Page 10 (2/2)
Gannen and Steve were still backing away fro hiet at the in I was alh which we’d entered the stadiuhtened &uht the police had co alht, I realized it was Alice Burgess and a dozen or so vampirites Declan and Little Kenny ¨C the pair who’d rescuedthem
"Still alive?" Alice shouted as her troops laid into the vampaneze and vampets, faces twisted with exciteet in?" I yelled in reply The plan had been for her to cause a persion outside the stadium, to hold up the police ¨C not invade with a force of her own
"We attacked at the front, as planned," she said "The police rushed to that point, to battle en masse ¨C they lack discipline Most of my troops fled with the crowd after a few minutes ¨C you should have seen the chaos! ¨C but I slipped around the back with a few volunteers The entrance to the tunnel is couarded now We-"
A vampet attacked her and she had to wheel aside to deal with him I did a very quick head count With the addition of the vampirites, we seriously outnu was brutal and disorganized, we had the upper hand Unless the police outside recovered swiftly and rushed in, we’d win this battle! But that would hts of victory on hold and went in pursuit of hiet very far RV had backed away fro for the tunnel, but I was standing almost directly in his path When he saw ht or let hi up my mind, Cormac Limbs stepped in between us
"Co his face with his left hand, jabbing at hi you!"
"No!" RV ht"
"The devil you don’t, you big, bearded, bug-eyed baboon!" Corain This time RV lashed out at Corers off, but they irew back "You’ll have to do better than that, stink-breath!" Cor his cool Ju forwards, he knocked Cor, he struck at Cormac’s neck with his hooks He didn’t cut it clean off, but sliced about halfway through Then, with a grunt, he hacked through the rest of it, and tossed Cormac’s head aside like a ball
"You shouldn’t haveshakily I was about to attack hie Cor "I didn’t want to kill you!" RV howled "I didn’t want to kill anybody! I wanted to help people I wanted to save the world I"
He ground to a halt, eyes widening with disbelief Glancing down, I also came to a stunned stop Where Cor out on a pair of thin necks They were slightly smaller than his old head, but otherwise identical When they stopped growing, there was a short pause Then Cormac’s eyes fluttered open and he spat blood out of both mouths His eyes came into focus He looked at RV with one set and at me with the other Then his heads turned and he stared at himself
"So that’s what happens when I cut h both mouths at the same time "I alondered about that!"
"Madness!" RV screa crazily, he rushed past Cor over I could have killed hi aside, I let the wretch pass, and watched sadly as he staggered down the tunnel, out of sight RV had never been right in the head since losing his hands, and now he’d lost his senses co myself to punish this pathetic shadow of a man
And now, at last ¨C Steve He and Gannen were part of a small band of vampaneze and vampets They’d been forced towards the centre of the stadium by the freaks, circus helpers and vaed around the stadiu stand If this unit fell, they were all dooroup I joined hi ¨C I didn’t knohether he’d fallen to the enemy or run out of knives, and this wasn’t the time to make enquiries Vancha paused when he saw me "Ready?" he asked
"Ready," I said
"I don’t care which of us kills hio first If-" He stopped, face twisting with fear "No!" he roared
Following the direction of his eyes, I saw that Steve had tripped Evra stood over hi knife held in both hands, determined to take the life of the man who’d killed his son If he struck, the Lord of the Vampaneze would die by the hand of one asn’t destined to kill him If Mr Tiny’s prophecy was true, that would have dire results for the vampire clan
As atched, unable to prevent it, Evra stopped abruptly He shook his head, blinked du on the ground, unharmed Steve sat up, bleary-eyed, not sure what had happened Gannen Harst stooped and helped him to his feet The two nored by everyone around the Vancha’s shoulder Far off to our right, Mr Tiny stood, eyes on Steve and Gannen He was holding his heart-shaped watch in his right hand It was glowing redly Evanna was standing beside hilow of her father’s watch
I don’t know if Steve and Gannen saw Mr Tiny and realized that he was protecting theh to seize their chance and run for the freedoer Then he looked at Vancha and low of his watch faded and his lipsway off, we heard hi next to us "It’s ti him to come with us, to be there at the end, as he’d been by my side for so lanced around the stadium at Harkat, Alice, Evra, Debbie All of my friends were locked in battle with the va with Steve and Gannen Harst They weren’t part of this It was just me and Vancha now
"To the death, Sire?" Vancha reed miserably I ran ht be the final tirey-skinned Harkat Mulds, the steely Alice Burgess and my beloved Debbie Hemlock, more beautiful than ever as she tore into her foes like an Amazonian warrior of old Perhaps it was for the best that I couldn’t bid them a proper farewell There was so un
Then Vancha and I jogged after Steve and Gannen Harst, not rushing, sure that they wouldn’t flit, not this time, not until we’d satisfied the terms of Mr Tiny’s prophecy and Steve or one of us lay dead Behind us, Mr Tiny and Evanna followed like ghosts They alone would bear witness to the final battle, the death of one of the hunters or Steve ¨C and the birth of the Lord of the Shadows, destroyer of the present and all-ruling monster of the future