General Singh ran with his troops towards the entrance of the gate, but they were spotted and the guards shouted out to each other. They exposed their fangs and let out a hideous and unearthly howl. “Kurt, we need you! Now!” Singh shouted into his communicator. Within thirty seconds, the vampires attacked Singh’s army and the human fighters flew down and fired upon the Anisaei. Singh jabbed his sword into the unholy flesh of the vamps until fire and embers spurted out of their hellish bodies. As the large gates opened up to spew out more soldiers, Singh’s army pushed through the gate. He called for the ionic plasma bombs, which contained silver nitrate. Forty were thrown at a time, creating a large explosion of smoke and silver nitrate particles. When the vampires inhaled these particles they burst open spreading their glowing remains everywhere.

“Evan!” Ranjit shouted, “Evan! Stay with me.”

Evan, Ranjit’s lieutenant, answered, “I’m coming.” He rushed to Ranjit’s side, hacking away at the enemy and killing at least twenty of them in his stride.

“Keep those discs safe; we’re going to need them soon.”

*****

Alex stood in the elevator with seven of the Rebels: Davik, Joqetu, Gavin, Noel, Yagnik, Hektor, and Orwen. When they reached the main landing area, they saw the vampires feeding on human bodies. Blood spilled and flowed everywhere, making the ground shiny. Justus, along with his other men, battled it out with the vampires on the ground.

“Leave this to us, Alexander,” Orwen said.

“But—”

“Just get in the ship,” Orwen barked, “Davik, Gavin and Noel: you go with him.”

Justus, who spotted Alex amidst the bloodbath, said, “Don’t worry sir! I’m coming!” He had no idea that the others were Rebels.

“Wait! Wait!” Alex shouted, “They’re here to help!”

Justus stopped in his tracks and an expression of relief covered his face. Just then, a flying vampire grabbed him by the shoulders and dragged him outside. Justus gasped. He gathered his senses and with his sword tried to literally disarm his predator. The vampire flew out of range. Suddenly thunder struck and pierced the vampire’s sensitive ears. The flying vampire let go of Justus who plummeted into the sea. Alex, quick to help, ran outside with the other Rebels, trying to catch him. But they were too late. Alex dived in the sea to save him.

“Let’s finish this off,” Orwen said. The Rebels turned into silver, took flight and prepared for the final assault.

John, accustomed to the ferocity of the fight and getting in tune with his old techniques, spun his sword around, broke the rhythm and slashed Daniel in the stomach. The sword pierced through the titanium chain-mail that he was wearing underneath leaving a searing wound there. Daniel screeched in agony and his face turned demonic. Just as it had in the boardroom, it became sharp, angular and intense. He leaped towards John and lacerated his shoulder with his sword, rendering his sword-arm almost powerless. The President laughed and thrust his weapon at John’s chest but not before Nikolas had gathered enough energy to telepathically push his son away.

“Thanks, I owe you one.” John spun his sword and smiled at Daniel maliciously. Daniel glared at him and in a raging fury, lifted a large broken piece of glass and telekinetically threw it at John. Dante used his psychic powers and broke it into innumerable shards that flew towards Daniel. Daniel ducked but it was too late. The glass pierced his body in many places, leaving him drained and weak, but not dead.

“I think you better get out of here, John,” Dante said, “Alex’ll be needing you!”

“Right!” John said with a deep breath and ran out to his nephew’s aid.

Romsky knew that before the five hundred reinforcements arrived, he and his own men would have to fight with all they had. If possible, the optimal situation for the Generals in Africa, England and perhaps even the Vatican was for them to push the soldiers back to their own starting point. From there they could infiltrate and destroy as many as possible. There would also be help from the fighters who would drop as many bombs as possible to ensure maximum damage.

The Russian General’s troops ran towards the marching vampires and launched a full scale attack upon them. The storm grew even larger; lightning flashed and thunder roared through the clouds, ripping them apart. The army was at the southwestern most tip of England and pushing its way through. They did not know whether they had reached the enemy’s base or not.

“Onward!” Sergei would shout every five minutes or so at his men, making them push more fiercely. Soon enough, a fifth of the enemy was destroyed. Things seemed to be developing in their favor.

Romsky, who had trained himself in the Siberian tundra and cold mountains of the Himalayas, was like an animal when it came to fighting. For one month he roamed the Siberian wastelands and faced the bitter cold with only the barest of clothes on him. Legend had it that he faced a tiger with nothing but stones and rocks as his weapons. He ripped open the jaws of the tiger with his bare hands, and came back with the tiger’s blood all over his body and its fangs worn as a neck ornament.

With every battle, he would go into a berserk rage, not caring about his life or the outcome. He fought with such horrific sadism and was like a fearsome wild beast in the eyes of his enemies. He would use his sword just like any master swordsman, but he would also use his bare hands to poke out the enemy’s eyes and rip open their mouths. Even his own men were shocked by his brutality. The onslaught continued but soon enemy ships swooped down, dropping small but lethal bombs and killing an average of twenty soldiers with each explosion. “Do something, Ted!” Romsky shouted through the communicator to one of the squadron leaders.

“I’m on it,” Ted said. “Get those fresh fighters,” he ordered his men. And at once, the fighters were on their enemies’ tails, shooting them down and further diminishing their numbers.

The heavy rain mixed with the bodily ashes of the vampires and created dense smog that began to suffocate every soldier there. Quick to their feet, the Anisaei flew above the corporeal mist, and with their collective energy they whipped up the wind and blew the smog away. The humans, wheezing and coughing, were preoccupied with keeping themselves alive. Once the dust cleared, the vampires led a swift ambush. But soon after, fresh transport tankers flew in with reinforcements and more fighters. They blasted away at the vampires, burning them and chasing them as they ran and flew away, attempting to escape their deaths. Victory belonged to the humans.

What was I thinking!Alex rushed into the icy depths of the rough ocean to save Justus, but he figured by now he must have drowned. The water numbed his body until he felt nothing. There was no sensation, no pain, nor any thought of pain. He found that with his new temporary powers he did not need to hold his breath. He just swam, breathing in the water and expelling it out, his nasal system acting like gills to a fish.

Justus! Where the heck are you?He was agitated and worried for the soldier. It was someone he didn’t even know, but someone who had risked their life for him.

A very icy chill went up Alex’s spine as he felt something squirmy pass by his legs. This was the first time he had been in the ocean and he had heard stories as a child of monsters in the sea. Could this be one of those monsters?He shuddered, afraid to look. He wanted to swim away as fast as he could. But something in him stopped and made him turn around.

And when he did, he turned a deadly pale color. He saw a large black, lidless eye staring at him, and he had the feeling that the stare was one of hunger. As he swam back, mesmerized by the eye, he saw that it belonged to a gigantic squid. Its tentacles thrashed around in the water making it difficult for Alex to get away. He realized that the beast was pulling him towards it. Then he saw what had become of Justus.