Chapter XII
The Moment of Reckoning
The helicopter carrying Malachi and his Death Dealers flew through a dense cloud formation, when it emerged a huge stone fortification was in sight. Everyone was slightly in awe of it, it was gargantuan and unforgiving, the foreboding structure made Malachi nervous. "Take us down" he said calmly. The helicopter hovered just above the roof of the prison, allowing the Death Dealers to jump out. "Stay close" Malachi told the pilot as he jumped down to join his men. The party of Vampires forced their way into the prison and headed down deep into the bowels of the structure, as Amelia had instructed, she had given him precise instructions on where to find William. They found a chamber of the prison open slightly, the heavy door still obscuring the view of the inside. "I don't like this" hissed one of the Death Dealers. Malachi kicked the door open and his men advanced into the room. A huge sarcophagus like structure was the room focal point, however it was wide opened.
"This doesn't look good, does it?" Malachi said to his men
"No Sir" was the response he got. "Where do you think they are?" asked one of his men.
Just then, there was the sound of growling and howling coming from somewhere else in the castle.
"I guess that answers your question" said Malachi sarcastically "Lets move!" as the Vampires rushed towards the sound of the howling Malachi reached into his leather over coat and pulled out a hand gun, a desert eagle. The Vampires stopped running when they came to an opening in the prison. There were two Lycans in there, feeding from the corpse of a human, a man who had been wearing black combat fatigues. The Lycans were bigger than anything they had previously seen. "Which one do you think is William?" asked one of the Death Dealers.
"Neither of them" said Malachi "look" he pointed at the scraps of clothes still attached to the Lycan's limbs, they were the same clothes as the man they were feeding from "Corvinus must have sent his own team" said Malachi. At this the Lycans turned to face the Vampires.
"Take them down" Said Malachi coldly. The room filled with gunfire and blood as the Lycans lunged at their aggressors. One of Malachi's Death Dealers was decapitated by a beast. "Shit!" spat Malachi. He jumped on one of the creatures back and shot it repeatedly in the head until it dropped to its knees, then recovering the cane he had just dropped picked it up and drove the silver point into the creatures brain, and then its heart. It was dead. The other Lycan had been shot with so many silver bullets that it lay twitching on the floor. "Finish it" Said Malachi coldly. At this a Death Dealer put his foot on the fallen Lycans head and emptied the magazine of his assault rifle into the beast.
Malachi took a moment to look at the decapitated body of his fallen comrade "I do not want to loose another man." He said sternly "We stick together, we figh….." Malachi was interrupted by the sound of gunfire resonating from deeper within the building. He and his men ran to where it was coming from; they came to a room filled with carnage. There was a crashed helicopter, with its blades still functioning, and the sound of hissing and growling. Malachi and his men froze; there were more of the huge Lycan, three of them. However that was not the most frightening thing in that room, for Markus was also standing there, and a hulking Lycan that dwarfed the others "William" Malachi said under his breath, and another, a man with jet black skin, claws and fangs, the other hybrid. However he had no idea where the gunfire had come from. All the players in the room were silent, except for a few involuntary snarls from the Lycans, and the attention of everyone was on Malachi and his men.
"Hello Malachi" hissed Markus "Its good to see you again, and I see you've brought your friends with you."
Malachi swallowed hard, this was quite easily the scariest situation he had ever been in, three huge Lycans, the First Lycan and two hybrids "Shoot" he told his men "The Hybrids, shoot the Hybrids! For fuck sake shoot something!" His men opened fire at everything that moved, as Malachi rushed towards the hybrids, he lunged at Markus driving the point of his cane into his chest, he then twisted the handle and pulled out the blade leaving, the shaft sticking out of Markus's chest he began to attack him. The room exploded into carnage, Vampires attacking Lycan, Markus attacking Malachi and his men, and the other Hybrid seemingly attacking everything that moved. Malachi saw two of his men go down, they weren't dead but they seemed to be relying solely on their firearms for protection, a dangerous situation for a vampire to be in. Just as Malachi tore a chunk of flesh from Markus's neck with his fangs, the hybrid elder let out a cry and struck Malachi, sending him flying across the room. As Malachi jumped to his feet, he felt a hand grab his shoulder and spin him around; before he knew it he had a handgun pointed at his face, a silver berretta, he instinctively extended his arm, holding his blade to his aggressor's throat; he was surprised by what he saw, a woman
"Selene?" he spat.
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Nina came bursting into Amelia's office, she was looking very unhappy, gone were the elegant, feminine garments that she usually wore instead she stood before Amelia, in a pair of black combats, with chains hanging from the waistband and pockets, a pair of skater style sneakers, a black vest top and a long leather trench coat. Her gothic inspired make up, was now less aristocratic and more like war paint.
"Nina" said Amelia in a flat tone
"My Lady, they haven't checked in yet" she stated boldly
"I imagine their mission will take a while" Amelia said in a dismissive tone
"Well I'm worried" said Nina, her voice getting louder.
"I now you are child" began Amelia, in a voice that let Nina know she was losing patience with her "but Malachi is a professional, He'll be fine"
"We should help them!" demanded Nina
Amelia struck the desk with the palm of her hand "How!" she yelled before regaining her composure.
"You're an elder" Nina pleaded "You should be there helping him."
"I cant" began Amelia who rested her forehead on her hand "Nina I was bled dry, my body battered, not able to heal properly. My battle with Markus has weakened me immensely, it's a wonder he didn't kill me." Amelia let out a hushed laugh of disbelief "The average Death Dealer could probably best me at the moment. If I turn up at Malachi's battle I would only get in his way, and ensure his defeat."
Nina stood humbled, speechless from the elders confession of weakness "Then let me take a couple of Death Dealers, I'll leave some here with you for protection, but let me help" she begged.
Amelia rose to her feet with a sigh, and approached Nina "Oh Child" she said stroking her face "I know its hard for you, but think about what you're saying, you've never even fought a Lycan, and now you want to lead Death Dealers into an epic battle." She opened her arms to the young vampire and hugged her, "All we can do is wait."
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"Hello Malachi"
"Selene, what the fuck are you doing here?" He demanded, as he stabbed a Lycan through the throat and kicked it half way across the room.
"I'm here to destroy Markus and his brother" she told him
"You working for Corvinus now?" he asked her
"Not exactly" she said
"Sir!" a Death Dealer interrupted him "The other Hybrid is attacking William and Markus, are we still to engage it?"
"Yes!" yelled Malachi yelled, at the same time Selene yelled "No!" the two Vampires exchanged a glance.
"Their orders stand" Malachi told Selene " Its an abomination"
"His name is Michael!" she screamed at him "And he's the only ally you've got at the moment! You need him!"
Malachi considered what she had said for a second "Fine!" he conceded "Leave the other hybrid, target Markus and the Lycans!" He ordered the two Death Dealers that were still in the fight. A Lycan again rushed at Malachi and Selene, she drove it back with gunfire, while Malachi decapitated it. The two then looked at each other.
"Markus?" asked Malachi
"Markus" she answered him.
The two Vampires jumped at Markus and began to attack him, while the other hybrid, this Michael, attacked William. The battle lasted a long time, there was a still lot of gunfire, Malachi and Selene both gave it their all against Markus, Selene was stronger than Malachi remembered her. During the battle the three had relocated to an upper level of the chamber, near the crashed helicopter. Malachi had jumped on Markus's back, and sunk his teeth into his neck; he knew the battle had to end soon, as dawn was approaching. Markus reached behind him, grabbed Malachi and drove his face into the floor, when he regained his senses a moment later he could see that Selene was not going to be able to hold her own forever, he jumped up and drove his blade into Markus's side several times before the Hybrid elder kicked him off of the upper level to the floor below. As Markus clutched his side Selene took advantage of this, delivering a magnificent kick she sent Markus flying into the still active blades of the helicopter, the elder was completely diced, and his gory remains were sent everywhere.
Malachi got to his feet and recovered the automatic weapon of one of his men, he emptied the magazine into William allowing Michael to grab his jaws and pull them apart, sending the hulking Lycan to the ground. After a moments rest he jumped to the upper level of the room, and stood at Selene's side. Malachi took a moment to take in his surroundings, he knew where Selene and Michael were, and he saw the body of one of his Death Dealers laying motionless, dead "Oh Ethan" he sighed. He saw two more laying on the floor, wounded but not dead, and another staggering to his feet. "You okay David?" He asked, the weary Death Dealer gave the okay sign and steadied himself against a wall. Only one of his men was still standing upright, and unassisted "Thomas!" he called out "Good job, check on Jonah and Peter, get them ready for evacuation."
"Yes Sir" he responded
Malachi finished looking around the room, and allowed a slight smile, three Lycan carcasses, Williams's corpse, and the scattered remains of Markus. They had been victorious. Malachi's Death Dealers had regrouped behind him, the two wounded Vampires being held up by the two that were left standing. "What about him?" said Thomas, pointing to Michael, "Our orders were to terminate both hybrids?"
"That's not a good idea" said Selene "All we want to do is be left alone"
"I helped you" said Michael
"Yes you did" Said Malachi dryly
Michael bent down and picked something up, it was the shaft to Malachi's cane a little damaged, but still in tact. He threw it down to Malachi.
"So what's it going to be Malachi?" asked Selene "Your men are wounded, it's near dawn, and you've taken losses."
Malachi bent down and picked up the shaft, he sheathed his blade "fall back" he told his men.
"But sir.." began Thomas
"Thomas unless your planning on working on your suntan I suggest you pull back" he said. As his men fell back into the depths of the prison, away from the first light of day Malachi stuck to the shadows and watched as the room filled with light. Selene wasn't moving, why? he watched as she and Michael shared a passionate kissed and bathed in the sunlight. Had the death of the Corvinus brothers really ended the immortal bloodline, he held out a hand from the shadows into the light, smoke began to emerge from his hand, "shit" he exclaimed as he quickly withdrew his hand back into the shadows. He took one last look at the hybrid and Selene, and retreated from the room closing the door behind him. He took his phone and dialed "Where are you?" a panicked voice asked him.
"I'm safe angel" he told her
"I was worried" she began "where are you?"
"We're held up in William's prison" he told her "We didn't beat the dawn; we're going to have to stay here for the day"
"The mission?" she asked
"There both dead Nina" he sighed
"You did it baby, I'm so proud of you. Is everyone else okay?"
"I lost Hannibal and Ethan" he told her
"Oh I'm so sorry baby" she said sympathetically "I'll tell Amelia"
"Thanks" he said plainly "Look Nina, I've got to go, I've got wounded"
"I love you Malachi"
"I love you to"
