Prince of House Vladd

PRINCE OF HOUSE VLADD

CHAPTER 7

BOOK 2

BY ARTHUR

The moon was still bright in the night sky when Peter and his folk arrived at the edge of the jungle by the side of the road, to their left they could hear the nearby rumble of vehicle motors and the chatter of careless troops, Peter whispered into his throat mic and the folk melted back into the cover of the trees then, they all moved soundlessly towards the noise of the invaders.

As they moved in the cover of the dense trees, Peter took an estimate of the troops on the road, it was obvious by the actions of the invaders that the guide boy had done his disappearing act, at the moment the lead troops were stalled in the middle of the dirt road, a small group were in conference with maps open on the road in front of them, Peter whispered more instructions into his mic.

The column looked to be made up of over three hundred men, some were naturally on alert while others were lounging close to the vehicles, glad of the short break in their pursuit of the city limits, none suspected they were under observation from the thick tree line.

Peter judged that they were now only a few miles from the city in a straight line, the troops however had another two miles of road and then the long trudge through the jungle on small side tracks, Peter was going to make sure they would never have to make that long walk.

Peter and Swiftwing came up level with the command group, once again checking their weapons they then both stepped boldly out onto the road right beside the group of officers, making no sound it was moments before the small group noticed they were no longer alone, with a start they all looked up when Peter gave a small artificial cough.

As the leader spoke up, Peter realised he was from the North and not one of the Latin gangs that had made up most of the last group, these were well trained men that had a purpose, Peter stepped quietly forward and looked the leader in the eye, he also quickly read the mans mind and saw the picture of the rest of the invasion plan.

"Major Sutton, this is your only warning, take your men back North and you'll be allowed to leave unharmed, if you continue on your way, there will be no survivors, this is your only warning."

Peter and Swiftwing used their superior speed and backed into the dark trees once again, all the invaders saw was a blur and the two teens disappeared before a word could be directed at them, everything had happened so fast the group of officers were still not sure they had seen it but the words seemed to hang in the air, even after the figures had somehow disappeared into the very darkness of the night.

"What the fuck was that?" Major Sutton asked his circle of officers.

"Not sure, Major, looked like a couple of kids." A Captain replied.

"Out here, what the fuck are they doing out here, this is a war zone, no place for kids, send a couple of men to find them and bring them back, one of them looked like a local Indian but the other was definitely a white boy, go find them."

"Yes Sir." The Captain replied as he turned and called for three men to go and search for the boys.

Major Sutton turned back to the map and GPS he had been studying as the three men disappeared into the dark trees where the boys had gone, he had more important things to do than worry about a couple of kids, five minutes later only a single shot in the darkness told of the men's position in the thick trees, another five minutes went by and there was still no sign of the men, from the depths of the trees and young voice echoed through the dark night.

"Times up; Major."

Suddenly, from both sides of the road appeared a horde of young teens and boys, most were armed with long Samurai swords, a few had pistols and one of the Indians had two strange looking knife blades on short sticks. Major Sutton had time to think of an old joke about bringing a knife to a gun fight but, in the blink of an eye, Major Sutton's men were in a fight for their lives.

Shots began to ring out in the night air, screams and curses filled the long line of trucks on the road as young teens appeared among them with swords and began to take a terrible toll of those to slow to re-act, which was all of them, the deep growl of the Canines could be heard above the sound of automatic fire along with the higher pitched screams of the Felines as they attacked with the speed that their abilities gave them.

Major Sutton had pulled as many men into a semi circle around the command vehicle as he could gather, the sounds of mayhem along the length of the road grew as another form of teens seemed to fade in and out of sight, their speed and movements were hard to follow with the human eye, they were all armed with the Japanese swords which became whirling, flashing silver lengths of death.

Major Sutton and his men gathered around the lead vehicles tried in desperation to fire into the attacking teens, many times he was sure they had hit their target but there seemed to be no effect as the target just continued on with his attack, seemingly ignoring the hole in his young body.

As his men dropped from the slashing and twisting swords and knives of the attacking youths, Major Sutton began to realise they were up against something or someone that was not human, unfortunately for him, this realisation came to late to save his men.

Sutton watched and saw that occasionally there was a small victory, one trooper had used his sidearm just as the life force was ripped from his body by a huge wolf, the trooper managed, with his last dying breath, to pull the trigger of his automatic as it was placed under the wolfs jaw, the wolfs head exploded and both went down together, neither of them moved again as the fight went on around them.

The dark night was filled with the sounds of battle, the scent of blood hung heavy in the air as the troops were slowly decimated by the unearthly teens, the loud chatter of automatic weapons filled the night along with the screams of dying men, Major Sutton didn't have time to watch all of the slaughter, he had his own hands full with the attackers that were descending on his small group of officers.

When it came to hand to hand combat, his superbly trained men were no contest to the speed and strength of the youths, his men looked slow like old men when they came into contact with the strange youths, it wasn't until four of the youths came closer to his small command post that Major Sutton got a really good look at the youths, he then became really afraid, all his long forgotten nightmares came back to him, the four youths coming towards his post were directly from his own nightmares.

The two teens that had warned him earlier were in the lead, they moved like molten lava but a lot faster, just behind them were what looked like twin teens, each held one of the long swords except for the Indian boy, he still held the strange twin knives on sticks.

Major Sutton watched in awe as he saw a bullet slice across the shoulders of the young dark haired teen in the lead, the effect of the wound did nothing to slow the boy down, if anything, it only stirred him into action all the faster, after a long cross slice of his sword which carved a trooper from shoulder to hip, the boy then leapt high into the air and performed a perfect back somersault and, as he landed, his sword sliced neatly through the neck of the man who had shot him, it was done so fast that the Major was not sure he had seen it at all.

The Captain beside Sutton let off a long burst of automatic fire, the Major watched as a small line of red holes appeared on the chest of the Indian boy, forcing the boy back a few steps, to his utter amazement, the slim boy looked down at the holes that were seeping red blood, and then lifted his shapely head and smiled in the direction of the Captain.

To the total amazement of the Major, a thick green mist lifted from the very ground around the Indian boy, seconds later, the mist disappeared leaving the boy with not a mark on him, Major Sutton suddenly smelt the strong odour of urine beside him as the Captain released his bladder, it was the last action the Captain ever made.

As the teens closed in on his small group, Major Sutton saw, for the first time, the blood red eyes and the long exposed fangs, it was just as president Carabine had told them, they were face to face with the very devils spawn, blood suckers of the worst kind, as the thought left his mind, Major Sutton realised that the sound of fighting had tapered off into silence as the last of his troopers fell to the devils spawn, he now had only the eight men left around him, the Captain was now on the ground, his head nearly severed from his shoulders, the Indian boy had come in and then stepped back so quickly that the Major hardly saw him do it.

Major Sutton looked around him, five feet in front of him stood the four young teens, his own men were in a state of fear and shock at the carnage they had just witnessed, along the roadway there was not a single trooper standing or breathing, there were now only the eight of them left, the battle had taken no more than ten minutes, the jungle around them was silent and only the sound of the eight men's breathing could be heard in the stillness.

The young dark haired boy, who seemed to be their leader, spoke up.

"You can surrender or die Major, the decision is yours."

Major Sutton could not make up his mind, he had been overwhelmed by the brutality of the attack and the decimation of his force of over three hundred men by no less than a small force of teens, although he now knew part of the answer for that, as he tried to talk he saw the ultimate horror occur right before his eyes.

From the edge of the trees he saw two large cats appear, one was a Tiger of more than nine feet long from nose to tail, beside it was a Black Panther, its sinuous body moving as though on coiled springs of steel, both cats surveyed the bodies along the length of the road and, without looking around, both settled on an individual body and began to tear it to pieces as they fed, the horror of the scene made up his mind, as he was about to tell his men to lower their weapons, he heard a soft click of a safety catch being released from behind him.

Before the Major could call a stop, a loud long burst of firing came from one of his sergeants positioned just behind him, the bullets ripped towards the group of four monsters in front of him, much to his surprise, the four teens seemed to disappear just as the long burst reached them, all Major Sutton knew from then on was blackness as something heavy thudded into his skull.

Peter looked down at the seven unconscious men, the sergeant who had fired at them was lying on the road cut nearly in two by Levi's Katana, the seven others would go to the cells for food at a later date, from the Major's mind, Peter had pulled all of the rest of the attack plans, as he called for the folk to regroup and head towards the city, Peter sent out his orders for the final defence.

Only those folk who needed to feed stayed behind while the others set off in a gliding run towards the city four miles away through the jungle, Peter knew that the helicopters were nearly at their landing zones just a mile outside the city, they carried sixty highly trained special forces personnel, they would be set down in three groups of twenty to the North, East and West of the stone city then make their way forward until they could get inside and start to lay explosive charges to demolish the city, Peter picked up the pace, he wanted everything ready well in advance of the last attack.

Once back at the city, Peter estimated they still had little over half an hour before the special forces men could make the outskirts of the city, he set to work readying his defences, there was no worry about losing the city, they were to strong for that, but Peter wanted information and a few more men in the cells wouldn't go astray.

Major Sutton awoke to find himself and the few remaining men with him, in a small stone walled cell, the bars at the front looked very old and hand made but, they were thick and solid, after looking around in the dimly lit cell, he realised that they had all been stripped apart from their skivvies, the only glimmer of light came from wall mounted torches set on gold sconces along the length of a dim passage.

Hearing a soft giggling sound, he looked out into the dim passage, standing in front of his cell were two young teen boys, they could not have been more than fourteen years old, one was very blonde, the other more Latin, much to the Major's horror, they were holding hands like little homo's did, his instant revulsion showed plainly on his face as he looked at the two boys.

Behind the boys were four very young boys, they stood with their heads bowed and waited in total silence, the disgust on the Major's face grew as he tried to imagine what the two homo teens did to the young boys to make them stand totally subservient to the hand holders, his disgust grew as he saw the blonde boy lean over and kiss the darker boy right on the lips, the boy then turned back to the Major and, of all insults, he smiled at the soldier.

The Major spat violently on the floor of his cell at the open display of all that was horrific to his God's eyes, these boys were not normal, they were the lowest of the low in his God's eyes, somehow he would destroy them, even if he had to tear the bars from the stone with his own hands, the Major's blood pressure increased as he watched the disgusting display as the two boys turned to leave without saying a word but the final insult was too much for the Major and he let out a loud roar of anger as the darker boy turned and blew him a kiss before disappearing into the dimness.

The receding sound of the teens giggles could be heard along the length of the dim passage as the roar of the Major faded into silence, none of the captives locked in the depths of the pyramid could hear or feel the effects of the fighting going on way up above them, if they had any hope of rescue from the special forces they were going to have a long and disappointing wait.

After Peter and the rest of his folk had returned to the pyramid with their captives, Peter had stripped the minds of the men of all they knew about the final attack, he then sent them down into the cells, they would be used later when needed, he now spent his time with the folk and began to organise their defences, while the incoming troops stood little chance, Peter still did not want any more of his folk lost, the last battle had cost him three Canines and four Felines, more by accident than any true ability to kill folk by the Major's men.

On their return, Peter and several others had had to feed to replace lost blood from gun shot wounds, they had healed quickly and were once again unmarked by the conflict, Peter along with Swiftwing, began to set their defences, the human snipers were to be placed high up in positions to overlook the central square and protect the pyramid at all costs, they them selves would be protected by a Wolf or Cat, the rest of the folk would melt back into the surrounding jungle and amongst the buildings of the city.

Peter's priority would be to take out any communication systems that the men might be carrying, they didn't want to much information being sent up North, they would also capture as many of the men as possible, the cells always needed filling but with the reputation of the special forces men, he doubted they would get too many of them.

A mile away from the city and approaching on three sides, the special forces men were making slow headway in the darkness of the thick jungle, they were well trained and moved like black ghosts, the lead men leapfrogged each other as they made their slow way forward, as they made ground, their three snipers would move up into the vacated space, behind them were the two demolition specialists, these men carried a heavy pack each, when joined together, the sixty pound packs would make a bomb big enough to destroy the city.

All three groups were made up of the same men, this way they had a good chance of getting at least one pair of demolition men into the city but the moved forward in the knowledge that they were the best of the best, when they got all three pairs into the city and laid the demolition packs, all that would be left of the city would be a large barren hole, President Carabine had insisted on a final solution.

Unknown to the attackers, there were small dark eyes watching their every move, to the attackers there was no hint except for the occassional small scuttling sound in the thick undergrowth as the moved forward, all orders were relayed by hand signals and only very rarely was a soft voiced order given through their com units, every man knew his job and was well trained for all occasions, except one.

The first hint that they were getting close to their objective was the thinning of the undergrowth and then the first small stone house, as they moved forward, the men became more uncomfortable, the area seemed to have been kept in remarkably clean condition, what they could see of the street pattern was cleared of all weeds and plants and looked as though it had just been built in recent years, they men all sank to their knees as they surveyed the open ground in front of them.

Nothing stirred in the darkness, the total silence of the surrounding jungle would have unnerved a lesser man but these men were special, they were trained for all types of conditions and the silence that greeted them held nothing that they could not handle, this was their way of life or death.

Even when a large owl swooped above the hiding men none of them worried, the city was empty, their objective would be easy to accomplish and then they would be on their way, their only concern was the total absence of the supporting forces, they should have made contact with them long ago but then again, the others were only low grade mercenaries and others that did not have the training of these men, they had not really expected much more from them.

With quiet whispers the final orders were given and acknowledged, the men got ready to move into the city, they had worked out that it would take no more than ten minutes to set the three devices, they would then have two hours to clear the area before they were detonated, plenty of time to get back to their pick up point with the helicopters.

The first sign not all was right came from the sound of two gull thuds from the rear, by the time the men turned to see what was going on there was just darkness to greet them, the men rose to move into the city, no one saw that they were two men short.

The moon was now low in the sky, the dark shadows were lengthening and there was plenty of cover for the scouts to advance in, slowly they went forward, flitting from one dark shadow to the next as they moved towards the centre, close behind the three snipers in each unit followed just as silently, with quick hand signals, the snipers were ordered to find a point where they could cover the rest of the advance.

Most of the snipers were boosted up onto the roof of a house, a couple got help to climb a nearby tree where they would be well concealed but still be able to see everything under them, the only thing wrong with their plan was that they were begin watched very closely by hidden eyes that were hidden way up on top of the main buildings surrounding the square.

As each sniper settled into his place, another pair of eyes set there sights on the dark form, when the order came there would be nine single shots that would sound like one, the other men still on the ground kept up their slow progress into the huge stone city in the same manner as before, each unit leapfrogging the other as they closed in from the three sides.

Their main target was the majestic pyramid in the centre of the city; they knew they would have to cross a wide square with more than a hundred metres of open ground all around it but it would be the best place to lay the charges, none of the attackers had looked behind them, they felt they had no need to.

Had they looked back they would have seen that their six demolition men were not there, instead, they were being followed by silent, stalking, large black cats and very large wolves that padded along silently in their wake, they were no more than silent shadows among darker shadows, above them in the darkening sky, had they been able to see them, were a number of large eagles slowly circling on the night wind and watching the men move with their sharp eye sight.

Soft orders went out as the scouts closed on the empty square, it was almost an eerie feeling in the stillness and quiet of the stone city, the men got ready to move into the empty space around the huge pyramid, with the utmost care, the men began to move forward, as they came out into the open only a few of them saw the bright spot of red from high up on the main buildings, the sound was no more than a soft plop but these men knew a silenced shot when they saw it but none of them fell.

High in the branches of some surrounding trees and atop a few house roofs, nine men never knew what hit them, they were dead before they could fire a shot, the sniper cover of the attackers had just become zero, the next signal that told them they were in trouble was the deep sound of growls and soft padding of quickly moving paws on cold stone.

The screams of dying men echoed through the city as the cats and wolves attacked with a ferocity only were folk could have, the unexpected attack gave the special forces men little time to re-act, before most of them even had a rifle to their shoulder, they were dragged down by claws and fangs, their deaths were not quick nor were they clean, the were folk were taking out all their pent up anger at the men who would come South to attack them, only a few lucky ones that were dispatched by the snipers high up on the pyramid did not suffer under the onslaught of the were folk, Peter and Swiftwing looked in dispassionately as the folk took their full revenge, behind them, in the dark of the top temple, lay six men, their packs stripped from their backs and laid carefully aside, Peter was not happy that their antagonist from the North would try to use nuclear weapons on an old and ancient race, let alone on anyone that disagreed with him.

In the square below, Peter saw that it now looked as it once did long ago, when the square ran red with the blood of innocent sacrifices, the blood of the remaining fifty four men was already soaking into the ancient stones of the old city, those of the folk that needed to feed did so where they were, it was not a new sight to the Vampires standing far above the carnage.

Peter felt it was time to return to the temple, he had no trouble in finding the codes for the devices in the heads of the demolition men, some time in the future he would return them to their owner, that was if he needed to use them, first he had other plans for the North, if he could not get the President unseated one way then he would have no hesitation in using the mans own tools against him, his folk were in a fight for their very existence.

As the two Vampires moved into the darkness of the temple doorway, a loud clap of thunder rolled through the sky as the first glimmer of the new day showed above the mountains far off to the east, it was the first indication of the coming wet season and the start of the storms that ran through the equatorial area each year.

Below, in the lightening square, the folk finished their feeding as the first large drops of rain began to fall, it would wash the streets clean of the invaders blood and the ancient people themselves would see to the cleaning up of any residues when they emerged from the safety of the pyramid.

Down in the depths of the pyramid, Peter and Swiftwing went to the cell holding the Major and his remaining men, there was one last item of information he wanted before sending out a few messages to the remaining Vaga still in the North, it was rapidly approaching the time when they would need to start their own retaliation on the rulers of the North, a blatant attack like the one just attempted, could not go unanswered and the reply had to be enough to make the President think again about wanting to follow through with his bigotry.

Major Sutton looked up when he heard the whisper of sound at his cell door, there stood the two teen Vampires, the images of their fangs and red eyes as they advanced on him and his men in the darkness would never leave his mind, that two homely looking teens could be such abominations, still created conflict in his mind, for now they looked quite innocent and like any other two teens except for their black combat suits and the hilts of their weapons.

The Major lifted his head to stare a little sullenly at the two teens, somewhere deep in his mind he knew he was never going to return to the North, there had been nothing said by any of his jailers but the feeling refused to leave him, even his time in the middle east, when under continual threat of danger from roadside bombs or suicide bombers was nothing like the present situation.

In those days there had always been the assurance of their technological advantage and superior communications, now nothing they had would be able to resist against such monsters, one that could be shot repeatedly and still move faster and fight harder than any living thing or mechanical device, he felt in a position of hopelessness, his only hope was the perfectly trained special forces, they were the best of the best and would soon be here to rescue all of them.

The Major looked with interest as the darker teen smiled as these thoughts went through his head, he got an awful feeling that something was not quite right, in his head he got a feeling of floating and then it was gone, he shook his head and tried to concentrate as the darker teen began speaking.

"Well Major, let me introduce ourselves, I'm Prince Poitr Vladd, my life partner is Armand Swiftwing, I see you're comfortable, I don't want to gloat but, your saviours won't be coming, your President sent them to their deaths, except for six of them but they will be joining you in a few minutes, and my thanks for the rest of the information, I hope you enjoy your stay with us, it shouldn't be for too long."

At those last few words, the Major's hopes rose, it would appear as though he was going to get out of here after all, perhaps this Prince Vladd was going to ransom him and his men, if so will the President agree to deal with these abominations, suddenly his hopes began to die at the thought, no the President would not bargain, surely this young Prince, if he really was a Prince, would know that the President did not bargain with his type, again his mind went into overdrive as he tried to make sense of the boys words.

Peter and Swiftwing left the Major to his own thoughts, he would not be needed for a few days as everyone had fed well during the attacks, the deep sound of thunder could be felt as well as heard by the exceptional hearing of the folk as it rolled on above their heads, by afternoon the stone streets would be washed clean once again, only the remnants of the feasting would have to be cleared away when the rain stopped, which it usually did later in the day.

As they went to take a rest, they dropped in to see their two new sons, both looked at the two boys as they slept, Quetz was spooned back into Tezca's arms and, as he slept he looked more like the small six year old than the early teen his body showed, the two looked at each other and smiled, their son's were both still small boys at heart as the slept like innocents.

Peter and Swiftwing settled into their own bed as they heard the thousands of native villagers begin to move through the huge complex towards the upper levels, in this sacred place they moved in silence, the knowledge that their gods had protected them from the invasion of the Northerners only proved that they were safe at last from all the ravages of modernity, their ancient ways were again alive and well in this modern world, the appearance of the folk was seen as only another extension of their two young gods ability to control all that there was in the world.

The last to leave the depths of the pyramid were the four elders, as they passed the passage that lead to the rooms of their two gods, they paused and then bowed low in their direction, afterwards they made their slow way above ground and watched as the last drops of rain fell, the heavy smell of blood was now diluted and only the small mounds of bones and a little flesh were left in the streets to tell of what had happened.

Without any orders or words begin spoken, the many native villagers quickly began to clean the streets, what was left of the bodies was carried to a nearby well that,, when looked into, appeared bottomless, in ancient times, this deep well had been used for the same purpose, somewhere deep down in the darkness, were the old broken bones of long past sacrifices, over the centuries, most had turned to dust but a few still lay where they had been tossed although now they were decayed and in most parts, them selves in the process of turning to dust.

Within an hour, the city was clear of any signs of the quick short battle that had taken place in the early hours of the morning, the Elders looked around again before moving off towards the thick jungle glistening with the residue of the morning rains, slowly the people began to chatter and talk about their escape from certain death at the hands of the invaders, each and everyone of them, from old man to young child, made the secret sign of blessing to their two gods as they began to disappear into the depths of the city.

The next evening, Peter called together his small group of human specialist snipers; once they were assembled he told them.

"Gentlemen, we wish to thank you for your assistance, they were carrying three nuclear devices which they planned to destroy this city with, as a small sign of our appreciation for your part in defending the city and all its inhabitants, there has been a special bonus deposited into your banks in the Bahamas, as we can't give you the medals you deserve we hope this small gesture will show you how much your help was appreciated, thank you."

A small murmur of thanks went around the men as they all smiled and were grateful to be recognised by their new employer, this task had been made a lot easier by the exceptional training they had received from Peter's men, they themselves were now faster and stronger and their skills were far better than ever before, they were developing their own esprit de corps so the praise was well received.

As the men filed out of the room, Peter saw his two sons, still hand in hand, come into the room, immediately the room seemed to get brighter as they entered, there was a faint buzz of power around the two boys as they walked forward until they were standing by Peters side.

"And what are you two up to?"

"Dad, we have to leave the city for a while, there's a place we have to go, it's a secret place and we have to go alone."

"Ok, how long will you be there?"

"Not long." Quetz replied."Maybe two or three days, we'll be safe, don't worry, all our friends will be watching us."

"Ok, we won't worry, well not much, when are you going?"

"We have to go now, will you tell Dad S?"

"Yes, well you better get a move on, do you have everything you need?"

"Yes Dad, we're all ready."

The two boys hugged Peter closely and, with a big smile on their faces and still holding hands, ran for the doorway, as they reached it, Peter saw the same shimmer in the air as he had seen once before and the boys were gone, Peter sighed heavily as the room became hollow and empty like never before at the disappearance of his new sons.

Peter sensed the arrival of Swiftwing not long after the two boys had done their disappearing act, the warm arms encircled his neck and alight kiss was placed on his cheek, Peter smiled and leant his head back to rub the cheek on that of Swiftwing's, after the last two days excitement, they needed some time along but that wasn't going to happen, they still had the problem of the North, when their men failed to report in and they saw no big explosion from the jungle, there would be inquiries made, Peter would call a full council meeting to discuss their next move.

Peter had the feeling it was growing close to the time when they would have to once again go back to the North, at this stage he had no real idea how or what to do, but the time was coming when he and the folk would have to go on the offensive and this could bring the wrath of the religious down on them.

The orders had been sent for the two boys in the communications room to keep open all means of surveillance on the ether for any hint of the North's intentions, they had to have advanced warning of attempt at retaliation, the loss of over four hundred men would not go unnoticed nor would it go without some attempt to save face, had they advertised the attack in the public arena, or even the thought of the failed attack come to the light of day, then the North would be put under untenable pressure by the rest of the world, if for no other reason than the attempted use of a nuclear device on an innocent country, there was much to think on.

When the council convened, Peter went over the possibilities that had arisen after the attack, for the folk to go back North in any form of invasion would also bring down the wrath of the innocent, especially if what they were was made public, then, what the North had tried to do would be justified as far as other countries and religions would think.

All those on the council sat for hours as they went over and over the implications of moving North again, their best advantage at the moment was the wide spread number of House Vaga still in operation in the North, while they were under pressure to keep hidden, they still had the night to work in and that was when most humans were at their lowest.

After six hours of discussions and planning, it was decided that they would start to use the Vaga for intelligence purposes, to avoid any electronic monitoring, they also turned to the Avian, they had a number of people that could shape shift into Falcons, these were speedy and had the ability to travel vast distances without the need to stop, they would carry all the intelligence reports to and from the Vaga, there would be nothing sent electronically, security was now going to be their most valuable asset.

As the final rays of the sun sank into the West, the council broke up, there was still a lot to do and plan but for the moment they all needed a good rest after the last two days of excitement, again Peter, and now Swiftwing, felt the emptiness of the pyramid without their two sons, what the boys were up to or where they had gone was still a mystery but, both new Dads knew it had to be important for the boys to have just up and gone.

The only thing still undecided by the council was the recovered wealth of El Morte, some would be used to finance the effort up North but it was put forward that most of it be put to use for the Natives of the city as well as setting up a hospital to help young addicts with their addictions, the final estimate of the wealth was now estimated to be well in excess of nine billion dollars, there was much good that it could be used for.

Peter and Swiftwing left the council table and moved towards their bedroom, they were both tired and had had so little time together, for now they just wanted the company of each other, in the back of their minds was always the missing boys, it was a new feeling for a people that were notoriously solitary folk, it was rare that Vampires found a mate for their long life, it was even rarer, for them to have been given the honour of two sons, especially two that just happened to be reincarnated gods.

Peter nestled back into the warm arms wrapped around him, using a technique taught to him by Sin Yu, he slowed his breathing and dropped his heart rate to one beat per minute, as his body cooled, he felt Swiftwing doing the same, and then, there was nothing but the blackness of sleep.

Far to the South of the city of Uxmal, deep in the highland jungle of Columbia, a mirror like shimmering began to form near the centre of a small clearing, from the trees came the heady calls of parrots and other birds, it slowly built into a cacophony of sound the likes of which had never been heard before.

The shimmering began to solidify and the forms of two young teens appeared holding hands, the features were pulled into smiles as they looked around the clearing as the heard the sound of the birds greet them, this was the other hidden home of the ancient gods, around them was only the thick jungle that climbed up and around the large cleared knoll, this was one of the very few sites left in the world that had never been found by archaeologists, below their feet, deep under the top soil, sat their true centre of power, this was the one place on the planet that all twenty five lay lines connected, the boys could feel the power flowing under their feet, they were home.

Quetz walked up to the top of the knoll and raised his arms upward towards the bright sun, Tezca turned and went to the base of the knoll, once there he spread his arms out sideways as he looked at his brother standing on the top, around the boys the air stirred and they both began to shimmer once again, above their heads the bright clear sky began to darken and a great vortex of dark cloud started to twist and turn with only a small central hole allowing the bright sun to beam down on the two boys.

Around the knoll, the jungle became quiet as the turmoil above formed into a darker and darker mass, a wind rose and whipped wildly at the nearby trees and the very ground shook as if an earthquake was taking place, the powers being drawn to the two boys and the knoll were now far beyond anything the earth had seen for more than two millennium.

Slowly at first, the earth began to loosen and the trees swayed to the side until the loud snapping of huge trunks echoed through the air, grass and soil flew high into the air and were swallowed up in the dark vortex, as the very ground gave up its existence, the two boys seemed to float above the very quickly clearing ground and, under their raised bodies began a golden shimmering as the very earth receded.

With ever quickening speed, the ground cleared and slowly, under the feet of the boys was revealed the tip of a golden pyramid, as the ground receded more and more, so more of the pyramid was revealed, lightening began to crash and lash the surrounding country side, mighty tress succumbed to the violence of the forces of Creation and tilted until they snapped like twigs, even the very grasses and vines of the ancient jungle, wilted under the huge onslaught and the boys stood firm under the ravaging forces.

It took an hour of feeling the full wrath of the gods for the knoll to fully reveal its hidden secret, high above stood Quetz, totally untouched by the storm, below was Tezca, also untouched, before them now stood what could only be called the ninth wonder of the world, a huge golden pyramid that reached into the sky which had now cleared of the sudden storm.

The gold sides reflected the sunlight like strong search lights, it was nearly two hundred metres to a side and stood more than fifty metres high from ground level, what was not seen was how far it buried itself into the ground for only the two boys knew that it was many more metres below the ground than above, the only problem now was the fact it was fully revealed for all the earths peoples to see, they were both sure that the satellites far above them would have already reported the happenings and that already there would be those who would be making plans to investigate more closely, the boys smiled at each other as they came together and held hands once more, it was time to go inside and begin the preparations.

The boys stopped at the top of the pyramid, at their feet were the imprints of two pairs of hands embossed into the gold surface, one pair slightly larger than the other, they were the only items that blemished the gold surface of the entire area at the apex of the pyramid, the boys knelt in unison, and, with the confidence of youth, placed their hands in the appropriate places.

To the left were the larger of the two sets, Tezca's hands fit perfectly into place, the set on the right were slimmer but with linger fingers, Quetz slid his hands into them, they also fit perfectly, of the large apex area, the two boys were in the exact centre, as their hands filled the recesses a deep rumble came from underneath them and the large slab of gold began to tilt downward, the boys waited, their hands holding them to their position.

When the panel stopped it left the boys at an angle of 45 degrees, as they rose to their feet they could easily make out the long row of golden steps leading deeper into the pyramid, without hesitation they released their hands and stood after which they then started to walk down the steps into the darkness, as they stepped on each step, a faint light lit up the next, above them the rumbling started again and slowly the top slab covered over the opening as they descended.

The steps seemed to go on forever, first one way then another as the boys went deeper into the heart of the golden edifice, finally, as they felt the power rising in their chests, they saw a faint blue light from the very base of the structure, they were nearly at the seat of the power source, the conjunction of the lay lines.

Both boys entered the large room of the source, every facet of the walls and floor shone with the reflected blue light that came from the middle of the room, as they neared the centre they took in the full glory of their surroundings, the floor looked to be made of one solid piece of gold, not a single seam could seen anywhere, the walls and ceiling above them were the same.

At the very centre of the room sat two large thrones, each inlaid with precious gem stones and, on the high backs at each side were mounted four skulls of the purest crystal, the thrones sat one each side of the central plinth on which sat another large crystal globe, in its centre, suspended by nothing more than the power it projected, was a large blue stone which resembled a pure blue sapphire but it was the size of a large eagles egg.

From below the egg came thin tendrils of pure light which, when it hit the blue stone, diffused into iridescent blue much like an aura, the light spilled into the room and reflected off the gold surfaces, the resulting light gave the room an atmosphere of softness only felt in a sacred place, the boys went to their respective thrones and, with a smile at each other, sat down.

The tone of the room changed immediately the boys sat, from the four skulls came an eerie red light, the pulsing of the blue stone lifted until it felt like a palpable entity in the silent throne room, the boys began to feel the full power of the artifacts take effect on their young bodies.

Around the two seated youths, the room began to disappear, in its place came the darkness of deepest space, the very stars whirled about around them as the were held in one place, the very cosmos was on display to the young eyes as their still bodies floated and twirled in among the millions of stars until, finally, they were suspended at the very edge of the darkness of infinity, spread out before them was the majesty of the universe and at its very centre stood a figure that they both knew well, Creator.

Creator looked at his sons with pride, they again looked just the same as in previous reincarnations, the light and the dark of his own hands, it was now time to open their minds to their duty and instil in them the power of his own very being, Creator reached out his hands and took each boy into his chest, there he infused them with his own wisdom and the plan he had for the mortals of his favourite planet, Quetzalli, son of Creator and Tezcatlipoca, son of Creator felt the power and wisdom enter them and cried with love for the Creator, their father.

Suddenly the boys were again sitting back in their thrones, but, they were not the same boys, now, instead of two young fourteen year olds, there sat two young men, possibly in their eighteenth year, their features were a more mature visage of the original boys but now they exuded a power and strength unseen on earth for over a thousand years.

Another change had taken place, their eyes now held the depth of wisdom from the very stars, Quetz eyes now swirled with pin points of light from a thousand suns and Tezca's eye showed flecks of red from the very pits of darkness, their smiles however still held the brightness of young boys, around them the room vibrated with their combined strength as the four skulls of crystal shone with the reflected light of each boys eyes, two red and two white, the brightness of which now lit up the room of gold.

Now the boys were armed with all the knowledge and power of the Creator, it was time to return to their earth Fathers and began to bring back to this world the truth of its existence and that of the mortals that inhabited it, unknown to the human mortals was the fact that the folk were also the spawn of the Creator, his one means of control over the affairs of mere mortals as a counter balance to the greed and avarice that they were known for.

It had been a part of Creators plan that, for every good, there must be an equivalent evil, or else the balance would not be maintained and now, the mortals had gone way beyond their balance, it was time once again for Creator to send his only sons to correct the balance, they would assist his folk in bringing that balance back again.

The two young men rose from their thrones and went to clasp each other in a loving hug, as they did so, the air around them shifted and they were once again standing on the very top of the golden pyramid, with w small thought from both young men, a wind rose and suddenly the golden pyramid was covered in a green shell of energy, from the outside it had disappeared, only the eyes of light and dark could still see it, they clasped hands and projected themselves into the ether, at once they were standing again at the foot of the steps of the stone pyramid, it was time to greet their earth Fathers, their task was completed.

TBC

Artcart65@vodafone.co.nz