The Vampire Hunters (Book 2): Vampyrnomicon (20 page)

Chiang Shih strolled through the campsite surrounding the wooden palace, trying to avoid contact with the humans. Thankfully, their reverie kept everyone preoccupied, so no one noticed or cared about her. She moved from tent to tent, staying in the shadows. The only living things that acknowledged her presence were the horses in the corral as she passed. They neighed at her approach and trotted away to the other side of the enclosure.

She stopped near the palace entrance to survey the area. Guests entered and left, laughing and talking boisterously, and partaking of the wedding feast. Buoyed by recent victories in Italy, the Huns now stood to conquer the biggest prize of all—Constantinople. Soon they would lay siege to the largest city in Christendom and, once the city fell, plunder more wealth than any of them ever thought imaginable. But first, they celebrated their chief and warlord, for tonight Attila would take a new bride to his bed.

His death bed.

Chiang Shih closed her eyes, trying to force from her mind what she had to do. It pained her knowing she would murder Attila. She loved him. Not only because he was the only human who could satisfy her in bed. She also admired his physical strength. His courage. His determination. Maybe if she had sired him as a master two years ago, when they first became lovers, he could have joined Chiang Shih as her mate, and together they could have fulfilled her plans of domination. Instead, she reveled in the novelty of having a human plaything, and delayed Attila’s repeated requests to join her in immortality. Now, having grown weak and cautious, Attila had become a liability that needed to be dealt with.

She had joined up with the Hsiung-nu, as the Chinese called the Huns, almost three centuries ago when the Great Wall checked their nomadic surge eastward. It had been a fortuitous defeat for Chiang Shih. Having been unable to create a kingdom of the undead within the Han Empire, she opted to become a camp follower and joined the Huns as they retreated to the west. For hundreds of years she preyed upon the small villages scattered across the steppes of Central Eurasia and Russia, draining countless thousands of peasants of their blood, often leaving a few behind as vampires to terrorize the survivors. The swath of destruction created by the Huns as they pillaged across the land provided ample cover for her feedings. She might have gone unnoticed indefinitely had it not been for her own indiscretions. Shortly after the Huns’ ambitious invasion of Europe, the barbarians were defeated on the Catalonian Plain near Orleans in 451, followed by a strategic retreat to rest and lick their wounds. Without the sacking of villages to feed her thirst for blood, Chiang Shih became careless and unwisely used the outbreak of pestilence in the camp to feed off of the Huns themselves. It did not take long for her to be discovered, captured, and brought before Attila to face a certain death.

Fortunately, Chiang Shih found it easy to manipulate Attila. She convinced the warlord of her own immortality, and promised him the same if he spared her life. Enticed by the ultimate power, not only did Attila spare her life, but he took her for his newest bride. The next year, they returned to Italy as joint commanders and showed Europe and the world, in an orgy of violence, that the Huns were still a power to be reckoned with. Aquileia in northeast Italy fell after a three-month siege to the Huns, who then proceeded to slaughter every single inhabitant of the city. The same fate befell Altinum and Patavium. Cowered into submission, Vincenza, Verona, Brecia, Bergano, and Milan surrendered before the horde. These cities were still plundered, although Attila spared them from whole-scale destruction. Not even Chiang Shih could count how many of the undead wandered the Italian countryside in the wake of these conquests. Most satisfying of all, Rome itself was vulnerable for sacking.

Then her plans began to crumble. With greatness and immortality within his grasp, Attila succumbed to his human weaknesses. Four decades earlier, the Visigoth king Alaric died mysteriously after surrounding and preparing to sack Rome, a superstition that gnawed away at the warlord. Pope Leo, who pimped Christianity from the Vatican brothel in Rome, came to Attila and persuaded him not to lay siege to the city. Fearing his own mortality, Attila withdrew from Italy. He compounded his mistake by returning his horde to the palace at Pannonia to prepare for an attack against Constantinople, the most powerful city in the Christian realm. It was a foolhardy move that threatened not only to rain destruction down upon the Huns, but also expose Chiang Shih and her legions of the undead to a crusading Christian army. With that decision, the man who once had been her lover and her potential partner in world domination became her greatest liability.

As such, Attila needed to be eliminated.

Chiang Shih plotted out Attila’s death on the journey home. She had told the warlord that the time was right for him to join her in immortality so he could fulfill his destiny. The ceremony would take place at his palace in Pannonia just before the siege of Constantinople. He would need to take a virgin as his bride to complete the ceremony. She convinced Attila to wed the young Ildica, a virgin from a Germanic tribe allied to the Huns, ostensibly to seal a political alliance. In reality, Chiang Shih wanted a young girl who had been removed from her tribe and placed in unfamiliar surroundings, which would make her far more compliant.

As Chiang Shih stood outside the wooden palace, those inside rejoiced over Attila’s marriage to Ildica. Soon they would all be in mourning.

She discretely moved closer to the entrance. When a small group of revelers staggered out, she used them as cover to slip into the palace unnoticed and made her way to the banquet room, where she disappeared into the shadows. A score of Huns sat on wooden stools along the walls. A large bed covered in ornate drapes made of fine linen occupied the center of the hall. Attila sat on a couch in front of the bed. At first sight, he did not seem impressive. A man short in height but with a broad chest, he had small eyes, a flat nose, and a graying beard and hair. Yet there was no mistaking the confidence and strength that radiated from him, making him the most feared warlord in the land. Ildica sat beside him in her wedding dress, her eyes focused on the ground, a perfect example of meekness.

Chiang Shih watched as the wedding banquet played itself out. The guests had just finished the traditional welcome in which Attila would have each guest stand, one by one, in order of importance and would drink a single toast to him. With everyone in the hall having been so honored, and with excessive amounts of wine having been drunk, the guests dined on their wedding feast of meat and bread brought in on silver platters looted from Italy and placed on tables in the middle of the hall. Then, amidst more toasts, a pair of barbarians entered the hall to sing songs of praise to Attila’s valor and his victories, followed by a Moor who told fantastic stories to entertain the guests. As the festivities wound down, Attila noticed Chiang Shih lurking in the shadows and acknowledged her with a slight nod. Chiang Shih made herself as inconspicuous as possible.

Attila stood and announced in a bellowing voice. “My friends. Thank you all for sharing this joyous occasion with me. But I have to ask you all to leave. I want to be alone with my new bride.”

The guests all stood, serenading the warlord in a chorus of whistles and applauds. Singularly and in groups the guests staggered out, most in a drunken stupor. Attila followed behind them, joking with a few of his chieftains as he herded the guests toward the exit. When the last one had left, Attila motioned to one of the guards.

“I want to be alone with my bride. Make sure there are no disturbances.”

“As you wish.”

Attila closed the doors to the hall, and then turned around to face his bride. “We’re alone now.”

Chiang Shih emerged from the shadows. Attila stood erect and arched his shoulders back. She saw the way he stared at her, and noted the lust in his eyes. Chiang Shih feigned a smile. She wanted to take him to bed. To feel him inside her. To drink of each other’s blood and sire him as a master. For a moment, she considered abandoning her original plan and taking him as one of her own. But her desires had to take second place to her survivability.

Ildica, who still sat on the couch, her head bowed, looked up upon hearing Chiang Shih approach. Her face remained expressionless, but her eyes betrayed fear and uncertainty. Ildica glanced between Chiang Shih and Attila, hoping for an explanation. Chiang Shih knelt in front of Ildica and placed her hands over the girl’s.

“Everything will be all right,” she said in a reassuring voice.

Ildica nodded her assent.

“Is it time?” demanded Attila.

“Almost, my love.”

“And I’ll be as immortal and powerful as you?”

“More so.” Chiang Shih stood. She offered one hand to Ildica, who rose from the couch and took it. Chiang Shih led the girl over to the marriage bed. With her free hand, she motioned for Attila to follow. Attila crawled into bed and lay on his back. His brides sat on either side of him, Chiang Shih on his left, Ildica on his right. Ildica sat with her hands folded on her lap, an inexperienced girl with no idea what to do next. Chiang Shih reached out, took one of Ildica’s hands, and raised it to her lips. She gently kissed each fingertip and ran her tongue along Ildica’s thumb to her wrist. Her tongue made tiny circles, growing progressively larger until her mouth covered Ildica’s wrist. The girl gave a throaty moan.

Reaching out, Chiang Shih cupped Ildica behind the neck and drew her close. Their lips met. Ildica tried to pull back, but Chiang Shih held her head in place. She kissed the girl, each lasting longer than the last, until Ildica kissed back, tentatively at first, then slowly and more erotically. Their tongues met, and Ildica frantically explored Chiang Shih’s mouth. After a few seconds, her lips moved down Chiang Shih’s neck until she nibbled on the nape. When Chiang Shih reached up and caressed Ildica’s breast, the girl inhaled deeply.

Placing her hand behind Ildica’s neck, Chiang Shih lowered the girl’s head into Attila’s crotch. The girl did not resist. When her lips touched his cock through the clothes, she startled. Attila was enormous—ten inches long and two inches thick. It strained against his clothes. Ildica placed her hand on it, running her fingers across its length. She began to kiss it through his pants. Attila thrust his crotch into Ildica’s face. Unable to wait, Ildica pulled down his pants enough for the cock to spring free. Closing her eyes, Ildica placed her lips on the tip and slid as much of it into her mouth as possible.

Attila thrust deep into her throat, gagging her. “I’m going to enjoy being immortal.”

Chiang Shih placed her right hand over Attila’s eyes and closed the lids. “Just relax, my love.”

As Ildica sucked on Attila, Chiang Shih ran her fingers down his face, stroking his cheek and chin. Her hand came to rest over Attila’s mouth, with her fore and index fingers under his nose. She looked at him longingly. A tear formed in one of her eyes. Fighting back her emotions, she mouthed a single word.

“Goodbye.”

Chiang Shih’s hand morphed, the nails of the fore and index fingers transforming into six-inch-long talons that plunged through Attila’s nostrils and sliced into his brain. Attila’s eyes shot open, staring at Chiang Shih in disbelief. He tried to get up, but she forced his head down on the bed, holding him in place. Distracted by the commotion, Ildica attempted to look up from her sucking. With her left hand, Chiang Shih pushed the girl’s head onto Attila’s crotch, his engorged cock filling her mouth and preventing her from crying out to alert the guards.

Attila gagged as blood hemorrhaged from his brain and poured into his throat. He tried to raise his head to breathe, but Chiang Shih’s grip was too powerful. He opened his mouth to gulp for air, but Chiang Shih wrapped her thumb under his chin and forced his mouth shut. With no other recourse, Attila clutched at her arms, at first trying to use his own strength to break her grip and, when that did not work, frantically scratching and clawing. With a muffled cough, blood spurted out of Attila’s nose, covering Chiang Shih’s taloned fingers in blood. With his airways momentarily clear, he desperately snorted through his nose, and drew even more of the precious fluid into his lungs. Unable to breathe, the mightiest and most feared man in the world degenerated into a state of panicked terror, thrashing around against Chiang Shih’s grip. Chiang Shih closed her eyes, wanting to remember Attila as the warlord he was rather than the pitiful human he had become.

After another minute of struggling, Attila jerked frenetically, and then his body went limp. Chiang Shih moved her thumb over to the carotid artery to feel for a pulse. Nothing. She morphed her hand back to its human form. With the two fingers she had used to murder him, she closed Attila’s eyes for the final time.

“Sleep well, my love.”

Chiang Shih released her grip on Ildica’s head. The girl fell backwards onto the floor, the limp cock flopping out of her mouth. Leaning over, she retched. After regaining some of her composure, she looked up at Chiang Shih, wiping her mouth with the back of her hand. “Why did you do that?”

“Shut up, bitch. You’ll alert the guards.”

Ildica glanced over to the bed. Her eyes went wide at the sight of Attila’s corpse. “What did you do?”

“I killed him.” Chiang Shih licked the blood from off of her fingers.

Rolling onto her hands and knees, Ildica crawled for the door. Chiang Shih went after her, quickly catching up. Grabbing the girl’s hair in her left hand, she yanked her to her feet. Ildica started to scream. Chiang Shih clutched a hand over the girl’s mouth, applying enough pressure to nearly crush her jaw and stifle any sound.

“Shut up or I’ll tear your throat out. Do you understand?”

Ildica nodded. Chiang Shih released her grip and let go of the girl’s hair. Ildica stepped back out of Chiang Shih’s reach and massaged her jaw.

“You don’t honestly think you’ll get away with this?”

“Get away with what?” Chiang Shih asked coyly. “Attila died in his sleep.”

“You murdered him.” Ildica arched her back in an unusual streak of defiance. “And I’m going to tell the guards.”