The Crucivire

Chapter Thirty Four: Dancing Shadows

On the outer edge of the forest, a squadron of Night Hunters worked to restore a perimeter and keep the vampires inside. The process had been slower than optimal, as they had been forced to wait a few hours after the explosion before closing in, a standard safety procedure. There were still quite a few gaps in the perimeter, which they were hoping to close as fast as possible.

Agent Jackson oversaw this sector of the perimeter, directing hunters as they set up barricades. As he stood near the armored vehicles, he really wished he could speed things up. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when he turned to his left and caught something in the corner of his eye.

He turned to look, "What the..."

It was a brilliant light shining just above the treetops. Something was glowing over there, and judging by the distance, it was in a nearby residential neighborhood. Had some sort of magic from the vampires' mansion slipped through the gaps in the perimeter?

Jackson pulled out his long range communicator, "This is Agent Jackson. I'm seeing something strange here. There's an incredibly bright glow not far from my position. Is anyone else seeing this?"

The agent he was contacting was at the Night Hunter facility, wearing a headset with a microphone and watching various feeds from throughout the city.

"Just a moment," replied the communications agent. "We're getting a few sightings from hunters in the city. You're not the only one seeing this light, but no one seems to know what it is.

"Do you want us to send some men to investigate?" asked Jackson. "We can probably spare..."

He was cut off by the sound of gunfire.

Looking towards the sound, he saw vampires rushing the barricades, slipping out of the shadows to cut down as many hunters as they can. Hunters returned fire, shooting vampires dead, but at this point the fight could go either way. Agent Jackson raised his gun and started shooting with the hunters nearby as he backed away towards an armored vehicle. After shooting a few vampires down, he raised his communicator.

"We're under attack!" he cried. "Requesting reinforcements at..."

He was interrupted by a sword swinging at his neck and removing his head. He hadn't even noticed the vampire get behind him. Before the hunters next to him could even react, Harold Stone swung his swords, cutting them down in seconds. Harold carried a roman gladius in either hand, two blood red rubies serving as large pommels.

A moment later, the armored vehicle nearby opened its valves to unleash holy water mist and slots for guns to shoot out. Harold immediately leapt into the air to fly away, narrowly missing the paths of the bullets he flew to cover behind trees before looking for more hunters to kill. As he fought, he sent a few thoughts to Fara Duval.

"Archibald and I have engaged the enemy," he told her. "These hunters won't interfere any time soon but be sure to kill the crucivire quickly. If our diversion doesn't draw the enemy in, the crucivire's light will. I'd rather be gone by the time larger Night Hunter forces arrive."

"And you think I don't?" Fara replied irritably. "You do your job, and I'll do mine."

###

Alice had already experienced enhanced hearing during her brief stint as a vampire, and even now it was incredible how much she was aware of. She could hear animals crawling around, the faint sound of snoring, and a handful of people moving around in their houses.

She could also hear some figures fleeing from her location, and knew they had to be vampires. A few of them dropped their swords in their haste to leave, and Alice could only guess that it was the light from her body that scared them off. She was lucky she'd become a crucivire when she did.