Gauntlet Rite of Ascension (21 page)

On instinct, I drew from this memory and tried to apply the same principle.

I cleared my mind, pushing all the doubts and worries out of it. I didn’t focus on any of my heightened senses; rather, I focused on all of them and at the same time. It was hard, I constantly wanted to single out one, concentrating on my sight or sound, but I fought it. I willed myself to allow all my senses to merge into one. Then I opened myself up and sent my awareness out, letting my focus of the surrounding environment come into greater clarity.

Immediately I felt a wrongness, a faint, but distinct disturbance. It came near the same area that the vampire had fled. I brought my extended awareness back into myself and turned towards the place I had sensed the vampires trail. There at the edges of my senses I saw, felt, heard and smelled the trace leftovers from the vampire’s passing.

I was in that zone of focusing without focusing and was afraid that any analysis of what was happening would disrupt the spell, so I followed it, without a second thought. On instinct, I raced into the woods following the trail of the most vile and evil thing I had ever come across.

Chapter 21

              Abaddon easily kept pace. We ran through the woods, me leading, him following close behind. I followed the unnatural trail for hours, traversing miles of forested land. Deep into the night the trail led us to a gas station on the edge of a highway. Behind the pump area, just inside the tree line I stopped. In my current state it took me a while to figure out what I was looking at.

              The body was a shriveled husk. Its bipedal frame was one of the only things that told me it was human. I slowly refocused myself into normal and was horrified at what lay before me. The person’s skin was wrinkled and clung to its skeleton. Its eyes were gone, leaving only black pits of emptiness. The corpse was drained of all fluids, as I touched it with my toe the whole thing moved together as if it was one solid mummified piece.

              “It has fed.” Abaddon said.

              It was all he needed to say. My determination redoubled. I wanted to find this thing now and stop it from doing this to anyone else. I started to draw myself into the focused/unfocused state again when Abaddon reached out and grabbed my forearm.

              “That will not be necessary. I have its scent now.” He said.

              “I thought no one else could track these things?” I asked, confused.

              “It has fed; I can track the scent from this body that has been left on the creature. It is faint, but this was done very recently, the trail is still here.” He answered.

              “Alright.” I said, relieved that I didn’t have to follow the putrescence of the vampire’s trail.

              Abaddon turned and headed off in the same direction we had been heading, deeper into the forest, deeper into the dark recesses of the empty night.

              I took a second to lock onto the scent that the vampire had left from feeding. There, faint, but there. This was much different than what I had been following. The scent was from a man, that was clear. There was an almost sweetness to it that tugged at my Beast. I turned my snout around zeroing in on the trail and wasn’t surprised to find it leading me after Abaddon. I knew it was going to be there, but I wanted to get a lock on the scent for myself.

              I raced after Abaddon, leaving the shriveled corpse behind, hoping that he had no loved ones that would morn his passing.

              This time he led and I followed. Just as the sky started showing the barest glimpse of brightening, we came upon the entrance to the vampire’s refuge.

              Abaddon abruptly stopped, standing at the top of a small hill. The trees all around the opening were thick with growth and bushes filled in most of the open area. If a fire broke out here during a dry summer this area would go up quickly.

              The opening was hard to see and if it wasn’t for the trail the vampire had left behind, we probably would never have found it even with our heightened senses.

              We both stood looking into a small hole in the ground. It was almost entirely covered in growth and if left alone would be in a few years.

              “What is it, a sinkhole?” I asked.

              “I think it’s a vent to a mine shaft. There are old abandoned coal mines all throughout this area.” He answered.

              Made sense, the coal industry was vibrant in these areas for years. After a series of cave-ins, the coal companies abandoned this area to concentrate on safer, more prosperous land in Ohio and other regions.

              “Now what?” I asked.

              “I’m thinking.” Abaddon said.

              After a moment, Abaddon turned to me saying, “Going into a vampire’s lair is dangerous. Most vampires are loners. They find an area and hunt when necessary and generally keep to the deep darkness of their holes. Sometimes a Lord rises. One who gathers others to its will. The last one I remember doing this was Count Vlad Drakul.” He said.

              “Dracula? He was real?” I asked.

              “Is it so hard to believe? You are a werewolf are you not?” He asked with a smirk.

              “Touché.” I said.

              “I don’t know what is waiting for us down there, but the objective is clear. Find the bastard that got to Max and kill it, quickly.” Abaddon said.

              “Got it.” I said.

              I didn’t know much about vampire lords or hell vampires for that matter, but I did know one thing. One of them had targeted my friend and it was going to die.

              We looked at each other for a moment, letting the seriousness of the situation settle in. I took a step forward and dropped down into the hole. Roots and vegetation scratched and clawed at me on the way down, it was a small thing. With my preternatural senses I easily saw the bottom rush up at me and landed with quiet stealth. Abaddon dropped next to me and following the faint traces of the vampire’s victims lingering scent, we went deeper into the darkness.

              The path before us was pitch black, but our sharp eyes easily saw the way. I followed Abaddon as we went further along the old tunnel and put more distance between us and the way out. The shaft I dropped down was part of a larger system. A dark tunnel ran off in front of me and behind. There was an old and rusted cart rail in the center of the tunnels. The walls were roughly carved earth with large wooden support beams positioned every ten feet or so. The darkness was slighter here at the bottom of the air vent. The moonlight came in from the opening and gave a small amount of illumination. As I looked off into the inky blackness of the tunnel, my heightened eyesight kicked in and shapes that were vague or hidden by the shadows came into focus.

              I called on the Beast to add caution to my movements, willing myself to follow the trail in absolute silence. It was odd, moving without making any noise at all. It almost seemed like I was floating, gliding on a cloud as I traversed the dark tunnel with the predators skill.

              The tunnel I followed went in a straight line; every once in a while another, smaller tunnel would bypass the one we were in, going off into the darkness of the underground maze.

              Like two shadows amidst the darkness of the night, we made our way closer to the target. The tunnel made a slow and gradual turn ending in a small chamber. The area housed some old, leftover mining equipment. The tools and old carts sat in the darkness like a ghost town long forgotten. The nostalgia of their history lay thick around them like a shroud that embraces their lonely isolation.

              The walls consisted of rough stone. Every ten feet or so I saw a set of old iron manacles attached to the rock by a large nail driven deep into the hard surface. Most of the shackles were empty except for a few mummified remains of the vampire’s previous victims.

              I started to move towards one of the dried husks when Abaddon reached out and stopped me. Annoyed, I turned to him only to find his gazed locked onto something else. I looked up, searching for what he was seeing only to be hit by the same psychic inkiness that I felt when I had encountered the vampire earlier. I don’t know why I hadn’t noticed it until now. The aura from the vampire filled the dark space and I instantly felt dirty and repulsed by its essence. It stood still against the wall across from one of the bodies. It stood there facing the hanging corpse, staring. Its perfect stillness allowed it to almost completely blend in with the wall behind it. If I hadn’t been able to sense its death aura I probably would have missed it myself.

              The sheer unnatural presence of the thing grated on me and a low and primal rumble began to grow from the pit of my belly. It grew and flowed out of me in a wave of emotion and energy. I leaned forward towards the vampire and unleashed my fury in a bestial howl of challenge, daring this thing to answer.

              It was startled out of its trance and turned to me, its gaze instantly trying to lock me into paralysis. My Beast countered its attempts and once again it turned its head slightly as if it had been confronted with a question it didn’t know the answer to. Without a second thought I rushed towards it. I absently noticed that my bracelets had once again grown into gauntlets and the small blade on the top of my hand had elongated again and extended out almost three feet.

              I flew at it in a fury and swiped at its neck intent on beheading it quickly and efficiently. I had caught the thing unawares and was fueled by the power of my anger adding speed and strength to my movements. The vampire moved almost faster than I could follow and slid sideways avoiding most of my attack. I felt the tip of my gauntlets blade bite into the vampire’s neck and was pleased to see a large, deep gash open up on its throat.

              The vampire never expressed pain or showed any lessening in movement as it bared its teeth, its mouth opening larger than normal and its mandible distending like a snake that unhinges its jaw to swallow something bigger than its mouth. It let out an inhuman and unnatural screech that assaulted my mind and senses. It came at me in a blur, its hands out in front of it; their pale smooth skin belied none of the strength that the vampire possessed.

              I knew if the vampire was able to get its hands around my neck it would take no time in removing my head. I don’t know how much experience this thing had in hand to hand combat or if when it was alive if it ever did any sword fighting. It probably never had to deal with anything that didn’t wilt under its gaze and sure as hell didn’t have two gauntlets with three foot swords extending from them. I don’t think it expected its prey to fight back and to be able to do any damage to it so I think it came as a surprise when I called on the power of the Beast and used my own inhuman speed and strength to step out of its oncoming charge and sweep my blades at its stomach.

              Vampires were powerful creatures of legend and nightmare. Yes they had ungodly powers, strength enough to pick up a car, speed enough to move unseen, ability to heal from even the most damaging attack and a freaky paralyzing stare used to drain the life energy from its victims, not to mention its fundamental oneness with death. Given all that it was still essentially made from flesh and it was susceptible to physical assault.

              My blade cut into its stomach and the power of my strike drove the metal through its backbone, cutting the vampire in half. The vampire’s body fell in two pieces, never spilling a drop of blood. Its legs kept standing as its upper body scrambled towards me. The vampire’s arms scuttling its torso along at a frightening speed.

              My shock at watching the vampire’s upper half advance towards me gave it just enough time for it to reach my legs. As it grabbed onto my ankle excruciating pain erupted as its powerful grip easily crushed the sensitive and multiple bones in my foot and ankle.

              The vampire’s powerful attack caught me completely off guard. It climbed my body and everywhere it grabbed onto it crushed the bones and muscle as it used the handholds to scale me. The pain kept me from thinking, even Abaddons extensive ass kicking I had received wasn’t enough to prepare me for the pain this thing leveled onto me. 

              It was all I could do to get my bearings enough to stop it from reaching out and grabbing my neck. I managed to block the vampires grasping hands and held onto its wrists for dear life.

              Knowing that it was gravely injured added strength to the vampire as it slowly closed the few inches from its hands to my throat. The things hands got half an inch from my neck when Abaddon appeared behind it and forcibly snatched the vampire off of me and slung it into the opposite wall, ten feet away.

              It hit the wall with a solid smack and faster than imagined started scuttling towards me, intent on ending my life.

              Abaddon reached down and pinned the thing to the ground, its strength negated by its inability to use its legs. I watched with dismay as black ichor flowed from the things body towards its lower half and its lower half reached out the same way. I knew we didn’t have much time until it reformed and no matter how much hacking and slashing I did would keep it down for long. I needed to kill it and didn’t have any wooden stakes handy. Hell, I didn’t even know if that would kill it.

              A second vampire appeared out of the darkness and slammed into Abaddon, sending them both into the far wall and the power of the impact caused the rock wall to collapse and they disappeared into another chamber.

              I began to get worried, no matter how much we sliced these guys it only seemed to slow them down. The only thing I knew that could kill them was fire and I had no way of starting one. For a split second I considered trying to will some into existence and to my utter amazement both swords on my gauntlets began to emit a dull light. The gems in my gauntlets each glowed in the deep darkness and a golden radiance covered the length of the blades extending from the gauntlets. It took me a second to realize that the gauntlets swords were both sheathed in fire.

              The vampire had crossed the space between us and as it once again reached out to my feet I swiped at it with the fire encrusted blade. The reaction was immediate.

              Where the blade cut into the vampire the flames spread. Apparently, vampires are highly flammable.

              For the first time the vampire registered something on its face that resembled pain as it immediately turned away from me in an attempt at escape. I was no longer stunned at its appearance and I quickly caught it and with a powerful stab impaled the vampire’s upper body to the ground.

              The fire from my blade quickly spread over the vampire’s body and the small chamber became filled with the light from the flames. The vampire frantically thrashed and flailed trying to dislodge itself from my blade.

              Within a few seconds the fire grew extremely hot and I began to smell burnt hair as the flames reached out and scorched the unprotected part of my arm. Pain made me flinch away and I inadvertently pulled the blade from the vampire, freeing it.

It wasn’t going anywhere.

              The vampire lay still as the fire quickly finished burning the undead flesh. A high-pitched moan rose from the vampire and echoed throughout the tunnels as it relinquished its existence to the cleansing power of the flames.

I stood over it for a second, mesmerized by the flames when a sound drew my attention towards its still standing legs. I turned to them and reached out, igniting the vampires lower body and watched as they too burned in a quick conflagration.

              Stunned, I looked down at my gauntlets blades. Twice now, the three inch long blades had grown into three foot swords, allowing me to add reach to my attacks and a lethality that blades provided.

              “A little help here.” Abaddon said.

I hurried over to him and watched as he held one of his long swords in each hand. He kept kicking the vampire’s severed head away from its body.

              I quickly went over to it and plunged the flaming sword into its chest, once again watching as the fire burned. I did the same to its head and was again subjected to its pitiful death moan.

The flames on the blades slowly receded and once again we were left in the pitch black darkness of the underground tunnels. The vampires’ bodies and legs had stopped burning and all that was left were four heaps of charred ash.

              The blades slowly retracted back into normal lengths and the gauntlets once again took on the form of bracelets as the danger passed.

              I looked around the chamber Abaddon had opened up and noticed it was smaller than the one we had been in. An opening could be seen on one wall. In the middle of the space were much larger and sturdier chains and manacles than the ones attached to the walls. On further inspection, I noticed they were huge. Thick chains an inch in diameter were secured to the floor ending in manacles that looked like they could hold a mutant elephant. I couldn’t fathom what these kinds of restraints were meant for when a sudden burst of insight hit me. They were meant for something stronger than an elephant and something far more dangerous, an Ascended.