From a test straight to a major operation, that was a huge leap for Samantha! Her equipment was remarkable and far better than what she was used to from special police units, but still similar in appearance. The fact that she was now right at the front with Peter as she ran up the stairs in front of her was more out of necessity than because the Knights thought they were ready. There were still far too few of the Order in Great Kingston to fight such battles, but Samantha had been told that this battle had to be fought at all costs and it had already begun.
“Secured!” Peter announced at the open door to the roof, through which a shallow floodlight shone and sporadic gunfire echoed.
It was after midnight and Samantha hurried outside with her sniper rifle in the shallow wind and snowfall. “Place the booby trap halfway up the frame in case we get any unwanted visitors!”
“I’d like to say that won’t happen,” Peter said tensely as he planted the small bomb. “But with magic, monsters and whatnot, you have to be prepared for anything.”
“Just as Brother Caballero has emphasised several times,” Samantha replied. The monk had been the only one against sending such inexperienced squires into battle who hadn’t even received the slightest training in the art of holy powers. However, Samantha had come up with the idea of being able to use her skills as a markswoman at a safe distance, so that they were not exposed to immediate danger. Thanks to this compromise, she could now set up her long sniper rifle with a bipod at the edge of the roof and use the scope to get an overview of the battle within this vast waste disposal facility that lay at the very edge of Great Kingston.
It wasn’t the Vatican Knights that were currently engaged in combat, but vampires against vampires, as had already been reported by the Vanguard and that was - Tenebrae against Apostles. There was a soft blanket of snow everywhere and shadows flitted back and forth between rooftops and dirty pipework, almost impossible to spot unless they engaged in a direct confrontation. They fought or used blood magic, while firefights took place between the buildings in particular.
“Now we just have to wait for the Go,” Peter said. He took a deep breath and watched the whole thing with binoculars from cover and would serve as a mere pair of eyes, as was customary in such constellations: a marksman and a scout. “How exactly are we supposed to distinguish between vampires and these blood fighters?”
“Blood knights,” Samantha improved. She could follow the action between the buildings much better, as many of the figures there usually moved at a normal pace. “The commander said that not everyone is a blood knight. Blood knight is something like the precursor to vampire, a reward.”
“Sorry,” Peter apologised, overwhelmed. “This briefing was too much for me after the last few days. Too much information all at once.”
“Well, luckily we’re only on the sidelines. We should still have enough concentration for that,” agreed Samantha. She wasn’t in top form either and had been overwhelmed by the flood of information.
The Vatikans Knights’ scouts had been following the Apostles’ trail closely, but with the discovery of Clemént Chevalier, the noose had tightened at this point. Apparently, the apostles wanted to use a new type of virus that slowly killed vampires. However, since such a bioweapon could have unforeseen, catastrophic consequences for humanity, it was the Order’s job to secure the virus at all costs and not go on the hunt.
“All units report,” a man’s voice with an Eastern European flavour crackled over the Order’s internal frequency. His name was Jannek.
One by one, various units reported in, as did Samantha. “Sniper team two in position.”
“We have the advantage,” Jannek tacticked harshly. He held the insignia of a full knight and was the commander of this mission. “The bastards are completely preoccupied with themselves. My unit and those of Knight Lea and Knight Thomas are trying to advance as far as possible without being sighted. Squire units one to three secure our flank. Four to six form the rearguard. The rifle teams can scout out suitable targets at will, but there is no firing yet and I repeat myself - the virus has absolute priority! Once we have it, we’ll retreat immediately and if all else fails, we’ll unleash our secret weapon!”
Samantha was still curious as to what this secret weapon was all about. She hadn’t asked at the briefing and assumed that if she had known, the commander would have mentioned it. “Anything in mind yet, Peter?”
“It’s more a question of where we should start,” Peter replied indecisively. There were simply too many targets, although parts of the complex were very labyrinthine and not exactly favourable for snipers. “I think we should just wait until the Knights are in trouble and then support their position.”
“That will be a great help,” Samantha agreed, her jaw dropping. Despite what she had been told and her previous experiences, she couldn’t believe her eyes when she saw what she could only describe as a fire-breathing demon flying over the facility. “Do our fireballs do anything at all against these beasts?”
Peter swallowed. “Hagen said that these bullets kill pretty much everything, but it’s always best to hit them in the head,” he quoted, as the sniper rifles used a powerful ammunition calibre filled with white phosphorus, which burned at 1300 degrees when ignited.
“It’s lucky that this wisdom doesn’t stop at vampires and fantasy monsters - at least there’s some normality,” Samantha joked dryly, thinking of Hagen. The silent giant had arrived with the troop, but he had stayed with the vehicles as a rearguard, although she couldn’t quite understand why. Monk or not, Hagen clearly struck her as a fighter, a front-line soldier, and this impression had only been reinforced for her. She had seen him take an absolutely absurdly large sword out of a van, wrapped in a huge brown leather scabbard. It hadn’t had a crossguard, but the blade had been equal in length to Hagen’s size and almost as wide as Samantha herself.
“Look at that lump on the roof,” Peter said with a symbolic gesture, “next to the big chimneys!”
At the spot in question was a handsome man whose musculature was very pronounced and whose hairstyle was reminiscent of Native American warriors. His movements were so fast that to human eyes they looked like a sequence of still images in which the vampire was always standing somewhere else and he swung his fists effortlessly against three other vampires before tearing a five-metre-high electricity pylon from its steel anchorage to use it first as a giant bat. Then he threw it like a spear at one of the flying demons and impaled the monster with it, but one thing was difficult. In this chaos, it was difficult to tell who actually belonged to whom when it came to Tenebrae and Apostles.
“And those must be mages,” Samantha murmured, mesmerised. Earlier she had heard from one of the squires that some magical mercenary called Icewind or something similar was also supposed to be fighting for the knights, but Samantha had not seen her yet, unlike the current mages.
Not far from the chimneys observed earlier were a man and a woman turning lightning, fire and ice into all sorts of tricks. They protected themselves against an approaching demon and its flames with a kind of aquamarine glowing energy bubble until it had flown past them.
Samantha had been told that mages in the service of the Tenebrae used forbidden magic and she was prepared for anything, but what she saw through her scope were just two battered, sweaty humans. After surviving the attack, the man helped the woman up and they seemed to encourage each other. Pull yourself together, Sam, went through her mind and her finger came off the trigger.
Peter didn’t completely miss this. “Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I’m okay,” Samantha replied, as focussed as possible. “Like you said, it’s just so much at once. I’ll be glad when we’re safely back at the convent.”
“Me too Sam, me too,” Peter agreed with a hearty pat on the shoulder.
“Contact!” announced Commander Jannek. “East side! East side! All teams - fire at your own discretion!”
“Here we go,” Samantha murmured almost too quietly, pointing the barrel of her rifle in the direction of the new shots and even explosions.
Two squire units took up positions behind the corners of buildings and pipes. On average, each unit consisted of three to five members and their main weapons were mainly handy submachine guns, which were the best choice for this narrow terrain. Their opponents possessed a rather colourful mix of firearms, but at least they all seemed to be human.
“On the roof, Sam!” recommended Peter, and in the aforementioned advantageous position was a woman with an assault rifle, keeping the knights quite at bay. “She’s got to go!”
Samantha brought the crosshairs over her victim and zoomed in on her face. “Target locked,” she murmured quietly and cocked the trigger. Even without all the commotion for cover, her shot would only be a whisper as a silencer was attached to the muzzle of her gun and there was nothing standing in Samantha’s way.
“The stage is all yours!”
What was Samantha waiting for! She wanted to shoot, she really wanted to, but her finger spasmed and didn’t quite pull the trigger. Her whole body began to tremble and transmitted this vibration to the gun, causing it to rattle softly.
“Are you jamming?” Peter asked indecisively and took down the binoculars. He looked worriedly at the wobbling rifle. “... Sam?”
“I-I can’t,” Samantha realised, her eyes fixed on her victim’s face before she put the gun down. As a policewoman, she had shot criminals before, and once she had even shot with the intention of killing, without hesitation or problems with death afterwards. But now, even as this stranger kept firing at Samantha’s allies, everything inside her was blocked. “I don’t know what’s going on, Peter.”
“Shit,” Peter grated helplessly. What was he supposed to make of it? “We could switch, even if I’m not as good as you.”
“You don’t understand, I can’t move at all. I can’t even stand up,” Samanhta replied flustered. Was she afraid of this situation? All the violence, all the monsters? Had she simply overestimated herself? She couldn’t even shoot at the people and felt sorry for them. “There are still lives down there, human lives.”
“The worst kind.”
“I’m more than aware of that, but I still can’t,” Samantha broke off and looked at her trembling hands.
“We need more support fire! Clear the rooftops!” Jannek demanded vehemently over the spark. “Sniper team two, are you active yet?”
Peter looked at his helpless partner before answering. “Our rifle commander! It’s jammed! We’re trying to fix it!”
“Lord in heaven! Hurry up!”
“We’re working on it!” said Peter at the end of the transmission. He knelt down and despite the delicate situation, he took the time to speak quietly to his partner. “I think we’ve both underestimated it a bit.”
“We?” Samantha snorted, disappointed in herself. “I’m sitting here, useless, while they need our help. I’m not working.”
“Because this is war and not the police,” Peter stated. It sounded as if he was only now realising this. “Soldiers fight ... differently. There are no rules here and it’s pure chaos. To be honest, there’s not much left and I’ll piss myself.”
“Then what are we doing here, Peter?” asked Samantha, perplexed.
Meanwhile, one or two painful screams came over the radio. “We have an injured person! We need help!”
With concern, Peter glanced at the crackling radio on his chest. “I guess fighting evil won’t do it for an answer this time,” he said, rightly - platitudes were fruitless now and he dug deeper and more personally. “What did your dad always say?”
“My ... dad?”
“You know, when you told me about your hunting trips. What did he tell you about life and death?”
Samantha didn’t see how exactly that was relevant in this situation. “You only kill to preserve or defend, but what does that have to do with this? We’re not fighting animals, we’re fighting people and ... well, not people.”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“They may not be animals, but the principle remains the same - preserve and defend,” Peter argued matter-of-factly but empathetically. “Just think what will happen if they release this virus. I mean, we’re talking about a fucking bioweapon here. That’s just madness and it doesn’t even make these monsters animals, because animals would never build a weapon that could destroy themselves or their environment or their prey.”
In a way, this statement made a lot of sense to Samantha and her trembling lessened. “Animals just follow their instincts and they are pure,” she said, gathering herself. “But these creatures are neither human nor animal and those who follow them are no better.” Samantha told herself this and it soothed her conscience at least enough to allow her to fall back into her old pattern for the moment - no hesitation and no guilt. “Be my eye, Peter.”
“Will be!” replied Peter, who seemed equally taken by his partner’s new-found courage. “And every confirmed hit is a beer on me!”
“Then I’ll make you poor,” Samantha murmured macabrely, taking aim at the woman on the roof again.
The squire units of the knights had been pushed back quite a bit at this position until the whispering shot hit the enemy rearguard on the roof between the eyes. The Apostles on the ground were completely unaware of this, as they were too caught up in the battle and their advance meant they were fighting partly in open positions, allowing the crosshairs to thin out the rear ranks. The delayed realisation of the sneak attack finally gave the squire units the opportunity they needed to turn the tide at this point and advance quickly.
Jannek took note. “Sniper team two, is your weapon in action now?”
“It is, commander!” confirmed Samantha. “We’ve just cleared the positions at this junction.”
“Excellent! Keep covering this side!”
Peter cheered this action. “Nice work, Sam! Now how about a vampire?”
“Quite a step up,” Samantha admitted. “Find me one.” She did the same herself, of course, with the search also serving as an overview of the entire situation.
It was just a guess as to affiliation, but the Apostles were relying on numbers in this battle. They had more humans, vampires and monsters and this realisation was given a powerful boost.
“At the workshop!” warned Jannek. “Black Orcs!”
The wide gates of a hall intended for the repair of lorries slid open and a veritable horde of at least 60 or 70 fierce-looking beasts stormed out into the open. Their misshapen skin was pitch black, their grimaces deformed and their mouths riddled with tusks, and they wore old-fashioned armour while wielding axes and swords, but their rear ranks, in stark contrast, used modern weapons. Fearlessly, this mob split in two directions, and though their front line was shot down by both Tenebrae and Vatican’s knights, the Black Orcs charged towards their ranks, crashing into their opponents unbroken. They were truly brutal beasts, swinging their weapons mercilessly and overwhelming their targets in close combat for the time being. However, this did not stop the Blackroks with the firearms from firing without regard for casualties and even killing their own units in the process.
“Okay, one step back from the vampire to those critters,” Peter suggested, but he didn’t have to say that twice. “Even if the angle isn’t the best.”
Indeed, Samantha didn’t have too good a view of the Black Orcs with the firearms, but the ones she could aim at she took shot after shot until she had to change the magazine.
It was at this point that Lea, a knight of the Order, stepped into action on the streets. She even had a metal roundel attached to her left forearm, which she used to skilfully block the blows of a few Schwarzokrs. At the same time, she fired at her opponents with a submachine gun in her right hand, while a soft, golden light gathered around that hand. Suddenly, she slammed that hand on the ground in front of her and an explosion, like a crashing wave, threw every charging opponent high through the air and would have allowed the knights to make another advance.
The ominous rumble of a great demon thwarted this, however, as it appeared at the back of the Order fighters, its flaming breath setting the street alight before landing on the edge of a roof and spewing its fire against the Tenebrae as well.
“We’re stepping up,” Samantha murmured to herself as the monster lingered on this fixed point, spitting out fireballs. She gave it a clean shot to the right eye, but despite the hit to the head and the onset of phosphorus fire that covered half its face, the creature did not die. “What?!”
The demon hissed, its body twitching, unable to pinpoint the source of the attack before it was hit in the chest and wings. It tried to fly away, but it was more of a big leap than a real flight, towards the nearest rooftop.
“Come on Sam! One more!” Peter followed the attack in disbelief. “That’s not possible! Die at the end - what’s that?”
Out of nowhere, a sprightly, heavily armoured woman appeared near the demon, wearing a helmet in the shape of a dangerously horned goat’s head and wielding a formidable two-handed sword. The demon was far larger and bulkier than the stranger, yet her backhand was simply enough to deflect a powerful slash from its claws before she cut off the beast’s head with a swipe.
“Kill this fury Sam!”
Peter didn’t have to say that twice and even though Samantha appreciated her partner’s doggedness, these constant, obvious comments were a little annoying. “She’s too fast!” she admitted, and no matter how hard she tried, she could barely keep up with the constant shifting of positions as the sword-wielder plunged down into the streets, nefariously and precisely dispatching orc after orc in seconds. One swing of the sword into the void was enough to create a small gap in the tarmac, as if a bomb had hit it.
This was probably reason enough for Knight Lea’s units to retreat, and the Black Orcs who had attacked the Order turned their full attention to the Tenebrae.
“We’ve found the location of the virus!” Jannek announced to the knights over the radio channels. “Form up all units around me! We’re advancing on the waste sorting outhouse and we do it yesterday!”
Samantha understood. It wasn’t the marauding sword-wielding woman who had persuaded Lea to retreat. There was a mission to fulfil and she would do her part by slaying one of these powerful vampires.
There was no shortage of targets, but hardly any of the night creatures stayed still for long and impressed in one way or another. They could even turn into animals! When one of the humans from the ranks of the Tenebrae was grabbed by a demon that only had wings instead of arms, a white owl flew into the beast’s face and buried its claws in its flesh. As the little owl dragged the demon along with it, the demon let go of its grabbed victim and as it flew past, the owl transformed into a tall woman. Despite her rather lanky figure, she smashed the monster onto one of the roofs like a flyweight and landed light-footedly and elegantly next to its remains, her dark cloaked cape blowing in the night wind. The fact that the oriental-inspired woman was immediately surrounded again by suddenly appearing vampires left her absolutely cold. She always let attacks against her slip by millimetres into nothingness or she raised her arm in defence, looking almost bored, as if she was about to strike a steel beam, before her claws tore the first enemies apart. Her remaining adversaries began to hesitate, but briefly her eyes fell on her own chest and her lips moved. Was she talking to someone? It made no difference! This behaviour enraged her opponents and they attacked her again, but suddenly the lanky woman ended the fight in seconds and she seemed completely focused on herself, as if she had just been given some really bad news, which she passed on immediately.
It was Samantha’s opportunity as her target remained silent, but a new message from Jannek stopped her trigger finger. “Everyone!” the commander said urgently. “Some Apostles have just disappeared with the virus through a blood portal! We’ve no business here anymore! I’m ordering an immediate retreat!”
“That’s it?” asked Peter, taking down the binoculars. “Seriously?!”
“Mission blown, great,” grumbled Samantha to herself, but at least she would fulfil one of the Knights’ purposes and take out a vampire.
The stranger on the roof was still talking to herself when the whispering shot rang out. Suddenly, however, she was standing in the closest spot unscathed and the second shot didn’t hit her either, but her cat’s yellow eyes were now staring directly into the crosshairs as if she had her attackers in her sights.
Samantha stiffened. “We might have a problem,” she murmured quietly as her scope suddenly went blank.
“Problem?! What is it?!” Peter listened and drew his pistol. “Where?!”
“That vampire spotted me!” Samantha said, standing up hastily with her sniper rifle at the ready. “I think she-!” The gun was knocked out of her hand and the force alone threw Samantha several metres back against the edge of the roof.
“Sam!” Peter shouted, searching in vain for a target with the gun. The realisation was delayed, but Peter couldn’t breathe and blood was gushing from between his lips as a hand had pierced his chest to the small of his back.
The vampiress was standing right in front of him and she held the man’s still beating heart between her claws and pulled it towards her through the gaping wound.
Stunned, Samantha’s pupils widened as her partner fell backwards and their eyes met one last time. “Peter,” she said quietly, her breathing choppy.
An immense pool of blood immediately spread around Peter, while his body still twitched, but all life was gone from him and his murderess stood over him without remorse. She lifted the heart in her hands as a demonstration and slipped a metal chain loop from the sleeve of her other arm. She dragged it across the floor with a swish and struck the concrete next to Samantha’s head with lightning speed. All her gestures were aimed solely at spreading terror and arousing fear. “Far away, hidden in the shadows... You felt very powerful, didn’t you? You really think you’re a hunter,” said the figure, whose gaze was as distant as her voice and irrelevantly crushed the heart between her claws. “Allow me to show you the last mistake of your life.”
What could Samantha do? Quite apart from being gripped by shock and grief, how could she stand up to such a creature? No, that was it for her, but at least she was going to face her murderess, angry and as defiant as could be, without a word!
“I see,” the woman murmured, and she seemed marginally impressed. “Humans, stubborn to the end.” Again she clanked her chain loop and began to rotate it, ready for a painful blow. She took a lunge forward and paused jerkily, and as if Samantha didn’t exist at all, the woman spoke composedly, but in a rush. “Yes, it’s me and listen to me carefully now: I have learnt that the Apostles have used a blood portal to get the virus to the Carson`s Climb and they intend to use the Tower`s environmental system to spread the weapon across America. You need to make your way there immediately and make sure you have a working mobile phone with a live camera function.”
Samantha surreptitiously, albeit nervously, tried to reach for her gun holster and opened the tab. As she wrapped her fingers around the grip, Samantha felt immense pressure on them, as if someone had grabbed her hand and she just couldn’t draw the gun.
The woman, whose mouth button was now visible and a phone call obvious, simply pointed at Samantha. “It’s not that simple and every second you spend questioning instead of doing brings us to the brink of defeat! ... ... Run. It’s still a long way to go, but with your speed, running is better than the car. If you’re fuelled with fresh blood, you should manage this little race.”
The conversation was almost like everyday talk as fires spread through the buildings around the roof and the creature of the night almost completely ignored Samantha. She clearly didn’t even remotely perceive it as a threat and even her hand was free again, gently pulling the pistol from its holster once more. Halfway through, Samantha stopped as the tip of a blade was pointed at her eye.
The heavily armoured woman from the streets stood beside her and gently pressed the steel against the sniper’s cheekbone. “Even with all the fear in your veins and the disgusting sweat on your skin, your blood still smells so tantalising,” the warrior said softly and covetously, standing in front of Samantha so that her back was facing the other vampire. “A drink worthy of victory ... when I’m done here.”
“Others are just as close, but they don’t enjoy my trust?” the phoner replied with circumspection, as if wary of the sword-wielder’s presence. “And you’ve already done a lot - now prove that it wasn’t a coincidence ... ... very good. As soon as you get to the Climb, call me back immediately.”
“Kayra, what could be so important in the midst of this battle that you would take the time to make a phone call?” the sword bearer asked appraisingly, scratching the tip of her blade across Samantha’s face, towards her neck and over her rustic equipment across her chest.
“You can hardly call this a battle anymore, Dalia,” Kayra remarked anxiously before revealing her news. “Also, the Apostles escaped to Carsons Climb with the virus and I relayed that immediately. Do we have a capable blood mage with us?”
The helmet hid her exact expression, but Dalia looked over her shoulder doubtfully and the virus seemed secondary to her right now. “Interesting, how do you know that so well? None of us have made it to the virus yet.”
“What does that matter right now?!” Kayra replied, irritated. “We need a strong blood mage, because I’ll bet anything that the Apostles have created a barrier on the Climb so that you can’t just follow them.”
“Sorry, you’re right,” Dalia nodded. She turned her head back to Samantha, and while the fighting continued and half the waste facility was either devastated or in flames, the tense atmosphere on this rooftop was strangely calm. “I’ll deal with it immediately after I finish this.”
Samantha swallowed a thick lump as the sword was unsheathed. It swung not even a millimetre past her eyes and suddenly there was a manic yelp!
Dalia had struck backwards, severing half of Kayra’s left arm and the metal chain around it, but the wounded woman quickly recovered despite the fatal wound. There was pure fury in her eyes and her fangs were completely bared as Kayra raised her foot considerably and kicked the blade out of Dalia’s hand. There were no more words between the women and the sword-wielder growled animalistically, which echoed through her helmet, and a real exchange of blows ensued, with Kayra making up for the loss of her arm thanks to her flexible legs.
Sheer, brute force, that was all Samantha saw before her eyes, as she had seen all too often among humans and criminals, or was it comparable? No, absolutely not! She watched as claws tore clothes apart, fists smashed dents into solid metal and animalistic growls emanated from the throats of these creatures. Women like Samantha? No, they were beasts, nothing else and not even animals! Disgust and anger watered Samantha’s eyes, which fell on Peter in the midst of this brutal battle, his gaze blank, without a future and his last emotion clearly frozen in him - horror.
“I will personally exterminate your entire clan!” Dalia roared hatefully. She broke through Kayra’s defence with a mighty blow to the stomach that you could feel even as a spectator. “And now you’re going to hell!” The warrior gave Kayra a powerful punch to the jaw that catapulted her off the roof and into the centre of a building flickering with flames, after which Dalia breathed a sigh of relief. “And now for my victory feast, little human whore.”
With all her emotions pent up and out of panic, Samantha attempted the impossible! As her target slowly turned round in arrogance, she drew her pistol and fired several shots.
If at first it seemed as if Dalia had dodged each shot, the warrior stopped and grabbed the right side of her helmet in disbelief. “Narrghhhh!” she cried out in agony. A bullet had ripped open her armour and a trail of phosphorus began to melt the metal she was tearing from her head. “MY FACE! MY BEAUTIFUL FACE!” Her cheek was disfigured, blistered and glowing mini-sparks would not stop eating into it. Still, Dalia looked unstoppable as she picked up her sword from the ground and walked towards the knight with heavy steps, lacking superhuman speed and any sense of decorum. “I’m going to ram this sword up your cunt and bleed you like a pig so it can flow like a spit on my tongue!”
Once more Samantha tried her luck, but her target blocked the remaining shots with inconsequential sword swings. I’m with you, Peter, she thought, and as with Kayra before, she defiantly faced her fate and the hand that sped ahead. But the grip passed through her as if Samantha were a ghost? She didn’t understand what was going on, because Dalia blurred completely and everything around Samantha was bathed in a white-blue light.