Page 62 of Forbidden Wolf

“Stay here,” I said, my voice echoing. “I need to go and see if I can find another way out.”

At least everyone would be safe for now in my private space. There were times I used to lie down here and read for hours. When we returned from missions and were given a few days off, I stayed down here, far from the prying eyes of Castus. He had always made comments about not being able to find me on my days off.

“Be careful,” Mum said softly, and something about her expression sent a tremor of fear pulsing through me.

“I’m the only one who can go out there since I’m stationed here. I need to find transport and a way out that avoids the master hellspawn and Castus.” I squeezed my eyes shut to prevent tears from falling when she engulfed me in a hug.

When I emerged back in the main body of the castle, screams greeted me. The type that heralded serious injury or death. Leaving my blasters strapped to my legs, I moved into the weapons store and lifted two swords. I’d seen those creatures blasted and they kept coming. This time, I was going for the heads.

Creeping along the corridor, I stopped every so often to sense what was in my general vicinity. The pulsating red auras of the hellspawn were getting ever closer, a few either in the castle or climbing the walls. It was hard to tell working from the model in my head.

Another terrified scream, this time just around the corner. My grip tightened on the swords, and my boots made no sound as I moved onward. I froze when I came face to face with a creature that looked more spider-like than human, crouched on top of a dying vampire as it tore lumps of flesh from him.

Its red eyes tracked me as I tried to back away, the legs starting to shiver as it stepped forward off the now dead vampire. The creature was black with red veins across the bulbous torso, and long legs with barbed spikes instead of hairs. There was zero chance of me finding a heart in that vibrating mass. The massive head tilted to the side and its mouth opened to reveal a double row of sharp teeth that were more like a mouthful of fangs.

Swallowing my revulsion, I lifted the swords in front of me in self-defence. We slowly circled each other, neither of us taking our eyes off our opponent. The climbing the wall theory solidified in my head as the multiple legs all moved in tandem.

The creature pounced, its jaw open wide. My hands moved, both arching forward with precision to the narrow neck of the creature, severing the head from the torso. The jaw continued to open and close for several moments in a biting gesture even as the legs all moved in different directions.

I left it lying there and moved toward the front of our coven. The creatures had breached through our outer walls and fought at the gates. Every time one of our guards cut one down another two replaced it until there was an undulating mass of black and red.

“Where’s Castus?” I asked Dean, one of the commanders, needing to know where our leader was so I could avoid him.

He gave me a scathing glare and returned to his task of trying to defend what remained of our coven. A hellspawn lunged toward me, and I swung my sword automatically, decapitating it.

“Aim for the heads!” I shouted, swinging my sword at the closest creature. “Get some of the sunlight weapons up here. These things are allergic to ultraviolet rays.” I fell into the flow and ebb of battle beside my comrades, each of us forming a line to keep the creatures back. For every one we cut down, another three replaced them. A hellspawn spider landed on the vampire to my left, the legs clamping around their arms and the sharp teeth tearing into their throat. For a moment, I recoiled in horror before wielding my sword and killing the hellspawn. The vampire was already dead.

It was a risk using UV weapons around vampires, but we were out of options. Dean ordered soldiers to get the weapons I asked for. He threw his blaster to one side and took one of my swords and began hacking into anything that moved.

More swords arrived with two vampires and were spread among our soldiers along with the UV weapons.

“Get our soldiers back.” I grabbed Dean’s arm to get his attention.

He nodded, barking out commands to bring as many of our people inside as possible. Flashes of light emerged from the long guns. Thankfully, we went into battle fully covered with head shields on our uniforms. The vampires who were still out there were as protected as we could make them.

The first hellspawn hit with a blast of ultraviolet light exploded in a mass of black ash. The next was partially hit and only an arm and half its torso exploded. It kept trying to move forward and attack.

“What the fuck are they?” Dean shouted.

“Hellspawn. They’ve been killing us for years, but the elders wouldn’t listen.”

“Does fire work on them?” he asked.

“No idea. I only have limited intel about them from one engagement.”

He stared at me, his gaze cold and hard. “How long ago?”

“Six months.”

“Bastards,” he snarled. “Get my fucking people out of there ASAP. Send out the helicopters if you need to.”

“Dean!” A vampire raced forward to grab the commander’s arm. “Some of our people are trapped beyond the drawbridge with no means to return to the castle.”

“Get those helicopters up there and fucking save them!” he said.

We were outnumbered and our enemy too strong. They’d studied us and knew all our tactical moves. Nevertheless, we battled on to defend our home even though our fearless leader had abandoned us.

Minutes stretched into hours and we fought against the never-ending tide of monsters that climbed our walls and stormed through our gates. My muscles were sore, and my soul was weary. Hellspawn blood coated my face and uniform.

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