Page 7 of Bite of Passage
A squadron of ten—nope, make that fifteen—vampire fledglings caught in the beginning stage of their turn scurried over the rocks above them.VanFliet never completed the turn.He drank from them and injected the poison that started the turn toward vampirism, but he didn’t give them his blood to make them full vampires, keeping them as minion slaves.Although it was done on purpose to have them as slaves, like all vampires, VanFliet couldn’t completely turn his fledglings even if he desired to do so.
A century ago, something changed to make their species incapable of creating more of their kind—perhaps a spell or curse.The ruling vampires, the Directorate, guarded the secret that none could turn humans anymore under the guise of a mandate—approval had to be sought before a human could be fully turned to vampire.Of course, no one got approval.And since no one could figure out how to make new vampires, or why the ability had disappeared, their kind was diminishing.Not that Skarde cared.He had no interest in turning humans, nor in saving his kind.
Skarde glanced heavenward and sighed at the idiocy of the minions preparing to face off with him.The fledglings weren’t holding their weapons properly and they lacked organization.Combat experience wasn’t something to be taught in a day, even if a body was suddenly granted supernatural strength and speed.If VanFliet chose battle worthy people with a hint of intelligence, then maybe his minions wouldn’t be so easy to kill and he wouldn’t need to constantly find new recruits in order to maintain his army.
“Scatter,” Skarde ordered the Hunters who now dragged several hundred yards behind him on the trail.He could deal with this alone.Fighting other non-humans was something he’d done for more centuries than he cared to remember.These half-turned creatures were nothing more than pests.
The Hunters didn’t take the directive.Instead, they charged past him, swords out, and voices at high volume.Lees, as usual, grinned in euphoric glee.Minion vampire slaying was his favorite sport.
The vampire fledgling closest to him may have been built like a bear, but it lumbered clumsily and tripped over the uneven ground.Skarde stabbed, landing a direct hit to the neck and followed up with a solid twist of the blade to separate the head from the body.One down.On to number two to… too many more.Fledglings streamed over the cliff.But Skarde’s target wasn’t the partially turned vampires.He began the upward climb, stabbing and decapitating whenever he could with his sword hand.
Above the fray he faced VanFliet.Hate mixed with a sliver of delight glittered in the general’s black gaze.Two centipedes crawled circles around his neck.He flicked his long blond hair over his shoulder.Skarde didn’t understand why in the past year bugs of various types crawled on the vampire’s skin during every encounter.Perhaps, it was some type of weapon Skarde had yet to understand, or maybe someone cursed him.
“This is the third time this month.These ambushes are a waste of time,” Skarde said.“I’m sorry about your girlfriend.Tania lost her mind to the possession.It was either her or me when she tried to chew out my throat.”
VanFliet tensed.“She was my brother’s wife, not mine.Blood shall always be avenged.”
“Did you turn her for your brother?Is that what made her your blood?”He waved his free hand to dismiss the question.It didn’t matter.If VanFliet turned her it was too long ago to matter.“Where is Justin?I haven’t seen him in ages.”
“He disappeared.Might be dead.”
“If you continue to attack me, I might get serious about killing you.”
The bugs stopped slinking across VanFliet’s face.The sculpted lines contorted into a snarl of rage.He surged forward.Skarde parried the blade headed for his midsection, and dodged the dagger in VanFliet’s other hand, figuring his stomach had experienced enough mistreatment for one night.
“Why are you involved with Petra?I can’t believe you’d fall so far as to fuck a witch.”He asked to test the theory of the woman in the mirror.“Mixing with witches is as stupid as it is prohibited.You don’t want the Directorate’s punishers after you.”
VanFliet flinched with… was that insecurity?Maybe fear?
“Tell me this isn’t about me killing a possessed female, Fliet.What’s this about?We’ve known each other a long time.We’re blood brothers.We fought together?—”
“I—”
Before he could launch into an explanation, one Skarde wanted to hear, a minion vampire jumped onto Skarde’s back.Rule breakage right there.When the master fought his own battle, you let him conduct his business and only stepped in if asked.
The minion’s knee accidentally hit Petra’s wound.Pain pushed Skarde into near berserker viciousness.He spun, dislodging the untrained creature on his back.A solid downward thrust pinned the fledgling to the ground beneath his long sword.It spit and hissed at him.Although not dead, it couldn’t figure out how to free itself.With an eye roll, Skarde dislodged his sword and punched a fist through the fledgling’s chest to remove its heart.As it died, the sneaky sucker grabbed his ankle and tripped him.
VanFliet grinned.Cocky.He thought he’d gained the high ground.He lunged.Unsure if he did so with clear intent to kill, Skarde rolled, jumped to his feet, and calculated his options.A neck strike wasn’t possible.VanFliet wore a metal collar.Maybe he should adopt the fashion trend for safety against throat slices—although it looked hellishly uncomfortable.Tonight wasn’t about ending VanFliet.It was about sending him scurrying.Later, Skarde could try to figure out why VanFliet kept attacking him.
“Leave before you force me to hurt you for real.Go and sort your shit with the witch.”He didn’t want to kill VanFliet.But if pushed to make a life-or-death decision, he’d rip out his blood brother’s heart.
“Die.”VanFliet lunged.
Skarde dodged but slipped on an icy rock.His knees took the brunt of the jarring hit.VanFliet swung with what should’ve been a death blow, but his blade merely scratched Skarde’s face.
Skarde got to his feet, ready for another attack but VanFliet backed away.Why hadn’t Fliet killed him?
“Take it as a warning.”VanFliet recalled what remained of his fledgling minions.“This isn’t over.Death has targeted you.”
ChapterFour
Skarde reclinedin his favorite leather chair in front of the fire.He’d made it minutes before dawn.
This stone keep might be drafty and in desperate need of renovation, but it was his.Away from everything, there was no dark magic here.No creatures hid around every corner ready to kill him.Nothing here needed to be hunted.The Hunters showed up periodically to drag him off to save them when they said they could “handle it” but couldn’t.They’d gone off to their respective homes a few miles away.
A black nose nudged his legs.He lifted the miniature mutt he’d found starving in a small village last year onto his lap where he settled.“Is that better?”He stroked the dog’s head.“Has Serish been spoiling you, Slayer?”
“Tea.”Serish, his trusted caretaker for decades, handed him a mug.
