Duel Nature (33 page)

“You claim to be the Chosen of Tatiana
Demidova?”

Interesting choice of words, that.

“Yes,” I said.

“You also claim to have witnessed Elder
Fedor’s death?”

“Yes.”

He looked up and watched me for a moment.
“Explain what happened,” he ordered.

“He pissed off a god and was crushed like
tooth paste,” I said. Probably not the smoothest answer, but
despite Arkady’s warning I was already losing patience with the
Conclave. More than a dozen very old vampires stared at me
coldly.

“You know it was a god how?” Lison asked
suddenly.

I almost said that an Angel had told me the
bear was a god, but then remembered some advice an assistant DA had
once given me about testimony. ‘Keep your answers short and don’t
embellish. Don’t give the questioner more information than you have
to.’

This felt like a trial or court of inquiry so
I needed to watch my tongue.

“Members of the Special Services Squad felt
it fit the profile of an elder god. It had the ability to appear
and disappear at will and was easily able to crush an Elder vampire
into true death.”

“The word of a human so-called expert was
what you have to go by that it was a god?” Frimunt asked.

I actually had a lot more than that, but
their hostile attitude killed any inclination to help them
understand the details. They would ask and I would answer and let
them believe or disbelieve me either way.

“Yes,” I answered, getting a frown from
Atta.

“Why?” asked red-haired Elisabeta. “Why did
the ‘god’ kill Fedor?”

“He never said, but I inferred that he
objected to Fedor’s intention to kill me.”

“And what made you so special in the eyes of
this so-called god?” Gault asked.

I didn’t answer immediately, staring back
while I thought about my answer. Apparently that was too slow.

“You will answer the Prolocuter’s questions
without hesitation!” Mausya said.

I eyed her for a minute while I shoved Grim
back down. Her head tilted slightly as I wrestled with my dark
half.

“I freed him from slavery,” I finally
answered.

“And who was able to enslave a god?” Gault
asked lightly, smirking.

“Demons.”

“Ahh, demons. Demons are the reason you met
Tatiana in the first place are they not?”

“Yes.”

“And you are supposed to be a ‘demon hunter’,
is this not correct?” Gault asked.

“Yes,” I answered. He frowned, not liking my
short answers.

“Some of us find that difficult to believe,”
he said, watching my response. I didn’t provide one.

After a moment he spoke again.

“We feel a test is in order. To see this
vaunted ability of yours,” he said, gesturing to Hosokawa, who in
turn gestured to a guard up by the door that I didn’t like.

The guard opened the door and another vampire
led three chained girls into the room. All three were filthy,
disheveled and wild-eyed. The first two looked crazy, the third was
possessed.

“We would like you to pick out the possessed
one –“ he started to say, but I moved before he could finish.

My left hand pointed at the
possessed girl and
pulled,
yanking the demon from inside of her. The force of
its extraction slammed her against the handrail hard enough to bend
her partway over it.

The greasy black demon
ripped free from her body and flew to my hand, screaming in a voice
that assaulted the ears of every living being in the room. I held
my left hand high over my head, the writhing black blob squirming
around it, and then called
>Kirby<
in my mind.

The giant God-Hawk screeched as he popped
into our dimension, his raptor’s eyes locked on my left hand. Two
flaps of his giant wings and the car-sized shadow-bird was across
the vast room and ripping the demon from my hand with talons the
size of bananas. He didn’t immediately snap out of existence but
instead flapped his wings in front of the Conclave, buffeting them
with enough wind to blow all their notes off their desks, then
finally disappeared with an audible pop.

For long moments there was no motion in the
room other than papers settling to the floor. The vampires were
frozen, completely, their eyes locked on me. Hosokawa finally
flicked a finger and several assistants sprang up from seats behind
the Patrons and started to collect the scattered notes. Above, the
two sanity challenged girls looked shocked while the girl who had
recently been possessed was passed out.

“I think the intention was to simply identify
the possessed girl,” said a smooth female voice. Chilka, the
Japanese Patron, looking slightly amused.

“It was the last girl,” I said.

“I..we did not give you leave to act,” Gault
said.

“You did not specify a manner of indicating
my selection,” I replied.

“Pointing would have sufficed,” Tavian said,
also looking a touch amused.

“Noted,” I said.

“The reports I’ve read indicate you must
touch the possessed in order to exorcise the demon?” Gultekin asked
from far down the arc.

“My abilities have grown,” I
replied. Hell,
I
hadn’t even known I could yank a demon out from across the
room. I had just simply reacted at its presence.

“You have vampire abilities as well?” Mausya
asked.

“Most of them. Speed, strength, senses,
energy manipulation. Healing, too.”

“Tatiana is twenty-five, yet she is almost
the equal of the vampires in this room,” Lison noted. Chilka
snorted at that before the French vampire could go on. I agreed.
Tanya wasn’t the equal of the vampires in the room, she had
surpassed them. Lison shot a glare at the Japanese vampire then
continued. “How do you stack up against Tatiana?”

“She exceeds me greatly,” I replied.

“He is not being truthful,” Berit spoke
suddenly. The mind reader had stayed quiet to this point. I checked
my mental shield and found it solid. Her eyes narrowed as she
studied my face. Hmm, she might be able to read micro-expressions
as my friend Gina does.

“Care to correct that statement,” Lison
suggested.

“I am generally not her equal. At times, if I
lose my temper, I improve.”

“He’s still understating, but that’s true in
the main,” Berit said.

“Hosokawa-san? What is your opinion?” Frimunt
asked.

The Guardian of the Conclave snapped a quick
bow then spoke.

“Gordon-san exceeds every Darkkin in this
room when he…loses his temper. Otherwise his abilities are
somewhere around two hundred years or so,” Hosokawa said.

“Oh come on! I can’t buy that! Does he exceed
even you, great Duelist?” Frimunt said.

“Hai! Although I have much greater
experience,” Hosokawa said in an even tone.

Frimunt snorted in disbelief.

“Tatiana is twenty-five. How long have you
been...like a vampire?” Mausya asked.

“About two years,” I answered. The vampires
all froze again, as still as statues, contemplating my answer.

“Absurd!” Atta said. Frimunt nodded in
agreement.

“I think a test is in order,” the big blond
German vampire suggested

“No!” Hosokawa said forcibly. “That would be
very unsafe. I will not allow it.”

The other vampires looked at him with
disbelief.

“May I remind you Guardian,
that you follow
my
directions,” Gault said.

“Unless the safety of the
Conclave is threatened, then
my
direction supersedes yours,” Hosokawa answered.
“Pressuring Gordon-san into…losing his temper would be a grave
mistake. I could not ensure the safety of the Patrons.”

“Ridiculous!” Frimunt said. “You’re just
protecting your Elder’s pet!”

Hosokawa’s eyes turned icy. “Are you
suggesting that I have compromised my honor in the execution of my
duties as Conclave Guardian?” he asked in a deadly quiet voice.

The look on Frimunt’s face was priceless when
he realized he had just insulted the honor of the Duelist. Gault
hastily came to his rescue. “I think, Hosokawa-san, that Patron
Frimunt was worried that you might have a conflict of interest in
young Gordon here.”

Hosokawa did not look mollified. “Perhaps you
mean to say that the very high esteem I have for Gordon-san’s
abilities have led me to overstate the danger?”

“Of course, Guardian Hosokawa. I would never
question your honor,” Frimunt said, visibly worried.

The deadly look left the Duelist’s eyes, but
he still looked a bit peeved. “Then I will reassure the Conclave
that my evaluation of the danger involved in such a test is solid
and perhaps even conservative.” He looked carefully around the
room, meeting each Patron’s eyes.

“Unless you wish to replace me as Guardian of
the Conclave, then you will accede to my judgement in this. No
testing of Gordon-san.”

The room was quiet for a moment, then a soft,
yet surprisingly deep voice spoke from the far end of the arc. “I
would agree with Hosokawa-san, based on what I know of this one,”
said Jarib Salazar, the South American Patron. He was studying me
coldly, like I was a dangerous snake.

“You have knowledge for the Conclave, Jarib?”
Gault asked, curious.

“This…creature before us is vastly more
dangerous than you realize,” the sharp featured Salazar began. “Are
you aware of a gang of were’s called ‘Loki’s Spawn’?”

Several heads nodded. Elisabeta spoke up.
“Mixed species weres right? Didn’t they almost expose their natures
to the humans?”

“They
did
expose their existence to humans –
challenged them in fact. This – “ he visibly struggled for a word,
“- abomination made a deal with the humans and wiped them out – by
himself!”

“Is that true?” Lison asked.

“Which part?” I responded.

“All of it,” she snapped.

“Yes, I hunted Loki Spawn, but I had help.
Yes, the US government is fully aware of both weres and
vampires.”

Gault and Lison both spoke at once. “You
exposed us to the United States government?” came out of Lison’s
mouth as Gault asked “How many Loki did you kill directly?”

I decided the Prolocutor’s answer should come
first, plus I thought Lison was really kind of a bitch.

“I’m not sure of the total, but maybe between
four and five hundred or so. Possibly more,” I said to Gault, then
turned to Lison. “The federal government has been aware of Darkkin
and weres for decades. They have special agencies assigned to
monitor both species. Are you telling me that the governments in
Europe have no idea of your existence?”

“Don’t be asinine. Of course
they know, but in
Europe
we have much better control of the central
governments then here on the frontier,” Lison answered.

Frontier? Really?

Gault looked at her in brief annoyance then
turned back to me.

“These weres you killed…what manner of weapon
did you use? Silver nitrate bombs, silver bullets?”

I shifted stance, not quite comfortable with
how I would have to answer.

“I did shoot some. Most killed in close
quarters combat.”

That didn’t sound so bad, right?

“Close quarters? Like with a sword?” he
persisted.

“Yeah, close enough to use a sword,” I
answered.

Berit spoke up. “Did you use a sword or
ax?”

“Er…no,” I answered.

“What did you use?” Gault asked.

“Mostly my hands and feet.”

“You killed five hundred weres with your
hands and feet?” he asked, incredulous.

“Well I did shoot a few,” I answered,
sounding a little lame.

There was silence for a moment then a new
voice spoke up.

“This is fascinating and all, but haven’t we
strayed rather far from the question of Fedor’s death?” Chilka
asked.

“Actually not,” Mausya said. Part of me
noticed how closely the others listened whenever she talked.

“Twenty-five years ago a miracle happened – a
vampire was born. The only one of our kind to actually be born as a
full vampire. It was right out of prophecy. It was…disturbing.
Something new after millennia of mostly stable Darkkin history.
Many saw her as a sign of redemption, others as a sign of
apocalypse. As a race we have all followed her growth to adult
hood, marveled or trembled at how advanced she became in a few
short years. Her emotional response to the death of her blood nurse
was disappointing, but then she snapped out of it and is again
growing by leaps and bounds. And this…man…is at the center of her
renewal. She has claimed him as her Chosen, despite his not being a
true Darkkin. Our most powerful Elder died in his presence, crushed
to complete and true death like – how did you say it? Oh yeah, a
tube of toothpaste. Droll. Now, little more than two years later,
the creature who appeared in our midst has become formidable enough
to kill weres with his bare hands. Tell me, honorable Hosokawa-san,
have you ever killed a were with bare hands?”

Hosokawa stilled for a moment, then answered.
“Hai. Twice.”

“How many did you kill?” Mausya asked.

“One each time.”

“Was it difficult?” Mausya continued.

“I would not recommend it,” the Japanese
champion admitted.

“Mr. Gordon, how many weres have you killed
with your hands at one time?” she asked me.

“Umm, not sure of the most,” I answered
awkwardly.

“What’s the term? Ah, yes, just give us a
park number,” she encouraged.

“Ah, that’s ‘ballpark’ I think you mean,” I
corrected. She just nodded and made a ‘get on with it’ gesture with
her hand.

“Maybe fifty. Tanya and I together killed a
bit over a hundred once,” I added quickly, wondering if that
sounded better.