Disclaimer: I do not own Cirque Du Freak by Darren Shan, or anything by him. I'm simply borrowing his material for use.
There were bodies.
There were bodies everywhere.
Both Vampire and Werewolf had engaged in a ferocious battle both with huge numbers and weapons that could bring either species to its knees. The plan had been so simple, so that victory could easily be assured. Split into two separate forces, one of larger force heading directly for Vampire Mountain with the job of distracting the enemy, and another smaller strike force to enter the tunnels of the mountain, wiping out all that remained inside, and taking the Hall of the Princes. Everything had gone as planned. Hoards of Vampires had come out of the mountain to engage the threat, and they were slowly but inevitably being dealt with. As all of the defenders of the mountain came out, packs from the giant army of Werewolves started circling around the enemy forming a circle around their prey. During all the havoc, the strike force silently infiltrated the mountain; they overpowered the guards near the entrance and started making their way inside toward their destination. As they got closer to the hall, they ran headlong into am ambush.
They were waiting for them.
The enemy had gathered, waiting inside one of their large halls, maybe about 100 Vampires. The only good news was that hall led directly to the Hall of the Princes. The werewolf's then leaped forward to engage, some transforming into their monstrous forms and others attacking with primal weapons and all hell broke loose.
The Bane sat back and watched it all with distaste. It was all meaningless. It was desperate but futile attempt to keep him away from their most sacred hall, and they knew it They had a traitor in his group, one that told the Vampires that they were coming, but it didn't matter, he always knew who it was, and he had killed him before the battle had started. He recalled with pleasure at his sentiment that there was a traitor in the group. Then he had looked right at him and smiled. He had felt pleasure with every little molecule of meat that had been ripped out of his throat and the look of horror that was still on the face, frozen in time for eternity.
Now however, he had some business to attend to. He walked past the battle and started to head for the Hall of the Princes. A Vampire saw him and aimed for his gut with his sword, but The Bane was pleasured by this, Warm-up. He grabbed the Vampires throat, slammed him into the cold, damp floor and after unsheathing his claws, started ripping out his stomach. After he had died, The Bane let go, his claws reeking of blood and covered in the Vampires' intestines.
"Well, that was lovely." The Bane remarked.
He left the battle behind and went up to the magnificent doors that guarded his destination. The legend had said that only a Vampire Prince could open these doors, but it didn't matter.
Pity they had to be ripped off.
Inside, were his prey and the inevitable end of the war.
Inside the Hall of the Princes
The Vampire Princes were waiting calmly inside of their Hall. They knew that if an attack came, the Werewolves would head straight for the Hall of the Princes. Most likely The Bane would be leading the attack force.
Lusious, the most aggressive of the Princes, was restless.
"When the hell are they going to break in? I'm tired of waiting, we should go and bust some heads!"
"Patience Lusious, he will come."
Cyrus was a very logical Prince; he was the one who made the most ideal strategies. It was his idea to set up a defense line in the hall, and by the sounds outside, the enemy had come.
"While he may be in our mountain, it would not do for us to head to him. If the ambush were to fail, we would be up against a blood-hungry pack of Werewolves and a very powerful leader. The purpose of the ambush if you recall, is to distract the strike force and let The Bane come here alone were we three will deal with him." He said calmly
Another Prince was standing nearby. He was a new addition to the ranks of the Princes, and while confident, he was also frightened at having to face such a huge enemy.
"I'm not sure about this." He remarked.
Lusious responded, "We'll be fine, just remember the plan, when he comes in we will circle around him at equal distances, so as to strike at three different points, he can't defend himself all at onc…."
BOOM!!
The doors that protected the hall shook on their hinges, and then stood still again, almost as if nothing had happened; the Prince's put a hand on their weapons.
BOOM!! The doors now bent in half and collapsed outward and a cloud of dust rose.
The Prince's snapped to attention, and all three drew their weapons. Lusious was armed with two short swords, and the newcomer was equipped with a long sword and a dagger. Cyrus didn't carry any weapons, he believed in fighting with his hands.
A figure stirred in the dust cloud, and then marched forward.
"Good evening gentleman."
In front of the now empty doorway stood The Bane. He looked very calm and peaceful, but his eyes told differently. They were alive with insane glee, were looking at each Prince studying how to take each down.
Cyrus, the first to recover from the collapse of the hall doors, responded.
"You're not welcome here."
"Thank you for bringing up the obvious, but that's not the type of response I was looking for, I was expecting more of a threat." The Bane sneered. "But this is off topics, what really matters is that theirs an army of Werewolves sitting on your front porch waiting to take this pathetic mountain of yours."
"That won't happen; today your rein of terror comes to an end." Lusious shouted.
The Bane feigned surprise, "Oh really, how do you suppose that going to happen?"
The new Prince retorted "We have known that you were coming for weeks, so we set a trap for you when we heard that you were coming."
The Bane laughed, "You mean that pitiful ambush that was waiting for use, when we got close to the hall, some trap!!"
"No, the force of 500 Vampires that are attacking your large strike force right now from the back." Cyrus grinned.
The Bane's eyes snapped open "What NO!"
"You're finished; you will never again command an army to do your will."
The Bane glared hatefully at the Princes.
"So be it, to the death then." He said as he shed his clothes and transformed.
"This will only take a moment." Lusious remarked.
The Bane roared and rushed forward.
As the new Prince, I was taken aback
Over the course of the war, I had fought many Werewolves, but nothing had prepared me for the giant monstrosity I was now fighting. Usually when a Werewolf transformed, they grew a foot in height, their eyesight grew sharper, their accuracy improved, they could heal very quickly, they could move very fast, and they were very strong. The Bane however, grew two feet in size, and everything about him was ten times better than any Werewolf. Unlike his other brethren, he was covered in white fur, not the usual grey fur.
The battle did not start well. All of the Princes had used their plan and were circled around The Bane each attacking from a different point. Usually, this is an effective strategy against a werewolf as they cannot defend three points at the same time. But The Bane was no ordinary Werewolf. He seemed to able to defend on three different points at the same time. He moved with incredible speed and didn't look like he was going to hold up any time soon. Eventually, Cyrus made a mistake and tried to do a chop on his neck. The Bane saw it coming and reacted, he grabbed the hand that was going for his neck, lifted Cyrus off the ground, and threw him onto the ground and then slashed his other claw across his neck, and ripped his throat out. When I looked at his face, there was a look of shock on it. The Bane roared with glee and used his foot to pick him up and throw him through the mountain and into the cold abyss below. Then he resumed his attack on us.
Sweat started pouring down my body. All of us had many cuts and bruises, but we didn't stop. As The Bane swiped his claw at Lusious' face and Lusious counterattacked. He blocked the blow on one of his swords and slashed at The Banes arm and sliced his claw off.
The Bane roared in pain and then grabbed me and threw me against the wall. As I hit my head on the wall, I dropped my dagger. I knew The Bane's reasoning. He wanted to deal with the Prince that cut off his hand alone, I knew that Lusious was fast, but he couldn't keep The Bane off forever. Eventually, he made his error.
Lusious hit The Bane with the hilt of one of his swords, and then leaped over The Bane. Half way over, The Bane reached up, and grabbed Lusious. He then put his head in his mouth and ripped out, and his head was dismembered from his body.
I was the only one left. The final Prince to guard the Hall of the Princes.
The Bane came at me, with both his teeth and his only claw. He was becoming careless, he left spots open in his defense and I nicked him several times. They weren't serious cuts, but they were aggravating him.
He then tried to grab me wit his foot, but it ducked, and sliced my sword through his stomach.
The Bane screamed and then slashed his claw at my face. I turned my head to dodge, but I wasn't fast enough. His razor sharp claw ripped across the right side of my face, and it took my ear off!
I screamed in pain, and reached to stop the blood flow. The Bane screeched in triumph and kicked me against the wall. I slammed my back against the wall and felt several of my ribs crack.
The Bane then transformed back into his human form, looking coldly at me.
"It was inevitable, you realize that now." The Bane smirked.
He was a terrible sight. He had only one hand and a sword through his stomach.
"Now comes the extinction of your entire race," he whispered, "TIME TO DIE!!"
He grabbed hold of the hilt of the sword in his stomach and pulled outward. He made a grunt as it came free. The he came toward me with the sword, his blood still on the blade. As he came close, I knew it was the end and I looked to my left not wanting to see death.
My dagger!!
It was still sitting there. I reached for but could only just reach the hilt. As The Bane plunged toward me with the sword, the grabbed the dagger, and thrust it toward him. With the luck of the Vampires, it struck through his heart!!
The Bane stopped short and looked at his chest with shock. He was breathing heavily, the hilt rising and falling with each breath. He collapsed next to me and then looked at me hatefully. He started moving toward me, nothing in his hand, no weapon or anything, he just wanted to say something so I let him grab my neck and put his face right next to mine.
"This…isn't…over!" He gurgled with blood coming out of his mouth. "A curse….on your species. I…will have my…revenge…whether it be….a year from now….or a thousand. …Another following pawed footsteps…color of long forgotten snow…bearing darkness's cradle…uniting the tribes…once again…leader of the night… with a sacred moon…shall rise and finish my genocide…and destroy the blood drinkers…to rule both day and night…once more!!
Then The Bane died.
