THE VROL TRILOGY (64 page)

Some nekos looked at the puddle of pus,
organs, intestinal liquids and shredded flesh on the ground and
licked their lips, but Dons screamed at them to get away from it -
he had no idea if it was infectious, and he needed to protect not
only his employees but his clientele too. They whimpered a bit and
then returned to the club where everyone got back into the full
moon festivities, almost as if nothing had happened only minutes
before. Adam turned to enter into the club again, but was stopped
in his place as Dons uncharacteristically poked a finger into the
pseudo-mage's chest.

"Not you mate - remember? You are going
to
protect
us all in case
Maxie returns. So do your job. You're out here - all night. And
clean up the mess he left. It smells terribly."

Adam got a surprised look on his face and
gulped. Quickly regaining his composure he said, "Oh certainly! I
was just going to get myself a refreshment to take outside. You can
count on me, of course!"

"I'll get you some water. Be right back,"
said Dons with a tone that was less than friendly. He had long
suspected Adam was a crass bullshitter, but now he knew for a fact
that the man was nothing more than a coward. In retrospect, he
could only recall Adam heating up some things and doing some
soldering for the clan. He had never displayed great feats of magic
like those of which he always claimed - teleportation, banishment,
transformation, etc. Dons had installed the protective magical
device that he kept as an umbrella over the roof of his
establishment - and even he understood it emitted sound on a
frequency that hurt the hearing of the Vrol, keeping them away.
Adam had nothing to do with it, but tended to lay claim on and take
credit for its adoption.

###

The newly formed werewolf streaked up over
the Santa Monica Mountains, sniffing scat and howling on occasion.
It took out a medium-sized deer and quickly devoured the delicious
liver, heart and a good percentage of the gentle creature's muscle
mass before moving on. It was operating on pure instinct, but had
momentary flashes of memories it couldn't understand. Feeling a
pull to the north, it encountered what were the remains of a
freeway, which it took north by northwest. Bounding at incredible
speeds it furthered itself from the general populace, no longer
having Vrol flyers in the sky or mantis-like Vrol troops on the
ground. It did encounter a mountain lion mid-way up into the San
Fernando Valley, which it disemboweled, using the massive claws on
its hind legs. Stopping briefly to see if its prey was edible, it
wrinkled its large snout in disgust as it watched the big cat bleed
out all over the ground. Carnivores never tasted very good, and
they only ate each other during times of starvation.

By the time the moon had run its course, the
creature that was once, and would again be Max, had reached the
ruins of a very large amusement park - previously known as Magic
Mountain. The beast had eaten its fill, so Max wouldn't suffer a
crash upon awaking.

But then an odd thing happened - the wolf
gained reason before changing, which probably wasn't a very good
thing for Max in terms of the pain of reverting to his normal form.
He looked down, razor-sharp vision seeing minute details in his
forepaws - a combination of dexterous hands and massive canine
paws. He lifted one up and studied it. Then, holding onto the
moment, as he didn't know if he was going to slip back to his
primal state again, he collected as much in his mind as possible.
He could feel blood pumping through his veins and his fast twitch
muscle fibers ripple with anticipation. All of his senses were on
full alert, and he could smell even the smallest of creatures that
were kilometers away. He found it to be a most exhilarating feeling
- one he wanted to experience again, and quite soon. He had the
same senses in the Dominion when he went through his change every
lunar cycle, but this time was special - he could enjoy them with a
rational mind.

"Rrrrrrrrrrr… losht," he growled, not even
trying to speak in the werewolf language that everyone in the
Dominion studied since childhood - and he could barely pronounce.
He was just very aware that he was a werewolf and would soon change
back. And when he did it would hurt. Badly.

Chapter 9 -
Recon Time Parte Dos

Luigi Bagatelle woke up much earlier than
normal, most probably due to the fact that he was excited about the
day's coming activities. He had been stuck inside the castle walls
since arriving in the Rhönen Dominion, albeit with a couple of
exceptions when surveying the perimeter and learning particulars
tasks, such as how to feed the moat sharks. It was to be his first
true mission, and even though it sounded simple, they would be
actually putting themselves in peril as they attempted to corral
some cannibals into a safe zone.

After dressing, he headed down to the mess
hall to get his morning chow, but found that the castle servants
were still not yet done preparing food for the day. Not being
bothered at all, he went into the kitchen area and assisted the
staff with the rations. He rather enjoyed cooking, having learned
quite a bit during the few months of his unjust house arrest on
Azul. Looking through the ample selection of herbs and spices, he
offered some suggestions to the castle cooks, as he found the food
prepared to be a bit on the bland side. They took his suggestions
kindly, and then promptly ignored him, as to overly-season the
massive pots of stew and meats on the grill would not be
satisfactory to everyone. Once he felt he had sufficiently assisted
in the kitchen, he grabbed a plate of food and ate a bit more than
usual, wanting to have stacked resources for the day. Sitting at
his usual table he was nearly startled when he saw his niece
sitting next to him, never having heard her arrive nor sit
down.

"Good morning, T
í
o!" she said in her usual
bright fashion. She would tank out early in the evenings, but was
always quite chipper in the mornings.

"Good morning, Liliana. Did you sleep well,
my dear?"

"Oh yes, quite well,
T
í
o, thank
you for asking. Are you to accompany Jennie and give a new home to
the brainless ones?"

Bagatelle chuckled to himself when he put
that together. What the little girl had said was quite true -
cannibals suffered from an incurable viral infection that rendered
them senseless. They would run around at full speed, desiring only
to eat normal human brains, until their systems burnt out. However,
it was quite simple to contain and eliminate them - if they were
contained they could not feed. If they could not feed they would
painlessly die of starvation - they felt nothing. It was determined
to be the most humane solution available. In other parts of the
world there were those who actually reveled in hunting down the
poor, witless fools, but Draagh was a very sensitive immortal
being, and guided Krynos like he guided no other.

"Yes sweetie. Your mother and I are
going to help the poor people who cannot think anymore. You know,
while we're talking about Jennie, may I ask why you don't call
her
mother
or
mami
?"

Liliana gave her uncle a curious look,
as if he had asked an odd question. "Well, T
í
o, I do not believe I yet
have earned the right to call her by a name such as that. One day I
might, but not on this day."

Bagatelle was amazed by the child's response,
but decided not to give her an explanation of how it is a term of
endearment that one simply uses when they love someone, and is not
something that needs to be earned.

Minutes later the two were joined by Jennie,
and surprisingly King Krynos, who had not been seen within the
confines of the castle for quite a few days. Bagatelle immediately
stood up when he noticed the leader of the Dominion arrive.

"Good morning, my family! And an excellent
morning to you my good friend Boragnilo!"

Krynos' almost comical mangling of
Bagatelle's surname was so frequent that most were starting to
believe the king did it on purpose, even though it truly was not in
his nature. There was a kingdom to the far south, on the other side
of the great mountains, in the area once known as Italy, where many
had surnames similar to Bagatelle, and the former rear admiral was
informed that Krynos regularly mispronounced their names also.

Liliana stood up and curtseyed to her king
while saying, "Good morning, my liege! It is so nice to see your
strong countenance!"

Krynos lit up, very happy to see that the
little girl who had virtually saved his castle a year prior was
growing to be such a respectful young lady.

"Why thank you, my dear young lady! And might
I say that I have spoken with your grandfather. He has informed me
that your magical studies are coming along tremendously. I have
great hopes that perhaps one day you shall perform magical services
for the kingdom."

Liliana blushed and bowed before taking her
seat to finish her breakfast, as Krynos looked to finish his
conversation with Bagatelle.

"So, Bagnatello, I understand that you are
accompanying your sister and her recon group to cordon off the
latest infestation of cannibals. Indeed you must be pleased to
leave the castle grounds."

"Yes, my king. I am eager to get out into the
countryside. It's very beautiful here and I look forward to seeing
more of your lands."

"Brother," Jennie interjected, "it's no small
feat what we do today. Cannibals can be dangerous, and there's even
a chance of infection, albeit not a permanent one for us. Normals
are irrevocably contaminated once an infected one transfers his
blood and saliva into the blood stream of the victim. From that
point on there is absolutely nothing that can be done. Our main
concern is to keep their numbers small and eventually eradicate
them by choking off the viral transmission. However, now that
Vladros' vampire forces have been decimated, cannibal populations
have begun to thrive."

"Then, what does the lack of vampires have to
do with an increase in cannibals?" asked Bagatelle, not having been
part of the Battle of the Blood and only knowing about it via
mostly exaggerated tales of great derring-do.

Krynos responded in Jennie's staid by saying,
"My sir, while Vladros was a most annoying enemy, and not being
much of a danger to our kingdom, even though he had a most inflated
ego, he did unwittingly perform services to assist in the balance
of nature. One of them was the culling of cannibal nests. The
vampires, being cowardly and vicious, frequently hunt cannibals for
sport, as they would rarely dare attack lycans. They are also able
to consume the blood of the infected with no mal effects. It was
for this reason that I allowed his coven to exist in the outskirts
of the Dominion, even though he believed we feared him. Since he
decided to attack us in the year past we were forced to eliminate
his forces, thus creating a power vacuum where the cannibal
infection could run rampant. Today we seek to shut it down in a
humane fashion, as has always been suggested by my old friend,
Draagh."

Jennie simply smiled and nodded at her
brother, knowing that Krynos' ample explanation was more than
sufficient.

"My king, I must take Liliana to her classes
and then meet with the recon team, so if you'll excuse us-"

Jennie stood and bowed, then took Liliana by
the hand. The young girl smiled at the two gentlemen as she skipped
off with her mother, leaving a very young Luigi Bagatelle and a
very old Krynos alone at the table.

"Luigi, may I ask you a question?" Krynos
queried, causing Bagatelle to gain a surprised expression, and not
only because Krynos used the man's given name for the first
time.

"Yes, of course, King Krynos. I'll answer to
the best of my abilities."

"You are not being pushed too far, too
quickly, are you? I do understand you have gone through quite a
transformation."

"I believe I am doing well. At least I can't
see any ill effects so far."

"Excellent. Please know that there is no
shame in asking your trainers to slow down. It is not like you were
raised in the Dominion, growing with your lycan skills. It is
almost the opposite for you, so you have become younger as you gain
new skills and knowledge. And speaking of knowledge, I would very
much like to hear more of your world one day soon as I am intent on
visiting it, especially when the invaders arrive. There is nothing
quite as exhilarating as great battle against new enemies."

Bagatelle thought for a moment, and at first
was unsure if he should have been insulted at the offer of relaxed
training or if he should been grateful. He chose the latter,
understanding that not only was Krynos correct - he was growing
young and learning, but also that sometimes it is better to take a
step back in order to go forward more rapidly.

"I would be more than happy to tell you about
my worlds anytime you please, King Krynos. I am also honored that
you would wish to assist in the defense of our home."

"Very well then, my boy - I shall be off.
Please, take care today. Cannibals are extremely light on their
feet and they bite quite hard. Good luck."

As he turned to leave, Krynos made a slight
bow to Bagatelle, who reciprocated in the same and then left in the
other direction to meet up with his sister and the recon team.

###

Standing in the middle of his expansive
quarters, Draagh analyzed data on a floating infoscreen, whisking
his hand side-to-side and top to bottom over the seemingly
intangible, semi-transparent interface. Knowing he had exhausted
nearly every option available, he had come to one final idea. As
the old mage formulated his plan, his faithful computerized servant
floated off to the side, each of his movements causing a gentle
stream of beautiful, bronze-colored particles to waver and
dissipate in thin air.