Titans Ch. 06

Half a dozen giants lay slain in a cluster around the large and menacing front gate. They were covered in cuts and slices, yet not a drop of blood seemed to have fallen. Trying once more, Alex scanned the area and was thwarted by the thick, stone walls.

"Is there a back entrance?" Alex asked, unclipping his harness and grabbing his helmet, knife, and guns from the storage rack.

Elizabeth nodded grimly, putting her hand on her short sword to check it was loose in the scabbard.

"It's a little bit of a climb, but I've done it before. Follow me."

Alex leapt down from the cockpit with all his gear. He tossed the pistol to Talia and it unerringly swerved through to air straight into her open palm. He looked over to Thrak and gestured with the rifle.

"Will you be alright without this?"

"Not a problem, Alex," Thrak patted a vicious mace that hung from his belt, "You know how to use it better than I."

The Irregulars followed Elizabeth around the curve of a corner tower, where she stopped - looking up and searching for something. Not too high up the wall was a wooden crane with the rope drawn all the way up. Just below it, a small doorway, flush with the stone bricks.

"There," she pointed, "The wine room. I have no idea why it's above ground rather than in the cellar but let's count our blessings it isn't."

Elizabeth approached the wall, scanning for footholds. Slowly and haltingly, she made her way upwards. Alex slipped his helmet on, then moved up underneath her, to catch her if she fell. There proved to be no need though, within a minute she had reached the bottom of the doorway. Moving her feet up into a crouching position, hanging from the ledge, she pushed off leaping upwards and snatching the cross-beam of the crane. Dangling above the little doorway, she swung backwards, then forwards; catching the door with her heels and causing it to burst open. She hung for a little longer, and then planted her feet and slipped inside.

Elizabeth's red-framed face poked over the edge.

"It's clear, come on up," she called down.

One by one, the Irregulars made the climb, Alex waiting until last. As Thrak's heavy boots vanished over the edge, the mech pilot limbered up, took a step back, then made a running jump at the wall. His toes found purchase in the cracks and propelled him upwards while his hands kept him stable. In a matter of seconds, he had grasped hold of the ledge and hauled himself into the castle.

Inside, everyone had drawn their weapons and all eyes were on the door that led to the rest of the castle. The room itself was dust and full of barrels. The heady aroma of red wine was drifting up from a red stain on the flagstone floor. The smell reminded Alex to seal his helmet, he tucked the collar of his armor up under the rim of the headgear and there was a dull click as it magnetized into place. The visor lit up with information, outlining solid objects and highlighting any motion; not as comprehensive as the mech, but still a significant advantage.

Alex attracted everyone's attention and gave his orders.

"I'll open the door, Borren go through and right, Daine through and left. I'll follow Borren with Elizabeth, Thrak and Talia follow Daine. Sweep through the room quickly but carefully, watch the corners and keep your weapons close-in. We'll go room to room like that until we find something. Clear?"

A chorus of agreement was his response.

"Good. Let's go."

The first room was a short hallway, Alex quickly checked the first exit but it was just a simple storage closet so they continued on. Room by room, they made their way deeper into the dingy but opulent abode.

The furniture was finely crafted wood, trimmed here and there with gold leaf. Grim looking ladies and gentlemen glared down from dark portraits. Rich velvet drapes hung from most walls, and covered the few windows that faced inward to the courtyard. The only light was provided by the occasional torch or candle, flickering in a wall sconce.

When they had cleared the whole floor without encountering so much as a mouse, Elizabeth helped them to retrace their steps back to the staircase they had passed. Thinking for a moment, Alex gestured downwards and they descended to the lower floor.

A long, wide hallway stretched off into the darkness when they reached the bottom. The distant ticking of a grandfather clock muffled by the velvet drapes breaking the utter silence. Cautiously, the group crept forward. While similarly grandiose, this floor looked decidedly more lived-in, with a depression in the carpet from many years of foot traffic and a collection of smoking pipes in a stand on one of the sideboards.

As they moved onwards Daine slowed to a stop, staring intently at the grandfather clock as they drew close to it.

"Gelb," the dwarf whispered, "Yer the expert on weird magic, aye?"

"I suppose," the gnome squeaked from Thrak's back, "Why do you ask?"

"Well, it's nigh pitch black in 'ere," he pointed to the base of the clock with his axe, "So why does tha' clock ha' a shadow?"

Suddenly, crammed into the corner where the clock met the wall, there was a young woman dressed in black where there was nothing before. She hissed like an angry cat and launched herself at the dwarf, hands contorted into claws.

Alex was the first to react, bringing the rifle up to his shoulder and squeezing the trigger. The gun spat metal pellets in a tight spray, hitting the woman in the shoulder and knocking her to one side. She seemed surprised but unhurt by the impact, and red eyes locked onto Alex. Darting around the dwarf at incredible speed she lunged for the pilot. He just had time to witness a pair of long fangs as she bared her teeth and latched onto him, going for his throat.

She was light enough that Alex kept his balance, but her thin arms held surprising strength. He tried to shrug her off but she clung on, futilely trying to bite through the armor at his neck.

There was an awful crunch, and Alex felt his head being knocked slightly to one side, but all of a sudden the woman was gone. He took a step back, dropping into a more stable stance and looking around. Thrak was next to him, brandishing his mace - which he now realized had just grazed the side of his helmet - but the woman lay crumpled on the floor. Before the rest of them could even react, her body seemed to shrink and fold in on itself, and she crumbled to dust.

"Vampire," growled the orc.

"Likely more than a few, given the spectacle outside," Gelb grumbled, "Head or heart to kill them everyone; anything else will just annoy them."

Talia nodded, poking the pile of dust with her rapier.

"Is there anything you can do about infection?"

The gnome mumbled to himself for a moment.

"Non-humans are probably fine, and they can't seem to bite the captain through that armor. You need to be careful though, Lady Elizabeth."

They all looked over to the major, who was staring blankly at the pile of ash, hands limp by her sides.

"Are ye okay lass?" Borren nudged her gently.

"I-I think," she stuttered, "That was one of Vanessa's aunts."

"Damn," Thrak rumbled.

Alex took a deep breath, fighting the heady rush of the combat hormones that were sending his mind and muscles into overdrive.

"Okay, new plan: I'll go first into rooms, Daine and Borren follow up, Elizabeth in the middle and Talia and Thrak cover the rear. Can you manage Elizabeth?"

She nodded slowly, finally tearing her eyes away from the pile of dust.

"As long as it's not Vanessa, fuck anyone else who tries to kill us."

"That'll do," Alex shouldered the rifle again, "Let's move out."

The next room was empty - even after thoroughly checking for unusual shadows - and the next room, and the next. Tension was building in the air like the humid stillness before a thunderstorm. When it was almost unbearable, Alex held up a hand for them to halt.

Through the next doorway, Alex could just make out hushed voices having an urgent conversation. He held up five fingers to the rest of the group, then four, then three, two, one. As he lowered the last finger he brought the hand down to grip the rifle again and kicked the door hard near the latch.

With a splintering crack the door swung open and Alex charged in. Two gentlemen in suits stood by the empty fireplace, with chestnut colored skin that nonetheless still looked pale. When the door burst inwards one of them jumped straight into the air, actually landing upside down on the ceiling and running towards the breaching party. The other dissolved into inky black shadow and slithered under the long table that was the centerpiece of the room.

Alex pulled off to the right to allow the rest through and fired a few shots at the vampire above. The pellets spattered harmlessly across the stonework as the creature darted from side to side.

"Talia, up!" he shouted, heart pounding and mind racing, "Gelb, shadow under the table!"

The dwarves ran in, shields raised, followed by Elizabeth. The major narrowed her eyes at the figure on the ceiling and raised her sword to protect her neck. Talia entered soon after, golden eyes quickly searching for a target. When she spotted the vampire she raised her pistol and fired off a quick burst; one of the shots grazing the side if its head and causing it to fall to the ground with a clatter of shattered furniture.

As Thrak picked his way through the doorframe, Gelb poked his head over the orc's shoulder with his wizened fingers raised in a complicated twisting gesture. A flash of multicolored light filled the lower half of the room as a spell went off under the table, and a shadow shot out and impacted the wall beside them.

Quickly returning to a physical form, the vampire went straight for the dwarves. Borren blocked its path with his shield while Daine swung his axe at its face. It ducked to one side in a blur of motion, but was not fast enough to dodge the single shot that pierced its skull as Alex repositioned and fired.

The vampire that had fallen from the ceiling picked itself up from the floor, a dry wound on the side of its head that should have been leaking blood by the bucket. It locked eyes with Elizabeth, who braced herself to meet the charge. Before it could move, however, Talia calmly raised her pistol and shot it straight through the heart.

As the two vampires disintegrated to piles of ashen dust Elizabeth and Alex stepped further into the room, checking all the shaded areas.

"Anyone you knew?" Talia asked softly.

"Vanessa's older brothers," Elizabeth didn't even pause in her search, "They haven't aged a day; I guess we know why."

"They must have been turned not long after you knew them," Gelb ruminated, "Or before, I suppose."

"Thanks for that thought Gelb," the major winced.

Alex finished searching his half of the room and began cycling through viewing-modes for his visor. When he reached the thermal imaging camera something caught his eye; a draft of cold air seeping out from behind the bookshelf.

Approaching cautiously, Alex ran his fingers around the edge of the furniture. There was definitely a gap.

"I think I've found something," he announced, taking a firm grip on the sturdy wood.

The Irregulars gathered around as Alex steadily began to apply force. The wood groaned but held strong, so he planted his feet and heaved. With a sudden clang, some sort of mechanism broke and the bookshelf swung freely outwards on hidden hinges.

Behind the secret door was a pitch black hole. The top of a set of stairs could just be made out, descending below the ground. Alex switched to his night-vision, lighting up the passage in a series of green tones and wire-frame outlines.

"Can anyone see in the dark or light this place up?"

There was a pause as everyone looked to each other.

"Aye, we kin see in the dark," Daine slapped Borren on the shoulder.

"I could manage a light spell," Gelb held up a hand.

"Right," Alex nodded, "Daine, Borren, you're with me. The rest of you wait a minute and then follow. Quietly."

"Got it," Thrak rumbled, hefting his mace.

"You going to be okay?" Elizabeth asked, drumming the pommel of her short sword.

Alex stepped into the doorway, pressing the butt of the rifle into his shoulder.

"I'll be fine," he took a deep breath, "Sixty seconds and then follow with a light. Let's go."

Alex led the way down into the black with soft but rapid steps. The dwarves followed behind him, making significantly more noise.

"Can you fight like this?" he asked softly, still looking forward.

"Dark, cramped, close combat wi' danger lurking in every shadow? Couldnae get closer to wha' we trained for if ye tried." Borren chuckled.

"Good," Alex's boots hit the corridor at the bottom, at least two floors below where they started, "Now let's pick up the pace."

He broke into a brisk jog, keeping his rifle up. Behind him the clank of chainmail signaled the dwarves accelerating. The corridor didn't go on for long before it ended in a solid wooden doorway. Without slowing down, Alex planted his boot right by the latch and burst into the next room.

Seven finely dressed men and women flanked a cast iron table in the center of the room. Behind the dark metal table, a thin, pale, bestial man was holding an attractive young woman with chestnut skin aloft by her throat. All eyes turned on the soldier in black.

"Surrender or die!" Alex shouted, brandishing his rifle threateningly.

The man behind the table adjusted his grip as the woman he was holding kicked out at him while he was distracted.

"Kill them," he snarled.

Alex squeezed off a burst of shots into the densest part of the gathered crowd, but didn't have time to see the result as something slammed into his side and knocked him flying. His armor stiffened with the impact, saving him from any damage, and he swung an elbow into his attacker repeatedly until his felt a crunch and the scrabbling arms slackened.

The dwarves shouted something in their own language in unison and charged. From out of the corridor a dim light shone as backup reached the bottom of the stairs. Alex leapt to his feet and fired a shot through the chest of the woman who had been grappling him. Around him the room had devolved into chaos. The two dwarves were fending off four of the observing vampires as they tried to encircle them, the remaining five turned on Alex.

The mech pilot darted to his left, firing as he went. One more vampire went down but the rest surged forward, one of them grabbing the rifle. He yanked back and kicked out at the creature's legs, forcing it to let go, but another leapt onto him and attempted to bite his neck. With a roar Alex threw it off and grabbed the next attacker's arm, flipping it into the first one.

The sharp crack of the pistol echoed down the corridor and one of the vampires attacking the dwarves suddenly evaporated. Thrak bellowed and burst into the room, mace swinging wildly. Talia and Elizabeth followed soon after; the major loosed an arrow which pierced the shoulder of one of their foes, but she stopped suddenly upon seeing the young woman still being held aloft in the center of the room.

"Vanessa?" she almost whispered.

"My good lady Swift," the thin man shouted over the din of battle, "Tell your friends to cease killing my family or I'll crush young Vanessa's throat."

Taking advantage of the distraction Alex lined up a couple of shots and two more fell. Elizabeth looked around at the room, the dwarves were both bleeding heavily from many cuts and Thrak was fending off a pair of vampires who were trying to get at Gelb. Talia stood strong beside her friend, lashing out with her rapier at any who approached.

"No deal," the major growled, drawing her bow again and loosing an arrow at the pale vampire.

Moving impossibly fast, he snatched the shaft out of the air and snarled. Gelb, taking Elizabeth's cue, fired off another colorful spell, knocking back the vampires fighting the dwarves. Alex and Talia felled another couple at range before simultaneously rounding on the leader, who quickly jerked Vanessa in front of him as a human shield.

"You're all fools," he hissed, eyes beginning to glow red.

With a flash of movement, the head of the arrow he had caught appeared through the young woman's back. She let out a gurgling gasp, then went limp.

"No!" Elizabeth screamed, throwing down her bow and drawing her sword.

With a sneer, the leader threw the body to one side and snapped his fingers. The already dark room went black as Gelb's light was extinguished and the remaining vampires rallied and went on the attack again.

Alex watched the outline of the vampire blur on his visor, and start to shift towards Elizabeth. He battered his remaining opponent to the floor and sprinted across the distance between them to interpose himself between the blinded major and the approaching foe. He fired into the shadow but it just shifted and ignored any damage being done, surging forward in response.

An arm appeared out of the shapeless mass, backhanding the mech pilot and causing him to stumble out of the way. The shadow moved past him, Elizabeth holding her sword up and calmly listening for any danger, blissfully unaware of the vampire approaching on ghostly feet.

As the vampire closed in, it reformed. Elizabeth heard the final step it took and lunged, stabbing it through the shoulder. It didn't seem to care, shrugging hard enough to dislodge her grip and reaching out a clawed hand for her throat.

Alex barreled into the vampire, pressing it to the floor with his weight and grabbing its shoulder to keep it pinned. A black-clad fist crashed into the creature's face, its skull cracking into the flagstone floor. It fought back with tremendous strength, but Alex was stronger. It clawed at every part of him it could reach but couldn't penetrate the armor.

"What are you?" the vampire gasped with the nasal tones of someone with a broken nose.

"You think have an advantage in the darkness?" Alex asked rearing back for another punch, "Well I'm the best of the best, no matter the battlefield."

Again, Alex's fist came down. This time the vampire had all but given up struggling, and when its head knocked back into the floor something cracked; beneath his weight, Alex felt it slowly turn to dust.

The glowing orb of Gelb's spell flickered back on, and Daine let out an anguished scream. Alex stood, only to see the dwarf kneeling over his companion, who lay motionless on the floor in a sticky mess of blood and vampire dust.

Elizabeth's hands were shaking, her fists clenched, as she looked at the other body in the room. The chestnut skinned young woman was contorted against one wall, the shaft of the arrow still sticking out from between her ribs. Alex rushed over, peeling off his glove and pressing two fingers to her neck. The skin was cold and clammy, and no pulse could be found.

"I'm sorry, Elizabeth," Alex shook his head.

"What are you apologizing for, you strange creature?" the corpse beside him wheezed out a laugh, "You just killed an elder vampire."

Alex jerked back, raising his rifle as Vanessa's eyes flickered open. She slumped over, then began to rise; lifting up to her feet like a puppet on a string. Once she was upright, a hand slowly reached up to grasp the arrow sticking through her lung. She pulled it out with a wince and a pained gasp, then examined the splintered shaft with morbid curiosity.

"Good to see you again, Liz," Vanessa smiled, gesturing around at the piles of dust scattered around the room, "Meet the extended family."