Gauntlet Rite of Ascension (18 page)

I felt what came for us as the creatures passed into my area of heightened sentience. They were massive, larger than horses and ran on all fours. Their front limbs longer than their back ones. They had large canine heads and their mouths were full of deadly looking teeth.

I had never seen anything like them before in any book or documentary on large predators. Because make no mistake they were predators.

If I had to hazard a guess I’d say they were bears on steroids. They had the same general shape, but their proportions were all wrong, their muscles too large, their eyes too red. They had claws that were easily a foot in length and their speed was scary.

Knowing there were five overgrown grizzlies coming for us was bad enough. As they swept deeper into my range of understanding something else came with them.

The bears were monstrosities, sure, but they were essentially animals, creatures of nature. Even though they had been twisted by some foul magic they were still living beings.

What followed the bears’ rampage was the exact opposite. Where the bears exuded the energy of life this thing radiated death. Where the bears moved with rampant abandon this thing moved with the stillness of the unliving.

I instinctively pulled myself back from this new presence. Its very aura struck at me in such a fundamental way that I lost focus and rocketed back into the here and now. I tried to understand what I had felt when I heard what sounded like Abaddon yelling my name. It came to me from a far-away place, as if muffled.

I shook my head forcing myself to focus only to realize Abaddon had been yelling at me. In my heightened state I had blocked him out. Now, however I heard him loud and clear.

“Eric! Eric!” Abaddon screamed.

“I’m here!” I answered.

Abaddon nodded, the fear that I had frozen in this time of true need left his face and relief washed over him.

              “Here they come!” He yelled a second before three of the five ten-foot tall bears came bursting from the darkness.

Their eyes glowed with a strange red luminescence. Two of them went straight for Abaddon as one veered off for me.

I wanted this moment to be something I could look back on with pride. I wanted to say something that conveyed my sense of courage up against such a mighty foe. I had planned on what I would say at a time like this, but it all left me as two tons of bloodthirsty grizzly came hurling towards me.

I tried anyway, hoping for something.

              “Oh shit.” I said proudly.

Chapter 20

The thing coming at me was huge, yet its speed was amazing. Its muscles rippled under its deep thick coat and I watched as its red eyes never left its target. Me.

My instincts screamed at me that this thing was dangerous, but I didn’t need them to tell me that.

The bears face was a twisted mask of pain and anguish. I felt sorry for it. I didn’t understand much about the sorcery needed to alter a creature like this but what I did know told me that not only were these creatures bodies twisted into devastating killing machines, so were their minds.

It wasn’t their fault they were like this. Someone had done this to them, someone had corrupted their spirits.

I hesitated, unsure if I would be able to hurt or even kill something like this. Something that had been used as a tool.

My hesitation almost killed me.

The bear wasn’t worried about the moral justifications of its actions, it wasn’t worried if killing me was right or wrong, it was driven with a single-minded purpose and it was hell bent on fulfilling it.

The bear closed the distance between us in three long strides and swept its clawed hand out, trying to take my head from my shoulders in one fell swoop.

I managed to table my internal debate and decided that all of my problems wouldn’t matter if I was dead. I jumped to the side just as its foot long claws passed through the air where my neck had been.

I managed to dodge the bear’s first attack but its broad shoulder clipped my leg as I dove to the side. I felt my leg break under the sheer force of so much mass traveling so fast. I was flung a few feet away as the bear slid to a halt. It dug the earth out in big divots as its long claws sought for traction. Turning such a massive frame took a few seconds and I felt my leg itching as the bones knitted themselves back together.

I stood up and faced the thing squarely, my back to a tree. I began to worry, I knew there were two more out there as well as whatever had radiated that death vibe. I couldn’t spend all day dancing with this thing but I really didn’t want to hurt it. Its existence had been turned into one of hurt and fear. Maybe ending that would be the kindest thing I could do.

The bear came at me again. This time I was ready. As it got to within a few feet I jumped straight up. The bear ran under me and I landed on its back, using my clawed feet to spring off it again, raking my claws down its thick hide in the process.

The bear bellowed in pain and I landed behind it, curious to see how tough this thing was. The wounds did not heal; they just oozed blood, turning its thick fur into a soggy mess of blood and hair.

The bear kept going, unable to change directions as quickly as I. It slammed into the tree face first and I heard bone break as the sheer mass of its body drove it face into the hardened wood.

The bear rose up and shook its head. It then turned again and slowly stalked closer. I was hoping this thing was a mindless monster, but this change in tactics told me it was at least aware enough to recognize its weakness. That made hurting it even harder, but I put that aside. I had no idea how Abaddon faired and I worried about Max. It was time to quit messing around and get down to business. Abaddon taught me many things, but the most powerful thing I learned from his lessons was the business, the business of killing.

With a mental push, my bracelets grew into gauntlets. My hands and forearms quickly became covered in metallic silver armor, the two gems shined brightly in the darkness as the bear came in.

It got to within a few feet then rushed at me, swiping low. I quit thinking and let my instincts take over, my body moved with the quickness and surety of the predator. I watched in almost slow motion as the bears claw swung at me. I ducked low, the bear’s claws missing me by inches.

Its swing was fast and powerful, but clumsy. It overextended and I raked out with my gauntleted claws and with one powerful swipe took the bears forearm off at the elbow.

The bear roared in pain again and I moved in closer, without thinking I brought both arms in front of me in a wide sweeping motion. I crossed my hands in front, like an umpire motioning the runner safe, and felt as the normally short blades on my gauntlets, now almost two feet long, crossed each other and cut the bears head off.

I was almost as stunned at the long blades coming from the knuckles of my gauntlets as I was at my success in using them. I had no time to worry about that as I looked over at Abaddon.

He stood in between two immobile large bear forms. All three of them covered in blood and gore. Abaddon looked from one to the other, making sure they stayed down. He looked over at me, nodding in approval, seeing I had taken care of my bear.

He started to say something as the other two bears shot from the darkness of the woods and took Abaddon down. I started to run to his aide when I could clearly hear his voice as he struggled with the two new threats.

“I will be fine, Eric. Go after Max, I fear he is in danger!”

I took a step towards the fighting forms, torn between helping Abaddon and going to check on Max.

“GO!” Abaddon yelled.

I galvanized my will and turned from Abaddon, trusting he would be okay. I sped through the trees, pushing my body into motion. Fear began to grow in my belly. Abaddon was worried, that was clear. That in and of itself was dire, Abaddon was never worried. Everything had happened fast, but I could still count. All five bears had been accounted for. There was still whatever had emitted the whole pit of inky blackness aura out there.

I feared the worst as I came closer to our camp.

I didn’t want to rush into something that in my haste would make matters worse so I slowed as I got nearer. I also didn’t want to scare Max by coming into camp in my Beast form.

I focused my breathing and willed myself to return to my human shape. Pain swept through me and I lost some of my heightened senses as the Beast retreated a little. I stepped into the opening where we had set up our camp and tried to keep my movements as hidden as possible, unsure of what awaited me.

I saw Max standing in the fire light and my anxiety left as relief washed over me.

My caution immediately grew as I realized he stood staring at something, he seemed transfixed. It reminded me of what I think of how someone who is hypnotized might look, vacant eyes and a slack face.

I traced his gaze and my heart fell when I saw what he was staring at. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that this was the darkness I sensed.

It looked human, it was beautiful, the same way a wax mannequin is beautiful. Its features were clean and strong. This thing was in the form of a woman, but that’s where its similarity to humanity ended.

It stood deathly still. All living creatures move slightly, they swayed as their bodies kept balanced, they blinked and twitched as elements in their environment changed, not this thing. It stood there like a rock.

I felt it would still be standing there thousands of years from now as other rocks had been worn away by the ravages of time. This thing was not apart of time, it was timeless, it was the opposite of life, it was death. Living beings exuded a spark of energy, given to them to use during their lifetimes; this thing ate at that spark, drawing the energy of the living into itself, like a black hole.

I knew what it was; it has been a part of cultures across the planet forever. It was the succubus of Roman lore, the temptress of Greek mythology, the living corpse of Eastern Europe.

This was a vampire, a creature whose very existence was fueled by taking from the living, their blood, their life, and their dreams. This thing was a bane of existence and an anathema to the living.

Its stark white skin showed no wrinkles, no blemishes or marks. It was the ever-unchanging essence of death. It glided over the ground towards Max, as mesmerized by Max’s humanity as Max was by its inhumanity.

Its movements even rejected the clumsiness of normalcy as it walked with unnatural perfectness. If I didn’t do something fast it would soon be on him. I didn’t want to see what it had in mind for Max.

Worry and fear drove me as I rushed to Max’s aid. The vampire was a few feet from Max when I slammed into it. I plunged both blades into its chest as the force of my attack sent us both off to the side, away from Max. I landed on top of the vampire and its gaze never left Max. I began to feel left out when it finally drew its eyes towards me. I looked into their depths and it tried to draw me into them, the same way it had Max. I felt myself locked into its gaze, my body unable to move. My Beast rose from deep within and its power drove the things paralyzing effects out. Allowing me to gain control and blink.

A look of confusion came over the things face. It was odd seeing as how its skin never wrinkled or showed any change. It then drove itself back up onto its feet and reached out with both hands it grabbed my gauntlets and with unimaginable strength removed my blades from its body. I fought back and tried to keep it pinned, but its power was too much. It pushed out and threw me thirty feet away from it. I landed on my back and quickly rolled over to my feet.

I looked over and saw Max starting to come to his senses. He shook his head, trying to clear it.

“Eric?” He said in confusion.

I turned back to the vampire to see it coming at me with unnerving stillness.

Like the oncoming night, relentless and unstoppable. It hit me like a freight train and pushed me back into a tree. I felt the wood behind me start to give as a few of my ribs broke under its power. I was unable to do anything against this things strength. If I did nothing it soon would reach out and rip my head off like taking the cap off a bottle.

I had to act and act fast. I reached deep into myself and drew on the Beast. I let the power the Beast provided fill my limbs and felt as my bones once again broke and grow into the form of the werewolf. As I completed my change, I drove the vampire back, channeling the Beast’s power to counteract the strength of the vampire. If the vampire’s power was from the inevitability of death, mine was from the will to fight it.

I willed the Beast to provide me the needed power to fight this thing and it answered. A red haze filled my peripheral vision as I focused solely on the threat at hand. I finally managed to get some leverage and used it to swing the vampire around off the ground and into the tree it had been pushing me into. The impact was devastating but the vampires grip never faltered.

So I did it again, and again. The vampire finally let go after the third bashing, I didn’t. I swung again and slammed its back into the tree, feeling with satisfaction as the things back broke. I let go and watched with amazement as the vampire came at me again. Its back almost twisted in a ninety-degree angle. It still flowed over the ground relentlessly.