Chronicles of Darkness: Shadows and Dust (41 page)

         Azrael bathed in the
flickering light and held his head high. "You did not find them, but still
they are here. We saw the huntress entering the castle." The first traces
of impatience were evident in his voice.

         The sound of an arriving
carriage interrupted him. Shortly after, Chalice appeared and stormed into the
hall, throwing herself into Azrael's arms. "I hurried back to you as
quickly as I could, my Master."

         Roughly the vampire
untangled himself. "Did you chain him so that he may rot in that
house?" Scrutinizing, his eyes darted over her face.

         Chalice paled and
stuttered, "I... I forgot." Expecting an outburst of fury, she ducked
away.

         Unexpectedly, the vampire
remained calm.

         Chalice used the moment
for another confession. "The huntress knows who I truly am."

         Azrael nodded. "I
thought as much."

         "What? I didn't
want... it wasn't my intention..."

         "Enough! Everything
will happen precisely as it should. This night is my night." He took off
his cape and gave it together with his cane to Chalice. "A light was
turned on in one of the rooms upstairs, before the huntress returned. It must
have been her daughter." An evil smile was on his face as he silently
climbed the stairs. "Hello, little girl!" he called out sweetly.

         No sound was heard and
Azrael continued, "Oh, you want to play hide and seek with me? I have to
warn you, I'm very good at this game." His eyes began to glow eerily.

         Before he reached the
last step, Helena appeared from the shadows, her head held high. Proud,
beautiful and ready to fight, she stood in front of the vampire.

         Caught off guard by her
sudden and silent appearance, Azrael retreated back to the hall. Mocking, he bowed.
"Finally, we meet."

         Helena held the holy
sword tightly in her hands and slowly walked down the stairs. From the corners
of her eyes, she counted the vampires that were waiting down there. Besides
Azrael, there were eight more. Her accusing gaze locked on Chalice, who
couldn't take it and turned away. The huntress saw the cowering Michel, who was
whimpering and slapping his palm against his forehead. She knew every help
would come too late for the man. He had been under the vampire's spell for too
long. Michel's mind would never recover and he would probably end up in an
asylum. Helena felt sorry for what the vampire had done to the police chief.

         Azrael saw the
sympathetic glance, went to Michel and pulled him up. "He is not as
innocent as you think he is. He strangled the poor Bernard Delacroix to death
with this belt." The vampire tore the leather belt from the helpless
Michel's pants. Humiliating the man even more, the pants slid down.

         Azrael's companions
started to laugh loudly at the sight.

         Helena averted her eyes,
her body tensing in anger.

         His gaze firmly fixed on
her face, Azrael broke Michel's neck and let him fall to the floor.

         The huntress swallowed.
For a brief moment, she thought this was probably the best for the police
chief. She shook off the thought.

         Before she could ask the
crucial question, Azrael introduced himself. "I am Count Azrael, the First
of the Serpentes Clan. As a vampire, I am at your service." Laughing, he
threw his head back and his pointy eyeteeth became visible.

         Helena frowned, doubting
his words.
'This vampire is supposed to be a descendant of the Serpentes? It
seems impossible, but still, he is standing in front of me. Not shy of contact,
not secluded, just disgusting. Full of evil greed and without scruples.'
In
a firm voice, she said, "So, you have announced your title, but I'm
questioning that you really are a descendant of the Serpentes Clan...
Heart
Taker
!"

         "What?" Azrael
raged and was close to a fit. That a mere human, even though it was a huntress,
was able to see his true descent made him mad.

         Faced with his reaction,
Helena replied, "I knew it."

         He pointed his index
finger at her. "So what? That won't help you much, Huntress, because
tonight you are going to die for me! The powers of the clan belongs to only me.
And I will have the powers of all clans!" he screamed outraged, nostrils
flaring, his chest rising and falling rapidly.

         "You are nothing
more than a lunatic that has to be stopped," she responded. "Your
uncontrolled lust to kill speaks for that. You could let the humans live after
drinking their blood. Instead, it gives you great pleasure to kill them."

         "Yes! I
want
to kill them!" Azrael announced firmly. Proud, he added, "I am not a
common vampire. I alone destroyed the descendants of the Serpentes Clan. Their
powers are within me." Grinning evilly, he looked at her.

         Helena realized the
extent of the danger and the aftereffects for the future. "Why are you
taking the hearts of the dead? They are useless for you and it prevents their
tortured souls from finding rest and peace."

         The tall vampire rolled
his eyes in annoyance. "Because it is fun... I like collecting things and
they belong to me... all my conquests."

         Helena had expected such
an answer.

         Nerve-wracked, Azrael
began to pace. "I am really fed up with all your questions! I don't have
to explain myself to you!" It seemed that another outburst of extreme rage
was impending.

         Helena used the moment to
run back upstairs and climbed on the parapet. From there she jumped and landed
in the middle of the big chandelier. Slowly it started to swing from side to
side above the astonished vampires' heads. Provoking them, Helena shouted,
"Come and get me!"

         Not knowing what to do,
or what the huntress was intending, the vampires gathered beneath the
chandelier.

         Helena flung a dagger to
the opposite wall, which cut through the rope that held the chandelier and it
went crashing to the floor. The huntress leapt and flipped through the air
before the impact. Crystal and metal burst on the hard marble floor. More than
half of the dark brood were buried underneath it, impaling themselves on big
splinters. Some of them tried to crawl out, but Helena quickly put a wooden
stake through their hearts. Only three vampires were left untouched.

         On the other side of the
room, Azrael had watched the whole thing. He smiled when Helena's eyes met his
over the broken chandelier. The vampire threw his loyal companion a dagger,
which she caught with ease. "Chalice, search for the girl. And for your
sake, bring her to me, alive!"

         A scary expression of
madness appeared on the young woman's face and she grinned widely.

         Helena wanted to
intercept her, but the other vampires circled her, forcing her back.

         Azrael sneered once more.
"Oh no, my dear Huntress. You will stay right where you are and die!"

         The first vampire started
a surprise attack and Helena had to fight hard not to lose her weapon during
the onrush. These vampires seemed to be stronger than the ones she had defeated
before. A second one tried to get to her from behind. She kicked backwards so
hard that she could hear some ribs crack. His body bent over and he screamed in
pain, holding his sword tightly, but also using it to support himself with it.

         Helena turned, pushed
back the first and kicked away the other's brace. As he fell down, she thrust a
stake deep into his heart. For a last time he screamed and Helena's words,
"Sol invictus!" accompanied him on his final journey.

         Outraged, the third
vampire rammed his shoulder into the huntress' chest. Stumbling backward and
trying to get some air into her lungs, Helena hit the wall with her back.
Panting harshly, she first fought against the blackness that wanted to overcome
her mind and then the sword blows of the remaining two vampires.

         With a mighty strike of
her weapon, she pushed them back, raining blow upon blow on the taller one,
until her sharp blade met his arm, tearing a heavily bleeding wound.

         Quickly he changed his
weapon from his right to his left hand and continued. The wound healed fast and
he switched hands again.

         Wanting nothing more than
to finish the seemingly endless duel, the huntress gathered all her strength
for one blow. She trust her weapon deep inside his chest, turned it and pulled
it back out, following with a stake to finish him off.

         This time, she couldn't
speak the words, because the last vampire pounced on her, hissing and baring
his teeth. He pressed her to the floor and she lost her sword. The vampire
stood above her and leered. Sure of his victory, he raised his own blade high
and thrust down.

         At the last moment,
Helena rolled to the side and his sword ripped a hole into her sleeve. She
rolled back again, her right leg shot out and kicked the surprised vampire hard
between the legs. Howling loudly, he bent over.

         Helena jumped back to her
feet. She smashed her fists into his neck and his legs gave out.

         Groaning in pain, he
writhed on the floor.

         Helena pulled another
stake from her coat and ended his existence. "Sol invictus!" With the
last one gone, she retrieved her sword and looked disbelieving at Azrael.

          He just stood there,
smiling. He clapped his hands in approval. "Bravo, Huntress, bravo."

         Helena observed him as he
took two swords from his fallen companions and twirled them easily in his
hands. "Tonight, my beautiful huntress, I'm going to taste your warm
blood. And when I drink it, it will give me even more power, which I will
need."

*****

         Smiling, Kyrian woke and
stretched after his nap. He kept his lids closed and inhaled deeply. The room
was still filled with the wonderful scent of Christine. His hand reached over,
searching for her warm, soft body, but found only empty sheets.

         His eyes flew open and he
discovered that the young woman was gone. Confused, Kyrian gazed at the pillow
beside him, before his eyes darted all over the room. There was no trace of
her. "Did my lovely Christine leave me? But why?"

          He threw back the
blanket and rolled out of bed to quickly get dressed. The young man sprinted to
the place where he had left Nightshade. Kyrian wasted no more time and jumped
on his back. At break-necked speed, they galloped back to the castle, an
indefinite feeling urging him on.

*****

         Chalice wandered through
the dark corridors. Now that the huntress was busy, there was no one to keep
her from searching Helena's small daughter. Holding the dagger between her
teeth, she crept through the rooms.

         On her way, she tore off
a curtain's string. She took both ends into her hands and pulled a few times,
stretching it. Her nose crinkled in amusement as she thought about all the
things she could do to the girl with this rope. Chalice took the dagger out of
her mouth and looked at her reflection in the brightly polished blade. "My
Master wants her alive? I wonder why? What purpose can this little brat have?"

         Her eyes sparkled as an
idea came to her. "Maybe she can be a playmate... for me..." She
found it hard to suppress the mad giggle that wanted to escape her chest. Her
nostrils flared in excitement and her heart jumped in joy. "There are so
many possibilities... but first I have to find her and get her to come out of
whatever place she is hiding. The question is, how?"

         Tapping the dagger's tip
against her chin, Chalice thought hard for a while. She knew of the strong bond
between Helena and Skylar. Kyrian had told her so many times about it. The
gleeful grin on her face became wider as a plan formed in her sick mind.

*****

         Skylar crouched in her
hideout, trembling with fear. She could hear the muted sounds of fighting that
was echoing throughout the castle. The concern for her mother grew with each
passing moment. The girl shut her eyes tightly and prayed that everything would
turn out well, but the doubts that reared up became stronger.

         "Skylar? Skylar,
where are you?"

         Her eyes flew open instantly
and she listened carefully. There it was again. A familiar voice was whispering
her name. She wrinkled her forehead.
'Christine?'

         "Skylar, your mother
sent me," the voice whispered. "I will get you out of here. Where are
you?"

         Her heart was beating
wildly, but Skylar didn't move an inch. Maybe the vampire was just imitating
Christine's voice to lure her out. Or perhaps, she was under his spell, just as
the poor Monsieur Dutroit had been.