Chapter 23: Beautiful monsters
Hoofbeats.
Two horses flew down the mountain road, the first a powerful bay with a streaming black mane and tail, the second a wild-eyed chestnut desperate to keep pace with the bay. The rider of the first kept his head down, perhaps to keep his hat from being swept away in the wind, or perhaps only because he knew the road by heart, and did not need to look ahead in order to guide his horse. The second rider kept turning back and forth to glance suspiciously into the forest on either side of the road, but there was a certain smugness about his expression, and he held a gleaming silver pistol steady in his hand.
They'd been galloping for barely a minute when the first alarm rose resounding from the forest; an unnaturally loud and lonesome howl—joined a moment later by a full chorus. The wolves were awake.
Within seconds the first of the beasts came sprinting out of the trees, easily catching up to the racing horses with its long pink tongue hanging from its gaping jaws. It gathered itself and leapt into the air, almost more like a cougar than a wolf, springing with impossible velocity towards the galloping chestnut horse. The airborne wolf's ears were pinned back, its mouth open wide, long sharp teeth glistening with saliva- and as it sailed towards its target, Hess put a bullet down its throat.
Without so much as a whimper, the wolf was torn out of the air and slammed into the ground- and its entire body seemed squashed somehow, with vulgar shards of bright white bone jutting haphazardly through its mottled hide. It was as if a giant invisible mallet had come smashing down out of the sky to intercept the wolf.
Hess grinned. There were more wolves heading towards them, loping gracefully in the shadows of the trees, their forms blurring together as more and more of them joined the chase. Then, as if at some unheard command, the animals closed in from both sides of the road. Hess flattened five more wolves with the remaining five bullets in his pistol, and then stuck the gun under his arm as he fumbled in his pocket for more ammunition. The terrified chestnut horse pressed in close to the flank of the bay, and they thundered forward at top speed, although there was obviously no hope that they would be able to outrun the snarling pack of wolves.
Within seconds, Hess succeeded in reloading his gun, and soon six more wolves dropped dead to the earth as if stomped on by a huge invisible boot. "Are you planning to help me out here anytime soon?" Hess hollered at D, as he went to reload again.
"Drop your gun," D called back.
"Are you crazy?"
"Do it," D ordered, and Hess cursed and tossed the silver weapon over his shoulder.
The wolves stopped snarling, and simply ran alongside the horses for another moment, and then in twos and threes they slipped away and disappeared back into the forest. "What in the name of hell was that about?" Hess shouted.
But before D replied, a shrill, trumpeting scream ripped the air, and both horses pulled their heads up abruptly. A quarter of a mile down the road, a small herd of bulky black shapes was waiting for them.
"Are those horses?" Hess hollered incredulously.
D frowned. Indeed, all twelve of his father's carriage horses were bunched up ahead of them on the road, the light of the setting sun reflecting in coppery arcs on their sleek coal-black coats. They were each sixteen hands and two thousand pounds, and on their necks they bore a curious brand- a 'V' atop an inverted cross. D knew that they had belonged to his father since the early middle ages-- something to do with the crusades. There were no harnesses, bridles, or riders to be seen. Had the animals been sent out as some sort of barricade? His expression grim, D drew his sword.
As the distance closed, the line of black horses began to fidget and scream, rearing up and stabbing at the air with sharp, steel-shod hooves.
"This way!" D called over his shoulder to Hess, and swerved into the forest. Nearly dislodging its passenger, the wild-eyed chestnut horse swerved to follow the bigger bay, plunging into the woods.
"Oh, lovely!" Hess yelled, ducking low as a branch nearly decapitated him. "Just what--" he was cut off as the ground began to rumble. Those twelve giant horses were pursuing them now, trampling even medium-sized trees in their way. Hess cursed and went fumbling in his coat for another gun, but had no luck aiming it for the density of the forest, and the threat that he'd be swept off by a branch if he turned around to look at what he wanted to shoot. He fired several shots behind him blindly and was answered by a chorus of deafening whinnies that gave an impression of wicked laughter.
By now D and Hess had become separated by the forest, and D's horse was closer to the huge black chargers. As they dashed through the trees, the first of the black horses pulled up alongside D's horse, and for a split second D saw his reflection in the depths of the huge horse's eye, which was the color of a pomegranate aril. And then the black horse opened its mouth and plunged its head down, sinking four-inch fangs into D's horse across the crest of its neck.
D narrowed his eyes, obviously not the least bit amused. If the black horse's mouth had been just a bit wider, it would have bitten through the bay's vertebrae- but as it was, the bite wasn't that severe. The two horses galloped side by side, the bay held prisoner by the steel-trap grip of the teeth in its neck. D swung his sword without hesitation, slicing downwards across the black horse's massive head as if it were nothing but an enormous loaf of bread he meant to cut in half-- but due to the difficult angle of the cut, the sword lodged in the bones and actually came to a halt only halfway through, and D was forced to draw the blade out sideways.
A fountain of dark blood sprayed from the black horse's face. The monstrous charger ripped its tiger-like fangs from the neck of the bay horse, and went down, but D knew instinctively that the wound he had given it was already healing, and the beast would be on its feet again all too soon. He heard gunshots behind him, and steered his horse around towards the sound, with three more of the mighty chargers tearing up the forest at his heels.
Meanwhile, Hess's chestnut horse had been run up against a sharp rocky wall, and eight of the twelve black chargers were closing in from all sides. Initially, Hess didn't mind being trapped, because it meant he could finally aim and fire his gun- but the special bullets which had instantly flattened the wolves didn't have quite the same effect on the massive horses- being shot clean through the chest slowed them to a trot, a second shot between the eyes slowed them to a walk- but steadily they drew nearer, their dark ruby eyes fixed on the trembling chestnut horse.
"D!" Hess called out, as the bay horse burst in on the scene and was suddenly pulled to a halt. "What in God's own name are these things?"
"Hungry," D replied.
Hess gave a half-crazed laugh. "Think you're funny, do you?" He aimed and shot all three of the black horses that were bearing down on D. The monstrous beasts faltered but pressed ahead at a trot until a second shot made them all drop their heads and plod forward determinedly at a walk.
"These are hundred-stone bullets!" Hess exclaimed. "They weigh the same as a regular bullet in a human's hand, but when they touch anything supernatural or under dark influence, they instantly change to weigh a hundred stones. That's fourteen hundred goddamn pounds!"
D nodded. "So that's what crushed the wolves that you shot."
"Yes. But I've shot each of these devil horses twice and they won't go down, and what's more, the weight dissipates after about a minute, so any second now some of these will start running again!"
"Pulling three thousands pounds is nothing to these animals," D remarked.
"Why, thank you ever so much for the lesson in evil equine-ology," Hess said dryly. "Now what I'd really like to know is how we're going to kill them."
"There are twelve of them…" D said. "And how many wolves did you shoot?"
"Twelve," Hess replied. D nodded.
"We'll turn back," he said simply.
"Turn back?" Hess repeated incredulously, his voice rising in anger. "Turn back now, when we haven't even set foot in the castle, and ruin my chance to be famous? God above! You're a piss-rotten god-damn half-breed coward, that's what you are!"
Just then the first few chargers that Hess shot felt the weight of the magical bullets lifted from them, and they began to pick up speed, snorting and whinnying. Hess kicked the chestnut and it boldly dashed between two of the slower-moving monsters to join D's horse. "However," Hess said, scowling, "You are running the show, so lead the way." The twelfth black horse, the one that D had cut with his sword, had fully recovered and was galloping towards them now, as one by one the other horses quickened their pace.
"Back to the road," D instructed in an even voice, tapping his heels to the bay. "Back to the wolves."
Half a moment later the bay and the chestnut burst from the woods side-by-side, leading the thundering herd of giant black horses back up the road towards the carcasses of the wolves.
When they reached the dead wolves, the black horses slowed, and immediately their nostrils flared and quivered, and they lowered their shaggy heads, snorting and snuffling at the bloody ground- and then, exactly as D expected, they began to feed- tearing slowly and methodically at the bodies of the wolves with their long, unnatural fangs, and peacefully chewing up bones, fur, paws, tails and intestines as if it were all nothing but grass.
D circled his horse at a safe distance and Hess pulled up beside him. Dumbfounded, he watched the monstrous chargers grazing contentedly upon the wolf carcasses. Hess shuddered as he saw one horse raise its nose from a cracked-open ribcage, bits of pinkish lung dropping sloppily from its mouth. "Well." The man said. "Saints in heaven. It wouldn't be too far off the mark to say that this is a disturbing sight." He looked over at D, who was watching the horses impassively.
"Told you they were hungry," D said simply, and turned his horse back towards the castle. "Twelve wolves should be enough for them, though."
"That's it then? We aren't going to try to finish them off?" Hess asked, blinking.
"I didn't come here to slaughter wolves or butcher carriage horses," D muttered, glancing down the road ahead of them.
Hess nodded. The entire adventure had taken less than ten minutes so far. The castle was still miles away. Their horses were breathing heavily but were not entirely spent, and so after giving a wide and cautious berth to the feeding herd, they pressed ahead at a lope.
There were no further incidents on their way to the castle. D and Hesselius dismounted and walked right up the broad stone stairs to the main entrance, making no attempt to conceal their presence. They paused at the door, and looked over their shoulders as the last orange rays of the sun were eclipsed by the dark silhouette of the Carpathians. "Well, that settles it," Hess muttered, tension evident in his tone. "We're in his world now."
"It's my world too." D grasped the heavy iron handle of the wooden door, and pulled it open easily. Not a single flame of light flickered in the entire castle. D and Hesselius stepped into the darkness, and D turned and automatically put out his hand to slow the door as it attempted to slam itself closed behind them. He caught the door on its way and gently eased it shut as it creaked in protest.
For a moment they stood there in silence, the interior of the spacious hall feeling extremely cold and hollow, like an ancient empty tomb.
"It's dark," Hess observed. D waved his hand almost carelessly and at least a hundred candles hissed softly to life up and down the stone walls. As if that were some sort of signal, three ghostly figures began to materialize almost lazily in the middle of the hall, gradually and tantalizingly gathering substance, then adding texture, and color, and finally becoming completely solid.
For one of the very few times in his life, Hesselius was speechless. Gliding towards him now, clothed in resplendent eighteenth-century ball gowns, were three young women, each of whom was dangerously beautiful. Two of them were nearly identical. These two had long, shining dark hair, with ribbons of silvery lace and strands of gleaming pearls braided into it. They had impossibly pure white skin which seemed to glow in the candlelight. Their large eyes were downcast, and shaded by long, dark lashes.
The third young woman walked between and a step behind the first two, and her incomparable beauty would have been 'angelic' if it had not been so intensely seductive.
Though her skin was pale, it seemed on the verge of being tinged the softest shade of rose-petal pink at any moment. The twisting spirals of her hair were the color of the cleanest, brightest gold, and her eyes were sapphires aflame- and Hess found himself incapable of looking away from her perfect mouth, with its red, full lips.
"My God," Hess whispered at last, gaping at the fair-haired girl. "If you were human, I'd wish you were a cannibal, so you could gobble me up for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!"
D glanced sideways at Hess, considerably perturbed by that statement. The fair-haired girl fluttered her lashes several times, smiling delightedly, and the other two actually giggled. "But what about dessert?" the fair girl asked, honey in her voice. Her perfect lips pouted. "Dessert's my favorite."
"I was going to let these other two have me for dessert, actually," Hess said smoothly, somehow tearing his eyes away from her perfect lips to study her dark-haired companions. They were taller than the fair girl, and in fact, a little taller than Hess. Their graceful figures and inhuman beauty were so captivating, Hess felt like he might melt into a useless puddle of frenzied desire right there on the flagstones. He inhaled slowly. "Yes," he said distractedly. "This is… this is quite deadly. I've never seen anything so…so… I've never seen anything like…" he blinked a few times, and then looked quickly over his shoulder at D. "Well, ok, I've seen D," he said with an apologetic shrug- "But you ladies…you are so… so…"
The three girls laughed. The dark-haired one closest to D stepped towards him, and struck out faster than a serpent, catching D's jaw in her cold hand exactly as she'd done when he was a child. "Welcome home, little brother," she said with a cruel smile, as D gazed at her impassively. "How thoughtful of you to bring your dear sisters such an entertaining, energetic little gift."
"He is precious. Wherever did you find him?" the other sister asked, circling Hess with an evaluative gleam in her scarlet eyes.
"Funny story, that," Hess said brightly, with every intention of telling it.
"Shut up," the fair girl snapped- but she was smiling, her eyes sparkling like an ocean of stars.
Hess obeyed instantly.
Meanwhile, the second sister had finished stalking around Hess, and proceeded to circle D with the same sort of appraising attitude. "Hmm," she said several times, looking D over from head to toe-- and then she gave a low chuckle. "My, my, my. Will you look at this? The spoiled little brat turned out halfway decent after all."
"Indeed," the first sister said, smirking. "Touch him, Carina. His flesh is warm."
"How peculiar," the second sister remarked. "It doesn't smell like he's fed recently. Must be from spending time out in the horrid sun. That explains his unhealthy color, too."
Hess looked over at the siblings and was surprised to notice just how grey D's skin looked next to the white perfection of the sisters. Hess knew that dhampirs' skin turned ash-grey when sunburned, but D's complexion had always seemed flawlessly pale until now, now that there was something paler to compare it to. Carina reached up to touch D's cheek, but D stepped away, shaking off the other sister's grasp as well.
"Oh look, Sabina. We annoyed him," Carina said, sounding mirthlessly amused.
"He hasn't even said hello yet," Sabina smirked. "Isn't that just absolutely… provocative? Ah, yes, the strong, silent type. So delicious."
D blinked. Which was the only outward sign of his incredulous disgust at this point in the conversation.
"Don't you agree, Aloisia?" Sabina asked the fair-haired girl.
"Well, he's your brother so I suppose the two of you've got first dibs. Anyway, I want this one. I'll share later, of course, but I want him first," Aloisia said, all the while smiling coyly at Hess, never once taking her bright blue eyes away from his face. Or more specifically, from his throat.
Sabina refocused her scarlet gaze on D. "Poor little brother," she murmured. "All alone out in the human's world. Something tells me… that none of those human girls could ever really do the trick for you."
"You know why I'm here, and it has nothing to do with you," D muttered. "So get out of my way."
"And if we don't?" Sabina asked silkily. Wordlessly, D drew his sword.
Sabina's red eyes flashed as she laughed at D's somber expression. "Fool," she said, sounding not the least bit concerned about the weapon currently pointed at her heart. "I guess Father was right. If you think you'll defeat any of us with a toy like that, you're still nothing but a child."
The other sister stepped in closer, and lightly wrapped one of her elegant hands around the slender blade of D's sword. "But don't you worry, D," Carina half-whispered. "We'll be happy to help you become more of an adult…" As she spoke she deliberately slid her curved fingers down the length of the steel, the innuendo obvious.
Unfazed, D adjusted his stance and turned his sword on its side, as if he were preparing to slash sideways across both sisters' throats.
"Wait a minute!" Hesselius said, and the three nearly-identical, beautiful, sharp-featured faces turned towards him. "Ahem," he began, delighted to have captured their attention. "There are many, many things that siblings should not do to each other--"
"Actually we're only half-siblings," Carina corrected haughtily.
"Half-siblings still count as siblings for the purpose of this lecture," Hess continued authoritatively. "Anyway, as I was saying. One of the things that siblings should not do to each other… is kill each other. D, leave your sisters to me, and I'll deal with them. You go on ahead. I'll meet up with you later."
"You'll deal with us?" Sabina inquired, raising an eyebrow at the man.
"Yes. Quite brutally, too." Hess said in an almost flirtatious tone. "Dealing with the likes of you is my profession and my obsession. My family has been hunting vampires all over Europe for three and a half centuries, after all."
Carina and Sabina simultaneously took a step toward Hesselius. Their matching pairs of savage ruby eyes shone with the same unwavering gleam that had been in the eyes of the devilish chargers closing in on the trapped chestnut horse.
"He's so confident," Sabina purred.
"And so lively," her sister remarked.
"He's mine!" Aloisia hissed threateningly, though her face was still smiling sweetly at Hess.
Hess looked up at D and nodded to him. "Go on," he said softly.
D hesitated. He knew that if he abandoned Hess now, the chances that he'd ever see him again were slim to none. But on the other hand, he really couldn't afford to have his half-sisters getting in his way… his real purpose here was much too serious to put up with their interference… but would he really sacrifice Hess to these awful creatures? Would it better to fight now, and try to kill the three girls, or-
"For God's sake, man, have a little faith!" Hess exclaimed. "I said I'll deal with this. Now go!"
D nodded once and made up his mind. And then suddenly he was running down the candlelit hall, his sword in his hand.
A/N: this was a long, unimportant chapter, lol. I debated cutting out the scene with the fanged horses and shortening the scene with the sisters, but in the end I decided to keep everything, and as a result, this story is now going to be 26 chapters instead of 25 as originally intended. I just couldn't delete those awesome horses! I'm sure no one's interested, but those carriage horses are supposed to be black Bretons. The history of the Cheval Breton goes back several thousand years. In medieval times, they were the best warhorses in Europe. The official brand of the breed is a cross on top of an inverted 'V', and in real life they can be just about any color except black.
Anyway, I planned all along to have D meet up with his sisters again, but I wasn't sure how the encounter could work without turning into a bloodbath. (by the way, if you want to read about the gory slaughtering of those three female vampires, go read Dracula.) It might be lame, but Hess came along to provide a distraction for the three of them, so they'd stay out of the way…
oh, one last note: I can't be sure, but I think the idea of 'hundred-stone bullets' might have come from something I read ten or twelve years ago in one of those awesome Susan Cooper books...