Chapter 496
Katelina and Jorick took their place near one of the gates. A stone foundation stretched across the ground and a lake glittered through the screen of trees. Budding branches swayed gently. Early spring grass poked up from the damp ground. Katelina could smell the earth and the young greenery. Somewhere a cricket chirped, unaware of what was coming.
To her right she could see the next gate, where Verchiel and Jamie were stationed. The redhead hopped up the wall to stand on the gate's ornate roof, hands on his hips like a medieval knight surveying enemy forces.
She turned to Jorick. "We're supposed to take a high vantage point."
"He has one." He nodded to Verchiel, who ran along the wall toward them. "He can tell us if there's anything to see."
An explosion cut through the air. Katelina saw the plume of smoke rise in the distance, likely in the middle of the town. "That wasn't twenty minutes."
"No, it wasn't."
Gunfire ripped through the night. She called up to Verchiel, "What's going on?"
He motioned to her. With a glance back to Jorick, she hurriedly climbed the wall and crouched next to him. On the other side, a concrete parking area lay empty. At the outer edge of it, she could see groups of SWAT style vampires waiting, their guns pointed in the direction of the noise.
A black blur rounded the corner, raced across a narrow bridge and into the lot. The vampires fired, one after another. A guard fell, his neck broken. Another dropped to the ground, his head cleaved in two. A third cried out as a splatter of crimson exploded from his chest. Katelina had a nanosecond view of the attacker. Blond hair, long black coat, pale, pointed face.
It was Arlen, the wind walker.
Verchiel's expression hardened. No doubt he was recalling his previous encounters: Japan, where Arlen had impaled him on a rock, and China, where he'd left him in a gory heap on the hood of a car.
"Looks like I have an appointment." Verchiel glanced at Katelina. "You'll need to get down. You're exposed up here alone."
She edged toward him and shook her head. "Don't go. You'll get killed. Remember the plan."
"It was never going to work." He met her gaze. His lips parted, as if he was going to speak. A moment passed, then he broke into a grin, gave her a wink, and swung off the wall.
"Verchiel!" She hung over the edge to watch him morph into a red and black blur. He sped toward Arlen, two freight trains waiting to collide.
They split aside at the last moment, both sliding to a stop. Verchiel wielded his sword in one hand and the hard scabbard in the other. Arlen's blade was long and square on the end, with a hook shaped notch cut out of it. The pair circled each other, then sprang. Katelina could hear the clang as their blades met.
They fought, swords clashing. Arlen caught Verchiel's thinner blade in the hook, and ripped it from his hands. Katelina saw the flash of silver as the sword flew away and landed in a group of buildings to the right.
Jorick called up to her, "Katelina!"
Verchiel streaked away behind a building. Arlen followed. When they reappeared Verchiel had his sword again.
"Katelina!"
Reluctantly she hopped off the wall and landed in a heap. Jorick pulled her up. "We should find a vantage point that isn't on top of the wall they're going to attack."
He chose a tree and swung up it like a preternatural monkey. Spurred on by the sharp staccato of gunfire, she shimmied up faster than she thought possible.
Jorick pulled her onto a limb, then moved carefully along it for a better view. She'd barely adjusted her balance when a building exploded in a spray of rubble.
The smoke cleared. She saw several of the SWAT vampires lying among the debris on the other side of the wall. Scarlet splatters turned white as the dust settled. One of the victims moved, pushing aside twisted chunks of metal and stone. A vampire with long dark hair stepped up, a corkscrew spear in his hand. The SWAT vampire made it to his feet, then slipped and fell. His opponent rammed the spear into his chest, twisting it deeper and deeper. The vampire screamed, spasmed, then went still.
The victor ripped the corkscrew from his foe's chest and shook loose a glob of gore. He turned to the others strewn throughout the wreckage, doing the same to each of them.
As he finished the last, a vampiress in SWAT gear snuck up from behind. Her gun blasted to life and his body jerked as bullets exploded inside the tissue. Katelina could see the small eruptions of blood, like flowers blossoming and dying in the space of a second.
The barrage stopped. The vampire turned toward her. He shambled a few feet forward, then fell to one knee. The overconfident vampiress stepped closer. She pressed the barrel of the gun against his chest.
The move was so fast Katelina almost didn't see it. One minute the vampiress stood, and the next she laid on the ground, her head separated from her body by ten feet and a trail of gore. The dark haired vampire rammed his corkscrew spear into her chest.
So much for Wolfe's bullets.
Katelina looked for Verchiel amongst the debris. Was he injured? Dead? She didn't see him or Arlen. Maybe they were still fighting. If only there was something she could do.
She didn't see Jamie near his assigned area. It was bad enough that Verchiel was gone. Now they were both missing.
As if summoned by her thoughts, Jamie raced into view. He skidded to a stop. "They're heading for the main gate!"
Jorick growled and dropped to the ground. He and Jamie took off at a run. Katelina climbed down and raced after them. She followed the massive wall around a corner, past a tower, to a large paved area. Wolfe stood in the center with his radio. Lurid paced in circles. On his hands he wore clunky metal things that looked like brass knuckles. He swung his arms restlessly and she saw that they wrapped around to his palms and turned into large metal discs with blades sticking out on either side.
Wolfe slammed his spear in frustration as a voice shouted over the radio. He yelled back, "Zur¨¹ckziehen! Zur¨¹ckziehen! Withdraw!"
He jammed the radio into its holster and turned his attention to them. "You're supposed to be at the other gates!" When no one offered an excuse he said, "I've called the squads to retreat. The groups manning the roadblocks are making their way here. They may be able to come up behind and surprise them."
"I doubt it." Jorick hopped to the top of the wall. His eyes went wide and he leapt back with the shout, "Down!"
Katelina barely had time to drop before an explosion ripped through the gates. The rubble packed in the openings blew outwards, throwing chunks of cement and twisted metal.
It took her a moment to recover. A thick cloud of dust and smoke hung on the air. She waved it out of her face and choked. "Jorick? Jorick?"
Something moved under the rocks. A hand poked out. She grabbed it and pulled. To her surprise she was able to tug the limp body out from under a heap of cement. It was only when she let go and knelt down, still shooing away the vaporous billows, that she realized it wasn't Jorick.
"Wolfe?"
He coughed out a mouthful of blood. He gripped his spear in one hand and raised himself with the other. His body shook and he collapsed again. As the dust settled she saw the blood splashed over the debris, then the huge, gaping hole in his back.
"Shit." She searched for something to stop the bleeding. There was only rock and waste. She had a sudden image of Jorick in worse shape; limbs torn away. "Jorick! Jorick are you okay?"
Wolfe looked ready to berate her, then he stiffened, and clumsily pushed her back. "Go. He's- here."
"What?" The words had barely left her lips before she knew the answer. She looked up to the gate. The metal doors hung like twisted curtains. Streetlights shone through the slowly settling smoke and dust, illuminating the black silhouette of a robed vampire.
"Malick." She crouched low to the ground, trying to disappear in the debris.
As the haze around Malick dissipated, she could just make out figures behind him. The ancient master stood at the fore wearing a cape of scarlet and gold, the immortal crown on his head. In his hand was a long, carved staff. He slammed the butt of it into the rubble at his feet. When he shouted his voice reverberated from the rocks and the buildings.
"Come forth, Samael!"
Katelina looked back toward the palace. Naked tree branches swayed gently. The moon, just cresting over the hills, spilled light on the paved stones and dappled the inner gates with marble-like patterns. In the distance she could see pagodas rising into the sky and, farther, the mountains, their peaceful peaks shimmering silver. From the other side of the walls, gunfire and screams sounded. It was a strange contrast that did nothing to summon the ancient vampire.
Malick laughed. "As I expected." He slammed his staff again and repeated his challenge.
Katelina whispered to Wolfe, "What do we do?"
"Go." Wolfe coughed. "You can't-too weak to defeat him."
"But Jorick?"
"He's alive. I can smell him. And he can fight better without having to protect you. This is no place for a battle. Too open. Draw" he broke off into a cough. "Draw them into a narrow space. Bottleneck them. Fight them one on one. The others-from the blockades, they're coming. They will sneak up on the rear." He gripped Katelina's arm. "Remember this. It is the only way. Now go. Quickly. Tell-the others."
She hated the logic, but he was right. She drew back a few steps, still crouched low to the ground. As she moved, she sought among the ruin for Jorick. The cloud dissipated, but she found only destruction. Her eyes danced from mound to mound, from twisted metal to stone, then to the gate.
She choked.
