Immortal War

ATAFUTURA ATOLL

Sidorio stood at the edge of the atoll, watching the jewel-like surface of the ocean. He could feel the burning heat close around him. The night was warm, and the whole atoll had been ringed with flaming torches to facilitate the night’s training. As he and Lola had sailed in on The Vagabond—the last of the ships to drop anchor around the atoll—it had seemed to him that the ocean itself was on fire. The sight had pleased him—a portent of the deepening conflict. Once, thanks to the scaremongering of others, he had been afraid of fire. Now he knew that, like so much else, it was nothing to be afraid of. He was beginning to realize there was nothing he could not overcome if he put his mind to it. Perhaps one day soon he would break the ultimate taboo and walk out proudly into the daylight. At last, after so much wasted time, he felt he was finally coming to understand what being immortal really meant. That he felt these things, he knew, was all thanks to one extraordinary person.

He could see her now, still some way away, walking toward him across the surface of the water. Burnished by a strip of moonlight, it appeared as if the ocean itself had rolled out a golden carpet for Lola to walk to shore upon. As she strode nearer, Sidorio smiled, seeing her familiar black-heart tattoo and the beauty spot at the side of her mouth as if for the first time. Her face was as luminous as the moon. Every time he gazed upon her, it felt like a miracle. Or, rather, two miracles: the first to have found her at all; the second to have succeeded in bringing her back from the void.

Lola was followed by two of her closest aides, Nathalie and Jacqueline. Each was a rare beauty, but Sidorio only had eyes for his extraordinary wife. She was looking lovelier than ever tonight, in a flowing gown in many shades of blue. As she stepped from the water onto the sand, it seemed as if she had fashioned her clothes from the ocean waters themselves. She stood there for a moment, catching her breath after such an intense effort of showmanship, and smiled to see her husband waiting for her. Though she had walked some distance across the surface of the ocean, her boots were still bone dry.

“Ready to inspect the troops?” Sidorio inquired, extending his arm.

She nodded, looping her own arm through the crook of his. She glanced over her shoulder to check on Jacqueline and Nathalie’s progress. Reassured that they had now joined her on the sand, she allowed Sidorio to lead her off into the melee.

The whole atoll was alive with movement and noise as the swarm of Vampirates got stuck into their nighttime training session. The air rang with the clashing of swords and other noises—cries, roars, and the ominous, more subtle, sound of weaponless combat. The crews of some twenty Vampirate ships had disembarked here tonight for this latest bout—designed to sharpen their fighting skills and also their bloodlust.

As Sidorio and Lola strode among them, followed close behind by Jacqueline and Nathalie, the warring Vampirates were careful to make room for their revered leaders. Sidorio slowed his pace to observe a particularly vicious duel.

“Go on, my son!” he called out. “In for the kill! Show no mercy!”

Lola laughed. “This is only a training session,” she said. “You don’t actually want them to destroy their own comrades, do you?”

Sidorio turned to face his wife. “Darling Lola, Camp Decimation is based on principles derived from the Roman Army. By the close of play tonight, I want the weakest ten percent of our troops destroyed. That’s how you keep your army on its toes.” Smiling, he added, “If you want a solution, always look to Rome.”

Lola raised an eyebrow and reached out her hand to toy with the line of chunky medals pinned across his chest. “No one could argue that the Romans didn’t leave us a potent legacy.” She smiled. “I’m impressed, husband. It seems you’ve been making some interesting changes.”

Sidorio nodded, his eyes turning from his wife back to the duel being enacted before their eyes. “War is a state of constant change,” he said. “And I intend to win this war.”

Suddenly the Vampirate Sidorio had urged on before broke free and attacked his opponent from a new angle. As he did so, he opened his mouth and bit off his opponent’s middle finger.

Lola and her aides gasped in surprise. Sidorio only laughed. “There you are, ladies. I give you the principle of decimation in practice. Removal of a tenth.”

Lola shook her head fondly. “Sometimes I forget what a brute you are, Sid.” She stroked his serge sleeve tenderly as they continued on their way. “Thanks for the reminder.”

“Commander!” came a cry. Johnny marched out of the fray to greet Sidorio and the others.

“Stetson!” Sidorio exclaimed, pulling his comrade into a warm bear hug. “How’s it going with the new recruits?”

“Same old, same old,” Johnny said, bowing courteously to Lola and her aides. “The landlubber Vampirates are still coming to grips with the rudiments of swordsmanship. But there are a few stars in the making. Take a look at these two over here.” He pointed to a muscled young man locked in a fight with a lithe older woman.

“What’s their story?” Sidorio asked, his arm draped casually over Johnny’s shoulder.

“The blond guy, Skawen, is an old vamp,” Johnny said. “Viking stock, so no stranger to fighting, pillaging, and the like. He’s been landlocked for centuries but he was made to be on our team.”

“And his sparring partner?” Sidorio inquired.

“Martha Corey,” Johnny said. “She’s an interesting one. American by birth. Hanged in the Salem witch trials but didn’t go gentle into that good night.”

“Good for her!” Lola said. “Look at the fire in her eyes. If you hadn’t already recruited her, Johnny, I’d take her for The Vagabond.”

“She’s yours if you want her,” Johnny said, in no doubt of the hierarchy.

“That’s very kind of you,” Lola replied. “But I’m happy enough with my current crew. She’s all yours, Johnny. Cherish her!”

Johnny nodded. “I will.”

“How’s it going with the newly converted pirates?” Sidorio asked him now.

Johnny nodded. “Stukeley’s got them in hand over there.” He pointed diagonally across the atoll. “I’ll leave him to give you the debrief. But don’t forget, I’m heading off this week to begin a new recruitment drive among land-based vampires. Have to keep our numbers strong!”

“Very good, Stetson,” Sidorio said. “Catch you later for a pint or two on The Blood Captain?”

“Sounds great!” Johnny said, grinning at the ladies, then racing back into the fray.

Sidorio and Lola led the others on around the atoll, observing with pleasure the sparring on all sides.

“Isn’t this thrilling?” Lola exclaimed. “Camp Decimation! How ingenious you are, Sid!”

Sidorio smiled at her praise. He glimpsed Stukeley close ahead, and his spirits soared even higher.

Stukeley extricated himself from the battle zone to greet the others. “Good evening, Sidorio. And Lady Sidorio.”

Lola smiled prettily. “I think it’s high time you started calling me Lola,” she said.

“Absolutely,” Stukeley said. “Lola it is.”

Sidorio leaned forward confidentially. “Stetson said that you’d been training up the newly crossed pirates. How are they performing?”

“Pretty well,” Stukeley replied. “Yes, on balance, I’d say that the freshly crossed pirates are more of an asset to us than the landlubber vamps. Johnny has his work cut out with them!”

Sidorio nodded. “He said as much.”

“Still,” Stukeley said, “it makes sense to keep both recruitment streams going.”

“Absolutely,” Lola said, stepping forward. “Every recruit to the Vampirate army is one less recruit for the blood-hating Alliance.”

Stukeley nodded. “That reminds me,” he said. “I wanted to talk to you both about something.” He paused as their eyes met his. “Have you noticed that although we seem to be so much more aggressive at recruiting, the Alliance army always seems to outnumber ours?”

“Things are changing,” Lola said. “Fast.”

“Lately we have triumphed over them in one battle after another, yet their numbers seem to remain constant,” Stukeley continued. “Maybe they’re recruiting more actively than we thought. Either that or they have found a way to bring their fallen troops back from the dead.”

Sidorio laughed, his eyes bright. “That’s more our territory than theirs, surely?”