‘Well, you hold Mira tight, because she must be frightened. And I’ll carry you. Come on. Otherwise you’ll get wet and cold.’We are cold,’ she said. Wulf reached for her and she moved into his embrace, her head resting on his neck.
Mace’s sword slashed down, cutting through her back. She made no sound but slid from Wulf s grasp.
‘You bastard!’ roared Wulf.
‘Look at her!’ responded Mace. ‘And feel your neck!’I came alongside Wulf, saw the tiny puncture wounds in his throat and glanced down at the child, seeing for the first time the elongated canines, and blood upon her lips.
The tiny rag-doll floated away.
‘Who would make a Vampyre of a child?’ asked Raul Raubert.
‘How did you know?’ I asked Mace.
‘Megan told me. She is here with us. Now let’s move on.’Wulf remained staring down at the corpse. ‘I will avenge you,’ he promised.
It was difficult to gauge time within the stygian gloom of the sewers, but it must have been several hours before we finally reached a set of iron steps set into the wall. Far above we could see daylight spearing through a metal grille. Mace sheathed his sword and began to climb. I followed him, anxious to be out in the open air no matter what perils might await us there.
Mace eased the grille clear and clambered swiftly to the cobbled alleyway beyond. One by one we followed him.
The alley was deserted and I glanced around, trying to get my bearings. To the right was the spire of the Church of St Sophas. To the left I could see the tall crenellated keep that was now a museum.
‘We are in the merchants’ quarter,’ I said. ‘The Street of Silk is down there, and that leads to the palace.’Mace nodded and gazed at the sky. The sun was already past its zenith.
‘We don’t have long,’ he said grimly.
Sunlight was bright and warm upon our backs as we moved off through the city. Everywhere windows were shuttered, doors bolted. And beyond those white-washed walls, within the silent buildings, were hundreds of Vampyres awaiting only the night.
‘Don’t think of that!’ warned Ilka.
But I could think of nothing else as we headed for the palace.
As far as we could we kept to the alleyways and narrow streets, moving silently through the city past deserted market-stalls and shops. Mace was in the lead, an arrow notched to his bow. Wulf came next, then Raul, Ilka and myself. Corlan followed behind, his pale eyes watching every building, every shadowed entrance.
But we saw no living creature. Bodies lay everywhere -livestock, horses, dogs. All drained of blood.
At last we came in sight of the palace and Mace ducked behind a high wall, beckoning us to follow him. There were two sentries, hooded and cowled, standing in the shadows beneath the arched double doors of the Governor’s Residence. They were some fifty paces distant, and they had not seen us.
‘What now?’ asked Raul.
Mace leaned in close to Wulf. ‘Do you think you could hit the man on the left?’ he asked.
The hunchback glanced found the wall and sniffed loudly. ‘As long as he stands still. We need to loose our shafts together. Either one of them could raise an alarm. You take the one on the right.’Mace took several deep breaths, then looked at Wulf again. ‘Ready?’Aye.’The two bowmen stepped out into the street, drawing smoothly back on their bowstrings. ‘Now!’ ordered Mace. The silver shafts flashed through the air, arcing high and then dropping. Mace’s arrow thudded into the chest of the man on the right, he stumbled back. His companion turned – and Wulfs shaft plunged into his neck. ‘Let’s go!’ snapped Mace, sprinting across the open ground towards the palace.
The first guard had fallen to his knees, but now he struggled to rise and began to crawl up the stairs towards the double doors. Corlan pulled up and loosed an arrow that took the man low in the back. He reared upright, then tumbled back down the stairs.
We reached the doors and pushed them open.
The hall inside was deserted, dark hangings blocking the sunlight from the six arched windows within. The smell which greeted us was musty and unpleasant, part mildew, part corruption.