Brian Lumley - Necroscope - Invaders

'Word spread swiftly abroad, to all the stacks of the Wamphyri. And now certain things were remembered from the previous night:

'In Dramstack, when the rains were at their worst, how the aerie's Desmodus colony was startled from its roost. A thousand great bats, all chittering and panicked for no apparent reason, whirling, colliding, and scolding where they circled the fretted ceiling of their cavern lair. And Lord Dramal Doombody, nodding in his private chambers, startled awake by confused mental messages from these bat familiars: A dark shadow — a stranger, doubtless an enemy — has passed close by. Though he was cloaked in darkness, we sensed him, his eyes burning on Dramstack. They seethed and were full of hatred!

'But Dramal's watchmen, huddling miserably in their draughty turrets and cold stone niches, and his flightless guardian warriors, rumbling behind the earthworks and on the boulder-strewn approaches to towering Dramstack, had seen nothing but a fleeting shadow: that of a cloud, they said. And cold, wet and dull, they failed to wonder why the shadow had sped west rather than north.

'And so Dramal had ordered his familiars: Go back to sleep! You

nightmared. The pounding rain and lightning shook you loose from your dusty perches. No stranger is come to harm me or mine in Dramstack.

'Not him or his, no…

'A similar disturbance had been recorded in Karl Szorkala's Karlspire. And further west, in the grounds of Lady Sasha Lureswain's Lurelodge, one of her earthbound warriors had reared up and buffeted ineffectually at a dark blur of a shape that fluttered to a landing just beyond the bounds of Sasha's demesne — in Lord Stakis's territory, aye.

'So to the report of them that flew from Scarstack to Narkslump, when they returned to Oulios the Scar in his high place. Narkslump was intact, as were its flyers and warrior creatures, all dutifully in their places, however nervous, unattended, and unfed. Vampire thralls, however — male and female, eunuchs and fighting men alike, some twenty in all — lay dead in their beds or at their various places of duty: in the walls and corridors, on the causeways, and in Narkus's harem. Likewise Narkus himself and his three lieutenants, all dead in their quarters.

'Well, Narkslump was scarcely a fortress such as towering Dramstack. And Narkus lorded it — or he had used to — over a mere dribble of men and monsters compared to the greater Lords in their lofty aeries. Even a small invasion force, if its components were stealthy and well ordered, could have infiltrated Narkslump's defences under cover of the storm. But that wasn't the way the survivors in Scarstack and Lurelodge told it.

'According to one of them, a sentry on the night in question:

'"The night was dark and overcast; residual rain dripped from roofs, buttresses, causeways, overhangs. I was cold, wet, uncomfortable in my niche. And I admit that I stayed well back, to avoid getting wetter still. But it was also a night of shadows. When I came out one time to scan abroad, I looked down on the lower ramparts where a colleague was keeping watch. Failing to see him, I assumed that he too was avoiding the worst of the drench. But I did see a shadow — or I thought it was a shadow — that flowed swiftly along the walkway and disappeared into a niche, then returned and continued along the ramparts. A stain, a blot on the stone, a shadow, aye… but mobile?

'"There again, the clouds were fleeting and there were so many shadows, and I have only a thrall's eyes. A lieutenant's eyes might have been keener, better suited, but lieutenants do not guard the walls. My Lord Stakis's eyes would certainly have noted any weirdness or peculiarity, but he was in his chambers. ' "When next I looked out and down, my colleague's brazier was out; a hiss of steam rose up; I assumed that there had been more rain, or my friend had been negligent of his fire. And the night was even darker.

' "My duty station was lit fitfully by twin torches ensconced under slate awnings that fended off the rain. I replenished them with fresh faggots before returning to my niche and snuggling deeper yet. Time passed; perhaps I heard a grunt or call — a gurgled cry? — from the north flank. But in any case I ventured out again, to the northernmost point of my picket, where I leaned from an embrasure to look down on the adjacent flank. In the misted gloom of a landing bay, there was no watchman to be seen, but the steam of his extinguished brazier rose up!

' "It was time I made report. But only recently recruited, my vampire skills were weak; I was not yet linked to my master. If I cried out with my mind alone, Lord Stakis would not 'hear' my alert, and deep within the rock he couldn't possibly hear my voice. Wherefore a dilemma: should I desert my position and go to the Lieutenant of the Watch, who I knew to be a very difficult man? And if I did, and nothing was found amiss, what then?

' "I leaned out again and looked down… and at once drew back! For traversing the scarp directly below me — coming diagonally upwards across the treacherous, rain-slick face of the rock and scarcely pausing to negotiate the way — I had spied a lumpy shadow like a dark blot against the lesser darkness. But did I say dark? The shadow was block! And where it merged with other shadows it disappeared completely, only

to emerge a moment later, always climbing towards my battlements station.

' "Now I knew to run and make report — or at least to run, if nothing else! But already the shadow was stretching itself, groping like the fingers of some phantom hand towards the merlons between myself and the entrance to Narkslump's east wing. Even if I ran this unknown thing would be there first, perhaps waiting for me. Neither was there any other route of entry — nor of escape — from my position on the outer face.

' "Now, I am not a man to shrink from any normal darkness. Murky gloamings and the weird nebulosities of Sunside bogs had never frightened me. But this was no ordinary shadow. There was something sinister, knowing, clever, about it; it moved as on a mission, and in my heart I knew I couldn't stop it. Only let me try… it would certainly stop me! But as yet it didn't even know that I was there. Or at least, I hoped that was the case.

' "And as quietly as possible I crept into my niche, drew as far back as I could go among the spiders and beetles — then farther yet until the sharp rock of the split scraped my chest and my back — and finally held still, so very still, there in the dark and the dust.

' "And eventually something came.

' "Do not ask me what it was, but it came and was a part of the darkness. And while I couldn't see it, I knew it was there. Then—"

""Indeed I am here!' A voice came to me like the rustle of leaves, so close I felt the breath of it! And it continued: 'I see you are afraid, and that is good. Be afraid, my friend, and make no outcry. Stay here for long and long in this tight crevice, while I go about my business, and I won't harm you. But if you come out… ah, that would be a brief but very unfortunate affair. So then, do we have an understanding?'

'"I could only nod, and though I saw nothing at all, still the shadow saw me. 'Good,' it husked, and spoke no more.

' "Then I was alone again — and pleased to be alone — for long and long…

'"… How long I cannot say. But when I dared to come out I saw that my torches were expired, and looking closer I saw they had been capped — put out — deliberately. And not only my torches but all the lights in Narkslump, till tip to toe the aerie stood in darkness most utter.

'"Then when I went inside I found what I found, and discovered the hidy-holes of a handful of others with tales to tell much like my own. Following which… can you blame us that we fled that haunted place, and came with all dispatch here…?"