Page 40 of Skullduggery
My right hand reached for Gladys and I slid her two inches out of her sheath. My left hand reached for Tracey’s vamp spray; thankfully, it only shook slightly when I gripped it. I straightened my spine, raised my head and gave a long, low whistle.
It took the vampire a few seconds to register the sound. When he did, he froze for half a beat before twisting his head towards me. I heard the bones in his neck cracking as he fixed his gaze – and then he came for me.
I took three side steps to position myself in the middle of the road so I had plenty of room to manoeuvre and wouldn’t end up boxed in. The vampire opened his mouth in a silent scream and showed me his fangs to prove that he meant business.
I waited until he was close enough before I acted. When he was less than a metre away and my nostrils started tickling at the stench of his rotting, undead body, I directed the small plastic spray bottle at his face and sent a cloud of fine droplets towards him.
The vamp’s reaction was instantaneous: as soon as the magicked combination of holy water and wild garlic hit him, he screeched and started clawing at his face. I smacked my lips in satisfaction as the concoction ate at his flesh and blinded him. Then I swung Gladys at his exposed neck and, withone swift strike, lopped off his head. Gladys hummed with glee as he crumpled to the cobbles.
The process had taken less than five seconds. ‘Only a vampire,’ I whispered and smiled.
I returned Gladys to her sheath and retrieved the penknife Tracey had lent me, then knelt down to start the unpleasant task of extracting the vampire’s fangs before I set the body alight to stop it ever rising again.
I’d barely made an incision when Gladys buzzed in warning. I stopped moving and listened hard. I could hear the hiss of laboured breath. Cumbubbling bollocks: something was behind me.
I slowly straightened up and glanced around.Oh no.
There were six vampires surrounding me, two behind, two in front and one on either side, and they were all in much better condition than the corpse at my feet. I was trapped.
The vampires were drawing closer and closer, matching their strides and maintaining the same distance from each other. They were working together, none of them allowing their bloodlust to take over and none of them going for an immediate attack. I’d never seen such a thing before.
As I shook my head in amazement, I wondered if they’d sent the first vamp out as bait to lull me into a false sense of security. But no, that didn’t make any sense because vampires were mindless automatons whose festering brain cells allowed no intelligent or rational thought. This was most definitely not supposed to happen.
Then an annoying, prickling sensation started at the nape of my neck and descended through my body. I knew instantly what it meant. There was a fiend nearby.
I quashed my terror as soon as it began, flattened my mouth into a grim line and hoped the fiend was Baltar. I had killed him in 2024 – no-one had been more surprised than mewhen I’d defeated him in the depths of an old dragon lair. When I’d first seen him, he’d spoken as if we’d met before. If this was Baltar, history dictated that I could beat him and stay alive. I doubted I’d have much of a chance if Athair was lurking in the shadows.
In any case, I needed to prioritise and deal with the posse of vampires first. I swallowed hard, unsheathed Gladys again and tried to remember Miriam’s training as the six of them closed in.
I turned slowly. They were clearly preparing to attack simultaneously, and I doubted I could take on all the bastards in close combat, but I was far from beaten. I had much more than Gladys at my disposal.
It wasn’t clear how the hidden fiend was communicating with the vampires; for all I knew, the bloodsuckers were under its control and instructions were being relayed with telepathic immediacy. I had to assume the worst and act accordingly.
I gripped Gladys with both hands and aimed her blade high as I completed another slow 360-degree turn, sweeping my sword through the air with glittering intent – and glorious misdirection. Then I inhaled deeply and flung out an arc of earth magic.
The effect was immediate. The ground shook and the cobblestones loosened, some flying several feet upwards before clattering down again. The road ruptured, first in a perfect circle that mimicked my sword sweep, then in radial cracks.
Four of the vampires fell backwards, and one lurched forward and snagged her leg in the hole my magic had created. She grunted and jerked as she tried to free herself. I focused on the sixth vampire, the only one who was still advancing.
Rather than blast him with more magic, I gave Gladys the honour of killing him. She sang as I swiped her tip forward, and she pierced the vamp’s eye before entering his skull. He didn’tmake a sound, just gazed at me in confusion before falling to his knees and toppling forward.
There wasn’t time to congratulate myself. Three of the other vampires were already back on their feet. ‘Alright then,’ I said. ‘Come at me.’
Whatever control the concealed fiend had been exerting was fading away; the vampires’ faces were contorting and the wild hunger I was used to seeing in their eyes was taking over. I felt genuinely relieved that the natural order of things was reappearing, though I didn’t have long to feel pleased. All three of them meant business.
My skin was itching even more – the fiend must be getting closer. I shook away the sensation and blasted the nearest vampire with a jet of scorching fire magic. He roared as his body was engulfed in flames, though it didn’t stop his advance. His focus was so single-minded that he continued running at me, flaming arms akimbo. As I gulped and jumped out of the way, I almost fell into the hole I’d made.
The other two vampires followed, bloodlust speeding up their movements. I threw out a burst of water magic to douse the burning vampire and the force of the water knocked him down. The resulting steam blocked the view of his two companions for a few seconds, but that was all I needed.
Instead of running away, I ran at them. I pumped Tracey’s spray bottle vigorously, dispersing the anti-vamp potion into the steam – then I shrugged, yanked off the top and chucked in the rest of the contents. The answering shrieks were enough to tell me I’d hit paydirt.
I dropped the bottle and backed away several metres before blowing out a gentle gust of air magic to clear away the steam and see the damage for myself. The vampire who’d been on fire was down and out; his left arm was twitching but his body was charred beyond recognition. The two vampires who’d joined hisattack were on their knees, their hands raised to their faces. Tracey’s vamp spray really was potent stuff: I could see exposed bone down the side of one of the vampire’s skulls. Her potion had eaten his flesh. Now all I had to do was use Gladys to finish them off for good.
Unfortunately, I didn’t get the chance. The two remaining vampires were back on their feet. The one who’d snagged herself in the hole created by my earth magic had freed herself while the other one, who’d been knocked over by the same blast, had also recovered. The female sprinted at me from my right as the male hurtled forward on all fours like an animal from my left.
Time seemed to slow down. I didn’t know whether it was because of all the training I’d received from Hugo and his Primes or whether my own instincts kicked in, but I held my ground for one beat, then two. In the split second before both vamps were on me, I jumped backwards. Instead of throwing themselves onto my body, they collided with each other. Not realising that I’d moved out of the way, they went for each other and started tearing off chunks of flesh, screeching at the top of their rotting lungs.
Something altered in the cool night air and for a moment I was confused. I felt a strange stillness overtake the atmosphere; it was as if the world itself were taking a breath. Then a wave of powerful magic rippled from behind me, gathering in the air and rushing past my body. It engulfed first me and then the group of vampires.
