Part IX
The sudden arrival of the third party left everyone astonished. Narbareck quickly got back to her senses, though, and stepped forward to confront the newcomers.
The group consisted of four men in black, led by a young woman in her early teens – she couldn't have been older than thirteen, Narbareck figured.
The girl had an aristocratic air about her, entering the hall and walking down the steps as if she were a princess invited to a ball. Her attire screamed of richness, too, for she looked like she had just come from a game of polo: tall riding boots, a long white coat, and a pair of white gloves. She contrasted completely with the men who followed her, who wore plain black suits and longcoats.
Narbareck approached the girl, who looked at her with a mixture of mistrust and repugnance. Narbareck noticed this and chuckled a little.
"Sorry for my disgraceful appearance," she said in fluent English, pointing at her blood-soaked clothes,
"Didn't have time to change. I guess I'd have put more effort into it if I had known that we had such esteemed guests coming. Though, I'm afraid that you're a bit late to the party."
Narbareck's laid-back attitude and cheerful banter did not manage to erase a grimace of disgust from the other girl's face. It entertained Narbareck a little.
"May I ask with whom do I have the pleasure of speaking?" she said.
After a brief hesitation the other girl replied, in a very posh British accent:
"Lorelei Barthomeloi. Vice-Director of the Mage's Association. And I assure you, the pleasure is not mutual."
"What a rude thing to say! Especially to a stranger."
"But you're not a stranger. I know very well who you are."
"Oh? And how come you've heard of me?"
"The word of your infamy has spread even to the faraway Clock Tower, Director."
"Looks like I'm pretty famous."
"If you wish that sort of fame for yourself," Lorelei said, not hiding her disgust with the woman in front of her, "Murderer. A monster."
"You flatter me too much."
"Who, among other things, skewered a bishop in the middle of Milan."
"I must admit, that was one of the best experiences of my life," Narbareck teased, shooting a twisted and insincere smile at Lorelei, "Maybe I'll tell you all about it one day."
"I hope not. I'd rather if I don't have to meet you lot ever again."
"Such harsh words, Miss Barthomeloi. I'm sure that we'd get along."
"I doubt it."
"Heh. Hatred for your own kind?"
"I beg your pardon?" said Lorelei, genuinely shocked by Narbareck's remark.
"Your own kind. Killers. Murderers. Psychopaths. Vampire hunters. You see, Miss Barthomeloi, " Narbareck said, switching to her business-like tone, "we know about you, too. The Church is just as informed about you lot as you are about us, if not better. Not to mention that the Barthomelois are generally renowned for their attitude towards vampires.
"So it amuses me greatly when I see someone such as yourself despising me for being who I am. Or is that perhaps because, unlike your ladyship, I am of common birth?"
"I'd have the same opinion of you if you were from a noble house. Or, just as likely, despise you even more."
"Heh. Well, I think I have a better guess. Mind if I try?"
Narbareck took Lorelei's silence as permission to continue.
"We both know that you're really bothered with who I am. What the hell do you care about some heretical bishop that got skewered in Italy? Nah – I think that you're just pissed that I snatched your prey from you."
To Narbareck's teasing smile, Lorelei shot back a cold stare of contempt.
Narbareck was right, of course – what bothered Lorelei was that the Church's dogs had gotten here before her, and took her prey from her before her very eyes. To young lady Barthomeloi, there was no greater insult than ruining her hunt.
She gritted her teeth in anger, but her eyes remained as cold as ice.
"Seems like I'm right," Narbareck said, "After all, we are birds of a feather."
"I don't have time for this nonsense", said Lorelei, cutting Narbareck short, "We're here for Gransurg Blackmore."
"Well, like I said, I'm afraid you're a little too late for the party. We've already got him, and we're taking him to the Vatican."
"I don't think so. Blackmore is ours, and I'm taking him to London for some questioning."
"Think whatever you want, Missy, but we're not giving Blackmore to you no matter what."
"No matter what?"
"No matter what."
There was a long and unnerving silence as the two girls locked their eyes in a stand-off.
Even if she was managing to control it, Lorelei was burning with anger at Narbareck for stealing her prey and injuring her pride. She would have liked nothing better than to cut the woman in front of her into pieces.
"You know," said Lorelei, "We could kill you all right now."
"I'd like to see you try," Narbareck replied sweetly.
"You are outnumbered, and weary. We would crush you."
"I'm sure you would. And do say, what happens then? Do you think this little incident would just stay a secret?"
"The Church would not go to war with us over someone like you."
"Maybe. But this isn't really only about me. We're supposed to bring a Dead Apostle Ancestor back, and I can promise you that the Church would react about that; we already have something of a collection in Rome.
"So if you really want that war with the Vatican so much, then be my guest."
Again the two girls tried to stare each other down.
The green eyes of the Church's finest killer locked with the brown eyes of the de-facto leader of the Clock Tower. It was an incredibly tense situation, just a spark away from carnage and a possible war between their great organisations.
Clock tower magi, vampires of Blackmore's coven, and the Executioner Kotomine Kirei, all intently followed the stand-off between the two women, anxiously anticipating their next move. Lorelei creased her brows and clenched her fists; Narbareck's heart started beating faster again as she prepared herself in case Lady Barthomeloi decides to call her bluff.
In the end, Lorelei decided that she just can't stand Narbareck no matter what.
With just a twitch of her right arm and a whisper of the incantation, she attacked.
A bright blue bolt of lightning appeared in the open palm of her right hand for a fraction of a second, and then she launched it at Narbareck. However, she was too slow.
Narbareck had anticipated that Lorelei would do something like this, and threw herself out of the bolt's trajectory with speed that surpassed the capacity of the human eye to follow and observe. Just as the bolt of lightning hit the ground where she stood moment ago, Narbareck appeared right in front of Lorelei.
Lady Barthomeloi's surprise was cut short as Narbareck immediately punched her into the abdomen, right beneath the diaphragm.
The impact was monstrous; most of Lorelei's abdominal organs were pulverised into a shapeless mash, and she was sent flying upwards at a tremendous speed. She hit the wall behind her, right above the gates, and the collision dented a crater in the stonework.
However, Lorelei hadn't lost her composure when Narbareck counterattacked – she had reinforced her back in a fraction of a second after getting punched, so her spine was left intact after the impact with the wall.
She poured as much prana into her Circuits as she could and quickly regenerated her crushed entrails. Blood vessels were patched back together, and destroyed organs reconfigured. All of this happened within just a few seconds.
Before Narbareck could reach for her weapons, or even just step back a little, Lorelei struck back.
Still pressed against the wall, she opened the palms of her hands, and aimed at her enemy.
"Ardor indomitus!"
A swirling torrent of pale blue flames shot out of her gloves and hit Narbareck.
The raging firebolt punched the air out of her lungs and sent her flying back across the hall. She landed a dozen yards away, moaning in pain as she checked if there were any ribs broken. Her coat caught a bit of fire in few places, which she promptly extinguished.
Meanwhile, Lorelei jumped ( or rather, fell ) down to the floor, massaging her stomach a little and spitting a some blood out.
Her eyes, fixed on Narbareck, were shining with burning hatred.
The silver-haired girl quickly rose back to her feet, drew her cutlasses out, and assumed a defensive posture. Narrowing her eyes, she started forming a plan of attack.
However, Lady Barthomeloi was adamant not to give Narbareck even a slightest chance to land a second blow; she extended her arms towards her opponent, aiming at Narbareck's head with the tips of her fingers.
"Say your prayers, scum," she hissed.
A blue glow appeared around her fingers, accompanied by a muffled crackling noise.
Narbareck tensed her muscles even more, anxiously awaiting Lorelei's next move. She didn't have to wait for long.
"Percute, tonitrus de caeli! Inimicus meus ferve!"
She recited the incantation quickly but clearly. The aria echoed throughout the throne room as she focused her mind on weaving the spell, her gaze piercing the foe in front of her. Prana surged through her body, her Magic Crest turned ablaze, and with a loud crack and a blinding flash, her magecraft materialised.
Pale blue thunderbolts shot out of her fingers and towards Narbareck. The deadly lightning traversed the distance between them in a split second.
However, Narabreck wasn't intending to take a hit like the previous time.
She jumped out of the line of attack, away from the raging torrent of light.
Just as she evaded the first attack, Lorelei fired a second one.
A murmur was all it took; one after another, Lady Barthomeloi started shooting a volley after volley of deadly thunderbolts at Narbareck, barely breaking a sweat as she poured out one high-level spell one after another. The blinding flashes made it difficult for her to see her target but she kept firing, now relying purely on her instincts to aim.
Her instincts served her well, and each salvo was right on target. Not only was her aiming accurate, but Lorelei fired at such a relentless pace that Narbareck wasn't able to simply dodge the incoming attacks. She had to stand up and fight.
Gripping her cutlasses tightly, she started her dance.
The bystanders were left in awe at the sight of their duel; vampires, Enforcers, and a lonely Executor of the Church, all of them completely forgot about each others' existence for a while, their eyes fixed on the tremendous clash of the titans that was playing out in the centre of the chamber.
Each volley that Lorelei fired at her, Narbareck quickly deflected or cut off with her swords. Just like back in the forest, she moved in a series of elegant and precise movements. Her feet barely touched the ground as she moved around on the tips of her toes, sliding left and right, spinning around, dodging and lunging forward. It was even more impressive than her performances in the forest and the entrance hall.
However, as awe-inspiring and effective her defence was, Narbareck was losing the fight.
While others probably hadn't noticed anything, Kirei managed to catch a glimpse of Narbarck's face, and what he saw worried him.
Her confident expression, her teasing grin, even the fire in her eyes – all of that was gone now. Her features were a mix of fear, nervousness, annoyance, and fatigue. Lady Barthomeloi was an exceptionally powerful opponent, and in her current state – tired after the previous fighting, and left without any trump cards – Narbareck was no match for her. All she could do in the face of Lorelei's attacks was to defend, but even that could not go on indefinitely.
Narbareck's cutlasses were formidable weapons, but they were ill-suited for this type of fight. The holy steel could only fend off the blue lightning for so long, and with each salvo Narbareck could feel her weapons vibrating strongly as the blades were slowly getting chipped away by Lorelei's tremendous attacks. And the grips were getting hot, too.
Driven to the brink of defeat, Narabreck took desperate measures.
As more blue sparkles appeared on Lorelei's fingertips, announcing another attack, the silver-haired girl finally counterattacked.
She threw her two cutlasses with all her strength, aiming at Lorelei's head.
The young magus smirked at her opponent's act of desperation, and executed her attack - Narbareck's blades were blown away to the opposite end of the chamber by the roaring thunderbolts.
Lorelei's gleeful smirk was erased in less then a second, though.
Narbareck had barely let go of her treasured swords when she started the second phase of her counterstrike, lunging forward as fast as she could.
She crossed the distance between the two of them in a few gargantuan leaps, moving so fast that only a handful of vampires present could keep track of her. Just as she was making the final step before reaching Lorelei, she reached down for her right boot, and drew a hidden dagger out of it.
Her cutlasses hadn't even hit the wall behind her when Narbareck suddenly materialised in front of lady Barthomeloi, clutching her dagger and pressing it against the young girl's chin.
The tide of blue lightning stopped.
The throne room fell into eerie silence.
The only sound was the heavy breathing of the two girls locked in a deathly grip in the middle of the chamber.
Narbareck was pressing the razor-sharp tip of her knife against Lorelei's chin. She in turn was pressing her hand against Narbareck's stomach, ready to fire a lethal shot should Narbareck make any sudden moves.
"Ha... ha... ha..."
Narbareck panted in Lorelei's face, catching her breath after an exhausting battle. She was about a head taller than her opponent, and stared into the younger girl's eyes from above, her eyes filled with hatred and frustration.
Lorelei, too, was breathing heavily, stunned and disheartened at how Narabreck had managed to evade her attacks and check her like this. She creased her brows and gritted her teeth as she defiantly returned a hateful look to Narbareck.
Two of Lorelei's men surrounded Kirei, and the other two stepped towards their leader.
Their movements made Narbareck press her dagger even harder against Lorelei's skin. A painful sting prompted the magus to order her men to back down.
After a bit of hesitation, they obeyed, and Lorelei turned back to Narbareck who, albeit still tired and nervous, seemed to have relaxed a bit.
Still, she eyed Lorelei suspiciously and with open contempt.
"Blackmore is ours," she whispered.
"Are you gonna die just to bring that thing back to Rome?"
"It's my prey. I'll do with it as I like."
"Like hell it's your pray. Blackmore belongs to us. Hand him over."
"We got here first. I beat him fair and square. So back off, bitch."
Gritting her teeth some more, Lorelei spread her hand more open, and Narbareck sensed sudden warmth against her side. She pressed her whole knife against Lorelei's throat, the sharp blade now grazing the young girl's throat, too.
"Don't be stupid."
"Blackmore belongs to the Association."
"Bullshit. He belongs to those who beat him. Quit being a brat and admit defeat if you have any dignity."
Lorelei bit her lip. A small stain of crimson appeared on the pale pink.
She wanted nothing else but to kill Narbareck. She was barely controlling herself anymore.
"I will kill you, scum."
"Then do it. Come on, kill me."
Teeth sank into the bruised lip even more. The time seemed to have stopped in the room as the two remained locked into a tense stand-off once more. This time, though, any attempt to fight their way out of it guaranteed their mutual deaths.
Drops of sweat appeared on the foreheads of four magi in black. Kirei, too, eyed the situation and its observers with a nervous eye. Some of the vampires had left the throne room, but plenty had remained to watch the spectacle and to see how it ends.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the situation got diffused.
Lorelei lowered her hand from Narbareck's side, and sighed in frustration.
"Fine! You can keep Blackmore," she said, turning her eyes away from Narbareck's, and biting her lip again to swallow her defeat.
Seeing this only made Narbareck smirk triumphantly.
However, she was honestly relieved that her opponent yielded. She felt like she would have simply fallen down on the floor from exhaustion had it continued for much longer.
"Thank you for being so understanding."
"Spare me. Right – men, let's go."
Not in the mood to stick around Narbareck for even a second more, having to cope with her bitter defeat, young lady Barthomeloi just wanted to disappear from that wretched place as quickly as possible.
The four men in black immediately obeyed their young mistress' order and left the throne room.
Lorelei followed them, and when she had climbed up to the top stair she turned around to Narbareck again:
"Don't make me have to suffer your presence again. I'd appreciate it if you were to remain in whatever hole that you've crawled out of. If I see you again I will murder you."
"That's such a shame; I was hoping that we could talk again sometime," Narbareck replied with an innocent look, now much more at ease and feeling coy again,
"I think I might even come to like you, lady Barthomeloi. We are birds of a feather, after all."
"Ridiculous!" Lorelei said and hurriedly left the throne room.
There was another short silence after the departure of the five magi, which was just as abrupt as their entrance.
"Right. Well, now that that's taken care of – Kirei!"
"Yes?"
"We're done here. Grab that pile of shit over there and let's go. I'm getting hungry."
"As you wish."
Kirei pulled the unconscious body of Gransurg Blackmore from the throne and towards the exit, where Narbareck waited for him. Once he was out of the throne room, Narbareck addressed the remaining vampires, who had been left completely puzzled and bewildered by the recent events.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen, it's been fun. We're off now. Pray that you never see me again."
She left the throne room, closing the gates behind her, and joined Kirei who had been waiting for her.
"Ah... I'm really starving. Aren't you?"
"Yes, I am a bit hungry," Kirei admitted.
"No problem. Let's just go find that smelly old truck, and then I'll treat you to lunch when we get to Vimperk. I think I saw a nice pub there last night; we should grab a pint or two to celebrate this. Deal?"
"Deal."
And with that, the two vampire hunters left the cursed castle.
In the east, the summer sun had just risen over the horizon, painting the bleak skies with warm gold and blue.
(...)