Magestorm: The Awakening (13 page)

28

Isabelle and Stephanie
waited outside the vampire area.  The meeting with the so-called king of vampires,
Tarius
, had been short and sweet.  He readily agreed to help track down the
werewolf
, and was bringing a couple of options for them to choose from.

Tarius
was only king by self-proclamation.  Really, these vampires followed few rules,
as
they were bordering on
being
wild animals. 
When the bloodlust hits
, y
ou wouldn’t even want to be in the same zip code as them if you couldn’t defend yourself. 
Tarius
thought of himself as the most civilized of their kind, which couldn’t be further from the truth. 

Several vampires had stayed clear of
Thauma
altogether when Algernon was around.  Doing so
had
let them keep their sanity.  Those that were in the path of the great wizard
had
suffered.  The vampires
had
had it nearly as bad as the witches
with all the torture they
’d
endured
.

Tarius
approached with two men, one rather large Hispanic man, towering in height
with
strong arms like cinder blocks.  The other man was a little shorter, much thinner, and clearly less imposing.

“You may select from these men.  Titan would provide you with any muscle you might need to help take down the werewolf.  He is a bit slow
er
, however
, because of his size
. 
Egon
is much quicker and has a better scent for werewolves, but
if you end up in a fight, you’ll be on your own
.”

Isabelle discussed the decision with Stephanie for just a moment before
easily deciding which
they would take.
  Titan looked like he could tear a werewolf in two, and that meant he could be a handful for the witches, and possibly even a threat if they weren’t careful.

Egon
, on the other hand, was lean, though he did have muscles of his own.  He looked more like an athlete, and had very calm blue eyes as opposed to Titan’s brown ones that stared at the witches like a buffet.

“
Egon
is fine.  We are more concerned with speed than an ability to fight.  We can handle the werewolf ourselves.
”

“Very well.
  He is all yours.”

A little used spell of binding kept the vampire within twenty feet of Isabelle. 
The
y started the
search a block from werewolf territory, and quickly
Egon
caught a scent.  He led the witches nearly
two
mile
s
until they found an old church that hadn’t been used in decades. 
The roof had partially caved in, and high weeds cluttered the fields around it.  Nobody was in sight. 
He carefully
surveyed
the area before addressing the witches.

“He is here, inside, and not alone. 
A h
uman is with him.”

“It must be Veronica
. 
Egon
,
you make a ruckus behind the church, and we’ll go in the front.  That should give us the jump on them.  If anything happens to us, though, don’t stay and fight.  Run back and tell
Tarius
so he can inform Cassandra.”

He nodded at Isabelle’s direction
as she released her spell
, and the witches waited for the noises to begin.  Soon branches in nearby trees started to break rapidly and loudly, and they
stormed
inside.

The church was rotting badly, and the smell wasn’t too pleasant. 
It was probably from a
nimals
that had
died and rotted within
, t
hey figured
.  They
carefully looked around once their eyes
had
adjusted to the darkness.

The floor was surprisingly sturdy
under their feet when
they walked
down the aisle and checked
each row. 
Eventually t
hey reached the front and still found no signs of life.

“Something isn’t right here,” Stephanie whispered.

“You may be right.  Let’s head back outside…”

The front door slammed shut and they could hear a barricade being pushed against it.  They rushed forward, their shouts masking the sound
s
of
cracking and
breaking wood.  The floor beneath them gave, and they dropped to the basement below.

“Stephanie, are you okay?” Isabelle asked weakly. 

Pain was beginning to replace rational thought as she waited for an answer. 
There was no reply, and she knew her consciousness would be gone shortly as well.  That fucking vampire must’ve tricked them, but how could he have set this trap?
  Had other vampires entered
Thauma
without their knowing it?

“Witch stew, that
i
s what I brew,”
Egon
sang as he
skipped
away.

The song faded, and so did Isabelle.  She could only pray that the darkness coming on was only temporary, that she and her companion would escape this…eventually.

29

G
abrielle and Mira checked
the area a
gain for any sign
of werewolves.  They were anxious after the earlier escape, and didn’t want any more getting out on their shift
at the werewolf area
.

“Can you believe Veronica joined the wolves?”

Mira nodded.

“I know, right?  She always hated them.
  Maybe that was just her cover
though
.
”

“At least nobody got hurt during that whole thing.
  She slipped away with her werewolf friend quietly and now we’ll probably never see them again.
”

A clicking sound could be faintly heard and they stopped
talking.  Footsteps were headed
their way, and they got chills.  Gabrielle got her wits about her first
and grabbed Mira’s arm
.

“Quick, a spell of hiding.
  We don’t want to be spotted
if it’s not a friendly
.”

“That won’t be necessary, ladies.”

Rachel approached them with a smile, her bright red hair and lipstick almost shining under the street lights.  A fellow witch, they were relieved to know they weren’t in for a fight.

“W
hat brings you out here
, red?
  Don’t you have plans on your night off?
”

“
Actually
, Mira, I’ve come to relieve you.  Cassandra has something urgent she needs to talk to you about.”

“Oh.  Did she say what?”

“Afraid not
;
must be something private.”

Mira shrugged and said farewell before strolling off down the street with her knapsack of snacks.  Soon she was away from the other two and started wondering to herself what Cassandra wanted.  She hoped it wasn’t to assist on the werewolf hunt.  That wasn’t her idea of a good time
and she’d rather stay away from them, and the vampire being used
.

A noise down an alley caught her attention, the sound of someone moaning, someone injured.  She
tried to see what it was from where she
stood
, but even her illumination spell couldn’t let her see around a dumpster.  Two legs sticking out were moving slowly,
appearing to be writhing in pain
.

“Hello?”

She carefully walked down the alley, bracing herself for whatever it might be.  A wave of relief hit her as she realized it was just a poor bum, moaning and rubbing his neck.  Then she saw it: two puncture wounds.  He had been bit by a vampire, and the blood was still oozing from the wound.

“Oh God…”

Egon
stepped up behind
her,
the scent of the blood in her veins filled his nose.  Drool dripped onto her shoulder, but before she could react, h
is teeth sunk into her neck. 
His python-like grip surrounded her body as her scream filled the air
.

“Did you hear that?”

Gabrielle looked up and down the street anxiously.  Did she really just hear a woman scream?
  Her heart was racing.

“Yeah, I heard it
.  Let’s do one more
containment
spell on the werewolf area,
and
then we can check it out.”

“Yeah,
good idea
.”

They stepped up to the werewolf shield, the soft orange tint showing just where to place the spell.  Gabrielle started to say the words when she felt a shove from behind.

“What the heck?”

She stood and turned around to face Rachel.  The smile on the redhead’s face was not a happy one, it was an evil smile. 
Gabrielle
suddenly became aware that she was now on the werewolf side of the
barrier.

“Why did you do that?”

“Sorry, it’s a means to an end.”

“The means to what end?”

Several of the beasts were upon her in seconds, and she knew she had no chance.  One of them, a huge one
with a white stripe down his back
, stepped forward and leaned down to whisper into her ear.

“The means to your end, my dear.”

30

Elisabeth was her usual chipper self, complaining about guarding the loathsome vampires
as she checked her fingernails
.  Rita rolled her eyes and checked her watch again.  Shift change couldn’t come soon enough.

“Why do you hate them so much?”

“They are vi
le animals, and they should
be put down.”

“Wow, how do you really feel?”

Elisabeth
shot a death
glare at Rita before pacing around.  Guard duty was the most boring task in the world to her.  She thought about the spell book, and how close she
’d been
to getting her hands on it.  Now it was locked away
, but other opportunities would come
.
 

A silhouette appeared at the end of the street.  Then another stepped into view.  
And another.
  The two witches moved closer to each other for safety.
  Elisabeth clutched her fists and began going over spells in her head in preparation for their approach.

“You see the size of those guys?  Must be werewolves,” Rita stated.

“Sure ‘
nough
.”

They turned around to face the man who spoke to them.  He wasn’t
really
a man, but a
werewolf, and they knew they were in trouble.
  There wasn’t even a chance to cast any spells.

He s
miled a pointy-toothed smile as he
swung a clawed hand.
  Elisabeth grabbed Rita’s arm and pulled her towards her, preventing the claws from reaching Elisabeth cleanly, but still taking out a chunk of flesh from her hip. 
Rita wasn’t as lucky as
the swipe tore through
her stomach. 
Another swing caught both ladies’ heads, and cracked them against each other
.

The women were left in a heap to die, and the shield was
brought
down in moments.
  Vampires came out of the dark corners and came face to face with the werewolves, their arch enemies for so many years.
  The grey-striped wolf stepped forward
, accompanied by a red-headed witch,
as a vampire approached.

“
Tarius
, our deal is complete now. 
The decoy worked perfectly to release your man,
Egon
.  His keepers tricked and trapped, our people freed, and now you as well.  The witches will regret how they
’ve
treated both of us these past years.  We were once terrible rivals. 
H
owever, I bring to you a gift and
Lord
Sebastian’s hopes that we may work together in the future.
”

Another werewolf stepped forward with a tied and gagged woman.  Veronica had terror in her eyes, and cried when she saw what happened to her sisters.  At least they had received a quick death, something she wasn’t likely to get.

“Tell your lord we are happy to wo
rk with him, especially when
the witches are on the receiving end of a beating.”

He chuckled and t
he vampires took Veronica and scurried off
into the night
.  The werewolves formed
into a pack and tore down the street
, with Rachel fo
llowing casually behind
.  For a moment, all became quiet other than the distant sound of howls.  A twitch of a finger was all Elisabeth could muster.  It would be enough
to signify she was still alive
when the shift change showed up fifteen minutes later.