Out of Time Chapter 13-- I Join a Rescue Mission

Drawing her sword, Tyren crept around the pile of crates. She motioned to the remaining group and led the way to the house. An accursed one shot out of the front door, but the vampire cut him down with barely a glance.

I pulled up a shield. I wasn’t sure I could use any offensive magic, but I could at least use some defensive spells. After a thought, I threw one up around Tyren, too.

A second zombie leapt from the second floor to the foyer, but he was in two pieces before he even hit the ground. I made a mental note never to get on Tyren’s bad side. She was wicked-fast with that sword.

We climbed the stairs, sidestepping several zombie bodies. They were rather bloody, and seemed mauled. I wanted to hurl. Instead I asked, “What happened to them?”

One of the men behind me sniffed. “Werewolves are very messy creatures. They have no finesse.”

Even without glancing back to check his canines, I knew by the comment he was a vampire. By the sound of agreement from the other man, I assumed he was also a vampire.

To my surprise, Tyren came to the rescue of werewolf kind. “Do not speak ill of werewolves, Pierre. If we did not have their brawn and power, we would not be staving off the demons.”

That seemed to settle the matter. Tyren might be short and female, but she had an aura of power and authority. I thought I should mention that to her later. It might help the whole friend thing along.

We turned down a corridor, and I froze. Five very large wolves stood in the hallway. I felt fear rising in me and resisted the urge to turn and run. Tyren placed a hand on my shoulder, and I felt calmer.

The wolves parted, and a smaller red one loped through them, looking very pleased. When the wolf winked at me, I realized that these were no monster wolves, these were the werewolves in their wolf-form. The smaller one with green eyes was definitely Tatiana.

“Are they all dead?”

Tatiana jerked her head and turned. We followed her. I could tell Tyren was not pleased. It seemed that something was not going the way she planned it. When we stopped in front of a quivering zombie, I learned why.

“I said I wanted no prisoners.”

Tatiana rolled her eyes.

“Did he surrender?”

The werewolf nodded slowly, and slightly sarcastically.

Tyren turned to the zombie. “You are aware that Melinda does not take kindly to those who surrender, correct?”

The man nodded. “Yes, yes, my lady but—“

“I have no need of you.”

Tatiana butted the vampire with her nose.

Tyren shook her head. “No. Besides, he has nothing of value in his mind.”

The zombie looked wildly around. “You read my mind?!”

Tyren didn’t bother to answer him. “What is your rank?”

“Underling, my lady.”

“That explains it. Where are you keeping the prisoners?”

The vampire named Pierre cleared his throat. “They are in the room adjacent to this one. There are four of them total—two vampires, a dwarf and a fairy. Stefan is currently healing their injuries as well as the werewolf who took a knife to the shoulder.”

Tyren tilted her head. “Was it silver?”

“Yes, but he will live. I have also checked with our lookouts. They have not seen any sign that Melinda knows of this attack.”

Tyren nodded. “Excellent. Tatiana?”

The werewolf arched her back and shifted back to her human form. It wasn’t too exciting, just a whirl of green light, and she was humanoid again.

“Did the dog remember her clothing this time?”

I glanced back at Pierre. He had a hand over his eyes. I couldn’t help chuckling.

Tatiana harrumphed. “Yes, you overgrown leech!”

Tyren held up a hand. “Pierre, please have more respect for Tatiana. She is the Alpha, after all. Tatiana, do not give him the pleasure of getting the reaction he wants. Honestly, sometimes I wonder if I am not really a nanny.”

We followed her into the room where the other vampire—Stefan—was healing the prisoners. The dwarf was arguing with the fairy about the proper way to hypnotize a guard. One vampire was checking all his weapons. The other vampire lay spread eagle on the floor. Stefan crouched over him, a frown on his face.

Tyren crouched next to the healer. “What is the situation?”

Stefan huffed. “They did not want him to escape. He was nearly wrapped head to foot in sliver chains. Some silver is imbedded into his skin. It’s draining him, and I am worried that I might not be able to keep his heart from failing.”

“Did you give him blood?”

Tatiana made a mock retching sound.

“Yes,” Stefan answered. “It is not helping.”

“So, you just need to get the silver out, right?”

Stefan frowned at me. “Yes, but it is not easy to do.”

Not discouraged in the slightest, I forged on. “Right, because you’re a vampire. Silver sucks at your energy—pardon the pun.”

“Yes, boy, we are aware of this. Stop wasting Stefan’s time.”

Tyren held up her hand. “Silence, Pierre. M.C. is going somewhere with this. He is just simply thinking out loud.” Our eyes met, and she nodded, telling me to continue.

So, I did. “So, you just need someone who can magically pull the silver out without the silver hurting them.” I remembered Tyren stopping the knife like a Jedi.

Tyren nodded. “Correct. Can you do that?”

I coughed. “Uh, in theory.”

“Then do it! He does not have much time left. Tyren, look.” He pulled back the vampire’s shirt collar, and I saw a red dragon emblem. Everyone one gasped. I had no idea what that meant, but I knew I needed to get the silver out of him.

I focused on finding the flecks of silver. They would be pulling at his aura, sucking his energy. I found them, and with my mind, pulled them out. Once they were out, I released the magic. Too late I realized that they would fall back on the vampire’s chest. Tyren was there to keep me from failing, as usual. She caught the pieces in her hand, and set them aside. Glancing at her palms, I noticed the silver had left little burn marks on her skin.

“So what does that dragon mark mean?”

Even before Tatiana answered, I knew. “He is the vampire heir.”

-------

Hey, guys!

Introducing~

~Tatiana in wolf form

~Some prejudiced vampires

~M.C.’s new goggles

~And last but not least—the vampire heir

WOOT, WOOT! Exciting stuff, that! I’ve been waiting for a while to introduce the vampire heir. He’s an interesting guy.

Now, we just have to wait for him to wake up.

See you guys next week!!