CHAPTER 10
STATEROOM
NAUTILUS
VENICE, ITALY
The League was assembled in the stateroom, waiting for Sloane and Vicky to show up. The two women had forbid Dorian and Tom to tell the League members what Edin had told them, so much so that they had cast a spell to prevent them from doing so. Every time they tried to say something about it, all that came out was gibberish. Still, Skinner and Tom were trying, with no effect at all. All the invisible man could make out was "cereal" and "dust bunnies", much to the amusement of Allan.
It was close to midnight, but none of them were tired. Vicky and Sloane had disappeared into their cabins after returning from the pub. One of them had sent word, asking the League to gather in the stateroom.
Insofar, the two were still not here.
Just as Mina was going to say something, the doors were pushed open and Sloane held them there so Vicky could come in with an armload of weapons. She had no problem with the load, although it was obviously more than an average human man could carry. She grinned when she saw the looks on their faces; Dorian's eyebrow had disappeared into his hairline, for one. She put down the weapons on the table as Sloane closed the door.
"You owe me five pounds, Sloane," Vicky said, glancing at her friend. "I was right."
"Forgive the lateness. We had some trouble with the weapons," she told them, striding to where the table lay filled with both conventional weapons and some that looked really exotic.
"What is all this for?" Nemo finally asked, as Jekyll, Tom and Skinner were the first to venture closer to the table. Sloane's eyes hardened.
"The battle ahead."
"Explain," Allan said. Sloane sighed and sank into a nearby chair as Vicky took a seat next to the vampire. Following their lead, the rest of the League sat down, Jekyll having to move his seat back a bit so as not to get skewered by a sword.
* * *
"What's that mean?" Skinner asked. Sloane and Vicky had taken turns explaining what it was that Edin had told them.
Vicky sighed. "It means that this fight — it's not just limited to your children any more. It should have been contained within the magickal species, at most, but with this...."
"What she means," Sloane told them, "is that this war is no longer restricted to the Alliance and this man. It has spread beyond these borders, spilled out into the real world — if he succeeds."
"Who is this 'he'?" Tom asked. All through the mission, the baddie had always been 'he' and there was no mention of his name. Vicky swallowed.
"His name is — " Sloane began. A sharp shout from Vicky silenced her, and they began to argue furiously in Elvish, half of which Skinner didn't understand, until he realized that they were mixing the Old Tongue with the more modern version Vicky had taught him.
"Mankoi lle uma tanya?!" Vicky asked. Skinner's mind instantly began translating. Vicky then said something in Old Tongue that he didn't understand.
"Amin uuma malia, Vicky," Sloane retorted. "Amin dele ten' sen."
"Mani nae lle umien? Amin caele beika fion!"
"Dina. Amin caela noa." She said something in Old Tongue, ending her sentence as she shot Vicky a glare.
"Mankoi, Sloane, mankoi? (#1)" Vicky asked, then softly, "Aren't you scared?"
Sloane held her friend's concerned and scared gaze for a moment, then said firmly. "No."
Allan and Nemo looked at her expectedly. And Skinner gave Vicky a glance. He had not known or thought that Vicky Attenbrough would be scared of anything, much less a name.
"His name is Nathan Jamison. He's from America, come to England a few years before. A year after his arrival, he began the war that many of the species are still recovering from. He is more commonly known as the Dark Lord," Sloane glanced at her friend. Vicky looked around in fear before settling deeper into her chair, trying to hide from the fear that gripped her. She muttered a prayer in elvish, one to ward off bad luck.
"Don't mind me asking," Jekyll said, "But I'm curious. How was the war worn by the Alliance?"
"The Crusaders," Vicky said, as if the word were magick and the glint came back to her eyes as she sat up. "The Crusaders were formed. At first they were an elite task force, made up of three humans, an elf, an Aclida, and a vampire, but then they saw the need for extreme action and so ventured into his territory. They got to where his headquarters was, destroyed the source of his power, leaving him a mere human."
"Among the Crusaders is Vicky's grandparents, as is Crow's and Sierra's," Sloane supplied.
"And the vampire?" asked Dorian. "What about him?"
"My sire." A pause from the beautiful vampire, then, "But we know what he is up to; we can yet stop him."
"And how'd you propose to do that?" Tom asked. He was a natural-born optimist, but even these odds were making it look very unlikely they'd succeed.
"I have a plan."
Vicky stood at the railing, looking out at the breath-taking ocean. There was no land in sight, and there would be none for a few more hours. She sighed, and remembered how Sloane had said the name. Of all names, his was the one she had to say. The name of the Dark Lord still inspired terror in her; after the incident that had scarred her for life. She closed her eyes.
There was blood everywhere. He had slaughtered her mother. She stood there, in her night-clothes, soaked to the bone with the blood of her beloved Mama. She held her doll, Elsa-Marie, in one hand, forgotten as she watched with wide eyes his departure. He was smirking, his hands stained with the thick, crimson liquid. She stood there for an hour, and then she realized, the memory dredged up from her six-year-old mind, that Daddy wasn't coming home early that night. She would be alone, with the corpse of her mother in the apartment with her. Fear gripped her heart, squeezed it so hard she thought she felt it burst, just like when He had ripped the still-beating heart from her mother's chest, when the screams abruptly silenced, and squeezed. He kept on going until it popped, a mass of red, thick blood over his hands. She screamed, and ran. She fell in her mother's blood, scrambled to find purchase on the wet floor. She slipped into intestines and liver; she felt herself losing control, crying, screaming, wanting to get out. She managed to scramble to her feet, running, then tripped over the body and felt organs slide beneath her hands as she braced herself from the fall....
"Why are you so afraid?"
The sentence jerked her out of the terrifying memory and she nearly fell over the railing in her shock, but managed to regain her balance in time and turned. Mina stood some ways behind her, the wind whipping her auburn hair and crimson scarf over her shoulder.
Vicky turned, feigning unknowing-ness. "What are you talking about?"
"I saw you at the meeting when Sloane mentioned him." Mina noticed that the Aseyewrn visibly flinched. "You were scared. More scared than I thought possible for a woman in your capacity."
Vicky gave a small smile. "You, Mrs. Gray, should know better than most what a past can do to one."
Mina stiffened, but persisted. "Why?" Vicky sighed and looked at her, straight in the eye.
"From a tragic event at the beginning of my childhood," Vicky joked, her smile real to anyone who had little or no experience in reading lies. Mina knew that it was exactly that. A tragedy at the beginning of Vicky's childhood; what, she didn't know, and was respectful enough of Vicky's privacy not to probe too far in.
"I just hope it's not bothering you so much," Mina said, joining the young woman at the railing, "that we will not be able to carry out Sloane's plan."
Vicky looked mildly offended. "Rest assured, Mrs. Gray, that I'll do my part. I may be the youngest here, but I can do this."
Mina studied the girl, just out from her teens. Early twenties, maybe, Mina thought. A mere babe compared to me or Dorian.
"You are indeed good in your own standing," Mina smiled. Vicky looked surprised at the small curvature at the corner of Mina's full lips. "You managed to bring back Sloane."
"But not Jesse or the others," Vicky added quietly. "If we had them, this would all be different. The battle would've ended in Venice."
Vicky sighed, then left, returning to her cabin below. Mina watched her retreating form, the wings of an angel and the history of a rogue. Suddenly, a very concerned thought hit her.
Is she up to the task?
(#1) For our non-Elvish speaking readers, the exchange between Vicky and Sloane is below. As some LOTR fans may know, this is the same language that that genius Tolkien invented.
Vicky: Why did you do that?
Sloane: I don't care, Vicky. I'm worried about them.
Vicky: What have you been doing? I think you've had too much ale!
Sloane: Be silent. I have an idea.
Vicky: Why, Sloane, why?