Chapter 209: A Return To Dust
Chapter 209: A Return To Dust
With a bright flash of light, Ezra and X appeared inside of the dark throne room in Griffin's sanctuary.
"What the fuck?" X whispered harshly. "Why are we here, Ezra?"
"Strike while the iron is hot." Ezra spoke, striding to the throne.
The moment he'd burst out of the bar, he'd decided on this plan.
"Where do I hide close to the throne?" Ezra asked. "Hiding first, answering later."
X stared at him for a moment before sighing. "Come."
He led Ezra to a space behind the throne and they both crouched there.
"Alright. Explain."
"Didn't you notice?" Ezra asked.
"What?"
"Griffin and I'm sure, Natalia. They were weak. Weaker than they were before."
"Yes. And so?"
"Think, you idiot." Ezra grinned. "Where is the last place they'll expect us to be? The same place where we can ambush them and put an end to this threat once and for all?"
X's eyes widened in understanding. "Okay. But we've only got one shot at this. This is their sanctuary. They'll have other vampires and weapons around."
"True." Ezra nodded. "You take Natalia. I'll take Griffin."
"No." X raised a hand to stop Ezra. "I want Griffin. You'll take Natalia."
Ezra stared at him. "Alright." He didn't have a personal stake in X's grudge. He just wanted them gone.
"Wait." X frowned. "What if that Necromancer guy is with them."
"It doesn't matter. We kill Griffin and Natalia even if he's present in the room. Then, we can take care of him."
"Okay." X nodded.
They crouched there, waiting in ambush.
Before long, they heard the voices.
"So, what's the plan, my lord?" They heard the Necromancer's voice as the door to the throne room swung open. Three sets of footsteps began walking closer to the throne.
"We were weak after the resurrection." Griffin said, his voice resonating around the room. "And with this last-minute battle, we're drained. We'll take this time to replenish our vitality."
"Of course, my love." Natalia spoke, their steps getting closer. "Ezra Matten won't be able to escape next time."
Griffin hummed in agreement, the sound melodious. "Natalia. Keep an eye on that peacekeeper. She'd be our way of infiltrating Southside and finding Matten."
"Yes, my love."
They got to the throne, Griffin sitting down.
X and Ezra crouched, not moving a muscle. It was as if they were not even there.
"Now," Griffin spoke, "what are our plans to secure Westside and gain it back?"
As they began discussing, Ezra and X met each other's eyes. They nodded.
It was time.
Ezra carefully raised three fingers.
Natalia moved closer to Griffin, standing at his side and placing a hand upon him.
Ezra dropped a finger.
The Necromancer bowed grandly at a command he'd received from Griffin.
Ezra dropped the second finger.
Griffin leaned forward on his throne, giving instructions to summon the remaining covens formerly under him.
Ezra dropped the final finger.
The two vampires exploded out of their hiding place, their fingers finding its mark.
Ezra tore out Natalia's heart without even letting the look of shock form fully on her face.
X's hand was wreathed in flames, pulverizing Griffin's entire chest. His bird mask fell off his face, clinking beside the throne.
The Necromancer jumped back, his hands shining with dark purple light.
Ezra's eyes widened but before he could even remove his hands from Natalia's chest, it happened.
A huge cage made of bones landed with a crash, trapping X and Ezra. A heavy Aura descended, stopping any attempts at teleporting out.
Ezra and X abandoned the corpses, turning to look through the bars at the Necromancer who began to laugh.
They watched as the man laughed, exchanging uneasy glances.
After the man was done, he unbuttoned the clasp of his cloak, letting it fall away.
The Necromancer stepped forward, a wide grin on his effeminate face. He'd been wearing a black t-shirt, black jeans and black boots underneath the cloak. "Well, well, well, what do we have here?"
"Ezra Matten and discount Griffin." The Necromancer laughed, delighted.
"So says the edge lord." X drawled. "Who the fuck are you?"
"You can call me-"
"Shut up for a moment." X interrupted. "Let's have a moment of silence for these assholes." He motioned at the corpses at their feet.
The Necromancer watched, his face a picture of shock. Ezra chuckled, turning to look down at the dead vampires.
Griffin and Natalia were now footnotes in his story. It was time to make sure they were gone.
"X?" X turned to look at him. "Burn them."
X grinned, fire appearing in his hands.
"Now, wait a minute." The Necromancer called out. "Let's not be hasty."
"Oh?" X tilted his head, turning to look at the vampire. "But I love being hasty."
He laughed, torching the corpses. Thirty seconds later, the only traces of Griffin and Natalia remaining in the world was the dust at their feet.
"So." X grinned at the Necromancer. "You were saying."
"You shouldn't have done that." The Necromancer sighed theatrically. "I would have let you go in exchange for the bodies."
"Let us go?" X asked in mock confusion. "Were you keeping us here in the first place?"
"That's enough." Ezra spoke up, materializing a blade of feather in his hand. "We're getting out of here."
He raised his hand and as he slashed, the weight in the cage tripled, sending both him and X to their knees.
"What the hell?" X choked out.
"Do you like it?" The Necromancer laughed as he watched them. "I got the idea after experiencing the weight of a City Lord's Aura. Those sixth ring vampires don't play around."
Ezra gritted his teeth, fighting the pressure. The City Lord's pressure had been much more powerful than this.
"Oh?" The Necromancer made a sound of surprise as Ezra and X struggled to their feet.
Ezra met the Necromancer's eyes as darkness began to pour off him, quickly filling the cage and hiding him from view.
"A new trick?" The Necromancer laughed. "Let's see if it'll work."
Ezra filled the cage with his darkness, a forcefield stopping it from leaking out of the bars of the cage. Ezra activated the vitality stealing vitality, noticing something preventing his darkness from siphoning the energy.
His eyes narrowed. He took a deep breath and began yelling, waves of red, blue and green batting against the cages.
The waves bounced off the field, rattling around the cage and growing more powerful with every yell.
With a final yell, the forcefield cracked, Ezra's darkness draining its vitality in an instant. A moment later, the cage fell apart.
When the darkness dispersed, the two vampires were gone.
The Necromancer chuckled at the sight. He walked to the side of the throne, picking up the fallen bird mask Griffin had been wearing. He turned and walked out of the throne room, walking to the vampire standing there obediently.
"Here." He grinned as the vampire took the mask from him and put it on. "Come with me."
He had been lucky enough to persuade Griffin to make another avatar. And it had been easy to hijack the avatar through the bond he shared with all the vampires he resurrected.
Now, he had a Griffin all to himself.
A Griffin named Z.