Chapter 59

Sonja locked eyes with the master of the gate, a burly lycan slave whose bare chest was liberally adorned with battle scars. His valiancy in holding back the werewolf hordes had earned him a privileged status second only to Lucian's. He stood to one side of a massive steel bolt, shrewdly keeping his silence while his superiors quarreled. He lowered his head before Sonja's gaze. "Gatemaster!" she commanded. "Do your duty!"

The obedient slave drew back the bolt and pulled open the ponderous double doors that served as the castle's last line of defense. The portcullis beyond rose slowly until nothing lay between Sonja and the lowered drawbridge beyond. Thick fog hid the winding road leading down the side of the mountain. The untamed wilderness rose to meet the lower slopes of the hill. Her sword at the ready, she spurred Hecate onward. The horse's hooves thundered across the drawbridge, followed by the other two Death Dealers on their steeds.

Tanis sullenly watched them depart, his ego still smarting from Sonja's brusque and insulting treatment. She might not be so arrogant, he thought sourly, if she knew that her sordid little secret is mine to expose. He looked forward to flaunting that knowledge in her face someday soon. When the time is right.

Turning away from the gate, he found Lucian standing only a few feet away. A loaded crossbow, perhaps the same one he had employed to save Sonja the night before, resided in the lycan's grip. He stared after the galloping horsemen with a look of obvious concern. Tanis remembered an old adage. Speak of the wolf and you will see his teeth. He could not resist taunting the foolhardy slave a bit. "Careful, blacksmith," he whispered in an insinuating tone. "Lest your eyes betray your secret."

Lucian's was not startled, but there some concern in his face and that was a thing of beauty.

Tanis savored the worried look that came over the other man's face as the scribe casually turned his back on Lucian and strolled back toward the keep and thought, "Let him wonder what I could possibly know, and whom I might tell."

No doubt such questions would prey cruelly on Lucian's mind. As well they should. It was the least the filthy lycan deserved for presuming to dally with one of his betters.

But he scared and stopped in place, when he saw glowing emerald eyes in shadows and out came Lord Hadrian.

Tanis gulped in fear,"Lord Victor is calling for me."

Hadrian nodded and passing by him whispered,"Tell anyone about Lucian and Sonja, I will torture your soul till it is destroyed."

Tanis gulped and scampered away, Tanis was scared of Lord Hadrian than Victor, he also heard tales about Hadrian magic. So he didn't want such man was power to be his enemy.

Sonja heard the carriage trundling through the fog before she caught sight of it. She and her men met the envoy at a crossroads along a lonely forest trail that reminded her of her thrilling adventure the night before. The driver of the coach started in alarm at the sound of their hooves, then relaxed at the sight of the armored trio. He slowed the carriage to a halt, giving his weary horses a muchneeded rest. Sonja did not envy the poor animals the task of having to pull the heavy, steel-plated carriage over these bumpy roads. She pulled up to the coach and greeted the two Death Dealers escorting the delegation. The was just the first of several caravans expected this evening. "I thought you could use some company."

The knights looked grateful for the reinforcements.These woods could be perilous at night, as she knew better than most. A pair of wide green eyes peered from a narrow slit in the side of the carriage; from the look of them, the eyes belonged to a frightened young girl on the cusp of womanhood. Sonja removed her helmet and smiled tightly at the girl, hoping to reassure her, before circling the caravan. The sight of the hooded prisoners chained to the rear of the carriage brought a scowl to her face.

The mortals were doubtless intended as gifts for her father, but that hardly excused such reprehensible treatment. Her love for Lucian had opened her eyes to the often cruel inequities of the world they lived in.

For all she knew, these unfortunate slaves no more deserved such abuse than Lucian himself. When I become an Elder, she resolved, such injustices will not he permitted.

For now, however, the best she could do was see to it that they reached the castle in one piece. Her eyes scanned the shadowy wilderness surrounding them. A thick gray mist drifted through the underbrush, obscuring her vision. A wind rustled the shrubs and branches. Nothing stirred in the brush. Clouds drifted past the moon and stars.

All seemed in order, and yet… One of the Death Dealers, a grizzled veteran named Ivan, sat up straight up in his saddle. His head swiveled to the right, as though he had heard something from the encroaching woods. His hand went to the hilt of his sword. A note of alarm crept into his voice. "Milady?"

Sonja peered into the darkness. Lucian's ominous warning echoed in her memory. Perhaps she should not have dismissed his fears so readily?

The shackled slaves grew restive, perhaps sensing a change in the atmosphere. Muffled cries and whimpers escaped their hoods. Fear showed in the bulging eyes of the girl in the carriage. Ardent prayers issued from inside the armored coach. I don't like this, Sonja thought. Her eyes had yet to detect any obvious threat, but she felt a distinct presentiment of impending doom. The sooner they left these accursed woods, the better she would feel. "Get it moving."

Before the procession could start rolling again, however, a blood-chilling howl shattered the tranquil stillness of the night. Adrenaline rushed through her veins. Her eyes widened. Hellfire, she cursed, experiencing an unwanted sense of what the Franks called déjà vu. Her voice rang out urgently. "FORM UP!"

All five Death Dealers spread out to establish a defensive ring around the carriage, with Sonja taking up a position near the head of the wagon. Hecate whinnied in alarm and Sonja took a moment to try to calm the worried destrier. Inspecting their meager forces, she wished that she had brought a larger complement of soldiers. Forgive me, Lucian, she thought. "I should have paid more heed to your warnings."

She wondered if she would see her lover and mentor figure again.

Lucian paced restlessly in the courtyard. His eyes probed the fog beyond the gate for any sign of Sonja's return. He listened anxiously for the sound of hoof-beats or the clatter of a rolling carriage. Assorted Death Dealers and courtiers milled about by the gateway, waiting to welcome the mortal delegation upon their arrival. Viktor and the High Council were notably absent; no doubt they considered it beneath their dignity to wait in attendance upon mere mortals. Any visitor to the castle was required to present themselves to the Elder and his illustrious court instead. They would be escorted into the great hall at Viktor's convenience and not a moment before.

Just as well, Lucian thought, grateful for Viktor's absence. Lucian threw back his head, straining his ears to make out the disturbing sound, which nobody else in the courtyard seemed to have noticed yet. He sniffed the air. Was that a howl he heard? And the smell of a hungry beast?

"No," he whispered. His heart sank. He knew with certainty that his apprehensions had been fulfilled. Sonja was in danger.

mud-covered claw erupted from the floor of the forest. Razor-sharp talons sank into the leg of Ivan's horse, grabbing onto it with preternatural strength. The Death Dealer swore in surprise, and the horse neighed in panic, as his steed was yanked violently to the ground as though being sucked into a mire of voracious quicksand. Hundreds of pounds of screaming horseflesh hit the earth with a thunderous impact. Ivan was thrown from his saddle. His armor crashed loudly against the rocky soil. What's happening? Sonja thought in confusion. Her helmet slipped from her fingers, ringing out as it bounced off a nearby boulder. Shocked by this sudden turn of events, she barely noticed its loss. I don't understand! The stallion's collapse panicked the horses drawing the carriage. They backed away fearfully, shoving the entire coach backward. A back wheel slipped into a deep rut at the edge of the road and the carriage lurched to one side. Fragile bodies smacked against the interior of the toppled coach. The girl and her family shrieked in fright. The driver shouted uselessly at the distraught horses. "God preserve us!" the nameless maiden cried out. "I don't want to die!" Unlike the Death Dealer's armored destriers, the carriage horses were not trained to ignore the tumult of battle. Gnashing at their bits, the frenzied animals thrashed wildly in their frantic desire to escape the terror that seemed to have struck out of nowhere. They tugged at their restraints until, with a resounding crack, the harness rod snapped in two. The reins were yanked from the driver's grip as the terrified team bolted for safety, leaving the stranded carriage behind. The horses vanished into the fog but did not get far. Seconds later, a cacophony of savage growls and agonized wails made the team's gruesome demise horribly clear to anyone with ears. The doomed horses sounded as though they were being ripped apart by bloodthirsty fangs and claws. Which was precisely the case. The death cries of the butchered horses did not escape Lucian's keen ears. He realized at once that Sonja and her companions were only moments away from suffering the same fate. He ran up to the nearest Death Dealer and shouted urgently."Get your men out there, NOW!"

The vampire looked puzzled, and vaguely annoyed, to be addressed so by a mere lycan.

Lucian realized to his dismay that no one else had heard the howling yet. The Death Dealers exchanged puzzled looks between themselves, confused by the blacksmith's intemperate outburst. No one was taking him seriously. Fools! he thought angrily. What's the matter with you? Can't you hear them dying?

"Down, boy!" Kosta rode up on his horse and snatched the crossbow from Lucian's hands. He sat lazily astride the great black stallion. "I think your leash is too tight." His silver-tipped bullwhip was coiled at his side. He fingered the grip of the lash as he glowered at Lucian. The scornful look in his eyes made it clear that he had not forgotten yesterday's confrontation. He appeared eager for an excuse to teach the upstart lycan a lesson. "Step ba—"

"There are too many of them!" Lucian shouted. He tried desperately to make the sneering overseer understand.

"They'll be massacred!" But Kosta merely snarled and grabbed onto his whip. Lucian realized that there was no reasoning with the man, nor time enough to bandy words with the uncomprehending Death Dealers. Without a second to lose, he leapt at Kosta and knocked the startled overseer from his saddle. The vampire grunted in pain as he landed hard upon the pavement. Moving swiftly, before any of the other Death Dealers could stop him, Lucian took Kosta's place within the saddle. He thrust his boots into the stirrups and spurred the steed with his heels. Although he had seldom ridden a horse before, the stallion got the message. It took off at a gallop, nearly trampling a cluster of vampires lingering before the gate.

A Death Dealer raised his sword in surprise and Lucian snatched the weapon from the vampire's hand. His other fist held onto the reins for dear life as the horse raced out of the courtyard.

"Stop him!" Kosta hollered in rage. "Don't let him get away!"

Lucian half expected to feel a crossbow bolt strike him in the back at any moment, but apparently the disorganized Death Dealers were too taken aback by the lycan's unexpected move to respond with the necessary promptness.

Lucian was well beyond the drawbridge, and out of range of the castle's archers, before anyone fully grasped what had just occurred. The horse's racing hooves tore up the ground beneath them.

While Hadrian came back after threatening Tanis, noticed the commotion in courtyard and

A damp, clammy fog enveloped both horse and rider. He didn't even look back. Nothing mattered now but getting to Sonja in time. The ferocious sounds of battle filled his ears, driving him onward. He kicked savagely at the stallion's flanks. Hold on, Sonja! he pleaded silently. His heart pounded in his chest. I'm coming!

As Hadrian vanished, he was engulfed by a swirling vortex of translucent haze, his form twisting and contorting in the chaos. The air crackled with energy, a deafening rush drowning out all other sound. Then, with a sudden snap, he was gone.