“Úlfhe´dinn,” the vamp gave it the proper pronunciation, although whether because he knew it or because I’d just used it, I wasn’t sure.“That’s a term I haven’t heard in a while.”
“But youhaveheard it?”
“I’ve fought it.”He let out a slow stream of smoke.“Don’t want to ever again, either.”
“You fought one?”I leaned forward eagerly before I thought, and some white paint flaked off onto my hand.And then dusted away as I watched—without taking my skin along with it, thank God!
“And its horde,” he agreed.“It was memorable.”
I scooted back a bit more.“Could you tell me about it?We, uh, some of the clans, are trying to fill in some gaps in our history.”
Carales didn’t look like he bought that, but he didn’t call me on it.Just took another puff on his cigar.“I’ll tell you what I know, but it may not be as much as you’d like.The whole thing started back in '86 or '87—”
“Of what?”I asked, pulling out a notepad.
“What?”
“The year,” I explained, because I didn’t think we were talking about something that started with a 19, or even an 18.“Seventeen eighty-six?Sixteen eighty-six?”
“No.Just ’86.”
“What?”
We looked at each other in joint confusion for a second before the vamp sighed.“The year.Was eighty.Six,” he said, slowly and distinctly, as if talking to a child.Which was exactly what I felt like when I finally realized what he meant.
“You were alive in the yeareighty-six?”
“No.I told you, it started then.I came in after.”He leaned back in his chair.“Let me see if I can sum this up for you.The Dacian Kingdom—that was the old term for modern-day Romania—was a pain in the butt for Rome.The empire,” he added helpfully, which was condescending as hell but under the circumstances…
“Okay.”
“Its king, named Decebalus, had decided his realm wasn’t big enough, and Rome was too far from its lands in Moesia—modern day Serbia and Bulgaria—to defend them.So he invaded.Domitian—the Roman emperor at the time—got pissed and sent a force into Dacia to show Decebalus what was what.Instead, they got their asses kicked, because what Rome didn’t know was that the reason Decebalus was being so uppity was that he had allied with some local Were tribes—they got land in Romania’s vast forests in return for a little help.
“So he and his new buddies led the Romans, who were under a pretty good general named Fuscus, deep into Dacia, then ambushed them at the mountain pass at Tapae.The result was two whole legions lost—Domitian had it put out that it was one, which was damned well bad enough, but it was two.The eagles, the symbol of the legions and Roman power and might, were also lost, a major black eye for the empire.
“The clanswere responsible for most of the carnage, which was so bad that Domitian was forced into a humiliating treaty that required him to pay an annual subsidy to Decebalus and send Roman engineers to strengthen his kingdom’s defenses.
“The empire didn’t get over shit like that, and to erase the dishonor, Trajan, a later emperor, sent another force into the country.They defeated Decebalus, and the area was eventually annexed by Rome, mainly because the king had lost the support of the Weres.They’d fought for land, not for him, and they had it—and kept it under subsequent changes of power in the country.
“Where I come in was after Rome fell apart and the area was up for grabs, and my master decided he wanted a piece of the Were lands for himself.”
“He decided what?”I repeated, sure I’d heard wrong.“Taking on entrenched Were clansin the forest—”
The vamp nodded.“And mountains, don’t forget those.Honestly, the whole damned country is tailor-made for Weres.The bastards—sorry—can ambush you around every tree and rock.Or, hell, fall out of the damned canopy onto your head!”
“So your master had a death wish?”
Carales snorted.“Sure, like that coward was with us.No, he was just a stubborn cuss, and his architects were already drafting the plans for his castle, so he dismissed me and the other commanders who were trying to talk sense.”
“What did you do?”I asked because obviously, he’d survived.Although I had no idea how.
He shrugged.“Held back.The forces under my control were guarding the rear, and I made sure they stayed that way.When things went like I knew things were gonna go, I pulled us back some more.And then some more after that.Until the remnants—what little there were—of our advanced force came streaming out of the forest, leaving chunks of their bodies behind, and we fought off the smaller group of Weres still jonesing for some flesh that followed.
“And let me tell you, that was enough.Thirty of our people stumbled out of that forest when almost five hundred had gone in.And these were five hundredvampires, so multiply that by dozens if not hundreds of mages’ worth of troops, depending on whether you’re counting masters or not—”
“A vampire is not worth—” I began hotly, before remembering who I was talking to.
But he didn’t seem to take offense.“Yeah, you’re that war mage Were, right?”He grinned suddenly.“How’s that work for you?”
