CHAPTER FOUR
Thomas returned a moment later. I had almost forgotten he was my Watcher now. How strange it felt to be attended by someone other than Quinn.
“All the Watchers are here - two inside, three of us outside.”
“Thank you, Thomas. They can watch the girls, but I want to be at the Council rooms.”
“Your father left orders for me to keep you here!”
I gave him a withering look that stopped him in his tracks. “Shall I go alone, or will my Watcher be going with me?”
On our way to the Council chambers, I noticed there were now several guards posted around Luena’s quarters, including specially trained palace guards - vampire guards - whom I recognized as those we had brought with us. Father was already talking strategy with Philepe. Gunter and Quinn were huddled with them, pointing at maps and discussing final details.
“I need to speak with you, Father.”
“Thomas, what did I tell you?” Father looked past me at Thomas, clearly irritated by the interruption.
“She’s your daughter, sir. She was determined to come with or without me.”
I saw Quinn hide a smile in acknowledgement of what Thomas was going through.
“All right, you’re here now, what is it?”
“What of Damien, Father? He hasn’t been implicated in this, and we have no proof he’s involved. All we know is he was out there in the forest when we were attacked, nothing more.”
“Why are you defending him now? You’re the one who called him a traitor in the first place. He’s being guarded; we have no time to deal with him or his sister now. Either make yourself useful or go back to your room.”
Why was I defending him? Was I really that gullible? If Luena was knee-deep in this, why wouldn’t he be? They were so close…or were they? I had to admit I was confused by him, based on the way he was the other night. Father was right though; there was no time to worry about him now. This might be all over before breakfast, if we could still surprise them.
As groups arrived at the Council room, they were told of the recent developments, given their assignments, and then sent to the armory to draw weapons as needed. Once armed and otherwise prepared for an assault, they were told to assemble at the front gate. Everyone reacted quickly as the gravity of the situation sunk in. We were split up into two different assignments. Most were going to the encampment in the forest, but a smaller group lead by Philepe and including Thomas, Quinn, and I, would be going in through the shed entrance. Our orders were to clear out the rooms and corridors as we went. Vampires first in of course, we’d check with all our senses, divide up as needed, and with luck meet Father’s party at the river.
Father’s forces raced out the west gate. Ours ran together to the back wall and to the weapons shed. Quinn unlocked the door, threw it open and we charged in. The spears had held, the sliding pallet closing off the entrance to the underground tunnels was still in place. Quinn and Thomas dislodged the spears and slid the pallet aside with a thud. I fully expected fledglings to pour out, but we neither saw nor sensed a thing.
“This is a bad sign,” I said under my breath.
Philepe and Gerhardt headed down the stairs, and I went next.
“The girls were in a room off the corridor on the right, but the fledglings came from the center archway,” I pointed straight ahead.
With our swords at the ready, we started forward. Quinn and Thomas were behind me with torches.
“Ricardo, you and Momar go into the last corridor,” directed Philepe.
We moved cautiously but quickly forward, checking the many side rooms. Suddenly the corridor opened up into a huge circular room with arched doorways all the way around it. We heard the sounds of boots coming from a corridor on our left and braced for a fight. We were relieved when Ricardo came through the opening.
“Anything?” he asked.
“Not yet,” replied Philepe
“Now what?” Gerhardt asked.
Before we could answer, I cried out, “They’re coming!” Yelling and hissing, fledglings, weapons drawn, poured from the corridors across from us. There were so many of them their numbers appeared to have no end. Ricardo and Momar took positions left, we stayed right.
“Don’t let them get behind us!” yelled Philepe as we began to make contact.
As we began to mow them down right and left, we understood that although the fledglings were not well trained, they were strong and as fast as we were. Only our superior training allowed us to make quick work of them. Out of the darkness we heard someone yelling orders to them, but even with my vampire vision, I couldn’t quite make him out.
The Watchers followed us into the room carrying torches. Once the skirmish had begun, the torches were abandoned, tossed about on the floor. Now they were making the room glow and casting shadows of the fight on the walls of the room.
We fought the fledglings fiercely and after a few minutes they finally stopped coming through the archways and their numbers began to dwindle. Two of the crazed attackers charged me from the front as one came at me from my left. I leapt, executing a high, double-footed kick, hitting one square in the chest. As he fell to the ground, I used him as a springboard, rising and executing a turn in midair. With a twist I reached out, and sliced the second frontal attacker across the throat. I had seconds to land and duck before piercing the third through the heart. As I turned to finish off the fledging that had been the recipient of my kick, I found he had risen, but before he could flex his sword arm, Quinn lopped off his head.
“I was coming to save you. And once again I see you could save yourself,” he panted, drenched with sweat.
“Sorry to spoil your fun. Let’s get the rest, and maybe I’ll even save one for you.”
“You’re on.”
Our swords clanged as we engaged two more fledglings, and shortly they too went down.
“Go back, go back,” the leader yelled over his shoulder as he ran through the archway directly across from us. The last of the fledglings retreated into whatever corridor was closest to them.
“We can’t let them get away!” yelled Philepe.
We ordered two Watchers to stay and dispatch the dead by beheading, while the rest of us charged on. From what we could tell only six remained alive, five fledglings and the one who seemed to be the leader.
“We’ll have to split up,” I shouted as I ran.
Ricardo and Momar went left, Philepe and Gerhardt went straight, and I went right.
“We have to catch them before they get to the river!” I yelled to Quinn and Thomas.
I took a deep breath and sensed the two we sought were still ahead.
“They’re close.”
I sensed how close, just in time to duck as one lunged from an opening on my right. Quinn quickly swung his sword and split the fledgling’s head open. As he fell, Thomas divided his crushed skull from his shoulders.
“One more!,” I yelled.
I could smell water now. The river wasn’t far, and as expected, the corridor opened onto its bank. I could see brush moving on the other side of the rushing water.
Without thinking, I leapt across the water and ran after the fledgling in the brush. I slowed, trying to sense where he had gone. It was then I realized I was alone, having forgotten that Quinn and Thomas would be forced to find their own way across the river. My enemy was close; I could smell him. Then from above, he dropped right onto me. As we fell to the ground my sword flew out of my hand. We wrestled; the fledgling’s eyes were wild with the look of a rabid dog whose intent was to tear out my throat. Now the impossibly strong fingers found my throat and began to squeeze. I thrashed and fought, but the fledgling grasp continued to squeeze. My vision narrowed, and I began to see bright flashes. Just as I was about to lose hope, I saw two hands grab the fledgling’s head and twist. The distinct crack of vertebrae breaking exploded in the night. The pressure on my neck eased as dead fingers released and the fledgling fell away. I closed my eyes and I took several rasping bre
aths. I opened them expecting to see Philepe or Gerhardt; I was shocked by the face I saw where the fledgling had been.
“Damien…” I croaked. “What are you doing here?”
“Saving you, what else? You didn’t think you could have all this fun without me, did you?”
“Well, thank you,” I said, as he kicked the body off of my legs and helped me up.
“I have to speak to you. I can’t stay here. Everyone will think I’m part of this plot, but I swear to you, I wanted no part of it. It’s my sister’s doing. Luena is a truly evil being.”
As I opened my mouth to protest, he put his face close to mine, “We don’t have much time, so please hear me out. That day when your party was attacked, I tried to get there to stop it, but I was too late. I did, however, kill the few Volator and their leader that got away from your father and Philepe; you’re safe from them now.” He stopped, listening, “They’re coming, I must leave. Katrina, I’ll find you in the New World. Please believe I’d never harm you or your father.”
Then he put his hands on my shoulders.
“You believe me, don’t you?”
I looked into his eyes and I knew I did.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Yes I do.”
He pulled me close and kissed me, and then he was gone. For a moment I thought I had dreamed it all, but the body at my feet was real enough. I dispatched his head just as Quinn and Thomas trotted up.
“You’re late again,” I gloated.
“I guess so,” Quinn grinned. “But I’m getting used to it.”
We laughed and headed back to meet up with the others. We stopped at the river’s edge and used the cool water to clean up, washing off the sweat and blood from the cuts and gashes that, because we were vampires, would heal in a day. The Watchers were not so lucky, of course; their injuries would take days, even weeks, to heal.
Today the ten of us had killed almost thirty of our enemy, and Philepe told us the leader should have looked familiar because it turned out he was Luena’s Watcher, Edgar. That explained his absence.
We heard approaching horses and soon the rest of our group galloped to us.
Philepe yelled, “Fredrik, what took you so long?” We all laughed.
My father explained the cave system was a maze of interconnected tunnels, and during the fight we had killed twenty-five. After dispatching the fallen fledglings, they’d gone from room to room to make sure the cave was completely cleared out. During this exercise, they came across three captives, men who had been abducted from villages far in the north. Strange disappearances had been rumored in that area for years. The captives had been held to provide fresh blood for the fledglings and we learned the three rescued had been part of a much larger group which ebbed and waned as captives died and were replaced. The men were assured that their captors and all the fledglings had been killed and that we would see to their safety. Once they had a chance to rest and recover, they would be safely escorted back to their villages.
I knew I must tell Father what Damien had told me about the Volator. But I was suddenly too exhausted for the effort.
“Let’s head back,” Father ordered. “Our work here is done.” He then reached out his arm, offering to pull me up behind him on his horse. Gratefully, I grasped his hand and arm as he effortlessly pulled me up and on to his mount.
“Well done, daughter. Well done.”
I wrapped my arms around his waist and squeezed him to me as tightly as I could. A huge smile spread across my face as tears welled in my eyes. He was proud of me, and that meant everything.