The Division of the Damned (51 page)

The routine of field maintenance took the edge off the bewilderment but they were all aware of the panic attack Michael had briefly suffered. If Michael, who had been trained since birth for this day, was scared, how bad was the situation
,
really?

Mordechai prowled the line of fires, all now burnt down low. Von Struck moved to talk to him, but before he could say something the werewolf spoke. "There is another out there, another wolf like me. I can almost taste his scent.”

"He’s unimportant right now. Concentrate on the vampires and you can deal with him when he comes.”

Mordechai turned his head and wordlessly nodded his accord.

"The vampires are hiding behind the buildings, I can smell them. They’re plotting but I can’t understand what they’re saying. They speak in their vampire tongue.”

Von Struck nodded
.
"And the Englander, Smith?”

"He is tied up.” H
e turned back towards the tre
e line.
"
A
nd out of our reach. Forget him. He is unwilling but he’s on their side. There’s nothing we can do about it.”

Von Struck nodded and went back to give his weapon a going over.

Chapter 64

Lilith grasped the Book to her breast in rapture. "He is coming. He has heard us and he comes to face us." Her eyes widened in delight as she pointed to the sky

The heavens were glowing red, as if lit from within the cloud cover. The sky rumbled and the power it held charged the air around them.

"Are we ready, Demon
?
Are we all in place?” the Dracyl asked for what seemed like the thousandth time. Lilith laughed in answer, a laugh that sent chills down the Dracyl’s spine. For the first time he saw that Lilith’s power was growing far beyond his expectations. The sky cracked again as lightning forked down into the tree and Lilith laughed even louder.

"He comes, Vampire, he comes to set me free.
Watch, watch and see if he doesn’t.”

”And me?" he bawled at her. "What of me?”

She screamed her laughter at him. "Yes, he’s coming
for you. He’ll come for you, too.
”

The
c
ount could only stare at her, mystified and anxious.

*  *  *

"There!
Movement!"
Inselman pointed to one of the houses. As he spoke the horde charged again from all sides. Once more the desperate battle ensued to keep the perimeter and hold the position.

This time Mordechai stayed within the circle and helped where he was needed. The ferocity of the attack eclipsed even the last as vampire after vampire charged into the circle to meet the hail of silver.

The firearms, as new as they were, could not take the sustained automatic fire and Michael’s was the first to jam. Borkin took the lead straightaway but his also jammed immediately, and Von Struck and Mordechai ran to their assistance. The front was cleared but the call went up from Nau and Gruhn as both their weapons failed.

"Swords!" shouted Gruhn as he waded into the attacking throng.

Von Struck ran over to lend assistance but he knew that eventually all their weapons would seize. One after another the cry of, "Stoppage!" went up as weapons jammed and the men took to the blade to deal their death.

Finally, Von Struck’s weapon fired and clicked its last bullet. He pulled his blade and charged, swinging in every direction. The order and discipline with which they had been able to face the first of the vampire charges was lost to the sheer weight of enemy numbers.

Swiftly the vampires were among them. All pretence of a fighting perimeter was lost as each man fought for his life. Every ashed vampire
was immediately replaced by another but the men fought tirelessly on. Overwhelmed by the rage
of battle and the power of the t
ree, both man and beast succumbed to the lust for death.

*  *  *

Above them, the sky split open and the heavens crashed their symphony as Utu, the ancient
God
of the sun, pushed forward to meet the Dracyl.

"There,
V
ampire, if you doubted me,
see
now who comes to answer
our call,
" Lilith spat at the c
ount. They stood behind the buildin
g that held the shrine for the c
ount himself.

He looked to the splintering, booming sky, and for the first time in his life, Count Vlad Dracyl Blestamatul recognised the emotion of fear.

"It’s now or never, V
ampire. Your fate awaits you. Face the
God
s or return to your night.”

He shouldered the responsibility of his destiny and stepped forward out of the cover of the building that housed his shrine, and into the circle.

Raising his arms to the radiant clouds, he shouted the Sun God’s name, demanding his presence. "Utu!” he roared and once again the vampires miraculously melted
away from the fight under the t
ree.      "Utu, come and face the power of the Dracyl and the ten named ones in the
Book of Blood
!” He stood in front of one of the buildings with his arms held high, as if inviting the lightning that reached out and stroked his outstretched arms. The current passed through him but he remained untroubled and unhurt.

Instinct told the other vampires to run, to leave the circle, and in their place stepped forth the vampires named in the Book, as one by one they moved from behind the buildings.

Von Struck’s men watched in mute surprise as the ceremony played out before them.

"What’s he saying?" Inselman asked nobody in particular.

"It’s the vampire tongue he speaks," Mordechai answered. "I don’t know what’s being said, though.”

Lilith appeared, carrying the armour of her long dead king, Szaran.

"Maria
,
" Von Struck whispered to himself in remembrance. Then he switched back on. "Quick, clear the weapons. We may need them soon."

The squad feverishly searched for their firearms that they’d let fall as they’d taken to the sword, but it was too late. The retreating horde had taken them with them.

"
Then we’ll just do this the old-fashioned way.
" Von Struck smiled mirthlessly as he took the news.

Once again the cry went up from the Dracyl. "Utu, hear us, hear our demand to end this curse.”

Von Struck saw that there were more vampires coming forward and he knew that time was running out.

*  *  *

Smith came back to his senses to find somebody cutting his bonds.

"Shush, be quiet. The vampires are all around us."

It was a woman
—
no, a girl,
he decided. He turned to see who it was and gasped when he recognised the face.

"Iullia, what are you doing here?”

She didn’t answer immediately but explained as she cut. "I saw you talking to Lilith and the Dracyl. I thought you were one of them until I heard Lilith talking, and then I knew. So I waited until they were gone. Then Lilith came to me and told me I could set you free now.”

"Lilith told you to set me free?”

"Yes.” She stopped cutting to speak over his shoulder. "I don’t know how she knew where I was but suddenly she was standing in front of me. She’s got something up her sleeve.”

She cut the bonds and they scrambled over to the ring on the wall to which he was chained.

"The clay is old. I couldn’t pull it out but perhaps you can," she explained.

He pulled at the ring and it fell into his hand. "I can’t run, though. How
can we get away if I can’t run?
”

They looked around for something to prise the chains off with when suddenly they heard the cry go up.
"Utu!”

"Oh my God, it’s happening," she said and feverishly searched for a lever. He found an old wheel spoke and wedged his legs so that she could force the chain link with it. It broke easily and Smith stood up and took her hand.

"Where are you going?” she asked in consternation. "We’ve got to get away into the woods.”

”No, we have to help my friends. If we go into the woods, the vampires will hunt after us.”

She shook her head. "No, they only hunt if they’ve been told to hunt and they know you’re there. That’s why I could elude them. They were too stupid to understand who I was.”

"It doesn’t
matter,
I’ve got to help them. Come with me. You’ll be safer than out here on your own.”

She nodded and they set quietly off.

Chapter 65

Vlad stepped forward another pace and pointed to the armour that lay on the floor in front of the next building. "Utu, I call upon Szaran, the second name in the
Book of Blood
. Utu, I call upon Pfahl, the third name in the
Book of Blood
.” And so it went on as Vlad Dracyl
named the vampires one by one
—
Thrace, Baloch, Daziel, and Szoltan.

Next he named himself and pointed to where Smith should have stood.

There was nobody there.

"Where is he?" he screamed. "Give me my brother to show.”

Nothing happened, then out of the far side of the building he saw two people running towards
the circle of fires around the tree.
He reacted immediately. "Marik, take him!”

From out of the tree line, the werewolf Marik bounded towards them, snarling as he ran, making his intent plain.

"Oh my God!”
Stephanie exclaimed, holding onto Rohleder’s arm. Rohleder hefted his sword but he knew he could do nothing.

Suddenly, from their left, a blackened figure streaked out to intercept their attacker.

Mordechai sprinted on all fours at the other werewolf who changed direction to meet the threat. They collided head-on in mid-flight.

The clash seemed to be played in slow motion as Marik opened his jaws to bite into Mordechai’s neck. Mordechai snarled and jinked in mid-air as Marik’s fangs bit into his front right leg.

Mordechai gave a yelp but his feint had worked and he dipped his head to bite into Marik’s throat from the side. The blood spurted out in a wash and Marik gave a last, gargled yap as he landed hard at Mordechai’s feet. Mordechai bit deeper into the neck until the head came off and then, standing back on two legs again, he held the head up to the Dracyl.

The Dracyl screamed his rage. "Werewolf, you belong to me. You will come here and obey me as it is written in the Werewolf Commandments.”

Mordechai held the head aloft and threw it at the vampires. "I belong to nobody, Vampire. Your Werewolf Commandments are only for those beholden to your kind and now, with your werewolf’s death, I am beholden to nobody," his deep bass rumbled, and he turn
ed around to stalk back to the t
ree.

Smith ran, pulling Iullia with him. As they reached the circle, Michael met them and wordlessly embraced Iullia. "I thought you had gone over to the other side."

"Never, brother.”
Their reunion was quick and emotionless.

Von Struck listened as Smith and Iullia filled them in as to what was happening.

"Put your faith in the Lord. Only he can help us now," Iullia finished
.

“
I’ll put my faith in my sword because up to now he’s the only thing that has helped without breaking down on me,” Henning uncharacteristically huffed.

*  *  *

As if Utu had been waiting for the right moment to proceed, the sky cracked again and suddenly a beam of light hit the ground before the Dracyl, who involuntarily took a step back.

Though shaken by the loss of his brother and the werewolf’s defiance, he knew he had to bring the ceremony to its conclusion, so he cried out the last names on the list. "Utu, I call upon Dragan, the tenth name in the
Book of Blood
and now I call upon Lilith, the first name in the
Book of Blood
and architect of your demise.”

Lilith walked forward, holding the
Book of Blood
aloft. The beam of light widened into a circle and she stepped into it, shouting, "Utu, I demand the return of all my powers. With this Book I contest your authority over me. With the birth of your son Dragan, fathered by the Son of Utu and carried by me, I contest your authority over me." And then, shrieking with resentment, "I d
eny you, O
ancient one, in the name of
the prophesies
and of the names written herein.”