07 - The Last Aerie by Brian Lumley

Author:Brian Lumley
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Vampires, Science Fiction & Fantasy, Horror tales, Horror, Fiction - Horror, Fiction, Science Fiction, Twins, Horror - General, Horror Fiction, General, Mystery & Detective
ISBN: 9780812520620
Publisher: Tor Books
Published: 1993-01-01T05:00:00+00:00

That same sundown, an hour after the sun’s true setting—when the ethereal fan of pink and golden spokes which was its aftermath wheeled in the sky over Sun-side and melted to an amethyst glow, and the night crept in, and stars clustered like nuggets of ice frozen in their eternal configurations, and the Icelands aurora fluttered its banners across all the northern skies—then the Wamphyri flew to Sunside. Not only Nestor Lichloathe and Canker Canison, but all of them.

Taking their senior men with them and leaving lesser lieutenants and thralls in charge of their manses, they set out from Wrathstack to raid on the Szgany. They left in the space of the same hour but in small parties, not en masse; the time lay well in the past when they had worked as a single unit under Wratha.

Nor were their parties uniform: the Guile’s lot flew south and a little east, and was composed of Gorvi himself, three lieutenants and two small aerial warriors. The Killglance brothers headed due south, and took only their chief lieutenants along with them; they would seek their prey in roughly the same area where Wran and Vasagi the Suck had fought their unequal duel. And the Lady Wratha flew westwards with only two of her men, and used the glaring hell-lands Gate as her marker where she sped for the soaring spires and plateaus which were her favourite vantage points, from which she would choose her target.

As for Canker and Nestor: they made for the great pass a little to the east of the hemisphere Gate, a dogleg gorge that split the barrier mountains to their roots, passing north to south right through them. If they were fortunate enough to recruit a handful of thralls beyond the pass, then their victims would find it an easy route to follow home to the last aerie.

And gliding on a tail-wind, they conversed as they went:

An even, two-way split, Canker grunted in Nestor’s mind. We work together and share the spoils equally.

Of course. The other agreed, but with this rider: And if there are women, we split them equally, too.

Split them? Indeed I will! the dog-Lord laughed obscenely for a moment, then sobered. But yes, I understand, and I’m more than pleased with that arrangement. Damn, I have a few too many bitches in Mangemanse already! And when I’m away, like now, all they can do is squabble. They fight for my affections, Nestor.

Nestor doubted it but said nothing. More likely Canker’s women fought to determine who would stay out of his bed! (This was a thought which the necromancer kept to himself.) But forget Mangemanse, for the fact of it was that Suckscar did go a little short on women, and Nestor had lieutenants and thralls other than himself to consider. For if a man is not happy he will scheme and plot, eventually get himself in serious, even terminal trouble, and so deplete the aerie. On the other hand, genuine happiness as such is scarcely the province of vampire thralls, but … at least their loads might be made a little easier to bear.

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