Prophecy: Child of Light (50 page)

He relished the kill.

Swinging her axe quickly, she stamped on her opponent’s shin when he tried to punch her. It cracked and she watched him drop to his knees before turning her attention to the next Tenebrae. The moment he was within striking distance, she brought her foot up and kicked him square in the crotch, making him fall to the ground beside the other one. Bringing the axe round in a graceful arc, she removed both of their heads in one go and didn’t bother stopping to watch them slowly melting into nothingness.

She punched the vampire nearest her before kicking him in the chest and forcing him to stumble backwards into the group, knocking them all over. She didn’t relent, pushing forwards but briefly looking at Valentine to make sure that he was still with her. He was still grinning, his lapis blue eyes twinkling with it and showing her how lost he was in the fight.

He sliced across the chest of another vampire, cleaving it in two, and then elbowed the one behind him when they caught hold of his shoulders.

Another howl made her smile. It was much closer this time. Over the din of the fight, she could hear the clash of battle outside. Dmitri’s army had arrived.

Turning sharply, she raised her axe at the last remaining vampire. Her eyes widened when she saw it was Valentine. He leapt back a step, holding his hands up by his sides and raising a brow at her.

“Sorry... I got a little carried away.” She smiled sheepishly and lowered her weapon.

Looking around them, she realised they’d made it to the top of the stairs.

“Just try and remember that I am on your side,” Valentine said with a small smile.

“Have we even made a dent?” She stared at the vampires below her. They were all waiting at the bottom of the stairs, the staircase itself too narrow to allow them to come up as a group.

“Not really.” He nodded to her hand. “You might want to use that.”

She looked down to see the stone in her amulet glowing brightly and threads of magic weaving their way around it. Raising her hand up, she watched the magic gathering in front of the stone, knitting into a tight spinning globe.

Placing her axe down, she wrapped her fingers around her wrist, supporting it. She smiled when she felt the magic humming in her veins, intoxicating her as it grew. It weaved through her fingers, each tiny thread being pulled into the globe and making it grow brighter. She let it build up, holding off releasing it until the vampires below them had started making their way up the stone steps.

When she released the magic, she watched it tear through the approaching vampires and zigzag around the room. It gave the hall a strange purple glow. She frowned at the sound of a hundred vampires dying in unison. It sent a chill down her spine to see the terrifying extent of the power she commanded. When she finally halted her attack, the room was full of dust and the smell of charred flesh.

Lowering her hand, she was stunned when the air began to clear, revealing the level of damage she’d done to the Tenebrae forces.

She must have killed nearly half of them in one attack.

Her whole body trembled at that thought and she leaned heavily against the pillar at the top of the staircase. Valentine caught her arm, supporting her and stopping her from falling.

“I’m okay...” she mumbled, blinking slowly and trying to clear her head. She felt so tired, her senses dulled by the magic draining away all of her energy. Raising her eyes, she looked into his and found he’d changed back out of his vampire guise. Her gaze darted to the room when she felt something approaching and she realised that although they had made a better dent in their enemy’s forces, they still had a long way to go. The vampires were mounting the stairs, heading straight for them.

“Conserve your energy. Use it wisely, Prophecy.” Valentine placed his hand against her back, pulling her into an upright position. “This fight is far from over but we have levelled the playing field a little. Dmitri’s men will be here before you know it. We just have to hold them off a little longer.”

She nodded, picked up her axe again and got ready to throw herself into the throng of vampires below her.

She scanned them quickly and turned to face Valentine.

“I can’t see the lord of Tenebrae anywhere.”

He frowned, looking at the vampires.

At the far end of the hall was the same platform she had seen in her vision and on it stood an empty throne.

“Maybe he’s waiting for us to make it there before showing up.” She nodded towards the throne. “Or maybe he’s fled.”

“No red carpet welcome,” he said.

She tightened her grip on her axe. “We could make our own red carpet.”

He smiled broadly at her. It seemed strange to see it. She was so used to the little smiles that he gave her when he thought they weren’t being watched.

“We will do just that then,” he said and swung his axe in a lazy arc by his side.

Advancing down the steps, she kicked the first line of vampires in the head and chest, causing them to stumble backwards into the ones behind them. She swung her axe hard into the group on her side and watched the stones turn red as their blood spilled out of their wounds. Bringing her axe down, she swiftly cut the heads off the wounded vampires and lunged forwards, kicking the ones behind in the chest and swinging her axe freely.

She had to admit that she was beginning to enjoy the battle. There was something releasing about killing so many in so short a time, even when it was her own species she was fighting. With each one she disposed of, she felt more powerful, more confident. Turning to watch Valentine, she noticed that they were beginning to get separated and then remembered his words to her. She looked up at the balcony above them. If things became too dangerous, she knew that he’d be there waiting for her.

Her axe hummed delightfully as she threw herself into the melee. Now free from fear of accidentally hurting Valentine, she could fight harder and let her axe do most of the damage. She relished the opportunity to let go and changed into her vampire guise, executing swift kicks and punches to slow down her opposition.

Valentine frowned when the feeling of Prophecy’s signature began to get dimmer and dimmer. He knew she was still in the room with him, but she felt distant now. A quick look over his shoulder showed she was there. Two vampires flew backwards and took down at least a dozen when they fell back to earth. Turning back to his own fight, he tried to battle his way towards the empty throne at the back of the room.

Instinct told him that that was where he had to go and he was never one to ignore instinct.

Slicing into the vampire nearest him, he took down the one beside him with a swift kick in the knee and then chopped the head off the one behind him without even looking. He knew how wrong it was to take pleasure in killing his own kind, but he couldn’t help himself. It had been so long since he’d been in a battle of this magnitude. He realised that this would be another mark against them both in the eyes of the Law Keepers.

Growling with effort, he clawed a nearby vampire across the face and then punched him hard, knocking him to the floor. It didn’t matter if there was the odd survivor. Once they had defeated the lord of Tenebrae, command of the bloodline would disappear until the Chosen Son or Daughter came forwards to claim the role of master. In those brief moments, it would be easy to get the other vampires to throw down their arms.

Another glance in Prophecy’s direction showed that the vampires seemed to be more interested in fighting her than him. He cut the heads off two men and then stepped up onto the stone platform where the throne was.

Turning his head to one side, he listened to the vampires behind him. He could hear them jostling for position but not one of them made a move to attack him. He wondered if setting foot on the platform was forbidden, no matter what.

He looked down at them and arched a brow.

They were pushing against each other, the ones at the front having to lean backwards in order to avoid touching the steps that led up to the platform where he was standing.

“What are you afraid of?” he asked with a sly smile. “Me?”

“No, child, it is me they fear.”

V
alentine turned slowly to face the owner of the voice. There was no doubt in his mind that this was the lord of Tenebrae. He was dressed in heavy armour that protected his neck and chest. When he stepped forwards, Valentine could see that the metal plates were thick, heavy enough to withstand the blow of an axe even when it was coupled with preternatural strength. Even the ornate helmet the vampire lord wore looked as though it could take any strike of a weapon and have only a dent or scratch to show for it. It was Norse-like, the eyeholes split with a long strip that covered the nose. The top was crowned with a plume of black feathers and the sides were decorated with brass or gold. The chest and neck plates were decorated in a similar manner. They were edged with the yellow metal and it crept in swirling patterns across the silver.

“I believe they are the only ones,” Valentine said in a measured tone, not letting the lord of Tenebrae see the nerves that flickered in his stomach.

This wasn’t going to be an easy fight. Their only hope was that Prophecy’s magic could slice through the armour.

The lord of Tenebrae divested himself of his long black cloak, giving him an amused smile while he did so. Valentine kept his eyes locked on his opponent’s face, not letting him distract him at all. He couldn’t tell how old the lord looked with his helmet on, it hid most of his face from view, but he knew that in vampire years he rivalled Mathias. He could sense the strength that living to that age had bestowed on him.

This wasn’t going to be an easy fight at all. He just hoped that Prophecy wasn’t too far behind him. If they were going to win this, they were going to need her power.

“You seem ready... willing... yet you do not make a move. Why is it you have come all this way to fight me? Can you not see what we are trying to do here?” The lord frowned behind his helmet.

Valentine let his demon guise come to the forefront at the same time as the lord of Tenebrae did. He stared into the twin pools of black that were looking back at him and growled.

He sensed the lord’s move a moment before he made it and ducked easily under his arm, avoiding the punch that had been thrown at him. Sweeping around, he took the lord’s legs out, causing him to fall to the floor with a harsh thud and clatter of metal. He straightened up, readying himself while his opponent got to his feet.

Just as the elder vampire stood, Valentine caught him around the jaw with a swift left hook and at the same time kicked him hard in the kneecap. All he could do was go for the weak spots, the parts of the lord that weren’t so well protected. While the vampire was struggling to his feet again, Valentine used the time to his advantage, scanning the armour. He realised that while the lord’s chest, back and neck were protected, his sides were exposed where the armour met.

He barely had time to react as the vampire rushed at him, hitting him hard in the chest with both fists before gripping his arm tightly. Valentine brought his knee up hard into the vampire’s stomach, causing him to growl as the metal plate pushed into his body. Bringing his foot down, he stamped on the lord’s knee and then punched him twice in quick succession before following through with his elbow across the vampire’s cheek. As the lord stumbled backwards from the force of the blow, Valentine hit him as hard as he could across the side of his head with the blunt face of the axe.

The lord kicked him in the stomach and Valentine growled when all of the other vampires that were gathered around the platform jeered in support of their master’s move. He tried to avoid the lord’s hand as he lashed out at him, but found himself backed into a corner with nowhere to go. The elder vampire grabbed a fistful of his hair and he struggled but didn’t have the strength to stop him from bringing his head down roughly on his armoured knee. His head spun and he tried to lash out at the elder vampire, but his opponent batted his hand away and grabbed hold of his jacket. Valentine flinched in pain when the lord punched him repeatedly in the face, a malicious glint in his eyes. The lord of Tenebrae threw him backwards and he stumbled and fell.

Lying staring at the ceiling, he wondered if he’d finally met his match. With so many vampires around, it seemed impossible to win this fight. He could taste blood in his mouth and his whole face hurt. Not even the sound of wolf growls in the hall around him was any comfort. They couldn’t win this battle with werewolves and vampires. While they could easily defeat the lower ranked vampires, they were no match for the lord of Tenebrae. Elena and Prophecy were right. It was magic that had to stop this war and fulfil the prophecy.

Getting to his feet, he spat blood out onto the clean stone slab below him and then swallowed hard, trying to shut down the pain. His whole body ached, everything dulled by the pain rocketing through his system.

He was no match for the lord of Tenebrae in hand to hand combat. The elder vampire was far stronger than himself. Even if he did win, the two high guards that he could now see standing at the back of the platform would kill him.

“Why have you led your army of half breed scum to our castle? You will not succeed in altering this prophecy or stopping us in our path to our true destiny. What you have been told about this prophecy is a lie. There will be a new day.” The lord of Tenebrae scowled at him and then shook his head. “All you have done today is spill your own blood. We shall prevail. This prophecy shall be fulfilled as fate intended it.”

Valentine frowned and wiped his nose on the back of his hand. There was no way he was going to let this man beat them. He had to go on fighting, if only to give Prophecy the chance she would need to defeat him.

His chest warmed at that thought. He’d do his best to slow the elder vampire down, to give her the opportunity she needed to save the world and herself, even if he didn’t make it. He had to do it for her, to show her how much he loved her and to prove that he’d changed since they first met. He had to give her a chance to survive, even if it meant sacrificing himself.