Blood-Born

Chapter XI - Water World

"Every dog, we are told, has his day, unless there are more dogs than days." – Bat Masterson

Soft slender tendrils of fog flowed between the moving legs of the growing lycan mob as Clementine began her search.

"Sister, this has to be one your best bad ideas yet."

Even she had found amusement in what Daniela's dark jab at her expense most likely would have been.

But what else were dead sisters for of course.

She had linked the proverbial dots when Poe appeared with Deer's corpse and Pike had reported the sudden appearance of the first lycans through Abby.

Somewhere along the bottom of this chamber she would find several portal stones along with that of a guide stone.

She was absolutely sure of it.

The only question that remained would be how this had all been triggered.

Lycans ignored her shadowed form while they continued to focus all their attention on that of the vampiress Rubicon along with her weapons who faced them in open dare.

It was not long until she spotted the first soft orange glow that began to prove her theory.

Once the stone had been dropped into her small black pouch, she felt the dull throb as it was disabled.

Annoyed with having been forced to deal with the mob during her search, she suddenly realized what would make things a whole lot easier.

With any last second trepidation dismissed she quickly cast the words that snuffed out the sunlight from the peak of the dome only to replace it with a far more subtle purpled black glow meant for the sharper eyes of night.

The result was almost immediate as the legs sprang away to leave her alone amongst their abandoned tracks in the dirt.

A distant shot rang out followed by a spatter of several more in quick staccato succession.

With growing unease she also noticed the nearby creek had begun to rise above its banks.

High above, Pike deftly swapped clips as he continued to pick off lycans while they raced to their doom amidst the spinning blades wielded rather well by the vampiress Rubicon.

While he assumed he would eventually have had to deal with the pitch black of night, the more subtle dark of a clouded moon served his purposes even better.

His scope moved to each target in succession as he blew them from their feet only to stop firing as he caught the sparkle of water that appeared unnoticed at his next target's feet.

So it had begun.

Carefully, he continued to pick off targets more out of mercy than desire; he had seen the bits and pieces that had become of the ones who fell as the ground water mixed thick with their blood.

Clementine frantically continued to collect portal stones as she found them, confounded to not have found the one that she really wanted.

Although she greatly appreciated the absence of any new lycans she also knew that they may have simply ran out of more to port in from nearby.

While having selected yet another stone from beneath the rising water, she spotted something odd: purple black with red instead of orange.

Smooth bone etched deep, it was colder than the water from which she had retrieved it.

Under the current circumstance she chose to ignore the oddity for the moment, instead dropping it to join the others in the bag as she continued to look for the other stone that she knew beyond doubt would be there waiting for her to find.

The water continued to rise as she cast a spell for breath and dove beneath the surface.

While Pike found it more and more difficult to find targets not already near death on the surface of the water below, he continued firing at those that he had managed to locate as the cowards attempted to swim away from the bubbled massacre that continued to writhe beneath them.

They had just discovered that vampires do not need to breathe while underwater to survive.

By his rough calculation the dome had become half full and would reach the observation deck at about the same time that he ran out of ammunition at his current rate of fire if he were to continue.

Instead he chose to plan strategy and possible escape.

Something that he feared Rubicon knew full well that she had absolutely no chance of.

Meanwhile the stone for which Clementine had studiously prayed for appeared where it lay deep against the outer wall as she nearly cried out in victory.

Unlike her previous trip to visit Poe in spirit form, this stone would allow physical travel for someone who had set all this up and cost them so much.

Now she could collect what remained of the portal stones to clean up at least part of this ghastly mess.

High above Pike removed his clothing and carefully wrapped his rifle tight and snug before he began to secure it to the outside of the column that supported the platform.

It was his fervent hope that no matter what happened in the next few hours, his sweet Maudette would be rescued once the cursed sphere opened for those that would be waiting outside.

The water had reached his feet as expected, which meant that it was time.

His body slowly melted down, collapsing into the water where gel hardened and scales appeared as the slender water serpent known by fishermen as the great arapaima slid over and down through the darkened water.

Or in this case a near cousin that would prove far more lethal, intelligent and filled with murderous intent.

Sharp fins and coiled strength pushed him like a living spear in search of targets which he deftly impaled as he passed through and around them.

He sensed Rubicon nearby while she finished off what little remained of the lycan mob.

It was as he churned amongst the corpses and other pieces of the dead and dying, that he realized there was yet someone else alive in the water with them.

The g'ddamn witch...

Now he had a serious quandary and sudden epiphany when he realized that there might actually be a slim chance of escape for her and the one eyed vampiress with him conveniently trapped in here amongst them as he was.

Cautiously rising up to target Rubicon amongst her spinning blades, as an arapaima if he was capable of showing mirth he would have done so knowing full well that he would enjoy what his plan now called for him to do.

Annoyed at the upstart Praetor's attitude toward him, this might just make things square between them.

Only then could he find the witch and save them both.