Vampire Hunter D Volume 18- Fortress of the Elder God (12 page)

“What . . . what in the world are you . . .”

The silvery Maria responded to her frightened tone. In Maria’s own voice it said, “I came from outside. I don’t know what you’re doing here, but this works out perfectly for me. I’ll simply take your place.”

A pair of glittering hands came to rest on the woman’s shoulders. As she dipped down, Maria didn’t say a word but swung her right hand for all she was worth. It held something else she’d scavenged earlier—a dagger with a blade that was less than eight inches long but preeminently sharp. Not meeting any particular resistance, it cut through both of the silvery arms just above the wrist. The pressure on her shoulders fell away as the hands dropped to the floor, where they became a shiny liquid. The other Maria writhed and twisted backward. As it did, its body began to crumble from the toes up, quickly sinking into the floor.

“I did it!” Maria cried out with delight, and with that she dashed over to the door. The switch was in precisely the same location as before. There was no longer any need to be frightened.

The floor rose up in front of her. Maria didn’t manage to scream, both because of her surprise and because the rippling surface of the ground crushed around her torso like a serpent, squeezing the breath from her. It would take her less than two seconds more to suffocate.

Only one of those seconds remained when her savior appeared in the form of a gleam that split the silvery serpent’s body in two. Thrown to the floor when her bonds loosened, Maria saw D unleash another attack on his foe. Twitching all the while, the serpent undulated, flattened out, and dissolved into the floor.

Maria watched intently. D had his eyes closed. Some fifteen feet behind him, part of the wall bulged outward, and then stretched right for D. At the tip of it a human head and torso formed and arms took shape. Its hands didn’t end in fingers. They were sharp scythes. Without a sound, these weapons zipped at the Hunter’s neck from either side.

“Look out!” Maria shouted, but even before she did, D had spun around. His sword was the first thing to make the turn. Maria saw the pair of scythes being severed and sent sailing through the air. Though the attack that immediately followed split the shoulder of the retreating foe, it still managed to smoothly sink back into the wall. Not wasting a second, glittering figures rose up around D. More than a dozen in number, they represented his opponent’s ability to assume multiple forms at once. Now D faced more than two dozen scythes and swords.

Maria backed away without realizing it. Her back hit the wall. Letting out a scream, she pulled away—she’d been gripped by the fear that some new form would spring from it. Nevertheless, her eyes remained riveted on D and his silvery opponents. If D fell, she’d be next, and if he won—but she wasn’t in the proper state of mind to think about such things. She got to watch as this gorgeous young man determined whether they lived or died. A mysterious excitement left Maria swooning.

However, the scene that unfolded next was a betrayal of all Maria’s expectations. The silver foes unexpectedly sank into the floor and walls, leaving D alone. The Hunter turned toward the stairs, and then quickly came over to Maria.

“Are you okay?”

Though Maria knew he merely asked in lieu of a greeting, her heart raced strangely.

“I guess so. That thing said it came from outside.”

“I heard.”

“Why’d it run off? I figure maybe it thought you’d kill it.”

“Something happened to its colleague.”

“Wow!” She tried to imagine what that might’ve been, but nothing came to her. She quickly gave up. “Well, not that it matters. All this talk about gods and assassins is more than my head can process.”

“But you still came down here alone to look for medicine.”

“Oh, how’d you know?”

Not replying, D walked over to the intact door and pushed the switch Maria had wanted to, this time without incident. The iron door slid off to the right.

On taking one look inside, Maria exclaimed, “Yes!”

Though it was much smaller than the other storerooms, its shelves were filled with what were unmistakably pharmaceuticals. Maria ran over to the closest shelf, then cried out in despair, “Hey, I don’t get it! None of these labels have anything written on them.”

Instead, each label was a different color. Apparently that was how the humans in the fortress had told them apart.

“I could take one of each, but there are just too many different kinds. Damn it all! Which one should I get?”

“This one.”

A black-gloved hand reached over to Maria from one side. The bottle that rested in its palm had a lime-green label on it.

“Wh—what’s this?”

“It’s an antipyretic,” D said. “What else do you need?”

After collecting the medicine they required and putting it in a cart, Maria gazed intently at D. At his profile. When she looked at him head on, she didn’t last a full second. Her eyes immediately glazed over, as if she were in a fog. Maria didn’t realize that this was less a problem of her eyes and more one of her brain trying to assess D’s handsome visage. After rubbing her eyes countless times, she realized it was no use and gave up. Even his profile was apparently more than she could take.

“If you’re all done, let’s go,” D said, already walking away.

Pushing the cart as she followed him toward the elevator, Maria asked the question that was suddenly in her head: “Say, why’d you come down here anyway?”

D had left Maria and the others to go slay the god. Whether he’d succeeded in that or failed, it didn’t make sense for him to be on the floor with the storerooms. And he didn’t appear to be injured, either.

Though she received no reply, Maria quickly understood. Though seemingly made of ice—if not the very essence of winter itself—the young man in black had come in search of medicine. And not for himself. Most likely, it’d been for the three people in the treatment center.

“You’re not all bad, are you?” she finally remarked. She thought D might’ve heard her, but he said nothing as he pressed the elevator button and got in.

I wonder if he’s just shy, Maria thought, after the elevator had stopped.

The doors opened.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in!” she said in a prickly tone that bounced off the warrior who stood there—Bierce.

“Looking for medicine?” D asked.

“I just got back to the room and heard the story from Weizmann.”

Though somewhat late, he’d apparently decided to go help Maria. For her part, Maria was cheered by the thought that there was at least one other real man around. However, when the three of them headed toward the treatment center, the door burst open and Weizmann came flying out.

Seeing how pale his face was, Bierce inquired, “What is it?”

The response was immediate.

“The suckling has disappeared!”

-

II

-

According to Officer Weizmann, up until the point Bierce came back from his check of the area, heard that Maria had gone off in search of medicine, and left the room, the suckling had been there.

“I made certain I kept my eye on him the whole time I was talking to Bierce. You know, just in case. And the suckling was right there. But after watching Bierce go, I turned around and he was gone.”

Jan reported that he hadn’t seen anything. The recovery room had been searched, but he wasn’t there. In brief, the suckling had suddenly vanished.

“Think the god spirited him away?” Jan asked, derision in his voice. The question was directed at D. The mobster remained skeptical about this god business.

D’s reply made everyone tense, the mobster included.

“That’s right. The suckling is tainted with Noble blood. It wouldn’t be that strange for a god worshiped by the Nobility to sympathize with him.”

“You’ve got a point there,” Bierce said with a wry grin. “The problem is what comes next. What’ll become of the suckling?”

“I don’t know. But the next time you see him, you’ll have to assume he’s the enemy. Put him down without any discussion.”

“Hold it right there!” Weizmann objected. “That suckling’s a test subject bound for the Capital. Killing him out of hand isn’t an option. I won’t have it.”

“You can forget that,” D shot back, his tone infused with a new level of coldness. “From the way he disappeared, he won’t come back unchanged.”

“How do you know that?” Jan asked. “You’re telling us all these things like some know-it-all. Instead of running your mouth, you should be out destroying that god thing of yours. You say this, that, and the other thing about the suckling, but hell, you’re a stinking human/Noble—”

The air froze. And while it lay still and cold, a hard slap resounded.

“What the hell was that for?” Jan cried, one hand cradling the cheek that’d been slapped and the other reaching for his broadsword.

“Okay, go for it. If you can, that is,” Maria said, standing before Jan with arms spread wide. She looked at D. “I’ve got something to say here. While you were here all safe and sound, he went to the storeroom not knowing what he might run into and found us some medicine. Thanks to him, Toto and the Stows are sleeping peacefully. Don’t just act like a tough guy when it suits you, you worthless turd!”

“Why, you stupid slut!”

As he said this, he drew his broadsword, which flew up with a delightful sound.

“Damn!” Jan said, holding his right hand as he crouched. It was numb. He could tell it’d take two or three days to recover from the blow. It wasn’t a strike any human could have made.

Lowering his sword, D looked around the group and said, “Tell the three in the recovery room what I’m telling you now. If you see the suckling, kill him on the spot.”

-

Though the sun went down, the suckling didn’t come back, and there was neither an attack from outside nor an assault by the assassins within the fortress. Holding an unsettling variety of murderous intentions, the darkness remained silent.

After eating some of the compressed rations, Mr. Stow didn’t speak to his wife but rather lay down on his bed. The night scared him. He was afraid to sleep, too. Maybe he’d never wake again. When he thought about it that way, it was rather frightening.

Suddenly, the voice rang in his ears. It’s about time I changed you.

Mr. Stow’s body trembled. He quivered with delight. He was ready.

“What should I do?” he inquired in a low voice. And he immediately got an answer.

D was in the corridor. He was prepared for another attack by the assassins or a counterstrike by the two guardians.

“There probably won’t be a push from outside until those assassin clowns get some results. If all goes well, they could get locked in battle and kill each other off. We should just wait for that to happen,” said the hoarse voice that could be heard from the vicinity of his left hand.

Although there wasn’t a single light, the outlines of objects could be barely discerned. And D’s handsome features seemed to radiate a light of their own.

“Sensing my approach, both the god and the Sacred Ancestor’s army reawakened. Both consider me their foe. If I were them, I’d take care of me first.”

“In that case, why don’t you just get as far away from these folks as you can? They might get caught in your wake. Then again, I suppose since they came in with you, they’d be the god’s enemies, too. So your foes would go after them just like they’re after you. It’s worrying about stuff like that that’s got you hanging around here. Not really what I’d expect from you. Oof!”

Still applying strength to the left hand he’d crushed closed, D focused all his senses and listened as the still darkness drew breath. Suddenly, he turned around.

Toto stood in front of the treatment center. He was pointing straight ahead. The urgent look on his face made D turn again.

At the far end of the corridor, two figures could be seen. Mr. Stow and the suckling. Before D could take a step forward, they vanished.

There was a thud against the floor. D quickly went over to the fallen Toto and scooped him up in his arms. There was no need to place his hand against the boy’s brow. Through the shirt Maria had put on the boy after it dried, the Hunter could feel the blistering heat of his skin.