War of Destiny 4: Fallen Soul

Chapter 3

I stood against one of the buildings close to the woods and dropped my telepathic shield so any vampire close by could sense me. Normally, I would evade pursuers by using that shield, but this time I wanted to lure them out. There were several of Rome's group in the northern woods, dangerously close to where I stay in the daylight hours.

As I monitored their progress toward me, I realized I was going to need to find a new place to rest. They had likely found the small shack I had been using and told the Council members about it. At least dinner was coming to me tonight.

Four vampires appeared at the end of the street, facing me. All of them were men and all of them were younger than me by at least twenty years. The man in front sneered at me. "Your luck runs out tonight, Lane," he said and sprinted toward me, sword raised.

"Not bloody likely," I retorted and moved to intercept him, my short sword already in hand. The man seemed startled by my quick movement as I parried his swing and swiftly turned to block the swing of the vampire behind him as well.

One of the last two vampires cursed and whispered, "He already knew we were here."

"Amita and Tyrell will be here soon. We just have to hold him until they get here," the first man replied.

I smirked. I had no intention of still being here when they showed up. The last man to speak swung with a thin rapier type blade. I blocked with enough force to make his hand slam painfully against the metal guard designed to protect the hand. He howled and dropped the weapon. I heard the movement behind me as one of the others attempted to aid their comrade. Within a second, I had spun to the right of the disarmed man as the blade meant for me pierced his chest. With a gurgling sound, he slid to the ground.

The vampire who had killed his comrade stared down at his fallen friend, his dark eyes wide with horror. He looked back up at me as hate filled his eyes. "You insane bastard. I'm going to kill you," he snarled and went for me.

The other two came at me from the side. I parried the man's swing directly in front of me and sidestepped quickly to where he had been standing a moment before. The three collided and fell to the ground. I stood over them a moment later. "Your training is lacking," I said and slit the throats of the two on the ground closest to me. The last of the men scrambled back to his feet. Before he could run, I caught his gaze with my own and he went motionless. Walking over, I sank my fangs into his neck and drank.

Moments later, I dropped him as I heard the sound of heavy footsteps. Lots of heavy footsteps. I frowned. This wasn't the rest of Rome's group. I sensed them to the west of me, still about ten minutes away, maybe less. These people were human.

I waited a bit then turned to face the crosstreet to my north as fifteen people appeared. I was surprised by their sudden appearance. These were no ordinary humans. Armed with swords, crossbows, and wooden stakes, all of them stopped to stare at me.

I swore under my breath as I realized there were another four or five humans still further up the road. No doubt they were the tail end of this particular group of Hunters. I rarely saw a regiment of Hunters this size. I held my weapon in hand and made a note of the nearest building that would give me easy access to the rooftops. If the Hunters forced a confrontation, things were going to get ugly fast.

The lone woman among them spoke to a man standing in the front of their regiment. Both of them looked similar, with dark hair and gray eyes. The man stepped closer and his eyes glittered with satisfaction. "It is him. The vampire who hunts vampires," he said in heavily accented English, loud enough to be heard by all of his companions. The woman's voice also rose, speaking in the native tongue. If I were to guess, she was translating his words.