War of Blood (Warrior of Souls Book 4), page 1
War of Blood
Warrior of Souls Book Four
S Mays
War of Blood
Warrior of Souls Book Four
S Mays
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Cover art by: Alberto Besi
© 2020 S Mays. All rights reserved.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
F1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Page
War of Blood (Warrior of Souls)
CHAPTER ONE
CHAPTER TWO
CHAPTER THREE
CHAPTER FOUR
CHAPTER FIVE
CHAPTER SIX
CHAPTER SEVEN
CHAPTER EIGHT
CHAPTER NINE
CHAPTER TEN
CHAPTER ELEVEN
CHAPTER TWELVE
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
CHAPTER NINETEEN
CHAPTER TWENTY
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
CHAPTER THIRTY
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Dedication
For Logan and Larkin.
Visit www.s-mays.com to find
more books by S Mays
https://www.s-mays.com/the-good-stuff.html
CHAPTER ONE
Fifteen vampires sat in front of dozens of computer screens, mentally switching through scenes much faster than any human could hope to analyze. Unblinking and without emotion, the undead guards scanned rapidly through every level and room of the high-security facility, searching for anything unusual.
Inquest One had been designed to house deadly supernatural threats that required constant monitoring and study. Some of the creatures couldn’t be killed by any known means, but mankind had found ways to imprison and nullify them. Today, the facility housed agents of the Order, the very organization that had built the complex, as well as supernatural enemies of the Vampire Lord, Grigori Rasputin.
The beeping was the first sign something was wrong. One technician’s screen automatically switched to the view of a maximum-security cell. The vital signs of the cell’s sole occupant were displayed on another screen.
The vampire studied the readouts intently before consulting a tablet that sat on the desk in front of him. Now concerned, he stood and motioned for the shift captain.
“What is it, Wright?” the dour captain said as he peered at the readouts.
The guard’s voice wavered as he swallowed hard. “It’s...the special case, sir. The one Lord Rasputin told us must never escape. The Soul Warrior is dead.”
THE SOUND OF TWO DOZEN heavy boots barreling down the hallway was an unusual sight since they’d overtaken the facility. The vampire guards’ field armor suits were impenetrable to most low-caliber firearms and many other conventional weapons. Even if a bullet managed to make it through the suit, it would need to have elements of wood in it in order to do any lasting damage to the vampire inside the armor. Their glossy black helms looked like something a motorcycle rider in the year 2045 would wear. Air hoses connected the helm to an air filtration system on their backs. While the vampires didn’t necessarily need to breathe, they all inhaled and exhaled air just as when they were alive, simply from natural reflex.
The door to the cell opened, and six guards rushed the room while the other six covered them from the hall.
“Shit...”
“He’s gone, sir.”
“What do you mean, ‘gone,’ Vandmin? No one’s ever escaped this facility since it’s been built. If he’s gone, Lord Rasputin will flay each of us alive and force us to work in salt mines for the next five hundred years.”
“Well, there’s a massive hole in the floor that looks like it goes all the way down, and all this equipment in here shows he’s taken off the monitoring sensors,” one of the guards said as he peered into the pit.
“You’re telling me a human dug his way up through two hundred feet of reinforced concrete with his bare hands?”
“You wouldn’t believe the hangnails I got from doing that,” a voice from above said before a young man fell to the floor. Before they could move, he lashed out with a quick kick to the door control, sealing it shut. The guards outside began beating furiously on the nearly indestructible barrier.
“It’s him!” the guard nearest to the pit shouted, “the Soul Warrior!”
Sverre ducked a blast of energy from one of the rifles before kicking the guard nearest the pit. The vampire fell into the deep abyss, screaming on his way down. “This...is...Sparta! I bet all of you guys are jealous you didn’t get to say that, right?” Sverre said as he caught the barrel of one of the rifles and diverted it into the face of the guard sneaking up behind him just as it went off. Sverre rammed the butt of the rifle into the mirrored face shield of the guard who held the gun, who grabbed his crushed face and howled in pain.
“Ouch. That looks like it hurt. Let me put you out of my misery,” Sverre said as he flipped the gun around and fired three blasts into the wounded soldier. Turning quickly, he caught the wrist of the next enemy, who wielded a nasty looking stun baton. Sverre jerked the guard forward before bending the man’s arm completely around to shock the guard with his own weapon. The sound of bones breaking and cartilage tearing was almost drowned out by the vampire’s screams of agony.
Another guard frantically shouted in fear at the approaching human. “Stop! S-Stop right there! I’ll activate your collar if you don’t submit, immediately, Prisoner 19631! I’ll blow your damned head off!”
“19631? Aww, you guys remembered by old number from the last time I was here,” Sverre said before he became deadly serious. “I said I’d never come back to this place, yet here I am...and you’re in my way.”
“You’re dead, asshole,” the guard said as he hit a command on the tablet. A high-pitched whine activated, but it wasn’t coming from Sverre.
“You’ve...got a little something there...around the neck area,” Sverre said as he motioned toward his own neck.
“Noooooo!” the guard shouted before the ring latched around his neck exploded. The headless corpse reached out and took three steps forward before falling into the pit.
“Never mind...it’s gone,” Sverre said as he turned to face the last guard. “I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle.”
The small-framed vampire looked at the guards around him before throwing his baton down and putting his hands up. “I-I don’t have a motorcycle.”
“That’s okay...your clothes aren’t going to fit me, anyhow,” Sverre said as he cracked his knuckles and began walking toward the undead soldier.
A few moments later, a blinding beam of light broke through the door as the guards on the outside began cutting through. By the time they were inside, Sverre was gone.
“Let’s see...armory is this way, but the cafeteria is this way,” Sverre said as he jogged down the hall. “Decisions...decisions.” Two guards rounded the corner only to be shot immediately before they could even register the young man’s presence. “Guess I’ll have to wait until getting out before getting some grub. Food probably sucks now that new management has taken over, anyhow.” He ducked into a storage room just as a squadron of soldiers passed.
“What the hell...look at me! I’ve lost all my gains! I’m probably barely over two hundred pounds! I’m going to have to work out months to get back to where I was,” he said as he flexed his still-impressive biceps. Flipping through the tablet’s pages, he paused and went back a screen. “Wait...Jessica!”
Dropping the tablet into a vest pocket, he checked the readings on his plasma rifles before dashing into the hall. Jessica was being held in a special cell on the next level. Using a keycard he’d obtained from a guard, he took an emergency stairwell up, dispatching the guard on the other side of the door in seconds. This one looked a bit more his size, so he stripped him of his suit and took another keycard before dashing down the hall.
“Let’s see...cell 402...aha. Why is she being held in a medical study cell?” he whispered as he used the second guard’s card on the door sensor outside Jessica’s cell. The plain white door slid open with a whoosh, revealing a completely dark room.
“Jessica?” he whispered as his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Unlike his previous cells, this one was much larger and set up with an examination table, surgery lights, scanners, and other scientific implements.
A low moan across the room caught his attention. There, shackled against the wall was a disheveled figure wearing a medical gown. Her arms and legs were bound to cables that pulled them to the wall, preventing her from attacking or even moving. Another moan of pain escaped her lips.
“Jess...” Sverre said as he rushed to her side. The young woman looked as if she’d lost fifteen pounds. She was pale and weak and seemed to be drugged. H
“Jess! It’s me, Sverre!” he said as he touched the side of her face and lifted her head to face him. Her sallow eyes looked as if she were half asleep.
“S-Sverre?” she whispered as she finally seemed to recognize him. “What...doing here?”
“Duh...I’ve come to rescue you, of course!”
“No...go away. Couldn’t bear...to live that down,” she answered.
Sverre paused before laughing. “Well, now I know you’re delirious, because you’re cracking jokes, and that’s definitely not your thing.” Looking over the tablet, he tried to find a setting to release the restraints.
Jessica shook her head. “Only...Bathory has the control...”
“Well, where is she?”
“Gone...haven’t seen her in...don’t know how long...cables are reinforced with Knightium strands...”
“What’s going on in here?” a voice shouted from the doorway. “Get away from her!”
Sverre spun about, ready to fire his rifle, before realizing the intruder was unarmed.
The man was dressed in a lab coat and stood about five foot seven and looked to be in his late fifties. He combed over his thinning white hair in order to attempt to hide the fact that eighty percent of his head was bald and failed completely. The most unusual aspect about the man was the fact he had strange goggles over his eyes. Upon further inspection, they actually seemed to be some kind of telescopic cybernetic eyes.
“And who might you be?” Sverre asked as he stood and approached the new arrival.
“Why, I’m Doctor Bingham. Head of Research of this facility. What are you doing to the prisoner? What is happening?”
“No need to panic, sir, but one of the prisoners has escaped. We think he may be heading here to rescue this one. I was supposed to move her, but I wasn’t issued the proper key.”
“Rescue? No, no, no. She’s necessary for my research! Lord Rasputin would kill me if I didn’t finish my project on time. Come, come, we must move her to a more secure cell!” Dr. Bingham said as he rifled through his pockets.
“Not to rush you, sir, but the escapee could show up at any minute...”
“Not to...are you addressing me, young man? I could have you fired! You’re the one who left his key behind, and you wish for me to hurry? You’re fortunate I showed up here when I did! Aha, here it is!” the doctor said as he pulled out a small device that looked like a key fob for a car. He unlocked a medical locker and retrieved a syringe and some vials. “We’ll need to sedate her for the journey. This one is dangerous. I’ll call a T-Mod to transport her.”
“No time to sedate her, sir. This guy is one mean SOB, if you get my drift. Really muscular, super strong, knows more martial arts than Neo and Chuck Norris combined.”
“Wait, are you saying that blasted Spirit Warrior is on the loose? We need to —”
“Um, that’s Soul Warrior, sir. Don’t get it twisted. I’ve heard it makes him really mad when you get his name wrong.”
“Don’t get it...twisted? I’ve never heard such rubbish and nonsense. What is your name and number, guard? I’m going to report you.”
Sverre balled up his fist and held it inches from the doctor’s nose. “Five. My badge number is five. If you don’t unlock my friend here, your number is going to be zero...plain zero.”
“I-I see,” Dr. Bingham said as he fumbled with the key fob. Jessica’s restraints popped open, resulting in her flopping forward. Sverre helped her to her feet.
“Sverre...need to...” she whispered hoarsely as she showed him her right hand.
That’s when he noticed her hand was bound tightly in a thick bandage. “Don’t worry, Jess, I got it.”
Finding the end of the thick gauze, he began unwrapping it. “We’ll get this crap off you, fight our way out of here and...” he said as the wrappings fell to the floor.
“No...y-you don’t understand...” she said as she tried to pull free, but he was done freeing her hand.
The shock of what he saw almost caused him to choke. “Jess...your hand is gone!”
CHAPTER TWO
“Elizabeth...she did it...” Jessica whispered as Sverre stared at the cauterized stump where her right hand had been.
Sverre held Jessica with one arm and whirled around to grab Dr. Bingham by the front of his shirt. “You! What did you have to do with this? You said you’ve been studying her!”
“I-I-I,” the doctor stuttered as he struggled against Sverre’s iron grip. Even his vampire strength was no match for the infuriated young man. “Mistress Elizabeth wanted to study her tissue and blood, but I had nothing to do with how she extracted it. She wanted the young woman to...suffer.”
“Yeah, well, you’re the one that’s going to suffer for what you did,” Sverre said as he raised his fist.
“Escape...” Jessica said as she pointed toward the door.
Sverre slowly lowered his hand. “All right, but we’re bringing this guy with us.”
“What? You can’t be serious; they’ll never let you —” the vampire scientist said as he looked toward the door, as if hoping some guards would rush in to save him.
Sverre leaned down close to the small vampire’s face and growled, his eyes changing to those of a wolf’s. “That’s not a request, Dr. Frankenstein.”
“O-oh my,” the older man said as he rubbed the fog from Sverre’s breath from his strange bionic eyes. “Very well. I can’t do my job if I’m dead, now can I?”
“Smart move, doc. Bring that T-Mod in here and set it up for her. But I don’t want it locked. I want it ready to pop open at a moment’s notice.”
The coffin-like floating prison transport hovered into the room and the door opened, ready to receive its cargo. Sverre gently placed Jessica inside, but she grabbed him. “Must...get Casca.”
“Casca? Where is she?” Sverre said as he turned toward the doctor. “Where’s her sword?”
“I-it’s in my lab, but I wouldn’t recommend going there if your intent is to escape.”
“We’re going to get her sword, and you’re going to help us,” Sverre said as he took the scientist’s tablet and scrolled through the settings until he found Jessica’s entry. Deactivating her collar, he placed it around the neck of Dr. Bingham. “There. Try anything funny and all that knowledge in your head will decorate the ceiling. Got it?”
“N-no need for such violence. I’ll do as you say.”
Glancing down the hall, Sverre waited for a squad of guards to finish passing before motioning for the others to follow. Letting the doctor take the lead, he kept his weapon ready. “You vamps are fast, Doc, but I’m faster. Don’t even twitch a mechanical eyebrow,” he threatened as a pair of guards dashed past.
They turned down several halls before Sverre realized they were heading toward the floor where he’d spent weeks being tortured and tested in order to explore the limits of his powers. Beads of sweat gathered on his brow at the thought of being discovered and either going through such trials again or buried under hundreds of feet of cement, unable to free himself.
They took the elevator down two floors to the research level, which was buzzing with guard activity. Turning a corner, they came face to face with an eight-foot-tall miniature mech. The bulky suit was armed with a cannon on each shoulder and an array of weapons on its left arm.
“Ah...” Sverre said as the large suit leaned over to regard the trio.
“What are you doing here, Dr. Bingham? The facility is on lockdown. You should be in your bunk.”
“I...was instructed to retrieve the Luvkrafft woman and secure her in my laboratory.”
“I received no indication the prisoner was to be moved,” the man in the armored suit said as he looked from the vampire scientist to Sverre.
“You’re supposed to be guarding the stairwell, Unit 132. Why are you with the doctor?”
