Dragon Down (9 page)

Drawing back into a tight formation we edged further down the hill. We hopped up and over the forts outer wall
, crouching in the shadow of the wall. We waited for our eyes to adjust. When we were sure we wouldn’t trip over any vampires, we started walking around the inside of the wall. After a few feet we came to a place in the wall were it jutted out, into the inside of the fort. Zane looked around. Satisfied, he started off along the wall. He didn’t get far. A blurring or slight change in the shadow and the vampire flew at Zane. It struck him before he could get off a shot. The vampire’s momentum drove Zane back into the wall. He was stunned and hesitated for an instant. The vampire rose up and started toward him.

I would only get one chance or Zane was dead. Aiming my bracelet at the vampires back, I steadied my arms. Just before I fired
, I yelled for Zane to stay down. I sure as hell hoped he hadn’t been knocked senseless. I sent a stream of fiery energy into the vampire’s back. It screamed its rage, spinning to face me. My shot hurt it, but it staggered toward me. Reaching into my boot, I pulled out one of my stakes, flicking it at the vampire. It contemptuously swatted it aside and kept coming. I reached for another stake and started to throw it. Before I could fling it, Zane ran at the vampire and removed its head from its shoulders. The head landed near my feet and I jumped back in disgust. Zane wiped his sword off on the ground and I swear he was grinning.

“I
guess talking to him isn’t an option but, I owe you one.”

“Just call us even. Thanks for the warning before. Let
’s go find our runner, maybe he can answer some questions.”

“
That’s probably a good idea in case these vampires aren’t the only ones.”

We set off at a jog to retrieve the runner. It felt good to stretch my legs. All that slinking around in the woods was hard on my quads. Zane must have a good
sense of direction because he took us right to our still unconscious runner. He took out his canteen and splashed some water on the man’s face. The man came to with a start. Zane spoke to him as he was coming around. The guy sagged back against the tree. I hoped in relief. It took him a few minutes to pull himself together. Zane offered the man water and he gulped it down.

Once the man got to his feet we introduced ourselves and told him that the vampires were dead. He visibly relaxed and Zane asked him if there were any more vampires. The man shook his head no
. I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I relaxed, a little, for the first time since we had spotted the vampires. He told us his name was Hans. We decided to wait until we got back to the fort to question the man further.

When we
reached the fort, the man showed us around a little. It was too dark to see much so, Zane found some wood and started a fire. The three of us huddled around it and ate what was left of our food. When we finished eating I decided to ask Hans a few questions.

“Hans, how did you get her
e? And why were the vampires chasing you?”

“The vampires attacked our fishing boat. They took over the boat and forced my crew to sail them to this island. When we came ashore they held us captive
. Then they burned and sunk our ship.”

“What happened to the rest of your crew?”

“They killed them. We were their food supply. Some of the men were killed in the cell and others were hunted. That is what they were doing when you found me.”

Zane hadn
’t said a thing for the first part of the questioning. He cleared his throat and threw some more wood on the fire. When he sat back down he turned to face Hans.

“Did you get any idea what they were doing on this island? Why they brought you and your crew here.”

“They brought us here to provide them with fresh blood. They’d killed all the animals that inhabited the island. I’m not sure exactly why they were here but, I got the sense they were looking for someone.”

He had my attention. My heart sped up at the thought they might have been looking for Traygen.

“Hans, do you have any idea who that person was?”

“Lauren, they never said.
They did ask us if we’d seen a wizard in any of our travels. We assured them as far as we knew we hadn’t seen any wizards.”

“That
’s it, nothing more?”

“Well when we assured them we hadn
’t seen any man that could have been a wizard. They told us the wizard was a woman. One of my men guaranteed them the only women we had seen were wenches. Begging your pardon, Lauren.”

I looked from Hans to Zane. Zane was staring at me. He nodded and then turned his attention back to Hans.

“They never mentioned the wizard’s name? Did they say anything at all to describe who the wizard was?”

“No they seemed fairly certain we hadn
’t seen any wizards male or female.”

Chapter Eight

The hour was late and we were exhausted. It was
too dark to return to the boat. Hans, Tokem, and I all stretched out in the court yard. Zane took the first watch in case the vampires expected visitors or reinforcements. I wasn’t sure if I could sleep. Instead, I turned my thoughts to Traygen.
Where are you my love? I miss you and I won’t stop looking until I find you.

I let m
y senses drift out into the universe, searching for Traygen. I felt my spirit slip from my body to try and find Traygen on the astral plane. I hadn’t been successful so far. Still, I refused to give up trying to make contact. That is when I heard the voices. When my spirit leaves my body, I hear conversations or voices. Sadly, I do not see the people who are speaking. I guess you could say my astral travel is like being on one of the old party lines.

If the voices are ones I recognize
, I listen. If not, I hang up. All right, sometimes I ease drop on conversations. You never can tell what you might hear. Then I heard the voices again. I decided to pause long enough to see if the conversation was for my benefit or not. There were two men speaking.

“Has there been any change in his condition?”

“No Sire, he hasn’t regained consciousness. The next forty-eight hours should tell us if he will live or die.”

“Healer, do what you can. I don
’t want to be the one to tell his father if he dies. Our kingdoms have shared a fragile peace for almost twenty years. Let me know if there are any changes.”

“Yes sir. I am overseeing his care personally.”

The officer turned without speaking and left the room. The healer checked the unconscious man’s vitals and then left the room. The man, in the bed, had been found unconscious and without any form of identification. Apparently, he’d been near death from dehydration and numerous knife wounds. Satisfied, the healer left the room to check on the atmospheric pressure gauges. He wouldn’t live out the day if he let the man die from asphyxiation. All the instruments looked like they were within the safe range. The healer left the man to tend to his other patients. As he passed the guard standing watch over the unconscious man, he told him to call him if there were any changes.

The guard nodded
and waited until the healer left. Then he went back to his nap. The man whose room he was guarding hadn’t uttered a word since he was found floating unconscious in the ocean. It wasn’t likely the man ever would. All the man thought, as he drifted off to sleep, was how lucky he was to have drawn this duty. The guard might have slept through the night if the damned woman hadn’t hit his chair. He nearly fell off it when his feet hit the floor. He sputtered back to consciousness as the woman disappeared into the unknown man’s room. If he had his way they would have thrown the man in the dungeons and left him to rot.

I thought I had lost the contact
. It had been silent for several minutes. Then I heard a thump or bang and the sounds of shuffling feet and a door shutting...I couldn’t be sure. I wished these damned travels came with a video clip. Someone was definitely moving around, I could hear the faint sound of some machine. I couldn’t be sure and honestly, it was like playing Charades blindfolded. About the time my head was ready to spin around, I heard voices.

“Nurse, has he regained consciousness?”

“There has been no change. I check in on him between rounds with the other patients. The guard was supposed to be keeping an eye on him. However, I found him sleeping. I can only assume his condition is unchanged.”

“Keep me posted and call me if there is any change.”

“Yes, sir, I will. I just talk to him like he is awake. I hope it helps.”

I heard fading footsteps and the whooshing sound of a closing door, then nothing.
In my mind, I was envisioning a military hospital or prison infirmary. Just when I was going to severe the connection I heard a woman’s voice, a nurse perhaps. I couldn’t be sure but, I thought it was the young woman who had spoken with the doctor.

“Hey
handsome, it’s bath time for you. How are you feeling, any better? If I didn’t know differently, I’d think that you didn’t like your sponge baths. You can thank me later, once you wake up. It’s been nearly a week and if it weren’t for these baths you wouldn’t smell too good. At the very least, you are sleeping better. I haven’t heard you cry out in your sleep for several days. Your eyelids are twitching. I know you’re in there. You need to wake up big guy. Hey, what in the name of Poseidon are you doing?”

Then I heard a crash and a loud clatter, as if something had hit the floor
, followed by the sound of running footsteps.

“What in the hell happened?”

“He touched my arm and startled me. He is awake, go and get the healer. Don’t just stand there. I said go get the healer. Now damn you, quit gawking and move.”

Chapter Nine

“Lauren, are you all right? Wake up. It is time for you to take my watch.”

I opened my eyes and a concerned looking Zane was kneeling beside me.

“Give me a minute. I was dreaming or astral traveling.”

Zane curled up on a spot near the wall and I tried to shake off the dream. I could never tell if I was dreaming or if I’d been astral traveling. It sure seemed real enough but, there was no concrete way to know. Still, I couldn’t help but wonder if it meant anything. I got up and walked around, trying to warm up. The sun would be up soon and we would continue our search. I decided to look around the fort, to keep moving, and to stay warm. It had been too dark last night for us to see much of anything. It was almost light and I could make out enough to scout around. I started toward the nearest building when a noise above made me stop.

“Do you want some company?”

“Tokem, you startled me. I was going to see if the vampires left any clues about what they were doing out here. I mean besides amusing themselves hunting human captives.”

“Real funny game. Thank God
, I’m too little to be worth their effort.”

“You wouldn
’t even make a decent appetizer.”

Tokem buzzed me several times before we reached the first structure. I stopped to activate my bracelet.
It vibrated, hummed and after a word from me the bracelet started to glow. It worked better than a flashlight. I ducked as I entered the small building, the door and windows were missing. It was a simple, one room structure and the room was completely empty. My guess is that it might have been a store room at one time.

“No wonder they were eating their captives. There isn
’t a grain of rice left in here.” Tokem quipped.

“I think you
’re missing the point. Vampires wouldn’t have eaten the food stores if they’d any. It tells me they weren’t expecting to stay long. They probably only had whatever food, the men had on board when they seized the ship.”

“Yeah, they were fattening them up for the kill.”

“Tokem, your compassion knows no bounds. Come on let’s check out the barracks.”

We moved across an open yard toward a larger building, which I assumed was the barracks. I opened the door and stepped inside. The room smelled of decay and human waste. Pleasant. This must have been where they
’d kept the captives. I walked over to the back wall and found that there were rings pounded into it about three feet from the floor.

“Lauren, do you think this is where they kept them?”

“Yes, I think they tied their hands over their heads, which would allow them to sit. Let’s see what else is in here.”

There was a hall near the back of the room.
As we walked toward it, I had to amp up my bracelet. There wasn’t much light back there. I had a bad feeling about this place. My senses were tingling, adrenaline zinged through me. I was in fight mode. I reached down and unsnapped my gun, preparing to draw it. Tokem must have sensed something, as well. He flew ahead of me and out of my sight. He could see extremely well in the dark. Half way down the hall, I saw a door on the right and I didn’t see Tokem. I assumed he’d continued down the hall so, I tried the door. It wasn’t locked. Trying to decide if I should wait for Tokem or get Zane, I paused. Before I reached a decision, Tokem flew back into view.

“Lauren, I didn
’t see anything down the hall. Do you smell that?”

“Yes, go get Zane. I
’ll wait here and make sure nothing leaves.”

I watched Tokem streak out of sight
before, I moved back down the hall the way I’d come. Then I crouched down and aimed my bracelet. Psyching myself to blast anything that came through the door. If there were vampires in there, I had a good shot and I seldom missed. My mind raced to try and make sense of this. If there were vampires in there why hadn’t they attacked last night? Surely, they would have come after us. It just didn’t make sense. Then I heard footsteps approaching and I went back into the main room. I wanted a word with Zane before, we went in.

“Lauren, what is it?”

“I’m not sure. Tokem and I were checking out the rest of the buildings. This is where the prisoners were chained. Down the hall there is a door. It isn’t locked, but it sent all my alarms off. It could be a vampire but, if there are more why didn’t they attack last night?”

Zane didn
’t speak right away. He seemed to be considering the facts. He ran his hands through his hair before speaking.

“It doesn
’t make sense to me either. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a vampire. It could be a draug or an enchantment. The only way to find out is to check. Can you illuminate the inside of the room?”

“Yes, I can put this bracelet
on high. How do you want to handle this?”

“How about letting me check?”

Zane’s head snapped up and I turned to face Tokem.

“If you open the door a crack I can fly in and
look. My night vision is excellent and as you so callously pointed out earlier, I’m not worth the effort for any self-respecting vampire.”

Zane looked at me and arched his eyebrows. I nodded in the affirmative and we started down the hall. When we reached the door
, I slowly opened it a crack. Tokem flew by and Zane had his gun trained on the door. A moment later Tokem came back. He motioned for us to follow him and we headed back toward the main room.

“What did you see?”

“The room leads to a set of stairs heading down. My guess is there’s an underground cavern or a tunnel. I wasn’t sure how you wanted to handle it.” Tokem asked.

I let out a low whistle, “Zane, d
o you think it leads to the Red Court?”

“I don
’t know what to think. It seems like it is just a little too easy. It might be left from when the fort was built. At the very least, it provides anyone who is in here with an escape route.”

“This means
that there could be more vampires. It would be suicide to go down there. Unless, we are armed to the teeth.”

“I agree. I suggest we send Tokem
back down to check while we get our weapons in order.”

“I
’ll get right on it.”

“Tokem, be careful.”

“She does love me,” he said as he flew off.

Zane and I headed back to get our gear. Hans was up and had started a fire.

“Hans, do you know anything about caves under this fort?”

“No, I have never been on this island
, until we were captured. The only time they let us out was to hunt us.”

“What about the original inhabitants of this island?”

“Zane, I’m sorry I didn’t even know this island was here. I mean there are uncharted islands but, this isn’t one I even knew existed.”

I didn
’t honestly think Hans knew anything, which in a way told us this probably was one of the Paradise Islands. It was enchanted because we didn’t find it until the storm blew away the mists. What the million dollar question is was more important. Was this island still inhabited by vampires or any other magical creatures? I decided to carry everything I had. There was no way to tell what we would find. I strapped on my automatic weapon, placed my silver spikes on my belt, and picked up my staff. I’d wait to arm my staff and bracelets until we were out of Han’s sight. Zane carried a staff, strapped a long sword over his shoulder, and carried a Walther strapped to his thigh. I had to admit the man knew his handguns. Walther’s are semi-automatic, compact, and deadly.

Hans busied himself with breakfast. I think he was more than a little freaked out by our weaponry. If I had to guess
, I’d bet he started swimming for home, the minute we were gone. I couldn’t say as I blamed him. Ready, we departed for the caves and told Hans we would set sail when we returned. Tokem greeted us as we entered the building.

“If it isn
’t Rambo and Rambette in the flesh.”

I glared at him and he got down to business.

“I’d like to say Luckily, you are overdressed, but I doubt it. I didn’t see any vampires but, they’ve been here. The cave is full of skeletons. I sense the presence of magic. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pinpoint it.”

“What does the cavern look like?”
Zane asked.

“There isn
’t any light until you get near the water. You’ll need Lauren to illuminate the area. Regrettably, that will announce your presence if anyone is there. There is a tunnel at the bottom of the stairs. It slopes downward, narrowing the further along you go and the ceiling looms lower with each step. You’ll need to crawl in places. It eventually fans out the deeper you go. Eventually, you’ll be able to stand again.”

“I don
’t like the sounds of this. This could be a trap. Tokem, are there any side tunnels or caverns?”

“Yes, to both. You two will have to mark your way or you could get lost in there.”

“Zane, how do you want to handle this? I can illuminate the area immediately in front of me. I think it would be unwise to light up too much of the area at one time, even if it would help us avoid ambush.”

“
I’ll mark our passage and you flood the area with light. The vampires will not like the light. It will send them hissing and scrambling for cover. Luckily, if the area is too big, I have a few stun grenades.”

I whistled in appreciation. “You don
’t mess around. Just make sure you don’t take any of us out. After you two, I hate small dark places. I’ll bring up the rear.”

Zane nodded and followed Tokem down the stairs. I already didn
’t like this place. It smelled of decline, decay, and death. It was so dark I bumped into Zane at the bottom of the stairs. Tokem wasn’t kidding. I couldn’t see my own hand. I got down on all fours and reach around me in the dark until I felt the outline of the tunnels entrance. I waited until I couldn’t hear Zane moving in front of me. Then I slithered into the tunnel, inching deceptively and agonizingly slowly after Zane. I resolutely crawled forward.
Breathe. Keep moving. Don’t freak out now. You go girl. You are almost there.
I hadn’t told the others I’m claustrophobic. It was a good thing I couldn’t see or I’d never have gone into this damn tunnel. I felt my grip on sanity start to slip when I felt the briefest hint of air brushing my cheek. Yes, the air was definitely getting cooler. I turned on the gas. I’d run over Zane if I needed to. Fortunately, it wasn’t necessary. He whispered to me, before I ran into him.

“Lauren, you can stand up
, we are in the cavern. How about a little light?”

I staggered to my feet, praising God for delivering me from the tunnel. I chanted the spell to light my staff and an instant later it turned into a torch. It took my eyes a few seconds to adjust
to the blinding glare. Then I could see how enormous the cavern was. The light didn’t penetrate more than ten feet in front of us. Zane drew his gun and started forward. I followed in his wake arming my bracelet as I walked. The ground we were walking on slanted gradually downward. My staff flickered a few times, blowing left to right, as we moved forward. That’s when we saw a tunnel heading off to the left. Zane stopped and pointed for Tokem to check it out. I dimmed my staff while we waited for Tokem. He wasn’t gone long, before he flew back landing lightly on my shoulder. Zane moved in close to listen while he kept an eye on the tunnel.

“There is a chamber off the tunnel. The scent of vampires is everywhere. I couldn
’t tell if they’re in there now or not.”

I didn
’t like the sound of that. From the look on Zane’s face, we were thinking the same thing. The area needed to be checked out. Since, we didn’t want to get trapped between two possible groups of vampires. Zane and I headed down the tunnel and I kept my staff burning at a low level. The little flame flickered and I knew we were nearing the chamber.

Zane touched my arm and motioned for me to cut the light. I
shook my head, negatively from side-to-side.
I’d be damned if I would turn off my staff. Then I felt fear prickling at my senses. I threw myself to the ground as a low hiss came from the cavern. Neither Zane nor I moved. We waited to see what would happen next. A scrapping sound from somewhere inside the cavern started to grow louder and just as suddenly stopped. I felt around me on the ground for anything I could throw. Nothing, then my fingers felt some loose dirt or pebbles. It was impossible to tell. I picked up a handful and tossed it toward the cavern. A hiss, accompanied by a growl, sounded from somewhere inside the cavern.

I could sense Zane
’s presence to my right, but I had no way to communicate with him. Pulling myself to my feet, I inched along the wall feeling for the opening to the cave. When my hand felt the opening, I inched closer. Reaching down I felt around me for something else I could throw into the room. I wanted to know if whatever was in there was close. This time my fingers found a small rock. Staying in a low crouch, prepared to spring into action, I tossed the rock into the room. Again a hiss followed, but this time it sounded further away. Puzzled, I chanted and my staff burst into flame. I tossed it into the room and waited. The hiss grew to a howl and I peeked into the room. There in the back of the room, curled into a fetal position with his back to the light, sat a vampire. The vampire’s arms were shielding its head. Thankfully, it was chained to the rear wall.