The stick crested the wave of shadow which blew out of her fingers and tore through the air between them. Splitting the wave in two, he felt the tattered remnants of her shadow energy explode around him as it was released back into the darkness.
Her eyes widened and she managed to swerve out of the path of his sword.
Dancing back into the air, she stared down at him in shock.
"You blocked my attack."
He shrugged. "It wasn't much."
"No one has blocked my attack," she muttered. "Maybe the countess could do it. Or that other one. But no other Bride before has blocked me."
"I am no Bride," he said wryly.
"Then what are you?"
"A fledgling."
"You are not so simple," she scowled. Then lifted her arms. Shadows danced around her fingers. "Then I will tear your secrets from your corpse."
"You are not so simple yourself," he grunted. "But Shadow Bolt won't work on me."
"Arrogant!" She made a throwing motion with her right arm and the shadows condensed before flaring with dark purple light which seemed to churn within a cloud of thick black veins.
As she completed the throwing motion, the ball howled as it flew rocketed towards him. Too fast to avoid.
The eerie howling yawn of its passage felt like it was tearing space.
Mina's body tingled with excitement. She could see flows of spectral black energy curling around the ball. It wasn't chaotic as she'd expected.
"There's a pattern," she whispered.
"A structure," Lucy agreed. "Do you see?"
Mina nodded. "I do."
"Petty tricks," Vlad sighed, smashing the orb aside with a casual flick of his wrist. The bolt of pure shadow glanced off the blood energy wreathing his stick and punched into the ground in front of Cassie.
"Eep!" Cassie squeaked as she was showered with debris. As she made to scramble away from a second blast, she froze. Vlad's stick was pointed at her head.
"I said don't move."
"Yes!" She gulped loudly.
Then let out a hiccup.
And another.
"Impossible," Lyra said thoughtfully. "A Shadow Bolt is not a physical thing. It cannot be diverted so."
"Who told you such bullshit?"
"The countess."
"Tch." He shook his head. "Then I will need to teach her, too. Come down. Get on your knees and beg forgiveness. Then take me to her."
"Beg?" Lyra whirled in the air, unable to believe what she was hearing. "Insolent bastard! It does not matter if you know a useless trick like pushing my Shadow Bolt aside. I only used it because it was simple."
"You know something interesting?"
"I know something which will definitely kill you!"
"Watch closely, Bally," Vlad called. "This will be something for you to learn."
"Yes, Brother!"
"I'll watch, too!" Mina cried.
"And I," Lucy echoed confidently. "I think we know the trick of the Shadow Bolt."
"Ridiculous!" Lyra scoffed. "You are taking me too lightly!"
As the rage filled her, she soared higher. Pulling shadows from the night sky itself. They came to her like ribbons of pure darkness. Dragged around her in a vortex of swirling blackness which sucked the light and began to glow with evil purple energy.
The crackle of electricity popped from deep within the heart of the vortex.
"Huh," Vlad grunted. "So, it is this. This is troublesome."
Mina and Lucy eyed it with awe.
Callie shot Vlad's back a smug sneer. There was no way he would survive this.
Helena sighed and shook her head. "No use…"
Lyra's eyes were consumed by shadows. They turned her sockets black as night, giving her head a skull-like appearance beneath the ravishing flow or blood-red hair.
"I will avenge the hurts of my sisters," she said. Her voice resonated heavily from within the growing vortex. "I will reclaim the honour of the Brides from the shame of defeat. Behold, useless ants of the fallen Court. Behold the true power of the Brides! Storm of Shadows!"
Vlad rubbed his chin.
"Not bad," he said, nodding. "It is good that there's a little skill left. Maybe I will only beat you a little."
Callie's mouth dropped open.
Did he want to die?
How could he say that to Lyra? Lyra's temper was well known. She didn't like to be laughed at.
Indeed, as his words reached her ears, Lyra's face turned almost black with rage. The smouldering pits of her eyes glowed with the same purple light infecting the vortex around her.
"I will show you no mercy! You blocked my Shadow Wave. You diverted my Shadow Bolt! But you cannot resist the power of my Shadow Storm!"
Shrieking with laughter, she lifted her arms and then brought them down hard.
As her hands swept down, the black ribbons which made the storm were scattered and released. The power of it made Lucy and Mina scream as they were blasted off their feet. Bally, hidden in the trees, was also pushed back.
Callie, behind Vlad, trembled as she realised the incoming attack was going to wash over her, too.
There was nowhere she could run to.
She wanted to move.
But still couldn't tell what the greatest threat was.
The storm? Vlad?
She glanced at Helena, who gave a weary shake of her head.
She heard Helena's voice in her ears as she whispered through the shadows; Don't move, Callie. Lyra's storm doesn't have the power to hurt him.
Callie blinked.
Then her eyes widened.
Storm of Shadows could tear down mountains. She'd seen Lyra's storm obliterate almost fifty bandits in a single wave.
And Helena was saying it would do nothing against Vlad?
Unbelievable!
She heard a strange high-pitched noise as the storm soared down like a tidal wave of infinite darkness. The dark purple lights in its heart seemed to glare as though they were the glowing eyes of a monster from the void.
Nothing could stop this!
In horror, she realised the high-pitched noise was her own scream.
Vlad's shoulders bunched.
He lifted the stick in his hand.
And brought it down just as the first lashing arm of the storm crashed down on him.
The red light dancing up his stick flared.
And the storm broke.
Callie saw it clearly. The red energy sliced neatly through every spinning arm of the storm from top to bottom as easily as if he was cutting through butter. And, even though the stick in his hands exploded with the storm and send splinters flashing in all directions, there was no loss in his stance.
Only the supreme confidence of someone who knew no doubt of their own abilities.
She felt the frozen air tear past her face. It plucked at her clothing and made her sway on her knees. But she didn't move.
Couldn't move.
Her terror of this beast of a man was now absolute.
He had treated Lyra's storm like it was nothing.
"Bally?" Has asked calmly as silence filled the mountain. "Did you learn?"
"Yes, Brother! I… I think I did!"
Vlad nodded. "I will expect you to do it for me by midnight tomorrow."
"Yes, Brother," Bally moaned.
"Good." The fledgling looked up to where Lyra was floating. "Come down."
Lyra shook her head.
The shadows which had surrounded her were gone. A thin trickle of blood leaked from her nose. The backlash must have been terrible, Callie thought.
Any other time, she would have revelled in seeing Lyra's pain.
But not this time.
"Told you," Helena murmured, managing at last to sit up. She rubbed her head. The skin was slowly knitting together as she managed to finally get enough of her focus back to redirect her blood energy.
"Not possible," Lyra rasped. "It is not possible!"
Slowly, Vlad pulled the steel sword from his back.
With a flick of his wrist, red energy consumed the blade. The crimson light coated the clearing, making everything look covered in blood.
"I told you to come down," he said. "If you won't come down on your own, then I will help you."
"No!" Lyra hissed, trying to pull the shadows from the sky again. "It was a trick! A lucky trick! You can't do it again!"
"Seventh step!" Vlad shouted.
He thrust towards her.
Callie frowned, confused. Why would he thrust at her from the ground.
He clearly couldn't fly.
What point was this.
Still, she watched. Mesmerized. As he shifted from a thrusting motion to bringing the heavy blade up in a violent upward tearing motion.
As he did, the crimson flames dashed up the length of his blade and condensed at the tip.
He seemed to hold it for a moment.
Letting it condense even further.
Then, with a snap of his wrist, a long spike erupted from the tip and flashed towards Lyra.
She lurched, trying to fly out of its path. But the spike angled as though locked onto her. It speared into her body, between shoulder and breast.
And stuck there, embedded deep in her flesh.
"What-?"
She gawped at it.
Her eyes fluttered.
And then she fell from the sky, plummeting like a bird shot with an arrow.
"Lyra!" Callie shrieked without thinking. She didn't like Lyra, but this wasn't the end she wished for her.
But before she could hit the ground, Vlad streaked towards her and his strong hand snatched her up like she was a kitten.
Holding her up, he grinned at her.
Watching as the energy spear dissipated, leaving a bloody hole in her chest.
"Next time, come down," he told her.
Lyra whimpered.
"Bally?" Vlad called over his shoulder.
"Yes, Brother?"
"Get me a stick."
"Yes, Brother…"
Callie shivered as she saw the look on Vlad's face shift to one of cruel delight.
His next words chilled her more than the remnants of Lyra's storm.
"Let me teach you things, little witch," he said, holding a hand out for Bally to hand him a long stick. "I will teach you very well. I promise."