Dark Lycan (Dark #24)(55)
Author: Christine Feehan

Gregori didn’t reply, but kept quickly striding toward the Carpathian.

Fen struck hard, driving his hand, silver stake firmly in his fist, through Abel’s back, seeking the heart. The Carpathian male raced down the corridor to come to Gregori’s aid.

Abel, using the enormous speed and strength of the Sange rau, leapt forward, dislodging Fen’s fist. He spun around and attacked, dropping the façade of Gregori, aggressively slamming his fist into Fen’s chest. As he did, his muzzle grew and he clamped his teeth over Fen’s shoulder, the bite pressure enormous, tearing through muscle down to the bone.

Vikirnoff Von Shrieder was shocked by few things, but the monster attacking was no ordinary vampire. He’d gotten through intricate safeguards as if the locks weren’t even in place. He’d looked and smelled just like Gregori. Carpathians had such an acute sense of smell they could place one another by blood alone, and Vikirnoff would have sworn he had been talking to Gregori.

He’d never seen anything move as fast as the two men fighting in the corridor. He felt like he was watching a fight scene on television in fast-forward. Hands and feet, shifting, and moving, the two combatants slammed into the rock walls and hit the high ceiling with neither giving an inch. He couldn’t help. There was no way to get off a weapon, they were moving too fast.

Mikhail, are you seeing this? Vikirnoff had never been afraid in a fight, not even when facing a master vampire. He always figured he had even odds. He was a skilled fighter and had been battling for centuries, but he’d never in his life seen opponents like these.

I believe you are looking at the true Sange rau Fen told us of. Mikhail studied the two combatants. He was correct in saying we have never faced an enemy such as this one. Mikhail’s voice had little inflection in it. He was merely stating a truth.

Vikirnoff drew his bow and pulled out a silver arrow. All of them were armed against an attack by the rogue pack. He doubted he could get the arrow off where it could do any good, but just in case the monster got through Fen, he was determined to stand between it and the prince.

Mikhail, he had a perfect image of Gregori in every way. He even smelled like Gregori’s blood. And he blew through the safeguards as if they weren’t even there.

Clearly our safeguards are for the vampire and not this new enemy. Again, the prince’s tone was matter-of-fact. He had to have known that the Sange rau had come for him, but he seemed more interested in studying the way the creature fought. They are almost too fast for even our eyes to keep up with.

Natalya. Vikirnoff reached for his lifemate. She was in the corridor ahead, closer to the prince, waiting just in case something got past her lifemate and endangered the prince. Do not attempt to fight this creature if he gets past me.

If he gets past you that means you are no longer in this world, she answered. I will do my duty and defend my prince and join with you as soon as possible.

Neither of you will sacrifice your lives uselessly, Mikhail decreed. If he should get past Fen, fall back and let us see if any of our defenses work against him. The sun is climbing in the sky. Surely even the Sange rau will be affected as we are. After all, he is vampire, Mikhail reasoned.

The fight between Abel and Fen raged on. Neither seemed to get the upper hand and both bore terrible wounds, but that didn’t slow them down. Most vicious fights were over in a matter of minutes, but the two seemed to sustain the physical energy necessary to continue the battle indefinitely.

"Join me, Fenris Dalka. You can see we are the superior race. We can command the wolves and the Carpathian people alike. The humans will be our cattle. You will die here defending a species that should be extinct," Abel proposed as they broke apart.

Blood ran in streams from both of them. Abel wiped at his chest and licked his fingers, smirking as he did so.

"Stalling isn’t a good idea, Abel. If you’re waiting for Bardolf to join you, you’ll be waiting a long time," Fen said.

The smile faded from Abel’s face. His eyes turned wholly black. Fen didn’t wait for the attack, but launched himself fast, going low, sweeping the legs out from under the Sange rau. He stabbed down hard with a silver stake, missing the heart, but opening another hole in Abel’s chest. Blood poured out, hopefully weakening him more.

Abel rolled, his legs locking around Fen as he lifted up and slammed him down on the hard ground, trying to drive the air from his lungs. As he forced Fen into the ground, the hard rock beneath them rose in sharpened spikes. Fen grunted as he landed on his back, the spikes driving deep. Just that fast, the spikes dissolved, although the damage had been done to Fen’s back. Fen rolled up, punching his fist through Abel’s ribs. The snapping sound was audible.

As Fen regained his feet, Vikirnoff could see blood pouring from the deep punctures on his back. Just as he was certain he would lose so much blood that the vampire/wolf cross would have the advantage in spite of the broken ribs, the wounds in Fen’s back appeared to close and the blood stopped flowing.

Abel and Fen crashed together again, this time, Fen spinning Abel around to slam him face first into the side of the tunnel. The walls of the tunnel had grown thick crystals, thousands bursting out of the rock. The mountain shivered. The force Fen used to drive Abel into the wall was so enormous the crystals shattered into thousands of razor-sharp pieces.

Abel pushed back, slamming his head into Fen’s forehead. Fen staggered back, giving Abel room to turn. His face was a mask of hatred and blood. Fen looked cool and confident, no expression, not of anger or pain. They both moved with breathtaking speed, Fen firing several rapid punches into Abel’s face, driving the crystals deeper into the flesh so that Abel wore a mask of bloody gems.

The two combatants moved so fast Vikirnoff found himself standing a few yards away, his bow lowered and his mouth opened. Not only were they blurred, but they were also changing the landscape around them into weapons so fast he could barely catch it all. As fast as one would create a weapon, the other would neutralize it.

Vikirnoff, fall back. You and Natalya join me.

Vikirnoff hesitated. He had one purpose in that moment-to protect his prince. He had been assigned a position by the prince’s primary guardian . . .

Now. You can both serve me best from behind our safeguards.

There was pure command in Mikhail’s tone. Vikirnoff abandoned his position and hurriedly made his way down the corridor to the prince. Natalya joined him. Both could still see the furious fighting taking place.

Mikhail brought down the last and most intricate of their safeguards to allow Natalya and Vikirnoff through. Immediately he resurrected them again, all the while watching the two Sange raus’ furious battle.

"Fen is slowly moving his opponent backward. It’s slow," Mikhail pointed out, "but clearly he’s trying to get him out from under the mountain. There’s a disturbance outside as well. I can feel a second battle taking place."