THE VROL TRILOGY (44 page)

"Drop your weapons! Surrender and come
with me, Escalante. Do that and I'll let the girl go
free."

"You aren't gonna do that, Johnson. It's not
your style," Jennie responded.

Max stared the lieutenant down and
calmly said, "Johnson, let the girl go and let's work this out. I'm
tired of fighting tonight. You've got some issues - a serious need
for a dermatological appointment being one, but we have bigger
things to deal with. There's an alien fleet heading
toward--"

"Oh Ho! And you think I didn't know that?"
Johnson laughed maniacally with his head tilted back, as he
maintained his sword at poor Liliana's throat. "My father has been
in contact with them for years! They get Azul, we get Earth, and
you all die. Pretty simple, really… now drop your weapons!"

Reluctantly, Max and Jennie set their katanas
on the mezzanine floor.

"Now kick them away, and lose that glove
thing too!"

Jennie pulled the gauntlet off and tossed it
over in Johnson's direction, as they both kicked their swords off
to the side.

"Johnson, you fool," said Max, "Vrol don't
share. They kill, consume and move on to their next victims. Do you
really think that they'll leave Earth alone? You're an idiot."

"An idiot? I think not. So here is what we're
going to do - you are going to fetch that old fool, Draagh
whatshisname, and have him undo whatever it is he did to bring us
to this shit hole. Then, we're taking a trip back to Azul in your
ship, where I'll give it to my father and we'll retrofit some old
Exodus barges with SSCC hook drives. We've already amassed quite an
impressive list of emigrants who are willing to return to Earth to
start over again - this time with true leadership. I'll tell you
something else - if this insane place actually is the future, I'm
gonna make sure it never happens. All of your wonderful friends
will never be born."

"That's not going to happen, Johnson," Max
informed the rotting former lieutenant.

"Ok then, the girl dies. Was nice knowing ya.
Well, no - not really."

Johnson started to back away into the
stairwell, and made a feigned move to slice the girl's head off
with his broadsword, still intending to use her as a hostage - but
he hadn't noticed something significant. As he was bragging about
returning to Azul, Liliana had slowly pulled Jennie's wand out of
her pocket, and had it trained on his groin area. Further, Johnson
had no idea who Liliana was, or what she was capable of - she was
merely a hostage he could use in order to escape.

"Kind sir," the little lycan girl said
sweetly, as she looked up into Johnson's ugly face, "could I at
least say good-bye to my friends?"

"Huh?"

"Electrincantatio
quassatio!
" screamed Liliana, her cantus
quick-frying Johnson's scrotum.

The vampire dropped his sword and screeched
in agony while still maintaining a grip on the girl's shirt, and
then tossed her out into the air as a barrier between his opponents
and his escape. Max leaped in Liliana's direction, catching her
before she hit the ground.

Jennie growled and charged toward Johnson,
who had already turned and attempted to flee up the stairwell,
being slowed down by the hanging remnants of his smoking ball sack.
She grabbed him by the neck before he could get halfway up to the
next floor and pulled him back, with the two tumbling down the
stone stairs and onto the mezzanine floor. They viciously clawed
and punched at each other, with Johnson using fighting skills he
had learned in the military. He was no slouch when it came to
hand-to-hand combat, but he was missing something that Jennie
possessed.

She was full of the most powerful
emotion in the universe. Jennie was fighting with love-driven
conviction, and not with hatred, as Johnson was doing. She felt
wave after wave of energy course through her body, strengthening
her resolve, and as she punched, kicked and clawed with Johnson,
imagery quickly flashed through her mind. She recalled meeting
Draagh, Max, Krynos, Donus and Liliana - the stern, yet kind face
of her commanding officer who had sent her off to Earth of the
future, her lycan training; learning that she and Max were from the
same country-state and had shared values. She saw brave Max - his
awkward, smiling face, always willing to help - and their
near-kiss. She felt love, and it gave her the strength to defeat
her enemy.

Leaping through the air and letting out
a wailing scream, she dive-tackled Johnson, and after rolling three
times straddled him and started tearing at his chest and face with
her enhanced claws while clamping herself onto his lower torso with
her incredibly powerful legs. Chunks of rotting vampire flesh flew
through the air, as he was being mercilessly overwhelmed and
disassembled by the female lycan.

Her eyes were lit like fire, as her
animalistic instincts - those that lycans would train so hard to
control - were unleashed in a full display of indomitable rage.
After nearly having stripped all of the flesh and muscle tissue
from Johnson's chest, Jennie suddenly dug into his breast plate
with the claws of both her hands. His face to melted into a look of
absolute, final terror, as she ripped his ribcage open with a
sickening cracking sound, exposing his heart and lungs. She quickly
rammed her clawed hand into his pectoral cavity, and tore out his
beating heart while he still retained consciousness. Without
waiting another second she stuffed it into his mouth, dislocating
his lower jaw in the process. Then, turning around she commanded,
"Lili! Gauntlet! Now!"

The little girl deftly picked up the
gauntlet by her feet and tossed it to her best friend and
protector, watching as Jennie quickly donned the impressive metal
glove and then started to pound Johnson's skull into the cold stone
of the floor. She pummeled it over and over again, causing blood to
spurt in all directions. As she increased the speed of her punches,
her arm became a blur, the woman slamming the metal gauntlet's fist
into his face like a jackhammer. Automated nervous responses caused
his dying body to jerk and spasm; his limbs flapping wildly about
until nothing remained of his head but a puddle of pus, blood, bone
shards and rotting gray matter.

"Oh
shit
…  Jennie!" exclaimed the
little girl. "That was so cool! We have the best girls club
ever
!"

Liliana shot her fists in the air and yelped
in delight. Lycan children were generally not timid when it came to
scenes of gore, and Liliana took an almost unsettling pleasure in
Jennie's decimation of their enemy's skull - but then again, the
little girl had roasted his testicles, and was quite proud of her
contribution.

The victorious lycan let out a piercing howl,
and then looked down at the mess she had made.

"And I let you win at billiards, asshole,"
she said with a hateful glare at where his head used to be. A spent
Jennie then looked back at her friends while morphing to her day
form.

"Yeah, Liliana. That was pretty… cool."

Collapsing into unconsciousness, she
fell over sideways, having completely depleted her
reserves.

###

Groggily opening her eyes, Jennie found she
was lying down with her head resting on something very comfortable,
which ended up being Max's lap. As her vision focused and cleared,
she saw his smiling face looking down at her, and above him,
Liliana, Draagh and a number of lycans, including Krynos and Donus,
now all in their day forms. Krynos peered over and looked down at
her, with a great, broad smile.

"My sister! You awaken! I
must say, I saw your great artistry in the mezzanine. Spectacular!
I should want that you teach my troops how to deal such damage to a
vampire!"



Max just sat there, using his fingers
to comb out her black locks, while looking at her with the most
amazing visage, his head seeming to be surrounded by a halo of
light - she thought he looked like an angel, and in a manner of
speaking he was one - well, half of one, at least.

"You feeling ok, Jen?" he asked, continuing
to stroke her thick, beautiful mane.

"Yeah, a bit weak, but ok. What
happened?"

"My dear, you passed out! Tanked! You
depleted all of your resources while vaporizing the face of the
arrogant fool who traveled to this world with us," exclaimed Draagh
as he puffed away on his pipe, which caused Donus and Krynos to
wave their hands around in a vain attempt to dissipate the aromatic
fragrances of his beloved herb.

"But… is everyone alright?" She looked over a
bit and saw Liliana, who was waiting to speak with her.

"Oh Jennie, I am so glad that you shit the
bad vampire!"

Liliana then looked at Max with an expectant
smile, waiting for approval on her sentence structure, to which he
kindly replied, "Honey, as time goes on you'll get the hang of
it."

Jennie managed a weak grin, knowing she
had lost the battle to keep Liliana from swearing. Attempting to
sit up, Max gave her a bit of help, and looking around, she saw
dozens of lycans and a few remaining normals milling about, picking
up vampire corpses and carting them off to be food for the
guardians of the moat. Lieutenant Roy's battle group had already
departed from the castle grounds, dispatching the vampire fugitives
as they attempted to escape via the woods past the open plains to
the north, being considerably slowed down by the rising sun.
Various servants went by with plates of food, enabling the victors
to replenish their reserves.

Max held a still weak Jennie's plate for her
while she nibbled on some venison.

"Did… did we lose anyone? Is everyone
safe?"

"Most are well, my dear girl," stated
Draagh, "but sadly, we lost Kangor and Wilhelm, as well as a number
of normals, in defense of the castle."

Jennie focused on the old mage, her eyes
closing slightly, as she noticed he looked more pale than
usual.

"Yes, I shall visit with their families
tomorrow and bring them tales of great feats and ultimate sorrow,"
Krynos said while keeping his voice low.

"And… all the vampires? Did I kill Johnson?
Is… he dead?"

"Oh yeah, Jennie, he's definitely dead. Well,
unless vampires can live without heads… or brains… or hearts," said
Max, "and we're gonna spend the next two weeks just trying to clean
the spot on the floor where you pounded him."

"No! We shall leave the stain, albeit
without the stench of rotting flesh, as a reminder to any who enter
this castle uninvited in the future. None shall invade and leave
with their lives," exclaimed Krynos, in a louder voice, again
smiling and looking around. He then barked out some orders to
staffers who continued to clean up the corpses and piles of ash,
while Donus raced off to coordinate the efforts.

"My dear young lady," said Draagh, "when we
first met, I knew that you would be formidable, but I had no idea
that you would partake in such wanton violence. Oh my, it was quite
impressive. Quite impressive, indeed."

The old mage, being quite satisfied with his
addition to the conversation, went back to puffing on his pipe,
much to the chagrin of those close by.

"Jennie," said Max, "I'm just glad you're
safe. You kicked ass… and YOU, Liliana, you saved us all! I am
really proud of you too!"

Liliana blushed, her little
pigtails bouncing as she rocked back and forth on her heels and
toes while twiddling her thumbs behind her back.



As Jennie was helped up to
a standing position, she looked around to see that there was no
major damage to the castle - Vladros had arrived with the intent of
murdering everyone there and leaving the structure intact for his
own personal occupation, hence the lack of pyrotechnics or massive
catapults hurling giant boulders at the walls.


His confident arrogance was truly
his undoing.

"Liliana, will you help me get Jennie to her
quarters?" Max asked the young lycan girl.

"Oh certainly, Max…. and Max?"

"Yes?"

"Would you like to join our girls club? It
really is quite fun!"

"Well, I think girls clubs are only for
girls… aren't they?"

Jennie gently took Max's arm and guided it
around her lower back for support, as she put her arm up over his
shoulder.

"Max, I think Liliana and I could use another
member. She's right - it really is fun. Ever zapped a cat
before?"

Chapter 27 - Celebration

After having cleaned up and slept for a
number of hours, Jennie awoke to see the sun near setting over the
horizon as the moon waned on the opposite side of the sky. As she
relaxed in her plush bed she heard light snoring next to her, that
coming from Liliana, whom she had let have a sleep over. She
watched the amazing child and wondered why no one had ever claimed
her. Brushing the girl's bangs out of her face, she thought she
would give her a bit of a haircut when she had the time. It made
her sad that she would be leaving their world soon, but they had
their own planet to protect.

Maybe I can visit again one
day,
she thought as she slid out of bed
and tried to figure out what she would wear for the party that
night.

Suddenly, an idea came to her. She rushed to
her wardrobe, pulling out the white leather battle outfit that
Draagh had given her - the one that had started out as a ceremonial
Azul military uniform, and then had been converted to a tango
dress.

Holding it to her face, she
concentrated,
"Draagh, are you there? Hey,
does this thing still work?"