The Mourning Woods - 03 (23 page)

Sally returned a short while later looking fully sated. The smirk on her face was all the answer I needed as to whether she had been successful in her attempt to scam a meal.

It wasn’t too much longer before a familiar guttural voice called to us from outside, “
Time is now.
”

Thus summoned, we stepped outside as a group. Standing there, as expected, was Grulg. Next to him was Nergui, decked out in full battle armor, looking like some sort of samurai.

He gave us a quick glance as we approached, and I could have sworn something like disapproval passed through his eyes. My companions and I looked more likely to be the victims in a
Friday the 13
^th
movie than important delegates.

Grulg grunted and turned, beckoning us to follow. As we started walking, I asked Nergui, “You expecting trouble?”

“I am always open to the possibility,” he replied. “But, this,” he indicated his attire, “is tradition. As your guard, I am expected to be armed for conflict. So too will my counterparts be. It is purely
ceremonial
.”

Something about his tone told me that was only partially true. I could only imagine that, amongst supernatural beings with a penchant for violence, purely ceremonial could quickly turn into practical...just great. Armor was fine for him, but if the talks suddenly devolved into combat, my winter coat wouldn’t do much to protect me. I knew Sally had her hand cannon, and Ed was openly carrying his shotgun. Tom was likewise unarmed, but I had little doubt his hellspawn of a girlfriend would come to his aid if trouble broke out. That left me. Wonderful.

Perhaps sensing my discomfort, Nergui suddenly matched my stride. I felt him press something into my hand. I looked down, it was a sheathed dagger.

“Purely ceremonial?” I asked.

“Of course,” he replied, quickening his pace again.

* * *

“Suddenly I feel underdressed,” I said, seeing the large group of vampires standing before us on the trail.

Whereas we looked as if we had just spent the night camping (not too far from the truth), the party before us could have just stepped out of a Hollywood soiree. Crisp suits, overcoats, and well shined shoes stood out like a sore thumb amongst the foliage. Great, now I had to worry about the undead fashion police too.

I frowned as I recognized Francois and his contingent amongst the group. However, that frown almost immediately turned upside down as I finally saw a familiar face, James. He stood a bit away from Francois, their mutual dislike apparent even from here. Several vampires stood with him, a few of whom I vaguely recognized. He had brought some of his own people with him, smart. Even smarter, I didn’t see Colin amongst them. Good. I had enough to worry about without that little ass kisser trying to gum up the works.

Once we had arrived at the group, Grulg announced, “
Grulg go ahead. Tlunta enter when announced. No sooner.
” With that, he gave us all a look of barely contained anger (well OK, almost every look I had seen Grulg give had been one of barely concealed hostility. I wasn’t sure he was even capable of doing otherwise) and walked ahead.

Fortunately, lest I start to miss them, Francois was right there to continue giving me hostile glances. He gave my friends and me the once over. “So much for us putting our best foot forward,” he sniffed.

“Sorry. I didn’t get the memo about the dress code,” I replied.

“I can assure you, it’s quite all right,” said James, walking up to all of us. “I sincerely doubt the Alma will be all too concerned with our attire.”

“They will not be the only ones present,” spat Francois, oozing disgust.

“I am well aware,” answered James, evenly. “Just as I am aware that the majority of the witnesses present will not exactly be mavens of fashion themselves. I for one will be quite surprised if the au naturale participants do not outnumber the clothed ones by a good many.”

Francois narrowed his eyes; however, James held his gaze. Though Francois was older, the two were of the same rank. In the vampire community, to show any sign of weakness was to acknowledge the other as your better. Fuck that! Hell, I was little more than a piece of shit compared to either of them, and I wasn’t about to acknowledge some French-Canadian dickweasel as my superior.

Finally, Francois turned to me, a sneer on his face. “It ultimately doesn’t matter. Just do your job, Freewill. Sit at the head of the table, nod when you are supposed to, and let those far more qualified set the terms for this treaty.”

“Right-o, chief,” I said glibly, eliciting a chuckle from both my roommates.

Francois gave each of us a glare that said he would have gladly gutted us, and then turned on his heel. His lackeys...err, negotiators immediately fell into step and began following him.

Once he left, the tension eased considerably. James walked over and gave Nergui a hearty clap on the shoulder. “It is good to see you again, my friend.”

Nergui nodded and replied, “Her highness sends her regards, Wanderer.”

He must have noticed me wince a little at that, because he smiled before addressing me.

“Welcome, Dr. Death. I am happy to see you made it. I’m told that others were not so fortunate.”

“Yep,” I acknowledged. “While still others seem to have benefited from that misfortune.”

The smile dropped off his face and he got serious. “Yes, a most disturbing turn of events. I shall be monitoring things quite closely from my place on the sidelines. If Francois’s men do anything to jeopardize the peace process, whether purposely or through their own ignorance, I will be forced to become more involved.”

“Isn’t that dangerous for you?”

“Yes, but I place the good of the whole before my well-being. For now, though, I will trust Francois’s people to uphold the will of the Draculas. However, should that change...”

“I have it covered,” I said.

A look of something close to panic came over James’s face. “No! Your duties have already been set in this matter. Do not overstep your authority. It would be unwise.”

I gave Tom and Ed a quick glance at that. I opened my mouth to tell James how there had been a change of plans, but then I remembered Sally’s warning. I’d have to bring James up to speed when she wasn’t around. For now, I just nodded.

“Good,” he replied. “To do otherwise, could be disastrous.”

* * *

“There shouldn’t be too much to worry about today, regardless,” said James as we walked along the forest trail. “I expect little more than introductions, some posturing, and a setting of the ground rules. Even Francois’s men should be able to handle that.”

“Sounds pretty easy...” I started.

“There is one issue of concern, though,” James said.

“Just one?”

“A rather important one,” he stressed. “You have no doubt noticed Grulg speaking in English, correct?”

“Kind of hard to miss.”

“That is one concession they were willing to make for your benefit. You should know, though, that the Alma’s natural language is quite different than ours. Not all of their words translate well.”

“OK and...”

“And, I cannot stress this enough, you must be utterly respectful to them, especially their leader, regardless of what they say.”

I gave James a grin back. “Relax. We’ve all heard Grulg speak. I can handle a little broken English. Hell, I hear worse at some of the Chinese restaurants back home.”

“I’m not talking about a little...” he started to say, but I didn’t hear the rest.

We stepped from the trail into a large clearing and well...holy shit!

* * *

OK, so maybe clearing wasn’t the word for it. Hell, I don’t know what is. All I know is that despite being a vampire for nearly a year and having seen sights that would cause ordinary folks to piss themselves, I wasn’t even remotely prepared for this.

“James Cameron, eat your heart out,” I heard Ed whisper behind me. Sure enough, what was before us looked more like a scene from some summer blockbuster than anything else.

The trail slopped downward in front of us, into what appeared to be a shallow valley. The entire place was lit with dozens of torches. The sides had been carved into levels, not dissimilar to stadium seating. Within each level, downed trees and rocky outcroppings acted as seats. However, that wasn’t the weirdness.

It was the myriad creatures taking up the seats that threatened to blow my mind completely. A quick glance back showed the same wide-eyed look on my friends’ faces. Hell, even Sally seemed in awe. Only Nergui, James, and James’s contingent appeared to be taking it all in stride.

For a moment, I just stood there gawking. It was like the greatest effects people in Hollywood had gotten together and decided to have a kegger. Beings - for that’s the best word I have for them - of all shapes and sizes stood, sat, and in some cases floated in the vast space before me.

It was only after a few moments that another bit of strangeness occurred to me. Though I could see several of them...err talking, I guess, there wasn’t any sound! Mouths opened and closed, flanges gestured,
things
rippled. We should've heard the commotion from a mile off, yet there was nothing but the silence of the forest around us.

I turned and looked at James quizzically. Whatever warnings he had been imparting to me were gone. In their place was a wide grin. “Courtesy of our magic wielding guests,” he said and pointed. A short way off from us, standing at the top of the rise, a white robed figure - one of the witches from Christy’s group - stood with her arms in the air, a purple glow enveloping her. Turning, I scanned the area and noticed three more beings, none of them human like the first. They were standing symmetrically to each other at opposite ends of the open area. All had the same glow about them.

“Look closer,” James said.

I did, and for the first time noticed that the air in front of me had a slight shimmering quality to it.

“It’s a fucking force field,” Tom gasped.

“Not quite, but close,” James replied. “After you.”

I stepped forward, the shimmer becoming more pronounced. I looked back, shrugged, and stepped through. In for a penny...

There was a momentary tingling, and then suddenly the voices, hoots, hollers, and murmurings of the creatures filled my ears. Within the space of a second, things went from being a library to a high school auditorium.

I voiced my amazement, but I’m pretty sure nobody heard me over the cacophony of sound.

* * *

Stepping forward, I got a better look at the bottom of the valley. It was roughly the size of a basketball court, oval in shape, and set apart from the...err...bleachers, for lack of a better term. A small platoon of Sasquatches stood at the perimeter of this space. Their purpose was pretty obvious: security. Suddenly I was wondering whether I had stepped into a peace conference or a rock concert.