Prince of House Vladd

THE PRINCE OF HOUSE VLADD

CHAPTER 12

BOOK 3

BY ARTHUR

AUTHORS NOTE:

PLEASE HELP THE NIFTY ARCHIVES WITH YOUR SUPPORT, ALL FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE IS GREATLY APPRECIATED FOR THIS VALUABLE RESOURCE BOTH FOR READERS AND WRITERS.

More than four thousand pairs of eyes watched the forming of the encampment in the wide valley below the low hills, Peter and Swiftwing stood with the leaders of the canines and felines as the large army started to look towards settling down for the coming sunrise, their sharp hearing picked up the sound of more heavy vehicles coming from the south.

Below they could make out the figures of three vampires standing in a solitary group away from the rest of the army of black clad soldiers, they also looked as though they had heard the approaching column from the south as they turned towards that direction and tried to look into the gloom of early morning.

Peter's group were well hidden in the trees but could also see along the empty highway, warnings had gone out for all people to evacuate south and away from the approaching hordes, with luck everything would be back to normal by the time the sun was at its zenith, the army below had no guards and should be easy pickings for the massed ranks hiding in the tree line.

As the first faint hint of daylight began to show over the far ridge line, Peter's people saw the long approaching column of mixed vehicles, there seemed to be everything from small sedans to large eighteen wheelers, at the first clear sign of the drivers, Peter's people felt a chill pass over their bodies, driving at what some would call a break neck speed, were more werewolves than they had ever seen, it appeared that the ones used by the invaders had more than enough to reappear.

It was plainly obvious that the pending attack on the serried ranks of the tankers was not going to be as easy as they had thought, when the vehicles began to pull up at the side of the highway, the watchers saw the feral wolves of the Adirondacks streaming in their hundreds towards the ranked tankers, the leader that had escaped the massacre at the bunker was striding towards the three older vampires and looked to be no worse for wear.

Trying to get some idea of the new numbers, Peter and Swiftwing were now starting to realise this was not going to be as easy as they first thought, the numbers of the wolves just kept increasing as more vehicles seemed to appear out of the darkness like ghosts, the highway was now packed to capacity as the last of the trucks came to a halt and even more wolves streamed from their backs, most looked to be very young wolves and, even though they would not be able to show the expertise of the older wolves, they could still be a problem for Peter's limited numbers, wolf on wolf was a fifty-fifty fight, with the addition of the felines it was a little more in their favour but, with the numbers now roaming among the parked tankers, it was still going to be touch and go.

Peter had his people settle down to wait for the sunrise, they would have to keep their distance until all the vampires retired for the day, any indication that they were being watched could lead to disaster for their plans, with the wolves below being able to see, hear and smell anything out of the ordinary, the massed folk on the hill were on tender hooks as they surveyed the scene below.

It now became apparent to Peter and his people that this was going to be an all out fight, any idea of surprise was going to be negated by the sudden appearance of the wolves and all their kin, Jake mentioned that they must have pulled every wolf out of the Adirondacks to make these sort of numbers, it was going to be a tough fight and there were going to be losses that they could not reinforce as they had not thought about bringing in more men for back up.

As the sky lightened and the first rays of the sun showed in a small thin red band on the ridge top, the watchers saw the black clad soldiers quickly heading towards the tankers where they would sleep away the daylight, the three older vampires seemed to also be anxious to get into darkness and soon left the multitude of wolves to roam around the camp on guard duty, it would not be long now before they could start their attack.

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Down below in the valley, as the sun grew brighter, the Alpha wolf called for all his extended clan to listen, he detailed a large number of the youngest cubs to begin to patrol the edges of the trees, he stressed how important it was for them to stay alert and not play around, they were told in no uncertain terms that they could easily lose their lives if they slackened off and did not give a warning if the camp came under attack.

In each of the tow tanks, the Alpha set two wolves but only ones that could operate the weaponry, for the rest of the multitude it was a matter of spreading out and covering all of the many tankers that were now filled to capacity with sleeping vampires, with the sun now up and shining brightly, the forty five thousand seasoned soldiers were of no help at all, it all came down to the wolves of the Adirondacks.

Unknown to the watchers, it was a small juvenile cub that got the first wind of them, he had gone a little deeper into the trees for no other reason than to look at a small squirrel playing high up in a tree, as the small boy watched the squirrel he suddenly got the faint scent of cat as the morning wind changed direction and began to blow down from the ridge top.

The cub stopped and then remembered the warning of the Alpha, with as little noise as possible, the small cub tried to stroll casually out of the trees and towards where the large imposing figure of the Alpha stood near the centre of the encampment with as few words as possible, the little cub told the Alpha what he had smelt, the Alpha reached down and patted the young cub on the head and gave him a smile, he then sent the cub back to the edge of the trees and close to where he had first smelt the scent.

Walking slowly around the encampment, the Alpha sent out his warning that they were being watched and it could lead to an attack, the lesson of the bunker had not gone to waste on the Alpha, during the daylight was once again a prime time to attack vampires, he had too much at stake to risk being caught out again, the need for more land for his many extended packs was and had been for some time, a dire necessity.

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From their hiding place, Peter watched as the Alpha, whom he now recognised as the same wolf that had escaped at the bunker, casually walked around the encampment, he now saw that the multitude of tankers were not just lined up in rows, but they had been set out in such a way that they were grouped in multiples of four with the armoured tanks facing outward and each one covering the group next to them, he was now worried that the wolves he had seen enter the tanks would make it more difficult to complete the attack.

Peter, Swiftwing, Jake and the pride leader of the felines went into a huddle to discuss this new turn of events, to go straight in and attack would now be disastrous, the massed effect of the many tanks could cut them to pieces before they got half way to their target and they would still have the heavy number of wolves to contend with if they managed to get into the camp but their numbers would be drastically cut by the heavy guns of the tanks, it almost seemed hopeless as they surveyed the scene below.

It was almost midday and Peter and Swiftwing were leaning against a tree holding hands, both had their brows creased in thought as they tried to think of a way to get at the object of their attack, time was moving on and they could not afford to wait past mid afternoon, Peter was mentally kicking himself for not seeing the possibility of the camp being guarded during the day but he thought they had seen the last of the wolf pack from the Adirondacks.

As he stood shoulder to shoulder holding hands with his boyfriend, Peter thought he heard something from behind them both, suddenly, there were a pair of warn arms around his waist and a very familiar voice giggled in his ear.

"Hello dad, did you miss us?"

At the same time that Peter spun around, so did Swiftwing, they were both met with the wide smiling faces of the two god boys, how they had come or even known what was going on would remain a mystery to both vampires but here they were in all their glory, even if they lacked any clothes.

"Where did you two come from and why are you here?" Peter asked the two smiling boys.

"We missed you and besides, there was not much going on down there, we thought you might like some help from those down there, you know we never liked the smell of wet doggies."

Peter laughed softly and then turned his head as he heard a familiar gruff voice come from behind a tree.

"If those two belong to you Shorty, then they better get some manners before I show them what a wet doggie can do." Jake was smiling as he stepped from behind the tree. "I suppose these two are yours?"

"You know damn well they are ours, what were you doing sneaking around like that you big bundle of wet dog fur?"

"Wanted to watch you get all upset at what's going on down there, now what are these two up too?"

"We're here because our dads need us and we don't like wet doggies, ever had your fur singed?"

Jake laughed softly as he gave Tezca a glare that said he was not really angry, besides Jake well knew he would not win a fight against the two notorious god boys; even a werewolf was not that insane.

"Well you two, you can now see what we're up against, apart from totally destroying this part of the country, I can't see any way to rid ourselves of these pests." Peter said to the two boys who, somehow had miraculously become fully clothed and were now dressed in camouflage combat kit.

"The vampire tankers will be no problem" Tezca told him, "the bigger problem is the wolves, taking care of most of the adults is easy but we don't want to kill any young ones if it can be helped, we will have to find a way to separate most of them first."

"What if we got our feline friends to join us and try to capture all the young ones and put them somewhere safe until this is all over?" Jake suggested.

"That could work" Swiftwing said, "most of the very young are close enough to the tree line that they could be taken unobserved by most of the camp, if we can keep them somewhere out of the way then we should stand a better chance."

"We can fix that, if you can get the young ones we can send them to a place where they will be safe until this is over." Tezca told them.

"Right, then how do we go about it, it has to be without the Alpha or any of the others seeing them start to disappear."

"Simple." Jake said, "What's the one thing kids can't resist?" Jake watched the faces of those around him as they tried to work out what he was getting at, finally he smiled and said. "Food"

"That we can do, how do we set it up?" Quetz spoke up for the first time.

Jake replied.

"We put some food and plenty of it a little deeper in the trees, as the cubs come into the trees they will be out of sight of their elders, we take them as quickly and as silently as we can, now the best food to get their attention is either good fresh meat or a lot of sweet things, any wolf worth his salt can not ignore either."

"Ok, wait here." Quetz disappeared in a shimmer and then reappeared no more the ten seconds later, "It's all done, now we better get all of your guys down their, the cubs will be smelling everything any second now."

Almost five hundred felines and canines moved silently through the thick trees, there was little doubt now that they would be, in effect, child kidnappers, as they moved closer to the valley floor they could already hear some of the cubs filling their stomachs not far ahead, it sounded as though the young ones had never had a meal like the one laid out in the deeper shade of the tree line.

As the combined force grew closer to where the cubs were now totally engrossed in the free food, they also kept a few eyes and ears out for those older ones patrolling down in the valley floor, as yet the sudden disappearance of the youngsters had not been noticed, the rounding up of the youngsters was over so quickly that none of the cubs even knew what hit them, one minute they were all tucking into a huge feast of goodies, the next they were in another place where there was only green grass and a strange boundary around them that they could not break through.

Where the cubs and food had been suddenly became just forest once again, of the cubs there was no sign and the free feast had also disappeared, the mixed force faded back into the trees to watch the effects down below.

It seemed that the guard wolves did at first not even notice the missing cubs, that was until the Alpha looked over to where they should have been patrolling, the very air of the valley seemed to grow cold as the Alpha realised he could not see a single cub, something had happened and he didn't like the look of it, with a loud roar he called his adult wolves to alert, the camp site became a hive of activity as every wolf went to its pre-assigned place in case of attack.

Peter and Swiftwing kept one eye on the tanker that the three leaders had disappeared into, it had been marked as one that was not too be touched as the three would be taken alive and given a proper death so that their deeds would be known all over, the rest were to be destroyed.

They had all decided to give the wolves one chance to surrender or leave, if they refused then it would be open season on any and all wolves in the camp, Peter gave the signal for everyone to move down through the trees until they were just inside the timber line but still out of sight of those in the camp.

The Alpha's head lifted as he got the scent of strangers, by the many different directions of the scent he could easily tell they were now surrounded and had no way to escape, on their side they had the heavy weapons, any cat or wolf trying to get to them was going to pay a very high price, for now he thought they would be at a stand off in the very least, he only had to hold off the Princes men for another four hours and the vampires would awaken, they would then completely decimate the hidden forces.

The Alpha then saw the appearance of two young teens on the western tree line, one was very obviously a Native American, the other was young and dark haired, from the descriptions he had been given some time ago, he knew these were the fabled Prince and his boy friend, they certainly did not look like much to the very large heavy built wolf, he watched as the one he thought was the Prince held his arm up high, in his hand he held what looked like a golden sword scabbard, it looked like a sign that he did not want to fight but talk instead, the Alpha smiled as he thought of what they were going to do to the little vampire once the others came out of their death sleep.

The Alpha was momentarily stunned as he saw two more very young teens appear behind the first two, his sense could not see any aura to tell him who they were, not even the blood red colour of humans showed around the two young ones, the blue and green of the Prince and his boyfriend showed up easily but these other two were now a total mystery.

"Alpha, we do not want to kill you all, anyone who wants to leave this place will be allowed to, any who stay will die, you have five minutes to make up your minds."

Alpha almost wanted to laugh, if the little Prince thought he could scare his people he had another think coming, he had weapons advantage and a solid defensive position, even if they are outnumbered he still would do more damage than the Princes people could afford to have, his answer was that of a typical Alpha wolf.

"Come and do your best little Prince, we have plenty of hurt waiting for you."

The Alpha watched as the four turned back to the trees without answering him, he smiled to himself, they obviously also saw that they could not win in this situation, while in his thoughts of winning another round he almost missed the reappearance of the two young teen strangers just five minutes later.

For some unknown reason he felt a sudden touch of fear deep in his heart, there was no rhyme or reason for the fear but the appearance of the two strange boys sent something through him that he had not felt since being a very young pup so many years ago, he could only stand and watch as the two boys lifted their arms straight up above their heads, that single gesture brought on a nervousness that the Alpha could not rid himself of.

Far above the encampment a faint roaring sound could be heard, as he lifted his eyes to the heavens, the Alpha's face changed to one of abject fear, high in the sky above, his eyes saw what could only be described as thousands of flaming stars diving through the atmosphere, every single one seemed to be aimed directly at his own head, there was only one thing to do, he yelled loudly for everyone to scatter and he himself took off for the trees on the eastern edge of the camp away from where the two boys were standing unmoved by the spectacle.

Only those in the tanks did not get the message, instead they were still traversing the turrets back and forth looking for trouble, the Alpha looked over his shoulder as he neared the trees, his people were heading in all directions, he turned back to his path and ran, suddenly he saw what was waiting for him at the edge of the tree line, the sheer number of felines and other wolves left him speechless, he and his people now had no option but to try to break through even though it looked like a hopeless task.

The scattering wolves now had no cohesion and were just a running rabble, when they came to the solid lines of the folk they were nothing more than fodder for those waiting for them, while it was to be a slaughter the folk still did not have it all their own way, no wolf of any ilk would just give up and die even with the danger in the sky above them.

As the first combatants came into contact with each other, the first of the tennis ball sized meteorites hit the encampment, the only tanker not hit was the one at the centre which seemed to be covered by a blue shimmering dome, around it the armoured tanks and other tankers were being hit and set a light like a million small stars, the valley floor was now beginning to look like the surface of the moon as one after another the small pieces of space rock fell in a torrent.

Had the Alpha had time to look closely he would have seen that not a single tree was hit in the fiery downpour, every small meteorite seemed targeted at only the tanks and tankers, it was an unnerving sight to be able to see, around the blasted field the rest of the wolves were fighting for their very lives, the loud roars of felines in attack mode were mixed with the yelling a growls of the many wolves now mixed in a deathly combat, occasionally there was the sudden sharp sound of steel on steel as the Prince and his consort used their weapons as well as their skills to take down as many of the fleeing wolves as they could reach.

As the heavy fighting went on into the late afternoon, it was obvious the defenders were not going to win, slowly some of them lowered their arms and knelt on the ground in defeat, only a small core of older wolves, the Alpha and Beta amongst them decided to fight too the end, within ten minutes there was no more sounds of fighting, of the seven hundred wolves that came to defend the encampment there were now no more than fifty or so left, and of those most had deep wounds, there were of course the young cubs that the two boys had hidden away in one of their many between realms hideouts.

When the fighting had finally ended, Peter and his folk looked around the shattered camp, every tank and tanker was now just a smouldering heap of burnt metal only the one still under the shimmering blue dome stood untouched, as if by a silent command, the dome disappeared and anyone taking notice of the two young boys at the edge of the trees would have seen them smile at each other as they lowered their arms, they now started to move into the battle field, their direction was in a straight line towards where Peter and Swiftwing stood among the carnage.

When Quetz and Tezca came up to where Peter and Swiftwing stood, they wrapped their arms around their adopted fathers and snuggled in for a hug, the two bonded vampires did not hesitate to pull them into a close hug and give them both a light kiss on the top of their heads, around them the clean up started, while not much could be done about the still hot piles of metal interspersed with the black ashes of dead vampires, those that still lived by surrendering were taken and placed with their hands bound in one small group, of the Adirondack vampire clan there was now little left, they would never be able to rise up again.

It was almost as an after thought that the two boys smiled at their fathers and then waved a hand, immediately all the young cubs appeared in a circle close to where the survivors were now waiting, it would have been almost funny as the young ones dropped from about a foot above the ground to be dumped unceremoniously on their small butts on the burnt ground, it was very plain for all to see that the scene that the young ones saw would give them nightmares for a long time to come, it would also work as a warning for any future thought of revenge.

The cleanup continued, most of the burnt out tanks and tankers could not be dealt with so were left for nature to take her own course, of the dead wolves there was only burial, the long single trench that the dead were rolled into seemed to extend for most of the length of the valley floor, it was a grisly task but one that had to be done.

Peter and Swiftwing approached the small group that had surrendered, they now sat with the young cubs close to them, they looked a dismal lot as they hunkered down to await their eventual fate.

"This could all have been avoided, your Alpha was given the chance to walk away and leave these other traitors to their own demise." Peter said in a loud voice filled with authority, he was no longer a young fifteen year old new blood. "We don't want to be the cause of the extinction of your clan, you will be free to leave here and return to your hills, teach your young ones better, this was a vampire matter and you should never have been a part of it, now we will have you escorted to those vehicles that have survived and you can leave here, don't look back and never return."

Peter gave a nod to some of the folk that had been guarding the captors, quickly their hands and feet were freed and they were then, along with the young cubs, escorted to the few remaining vehicles that had brought them here, another ten minutes and the sound of the departing vehicle could no longer be heard, it was now time to make plans to deal with the three traitors still in their death sleep.

The sun was now just a mere smudge of pink on the western horizon, Peter, Swiftwing, the two god boys and the two leaders of the folk, all stood outside the hatch of the last remaining tanker, Peter had sent a message to the caves up in the hills for the rest of his close knit people to join them as soon as they were able.

Peter's body guards arrived just as the first signs of movement inside the tanker were heard, Peter quickly explained what he had done and what he was about to do, it was Sin Yu that spoke before the three traitors made their appearance for the first time, the view they would see would not be the one they were expecting.

"My Lord, I would like to take care of my one time Father, it may settle once and for all any doubts that anyone has as well as get some revenge for what he did to my little brother Lim Soo."

"Then he is yours my friend, I will take care of Michael Strong, Swiftwing, do you want the Yakuza vampire?"

"Yes, he is mine."

"Well, you be careful, all of them are very old vampires and know a lot of tricks, they had to be cunning to live this long."

Peter received a quick kiss on his cheek for his advice as the two other boys moved in to be a part of the loving, it was just then that the locked hatch of the tanker ground out as it moved, within seconds the three traitors were standing looking at the total wreck of their once mighty camp, one look around them at the multitude of folk and they knew they were in real trouble, the anger of the assembled folk was almost palpable in the night time air, it was also noticed that with so many folk around and all on full alert, that there was no escape this time.

There was little discussion about the events, Peter just looked at the three vampires and slowly shook his head, he then told them their options.

"You have tried to invade not only our bases but our country, we will at least give you a chance to die with some sort of honour which is more than you gave a lot of our defenceless Vaga houses, Chen Sin Yu, your son Sin Yu has asked to be the one to take your head, I have agreed, Michael Strong, for a vampire of your age you should have known better, for this I challenge you to fight to the death, and you Vampire, who are you?" Peter looked at the young/old vampire Senti Matsumoto of the Yakuza.

"I am Senti Matsumoto, I am head of all the Yakuza, I am afraid that you will have a hard time taking my head, I have lived through more than you can ever know."

"My consort wishes to test your boast, neither of you will have a weapons selection, you will have to do the best you can with what you are given, it is either fight or die by the suns rays in the morning, there will be no escape this time."

"You do not even offer us a deal if we win?" Chen Sin Yu said out loud so all could hear him.

Peter's reply was gruff and to the point, the certainty in his voice left nothing to the imagination.

"You won't win; this is your death night for your traitorous attacks, at least this way you may be able to die with a little honour, something you have not shown to others."

The sheer numbers of folk that now surrounded the small group made it certainly impossible for the three old vampires to attempt any form of escape, it was now a forgone conclusion that this was to be their last night on earth, even if they won against the youngsters they would still die at the hands of the onlookers, all they had now was to do as much damage as they could and at least try to rid the country of the young Prince and his friends, Sin Yu was the first to step towards his one time sire and Father, throwing a Katana at the feet of the man he once almost idolised, he stepped back and waited for the vampire to pick it up.

A smile that was almost a sneer came over Chen Sin Yu's face as he swooped on the Katana and took it up in a two handed grip, his stance said he was ready for battle.

"You really are stupid my Son, I taught you everything you know about fighting and you want to challenge me with the Katana, I thought you had more common sense, oh well, when you are in pieces I will send your little brother to you as well."

As he finished his short speech, Chen Sin Yu attacked with the speed that all vampires had at their disposal, to the human eye it was nothing more than a blur in the night, the sudden sharp sound of swords clashing together and then silence as both participants stepped back and took stock of their efforts but still facing each other ready for the next charge.

Sin Yu held his blade high above his head as he watched his one time Father and Sire, the older vampire stood still and smiled back at Sin Yu as he saw the long shallow cut on the upper arm of the younger man, as if by some silent signal, both vampires charged in again, the furious clash of steel on steel was this time a little longer and, when the two parted, Sin Yu had another deeper cut on his right upper thigh, this time however, Chen Sin Yu had not escaped unharmed, he had a long shallow gash across his chest where his shirt now sagged open but, as an old vampire, all could see that the wound was already closing where-as Sin Yu's would take a little longer as he was younger.

The attacks now became faster and more furious, neither of the two giving an inch as they fought back and forth, the loud ringing clash of their weapons echoing through the still night air, even though there were close to four thousand folk there, the one time encampment was as silent as the grave as the two family member thrust and parried at each other.

After almost thirty minutes of furious fighting, Chen Sin Yu seemed to be getting the upper hand; his long years had given him an edge and a cunning that a younger man could not hope to emulate, slowly he began to get the better of Sin Yu as could be seen by the more numerous cuts and gashes in the younger vampire, finally, with one rapid and furious attack, Chen Sin Yu had the younger vampire moving quickly backwards, for a split second it looked as though Sin Yu would escape the sudden onslaught, but as luck would have it, his footing was not the best and he tripped on a small tree root, as he fell his Katana was dashed from his hand by his Fathers fast slashing sword, it was only a split second but it was enough for Sin Yu to know he had failed.

As he lay on his back looking up into the grinning and triumphant face of his Father, Sin Yu could only think of his little brother now without any family at all, Sin Yu could only watch with regret as he saw his father lift the Katana high over his head in readiness for the killing blow that would severe his head from his body.

The crowd had grown silent as they realised that the younger vampire was beaten, in the hushed silence, and, as Chen Sin Yu looked at his son with blood in his eyes, the heavy swish of the speeding blade seemed to fill the night air, Chen Sin Yu's eyes flickered to his left in a micro second, the sight he saw would be imprinted on his retina forever.

Standing not two feet from his left shoulder and holding Sin Yu's lost Katana with its blade dripping fresh blood, was Lim Soo, the smaller vampire stood looking at his one time Father with dispassionate eyes as Chen Sin Yu's brain suddenly found it could no longer hold up the raised Katana, it also registered in that fraction of a second that it no longer had a blood flow.

Around the watchers came a sigh that sounded like the wind in the trees as they watched the upright form of Chen Sin Yu topple forward as his head rolled off his shoulders and he slumped down beside his son, Sin Yu still had the look of death on his young face as he saw his little brother standing above him with tears in his young eyes and the bloody Katana now dropped on the ground beside him, Sin Yu looked up into the young eyes and saw a mixture of fear, hate and also regret, for an Asian it was one of the biggest taboos to take the life of ones Father, the child like figure of Lim Soo had suddenly realised the enormity of what he had done to save his older brother.

Sin Yu jumped to his feet and wrapped the younger boy in his arms trying to soothe the boys fears as best he could, his own life was now at the beck and call of his little brother, the debt he now owed his kin was, he knew, never going to be able to be repaid, he held the younger boy tighter, all they had now was each other and the family of the Prince, it would have to be enough for them in the centuries to come.

As if there was a signal given, Swiftwing stepped forward and wrapped the two in his arms and led them away from the body of the man they had called Father and Sire, once both vampires were safely out of the semi circle of onlookers, Swiftwing stepped back into the cleared area and signalled for the Yakuza Leader, in his hands he held his two Kama.

Swiftwing watched as the Japanese leader stepped forward and took up his own confiscated Katana from the hands of one of the guards, in his twelve hundred years, Senti had never seen any swordsman beaten by the smaller and shorter Kama, he almost felt sorry for the strange young Shaman Vampire, his own long experience told him he would take the boy down swiftly then as many of the enemy as he could reach, if this was to be his death day then it would be a costly one for his captors.

Once his three swords were correctly placed in his wide sash, Senti stepped forward and, out of tradition, bowed to Swiftwing then in a move so fast it was almost impossible to see, his Katana came free of the scabbard and was flying towards Swiftwing's head in a deadly accurate show of force, speed and centuries of practice.

Nobody was more surprised than Senti Matsumoto when his six hundred year old blade hit nothing but a thin wispy green mist, within the blink of an eye he was trying desperately to defend himself from a whirling dervish of flashing blades as the green mist solidified and showed a grinning Swiftwing in full attack mode, all Senti could do was retreat with parries and blocks as the spinning blades sliced and chopped at him.

Senti finally got a chance to step back and away from the slim native Shaman, he could feel more than five cuts trying to heal as he took in his opponent with new eyes, this was no foolish young vampire, this young Shaman had skills he had never come across before, he now knew for certain he was in a fight for his life.

Try as hard as he could, Senti could not get a clean strike on the ever moving figure, every time he thought he had a good hit on the boy he would see only green mist while he himself was taking damage from the spinning blades in the boys hands, the end came almost as an anti climax, with a leap that defied gravity, Swiftwing was high in the air and, using the Kama as crossed blades, he easily severed the old vampires head from his shoulders, the long rein of Senti Matsumoto was over, for Swiftwing he was barely breathing hard, the long hours of training under the expert hands of Sin Yu and his own innate ability as a Shaman had won the day for him, he turned away from the fallen body and joined his boy friend while they looked at the last survivor of all their recent troubles.

Michael Strong did not feel at all confident as he surveyed the remains of his two allies, he himself was no slouch in a fight but he well knew he was totally outmatched by any of the young vampire that stood before him, his knowledge of weapons and their use was not altogether strange to him but he was in no way up to their standard.

Much to the surprise of Michael, the young Prince stepped forward and gestured for Michael to step up, the Prince held no weapons although he had a very fancy looking Katana across his shoulders he made no attempt to retrieve it, he stood alone and waiting, unknown to Michael, every thought he had was easily read by Peter.

"Well, Michael Strong, this is your chance to do what you have been trying to do for the last year, if you want a weapon then ask, if not then we can settle this bare handed, it's your choice?"

Michael could not believe his luck, the boy was going to fight without weapons, in this area Michael was no slouch, he had had seven hundred years of experience to call on and this young one had little more than ten, it almost seemed a shame to take the boy out so easily, Michael set about ridding himself of his heavy jacket and shirt, it would give him more freedom of movement.

Michael watched as the Prince removed the sword from his back and then stood relaxed not five feet away, his hands were by his side and he seemed to have to idea of a defensive stance, Michael attacked with a high flying kick at the head of the Prince, much to his surprise he made no contact yet the boy was only feet away, when he looked back he saw the boy now standing some six feet to the left of where he had been, Michael would have to be more circumspect.

With the grace and speed of many years of practice, Michael advanced on the boy, with a sudden burst of speed and skill he went for the boys body with hard ripping blows of his closed fists, mixed in with fast accurate kicks aimed at the groin, ribs and head of the Prince, it was a barrage that no normal person would be able to defend against but, for some reason that Michael could not explain, he did not make one single contact, he stopped and looked for his target once again, the sound of a soft voice from behind him sent a shiver up Michael's back, `how the hell had the boy got behind him?'

Michael was now totally perplexed but he had no answers, the Prince was far better than he had thought, even a reasonably old vampire would have had trouble defending against such an all out attack yet here this vampire of only ten years avoided him with ease, Michael was not pleased, what he saw next pleased him even less.

As he watched Peter, Michael saw the boys aura begin to glow like nothing he had ever seen before, the Princes eyes now looked to be dark red flames as he glared with anger at the man who wanted it all for himself, next Michael saw the fingernails on both the Princes hands grow longer and darker, they now represented long black talons, he was well aware of this phenomena but it was usually only seen on the oldest and most powerful of the vampires, their name for it was, The Devils Change, very few had the ability to carry it out, now Michaels fears were a palpable scent in the night time air.

Michael was well aware that one single drop of blood from the fangs that now hung a full two inches from the mouth of the Prince could render him no more than a mewling baby, the black talons were also just as dangerous as they too produced a poison that was deadly to any living thing, including vampires.

Michael's shoulders slumped with defeat; there was little point in going on as he stood less than no chance against the figure he saw standing before him now, with a sigh of resignation Michael walked forward, he did not even bother to try to resist but, instead of a quick, although agonising death, he found himself bound by vines that had suddenly appeared from the ground under his feet, the Prince was changing back into his usual young teen look, struggle as much as he might, Michael could not free himself from the clinging vines, all he could do was now look into the young face he had wanted to conquer.

"You do not deserve a quick death for what you have done Michael Strong, those vines will hold you until sunrise when you will be exposed to its rays and die a slow and most painful death, it's what you deserve for your treachery."

Peter looked around at his followers, they all seemed to be in agreement that the rogue vampire should die as slow as possible for his crimes, there was not a single look of appeal amongst the whole crowd that stood watching the vines slowly lower the still struggling Michael Strong to the ground where he would be held until sunrise.

Under Peter's orders, those renegade wolves that had surrendered along with the young cubs had been allowed to leave under escort, to return to their Adirondack hills, it would take many years for them to ever become any sort of the threat again, but, the lesson of the valley had made its mark on the survivors, they had no intention of going up against the Prince ever again.

Peter waved his arm to all his followers, within minutes they were all starting to disappear into the trees, it was time to go home and leave the site of the invaders defeat to the natural world, the piles of smouldering metal would last for eons and the wide highway that had run through the valley would soon become a thing of the past as a new highway was constructed and by-passed the valley altogether, the valley would one day, far into the future become known as the Valley of Justice, it would also become something of a sacred site and very few ventured into it ever again.

END.

Artcart65@vodafone.co.nz