Immortal War

It happened simultaneously. The four vanguard Vampirate ships—The Blood Captain, The Redeemer, The Calabria, and The Vagabond—smashed into the three lead Alliance vessels—The Diablo, The Tiger, and The Typhon. Wood splintered as the ships crashed into one another. As the members of each crew experienced the shock waves, Sidorio let out a roar. “Now!”

The captains of each Vampirate ship flew up into the air, followed in their wake by their troops.

Sidorio and his crew thudded down onto the deck of The Tiger, where Cheng Li and her team were ready to do battle.

“Remember!” cried Sidorio, making his first swift kill. “This is the ship of Vampirate assassins. Take them down!”

“Eyes on the prize!” commanded Cheng Li, spearing an unsuspecting Vampirate. Moving on, she called out to her comrades, “Destroy Sidorio and the whole Vampirate house of cards collapses.”

Now the two crews interlaced as surely and brutally as the prows of their ships.

Lorcan saw Sidorio fly through the air and land on The Tiger. The lead pirate vessel was now wedged between The Blood Captain at the fore and The Nocturne at the aft. The Vampirate armada had begun circling the Alliance fleet. If Sidorio took The Tiger, The Nocturne would be the next ship in his sights. But it wouldn’t—it couldn’t—come to that. No crew was better prepared to see off Sidorio than that of The Tiger.

As Lorcan watched Stukeley, Mimma, and their teams spill onto The Diablo, he felt Obsidian Darke’s hot breath at his side. “I’m going after Sidorio,” Darke said. “You’re in command of The Nocturne. Do whatever is necessary.”

With that, Darke sprinted to the prow of the ship and vaulted onto the stern of The Tiger. Lorcan shuddered as he glimpsed Sidorio far in the distance. He wondered how long it would take before the two old foes squared up to each other one last time.

Lola and her crew had landed on The Typhon. “Good to be back, eh?” She grinned at Marianne and Angelika, at her side.

“Aye, Captain!” chorused the two Vampirates as they sprang into action, swords aloft.

“It’s great to be out of the nursery and in the heart of the battle,” Lola cried to Nathalie as she used her lethal crossbow to slay her first victim. Nathalie kicked away the fast-desiccating Nocturnal, enabling Lola’s gloved hand to swiftly retrieve her precious silver arrow.

“Nice one, Captain!” declared Nathalie. “At this rate, we’ll have the cellars restocked in no time!”

The vast deck of The Typhon was alive with action as Lola’s crew penetrated deep into the pirate ranks. But they had met their equal in Barbarro and Trofie’s expertly trained pirates. It was going to be a close-won battle.

As she made a fifth kill, Lola glanced up and caught Trofie staring at her from the other end of the deck. There was pure visceral hatred in Trofie’s eyes.

“Don’t worry, Goldfingers!” Lola called. “I’m working my way back to you.”

Trofie Wrathe raised her aconite-dipped silver sword. “Bring it on, Banshee!” she yelled as she pushed through the melee to tackle her black-hearted nemesis.

From on board The Diablo, Cate saw loathsome Lola. She dearly wished she was on The Typhon now so she could plunge a silver sword straight through the vixen’s cold, dark heart. Payback for Lola’s felling of Bart. Hopefully, Cate would have this satisfaction before the battle was through, but, for now, she had business to attend to defending The Diablo.

Mimma and Stukeley and their teams were each enjoying an early run of success on opposite sides of the ship. The deck boards were littered with their victims and drenched in warm pools of blood. Gazing at the sea of red, Stukeley was sorely tempted to lap it up. Maybe later—as a pick-me-up.

“Nice swordplay,” said a familiar voice behind him. “But then you always were one of the best, Jez.”

Stukeley spun around hastily to find Cate braced for attack.

He smiled at his worthy opponent. “That’s not my name anymore,” he said. “Don’t play head games with me, pirate. They won’t work.”

Cate gritted her teeth. “The only head game I have in mind for you is decapitation.”

“Touche!” Stukeley cried as their swords clashed. “We used to be pals! What changed, I wonder?”

Cate launched herself in the air, executing a move Lorcan had assiduously coached her in. She landed in front of Stukeley, her sword jabbing his chin. “You became a megalomaniac bloodsucking demon,” she said.

“You say that like it’s a bad thing!” Stukeley exclaimed.

Shrugging, Cate lifted her foot and booted him several meters across the deck. That felt good!

On the other side of the ship, Mimma had found her way onto the rigging and was hovering there, poised to jump down onto her next victim, Moonshine Wrathe.

“Oh, surely you can do better than that!” he said in bored tones. Without turning, he employed his sword to slice through the rigging and brought her tumbling to the deck in front of him.

As Mimma scrabbled back to her feet, Moonshine shook his head. “Well, you’re certainly pretty, for a demon. But I’m a captain now. Don’t I merit one of the big fangs rather than the backup squad?”

Mimma was angry now, her pride hurt. She hissed at him, her mouth already stained with the blood of his erstwhile crewmates. She spun her sword ominously toward Moonshine. “How’s about I turn you into a pirate kebab,” she said, “and then feast on your blood?”

“A charming proposition!” Moonshine declared, preparing to defend himself. “But no more kebabs for you today, methinks. Terrible for the cholesterol, you know!”

Seconds later, their swords were engaged and the backchat ceased as they let their weapons do the talking.

On board The Tiger, Connor was notching up one victory after another. He had never felt more completely in the combat zone. As his latest victim fell before him, the deck suddenly opened up and he could see Jasmine, Jacoby, and Bo Yin all holding their own against Sidorio’s crew. Connor swelled with pride. If there was any ship and any crew that was going to turn the tide tonight, it was this one. He could see Cheng Li up at the stern, fighting in her usual exemplary fashion. And now she was joined by Obsidian Darke. The leader of the Nocturnals had barely set foot on deck when he started cutting a swath through Sidorio’s troops. Darke had never seemed so pumped up and ready for the fight.

In the center of the deck, Connor identified the target they all wanted—Sidorio. The Vampirate leader was being given a good fight by Nada, one of The Tiger’s most able pirates. That’s it, Connor thought. Just keep him in play. Just keep him there until I make my way through this next rank of Vampirates. Then he’ll have the fight he really wants. He just hoped neither Cheng Li nor Obsidian beat him to it.

Lola and Trofie’s swords clanged together once more, the blades reflecting the enmity in each woman’s