Doorways (A Book of Vampires, Werewolves & Black Magic) (The Doorways Trilogy - Book One) (23 page)

Chapter 38

Van Demon, Leader of the Dammed Bandits, came towards Anna and gripped her chin with a decomposing hand. He bought his face within inches of hers and Anna could see that just like his hand, his face was also decaying. The right-hand side of his head had been ripped open as if it had been mauled by a shark.

‘What a pretty senorita,’ he said.

Anna flinched back from the zombie
, as when he spoke, she could see his tongue beating up and down inside his mouth through the open wound in his cheek. She recoiled at the sight of his broken jawbone and eye socket.

Running his ringed fingers through Anna’s
hair, he sniffed it and said, ‘such a pretty girl will sell for an even prettier price!’

The sound of cheers and whistles came from behind him. Anna peeked over Van Demon’s shoulder to see his motley crew of men. All of them appeared to have missing body parts. Anna squirmed when she noticed that one of the bandits had a gaping hole in his midriff. As this bandit strode forward to get a better look at her, his intestines spilt from the wound. As if nothing more than a mild irritation to him, the bandit coiled his innards around his fist and stuffed them back into the cavity.

‘At least fifty pieces of crown!’ the zombie-bandit roared, as he finished repairing himself.

‘I wan’ at least a hundred, Julio!’
Van Demon smirked.

Then from the door of the
Inn someone said, ‘I’ll pay you two-hundred for the girl!’

Again the room fell into silence, as everyone turned to see Fandel Black standing in the doorway with the Delf
, who farted.

‘Keep him away from me!’ Anna screamed at the sight of her uncle. She would rather tak
e her chances with these zombies then him.

Sensing her distress, Van Demon wrapped one of his arms about her and held her in fr
ont of him. Laughing he said, ‘the young lady don’ seem to like you much, senor. Now. Lemme see. As this is the case.......she will cost you more amigo.’

‘Three-hundred!’ Fandel said, moving away from the door and leaning against the bar.

Now Van Demon had been a cunning bandit for as long as he could remember, way before him and his team of outlaws had been fed to the sharks, but he had never seen anyone so desperate for something in all the years he had spent on and beneath the Dusty-bogs of Endra. This meant one thing to Van Demon; a perfect money making opportunity.

Again
, Van Demon nestled his wounded cheek next to Anna’s and sighed as he sniffed her hair. ‘More’ he whispered, ‘she smells too good to sell for such a cheap price. I mean come on senor; I’d be robbing myself!’ and the other bandits laughed at their dead-leaders sarcasm.

‘A thousand!’ Fandel bargained.

Van Demon’s outlaws stopped laughing and gasped, and then he knew he could get rich quick from this deal.

‘Amigo, y
ou must wan’ this little lady very badly. Very badly indeed. That being the case; more!’ he sneered.

‘How about you give me the girl and I spare all your lives?’ a voice said from the doorway. Spinning round, ever
yone looked to see a man standing at the entrance to the Inn. His voice was soft, yet cold like steel.

Pulling the girl closer to him,
Van Demon chuckled and said, ‘so, another bidder has entered the auction. Welcome amigo, welcome!’

Dec Tanner strode into the bar. Fandel recognised his unmistakable voice from their teleph
one conversation and groaned. ‘what are you doing here superintendent? Haven’t you got any missing person’s enquiries to keep you busy?’

Without taking his eyes from Van Demon, Tanner said, ‘I’ll deal with you later Fandel’.

‘How? What, are you going to arrest me?’ Fandel said.

Van Demon and his team of bandits spied the gleaming
crossbows that swung against Tanner’s hips and knew straight away that he was a peacekeeper.

‘I like your outfit senor, though it looks a little out of place,’ Julio sniggered.

‘Si Julio, Si. It used to be quite a popular look. Now, it’s old fashioned and, how you say, out of style. It’s the look of the past. Of a relic. Of a dead species,’ Van Demon grinned.

Tanner’s black eyebrows pointed into a ‘V’ shape at the bridge of his nose as he glared at Van Demon with his piecing blue eyes.
Holding out his hand he said, ‘give me the girl.’

‘She’s not yours to take,’ Fandel sniped from the bar.

As quick as Neanna would
blink
Tanner had drawn one of his crossbows and fired a warning shot into the wooden floorboards at Fandel’s feet. Jumping backwards, Fandel released an ear-piercing scream from the back of his throat. Turning, Tanner trained the crossbow on Van Demon and aimed straight for the bandits head.

‘I won’t ask again’ Tanner warned, stroking his huge white moustache with his free hand.

Van Demon’s team were at his side in an instant and the sound of axes, knives, rifles and crossbows being drawn filled the air.

Hooking his arm
around Anna’s neck, Van Demon roared with laughter and his tongue snaked from the hole in the side of his face and brushed against Anna’s cheek.

‘Ha ha. No senor. Thank you for your kind offer, but I must regretfully decline. Instead, how about I keep the senorita and....... you die like a good peacekeeper?’ he grinned.

As promised, Tanner didn’t say another word. His crossbow thundered in his fist and then all hell broke loose.

Standing back to back, Marshal Goth and Zach fought off the approaching Demonic Guardians and Radan. Neanna
blinked
, appearing long enough to rip out the throat an un-expecting Guardian and then disappear again. Snarling, William charged in a blaze of burning eyes and flowing hair at the Radan.

Captain Bom had at last got to his feet and was fighting alongside Henry the Cathedral Knight as they dismembered anything that
got too close. But it didn’t matter how many of the Guardians and Radan they destroyed as more of them appeared through the wall and charged at them. Even with the hundreds of Cathedral Knights swooping about like phantoms, they were fighting a battle that they couldn’t win.

William bounded towards
Zach and Marshal Goth, clawing to pieces several more of the Guardians as he raced across the exercise yard that was now strewn with the dead.

‘We have to get the key away from here!’ he barked at Zach.

Looking back at Goth, Zach shouted, ‘is there another way outta here?’

‘There’s the tunnel!’ he roared, releasing a volley of arrows from his bow.

‘What? In the prison block?’

‘No.
The
tunnel!’

‘What tunnel!?’ William howled, his voice full of urgency.

‘The tunnel that our families hide in!’ Marshal Goth yelled.

‘We’ll you better evacuate them!’ Zach told him.

‘Why?’

‘Cos
, I’m gonna destroy this prison and anyone left within it!’ Zach said.

The stake ricocheted off the dagger Julio thrust in front of Van Demon’s face. Leaping through the air, the bandits opened fire. Tanner darted for cover behind the bar. Armed with both crossbows, he popped his hands over the top of the counter and fired.

Several of the zombies
spun through the air, clattering into tables and chairs as they were struck down by Tanner’s barrage of stakes. But as they were already dead, the bandits were on their feet again and arming themselves with daggers and crossbows.

Seeing this, Fandel and the Delf raced behind the bar for cover.

‘They can’t die unless you shoot them in the head you idiot!’ The Delf belched.

‘Call yourself a peacekeeper?’ Fandel whined.

Turning to look at them with his cool stare, both Fandel and the Delf knew that they shouldn’t say another word.

Popping his head over the top of the bar, Tanner released another torrent of
stakes from his crossbows. The bandits retaliated and the rows of bottles stacked on the shelves above the bar exploded, showering Tanner in glass.

‘Some rescue!’ Fandel screeched. ‘Do you have a plan on how to get out of here?’

Glancing at the Delf, Tanner shouted, ‘shut him up!’

Looking at Fandel, the D
elf belched. She then stood, and throwing open her fists, released a shockwave of energy that rippled out across the Inn and sent a horde of the bandits through the air. Seizing her chance, she turned to Tanner and Fandel and said, ‘I don’t know about you two, but I’m off!’

Gathering her Bloat bag to her chest, she shuffled from behind the bar and headed for the door. Jumping to his spidery legs, Fandel started to follow her, when Tanner gripped him by the arm and said
, ‘and where do you think you’re going?’ In one swift movement, Tanner had yanked Fandel back onto the floor behind the bar.

Peering round the edge of the counter, Tanner could see that Van Demon had let go of his prisoner. Anna was now cowering in the corner, away from the flying
stakes, daggers and axes.

Standing, Tanner locked both of his arms and unleashed another burst of
stakes at the bandits. He hit several of them between the eyes, sending them spinning through the air. This time they didn’t get up.

‘Give the girl to me!’ he said.

‘You want her amigo?’ Van Demon roared, ‘then you come and get her!’

Peeking through her fingers at the peacekeeper, Anna watched him dodge this way and that with the precision of a rattlesnake, evading the daggers and knives being hurled at him.

Who is this guy? He must either be insane or the bravest man I’ve ever seen!
She thought to herself.

Anna settled on the notion that he was insane, as one of the many weapons that were being thrown at him sliced into his right shoulder, sending his
crossbow flying from his hand.

‘Get up! Get Up!’
Fandel screeched as Tanner collapsed beside him. Gripping the lapels of Tanner’s long dark coat, Fandel whined, ‘please get up. You’re meant to be protecting us!’

Before Tanner could think of a suitable reply, darkness took him and he slipped into unconsciousness.

Chapter 39

‘To the tunnel!’
Marshal Goth roared over the sound of battle.
‘Make for the tunnel!’

Zach
motioned for his friends to follow Goth as he headed for an iron door set into the wall. Goth pulled a ring of keys from beneath his tunic and began to fumble with them.

‘Hurry!’ Captain Bom shouted.

Marshal Goth separated a key from the rest and opened the door. A set of stairs led down beneath the ground, and like the stairwell that led to the cells, it was lined with torches that flickered like ghosts. Following Goth, they all raced to the lower levels of the prison, followed by the surviving Norsori Guards. 

At the bottom of the stone stairs, Goth reached up and began to yank on a bell that hung from the wall. Its deep melodious clang
, vibrated as it echoed down the tunnel they now stood in. 

‘Evacuate the Prison!’
he roared.
‘Head for the rendezvous point!’  

On his command, wooden doors were thrown open as the Norsori and their children fled the prison. Some left with a few personal belongings clutched to their chests and others with the clothes they wore.

A female Norsori raced passed Zach, a baby wrapped in swaddling across her back. Unlike the male guards, her face was unmasked and she looked striking in a feline sort-of-a-way. Her face was covered with fine silky-white hair and although her mouth was the same shape and design as any human, her eyes were shaped like that of a large cat, and they shone bright green in the dimness of the tunnel. Like the other Norsori, Zach had seen, her arms were long but not muscular like the males, slender and sleek – somehow beautiful. She used these to propelle herself down the tunnel.

As the Norsori evacuated, the sound of the booted feet of the Demonic Guardians could be heard descending the stairs.

‘We’ve got company!’ Zach shouted as the fleeing Norsori brushed past him.

Turning to look at the
others, William barked, ‘get to safety. Me and Zach will try and hold them for as long as possible.’

Without any further prompting
, Captain Bom was huffing and puffing away with the rest of them as he fled the tunnel.

‘He didn’t need much persuading,’ Zach said.

‘If you stay, I stay!’ Neanna said.

‘These are my people. It is my job to protect them. I’m staying!’ Goth insisted.

‘And I!’ hollered Henry the Cathedral Knight.

Zach looked at them gathered at the foot of the stairwell. He then bellowed above the sound of the approaching Guardians,
‘ready?’

‘READY!’
the others roared, drawing their weapons.

Dec Tanner opened his eyes and shut them again. The pain that seeped from his right shoulder was excruciating. It felt as if someone had hacked out his shoulder blade and replaced it with a series of timed explosives that were going off every few seconds.

Gritting his teeth, he forced his eyes open again to find himself slumped against the bar. His hands were bound in his lap with rope, and his blue shirt was smothered black with his own blood. He glanced to his right and could see the girl and Fandel slumped next to him. Two of the bandits were wrapping rope about their wrists as Van Demon stood to one side and watched.

‘Please don’t hurt me,’ Fandel said as Julio pulled on the rope.

‘Stop snivelling you worm!’ Van Demon snapped, his tongue sneaking from the hole in his cheek.

‘You’re not going to kill me are you?’ Fandel said.

Striding towards him, Van Demon pulled his
pistol from his belt. He held it above Fandel’s head and began to squeeze the trigger.

‘And why not? Especially when I enjoy it so much,’
Van Demon grinned.

‘You can keep the girl, but just let me go!’ Fandel cried.

‘What a wonderful uncle you’ve turned out to be!’ Anna said. ‘If my father were here he would…’

‘Silencio!’ Van Demon roared, crouching down so his decaying face was nose-to-nose with Fandel’s. ‘And people say we outlaws are mercenary scum!’

Standing, Van Demon holstered his pistol and said to his team, ‘take the girl onto the coach and then feed these two to the sharks!’

‘Get your rotting hands off me!’ Anna screamed as two of the
zombie-bandits dragged her from behind the bar. Kicking out with her legs, she caught one of them in the groin.

Scooping her up in his arms and throwing her over his back, the bandit tur
ned to Van Demon and laughed, ‘we’ve got a wild little pony here!’

‘Remind me of that when I come to sell her. We’ll fetch a better price!’
grinned Van Demon. Then, turning to Julio, he said, ‘now, throw Senor Peacekeeper and the doting uncle into the sea.’ He then strode away from the bar.

Hearing this
, Fandel began to squirm on the floor like a snake as Julio tried to take hold of him.

‘Please I beg you,’ he wailed.

Tanner observed him with a disgusted look on his face and snapped, ‘what’s got into you man? Die with some dignity can’t you!’

Ig
noring him, Fandel screeched, ‘let me live and I’ll lead you to the box!’

Hearing this, Van Demon stopped in his tracks and turned to look down at Fandel. With his one bad eye swivelling in
its exposed socket, he said, ‘box? What box?’

‘Treasure!’ Fandel whimpered like a snivelling child.

Strolling back to where Fandel lay blubbering, Van Demon said, ‘treasure?’

Without looking up, Fandel nodded and sniffed snot back into his nostrils.

‘You lie!’ Van Demon barked.

‘I’m not lying. I know where this box of treasure is.’

‘What kind of treasure are we talking about amigo?’

Raising his head
, and looking straight into Van Demon’s decomposing face, Fandel said, ‘it contains the Heart of Endra.’

Hearing this, the bandits looked at one another wide-eyed and the
Inn fell quiet.

Turning on Fandel
, Tanner said, ‘keep your mouth shut you poisonous weasel! Don’t you dare tell them where to find…’ And then everything went black again for Dec Tanner, as Julio slammed the butt of his rifle into the back of the peacekeepers skull.

‘You were saying Senor Uncle?’ Van Demon continued, crouching beside Fandel.

‘I know where the box is.’

‘Where?’

‘If I tell you now, I become worthless to you,’ Fandel said, feeling a little more confident knowing that he had Van Demon’s full attention.

‘But Senor Uncle
, you could be lying just to stay alive. I want proof!’ Van Demon demanded.

‘You need to head for the Rusty Volcano. That’s all I’ll tell you for now.’

Pulling a dagger from his waistband, Julio held it against Fandel’s throat. ‘Tell us!’
he snarled.

‘And then you’ll kill me!’ Fandel said.

Pushing the blade away from Fandel’s throat, Van Demon said, ‘Julio, take him to the coaches.’ He then stood and loomed over Fandel. ‘Senor Uncle, remember this; if you are wasting my time, I will personally cut you into tiny pieces and feed you to the sharks. And, please Senor Uncle, believe me when I say, it isn’t nice. Me and my bandidos have been there’

‘What about the peacekeeper?’ Julio asked.

‘Take him onboard. He seemed to know what this coward was snivelling about, so he might prove useful if he turns out to be a liar.’ Then, lacing his hands in the small of his back, Van Demon walked to his coach,
The Devil’s Steed.

Following Van Demon’s orders, Julio bent forward to take hold of the prisoners, but again his intestines plopped from the gaping wound in his midriff and slopped into Fandel’s lap. Seeing and smelling the entrails, Fandel fainted.

From the safety of the cliff tops
, The Delf watched the bandits manhandle the girl, the peacekeeper and Fandel Black onto a series of stagecoaches that were linked together like a train. Each coach was as big as a bus. At the front of the lead coach stood eight giant creatures. In the dark it was impossible for the Delf to see what these creatures were. The stagecoaches floated on their huge wheels next to the quay that stretched like a finger out onto the Onyx Sea. Then, unlike any other stagecoach the Delf had ever seen, a series of torn and ragged sails were raised, and the coaches pulled away from the quay and set out across the black water.

Straddled across Max’s back, The Delf watched as the bandit
’s stagecoaches followed the light of the moon that sparkled on the thick black waves. Once the stagecoaches had sailed far out to sea, their sails folded back like giant fins. Then, even by her own magical standards, The Delf was amazed by what she saw. The eight creatures that pulled the stagecoaches, unravelled in the moonlight and revealed themselves to be giant seahorses. Their skin was translucent and stretched over their skeletal frames. They had long snouts that slithered and oozed, crashing into the black water as they searched for food. Long black manes, knotted like seaweed, were yanked backwards by an army of bandits standing atop the lead stagecoach.

The seahorses reared their enormous heads out of the water, their neighing shrill and angry. The bandits whipped them, and the seahorses pulled the mighty stagecoaches forward as they raced away across the surface of the sea
, faster than any wind could have carried them.

Yanking back on Max’
s reigns, The Delf screeched, ‘take me to the Splinter. Take me to my
brother!
’

With his tongue drooling from his foaming snout, the beast bounded into the darkness of the wastelands.