The Division of the Damned (46 page)

From all corners of the wood his soldiers answered his call. He looked down at them, a multitude of slavering ogres, all baying for their master. They numbered in their thousands and the cacophony was
tremendous.

He held his hands aloft and the noise increased tenfold.
"Dogs!"
He thought to himself. "Children
!
" he called to th
em and they silenced immediately. "T
omorrow we hunt a new prey. Tomorrow, before the ceremony that marks the new dawn, we will kill my brother and all who ride with him.” They screamed in their bliss and eagerness. His eyes blazed in raw hatred as he preached his word. "And I will lead you to battle the heretics who dare to oppose us.”

Maria sat in the library, clutching the Book to her breast, silently laughing to herself as she listened to the Dracyl and his minions.

"You fool," she spoke to nobody
.
"
T
omorrow you will die in Utu’s wrath and I will control your vampires. I will control the next plague!”

Chapter 58

Borkin was fast losing his composure. He was tired and hungry too but it seemed the Professor needed another rest and at this rate they’d never find the Atrocity Camp.

"Just a couple of hours more, please
,
” he pleaded.

"I can’t, I can’t go on anymore. I need a rest. My eyes are closing as we speak.”

Stephanie was sure that the concussion still wasn’t healed.

”He had a nasty knock. We should rest a while. We can go on a little later.”

Borkin knew it would be no good arguing. Besides, he’d come to like the old man. However, time was pressing and he had to deliver results, and soon. "Is it far? Perhaps I could go on alone.”

Reuben didn’t answer and all but tumbled from his mount. He staggered to a tree, sat down and immediately fell into a deep sleep. Stephanie looked to Borkin. "He can’t go on. We should take him back to the hospital.”

He steeled himself to tell Stephanie the reason why he had been given a bed in the hospital in the first place. "The fact is that if he goes back he’ll more than probably get a bullet in the head, not a bed.”

She opened her mouth in shock and frowned in annoyance. "What did you promise them? What have you said that put us in danger?”

He stepped forward and put his hands lightly on her arms. "I told the
g
eneral that only he knew where this camp is, which is why he
was nursed back to health. The g
eneral needs this camp to put him back in the Party's good books. He and his whole family will suffer if he doesn’t find something to prove his loyalty, so the finding of the camp would save him. The whole area has been left out of the battle plan so we can move here without bumping into other Red Army units
;
it’s that important to him. If we go back now, I don’t know what the
g
eneral might do. He is a good sort but there’s a lot of pressure on him at the moment.”

"Well, we
’ll go back, get Reuben fit and
—
”

"No, don’t you see? The g
eneral doesn’t like Jews and especially not German Jews. We’ve got to move on. Going back is not an option.”

Stephanie could feel tears threatening behind her eyes. She blinked them away in a silent reproof to herself. "But he can’t go on," she shouted. "Can’t you see how ill he is?”

Borkin looked at Reuben and his shoulders slumped in weary resignation. He knew it was useless to deny Reuben’s condition but he didn’t know what to do. They stood facing each other in silence for what seemed like an eternity until something rustled in the foliage behind Borkin.

He turned and whipped his rifle up, pushing Stephanie behind him.

"Who’s there? Come out
!
" Borkin called into the trees. Despite his rifle he felt dreadfully exposed and he realised that, though they were in enemy territory, they had let any pretence of field craft fall by the wayside.

Mordechai emerged from out of the bushes in front of them. They had heard him over the last couple of days but he hadn’t made himself visible to them until now, and the sight of him made Borkin involuntarily step back.

Tall and muscular, his powerful body was covered in a light brown fur that shimmered when it caught the sun’s rays. All trace of the short, timid Jewish professor were gone and replaced by a regal beast of the wild.

His large wolf-like head radiated intelligenc
e and the eyes
that had seemed so alien the fir
st time Stephanie had seen him
were filled with a compassion that broke through their fear. Though his presence was fearsome, they both instinctively knew that he was a friend.

"I can look after him. He’ll be alright with me, I promise,” he rumbled in a dark, fractured bass.

A confused silence held the air before Borkin spoke.
"And the camp?
Who can take us to the camp?”

Before she even spoke, Borkin knew the answer. "I was there too, remember?” she said. “We can go together. You mark it on your map and we’ll come back for Reuben.”

The werewolf nodded and turned to Reuben. "How long has he been like this?" he said kneeling down in front of him. The deep, predatory sound of his voice sounded at odds with the attentive nature of the question.

Stephanie answered him.
"Only today.
We’ve been running on empty for the last couple of days and I think the concussion hasn’t properly healed. His body is probably shutting down to heal itself.”

Mordechai nodded and Borkin could only stare at the surreal scene before him.

"Shall we make camp here?" Stephanie asked nobody in particular.

"I thought we could move on and make some time up,” Borkin cautiously suggested.

Mordechai turned from his ministrations to Reuben and nodded. "You go. There’s nothing for you to do here. I’ll wait with him until he wakes up and I’ll see about sorting out some kind of shelter somewhere. We’ll follow on in a couple of days' time, or if he’s too ill I’ll come on my own.”

”You can’t leave him. Just stay with him until we get back. It’s
snowing.
H
e’ll freeze.”

He walked up to her and put one massive paw on her shoulder; the
other he put on Borkin.

"You forget I have business there
,
too. I’ll make sure he’s fine and then I’ll come. You’ve only got to find the camp. I’ve got to find my old self. I can’t go on like this. Every day the wild in me gathers more strength. I can feel it. I’ve got to try and find out how I can change back to being human again or I’ll lose my humanity forever.”

"But you can’t lea
ve him on his own in this state
—
”

"Child, do you think I would leave him in any danger? I will build a shelter and make sure he has enough food. He’s not an infant, he just needs rest. Believe
me,
he’ll be fine after a few days of good eating and lots of rest.”

Borkin guided her by the shoulders to her horse. "He’s right, you’ll see. He’ll get better and we can come back and collect him when the time is right.”

Stephanie mounted and turned back to Mordechai who was so tall that he could look her in the eye. "Look after him, Mordi, please. I know its right to lea
ve him with you but I have this
—
”

She broke off as the werewolf put his massive paw on her lap. "He’ll be ok, I promise. If you need me, just shout and I’ll be there for you. Go now and I will s
ee you there, at the c
astle." He turned to Borkin. "Good l
uck, soldier. You’re a good man.
I feel these things, so look after her
and I will be there for you too.
”

With a last forlorn look at Reuben, she turned her horse and rode off, Borkin riding after her.

Chapter 59

The Tree

They rode hard throughout the day and, desp
ite the snow, they reached the t
ree in the late afternoon. The horses were unloaded and all of them set free. There was no room for them under the tree’s branches so they were rubbed down and let loose with a
s
little fuss as they could muster; this they all found extremely hard.

They picked their arcs and distributed the ammunition, collected wood and made fires in a circle to mark out the area under the tree’s boughs. Michael didn’t think the flames would do much good but they did have a reassuring effect that was undoubtedly important for morale. Von Struck, Michael, Henning and Rohleder took the four points of the compass with Nau, Gruhn, Inselman, Grand and Smith in the spaces between.

Von Struck put Schneiderat’s sword and rifle at the base of the tree behind him. He wasn’t sure why he’d brought them but he had a notion that they might come in handy as spares.

Smith was placed between Von Struck and Michael. He was nervous but not overly so, and he knew that when the time came to do battle he’d be ready. He had faith in the silver bullets and they had more than enough ammunition to hold out through the night.

He wondered what would happen after tonight.
Would the Dracyl die and with him all his vampires?
Would he somehow be caught up in this and also die? Would the vampires simply wait another year for the next Winter Solstice?

Looking at the ring of cottages that surrounded the tree, he was contemplating the situation when Michael broke his reverie.

"What’s the matter, English, worried?” He smiled amenably.

"No, I was just wondering what happens after tonight. Will they simply have to wait another year for the Winter Solstice to break the curse or will they all die at sun up? It’s all so complicated that I’ve forgotten it all.” He laughed but it sounded forced.

"James, think back to the list. This is the first Winter Solstice where the list of names in the
Book of Blood
is complete. That’s why we’re here tonight.” He paused and walked over to him. "Also, it has to be tonight because they’re calling on Utu to come and do battle with them, like in the second battle. They attacked at night and Utu lit the night sky like the day, and destroyed all Szaran’s and Lilith’s army, remember? This time they hope to break him because they have the
Book of Blood
with the ten names and all the power that brings. Lilith has also got a tree which she has to enter to start the cycle from the beginning
.
”
H
e looked at Smith in a false earnest manner
.
"
B
ecause she started as a
demon in the tree that belonged to Utu’s sister.
I’m only c
omplicating things, aren’t I?” H
e smiled encouragingly.

"Will they succeed?” The words were out before he could stop them.

"James, they never had silver bullets in the old days and they didn’t succeed then. All we have to do is battle the vampires until dawn, keep the Dracyl busy so he can’t concentrate on whatever ceremony he needs to perform against Utu, and keep Lilith from trying to enter the tree. Have faith, James. Our silver bullets will carry the day and tomorrow our only problem will be finding the horses to go home.”

Suddenly Inselman pointed in the direction of the castle and shouted to them, "Stand to, they’re coming.”

They all turned to the direction he was pointing i
n and gasped as one. Above the c
astle, a swarm like a black cloud was gathering in the cold winter dusk. It grew with every second until it seemed that the whole sky above the building would soon be black with vampires. As the sun let slip its grasp on the heavens, the cloud grew ever larger, ever more threatening.

Von Struck automatically took control.
"Positions.
Face them until they’re upon us but don’t forget your arcs. Wait for my word to fire.”

As disciplined as a flock of starlings, the cloud moved up to a pinnacle and then the tip curved down and they dived to attack.

The men moved to meet the onslaught, their weapons raised to fire, fingers on the trigger.

"Wait, wait
… "
Von Struck said.

The only noise was the wind in the branches and the creak of snow underfoot. The vampires drew ever closer at breakneck speed. Von Struck reminded them to be on automatic when they fired.

Smith subconsciously searched for his brother but he couldn’t see him. Suddenly Von Struck was by him. "Are you ready for this?" he asked quietly.

Smith could only nod mutely.

Von Struck turned to look him in the eye
.
"Good luck, and stay strong." He walked forward and shouted, "Fire!”

As one they fired the first volley into the attacking mass. The battle for mankind had begun.