White Devil Mountain (38 page)

Gilzen’s declaration reverberated, crushing down on the darkness.

Like So Much Dust

chapter 7

I

I
’m exhausted. And scared. Please, let’s just hide somewhere.”

Lilia ignored Vera’s glum appeal, having heard it scores of times before. She had even grown sick of threatening the woman. And it wasn’t in her nature to soothe people’s fears.

More than an hour ago, she’d told the doctor, “We’ll be at our destination soon, so just wait a little longer.” It was safe to say Vera had cause for grumbling. A number of times they’d encountered the castle’s soldiers and monsters. All the soldiers had been slain, and they’d managed to make it past the monsters to get this far. Lilia no longer knew how far they’d walked, how many stairs they’d climbed, or how many times they’d changed moving sidewalks. She’d done well to make it this far with the doctor, who hadn’t stopped shaking since Lourié had gone missing.

“Well, we’re here. The Promised Land!” the Huntress said, taking Vera by the arm and giving a toss of her chin toward the door ahead of them.

“Where are we?”

“Gilzen’s bedroom.”

Vera reeled. Unable to regain her bearing, she was about to drop to her knees. Her fear and shock were so great she’d fainted.

Quickly catching Vera, the Huntress shook her violently. When the doctor managed to open her eyes, she told her, “The next time you shut your eyes, I’ll bite you!” and revealed her fangs. They were the real thing.

Vera froze, but she didn’t look away. Instead, her teeth chattered as she said, “What’ll we do if Gilzen’s in there? There’ll be hell to pay!”

Was this the same brave doctor? Her eyes were brimming with tears.

“Wherever we go, there’ll be hell to pay,” Lilia replied. “Besides, this isn’t Gilzen’s
main
bedroom. It’s just one of five other resting places he has. The owner’s not home, and they say there’s no better place for a burglar to hide than in the king’s chambers!”

“But—”

“Enough! Come on! You’re really pissing me off!”

She knew under normal circumstances she’d have long since abandoned the doctor. But she couldn’t do that because of her instructions from the gorgeous young man. Though she’d also been bitten by Gilzen, she’d barely come under his influence. The same should’ve been true for D. Yet whenever Lilia’s eyes fixed on that gorgeous visage, his patinaed voice came back to her. The harder she tried to drive it away, the more vividly it came back. Lilia had the feeling she’d become a slave to his mysterious beauty, body and soul.

She checked the surveillance devices with an electronic sensor fastened to her belt. Even if the master of the house wasn’t in, the defenses should still be active. The sensor informed her that the surveillance devices were not operating. It wasn’t that she didn’t find that strange, but Lilia was also thoroughly exhausted.

Having Vera wait there, she gave the door a determined push. It opened easily. The bedroom was so opulent it made Lilia’s eyes bug. Naturally, there were no windows or mirrors. The bed was a golden coffin.

“That’s odd.”

She’d actually uttered the words this time.

Vera stiffened. “What . . . What is?”

“I don’t know. I just sense something. This was probably a mistake. Let’s get going.”

“Huh?”

She turned to the doctor, who convulsed with fear—and then saw a shadowy figure standing by the door.

“Just perfect,” Lilia muttered, weariness rising from the bottom of her heart.

The creature garbed in bizarre armor could only be an alien foe.

As she pushed Vera out of the way, Lilia simultaneously drew her longsword. The sword dashed out like the wind, batting away the iron arrow that was flying at her. Another came—and she instinctively dodged it. As she dived off to the right, she extended her left arm. The gas-powered arrow launcher that covered it from the elbow to the wrist sent an iron arrow at the alien’s solar plexus. Though they weren’t as heavy as the alien’s, her arrows could reach supersonic speeds.

The alien’s longsword flashed out, batting away one arrow, but a second one scored a direct hit. When the enormous figure dropped roughly to one knee, Lilia sailed through the air to attack with her sword. It parried, but too late; the power from the Noble blood Lilia had received drove both the parrying blade and her own into the alien’s head. The alien howled.

“Gah!”

Covering her ears, Lilia reeled backward. The alien’s cries had become supersonic waves that tortured her eardrums.

The instant she desperately planted her unsteady feet, Lilia was assailed by a horizontal slash. Gritting her teeth against the terrific pain, she felt dizzy as she made a panicky leap back. Her waist struck something. The coffin! Her upper body arched back far, splayed across the coffin’s lid. The enormous figure filled the Huntress’s field of view. It was leaping toward her. She was in no position to dodge the longsword it had raised high.

Once again, dizziness dragged Lilia into darkness. Fighting it for her very life, she opened her eyes.

The cause of a second scream from the alien had left it hunching over her. The two of them were locked in a sort of embrace atop the coffin, but Lilia shoved it off for all she was worth. It rolled right off her without offering any resistance. A long spear jutted from its back.

The twitching body quickly grew still. After ten thousand years, death had come to take this visitor from another world.

Lilia looked at the Grim Reaper. Another figure stood in the doorway. Its gigantic form was identical to that of the recently deceased. Perhaps it was Gilzen’s DNA in her blood that told her the figure’s nature in a flash.

“Which kind are you? Plain old-fashioned alien? Or are you one of Gilzen’s servants?” she asked as she felt the blood dripping from her midsection. The stench of blood pricked her nose.

“You are an intruder in Duke Gilzen’s resting place,” the featureless figure said. That gave her the answer.

“Hey, we’re on the same side then, aren’t we?” she said, pointing the tip of her sword at the foe on the floor.

Tilting its head a bit to one side, the new foe said, “On the same side? You are an enemy of Duke Gilzen.”

“No, I’m totally under his control, you know? Say, where is Duke Gilzen now?”

A strange killing lust swelled from every inch of the alien. The crossbow on its back crept up toward its shoulder.

“Wait just a second. I’m on the same side you are!”

“On the same side?” it asked again, but its murderous intent didn’t lessen.

“Yeah—look!”

Lilia lowered her scarf. It was unclear whether or not the alien looked at the teeth marks she exposed.

“Why have you come here?”

“I spotted this creep,” Lilia said, looking down at the corpse. “Tailing it led me here. I think it must’ve noticed that this was Duke Gilzen’s bedroom. It sure is a good thing you came along.”

There was the whirr of what sounded like a motor, and the alien’s crossbow changed its location. It pointed right at Lilia’s heart.

“Just a sec—what’s all this?”

“Those teeth marks aren’t Duke Gilzen’s.”

“Oh, aren’t you the observant one.”

Lilia thought her blood would freeze solid. Given the speed of the crossbow, there was no chance of dodging its arrow.

Her world darkened unexpectedly. Apparently the effects of the alien’s scream still lingered. Staggering, the Huntress slumped against the coffin. Her left hand brushed something hard. If she were shot through the heart, would she still be able to counterattack? She wasn’t sure that she could.

But no arrow was fired at her.

What in the—?

Her foe was shaken. A second later, her Huntress instincts told her why.

“What’s the matter?” Lilia asked with feigned intimacy. “Go ahead and shoot already! That is, if you don’t mind the off chance that you’ll hit the coffin of your precious Duke Gilzen.”

The alien didn’t know what to say. The crossbow on its shoulder trembled, manifesting the alien’s vacillation.

“If you don’t say anything, I’m not going anywhere. Want to try and make me move?”

The alien’s right hand went for the longsword on its hip. It quickly switched to the firearm on its left side. Removing that, too, the enormous figure stepped forward. It intended to get rid of Lilia with its bare hands. It headed right for her with broad strides. The floor quaked.

Just as the alien’s gigantic form filled her field of view, Lilia shouted, “Come and get me!” Grabbing something with her left hand, she pulled it out and made a thrust straight ahead.

Though it tried to stop, the enormous form’s inertia wouldn’t allow it. The same long spear it’d driven through one of its own kind now pierced the pit of its owner’s stomach. Thanks to the added weight and speed of the creature, it poked out through its back. Loosing an unholy cry, the alien arched backward.

Her ears already covered, Lilia dashed over to the doctor. Vera was slumped on the ground after hearing the supersonic waves. The enemy was still groaning. Lilia gave the woman a kick. She came around for a second, then fainted again.

“Oh, damn you!” the Huntress growled, grabbing Vera by the arm and standing her up. Still, the doctor was unsteady on her feet. Lilia threw her over her shoulder. The Huntress’s wound screamed at her.

She ran for the door. The enemy was desperately trying to extract the spear. She didn’t expect that blow to prove fatal. Sooner or later it would pull the thing out and come after them.

Lilia went through the doorway. She ran haphazardly down the corridor. Overhead, there was the sound of flapping wings closing on them from behind. Before she could lie flat on the floor, she felt impacts on her right shoulder and through Vera’s body over her left. The doctor let out a scream.

When her body was hoisted into the air, Lilia didn’t resist. To the contrary, she found it a welcome change. The flying creatures were no doubt carrying prey back to their nest. While she couldn’t exactly say this was preferable to doing battle with the alien, she’d also have had a hard time denying it. Also, it was easy.

They skimmed along just shy of the ceiling, and then suddenly the whole world opened up. Daylight and snowflakes surrounded them. A tremendous feeling of release coursed through the Huntress’s body. They were outside! They’d soared all the way up to the castle’s summit. Far off through the blustering snow, mountain peaks and the land around them came into view.

Suddenly they began to descend. The vast rooftop was drawing nearer. Atop it Lilia could make out a round nest fashioned from timbers and iron beams. Looking up at them were chicks—they were the size of human children, somewhere between a bird and a beast in appearance.

“Thanks for the ride!” Lilia exclaimed, changing to a backhanded grip on the sword in her right hand and jabbing backward with it decisively. Her thrust was instinctive, but it made contact. The bird let out a definite cry, then released the two of them.

They fell ten feet. Lilia had estimated the fall wouldn’t be too bad. Fighting back the impact reverberating through her gut, she straightened herself up and broke into a run. Beside her, dark brown forms spread enormous wings as they took to the air. They’d smacked right into the nest. Even the weird chicks were trying to flee in confusion.