It was nearly twenty minutes later as my wine sat there untouched, that Toussard rose and walked over to join me. He arranged himself before sitting, dressed in a fine-tailored suit complete with a small cape around his shoulders. His face was drawn and serious as he took his chair opposite me.
“I understand that this fight between us is likely unavoidable but I had hoped to send you to whatever final reward may await you with a little more understanding than you had entering.” He took a few long seconds to pour his own wine, moving with an intention that bespoke seriousness beyond the situation.
“I’ve been around for a lot longer than you might think. Many have called me Toussard the Roman but the truth is I was around before people even knew of Rome, part of the Marsi people. We had a happy life in mud and forests, more huts than houses but it was the only life we knew. When scouts happened upon the settlement we would later call Rome it was merely searching for food. Word spread throughout the local tribes of these strange people but no one raised any concerns. People were scared back then, and coming together in groups made them less so.
“I had been gifted by the gods with long life, though I know now it was another vampire that gave me that gift, so I watched as these Romans built their city. I was put in charge of my people, known to govern with wisdom and knowledge borne of my long years, but even I could not foresee the amazing things these Romans would do. Walls and pillars of stone, buildings, it was astounding. No less so than their warriors with weapons and armor we had never seen.
“To learn their secrets I infiltrated their city. I learned much in their military, tactics, and weapons that opened up entire new worlds to my mind. During my time there the Romans encountered my people. The Romans thought most of the tribes they battled little more than barbarian savages, but some were able to live on within their walls like I had, as warriors. In my absence the Marsi had fallen back into fear and vengeance, they joined with several other tribes and fought back against those taking their homes. They drew in the Romans, marching full thirty thousand men, and with barely half that they scored a dear victory against their oppressors. I was more proud of their strength that day than I had ever been before. That pride was short-lived.
“The Romans do not take well to losing… they hunted and lay waste to my people, razing their land, butchering women and children alongside their husbands amid a holy celebration. All those advancements and the best solution to the problem they came up with was extermination. I spent the next several decades destroying them… the man who killed my people, his family, his city. As I wandered the world after that I found many wonders and peoples. A great mountain called Qomolangma that was renamed after a small man since learning the mountain’s name was too difficult for the newcomers. Man’s arrogance became my hobby, affecting change for the sole purpose of seeing change, though sometimes through less-than-peaceful means.
“This is not to say my life is weighted with the sins I have accumulated… In Tibet, I found a grand mountain with godly blessings. It was said that if you hike around the base of Mount Kailash you would be forgiven the sins of a lifetime. Ten times around and you would be forgiven the sins of one hundred lifetimes. I walked that path ninety-nine times, learning every nook, cranny, and crevice along the way. One more trip and they say I would become as the Buddha, I left then lest I succumb to the same egoism I fought against.
“So as you see, this whole problem that has put the two of us in conflict is just an extension of the same battle… the arrogance of ARC to think they could control what can’t be controlled, the ego of the werewolves to think they could coexist peacefully with humans, the hubris of humans to believe they can debate if there are other races on this planet or not. You simply got in the way of something larger than you could possibly understand. It is nothing personal, my work is grander than you.”
“Do you even realize how self-important you make yourself sound?” Hunter stared at the man who had wrought havoc on his life and his city in the name of his own amusement. “Who are you to think that it’s your job to act as judge and executioner of other people’s lives? It seems like in this case, you are the one that needs to be taken down a peg or two in the name of humility. You claim to have led in wisdom but all you have done tonight is hide in your little hole and throw the lives of your people away.”
“Which serves to show how naive you are in the ways of war, Hunter. None of those you and you’re poorly executed assault killed tonight was anything other than a neophyte… if any who perished wearing your forces down were older than a decade I would be shocked beyond measure.” He stood, gesturing to the lines of books around the room. “The sum total of war from hundreds of strategists both successful and failure and the one lesson? The lives of those whom you command are merely currency to be spent in any way those in power see fit. You yourself are naught but a pawn put into play by those at ARC and just as easily dismissed when you cease to serve their means.”
He resumed his seat, leaning forward with a predatory grin, probably about to launch into another monologue about the superiority of his race and the inferiority of mine. That tune was old when the Nazis started singing it. I grabbed under my jacket for one of a couple of squeeze bottles filled with gasoline and shot a line of it right into his face. My other hand threw a slap bang at him, hoping to set him off like a Roman candle before he even knew he was under attack. The explosive hit the cushion Toussard was sitting on and the entire thing burst into flame.
“You Dare!” Toussard was standing well away from the flaming chair, damn vampire reflexes. Fire was a great equalizer against vampires, it could kill them as quickly as it could kill me.
“Oh, so sorry, it’s just I would really rather fight and maybe die rather than listen to you justify your actions any longer.” I had two squirt bottles and four ready-prepped Molotov cocktails saved just for the prince of New York, I just had to hope it would be enough. I stood, turning the table over into the fire and lit the first Molotov on the flames, and launched it at Toussard. He dodged, the fire only lighting up more furniture and wall hangings so I snatched and flung as quickly as I could light the weapons. The two bottles sailed away from me turning the room into a lost scene from Backdraft. I tore the last Molotov free of my coat not realizing till too late it had cracked somewhere along the journey here, it split into halves in my hand spilling over me and the fire leaving a bright burst of flame that likely left me eyebrow-less.
The flame raced up the arm of my coat as I frantically tore it off of me. I threw the offending garment away from me as the flames reached the rest of the gasoline hidden in its pockets. The garment exploded in flame as the heat triggered what little armaments I had remaining, launching it across the room as my slap bangs turned the jacket into a fountain of fire and sparks. The whole scene would have been a hit at any Fourth of July party… after the fire department put it out, but it just sent a wave of curses out my mouth.
“You… you are the best humanity had to send after me?” The vampire’s voice came from a wall, clear of the fiery carnage I had turned the room into. His hollow, dry-sounding laugh rose above the cracking sound of flames. “Truly if you are humanity’s champion then the species has fallen farther than I ever thought possible.”
Standing there, unarmed and unarmored, facing down the wrath of an ancient vampire with my trump card already played out, I could find few words to convince him otherwise.
~ * ~
Lisa’s lungs were on fire in the dark cold of the water. She clawed desperately at the walls trying to free herself from ending up one of Nyx’s playthings. Her stones would have to be a last resort, in grabbing for any one of them the torrent of water could tear all of them away from her leaving her defenseless. She slammed once more into the wall, this time not bouncing off it but staying put. Her body ached from thousands of bruises all over her body and many of them sported injuries of their own. She could feel the darkness creeping in along the edges of her vision as he body screamed for breath. Finally, in desperation, she snatched at the pouches around her waist frantically.
The wall she was pressed against gave way, dumping her out into a wet drainage area coughing up the water in her lungs. Her body shook with the spasms that racked her form, retching everything in her stomach onto the ground before her.
“Now that’s much better, we can talk like adults now.” Nyx leaned nonchalantly on the wall on front of her, smiling at her lecherously. She answered him by throwing a knife through where his head was. Two more flew at him when he reappeared closer to her as she concentrated on getting control over her breathing once more. Nyx walked up to her, nearly strutting like a peacock. “You will make a fascinating protégé”
“In… in your… dreams, Biter.” She struck out at him with a clumsy blow at his face which he blocked easily. She dropped to the ground aiming a kick to take his legs out from beneath him but his legs were as stiff as tree trunks and she winced at the pain. He kicked her full-on in the face, sending her sprawling on the wet floor.
“Seems like we still have some work to do on obedience, however, will I teach you what I need to if you won’t listen to me?” He strode across the room and swung his foot back into another kick. Lisa caught it in her arms and twisted, throwing his form to the ground. She scrambled back away from him feeling around in her pouches until she came up with an agate. The small stone pulsated in her hand, returning her strength and refreshing her. With magic like this, she thought, who needed coffee?
Nyx rose back to his feet with a scowl, drawing a pair of wickedly curved weapons from behind his back. Lisa stood up herself, her fingers grabbing gems from her belt as they stared each other down. He was stronger, faster, harder to tire… but she could make up that difference. She had been the long-shot bet in every encounter she had been in her entire life but she was still around. She had found a way to even the odds every single time and even come out on top. Her hands came out of her pouches, stones clasped between each of her fingers, every one of them glowing as her will filled them with power.
She was still here after hardship and suffering that would have many curl up in a corner and cry their eyes out. She was still standing and as she screamed out in rage and denial and frustration at rushed forward knowing that no matter what she would still be standing tomorrow.