THE VROL TRILOGY (28 page)

Max got a feeling of nausea in the pit
of his stomach while thinking about his beautiful friend dating
another guy - especially one who reeked of a garbage
dump.

Three of the vampires then started to
move about in a concerted, methodical fashion. They were attempting
to surround the lycans, with the remaining one (who had been
alarmed upon hearing Draagh's name mentioned) yelling, "I cannot
fight those allied with Draagh. He only brings death," as he
started to back away.

Johnson looked over to his more
normal-looking counterpart and said, "So Ladros, this is how your
supposedly superior soldiers behave in the field?"

In a crass display of sociopathic
superiority, Johnson leaped over to cut off the fleeing vampire,
decapitating the fool with his broadsword, the unfortunate
deserter's detached head landing to the earth with a small thump,
even before the body started to fall.

"You would kill your own? You guys
would get along well with the Vrol," taunted Max, who was keeping
his back close to Jennie's as they slowly rotated, keeping all
three remaining invaders in their field of vision.

Looking at his HUD, Max noticed that
all levels were high, but as he was about to consume a serious
amount of energy, he needed to make it quick and get back to the
castle. Johnson sneered and spit on the ground, waving his
broadsword in small motions to his front.

"The Vrol? So, you have learned their
true identity. Hahahaha! Yeah, we have more in common with them
than you would ever realize, you idiot. I am going to enjoy this.
They say the best thing about lycan blood is the color it makes in
the dirt."

Without any warning, the remaining
subservient vampire screeched and jumped out at the two young
lycans, causing them to quickly separate, with Jennie stating,
"I've got this one," as he flew at her from the air.

Before his feet even touched the ground
Jennie had spun around and elbowed him in the face, knocking him
back five meters. She crouched low, waiting for his follow-up
attack, as Max moved out and in-between her and the two remaining
vampires - Johnson and the one called Ladros.

"Ryder Johnson, fall back - this one is
mine," rasped Ladros, who then cautiously approached Max,
sidestepping as he did so.

The injured foot soldier on the ground
jumped up, and then again leaped at Jennie, only to have a most
unfortunate collision with her power gauntlet, which destroyed the
entire maxilla region of his face, and nearly separated his jaw
from the rest of his head - taking him out of the battle and
leaving him in a heap at the base of a tree. Max moved forward
toward Ladros, as Johnson had backed off a few meters, but tried to
keep both in visual range, as he didn't want the traitor to circle
around and attack his counterpart. Then, with a crackling screech,
Ladros ran toward Max in a full frontal attack, with the lycan
doing a quick side step to avoid any damage, and conserving energy
at the same time.

"The butt! The butt! Do the butt
thing!" a beaming Jennie yelled, referring to how Max had used his
sword to slap her on the rear after she had charged him during
their mock battle earlier in the month.

Max spun about and grinned
at the girl, saying, "Aw Jen, I only do that to the finest
of
potos,
" and
gave her a quick wink before addressing his attacker yet
again.

Ladros then attacked Max with a
lightning-fast series of direct swings from his broadsword, each
one being easily parried off by the lycan, sometimes using his
katana, and twice using defensive shield cantuses. Once the attack
series was completed, Max executed a forward-spinning jump up and
over Ladros, and had carved a letter M on the vampire's back before
his feet even touched the ground.

"Oh, touché!" shouted Jennie, while
still keeping Johnson in her view. This enraged Ladros to such a
point that he lost complete control of himself, and started jumping
all around, facing danger head-on while trying to get to Max's
back. The one time he did get back there he let go with a mighty
swing of his overly large sword, only to have it stopped; Max had
quickly and expertly dropped his blade down over his back, avoiding
any damage whatsoever. Still, the limited contact alarmed him, and
although wanting to conserve his energies, he pushed himself into
his battle form, with his limbs slightly elongating, teeth becoming
sharp, and finger and toenails turning to small claws. This, of
course, doubled his strength, and he used it to go on the
offensive, but at the same time still playing a bit with his
attacker.

Running up, he pressed chests with
Ladros, their swords crossed, and got a whiff of the vampire's
repugnant breath.

"Hey, Ladros, I thought you guys drank
blood…it smells like you eat rancid gerbil ass."

Jennie giggled, having heard his
comment, but didn't notice Johnson attempting to flank her. Max
pushed back from Ladros, glad to be away from the vampire's
respiratory exhalations, and then noticed Johnson's
movements.

"Jennie, Johnson's on you!" he
screamed, as his vampire opponent attacked him yet
again.

Jennie leaped back, planted
her feet wide apart and pointed her katana at Johnson, loudly
shouting, "
Undaincantatio
ultravita!"

Her cantus created a massive blast of
ultraviolet light, and was aimed directly at Johnson's face. Ladros
shielded his eyes, even though he was not the focus of the blast,
while Johnson screamed, his face smoking from the unexpected
magical attack.

"You bitch! I'll kill you!" he groaned,
as Ladros backed off and yelled at his injured cohort.

"Ryder Johnson, you are blind! Retreat
immediately to heal and I will finish the dogs."

With his eyesight almost eliminated,
Johnson bumbled over to their fallen comrade, the vampire to whom
Jennie had most effectively given a violent form of maxillofacial
surgery, and scooped him up, tearing through the woods as he howled
in pain.

Now it was Jennie and Max against
Ladros, who had pulled a hood with UV-protective facial netting
over his head, knowing that he could be attacked with the same
cantus at any moment.

"Lycan woman, how are you able to
perform magic? Are you also a mage?" demanded the Ladros, who had
settled into a defensive position outside of the previous fighting
area.

"Naw," she quipped, "I'm just good with
gadgets, and I got some more too. You wanna see them?"

She made a silly grin at Max, and
batted her long eyelashes at him, apparently enjoying the fight
more than he had realized. But Max needed to end it, and quickly,
no matter how much fun they were having. If he could end the fight
right away he would be able to go after Johnson, who had fled while
more or less crying like a little girl.

Jennie sniffed the area just to make
sure no one was hiding about, and then, satisfied that they were
alone, sat down. She leaned up against a large oak tree and started
clapping her hands with glee, cheering Max on.

"Gunnarsson! The butt thing! Smack him
on the butt!"

"Ladros, why do you attack us? I know
Johnson is a tool, and you hate lycans, and you're evil and smell
horrible - no, wait. That's why you attacked us. You want to end
the lycan monopoly on mouthwash and deodorant. Ok, ready to
die?"

Max looked at Jennie, who was giggling
and flush in the face from all the excitement, giving her a wide
grin. Then, he instantly leaped four meters into the air, but to
Ladros' and Jennie's mutual surprise, he remained airborne. He had
called a levitation cantus without verbalizing it, and just stood
up there as the vampire wildly and haphazardly swung his blade at
him.

"Come down here and fight, you coward!
My father ordered us to kill you, and that is what I intend to do.
And once I finish with you, I will strip the flesh from your bitch
while she still breathes!"

That was Ladros' final error of the
day, as Max had no respect for men who said discourteous things
about lovely women. He floated back and downwards, staying out of
the reach of Ladros' flailing sword, and as soon as his feet
touched the ground he flashed forward, his katana a blur, and hit
every possible point of lethality on the clueless vampire's
body.

Finished, with Ladros standing frozen
in place, having suffered far too much damage to his
perpetually-rotting and self-repairing system for the salubots to
have any beneficial effect, Max turned to Jennie, bowed his head a
bit, and said, "My dear…. head's up!"

The lycan/mage spun around 360 degrees
with his sword out, and, dropping to a kneeling position while
facing towards Jennie with his arms out wide and head bowed down,
Max posed for his battle partner as Ladros' detruncated head fell
to the ground with a soft thud.

They both sat there for a minute - Max
with his head bowed, and Jennie sitting in a cute pose up against
the tree, knees tucked in and hands on her cheeks, looking on in
astonishment. Then, out of the blue, they looked at each other and
started cheering as if they were watching sports team.

"Woohooo! Yeah!" yelled the clapping
Jennie, as Max did a silly little celebratory dance.

"Let's do that again!" Jennie shouted,
but both then looked around, and already knowing there were no more
opponents, started laughing like little children, with Jennie
running up to Max and mock-fighting with him, slapping him in the
chest. Max made little effort to avoid her hits (rather enjoying
the attention), and playfully grabbed her, the end result being the
two of them rolling on the ground.

Coming to a stop at the bottom of a
small embankment, with Jennie on top, she looked at him and smiled
softly as he grinned.

"Jennie, that was an awesome cantus.
You toasted Johnson's face pretty good."

"Yeah, who would've
thought, ultravita, or
ultra
life
, was the word for
UV rays
?"

"Well," said Max, "if you think about
it, UV rays provide life, but vamps are basically denied by life,
so it's the antithesis to everything they are."

Jennie displayed a kind, affectionate
smile while still laying upon Max's chest, hers pressing into his.
She could easily feel his racing heartbeat, even as he struggled to
control his systems.

"You know Gunnarsson, when we first
met, well, I wanted to kill you. Now, not so much."

She looked at him, her enormous brown
eyes piercing his and penetrating his soul. He had her touching
him, lying up against him; something he would have never imagined
when they first met (and she tried to blow his face off with her
Stinger). Butterflies tickled his stomach, as he felt a surge of
energy course through his spine. Then, without thinking, he slowly
lifted his face up to kiss her. Jennie closed her eyes and started
to move her face towards Max's, in a motion that seemed to take an
eternity. Their noses touched as they were on the verge of nuzzling
each other, Max holding his breath in anticipation, but then her
face suddenly changed. She gained an expression of confusion and
apprehension, and rolled off of him and stood up, adjusting her
armor.

Nervously fidgeting with her hair she
blurted out, "Oh, my sword," and walked over to pick it up where it
lay by the tree. Max was stunned. His heart dropped down through
his stomach and he felt a pang of agony streak through his torso.
The young man's soul screamed as he died a little
inside.

"Jennie… are you… ok?"

"Oh yeah, why wouldn't I be? We should
get back, really. It's late."

"Yeah, you're right," he said,
disappointed as he turned to leave, but then suddenly stopped,
looking at the now completely dead, headless body. Max decided to
salvage the moment, so he gave Jennie a mischievous grin, ran over
to a clearing and found an adequately fat and straight tree branch,
about two meters in length. Quickly trimming it with his katana,
and sharpening both ends, he strolled over to Ladros' head, picked
it up and slammed it onto the branch with a sickening crunch. He
then gave the gorgeous woman a matter-of-fact look, walked out to
an open area, and stuck the branch into the ground.

"What's that?" asked Jennie,
maintaining a grimace on her face.

"A trophy, of course!" exclaimed the
victorious lycan.

"Um, Gunnarsson, you bring trophies
home, don't you?"

Max looked at her, at the impaled head,
and then back at the beautiful dega.

"Only if they don't smell like
ass."

"True, true. Well, let's get going,
Gunnarsson."

He really wished she would start calling him
by his given name.

Chapter 18 - Aftermath

Noting that they both still had
adequate energy reserves, they decided to run back to the castle at
a quick gait. Jennie was concerned that Draagh would be worried
about them, and she didn't want to hear that a search and rescue
team had been sent out on their behalf. When she told this to Max
he laughed out loud.

"Jennie, Draagh knows exactly where we
are… doesn't he, Socrates?"