Lyall laughs at me again. "Then let me see, what kind of fighter you are!" He shows me his greedy fangs before he suddenly attacks me.
I wished for it to happen but can't believe it really does. He does not seem to care that we are still in the cave and comes at me like a rolling stone, trying to press me down with his sheer weight. I yank up my arms to cover the first force and fall to my knees within the same movement to let Lyall stumble over me, taking the momentum of his own weight and force to shove him above me.
A dark and deep growl comes out of my mouth, out of the physical effort. I hurry to get back up and turn around to see Lyall. He is falling over me with such a speed and energy that the whole cave seems to shake from the impact his body weight has to the ground.
I really need to be careful with him. His size is indeed an advantage on his own, but it's also his weakness. Lyall keeps on laughing like a lunatic and rubs his claws when he gets up again as if nothing happened.
"I'm going to like this one!" he announces before he attacks me again, and again, and again. It soon is clear that we are pretty equal despite our different build. It is either a matter of luck or about who has more stamina. Right now, I have to move far more to not get hit, but the way and strength he uses to deal out blows and kicks also looks very tiring. As he doesn't care about the damage we do to the interior I also don't hold back.
The first time he gets a hold on my foot, he catapults me out of the cave onto the open field in front of it with just one swing. Instead of just falling like a stone I make a roll and come to a weak stand out there. The dust underneath my feet swirls up, coming to stick to my sweaty body. To my surprise, I can see a lot of beasts standing around here. Did they watch us the whole time?
They start to cheer up Lyall when he steps out of the cave in a nearly royal manner. "Well, well, where have we been?" he asks and jumpstarts once more at me.
I can't suppress my grin. This is really fun. He doesn't hold back but still, we seem to have agreed on a few rules of how we attack each other. There are no deep wounds, but both of us leave their marks in some bloody fine lines where we were able to land a hit. There is a lot of respect and at the same moment, it is plain honest. I get the feeling that this shows me so much more of Lyall than the talk we had before. It's challenging and I love a good challenge.
Then it happens – he tricks me into a headlock and presses me against the outer stone wall next to the entry of the main cave. All of the air in my lungs leaves at once at this final move and I feel a bit of a spin when my head clashes with the rough stone in front of me.
Relieve comes as Lyall gives me some space and finally placing me on my feet again. They give in and I slide down to the ground for a moment; coughing and trying to breathe steadily. I lost, but I can see Lyall also panting hard, when I roll around to lean against the wall for a moment. I'm not sure yet how to take that outcome.
"Holy... you are like a ferret! Hard to get," Lyall says in between breathing heavily. He starts to chuckle and rubs his neck while cracking with it.
"Good fight," he adds and offers me his claw. I take it to get up more easily.
"Yes, indeed; and you are like an act of nature. What did you say; you've been in your first life? A mountain?" I have to cough once more. Lyall laughs.
"I like that title - Lyall the mountain," He pats my arm in a brotherly manner.
I straighten out and start to brush off the dust on my clothes, very well aware that this won't make too much of a difference. I like that he is acting completely different than I am started to get used to with my current training partners. I grin while licking my lips and can taste a bit of a metallic flavor in my mouth. I wipe off the blood that is drooling out of the corner of my mouth.
"Good fight, good talk," I then conclude and his smile tells me, that he must feel equal.
The other beasts that were standing around us and cheering and clapping now leave the scene; happy chatting and already retelling what just happened. I'm not exactly sure if that's a good sign or not.
In the headquarters, people would be shocked and I know for sure what it would get me: First, a visit at Tristan's office. Then a punishment for violation of a provision and not being obedient to a higher member of the society; but then again, there is nobody who ever really tried to fight me next to my guards or Tristan himself – maybe Eve.
Lyall looks into their direction and grins. "They seem to like you. They favor people who are not minding to get dirty," He still keeps on laughing, when he sees that I keep a straight face.
"I think this new role of mine is fully different than most people in the city think," I look back at Lyall while straightening out once more. "I wonder..." I stop for a moment thinking but shaking my head slightly and start to smile.
"Did you ever consider fighting Warlow?" I say jokingly, thinking of the murdered vampire. Warlow was good at talking and letting people do what he wants them to do, but his appearance was the typical diplomat of the 18th century. Even though his style changed over the years his fighting skills lacked due to all decades he has been alive or dead.
Lyall laughs again. "No, I knew from the beginning that I could squeeze him to dust in my wrist if I wanted to," he shrugs. "It kind of appeased me that they didn't waste time to send a warrior like Tristan over to us. Warlow had a good sense of humor and he was a good conversational partner, but he lacked your qualities," he compliments and smiles.
"Which count more here..." he adds and the statement fades out for me to digest. I raise an eyebrow but stay silent. Who would have bet on that?
"Well, then I'm happy that I was not able to appease you with my visit," my smile becomes colder.
"It seems this time, you were the one, who needed to be appeased?" Lyall smiles and then is silent for a moment before talking more seriously again.
"It still bothers me, that I have no idea who could have killed him. I guess you already asked his female friend?"
I look a bit puzzled at him. "The female companion? She's dead too. Didn't I tell you in the beginning?" I say while tilting my head.
"You told about a human lady, yes; but what is with the vampire he met recently? He told me of her on his last visit. He seemed to be very fond of her and hoping that it's going to be a deeper relationship, I think. At least he couldn't stop talking about her." He chuckles. "Like a foolish teenager..."
"Interesting," I point out. I never heard about another lady. "Did he mention her appearance?" I ask while taking a stand as if I stand next to Tristan as his guard. I'm still so used to that, that I only realize it when Lyall looks at me for a few moments too long.
He frowns. "Just that she was very pretty. Oh, and she had brown locks. I certainly remember her name, because he said it all the time. It was Charlotte."
I nod slowly. Charlotte. None of the ladies in the headquarters fit that description and also my little spies amongst the people in the mansion never mentioned that. I smile; I had a nice fight and now also a new lead. What else could I have wished for from this meeting?
"Thank you, Lyall." I look up to the leader of the beasts while moving towards the entrance of the hidden camp.
Lyall shrugs. "Always glad to help," he follows me while I try to think of someone who maybe could fit that profile in any way.
"You leave us?" Lyall asks taking me out of my thoughts.
"Excuse me, there just was a lot to do in the last days," my eye twitches. "This Charlotte is completely new to me, and I am..." I correct myself, "...I was the head of Lord Blackwood's guards. That's either something that was very well hidden from me for a reason or I got slipshod."
I look into Lyall's face showing my worries. "I'm not that kind of man who gets slipshod."
Lyall seems surprised. "I didn't know, you know nothing of her. I thought he talked to everybody so freely of her and if she's unknown to you she didn't make her attendance to Tristan either, when she arrived in London, I guess?" he concludes.
"So either, he was just boasting or it's really something to work with." I grimace a bit.
"Believe me, I will find out. Do you want to tell me anything more about that?" I would have loved to know how to say this and making it less sound like an inquisition.
Lyall shakes his head. "I would if I could, but I don't know anything more about her than I just said, I think," he wrinkles his forehead, obviously recalling the conversation with Warlow in his head.
"Oh, one more thing, maybe... I think he mentioned something about the colonies from where she came." I take a careful look at Lyall. With our height difference, I may look like a cat observing him out of my hiding.
"Yes? What colonies?"
"Caribbean, I think. He was talking about Cuba," he murmurs, but he doesn't seem totally sure about it.
I snap into the air right next to me with a frustrated growl. Even that means nothing to me. Maybe Tristan has a clue what that all means. After a moment to sort my thoughts I look back to Lyall again.
"Thank you, Lyall, the Mountain,", I say formally while slightly bowing my head this time. Instead of returning my noble gesture he just chuckles.
"Hope to see you soon, Ethan, the ferret," We kept on walking all while we were talking and the gate is opened again for me.
"Send my greetings to Tristan," Lyall says when I reach out my hand.
I have to grin too for a moment. "I will and he will be pleased to hear that we are not at war now. But don't think I'll let you get away with that one victory of yours." He shakes my hand with his claw firmly while my look wanders to my ax in the tree.
"I didn't bring a present at first place, would you accept that weapon as a tribute until I can win it back?" Lyall follows my look and chuckles.
"It will stick right there until you get it back," still grinning.
"All right," I simply say while turning around and walking through the barrier. I raise my hand once more without turning to signal my goodbye.
After I passed it I can hear the big trunks of trees getting closed again. The forest around me turns to a silent place again. I walk back the beaten track in front of me where I came from. At the edge of the forest, I come to a halt as I can hear Henry talking to the other servant lady.
"...why don't you just confess it?" the other maid asks her and Henry doesn't seem to be comfortable in the situation she is in.
"Because it is not true!" she points out.
"How can it not be true? Nancy saw you several times in his room. You cannot deny it; and why are you not allowed to show your throat anymore, hm?"
This gets me curious. Maybe that's my chance to find out what's the latest gossip about me within the humans or at least what they think about Henry.
The coachman also enters the conversation. "Be careful, Henry. No matter what it is or not, you can't win. I heard pretty wild stories about him when the nobles travel," he says with a bit of a more honest worry for her.
The maid heavily nods. "That is true. It doesn't matter if he is a vampire or not, when a man in his position has enough of his toy you will need to disappear and every man gets bored after a while."
From where I stand I cannot see the coachman but I can see Henry starring at the ground and mingle her hands. "He is not like that," she slightly seems to blush.
"Oh no, you really think you are special to him?" the maid starts teasing.
"He can be very kind and thoughtful. Why does nobody want to see that?" she counters. The maid giggles.
"You are right. Nobody seems to see that. You know what they call him? They call him butcher! And I'm pretty sure they don't do that because it's his profession." Okay, I heard enough.
I silently sneak behind the maid. Henry could clearly see me now, but she keeps her eyes tucked to the ground instead and the coachman is somewhere on the other side of the carriage. I lean down to whisper in the maid's ear, "Would you like to find out?" I can't hide my dirty grin when the maid jumps up and I can clearly see fear rising in her eyes as she bows down.
"I'm so sorry, Sir! I didn't mean..." she says hastily but stops in the middle of the sentence starring at me. The coachman also comes walking around the carriage to see what the matter is just so that all three of them stare at me in surprise.
The dust and dirt from the fight still cling to my clothes and my hair is a fair mess, while I'm sure there is still some blood here and there sticking on me. As their looks wander over me they also seem to notice that I am unarmed now. Henry is the first one to find back her voice.
"Are you alright, Mister Vinge?" the two other humans take a secret sneer look at her worried face.
I keep on grinning. "All fine, will we?" I gesture at the carriage and the coachman hurries to get the horses ready, while the other lady brings me a piece of wet cloth; carefully to not cross my eyes while I clean my face.
Checking the moon's position, I figure that the meeting took longer than I expected and it will be pretty close to the sunrise when we arrive back at the headquarters. I can see Henry's look resting on me all the while until I finally help her into the carriage. The other maid takes her place next to the coachman.
I take my time to recall all the information I got from Lyall and to let the feeling of losing a fight without feeling bad about it sink in.
As the silence in the carriage is all over, it starts
raining outside when we come closer to London. It is then when I decide to break it and stop that game of cat and mouse with Henry's secret glare on me whenever she thinks I look somewhere else.
"Do you want to ask me something, little lady?" I start and she nods but doesn't speak. I tilt my head and can see her getting uncomfortable again. It was a bad idea to bring her along.
"Maybe it's better we don't meet any further besides dedicated hours in the salon. You'll get paid for your performance and otherwise can mind your own business. Doctor Johnson will for sure keep me posted if something needs my attention," I nod at her shoulder at my last words but can nearly see her hopes wane.
"Please don't..." she whispers and I raise an eyebrow.
I can see her gathering some courage. "Please, Mister Vinge, tell me, why do they call you like that?" she dares to ask and I can feel my eyes flash up for a moment but try to hold back.
"You really have to ask me that?" I ask back and she nods but avoids my gaze. I sigh deeply and look out of the window to see the droplets trying to beat each other in a race on the glass. I can hear the weather getting rougher and just to prove my thought a growl comes out of the dark clouds above us.
"I am what I am," is my final answer but even I see how unsatisfying that is.
She presses her hands in her lap silently starting, "I'm sorry for being nosy, Mister Vinge."
"When you came to my room, you wanted to know the truth
about me. Didn't I answer that question accordingly?" I ask coldly and see her flinch. I couldn't hold back frightening her once again. Why won't she just accept it? Why do I want her to keep on believing in me?
Silence falls over us again until I can feel the roads changing to the ones London is offering. The path is getting bumpier on the wet cobblestone but the horses don't slow down. I guess the coachman doesn't like the rain and want to get home as soon as possible. I don't mind.
"Mister Vinge?" Henry starts another attempt to talk to me. "I need to tell you something..." her tone alarms me but before I could ask I can hear a loud crack and the carriage is swerving for a few yards before we come to a sudden halt.
I guess we have a broken wheel, but I can't hear the coachman outside. There is also no sign that he or the maid move down from the carriage. There is just the rain.
When Henry wants to start talking again I sign her to be silent. Something is wrong, the rain doesn't sound right outside. I get close to Henry and whisper in her ear, ignoring her heavy blush, "No matter what happens, stay in here and keep your head down." I press her down to show her how to hide before I open the door to slip out.
Looking to the left of the carriage I see the broken back wheel as expected, but turning my head to the right I can see the coachman and the maid both lying on the ground. With the heavy rain, I can't smell their blood but the bolt in the maid's eye and the red liquid that's mingling with the rain on the street betray that they just got shot.
I don't have to look around much more as I can feel the next quarrel hitting my chest. I growl out in pain and the
attacker doesn't stay hidden but starts to swing a big knife in my direction right after throwing away the crossbow. I'm able to get out of the way at his first swing and start to lure him a bit away from the carriage; without a great success. There is no one on the street and we are in a part of the town where no one will come to see what happens when someone screams.
I really wish I would have my ax with me now. That would make things far easier. What have I thought not to bring any second weapon along with me? The vampire in front of me is dressed in a long black cloak, but even though I can see his face, I don't know him or have ever seen him before.
I can feel the fight with Lyall taking its toll already after a few minutes. My movements are not as fast as usual and the heavy rain makes it hard to get a good grip on either my aggressor or the ground. I can't play on time. I need either to get that weapon of his into my hands or to finish him soon.
As I'm still trying to figure out how to get rid of the stranger the carriage opens with Henry trying to see what's going on.
"Mister Vinge!" I can hear her and I have to hurry to switch positions with the attacker as he is about to swing his machete in her direction this time. Pushing Henry into the carriage with one arm I get up the other to hopefully prevent most of the damage that he could do.
I get proven wrong as the knife first cuts half of my hand and then directly sticks into my shoulder. Screaming out of pain I can hear my opponent laughing. This damn bastard cut a piece out of me!
Before he could swing the knife once more, with more force and aiming for my throat, I shove my flat hand, which pushed Henry back, with all of my remaining strength into his chest. It's been a whole while I've done this but I'm happy to feel the flesh parting as my hand slides directly in between two ribs.
He stops within his movement as I start to squeeze his heart before pulling it out, releasing a victorious growl. I can feel the heat of anger within me and nearly forget my pain as I can see him sinking down to the cobblestone, eyes wide open in disbelief.
Even though I feel totally energized and all tensed up it doesn't take me far longer to first lean against and then slide down along the carriage. Trying to realize what just happened I see the heart of the stranger in one of my hands and the blood running out of the wound on my other hand.
I'm tempted to drink whatever is left in that heart but need to resist. If I start drinking that, I'm not sure I will stop there. My head is spinning as I just sit there for a few moments. I need to call help and get myself together.
We use a very simple sign to call the patrolling guards for help. Despite the humans who use their police whistles, we are a bit more elegant. Street dogs are not too uncommon in London and it's far less suspicious. It still is heavy raining but I release a loud and long howl towards the storm clouds above me.
I can hear Henry once more from within the carriage. "Mister Vinge... Mister Vinge!" she carefully opens the door and looks at me first.
"Mister Vinge!" she says once more and I answer.
"I know my name, stop saying it."
She climbs out clumsily and tries to turn her eyes away as she recognizes my wounds. Her try to hold back and not to throw up does not bear any fruits as she turns just to see the two dead humans on the other side. Sinking down to her shaking knees she vomits under the carriage. I have to chuckle. A well-known reaction of someone not used to it.
Then I can hear it. My eyes widen.
"Run!" I scream out jumping on my feet again and another bolt landing at my shoulder blade as I shield Henry. She didn't even move an inch at my first scream.
"Come here!" I scream in the dark veil of heavy rain when I turn around just to fall down to my knees the next moment.
I can feel the pain drilling down between my eyes as my vision gets blurry and darkness comes over me even before my limp body hits the floor. The last thing I can think of is that I miserably failed to protect Henriette.