeply as she thrust with all
her might. The heavy golden throne swung backwards, crashing
against the ground in a thunderous collision. Cracking his head on
the back of the throne, Lord Korolev’s eyes rolled back in his
head, slowly drifting in and out of consciousness.

Everything was getting dark now, as the blood
poured into the crevasses of his eyes. Metal scraping across the
stone floor was all he could hear, the sound of death’s slow and
inevitable approach.

“You’ve forced my hand in the matter,” said
Amata, standing over the fallen Lord Korolev. “Take solace in the
fact that our people will live on, Korolev, even if you do not; may
the devil have mercy on your soul. You have your orders,
William.”

“By your command, Lady Gemeti,” replied
William, lifting his menacing axe high in the air. “It shall be
done.”

William’s mighty war axe came slicing down,
severing Lord Korolev’s head from his body. The massive vampire’s
strength was overwhelming as his vicious blow sent the Elder’s head
soaring across the room.

Amata licked her lips, a smile breaking out
across her face as she seized control of the Council of Elders;
finally she had reached the pinnacle of her power. She turned to
face her younglings, sucking the now deceased councilors dry. She
motioned for their attention, and said, “Now, you may feast.”

The newborns rushed towards the throne, like
wolves to a wounded sheep. Their sharp fangs tore into body of Lord
Korolev, gorging themselves stupid on the most powerful vampire in
history.

Chapter Six

Xander let his grip loosen, his sword
dropping to the blood soaked ground as he curled his lip and
growled. He had survived the onslaught and now only two of the
hellish hounds remained. He looked over towards Samuel, who had
taken a few blows, but continued his vigilant resistance with well
used sword in hand.

The alpha werewolf was a mighty beast, easily
twice the size of his companion. Warm air puffed from his snout,
heating up the cool night breeze; smoking in the wind as he stared
down his watchful prey.

He let out a terrifying howl, causing the
very ground below to tremor; the vibrations shaking Xander and
Samuel to their very core. Motioning to his last pack mate, the
alpha sent the younger wolf towards the house.

“You must get to Emily!” shouted Xander,
turning towards Samuel. “If she dies, so do you!”

Samuel didn’t care for Xander’s tone, and
wouldn’t forget that he was moments away from finishing Xander off
before the wolves came; but the vampire was right, he took an oath
to protect those that couldn’t protect themselves. With regret in
his eyes, he left the battle and hurried after the werewolf.

The alpha began kicking up his hind legs,
throwing clumps of grass and dirt high in the air. Gripping his
hind paws firmly into the earth, the werewolf lifted off the ground
with his front and rose.

Standing on his feet, the werewolf began to
transform. The alpha’s bones snapped and skin contorted; and soon,
what once was an image sent forth from hell itself, was now the
image of the divine, fallen from the heavens below.

The alpha was a mountain of a man, standing
at least a foot taller than Xander and equally as wide. Looking
more in tune with a Greek god, he stood out from the rest of the
pack; a Samoan warrior with the zeal of war burning deeply in his
eyes.

They charged towards one another, vampire and
werewolf in a fight to the death. The alpha threw a fierce
haymaker, which Xander narrowly avoided, dropping to his knees as
he careened past the monstrous man.

Stopping in his tracks, the alpha spun around
with his arm extended, cracking Xander in the back of the head with
his rigid knuckles. They imprinted into Xander’s head, and with the
sound of bone shattering he dropped to the floor in excruciating
pain.

“When I was told that the summoner would be
here, Amata never mentioned that there would be a vampire present,”
the alpha said. “You’ve killed my entire pack. They were both my
friends and family! I’m going to enjoy watching you suffer, you
undead piece of shit!”

The werewolf’s large foot came slamming down
on Xander’s chest cavity, his hefty weight crushing Xander into
submission.

“Amata... you can’t trust her,” choked
Xander, gasping for air as his lungs started to fold.

“Of course, she’s a vampire,” the alpha
replied. “None of you undead freaks has an ounce of loyalty; but
I’m one for very few words, so now it’s time to die, Mr.
Vampire!”

The alpha lifted his gigantic foot high into
the air, and as he drove his foot downwards, Xander managed to find
the strength to roll out of harm’s way.

“I’m never going to let you succeed,” said
Xander, quickly picking himself up; refusing the alpha the
satisfaction of seeing him suffer. “The summoner will not fail… not
today!”

Barring his fangs, Xander charged ferociously
towards his much larger aggressor. He wasn’t about to survive this
far, only to fall to a filthy dog. No, he had much bigger plans,
and they all involved him living through the night.

Inside the house, things were finally
starting to calm down for Emily and her friends. She had locked
Tyler in one of the upstairs rooms, keeping guard over her fallen
brother. She should have stayed with them, but something was
calling out to her to head down the stairs and towards fate.

Her feet inched closer to the front door,
slowly shuffling to the inevitable. Every fiber in Emily’s body
urged her to stop, back away and run. Still, she continued on,
willing to be a spectator in the battle for her life no longer.