Blood and Stone (18 page)

The vampires slashing at the Colonel tore through his uniform, ripping his skin and leaving long, stone-filled cuts that filled and turned back to flesh quickly. It was painful, but hardly enough to stop him.

On either side of the Colonel, Victor and Atlas lashed out as best they could. Atlas had years of combat experience and a great deal of training in hand-to-hand combat techniques. He struck savagely, shattering bones and driving his attackers back. Victor on the other hand, had no experience fighting. But he was made of living stone and possessed superhuman strength. He was at least holding his own.

Finally, Colonel Kenslir managed to drive the closest vampires back enough he could reach for his weapons. He quickdrew a short-handled axe from the holster on his left thigh and lashed out with it. The metal weapon was heavy, and had a wide cutting edge. Propelled by Kenslir’s strength, it sliced through flesh and bone with ease.

The axe struck a vampire on the upswing, hitting it in the stomach. The blade plunged deep into the creature’s stomach, then sliced upwards, severing ribs, then a collar bone. The vampire was knocked back by the impact of the blow, nearly cut in half.

Atlas too had managed to knock back the mass of vampires attacking from every side. He grabbed at the handle of a Bowie knife, held in a sheath slung across the Colonel’s back, blade up.

Freed from the sheath, the knife swung in a wide arc, slicing off a vampire’s arm just below the elbow, then continuing on to strike another in the side of the head, cleanly removing the top of its skull at eye level.

The tide was turning.

***

Tezcahtlip was filled with energy—the lifeforce of thousands, some taken by himself and some gathered by his vampire servants. It was the most power the shapeshifter had ever gathered at one time. It should have made him unstoppable.

Try as he might, the giant could not dislodge the vampire clinging to his back, her clawed fingers burrowed into his flesh, gripping his bones. She was sucking great amounts of blood from his neck, blood that sparked and sizzled with energy that flowed into her.

Laura Olson was back to full strength. And getting stronger every second.

The giant leapt into the air, carrying his blood-sucking attacker with him. He soared far above the ground, up into the dark cloud he had conjured over Chichen Itza, spinning as he flew. As he expected, the move did not dislodge the vampire.

At the apex of his flight, the giant flipped over and dove back at the ground. He streaked downward, faster than before, reaching near supersonic speed.

Laura and the giant she had attached to struck the ground with thunderous force. The bones in both their bodies shattered under the impact, and Laura was finally thrown clear.

On the pyramid, Jimmy and Phillips had recovered and leapt down, intent to close with the giant once more.

Tezcahtlip reared up on his broken legs, ignoring the agony of his own bones cutting his flesh. He projected as much of his power as he could outward, erupting in a brilliant ball of magical fire.

The force of the flame and superheated air knocked Jimmy and Phillips down again. It billowed out like an explosion, sweeping over Josie, the unconscious Pam Keegan and the once again injured vampire, Laura Olson. The shock wave threw up dust and cracked as loudly as an explosion in the plaza.

As the heated air and flames died out, Tezcahtlip then threw back his head and bellowed. Across the plaza, all the vampires still fighting Mark Kenslir, Atlas and Victor froze in place, throwing back their heads and screaming as well.

Then red energy began streaming up out of their mouths, dancing like lightning across the plaza, straight for Tezcahtlip. The giant swallowed the discharges of vampiric lifeforce quickly.

The giant surged with newfound strength and leapt up, landing on his feet.

As the spent vampires tumbled to the ground around them, Atlas and Victor charged toward the giant, ready to fight. Chadwick Phillips extended both hands and unleashed a massive bolt of electricity at the giant.

Tezcahtlip batted the lightning strike away as though it were leaves stirred by a wind. Then he extended a hand.

Jimmy was lifted into the air, propelled as though fired from a cannon. He shot into the sky, arcing over the top of the pyramid and disappearing from view.

The giant spun in place and extended his other hand. Again, telekinetic force swept out, smashing into Atlas and knocking him backwards. The stone soldier was lifted off his feet and thrown back dozens of feet, crashing into the edge of the jungle ringing the complex of Chichen Itza and vanishing.

Lightning crashed into the giant’s back—again unleashed from Phillips.

Tezcahtlip again turned back to the lightning caster and extended his fist.

Telekinetic force once again lashed out, and Phillips was driven backwards, flying across the compound and smashing into a parked truck. The vehicle exploded under the impact, swallowing Phillips in the fireball.

The giant turned away from the fire—and was punched in the jaw.

Victor had leapt at the giant, fist out. His clumsy blow actually landed where he wanted cracking against the bone of the giant’s jaw loudly.

Tezcahtlip’s head was turned from the blow, and he felt several of his teeth shatter. But now it was his turn, and the stone soldier was off balance.

The giant swung his right fist around, punching squarely into Victor’s chest. The blow landed perfectly over what had once been Victor’s sternum. The petrified flesh shattered under the blow, echoing loudly in the plaza as Victor’s entire body exploded outwards.

Tezcahtlip kept his arm extended, savoring the death blow as the dust and grit erupting from Victor’s shattered body sprayed over him. He smiled evilly.

Pam Keegan was not smiling. The blonde had just come to, looking up from the ground just in time to see Victor shattered by the giant’s punch. She was horrified at the death of her young ward, her precognitive partner for the past four years.

But before she could do anything else, a green and black blur swept past her. Mark Kenslir, charging in, right behind Victor, and slashing out with his combat axe.

The thick blade of the axe slashed through Tezcahtlip’s extended arm, severing it at the elbow. The massive limb flew away from the giant even as Kenslir spun in pace and snapped out a kick.

Black and green combat boot smashed into the giant’s head, cracking bone and knocking the giant off his feet. The giant fell heavily to the ground, rolling onto his side then leaping back to his feet.

Kenslir pressed his attack, leaping into the air and kicking out with both feet. Both his heels smashed into the giant’s chest, exploding his sternum and staggering him back.

The Colonel rebounded from the kick, flipping over and landing in a crouch. The Colonel immediately threw his axe, clutched in his left hand, simultaneously drawing the machine pistol on his right thigh.

For all his power, the giant was not quick enough to dodge the axe, and it smashed into his right shoulder, cleaving his collar bone and nearly removing his arm at the shoulder. He reflexively reached for the axe, but a stream of bullets suddenly poured into his face.

Crouched on the ground, less than a dozen feet away, Colonel Kenslir was firing his OA-93 at the giant, aimed from the hip. The banana clip-fed weapon, a cut down variant of the Army’s M-16, unleashed a stream of 5.56mm full metal jacketed bullets at the giant, shredding his face, shattering his skull and turning his brain to jelly.

As his brain was torn apart, the giant lashed out with his telekinesis once more.

Green light flared around Kenslir’s right hand as his machine pistol was knocked away. Plastic cracked and broke as he tried to keep his grip, but the broken gun was flung away from him.

Tezcahtlip shook his head, his brains and bone already quickly reforming. “I will peel the flesh from your bo-“

The giant once more felt the claws of Laura Olson slash into his back. The vampire had circled around behind the shapeshifter. But where before she had been intent on latching on and sucking the blood from his neck, the vampire took a more direct approach.

Fueled by the immense energy she had drained from the giant, Laura plunged her hand through his back, just below the giant’s shoulder blade, to the side of his spine. Her claws shattered ribs and ripped through his lung, then burst out the front of his chest.

The giant was stunned by this blow and looked down at the slender, bloody hand sticking out of his chest. Holding his heart.

Laura wrenched her hand backwards, pulling the heart back into and through the giant’s chest cavity.

Mark Kenslir saw his opportunity. He sprang forward, his legs pushing him like great pistons. He slammed into the giant and knocked it backwards, onto the ground. As the shapeshifter’s back struck dirt, Kenslir pressed his attack, driving his right fist into the giant’s face.

Skin and bone erupted in a green flash of energy, parting before Kenslir’s fist. The Colonel’s hand plunged into the giant’s head, exploding his brain.

“Finally!” Laura Olson declared, standing nearby, holding the giant’s heart in her hand. She raised the heart high over her head, like a trophy.

“I believe this is mine,” the vampire said, lowering the heart to her mouth. She was about to sink her teeth into it when the heart turned white, frozen solid.

“No,” Josie gasped, still on her knees. Her hair and clothes were singed by the blast wave from the giant’s fireball.

“It’s too powerful...” It was all she could do to talk. She was sure she was bleeding internally. Every breath she took brought incredible pain.

A look of pure rage swept over Laura’s face. She looked from the frozen heart to Josie and back again. “You... bitch!”

A single gunshot sounded in the courtyard and the frozen heart shattered.

Sitting on the ground, blood flowing from her nose and broken teeth, Pam Keegan was holding a rifle, tucked against her shoulder, smoke rising from the barrel. “She’s right. It’s too much for anyone. Even a vampire.”

Colonel Kenslir suddenly plunged his free left hand into the giant’s chest with a flash of green light. “He’s not dead yet, folks.”

The giant’s body shuddered and spasmed as Kenslir knelt atop it, one hand in the giant’s head, one plunged deep into its chest.

Josie staggered forward, standing to the side of the fallen giant. “What can we do? Do I freeze it?”

Kenslir struggled in place atop the giant’s body, fighting the roiling flesh trying to reform around his hands. Green light flashed from the wounds he had plunged his arms into, the giant’s magical powers being negated by Kenslir’s.

Laura simply stood nearby, staring in shock at the shattered pieces of the heart on the ground.

“What the hell? It’s still alive?” Pam Keegan asked, limping over. She held broken ribs in place with one arm, and hobbled on a bad ankle.

“Afraid so,” Kenslir replied. “Seems neither one of us dies very easily.”

From the edge of the jungle, Atlas came running back over. He was covered in bits of vegetation. Opposite him, Chadwick Phillips also came over, patting at the flames that had burnt off most of his uniform and covered his stone body in soot.

“What do we do, boss?” Atlas asked, looking all around the compound. Small fires burned, bodies were scattered but the team were the only ones still standing.

The giant’s body heaved again, a leg kicking out. Kenslir redoubled his efforts, his muscles standing out as he strained to keep his hands in place, preventing the giant’s heart and brain from reforming.

“Laura?” Kenslir said, looking at the vampire. She was still looking down at the broken pieces of frozen heart at her feet. “Laura!”

“What?” Laura said, looking up. Her confused face gave way to one of minor anger.

“Any ideas here?” The Colonel nodded toward the spasming body he was holding onto. “Can you drain him or something?”

“No,” the vampire said, looking somber. “He’s just got too much energy for me to contain.”

“Why isn’t he dead?” Josie asked. The pain in her side from the bullet fragments inside her was starting to grow numb-. She was sure that wasn’t a good sign.

“My fault,” Laura said.

When everyone looked at her questioningly, she explained. “A vampire has control over their whole body. We can heal any wound so long as we have the energy to do it. Couple that with his shapeshifting abilities and tearing out his heart or cutting off his head.”

“Can we burn him?” Keegan asked—she was now leaning on Atlas.

Kenslir turned toward the still smoking Phillips. “Chad! Got anything left?”

Phillips straightened. “Yeah, sure. What do you have in mind?”

Rounding the pyramid, Jimmy finally came bounding over. “Did we win?”

He then noticed that the body Kenslir was crouched on was twitching and jerking. He looked around and realized Victor was missing. A glance to the side and he soon found the pieces of his former teammate.

“Aw, crap,” Jimmy said.

“Atlas—get them out of here,” Kenslir said.

“What are you planning?” Josie asked, suddenly worried.