Necrophobia (39 page)

The ritual came to a close and the light in the centre of the room exploded. Charged air and heat rushed outwards in all directions and bathed them in a radiant glow. Reiner closed his eyes and shielded himself expecting the worst. He hesitated for several seconds expecting blood and viscera to fly at them before risking opening his eyes. Slowly and with the hesitation of someone opening their eyes after a long nights sleep he looked at the commander. Amelia floated in the air crackling with energy and descended towards the floor. Her movements slow and controlled. Light spilt out of her and her flawless skin pulsed with pure white light. She landed upon the ground without a noise and air circled around the commander causing her hair and cape to flicker in the wind. Reiner caught the brief impression of wings formed from lightning and electrical discharge behind her back that dissipated as she landed. Amelia opened her eyes and bright-white light poured out from within her as she looked between the faithful in front of her. Reiner could feel the power radiating from her, the purity of purpose. It was an alien and humbling experience. When she looked at him, or through him he saw no sense of familiarity or recognition. Amelia wasn’t in the shell looking at him she was gone and a god looked out through her eyes. He hoped it was temporary but he had no way to know. There hadn’t been an Avatar of Caelus in decades. The Amelia-Avatar tilted her head as it surveyed him. She never blinked or breathed, the avatar was completely immobile. The calm before the storm. Reiner clutched his side as the avatar’s power filled him, burning away the wound inside him. He took his arm away and watched the burns heal before his eyes and felt the stab wound fade. Wordlessly the avatar turned its intense gaze away and judged the rest of the Caelites.

“Come.” It spoke through Amelia. The voice echoed inside her as though she was hollow creating a strange double voice yet it was still distinctly her voice. Echoed and reverberated. The effect was eerie and made Reiner’s flesh crawl. He’d expected a deep booming voice of a god but somehow this was worse and yet in some indescribable way comforting. The Avatar glided out of the room without a sound. The honour guard following her instinctively, a dazed expression on their face. Reiner feeling renewed grabbed his own spear and hurried after the divine procession, his brother trailing behind him at a loss for words.

Claire crept along the silent corridors of the second floor. Battles raged in the distance and Valdgeirr was nowhere to be seen. But she could feel it smashing apart the mansion. She prayed Adrian and Hayley were still alive. She stepped over the body of a servant with care. The servant’s throat was a bloody mess and she lay face down on the floor in a pool of her own blood. Like the other unarmed bodies she’d passed their death was brutal and efficient. As she turned a corner in the L-shaped hall she saw the damaged roof. Rainwater dripped in soaking into the carpet from holes torn into the ceiling and the wind whistled down the corridor. The curtains lining the outer side of the corridor rustled in the racing winds. The movement was distracting and kept catching her peripheral vision. She sighed, it made a nice change from the limited field of view offered by the draconic Night Guard helmets. Claire paused and stared at the ruined holes in the ceiling, rainwater seeped in and dripped down the walls and pooled around the carpets. A faint mist circled the broken tiling and crept along the corridor driven by the storm. It was difficult to tell how far she was from where she’d sighted Haures; it had taken a while to find a stairwell to the second floor that wasn’t collapsed or smouldering. The hunter pushed on trying to use landmarks in the garden outside as a frame of reference. The mansion itself was gigantic with hundreds of rooms and seemingly endless corridors and connecting halls — it was no simple task.

A flush of cold air behind her was all the warning she had before long filthy fingers wrapped themselves around her throat and dragged her backwards. She struggled as hard as she could to little effect, the grip around her throat was too tight.

“There’s something familiar about you.” A woman’s voice breathed down her ear and the icy breath lingered on her neck.
Morana.

“You…” Claire gasped as the fingers relaxed momentarily to allow her to speak. Her heart almost leapt into her throat. The vampires grubby clawlike hands slid around her throat feeling her pulse quicken.

“Ah…” Morana’s fingers lifted her chin upwards with the sharp jab of a nail. “
Be still.
” The voice was alluring and commanded her to be still. Claire shivered as she remembered the effects of Morana’s compulsion the previous night. “Let’s have a look at you.” Morana removed her hand and circled her without a sound. Claire soon realised she wasn’t compelled — Adrian’s pendant burned cold against her chest shielding her from the psychic compulsion. Morana tilted her head listening to the change in heartbeat of her prey with a cruel smile. Claire could move. She wasn’t compelled but she stood no chance of landing a hit on the superhuman predator. Her bow would be useless in close quarters, instead she used one of the oldest tricks she knew. Claire decided to play up the helpless victim. She remained still as requested and contemplated her next move. Any stakes of vials of holy water she had were long gone — torn off during the skirmish in the entrance hall. The rapier wasn’t silver and was useless inside its sheathe anyway. Same for her hunting knife.

“Yes. That scent…that voice.” Morana crept closer and sniffed her. “The warehouse.” The vampire continued to circle her paralysed prey stroking Claire with a blood-stained clawlike finger. “You even look familiar.”

Claire felt her own heartbeat quicken yet again. She’d been wearing a helmet last time she encountered the vampire doctor.

“What do you want?” Claire asked gritting her teeth and keeping as still as she could manage. She allowed her eyes to dart across the vampire and her wretched hands. The longer she watched Morana the more spiderlike the woman became creeping in an unnerving and inhuman way. Her glasses reflected light from the fires outside as she passed by giving her the appearance of more than two eyes.

“That is the question.” Morana moved in again and Claire felt the icy cold touch of her breath on her exposed neck. “To feed? Or to turn you as well? I wonder.”

Claire said nothing and tensed as the horrid woman withdrew a short distance and sized her up.

“Who knows you might enjoy it as well.” Morana attempted a seductive teasing voice completely at odds with her mad stilted way of moving and talking. The vampire curse for all its famed ability to create graceful and alluring predators could only do so much for Morana. Claire shivered as Morana’s eyes searched her face and fixed upon the head wound she sustained. The drying blood still fresh on her face. The vampire’s pupils dilated as she stared.

“Where is Haures?” Claire asked hoping to stall for more time. She glanced at the rainwater seeping in through the damaged roof. Perhaps she could catch the vampire by surprise and shove her into the rain. It burned her before perhaps she could create enough time to draw her weapon.
What weapon? None of my weapons work against vampires.
The best she could hope for was to burn her with water and seek cover in the rain outside. Jumping from a second floor building was preferable to anything Morana had planned.

“Around here somewhere.” Morana’s unblinking eyes never left the blood on Claire’s face. “I shouldn’t worry about him if I were you.”

Something in the corridor behind her flickered and moved. The mist seeping in through the roof thickened and congealed behind Morana. It began to form into the shape of a woman. Morana turned her gaze towards Claire’s chest hearing the change in her heart. Her smile grew wider upon seeing her threats were working. Or so she thought. Claire risked a glance over the vampire’s shoulder at the swirling mist behind her. A figure condescended and emerged in the vapour.
Veronica.

Without a word a gloved hand tore through Morana’s chest from behind ripping straight through the dull-grey lab coat Morana wore. Morana screeched in shock and stared in disbelief at the arm poking out of her chest. The wound was oddly bloodless as the hand retracted leaving a see-through hole in the vampire doctor’s chest.

“Veron…ica…” Morana breathed in fury the gaping wound already healing. Veronica responded by kicking the woman’s legs out from under her and slashing a silver-knife across the vampires throat. The wound burned and fizzled as it tore apart her throat as the knife ripped free. Morana sagged tearing herself free from Veronica’s grip and exploded into mist just as before. Veronica slashed at the mist with her knife, her movements were a blur, an afterimage as she tried to carve the mist into pieces. The mist collected itself and rushed across the hall solidifying into Morana again who rose up from a crawl as she resumed human form.

“I saw what you did to my lab.” Veronica turned her back on Claire and scowled at the wretched woman before them. The neck wound was nowhere to be seen — transforming into a mist refreshed her body it seemed. It was a curious thing to note but Claire survived by her observations — her clothes remained as filthy and unwashed as ever. She wondered whether that was intentional or a limitation and how solid objects became mist with her but there was no time for an answer.

“Impressive some of the findings you have.” Morana sneered brushing aside her tatty black hair. “Or should I say, I have now.”

Veronica took a calm step forward knife held in her hand and Morana flinched backwards, still wary of the anatomist. “We’ll see.”

Claire moved to Veronica’s side with her bow drawn. She couldn’t kill Morana but she could certainly make life difficult. An arrow through the leg or chest was an inconvenience even when you could regenerate.

Morana’s glare danced between the two women before her and she took a step back. She preferred to prey on the weak and vulnerable, she was no fighter. With a fair fight in front of her some of her boldness drained away. “I’ll get you for this.” She shouted. Her mannerisms made her seem like an overgrown child crossed with a giant spider. With a contemptible grin she closed her eyes and exploded into mist again. The vapour rose through the holes in the ceiling and vanished into the evening sky. Veronica tucked her knife beneath her noble attire and turned to face Claire.

“Are you hurt?” Her eyes flickered upon Claire’s blood-stained face.

Claire shook her head. “You’re a vampire.”

Veronica shrugged delicately. Even after a fight she remained flawless without a hair out of place. Her mannerisms perfect and refined. “As I said, I’ve adapted.” She pointed a gentle finger at Claire’s chest indicating she could hear the slowing of Claire’s heart. “You’re not afraid.”

“You seem reasonable enough to me.” Claire conceded. Spending her entire life in Caelholm no doubt helped her avoid a pathological fear and hatred of vampires. Three short years had changed Adrian into a much more paranoid survivalist. The citizens themselves jumped at shadows and trusted no-one. “There are bigger threats to deal with right now.”

Veronica gave a tight-lipped smile, keeping her teeth from showing. “Very wise Claire. I knew I’d picked someone smart.”

Claire allowed the compliment to brush over her and stared back at Veronica as long as she felt was polite. “If you don’t mind me asking.” She waited for a sign of encouragement from Veronica. “How did it happen?”

“Haures.” She replied with a brief look of shame. “I was hired as a trained specialist on vampire anatomy on a secret mission for the Inquisition in Vemparia some years ago. When the vampires overwhelmed us Haures fled and left me to their mercy.”

Claire nodded and listened with interest.

Veronica continued after a brief pause. “As it turns out they have more mercy than he realised. They turned me so that I might avenge myself.” Veronica’s expression hardened. “He won’t escape me forever.”

“Ironic then, that he seeks the power of vampirism now.”

The overwhelming loud roar of Valdgeirr drew closer. They glanced out of the rain-splattered window to see a gigantic black shape flying towards them.

“She’s summoned Valdgeirr to our position.” Veronica’s calm was impressive. Her voice never faltered. “Get to safety.”

“What about you?” Claire asked backing down the corridor.

“I’m touched.” She smiled.

The dragon landed on the roof above with a devastating impact. Brickwork and plaster rained down upon them and the entire corridor groaned in protest to support the weight of the dragon. The dragon’s tail spiked through the ceiling like a spear smashing apart the floor less than a metre away from Claire. She flinched and fell backwards as the tail lashed out blindly like a whip.

“Go!” Veronica shouted urging Claire away as she stabbed into the dragon’s tail with her knife.

With a nod of thanks Claire turned and ran for the second time in an hour as the dragon’s black serrated tail smashed apart the roof to find her. She ran as fast as she could, trying her best to head where she’d last seen Haures. The entire building shook as the dragon kicked off the roof collapsing the ceiling underneath it as it took to the skies. Claire sprinted up towards the end of the corridor and to a set of double doors as the dragon roared overhead. She fumbled with the door handle and was relieved to find it unlocked. She kicked aside the door and ran into yet another corridor this one lined with statues and weaponry. Claire found herself wishing the statues would come to life and help her but Alba and Razakel had disappeared during the confusion of the battle. She strapped her short-bow to her back and sprinted down the empty corridor as fast as she could. The beautiful red carpet beneath her feet muffled her footsteps at least. She ran past siderooms and over the corpses of servants and mansion guards hoping to find the corridor she’d spotted from across the building. She saw a sign mounted on the wall in the distance pointing toward the library glinting in the light. As she neared it the entire wall of windows smashed open raining glass and masonry across the hall. The dragon’s head tore through the wall and snapped towards her with its over-sized yellow teeth. Claire screamed and tried to turn away from it but her momentum carried it closer to the flaming maw. She felt the intake of breath as the dragon prepared to incinerate her when a spear flew past her head and into the dragon’s mouth with a roar of pain.