Jetta’s voice projected from microdrones throughout the old grain storage facility. “Prepare for next run. Scenario begins in five, four, three, two, one!”
This time, I got to wait behind a steel panel that had swung over one wall during the reset. I closed my eyes and let Grim’s combat sense paint a picture for me.
Nika’s mind pressure was aimed at the others, so I didn’t have to deal with that and was free to follow their progress as Elders Senka, Tzao, and Mausya crept about the massive facility.
Tonight’s training was geared toward hunting and killing active Vorsook commanders while defending our minds from their massive mental abilities. Omega’s previous encounter with a Vorsook AI had given him a look into some of their vast repertoire of battle techniques. They would likely attack from space and from portals onto the Earth’s surface itself. Omega and Declan, along with the elemental allies Declan and Stacia had gathered, were in charge of fighting the off-planet resources, but here on Earth, it would be up to the Coven and Team Gordon/Demidova to find and terminate alien infiltrators with mental superpowers. Our wonder witch had found a way to let Nika ramp up her already formidable telepathic powers to Vorsook levels. I knew he’d always been a fan of Rowan wood, usually from his aunt’s tree, but he’d discovered that Rowan from Fairie was a magnitude more powerful, which gave him all kinds of new weapons for his magic arsenal.
I felt a ghostly presence moving closer to my position. It paused, probably feeling the pressure of Nika’s attack. I almost attacked, but Grim held me back. Two seconds later, a second presence approached the first. Ah, a follow-on hunter. If I had attacked the first, the second would have had me. I sent my feelings to Tanya, who was ghosting about the other half of the grain terminal. A feeling came back. She had the third elder in her sector, and she was stalking them.
Grim suddenly surged forward, blasting me out right between Tzao and Mausya. Tzao had been the trailing patroller, and I was in her face instantly. It didn’t matter, as she responded so fast, my surprise was almost for nothing. My sword strike was blocked by her left hand dao while the deadly one in her right swung for my head. Grim blocked the attack with an aura-covered left arm, while my right hand pulled back and stabbed forward. Tzao did some kind of complicated maneuver that Tanya wouldn’t have fallen for and twisted my blade from my hand. Which was perfect for Grim, as I fought better with my aura-covered arms than with any bladed weapon other than my angelic blade. My now empty right hand caught the dao’s blade, the violet aura covering my skin simultaneously stopping and trapping the weapon. I pulled it from her grip, threw it behind me, and punched a short sharp jab into her neck with my left. She fell sideways, freeing me to spin and block Mausya’s spear strike. The thrown dao had caused Mausya to have to sidestep and block before she could strike me. By the time she did, I was ready, chopping her spear handle off with an aura mono-edge, then shoving her off the silo with a blast of vampiric Push.
I turned back to Tzao but she had foregone a counterattack, instead rushing past me to get through the opening above. I followed at my fastest speed, but she’d already tapped out Nika by the time I got there.
“Mission accomplished both times,” Lydia said. “That mind blast shit slowed both teams down, but you all muscled through it.” Hosokawa, Senka, Mausya, Tanya, Nika, Tzao, and I were all gathered around her for our after-training debrief.
“The amulets helped enormously,” Tanya said, brow furrowed as it did when she was deep in thought. “Perhaps it is time to train other Darkkin?” she suggested, looking at the three Elders.
“Agreed,” Senka said. “We will start with the Guardians, rotating active teams from around the globe.”
“We could use other telepathic vampires,” Nika suggested. “Send them out to where the teams are, which would be more efficient.”
“What do you think of that idea, Tatiana?” Senka asked. It seemed like a test question.
“I think it would be better to bring them here and have you train them, Nika. You are accounted one of the most powerful telepaths in the Coven, and you are the only Darkkin to have faced a Vorsook one on one,” my vampire said.
“Agreed,” Mausya said, clearly speaking for all three Elders at once. It was odd the way the Elders did that when they were altogether. Actually, it was downright creepy.
Tanya nodded, more to herself than to anyone else. “What’s next on our list?” she asked Lydia.
“Well, we had more tests for Declan, but he seems to be off in Vermont doing who knows what, and before that he was upstate.”
“He’s got a dragon,” I said. I had just spoken with him just last night. “And he was checking on the new base.”
“Ah, of course he has a dragon, Einstein. We’ve all met it,” Lydia said.
“No, mighty mouth, he’s got an actual dragon from Fairie visiting Earth,” I said. “Apparently they can do things with fire and plasma that have him fascinated. He’s studying a young one to see if he can improve what he already does.”
All seven vampires stared at me. “What?” I asked.
“You didn’t tell me?” Tanya questioned.
“I spoke to him last night… well, late this morning. You’d already retired for the day.” Meaning she’d passed out like she was
