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The first look out they ran into didn’t stand a chance as four demons materialised around him and tore him into seven pieces. They threw the remnants into the water, as a thank you to the local fauna for staying out of the way. They would make sure no alligators went hungry tonight. They closed in from all directions, getting closer to the old house. The swamp gave way to firmer soil and Vidar smiled as he saw a guard not far ahead of him. A powerful swing with his axe and the silver covered blade severed the other vampire’s head clean off. Not a sound escaped and Adisa caught the b*dy and lowered it to the ground. They were 200 yards. from the house when they were detected. By that time they had formed into one solid force again, almost forming a solid wall around the house. The once silent night was filled with the sound of a blaring alarm and opponents shouting out orders. Vidar saw the doors to the surrounding building being flung open and vampires welled out in waves. He was surprised to find the trio they were going up against had an almost as strong army as they did. He had hoped for an easy victory, but was too experienced to take it for granted. He glanced at Nasir and Adisa and saw them return the gesture. they raised their weapons and sprinted towards the oncoming storm of enemy vampires. They gave each other enough space to swing their weapons freely. Vidar got into the rhythm of a battle. Duck, step, swing, swing, block, repeat.. He sensed his friends movements and adapted his direction so they wouldn’t get separated. Vidar realised the vampires he was fighting were turned vampires, they couldn’t be older than a couple of years into their eternal life. They were young, eager and there were a lot of them. But they had no real training and they weren’t used to fighting as a group. Vidar, his clan and their allies had been fighting together in one way or another for hundreds of years. They knew what hand to hand combat meant. Their movements were calculated, meant to kill while preserving as much energy as possible for a battle that could go on for hours. If your drained yourself you would become an easy target. Even their rage was contained and harvested into the dance of twirling weapons and feet. Their opponents didn’t know any of that. They saw the fighting as a large bar brawl. They came running full force, shouting and screaming, using anger and strength to try and kill. By putting so much force behind their
strikes, they had a hard time redirecting the blow or changing the direction of their bodies if the situation called for it. Vidar had lost count of how many of the new vampires had got themselves decapitated on his sword because of this. It seemed Popov, Drakos and Sato had
turned vampires like a factory by the amount of them that was coming at Vidar and hist
friends.
“We can’t be occupied by this cannon fodder,” Vidar called to Nasir and Adisa.
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“No, they will find a way to slip away,” Adisa agreed as he let the round end of his weapon crush a skull and then severed the head by smoothly swinging the other end with the blade down.
“How?” Nasir asked as his scimitar sent a head flying.
“Vidar, the demons tell me they can create a fire corridor. If we are lucky it will cause enough confusion and panic to let some of us make a run for the house,” Jun called.
“f**k, that sounds amazing.” Vidar called back and let himself feel the excitement of battle, few thing were as thrilling. Vidar saw six demons pop out of thin air, they had all dropped their human form and had horns that curved and twisted over their heads. They all roared and called forth the fire from the ground. Two lines of intense fire formed with two yards between them. The baby vampires jumped back and screamed, afraid of being engulfed by the flames. The ones that found themselves between the fires sprinted backwards. Vidar smiled a cold smile and ran after them, joined by his clan. One of the fleeing vampires looked back at them and Vidar could see the pure panic in his eyes. It was a thrill to be the predator that he was, Vidar thought. A throwing star whizzed by Vidar’s head and unbeaded itself in the n*ck of the fleeing vampire in front of Vidar. It had to have severed the spine because he collapsed like a sack of potatoes. Vidar could have finished him off, but it was bad form to take another’s kill when there was no need for it. He trusted Liwei to kill the man with the qiang spear she favoured. There was no lack of targets and before they had reached the house, the group of fleeing vampires had all been killed. They all slowed down as they approached the house. Henry pointed at his nose and they all scented the air and nodded. Mixed in with the stench of blood, urine and other fluids there was the sharp smell of chemicals. Vidar had assumed there would be some kind of booby trap waiting for them. Vidar shrugged, it wouldn’t be that big of a hindrance. Instead he walked around the house. He didn’t know if the residents inside knew they were there, but he assumed so. He didn’t sneak, but stayed away from direct line of sight from the windows. Adisa and Nasir followed him as the other three members of the clan moved in the other direction. Adisa tapped Vidar on his shoulder and pointed toward a big truck parked not far from the house. Vidar looked at him and grinned. Three of them headed to the truck and looked inside it. The keys were stored in the glove compartment. Idiots, Vidar thought. It was dangerous to think you were too strong to
hurt. Nasir got into the truck and turned it around so it was facing the house. He had lined. it up nicely. As he got out of the idling truck, Vidar used some rope to tie the steering wheel down and Adisa wedged a broom so it pushed the gas pedal. Vidar flicked the truck into drive and jumped back. The three of them watched the truck drive straight to the big french windows on the side of the house. The crash was loud and as the window shattered,
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something sprayed down on the hood of the truck that had pushed inside the house. There was a clicking sound, but nothing happened.
“Fire trap?” Nasir asked.
“Yeah, but it seems the trigger didn’t work. Sloppy,” Vidar remarked.
“Probably a last minute installation when they decided to attack the hotel,” Adisa said as they calmly walked up to the house, drew the truck back from the hole in the facade. They sniffed the liquid and wrinkled their noses. They stepped into the house and saw the simple. contraption that was above where the window had been. The force of the crash had made it
malfunction.
“See, if they had just installed it on a sturdy wooden plank instead of directly on the wall, the problem could have been avoided,” Nasir pointed out.
“Let’s find our hosts and give them the feedback,” Vidar suggested. They stood for a moment, taking in the scents of the house and listening to the sounds.
“You have to be f**king joking,” Adisa groaned. Vidar and Nasir snickered as they headed
upstairs and kicked in one of the doors. Inside was a lavish bedroom that could have
belonged to Marie–Antoinette. On the large canopy bed two n*ked bodies were in the middle
of a heated session.
“Gross,” Nasir said and the woman and man on the bed froze and looked at them.
“Hello, Drakos and Sato. Fancy seeing you here,” Vidar greeted them and leaned on his axe.
“What the fuck!” Sato shouted and she reached for something to cover herself with.
“How the fuck are you doing… this,” Adisa asked, sounding upset. “When there is a full scale battle going on, on your front lawn?” Drakos shrugged.
“We got bored watching the battle on the screens,” he said and reached his hand under a pillow. One of Adisa’s throwing knives severed his hand before he could pull out whatever it was he was hiding underneath it. Drakos looked at the stump and then cried out. Sato jumped off the bed with a look of disgust on her face as the sheets turned red. A vampire that
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couldn’t stand the sight of blood. What was the world coming to? Vidar wondered.
“This is the brains behind the biggest threat to our existence for a thousand years?” Nasir asked.
“Underwhelming,” Vidar agreed. There was a cold chuckle from behind them and they all turned around. Popov stood in the hallway and looked at them.
“They are nothing. I needed their families‘ influence. But the two of them are more of a hindrance, but since they started f**king they have been too busy to get in my way,” he told them. He was holding a long broad sword and by the way he was holding it, he knew how to use it.
“Then all of this is because of you,” Vidar said.
“Guilty. It was nice of you to bring my enemies to me. It saves me the time to get rid of them one by one,” Popov said.
“Come on, Popov. You have seen what is happening out there and if you say you aren’t as naive as these two, you know it won’t end in victory for you,” Nasir told him. Popov shrugged.
“I have something you don’t.”
“And what is that?” Vidar asked.
“A total disregard for the safety of my people. I really don’t care what happens to them. I can always turn a new army. I will escape through the old tunnel used to smuggle slaves to freedom. When I’m far enough away, I’ll light this place into an inferno. It will set me back at couple of years, but I’m a patient man. I don’t mind as long as my enemies are eradicated,” he told them. Vidar and his friends looked at him.
“You are crazy,” Adisa stated..
“Maybe. I think it depends on where you stand. Where I’m standing, I’m a genius,” Popov said.
“We will stop you,” Vidar told him.
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“I don’t think so. I think you will find that my witch has opened a portal two steps from where I stand that leads to the secret passageway. I’ll be inside it before you can draw at weapon,” he told them. “Maybe my first stop after getting out of here will be to your partner, Charlie was it? I haven’t seen her tonight. It must mean you sent her home to keep her safe.” Vidars vision turned red as the bloodlust overtook him in a heartbeat. Adisa turned to stop him, but Vidar was already heading for Popov, claws extended and teeth exposed. Popov laughed and took a step back. Vidar realised he wouldn’t be able to get to Popov before he went through the portal. He had enough presence to regret his actions as it would place Charlie in danger when they lost Popov and let him run loose in the world. Then a crescent moon knife flew from outside Vidars vision and cut into the leg of Popov. The weight he had on the leg made it crumble and he went down on one knee. The next moment Vidar sank his hand into the b*dy of Popov and with a triumphant roar he yanked the still beating heart out of his enemy’s chest. The surprised look on Popovs face was priceless. Vidar’s bloodlust faded as the threat to Charlie was neutralised. Jun, Liwei and Henry came walking and Jun picked up his crescent moon blade and wiped it clean on Popov’s pants.
“Everything okay?” Henry asked.
“It is now,” Vidar told his friend and tossed the heart he held over his shoulder. Sato
screamed and Vidar looked her way. Popov’s dead heart had landed close to her and rolled in her direction. “I think we will hand those two to the crowd,” he told his clan. The cold smile that creeped onto all of their faces would have looked terrifying for anyone that didn’t know
them.
“Time to put things in order and then head home,” Liwei said.
“Just out of curiosity, is home Hongkong?” Henry asked her. She looked at him and smiled.
“I think it’s time I moved from Hongkong. I promised to train Charlie,” Liwei told him and Jun smiled like a crazy person. The rest of them chuckled. O
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