THE QUESTERS, PART XX

Our band was scattered around the main hall of the Sanctum Sanctorum, enjoying some rest and a long-overdue meal.

Blaze put two more bowls of stew in front of Alex and I. Then he topped off our cups with more ale. After he was done, he moved off to serve the others.

"You know how to tell if you're really hungry?" Alex asked contemplatively as he stirred his stew.

I gave Alex a curious look but didn't say anything.

"It's when a demon serves you dinner and you eat it," Alex finished.

I couldn't help but grin. Alex had a point. We'd been active for days on end - including more than one desperate fight. Meals had been intermittent and none of them had been good. So when something approaching real food appeared, we wolfed it down and didn't ask any questions.

Actually, our dinner was surprisingly straight-forward considering that our hostess was the Sorceress Supreme. It was a plain pork stew with bread and ale. The stew was adequate, and the bread was quite good, but the ale seemed uninspired.

Alex picked up a round of bread from a platter between us and used his teeth to tear a chunk loose. After that, he passed what was left to me. That sort of thing - directly sharing food in that way - is an act filled with meaning to the Blood. Of course, it's even better if the pair of you are crouched around a deer that you've both just hunted down. But since that wasn't possible, we had to make do.

I handed what was left of the bread back to Alex. He popped it into his mouth and chewed it down.

"Jonah Anthony Parker, Ensign of the Spider-Folk Legions and lord of the Spider-Folk, I have enjoyed hunting by your side," Alex told me formally. The humorous look that was usually in his eyes was gone. This was a serious matter.

I nodded gravely.

"Alexander, Ronin of the Blood and Guardsman of the Sea Eagle Temple. We are our own pack," I responded.

The moment passed and we said nothing more. There was no need for anything else.

And just like that, Alex and I were brothers.


Ed looked disappointed with himself.

I knew what the problem was but the others didn't.

"He's never been to the island that you're talking about," Illyana translated for us. "So he can't teleport there. He can't go anywhere unless he has a mental impression of the location."

Ed rested his massive head on my thigh and sighed heavily. I scratched him consolingly behind one of his ears.

Lockheed was still comfortably curled around Illyana's shoulders, his nose buried in her long white hair and his eyes peacefully closed. Illyana was affectionately rubbing the tip of his tail. They were obviously old friends.

Honestly, I didn't know why Lockheed was so important that an ancient spirit had made a point of delivering him to us. Yes, he was a dragon, but he was a rather small dragon - maybe four foot long from nose to tail.

Rahne looked at Alex but he shook his head. "I've never actually seen Hook Island," he told her with a shrug. "I've just heard stories and have a rough idea where it's located. A really rough idea."

"Can you get us there, Lady Illyana?" I asked.

Illyana nodded. "Yes, but there is a problem. I'll need to cast and maintain wardings on you so Dracula won't know you've invaded his home until it's too late. You'll also need me to shut down the domination powers of the vampires. I'll need a full, formal, magical circle for that - and my best circle is built into the foundation of this house and linked to the local ley lines. I can't teleport you and perform those wardings at the same time."

"If I have a boat, I could eventually get us near the island," Alex suggested as he thoughtfully scratched his chin. "Once the island's in sight, can Ed do his trick?"

Ed perked up and looked at Alex. His stubby tail was wagging.

That was a plan but as it turned out, we had something better.

Lockheed yawned, stretched, and used a wingtip to touch Beck on the side of her head.

"Oh..." Beck said in surprise. Then she stepped closer to Lockheed and took one of his clawed forepaws in her hand.

I could feel the thrum of Beck's psychic power as she reached out to the rest of us.

An image appeared. It was from a tremendous height, looking down on a steel-gray sea. White clouds drifted below us and the shadows of the clouds were visible as dark patches on the ocean. And in the center of the vision, there was a rocky and dark-gray landmass, with only a few patches of green scattered along it. The island was indeed shaped like a hook, with a central curvilinear mass and a trailing length of land. Dark and choppy water, kicked up by an impressive set of reefs, surrounded the island.

Ed barked eagerly.

Rahne smiled grimly at Lockheed. "Did you ever land there?" she asked the dragon.

Without opening his eyes, Lockheed emphatically shook his head.


"So what do we do when after we get to the island?" Rose asked. She was looking at Rahne.

"We need a plan," she added.

I nodded in agreement.

Faye and Beck were silent, but watching carefully.

Alex and Smit obviously already knew what to do. It was: 'go to Hook Island and kill Dracula'. That was a very Blood-like plan. And I could tell that Rahne was fighting her natural instincts to do just that.

I took a deep breath and spoke up. "Okay... so we'll use Ed to get us to the island. Lady Illyana will stay here and magically cover us as long as she can. The problem is we don't know anything about enemy forces on the island. Actually, we don't even know for sure if Dracula is there."

"He is," Rahne said flatly.

That made me pause. Seekers can see well beyond the mortal world. If Rahne was sure she had Dracula located, it would be wise to accept her word.

"Any idea what kind of forces Dracula has with him?" Faye asked Rahne. I will say this until the end of time - the idea that Faye isn't too bright is ridiculous.

"Let me consider that," Rahne said. Then she sat down on the floor cross-legged and shut her eyes.

I looked at Faye and Rose. "Just let her be," Rose said to me. Faye nodded in agreement.

"Is there a reason we can't just show up with an army?" Alex asked me. "We have people here with influence. Seeker Rahne could call up a lot of Blood - maybe even make a full call to war. You have family in the Spider Legion. Beck and Smit could bring in the Nyack Militia. The Temple could provide Guardsmen. Faye has some big, green friends. And maybe the Lady Sorceress could loan us a demon or two."

A worried look suddenly appeared in Ed's eyes.

"Ed has limits of what he can carry," I told Alex as I made a gesture that encompassed the people in the room. "And this is about it."

Ed let out a breath of relief.

Alex accepted what I'd said without question. "Yes, sir, But how about we just skip the sneaking and 'porting and magic and instead put together a fleet and hit that island head-on?"

Then - the First Spider grants miracles - Smit suddenly spoke up. "This is like taking down a gang-boss. And if you ever want to actually catch one of those douchebags, you gotta do it in on the sly. Otherwise, they're in the wind as soon as they see that something's gone wrong. I'm not saying an army is a bad idea, but we need to pin the big-guy down before something like the Great Lord's Host shows up."

I think that was the most I'd ever heard Smit say at one time. And it was surprisingly sane. Beside him, Beck nodded in agreement. Even more amazing, Alex accepted Smit's words with a nod.

However, I did take a moment to wonder how many times in history the King of Vampires had been described as a 'douchebag'.

"How about a two-stage attack?" Rose suggested. "We'll 'port onto the island and isolate Dracula. And then another pack follows us? Maybe Ed can bring them - or maybe they can be at sea, just over the horizon and waiting for the right time to attack."

"We can't take too long putting together a larger force," I warned. "Dracula has some of the Hand working for him, so that means he has eyes and ears everywhere. He'll know that something is up if we start mustering a fleet. Or even just a few ships. I don't think a fleet will work."

Rose spoke up again. "Whoever comes after us will have to be tough and capable of keeping their mouths shut. In my experience, the last part is what's hardest to find."

I considered that. "There may be something that we can call in. Maybe. If I can get my grand-uncle to agree."


The headquarters of the Spider Legion is in the ancient Empire building. Which, conveniently, is also the location of the Great Temple to the First Spider. Since my grand-uncle is the commanding general of both the House Parker Legion and the assembled Spider Legions, and my Aunt Gwen is a High Priestess of the First Spider, it wasn't hard to track them both down at once.

Just before we entered my grand-uncle's office, I touched the amulet I wore around my neck and said a brief prayer. I would need all the luck that I could muster. Of course, it helped that Aunt Gwen was personally escorting me to see my grand-uncle. That decreased the chance that he would immediately have me executed.

Alex was, of course, with me. He was standing two steps behind me and one step to my left. I'd tried to talk him into not coming with me, but he refused.

I hoped I wasn't walking Alex to his doom. But at least the First Spider was whispering rather than screaming. That was a good sign.

As it was, I think it took everything my grand-uncle had to not explode into violence when we entered his presence.

"What part of EXILED don't you understand?!" he roared at me.

Actually, he had a point - he almost always does. If he and Uncle Ben could ever actually work together, House Parker would rule the towers of Nyack for the foreseeable future.

"Listen to him, father," Aunt Gwen said calmly to my grand-uncle. "It's important. Very important. And if you don't accept what he's saying, then I'll kill Jonah myself."

Alex stirred uneasily as I tried not to gulp. Aunt Gwen hadn't mentioned that last part before we walked into Legion headquarters.

My grand-uncle gave me a very hard look. "So what is so damned important?"

I took a deep breath and began. "Seeker Rahne and the Sorceress Supreme may have found a means to destroy all vampires for all time," I said.

My grand-uncle blinked in surprise. Then he glanced at Aunt Gwen.

"I knelt before the high altar and prayed over Jonah's words," Gwen told him softly. "Father, we have a responsibility to pursue this."

There was a long pause as my grand-uncle considered what Aunt Gwen had said. The word 'responsibility' means so much to my people.

"Please, we need your help," I asked simply. Then I folded my hands in front of my body and bowed my head. I could sense that Alex and Aunt Gwen were doing the same.

Then we waited.

I could feel the High General of the Spider Legions gazing at me.


It was just after night-fall when we gathered together again.

"He bought it," I told the others. "We have our follow-up force."

"Thank God for rich kids from important families," Faye muttered. Alex tried not to laugh. Rose made a face at Faye and punched her in the shoulder. I felt it best to ignore the byplay.

Rahne nodded her thanks at me.

"There's a mixed force of vampires and undead Hand on the island," Rahne added. "About a hundred all told. The reason there aren't more is logistical - Dracula can't secretly bring in enough victims to feed any more vampires."

I think we all stirred uneasily. That was a lot for us to face all at once.

"The island is riddled with tunnels and underground chambers," Rahne continued. "I have a good idea where Dracula is laired. If we strike towards his location as quickly as possible, we might be able to destroy him before the enemy can get organized."

I nodded. Obviously, a lot depended on the accuracy of Rahne's information. But she'd never failed us before.

"Get some rest," Rahne finished. "We'll leave at first light."

Ed grumbled a deep, bass, agreement.


In the light of early dawn, Dracula's island was actually quite striking in a stark and barren way. It consisted mostly of exposed stone, with only a minimal scattering of vegetation. The beaches were made up of broken and jagged rock instead of sand. A central peak dominated the landscape. The noise of the surf, magnified by the waves crashing in and through the massive reefs, was startlingly loud.

We materialized in a shallow depression. It held a pocket of thin soil that supported a patch of brush and some scraggly oaks. To call it a 'copse of trees' would be far too generous but it was better than nothing. Even better, there was a low outcrop of stone - a natural wall of sorts - surrounding three sides of the pocket. It served to limit the view to our position from the rest of the island.

We went to ground, using the available cover as best we could.

The First Spider was screaming the worst warning he'd ever sent to me.

"Good boy," I whispered to Ed. And I meant that. We were in as good of a position as we could hope for.

Ed wagged his tail and vanished. He had more work to do, but I could call for him if we got into too much trouble.

"Phew," Alex said with a shake of his head. His face was twisted in disgust.

"There's a lot of 'em," Rahne agreed. "It's worse than the mastless ship."

Apparently our Blood were catching the scent of quite a few undead.

Smit had a grim look on his face as he nodded at a nearby cleft at the foot of the island's central heights. "Maybe five of them in that cave - a mix of Hand and Vampires," he told us. "There are more scattered up and down the central hill. It's going to be a fight."

Beck was concentrating as well. "Twenty or twenty-five in positions throughout the near-area," she said to Rahne. "There are more in chambers within that rise. I can also detect some slaves further off. If we do this right, we should be able to isolate and destroy some of the enemy before they realize we're here."

"Okay," Rahne said. "We have to move while daylight is on our side. We'll scout the area, kill the ones in that cave, and..."

But Lockheed, who'd arrived on the island perched on Rahne's shoulder, was having none of that. As Rahne began to speak, he fluttered up to the top of the natural stone wall that was partially concealing us. There was a gleam of what I can only call glee in his red eyes.

Then he suddenly grew.

And grew.

And grew.

Within seconds, our four-foot-long dragon had become forty-foot long. And he was massive - I'd estimate his weight to be something like ten tons. The part of the stone wall on which he was perched collapsed into rubble below his clawed after legs. His head, towering above us on a long neck, looked around with inquisitive ferocity. He was seeking prey.

Then Lockheed howled out a roar that seemed to shake the island. My ears immediately started ringing. After that, he fired out a gout of flame that rammed deep into that position where the nearest enemy was concealed. The flame filled whatever space was inside and then recoiled back out. Screaming, burning, figures were blasted out of the cave mouth and pin-wheeled through the air.

Alex looked at me. "I think the bad guys know we're here," he said resignedly. Honestly, my hearing was so bad at that point that I more read his lips than actually heard him speak.

Roaring yet again, Lockheed flew over to the opening. No, I have no clue how something that big could fly. When Lockheed landed, he squished several of the burning and flopping remains of our enemy. Then he blasted the cave once again with his flame. The rock edges of the opening began to melt and run like candle-wax. A vampire, burning like a torch, staggered out of the red-hot opening and Lockheed casually leaned forward and bit it in half. With a shake of his head, Lockheed pitched the upper half of the vampire's body a couple hundred yards away. It splashed into the sea.

Somehow, despite the noise and carnage, I could have sworn that I heard the spectral trill of a woman's laughter. It wasn't really a sound as much as it was a ripple through my soul. Someone unearthly was pleased with Lockheed's performance.

"Hey!" Rose suddenly announced in delighted surprise. "The rock on this island has iron in it!"

She hadn't even finished speaking when what looked like a whirlwind of sharp rock shards twirled its way into being. It landed on the last of Lockheed's victims. Dust mixed with flecks of flesh and blood flew around us as they were shredded to pieces.

"Yeah, they definitely know we're here," I told Alex. Then I pulled a crystal cylinder out of a pouch that was hanging from my shoulder. I was about to break some very really important rules. I just hoped nobody would find out just how far Aunt Gwen had gone for me.

"You're sure about this?" Alex asked. He instinctively didn't like the contents of the cylinder. And Alex has good instincts.

"I'm sure that we have to kill Dracula," I replied.

Then I pitched away the shoulder pouch, unscrewed the cylinder, took a deep breath, and up-ended it over my head.

"Freeee," Venom cooed as it flowed over me. I could feel my body automatically twitching in response to Venom's touch. It didn't hurt, it just felt so profoundly alien that pain would have been preferable.

"We'reeee freeee." Venom repeated as it seeped into and around me. For a panicky moment, I couldn't see or breathe, but then Venom settled into place. Suddenly, everything around me was clearer. My ears had even stopped ringing.

"There isn't a fucking 'we'," I snarled at Venom.

Venom began laughing at me.

After a moment or two, it all began making sense and I started laughing as well.

"Goddamit, Jonah!" Faye bellowed. "BEN IS GONNA KILL YOU! FUCK IT, I'M GONNA KILL YOU! GET OVER HERE YOU CRAZY LITTLE SHIT!"

At that moment, the sun went dark.

"Old One dammit!" Alex cursed.

Looking up, it appeared to us as if a full eclipse had just occurred. The corona of light around the sun's disk still gave of a dim light that was equivalent to dusk. However, Venom and I were sure that the vampires would find that feeble remnant of sunlight not to be a problem. Our advantage of fighting in the daylight was gone.

Actually, that was a neat trick. We'd have to kill any mages that we found.

*Squad of Hand incoming,* Beck "said" tensely to all of us. *They've got a vampire and a Hand-magician.*

A fireball detonated in the midst of Rose's storm of stone, scattering it. Streamers of flame scorched us. Rose began cursing as she threw up a barrier with her power.

Faye decided to let us live. Then she let out a fierce bellow of a war-cry. After that, she crouched and leaped. On the other side of the stone wall, I heard a shriek that ended as abruptly as it began.

*Got the mage,* Faye reported laconically.

Then I... we... vaulted over the wall. A surprised Hand ninja tried to swing his sword at us, but it deflected off of our armor. Our remaining bottom mechanical arm plucked the weapon out of the ninja's hands and pitched it away. Then all of our quadrant arms curled around the ninja's midsection, broke his back, and caved in his ribs. He vomited out a massive gout of blood as the internal organs in his torso ruptured.

Faye ripped open another ninja's chest with her bare hands. Broken ribs jutted out from between her bloody fingers, but she really wasn't paying attention. Instead, she was looking around for any new foes.

Alex and Smit went for the vampire, splitting apart so they could approach from opposite sides. The vampire looked young, but was dressed in the old-fashioned style of a Wilder nobleman from a century or two ago. It seemed to be concentrating on Alex and SMit. And, if I had to make a guess, it was trying to use the mesmeric talent that some vampire possess to take control of them.

Thanks to Illyana's protection, that didn't work. And then Alex and Smit dealt with the vampire. We watched as its body collapsed to the ground in several pieces. The two Blood were still savagely tearing at the downed vampire when Rahne entered the fight. She kicked once and carved open the vampire's skull with her foot claw, Her boot and lower legs became stained with blood and brains. Then she stepped over what remained of the body. Her eyes were on the island's central rise and they contained pure and soulless calculation as she considered our next move.

Like hunting dogs, Alex and Smit approached Rahne and crouched next to her. She affectionately put a hand on each of their heads. Smit's eyes were yellow with his Creed essence and he looked overjoyed. Alex casually flicked his hands and the blood that sprayed away from his claws painted linear patterns on the rocks in front of him. He looked just as happy as Smit.

Lockheed tore a boulder out of the ground, revealing a tunnel underneath. Something inside squealed and tried to skitter away, but Lockheed once again breathed his fire. The earth around us seemed to shudder in response. Tongues of flame licked out of gaps in the underground tunnel complex.

*They're gathering,* Beck warned us. Her face was tight but had the hawkish aspect of bird-of-prey. That was how Beck had survived as a member of Militia. She was a hunter.

As we watched our pack, a thought occurred to us. Yes, we had lost the element of surprise. Yes, the damned sun had just gone out. Yes, we were in a bad situation, the battle was in doubt, and I didn't see how all of us could possibly survive what was coming. But the wisdom of the Old One and the First Spider had become manifest. Our human-half understood why such an odd war-band had been brought together and sent against the King of the Vampires.

Dracula's island had been invaded by monsters.

The thought made us chuckle.

"Hungryyyyy," we whispered as the ninja's leaking body twitched in our grasp. Incredibly, he was still moving, although he was obviously in the last seconds of whatever passed as the existence of a Hand undead.

Our mouth expanded into a shark-like maw and we bit the ninja's head completely off.