The high, domed ceiling worked in the boss’s favour, keeping him from my grasp. Thick blood flowed from the stump of his wrist, coagulating into the outline of a hand. In seconds, it solidified and turned grey as the new skin formed.

  I took my chance with the crossbow again. Broderick wasn’t his minion and swatted the bolts aside in a display of agility that was impressive to behold. He almost seemed bored as he batted them away. The protective shield deflected the projectiles and they detonated on the floor rather than bringing the roof down. None of them came close to hitting the boss, so I put the weapon away.

  “What other tricks have you got hidden in that secret bag?” he asked.

  I dropped a drinking station next to me and the large bottle belched with an air bubble.

  “Impressive.”

  I added a full-height lamp with white shade but no plug. A computer chair. A bedside cabinet with old alarm clock. A pair of bald car tyres that I didn’t remember taking. Some moist, rotting debris from Osterland’s sewer, along with a mildew-stained mattress whose springs were sticking through the padding.

  Broderick started to scowl.

  “Not everything I have is as useful,” I admitted.

  He grunted and vanished. I felt a sharp pain in my left arm and found four neat slashes in the armour. Blood from my cuts started to ooze through the rents. I caught a flash of shadow from the corner of my eye and my thigh ignited with the same blazing agony. The seam of the armour turned crimson from my leaking fluids. They healed quickly, but each blow slowly drained my weakened body. Cris’s feast hadn’t been completely replenished, even after I’d taken some of her blood in return.

  I stacked some Kherrash stones around myself. Whatever spell Broderick was using passed directly through the heavy blockade, and he opened up my chest in the blink of an eye. Another blur passed, smashing my helmet askew and leaving claw marks in my cheek. I quickly adjusted my armour so I could see again. Probing with my tongue, it went straight through the gashes. Any other time and I’d have been rolling on the floor screaming, trying to hold myself together. Instead, I only felt a dull throbbing from the catastrophic wound.

  Casting Shimmer Strike, I bounced around the room, staying one step ahead of the unknown ability like a pinball. My mana was still limited, which put a timer on my exploits. Not to mention I needed a decent portion of it to use my other spells.

  “You can’t run forever,” said the disembodied voice.

  “What do you know? My cardio’s on point,” I replied, switching positions again.

  “Stand still and I’ll make it quick.”

  I appeared and turned towards where I thought Broderick was standing. I fired off a charged Shield Bash that wiped out the pile of crap I’d dropped. The water in the bottle exploded, spraying across the chamber in a sheet of golden radiance. Broderick hissed in pain as the fluid found his hidden form. It had somehow been infused by the spell’s energy, Blessing the liquid and turning it into holy water.

  The vampire flailed against the encompassing acid-like effect of my Hydromatic 1100 bomb. Steam rose from his melting skin. I was out of office breakroom supplies and launched one of Agnor’s casks instead. I fired off another bash, obliterating the keg and spraying frothy, holy ale across the chamber. More of it landed on Broderick, causing him to thrash in a frenzy.

  “How’d you like…” I started to goad, until it felt like I’d been stabbed in the back.

  I fell to my knees and hissed at the pain that radiated from the top of my shoulders. Reaching around as much as my huge arms would allow, the armour was smooth and undamaged.

  “What the hell?” I snapped.

  I suddenly felt something scrape against the underside of the plate. Whatever was happening sent vibrations through my entire body that even had my teeth feeling weird. I was forced to slip off the chest plate and the sense of relief was immediate. Two nubs sprung out now they had been freed. I reached back again and found the growths begin to elongate down my back. The bones crunched wetly as they formed, and the membrane sounded like stretching rubber.

  “Wings,” I grunted.

  Luckily, Broderick was still whirling in a cloud of smoke from the searing liquid. The timing of my maturing was as poor as it could get. I climbed unsteadily to my feet, and the new limbs fluttered before settling against my body. There was no local smith to adapt my armour. Hilde was still in Kherrash, picturing ways to hammer me flat.

  Wafting away the cloying vapour, I checked Broderick’s health bar. It was still over sixty percent, and the entire thing was flashing purple which had never happened before. The health pool was rising at the same time. I tossed out another barrel of ale and drenched the hidden vampire in more blessed liquid. The grunt of pain was different in tone. Far different.

  What stepped out of the smog was nothing like the man that I’d started the fight against. He was multiple times bigger, his skin dark black. It was lightly furred, like that of a bat. Standing nearly twelve feet tall, his arms had elongated and joined the wings at the elbow. He almost looked like a larger version of my Pteranodon, with a markedly poorer attitude.

  “Phase two,” I muttered.

  Super-Broderick flew across the room, straight through another mist of infused ale. The sizzle of burning skin filled my ears as he slammed into me, driving us both into the wall. I felt the true strength of the head vampire and started to panic. His larger form gave him a massive advantage in terms of brute force, but it also reduced his agility. I retrieved the stake and jammed it into the ribs of his tree-trunk chest. It buried deeply under his giant arm, searing the flesh. It was not long enough to reach the corrupted heart within.

  Broderick bellowed like a beast and flung me aside. I crashed through the outermost thrones, smashing them into chunks. I jumped up and rapid-fired off a series of stakes. They struck his back and some buried to the hilt, pinning the wings down in places. He roared and whirled around.

  Shadows seemed to draw into the creature, and he released them in a wave of unholy power. It destroyed the gemstone’s plinth, the remaining thrones, and wiped off a hefty chunk of my health pool. Broderick powered up again, and I answered with a full charge of Shield Bash. The opposing forces met in a rending explosion that sucked the air from the room. Light won out and struck the monster fully. He was faster with his answer this time and hit me with another assault of unholy miasma. My Holy Shield was still minutes away, so I had to pull out the big guns and rolled a few mortar rounds across the chamber like bowling balls. A handful of torches followed, and one caught a fuse. I crouched behind my physical shield. My eardrums burst from the explosive pressure and the shrapnel hammered against my shield, breaking my arm in a couple of places.

  The damage to Broderick was much worse. I peered out, my senses still reeling from the contained energy of the blast. He’d been torn open in places, the meat steaming. Slivers of the mortar shells were pushed out by his vampiric affliction. Pulsing deeply within the cavity was an enlarged, black heart.

  I withdrew a stake, but Broderick was too fast. He tore his wings free of my stakes and flew for the roof. I hadn’t noticed before, but one of the wide chutes was drawing the smoke and stench away. It was this carving that he squeezed into, using the claws on his feet and hands for purchase to push his bulk upwards.

  “What the fuck? Bart?”

  Even though the boss was escaping, everything was still active including the radio silence. I had no other choice. Using the same instincts I’d gained from my Eagle Form, I bounded from the rubble strewn ground and made for the same hole. It was just under six foot wide, which stopped me from flying. Digging in to the chiselled grooves, I scurried after Broderick in the diagonal chute. The rock under my fingers was slick with blood. I braced my feet and pulled out my crossbow. Just as Broderick cleared the passage, my bolt found his own back passage. Only the flight was visible as he disappeared from view. The crack that followed brought a piercing shriek from the wounded abomination.

  Slipping the weapon back into my pack, I literally ran up the last fifty feet and burst out into the night, unfurling my wings fully. Broderick’s wounded form was barrelling towards the higher peaks to the south, hoping to find the ocean. What he found instead was the boss barrier outside the mountain itself. He hit on a curve which minimised the impact somewhat. I actually heard the scree of skin rubbing and the smear of blood left in his wake.

  Broderick finally understood that my words about only one of walking away were true and turned his ghastly visage in my direction.

  “In darkness, the fate of this world will be decided,” croaked the monster.

  I flew straight at him, shield in hand. Broderick’s dark wave pulsed out across the night sky. I dived out of the way, flying beneath the teeming miasma. He fired off another, and another, enjoying a greater mana pool than I possessed. I was forced to swoop and sweep to avoid the powerful energy. During the lulls, I swapped to my crossbow and fired back. Most of the bolts were vapourised by the walls of necrotic power surging across the night. A couple made it through, causing minimal damage but knocking him back slightly. I used the brief hesitation to close the distance between us.

  I swapped to my silver sword and hit Broderick hard, driving the blade through his chest. He roared with pain and wrapped the monstrous arms around me, squeezing tightly. The flapping wings stopped beating, and he turned them inwards, driving the razor sharp tips into my unprotected back. It was my turn to cry out in agony as we fell. He stabbed me repeatedly, the claws bursting from my chest. If I wasn’t a vampire, I’d have already succumbed to the damage. Instead, I rained fluids from dozens of holes. Casting Lay On Hands, I let the magic try and outpace my continued piercing.

  Restricted by the powerful arms, I activated Wolf Claws and started to tear at the pierced chest as much as I could. The silver of the sword was weakening Broderick’s ability to heal. My undead strength allowed me to tear at the sizzling meat, peeling back the thick ribs with sharp cracks. I burrowed deeply, nearing the black heart within.

  The wind tore at us as we fell.

  The jagged mountain raced up to meet us.

  Broderick gave up using me as a pincushion and phased out of my vicinity before we could crash. My freed wings started to flap again. The terrible damage to the membrane caused me to struggle to pull out of the terminal dive. Changing tactics, I followed the gathering shadows of my enemy and used Shimmer Strike to blink towards him. His own injuries were stealing his ability to remain cloaked. With his increased bulk, he was like a black cloud roiling across the sky. The stars above and my vampire eyes gave me more than enough vision to pursue.

  During my phasing jumps, I charged up another full measure of Shield Bash and readied myself. Appearing ten feet behind the churning mass, I fired it off and added a Smite to the thickest concentration of gloom. The arc of holy power interrupted the spell, making Broderick return to his true form. My aim was perfect and the golden pillar crashed down from heaven, burning the wounded vampire further.

  Going berserk, the unguided miasmic tendrils shot in all directions. Several hit me and stole another chunk of health. My bar was flashing in warning. Without a stake piercing my heart, I could keep fighting even as a ragged, bleeding mess. I continued with one more blink, appearing straight behind the boss. I pulled out a plated axe and hacked at the thick bone of his right wing. Three quick chops cut the limb off at his back, leaving the remains dangling from the connection to his arm. We started to fall again. I continued to slash at the priest as we dropped out of control, his remaining wing sending us into a madly spinning descent.

  Broderick shrieked in fear. I was filled with cold fury. Even with my vertigo trying to steal my reasoning, I used the axes like icepicks to crawl around and kneel on the ruin of his chest, riding him to our doom. My head was reeling from the kaleidoscope of scenery that whirled around, over and over. The snowy peaks, then the dark vale, round and round, down and down.

  We hit the rocky face of the mountain like a missile. Even using the powerful vampire as a mattress, I felt nearly every bone in my body shatter. I was launched clear of Broderick, flopping like a boned fish against the jagged rocks. I came to a stop, wrapped around a thick fang of stone.

  My health was at one percent. Broderick’s bar matched my own. I couldn’t move. Even though I didn’t need to, I couldn’t breathe from my pulped chest. My whole body burned with intense pain, but I couldn’t even writhe. I said a silent prayer to the Damage Absorption skill for keeping the worst of the agony at bay. I just lay there on the mountainside in bits, studying the alien constellation through my one good eye. The other was smeared on the mountain somewhere nearby.

  Even now, my gift keeps you alive, said Broderick, using my mashed brain to bypass my mental blocks.

  This isn’t life, I replied, drinking my personal health potion from the quickslot bar.

  No, it’s better than life! Life ends. Centuries may pass, but vampires endure. My thralls will bring me blood to heal. I’m going to spend the next thousand years torturing everything you’ve ever held dear. You know you can’t perish from my tender touch. Despair, warrior!

  I left the creature to throw out his threats. My ravaged body began to piece itself back together. I was only partially conscious of my jellied legs twisting back into position. The gaping rents in my flesh healed with wet slops of meat forced magically together. A full minute passed and with a strange sensation of returning pressure, my vacant socked refilled and my full field of vision returned.

  My health bar was back to a respectable forty-three percent. The remainder of the healing would need to wait for Lay On Hands to come off cooldown. I rolled onto my side, my left arm still badly injured. It didn’t matter. I only needed one. Rising to my feet, I headed through the jagged fissures of rock toward Broderick’s marker.

  I found the trail of blood before I found the vampire. What remained of the boss was trying to crawl back to one of the solar passages. Broderick’s bulky form was laid open like an autopsy table. Quivering layers of muscle gleamed in the starlight. Lacking any kind of connection, it just trembled with each weak push. The bones were splintered beyond recognition.

  I hobbled around the flattened mass, my attention focussed entirely on the throbbing black heart. Broderick must’ve sensed me near, because he started to mewl and push harder.

  How? Get away from me!

  “No more threats? What was it you were going to do to my friends?”

  It was pained bravado, nothing more! Please, leave me in peace. Or help me, and I can serve you! A ruler always needs a head of the kingdom’s religion.

  “I don’t think so,” I said emotionlessly, walking across the layers of splayed open meat.

  Wait! Let me talk to you, warrior!

  “I don’t think so,” I repeated, reaching down and clutching the crusty organ. The arteries were already damaged, and I only needed to give it a quick twist and pull to sever it from Broderick’s body.

  No! Wait!

  I held the bloated heart in my injured left hand. Raising the stake, I stabbed down and pierced through the muscle, and my own extremity that held it. The pain was minimal. Tearing the weapon free, I dropped the blackening heart and stepped down from Broderick’s body. I let my holed hand fall to my side, bleeding profusely, and watched the show.

  The nerve-damaged trembling grew more intense until the whole slab of tenderised meat that had been the boss was undulating. With a pop, the heart burst open and the thick blood ignited. Like wildfire, the flames spread out across the rest of the body. His fat arms and legs beat at the stone spasmodically, until they too started to char. Mere moments was all it took for the most powerful creature in the land to become glowing ashes that broke apart under the buffeting, mountain winds.

  I spat on the embers, such was my hatred. Ordinarily, I found the act to be disgusting, but this thing deserved no better.

  “Enjoy eternity, you wanker,” I muttered, kicking through Broderick’s dust to find my way back down.

  Chapter 107

  I found another passage and slowly climbed back down into the boss room. The four cowards were toeing the remains of their fallen priests. I purposely dropped and used Superhero Landing to scare the shit out of them. Rising from my crouch, I pulled out a pair of stakes. “Ready to join Broderick? He’s just blowing apart on the mountainside.”

  They all held up their hands defensively and fell to their knees. One of the women spoke. “No, warrior. We wish you no harm.” She looked at the scattered ashes. “Is… is the nightmare over?”

  I glanced at my character tab. I was still a vampire. Through the soot on my hand, I could see the grey skin beneath. Whatever spell carried the infection was still active. “It doesn’t look like it. Who are you? What’re your names, I mean?” I asked.

  “I’m Rose. The others are William, Adam, and Emilia. We never wanted…”

  “Save it! All of you are sated, which means you’ve fed on the innocent.”

  They couldn’t meet my eyes as the truth hit them.

  “I spoke before of a weighting when you die. Tell me anything you know that might turn back this shit. Help yourselves in the afterlife.”

  They shared a knowing look that told me they knew exactly what was going on.

  “Your deaths are certain. Whether that happens right here at my hand, or a few years in the future, all depends on what you do right now. Talk!”

  “The king will have us executed for what we’ve done,” whined Adam.

  “And what do you think I’ll do?” I grabbed him by the robes and dragged him upright. “Did you cause this? Or were you caught up in it like everyone else? Did Broderick ask your permission to bring this virus back to Tulahr?”

  His vampire eyes met my own without a lie behind them. “We never knew what Broderick had planned, but we’ve tasted blood, just as he did. We’re just as guilty.”

  “That’s up to Edward and the gods. A lack of free will in the choices helps out your case a bit. Helping me goes even further in ensuring I tell the king how useful you were to me.”

 

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