A Moonlit Night - The Complete Saga (17 page)

“Steven, stop this madness!” Emily begged as
she grabbed onto his withered jacket and attempted to pull him off
Xander, “I don’t know what has polluted your mind, but this isn’t
the way to our salvation!”

“You know nothing of my pain!” Steven fired
back, momentarily halting his attack while he disputed his sister’s
accusations, “We’ve lost everything because of these parasites, and
you expect to me show them mercy? They killed everyone we’ve ever
cared for! Julia… our father… our mother… their all dead and buried
because I wasn’t strong enough!”

“This isn’t what our mother would’ve wanted,”
Emily said, “Giving into your anger was
not
her way—.”

“This is
exactly
what our mother
wanted!” Steven barked. He once again brushed away Emily’s touch,
but this time he used enough force to send her careening backwards
and hard to the ground. He didn’t want to hurt his sister, but the
depths of his rage knew no bounds at this moment, for anger had
overwhelmed his entire being. There was nothing left for him, but
to absorb the fury of an entire species, long buried and forgotten
to the world outside. “She chose me as her vessel… not you! You’ve
failed to grasp the gravity of your decisions and I’ve come to see
that her will is not undone by a fool in love! I’m the one that was
sent to end this war and I’ve got the power to prove it!”

Steven resumed his attack, sending blood
splattering to the ground underneath his fury. A vehemence that he
believed was completely justified. “Today you take your final
breath, creature of the night! Your trail of blood and death ends
here… at the hands of a flesh-and-blood man! You deserve nothing
less than the full extent of my power—!”

Steven screamed out in agony as a white blast
engulfed his very soul, like the ethereal hands of a divine
presence that wished nothing more than the violence to end. It was
his sister, and she had heard quite enough.

“You’ll listen to me, Steven,” said Emily
with her arms outstretched, the power of the summoners flowing
freely from her hands, “Even if it takes every ounce of strength I
have…”

And it did take every fiber of her being to
halt her brother’s actions. They both dropped to the ground as the
light subsided and dispersed into the air. The vampires were quick
to swarm over their fallen leader and drag the unconscious body of
Steven from off his bloodied frame.

“I said leave him be!” Xander growled as he
picked himself up slowly. He was bruised and bloody, but not
defeated. His wounds would heal, although he feared the emotional
ramifications of Steven’s actions would have far-reaching and dire
consequences. “Esther, I want you to see to Emily… I’ve got this
under control.”

“Yes, Sire,” said Esther with a diminutive
nod. She helped the barely cognizant summoner to her feet and began
to shuffle back towards the castle entrance.

“Please… he knows not what he’s done,” Emily
moaned, drained of all her energy, “I must speak with him when he
awakens.”

She was weak, her powers exhausted and only
just able to lift herself with the help of Esther’s embrace. It had
taken everything she had to stop her brother, who before this
moment was only human. Vampire hunter, or not, his powers came from
a source she had never encountered before. She could hardly believe
that his powers had, in fact, come from their mother.

What was even more difficult to comprehend
was that if these formidable powers had been bestowed upon Steven
by their mother, than it would confirm Emily’s worst fears— her
mother had truly abandoned her.

“I understand, Emily,” said Xander with a
newfound respect for the woman under his care. Much to dismay of
the vampires under his command, he knelt down and picked the
battle-scarred Steven from off the ground.

“Lord, you cannot be serious,” Ava protested,
“This
man
almost ended your life… and you’ll see him brought
into our
home
? We must be vigilant against our aggressors,
or we’ll see ourselves to an early grave.”

“You’ll do as I command, Ava,” replied Xander
with a look of dissatisfaction, “This man has shown power that I’ve
never seen before… not once in hundreds of years… and I worry that
it indicates a changing tide in the war we’ve worked so hard to see
finished.”

“Whatever the reason for his arrival,” Xander
continued, “We’ll find the true meaning of his newfound strength,
or we may die beneath the weight of powers that we are blind to. I
sense a great disturbance in the air tonight… and I fear that his
coming signals a greater threat that we aren’t even close to
understanding.”

Chapter Six

A world away from the events that transpired
on the steps of House Franson, five hooded individuals were
proceedings over the very matters that Xander and his conclave
wished to uncover the meaning of.

They aligned themselves in a circle,
separated by a pentagram painted with the blood of the fallen and
decorated with their entrails. It was an unholy sight, one born out
of purpose and ill-intent.

“Elder Kun, I trust that all that must be
done as been completed with the utmost care and deliberation?” one
of the hooded men asked as he sat at the apex of the pentagram.

“It has, my brother,” the Elder known only as
Kun replied, “The blood magic is sowed deep within our prophet.
Soon, the time shall come when it’s awakened in its purest form.
None will find themselves safe… and all that has been done will
come undone. I pray, Elder Ulic, that we’ve not forgotten our true
path with these most necessary of actions.”

“Do
not
concern yourself with these
matters,” Elder Ulic replied with a grunt, “What we risk by using
the dark arts pales in comparison to what we might lose if the
summoner is allowed to reach the Temple of Prometheus.”

“I understand,” Elder Kun answered, “I just
pray that we don’t lose ourselves in the process. It would be a
shame to lose all that we’ve worked so hard to accomplish.”

“Relax, brother,” Elder Ulic said, “All that
we’ve worked for will survive… and will be given a new life, and
with it a new sense of purpose and power. Through its fruition will
come a new age for our kind… a golden age where our people rule
supreme.”

His arms rose high into the air, and with it,
the rest of Elder Ulic’s brothers began to chant from their unholy
lexis, that of a long-dead and forgotten magic. Through them, great
power was awakened in the vessel they called their prophet, and
through the prophet, all their monumental goals would be
achieved.

A bright spark burst forth through the center
of the pentagram, with the image of Steven appearing as the light
settled. He was the prophet of which they spoke, the harbinger for
all their disdainful ambitions. It was through them that the
hateful fires burned deep within his subconscious and stirred him
to these appalling acts.

“The false prophecy has steered him right
into his sister’s arms,” Elder Ulic continued, “What he believes to
be an apparition from his mother is nothing more than the vision we
wished him to see. Soon, my brothers, he will be unable to contain
the hellfire that rages in the depths of his heart; an instrument
of destruction that the summoner will never be able to see
coming.”

They had taken every precaution when
preparing their culpable plans, but there was one thing these
so-called elders failed to consider; that one of their own would
have a vested interest in the wellbeing of both Steven and the last
remaining summoner known as Emily.

Samuel hugged the stone wall of the inner
chamber tightly, afraid to give away his position. He had come to
them in hopes of guidance, but what he found was something more
sinister than he had ever believed possible— the Hunter’s Guild
were aligned with Lady Amata and her goals in seeing a world where
no summoner walked the earth.

This revelation bore heavily on Samuel’s
soul. He wanted to confront the elders, but knew that his words
would fail persuade them to see the light. They had given
themselves utterly and completely to the blood magic in which they
dealt, and nothing he could say would change that.

There was only one course of action left for
him to take. He slipped away from the inner chambers, his sights
set on finding Emily and his wayward young apprentice. Only there,
he could attempt to undo the evil that had befallen all of
them.

The End

The Beast
Within

Chapter One

The Sacrament
. It was a crude
tradition that vampires negated to their ghoul underlings, a ritual
to be carried out by a single warrior while the undead lay asleep
in their coffins. Emily had demanded a test of her powers and asked
to perform this ritual alone, but Xander would have none of it, and
he made sure his finest champion accompanied her in the trials.

They were to find enough food for the entire
clan, lest the vampires run dry. For a group this size, that meant
at least a dozen of the largest animals they could find; deer,
wolves, and maybe a bear— all in the hopes of keeping their unholy
masters from setting eyes upon them.

It wasn’t that Emily didn’t try to evade her
companion, but the burly and stout Horace was a master hunter, old
and wise in the ways of tracking. He was Xander’s right hand, a man
that valued above many of his own kind. He was dependable and
trustworthy, two qualities not often found in ghouls. They were
bloodthirsty and even hungrier for positions of wealth and power;
even if it meant betraying their masters to the highest bidder.

Emily had never be interested in anything
remotely similar to hunting in her old human existence, but there
was a purpose in her actions and their deaths would save the lives
of many ghouls that still lived and breathed like normal men. She’d
take whatever she could get right now, anything to keep her mind
off her comatose brother, felled by her own hands.

It was a harrowing situation that she had
been be placed in, forced to choose between saving Xander’s life
and risking her brother’s life. Emily thought she had her powers
under control, but had to learn a hard lesson when she almost ended
Steven’s life. It was the reason she was here today with Horace, in
hopes that she could learn to temper her powers through their use
in battle conditions.

Horace followed close behind at every turn,
always managing to help slay the beasts that she stalked. First it
was the pack of five wolves that she encountered after several
hours of searching, and then it was the two deer that almost
slipped from grasp and right off the edge of a cliff. He was good;
she’d have to at least give him that.

“What do you think?” Emily asked with her
head cocked forward, “Think that bear’s big enough to finish up our
little
hunt?”

A resounding grunt was Horace’s only reply as
they peered through the bushes and gazed at the enormous grizzly
bear. While he may have held a wealth of knowledge in the martial
arts, he lacked in the most basic of pleasantries and kept silent
most of the time.

“I’ll take that as a no,” Emily answered
back, “Well we’ve been at this almost six hours… how many more
kills do we need?”

“The bear will be enough,” Horace said with a
smile, “And it would’ve only taken three hours, but I thought I’d
let
you
do all the tracking.”

“I knew it!” Emily shouted before she
realized a hushed voice would be needed to get the drop on the
beast. She could’ve sworn she saw the bear perk it’s ears forward
and quickly lowered her voice to a whisper. “All those times when I
asked if we were on the right trail and you said that we were… you
were lying to me. Well, did you get a good kick out of it?”

“I did, miss,” replied Horace with a grin now
stretching from ear to ear, “There’s not much to laugh about in my
line of work. I’ll take whatever I can get.”

The two burst into laughter, once again
forgetting their situation behind the bushes. The grizzly was quick
to remind them, and let out a deafening howl to signal intent. It
was headed right for them and it didn’t look pleased.

“Get out of the way!” Horace yelled.

“No, you get out of the way!” Emily protested
in the face of certain danger. Horace tried to push her aside, but
she held her ground and summoned all the power at her disposal.

Horace rolled forward and drew the blade that
he concealed within his pants. He struck deftly, right in the ribs,
as the beast approached the two of them. The bear reared backwards
on his hind legs and swiped Horace aside little thought to its own
wellbeing. Horace yelped out in pain as he smashed into an oak tree
and was sent hard to the ground.

This momentary distraction was all Emily
needed, and she fought back with the rage of a dozen stampeding
gazelles. They tore through the bear’s psyche and attacked where he
was most vulnerable, from the inside out.

The grizzle bear’s howled turned to a whimper
and it crashed to the ground with a booming thud. It died shortly
after, when its breathing slowed and it finally gave in to the
inevitable.

“You
might
not be the best tracker,”
Horace said as he slowly picked himself off the ground, “But you’re
the best hunter I’ve ever met… the way you tore through that beast
without so much as a single blow.”

“Summoning the strength to stop the grizzly
bear was nothing,” Emily replied with somber reflection, “The hard
part’s making sure I don’t use
so much
power that I tear the
animal to shreds. I did it to the first vampire I met… it wasn’t a
pretty sight.”

Once again Horace replied with nothing more
than a reverberating grunt, signaling his overwhelming satisfaction
in the young lady he protected. Or maybe it was her that protected
him. After some consideration, he decided that, in fact, she had
been the one protecting him all along.