Apotheosis of the Immortal (29 page)

Chapter 58

“It’s not over
yet. With our forces so depleted, how do you plan to take the city?” Kitbuka demanded as he leaned forward against the table.

“As long as there are no more vampires, everything should go as planned. We still have a sizable force, siege engines, catapults. We can still do this.” Elijah looked around the table and then at the Khan.

“No, we have to do this.” The Khan was painfully aware of what his brother, the Khagan, dead to heart beneath William’s evil whispers, would do to him and to his army if they didn’t succeed here. “Pull the catapults and other siege engines into place in front of the gate and to the east wall. Send the vampires in over the other walls and have them destroy everyone they find,” the Khan commanded as he stood and dismissed the generals.

“Not you.” Elijah heard the Khan’s voice behind him as his grip landed firmly upon Elijah’s shoulder.

“What do you mean?” Elijah snapped as he turned to face the Khan. His heart was racing with anticipation of death at his fingertips.

“I don’t want you to go in. You are still not ready, Elijah; you are not detached.” The Khan lifted his hand from Elijah’s shoulder and placed it on the side of Elijah’s neck as he leaned forward. “Look at you. You are oozing with lust for bloodshed.” He whispered accusingly and then straightened. Elijah frowned and began to grind his teeth. “Today I need you to be Arjuna; get on your horse and pick their archers off of the wall. I will have someone else lead the vampires,” he commanded.

Elijah took a deep breath as he stood. He stared hard at the Khan before eventually moving to obey. He rushed back to his tent to retrieve his bow and quiver, fitted the leather straps of his quiver over his shoulders, and took up his bow before mounting the speckled grey stallion given to him by the Khan.

The horse was small compared to the ones he had known as a child, but it was fast and agile. Collecting the reins, Elijah pressed his heels gently to his mount’s side, urging him forward, and the pair raced through the camp and toward the city. In the distance Elijah could see the Mongol vampires climbing the city walls. Catapults and ballistae volleyed a steady barrage of boulders and missiles over and against the walls.

Elijah dropped the reins to his mount’s neck and grabbed an arrow from over his shoulder. Using his legs and weight, Elijah maneuvered the horse around the city. One after another, Elijah picked off enemy soldiers who were pouring oil and shooting fiery arrows at the Mongol vampires as they climbed the wall.

It wasn’t long before horns began to sound from back at the camp, ordering a retreat.
The enemy was well prepared. This won’t be as simple or straightforward as Hulagu had hoped.
Elijah thought as he rode back to camp.

Chapter 59

“What is the
plan?” Elijah spoke as he entered the Khan’s tent.

“I need your blood-eating bastards to man the catapults.” Hulagu Khan spoke quickly as he looked up from his desk where he was writing something. “It will take a bit longer, but as soon as we break through these walls, we will flood the city with your monsters and end this.” He looked back down and continued to write. “Here, send this to the Khagan.” Hulagu handed the letter to a man standing beside him and turned back to Elijah. “As soon as those walls fall, I want you to lead your men inside,” he said.

Elijah nodded and left the Khan’s tent, heading back to his own at the rear of the camp to retrieve his weapons. As he entered his tent, Elijah heard a noise behind him, just beyond the campfires. He saw a pair of eyes watching the camp from the safety of a darkened tree line. The eyes were glowing red; immediately he thought of Ayda and decided to investigate. He couldn’t allow anyone to sabotage this victory, not even her.

Elijah picked up his swords and slipped out the back of his tent. He exited the camp from a different side and crept closer to the place he had seen the possible saboteur. Using the skills he had learned as an Assassin, Elijah silently maneuvered through the forest.

He was shocked by what he found. He couldn’t see it well, but he knew it wasn’t Ayda. It was a great beast, a kind he didn’t recognize. From his vantage point, Elijah could only see the beast’s thick tail, the muscles bulging from its right hind leg, and its huge paw; he had no idea what it was.

Elijah drew his dagger as quietly as possible, but the beast took off before he could make a throw. Elijah watched the beast disappear behind a tent at the edge of camp. Elijah rushed to intercept it, but when he reached the edge of the tent, he found nothing. Elijah opened the tent to investigate and spied a naked girl with smooth, caramel skin and silky dark hair.

“What are you doing?” Elijah asked, now thoroughly confused. The girl gasped as she turned around.

“Elijah! What are you doing here?” she screamed in protest while covering herself with a gown lying next to her feet.

“Ayda, did you just see or hear anything strange outside of your tent?” Elijah demanded as he stepped through the entrance and pulled it closed behind him.

“What are you talking about?” Ayda frowned and furrowed her brow. Elijah remained silent. “Please turn around,” she pleaded. Elijah, unsure of what to do next, obeyed her request.

“I’m sorry; I thought I saw something lurking at the edge of the camp,” he said. “What
are
you doing?” Elijah looked back over his shoulder at the weapons and maps lying around the tent.

“I am preparing for battle, just as you should be doing. Now turn back around,” she scolded. Elijah turned around for a moment and then turned back to face Ayda, who was now clad in leather from head to toe.

“What are you wearing?” Elijah asked.

“My night clothes,” she said sarcastically. “I can’t very well fight in a gown, can I?”

“You aren’t listening to me! I saw a beast run behind your tent and disappear.” Elijah’s brow furrowed. “Did you hear or see anything? It’s strange, but I got the feeling the beast was planning something.” His eyes darted around the inside of the tent and were snagged by a unique-looking weapon—a sword, very gently curved, with an angled tip. It was beautiful; but when he reached out to touch it, Ayda quickly intercepted him.

“A beast that can disappear and make plans? Are you sure you are well, Elijah?” Ayda laid the sword on the other side of her, keeping it close.

“Yes, I found it while searching for you. I saw your eyes glowing in the forest; you must have been close to it. Perhaps it followed you into camp,” Elijah surmised.

“And then disappeared?” Ayda narrowed her eyes. Elijah eyed her condescending look and then shook his head; he knew it sounded crazy. As he stood there, his eyes scanned the tent once more.

“What is all of this? What kind of sword is that?” Elijah took a step closer. “And why is a servant girl preparing for battle?”

“It’s just something I made. You must have realized by now that I’m not simply a servant. I am doing some special tasks for the Khan, and you must leave now.” Ayda backed up and placed her hand on the hilt of the sword behind her.

“It all seems just a little suspicious,” Elijah said as he stepped forward and placed his hands on the table on either side of her, caging her between his arms. “You can’t kill me, you know,” he said as he leaned forward, pressing her against the table while he reached for the blade of her sword. The closer he got to her, the less he thought about his suspicions and the more his mind sank into the depths of her beauty. Their lips were nearly touching. “I think you should come with me, just to be sure,” he said as he shoved her sword off the table.

“Elijah, please, forget you ever saw me. I have important work to do.” She gently pushed him away and straightened her back.

“I’m sorry Ayda, but I will not allow you to interfere with me, with my plans; let’s just go talk to the Khan,” he said, his voice uncompromising.

“You give me no choice, then,” Ayda submitted; her voice trembling and her eyes hollow. “I will follow you,” she said.

“Good; let’s go.” Elijah took her wrist and turned around. As he turned, Ayda quickly yanked her hand loose and placed her hands firmly on Elijah’s head, one near his ear and the other across his face to the side of his chin. As she snapped his neck, a familiar pressure followed by a sharp pain left him unconscious.

Chapter 60

“Ka-
boom!
” Elijah awoke
to the sound of an explosion and the whump of a wall collapsing nearby. Quickly recalling what had occurred with Ayda, Elijah was immediately confused.

What is she up to?
Rising to his feet, he saw the maps he had noticed earlier and quickly pored over them. The map on top seemed to be of Baghdad, and she had marked an X on it. He also found notes in a language he did not recognize.

“At least I know where she is going,” he muttered. Elijah took the map and raced toward the city just behind the horde of Mongol vampires. The familiar smells of blood and death surrounded him once again as screams began echoing throughout the city.

Just inside the walls, Elijah unfolded the map. He quickly found his own position in relation to the X that marked a complex in the center of the city. Unsheathing one of his swords, he rushed towards the complex. Convinced he didn’t have time to get caught up in battle, Elijah avoided the main roads; he raced through alleys until he reached his destination and entered through an atrium.

He nearly stumbled over two bodies with severed heads when he opened the door into a room adjacent to the atrium, only two rooms from the X. Severed heads and limbs led the way from room to room. Elijah no longer needed a map. As he entered the room marked X, his eyes widened.
A library?

“What are you doing here?”

Elijah looked over his shoulder to find Ayda. “You tried to kill me.” Elijah accused as he turned to face her.

“I’m not an imbecile; if I had wanted to kill you, you would be dead,” she replied while retrieving a piece of parchment from the book she was holding.

“You might be surprised. I’m not so easy to kill,” he stalled, as he lifted the blade in his right hand. “What is that?” he asked, pointing the tip of his blade toward the parchment. “Is that what the Khan is looking for?” He stepped closer.

“Listen to me, Elijah; you have no idea what this is. I can’t let him get his hands on it.” Ayda folded the parchment and stepped backwards.

“Normally I wouldn’t care either way, but I need that. I have a deal with the Khan.” Elijah sheathed his sword and raised both hands in an attempt to calm her. “Just put it down and I will let you go.”

“It is not the Khan who concerns me. Your father, William… he must not find this.” Her eyes were wide as she pleaded with him, slowly easing away from the wall.

“Don’t worry about my father; I will take care of him. What do you know of my father? Who
are
you?” Elijah’s eyes narrowed as he maneuvered closer.

“No, Elijah, you are not ready. He will kill you. Come with me and I will answer your questions. I don’t want to kill you,” she said with conviction.

“You, kill me?” Elijah laughed.

“Find the library!” the Khan’s voice boomed from the atrium. Ayda opened a pocket below the breastplate of her leather armor and placed the folded parchment inside.

“I am sorry, Elijah; I must go.” She drew her sword and backed toward the door where Elijah had just entered. Before she reached the door, it swung open and two men raced through in single file. Ayda plunged her sword through both men’s chests with one thrust and leapt through the door before their bodies hit the ground. Elijah quickly followed through the first door, and then through two more, but he couldn’t find her. She had vanished.

“Fuck!” Elijah yelled as he turned back toward the library. He had cared for Ayda, and didn’t want to believe she would deliberately hurt or thwart him. But his anger grew, and his pain at her betrayal and disappearance hit like a battering ram to his heart. Why hadn’t he just killed her?