Tail of the Devil (26 page)

“Truthfully,” Nosferatu said. “I believe that since Lilith adopted it, it has always been a ploy for her to ensure that no matter what, if you came back, she would be able to destroy you. She thinks that you will not be able to curtail your anger. This is the only way she would imagine to ensure your death.”

“This is so fucked up.”

“Hey, you didn’t have to live with the woman,” Stuart said.

Mathias laughed. “I don’t even want to think about it.” Mathias looked at Nosferatu. “So what do we do now?”

Nosferatu waved his hand and a sword, not unlike Mathias’ own popped into his hand. The most striking difference was that the sword was as black as night. “Go to the opposite side of the clearing, when you are ready bow to me. I will return the bow. That is the fair way to begin a fight in our world. It lets your opponent know that you are ready.”

Mathias did as he was told. He bowed and held his sword ready. Nosferatu returned the bow and motioned with a claw for Mathias to advance. Mathias took a deep breath and charged, screaming as he ran. Time seemed to merge. It was almost as if he was seeing both his past and his present at the same time. The past was overlaid atop the present like a watermark. He could just see the stone of the old training facility overtop the clearing. The entire thing was surreal.

Nosferatu sidestepped him and hit him between the shoulder blades with the hilt of his sword, sending Mathias sprawling. Mathias landed in a heap on the ground, wings askew.

“Now you’ll know that one should always take care that their wings are out of the way so that you don’t trip over them.”

Mathias shot Nosferatu the middle finger.

Nosferatu ignored it. “Get up. Now again.”

* * * * *

Stuart watched Nossy. They were relaxing in the sitting room. Unlike both Vlad’s and Nossy’s rooms, Stuart’s rooms were modern. There was no ornate decoration, no stack of books that one had to trip over. Stuart’s rooms were decorated tastefully in black and white. He had everything, a large TV, Blu-Ray player, various gaming systems, and a fancy laptop. All of these things were spaced in various parts of the sitting room on sleek black tables. The only furniture to sit on was a simple black sofa.

“Nossy, it doesn’t look good.” Stuart said, picking up a remote. He turned on the TV and put it on mute.

“You have to remember that Mathias, while he has all of these memories, his body is still very young. Mathias couldn’t even do the things he was capable of later in life when he was sixteen.”

“True, but before, Mathias didn’t have to survive a test with the Queen either.”

Nossy shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. The Order is involved.”

Stuart’s mouth slowly upturned into a sly smile. “They are? You mean after all of these years they finally realize she’s dangerous? I still couldn’t believe they allowed her to teach flying here, let alone live here when all the kids are here nine months out of the year.”

Nossy sighed. “Sadly, it really is only Mathias that she hates. Of course, now she feels slighted by the members of court because they dared to think ill of her when they found out the truth.”

“And that’s why politics never should have controlled The Order at all. Too many of them are content to sit and watch what happens instead of acting on things to prevent catastrophe. I would say it was their age, but you are older than any of them.”

“Well, Stuart. I think it is just a difference between people who are brave and people who are cowards. It has been that way forever. And nothing you or I can do will change that.”

“The only one who is worth a damn is Speaker Tallus, and even he has his own agenda.”

“Of course he does. And we have ours, though I suspect that our agenda is a bit more pure than his. The only thing he’s ever wanted was his chance at the throne.” Nossy rubbed his hand over his head.

“Does he pose a threat to Mathias? After all, when the Queen dies, he would be the proper choice since ‘Lucifer’ wouldn’t do it.”

“Unless we went against tradition of having one of the original three rule at all times. Even though Lilith thought of that, it was one of the few things I agree with her on. But the choice to rule should be Mathias’, and I sure as hell don’t want to rule,” Nossy tapped at his teeth with a claw. “But there is nothing to worry about with Tallus. He never was a fighter. He is just waiting, always trying never to choose sides so that if the possibility of him ruling ever comes up, there will be no honest objection.”

“So we are back to the test and what will happen,” Stuart said.

“Mathias will fight. We will train him as hard as we can in the time we have left. Anything else, I’ll take care of.”

“Care to tell me what you will be taking care of?” Stuart smiled and batted his eyelashes.

Nossy cuffed Stuart on the arm. “You know better than that, you young pup. Just stay away from our mother.”

Stuart’s eyes darkened. “Trust me; that will not be a problem.”

* * * * *

The days passed quickly. Stuart and Nossy took turns training Mathias each day. Everything was neglected for training except food and sleep. Gradually, Mathias stopped thinking when he fought and relied on his instinct. And over time, his muscles seemed to communicate better with his brain.

“Are you ready?” Nosferatu asked from the opposite side of the clearing.

Mathias had been lost in his thoughts. “I’m sorry. Yeah,” he bowed and like many times before, he charged Nosferatu. The fight had become a choreographed ballet. Their movements were timed perfectly, almost as if they knew what the other was going to do before they did it. Mathias had just swung downward with his blade when Nosferatu burst into the air with an upward swing countering Mathias’ move and sending him sprawled across the dirt again.

“Jesus Christ!” Mathias rubbed his shoulder and groaned. “What the hell was that for?”

Nosferatu gently landed on the ground in front of Mathias. “It is time for you to fight the way the Queen will surely fight you. She doesn’t care that you aren’t even in your sixteenth year. She is going to fight you the same way she fights anyone else. She is going to try to kill you. Keep that in mind.”

Mathias was tired. Politics, cruelty, and revenge swam around in his brain. He was tired of having to look over his shoulder every time he turned around. It had all been about her, and it was about her again. It wouldn’t stop until she was dead, but he wasn’t allowed to do anything to her. He didn’t care what other people thought. He had to fight to survive. There was no other choice. If he got the chance, he would kill her, whether Nossy liked it or not.

He picked himself up off the dirt and returned to the opposite side of the clearing and bowed.

* * * * *

Nosferatu saw the coldness in the young creature’s eyes and felt that he had finally come home. Now, this was the Mathias he knew. He returned the bow, Mathias charged. The speed with which he struck was incredible. Nosferatu did everything he could to counter the attack, but it was as if Mathias grew before his eyes. With every strike and every step, Mathias grew into the visage of the friend, warrior, tyrant, and King he knew so well.

He flew through the air to try to create a break from the attack, but Mathias followed. He flew backwards, keeping his eyes on his opponent. Mathias flew through the air with the speed and the grace of a master. Nosferatu slammed into a tree from behind and flapped his wings to keep himself aloft. Mathias pinned him against the tree, holding him by his throat.

* * * * *

Nosferatu struck, slicing downward. Mathias blocked the sword with the top of his wing- allowing the blade to cut deep. He flapped his broken wing backwards causing the sword to fall to the ground. Mathias brought up his sword and held it to Nosferatu’s neck, letting the blade cut into the elder vampire’s skin. Blood fell to the ground, gently spattering the dirt.

“Like that?” the new Mathias asked.

Nosferatu swallowed. “Yes... Exactly.”

Mathias let Nosferatu loose and they landed softly on the ground; the dirt of the clearing wasn’t even disturbed. Mathias noticed something odd was going on. He was standing flat on the ground, but he seemed to tower over his mentor. “What... what happened?”

Nosferatu shook his head. “I honestly do not know. I have never seen anything like that before.” Nosferatu grabbed Mathias’ wing and spread it out fully. He readjusted the placement of the bone and allowed it to knit back together before releasing it.

Mathias walked over and sat down on the log. “I thought that I was only supposed to age on the New Year?”

Nosferatu nodded. “I have been alive for a very, very long time. My only explanation is that with the stress you’ve been under, maybe the magic within you sensed the danger coming and decided to give you every advantage by aging you now. It is a mystery.”

“So what, I’m old?” Mathias then noticed that his voice was deeper.

“Not old, you have just finished your development into adulthood.”

Mathias rolled his eyes. “But what does that mean exactly?”

“It means that you have physically gone through all of puberty and your final vampiric transformation early. Nothing more.” Nosferatu joined Mathias on the log.

“This is so screwed up.” Mathias stared off into space.

“Mathias, look at me,” Nosferatu waited until Mathias turned his head in his direction. “The world is an imperfect place. I have seen vampire children reach maturity at a physical age when they are only seventeen years old. In your case, you just did it a few years early. Look at this as the blessing it is. You will be operating as one hell of a surprise for the Queen. But remember what I said, whatever you do, do not kill her.”

“Just one question, Nosferatu.”

“Yes.”

“Are you a member of The Order?”

Nosferatu smiled. “Anyone who is of royal blood is a member. But there are terms, and certain members sit on the board of The Order for certain amounts of time. Right now, our family is being represented by Stuart.”

“So now what?”

“We prepare.”

* * * * *

Over the final days before the test, Mathias was kept in Nosferatu’s rooms except for training. Training was now being conducted in a room that Nossy had created to the exact specifications of the Ring of Immortality.

Mathias was scared. He knew how to fight. He knew how to conquer pain. But the Queen had been the one to overpower him before. If luck was on his side, all of it would end up being enough.

“Mathias?” Nosferatu called from his sitting room.

Mathias walked in, pushed a stack of books off a nearby chair, and sat down. “What’s up?”

“With tomorrow being the test, Vlad and I... well, thought that this last night should be something special. No matter what happens, know that we are with you.”

Mathias swallowed hard. “That’s good to know.”

“So go get on something comfortable. Get out of your training clothes. Then we’ll blink over.”

“Huh?”

Nosferatu looked at the six foot six tall man with the flowing black hair, sapphire eyes, and laughed. “Mathias, you know what blinking is. You’ve seen me do it enough. Basically, it means to make something happen or appear. Being fully grown, you will now be able to do it. You simply think about what it is you want or what it is you want to do, and it happens. That’s how I open doors and call items to me.”

Mathias looked at Nosferatu like he’d just swallowed a turtle. “Well, what’s with all the hand waving?”

Nosferatu laughed. “Nothing really. I just always thought it looked better that way.”