More Than Mortal by Mick Farren

Author:Mick Farren
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2002-04-15T06:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIVE

A light rain was falling as the two Hummers roared up the Ravenkeep driveway. Matte black and without markings or number plates, lights blazing in the overcast dusk, they approached the house like a paranoid fantasy on wheels, a conspiracy vision of New World Order covert operations. They came to a fast stop in front of the house, and Highlanders tumbled out of them, ready for anything. Plaid and old leather, dirks and claymores, one even carried a small circular shield—it was as though these modern vehicles had transported a crowd of passengers from another era. The Highlanders made no attempt to hide the high spirits of wild nosferatu who have just collectively fed, and Renquist looked askance at all that was wrong with the picture. Was Fenrior insane or did he feel so distant and invulnerable in his Scottish stronghold, he had no compunction about letting his men run bloody and unchecked in heavily populated southern England?

While Renquist speculated where and on whom these new arrivals might have fed, Gallowglass hurried to hear a report from their apparent leader. “Duncanon?”

A young nosferatu with a swagger that should have been a warning to all who encountered him stepped from the self-congratulatory group. “Aye?”

“Did all go well, boy?”

“I’ aw went like clockwork.”

The object of Gallowglass’s questions was by no means the biggest of the new arrivals, but he had an instantly recognizable and untamed authority. He was the kind others would follow, even into situations their better judgment would normally cause them to avoid. If Fenrior had to guard himself against aspirants to his leadership—invariably the case in any nosferatu community—this young one certainly merited watching. Although still in the unruly sword-vassal mode, Duncanon was considerably more stylish and conscious of his appearance that his comrades. Cleaner and clean shaved, with his long and currently wet hair hanging almost to his waist, he sported rings and heavy bracelets of finely crafted silver. His sword was slung from the wide silver-studded belt at a high strutting angle, and he habitually kept one hand on the basketwork hilt. Renquist knew the pose well. He had adopted it himself in his younger days.

The relationship between the young Duncanon and the venerable Gallowglass was easy to read. The young one acted insolent and cocky with every movement of his body, striving for superiority, but was ultimately forced to defer to Gallowglass’s superior rank, age, and status. The meeting also told Renquist this operation had two simultaneous objectives, and with both accomplished, the two halves of the combined task force had just been reunited. Obviously the goal of the one led by Gallowglass had been to take Renquist alive and presumably bring him north to Fenrior. What the other party, the one apparently captained by Duncanon, had been assigned to do was yet to be seen, but the presence of the two Hummers and the large number of armed undead retainers made it very clear the lord was taking something very seriously. Renquist could only assume that something was the phenomenon at Morton Downs.

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