The Crucivire

Chapter Twenty: Midnight Swordplay

Agent Phoenix yelled as he rushed forward, Gordon hot on his heels as he cursed the crucivire's recklessness. Phoenix's left arm flopped to the side, still useless. All three fighters knew it would heal quickly, if not as quickly as a vampire, but for the moment, Phoenix fought one handed.

The elder vampire Axel grinned as he raised his broadsword and survival knife. Soon all three fighters traded sword strikes in a blur. The blades collided so hard that the sparks illuminated the forest in brief flashes, their shadows appearing on the trees for split seconds at a time.

Axel, a gleeful look on his face as he enjoyed the fight, pressed his sword against Gordon's, got close, and aimed a knife strike. The knife barely connected as Gordon jumped back, grunting. It was a minor wound at his side, but Gordon would be out of the way for just a moment, but that was all the elder vampire needed.

Axel blocked an attack from Phoenix and began counterattacking relentlessly. After a moment, Gordon rushed back but not before Axel could overwhelm Phoenix, holding the crucivire's sword back with the knife as he took a swipe at Phoenix's thigh.

"Stop!" cried Gordon.

Phoenix, his face contorted in a mixture of pain and rage, fell to one knee as Gordon intercepted Axel. The elder vampire and the dhampir fought relentlessly, their attacks a blur to a human eye. In his mind, Phoenix could hear Gordon talking.

"Phoenix!" said Gordon. "Get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving you alone with this monster!" Phoenix mentally shouted back.

"Don't be a fool! They're after you, and they want you alive. We can't afford to lose you."

Phoenix glared. Gordon knew he was right. The vampire wasn't going for Phoenix's heart or neck. They wanted to wound him, not kill him. Even so, Gordon could sense Phoenix's stubbornness shining through.

As Gordon traded blows with Axel, he took stock of Phoenix's condition. The thigh would heal soon, and Phoenix's left arm was back in the fight. If anything, that would make the crucivire confident he could still win this, and Gordon lamented that Phoenix wasn't going to do as he said.

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Back at the van, Vampires brought welding torches to get to the humans in the front seat. Meanwhile, Cora still fought desperately as the vampires had her cornered. Without Jaiden's help, she was getting overwhelmed, even as she brought out a knife, which was easier to maneuver in a cramped space. She swung and stabbed desperately, vampires falling at her feet as she stepped over the bones of Eric Hale.

Despite her efforts, she was pushed away until her back hit the front of the van. Without room to move, more swords than she could block came at her at once, and she closed her eyes, bracing herself for the worst.

Suddenly a shrill, high pitched noise broke out, forcing Cora and the Vampires to cover their ears from the pain. As they all fell to their knees, covering their ears in a vain effort to keep that sound out, Cora recognized it. Backup was here, and they'd turned on their sonic devices.

Outside, giant black fire trucks pulled up. Each truck had a sonic device on it, resembling a giant stereo. Night Hunters manned the top of the trucks, either shooting their guns at vampires in the distance or unleashing holy water with fire hoses on any vampire the van got close to. Vampires either died to silver cross etched bullets through the heart or were melted by holy water, though many escaped into the forest.

Cora, bracing herself as she sat on the van floor, pulled out a pair of earplugs and stuffed them into her ears. It didn't block out the sound completely, and she still felt like her ears would burst, but it was enough that she could get up and start stabbing the vampires writing on the floor. A few managed to recover, but she cut them down as best she could.