Dark Fangs Rising
LUKE IRONTREE & THE LAST VAMPIRE WAR
Luke Irontree & The Last Vampire War
Book 0 - The Centurion Immortal
Book 1 - Dark Fangs Rising - March 22, 2022
Book 2 - Dark Fangs Raging* - April 19, 2022
Book 3 - Dark Fangs Descending* - May 17, 2022
Book 4 - Blood Empire Reborn* - July 12, 2022
Book 5 - Blood Empire Avenged* - August 9, 2022
Book 6 - Blood Empire Burning* - September 6, 2022
Book 7 - Blood Empire Collapsing* - October 4, 2022
Book 8 - Ancient Sword Falling* - November 29, 2022
Book 9 - Ancient Sword Unyielding* - December 27, 2022
Book 10 - Ancient Sword Shattering* - February 7, 2023
The Luke Irontree Historical Adventures
Rise of the Centurio Immortalis* - April 5, 2022
Fall of the Centurio Immortalis* - May 31, 2022
The Moonlight Centurion* - November 1, 2022
The Highway Centurion* - January 24, 2023
*Forthcoming
DARK FANGS RISING
LUKE IRONTREE & THE LAST VAMPIRE WAR
C. THOMAS LAFOLLETTE
DARK FANGS RISING
C. Thomas Lafollette
* * *
A Broken World Publication
13820 NE Airport Way
Suite #K395495
Portland, OR 97251-1158
Dark Fangs Rising
Copyright © 2022 by C. Thomas Lafollette
ISBN 978-1-949410-40-2 (ebook);
ISBN 978-1-949410-41-9 (paperback)
* * *
Cover Design: Ravven
Edited by: Suzanne Lahna
Copy Editing & Proofreading: Amy Cissell
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law. For permission requests, write to the author at editors@brokenworldpublishing.com.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
CONTENTS
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Pronunciation Guide & Author’s Notes
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Lucius I
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Lucius II
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Lucius III
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Lucius IIII
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Lucius V
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Epilogue
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Luke Irontree Will Return
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Glossary
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Also by C. Thomas Lafollette
To Amy
Your tireless support and all your work and advice are the reason this book exists
Your Free Book Is Waiting
The Centurion Immortal returns to the land of his birth, but he never suspected he’d be drawn into a supernatural turf war.
A vacation in Belgium is the perfect way for an incognito immortal to get in touch with his roots. Former Roman Legionnaire and vampire slayer Luke Irontree is pulled into a supernatural feud when he’s offered a job he can’t refuse—rescue an innocent woman and child from his ancient enemies. When he goes undercover at an EDM festival, he has everything under control. But when his prey find out he’s more than a simple tourist, things take a turn for the deadly.
Suddenly up to his neck in vampires, Luke must play a lethal game of cat and mouse in which his survival is the prize. Can he escape the trap set for him while rescuing the people caught in the middle? Or will the blood of his immortal life trickle down a rusty grate in a basement in Liege?
Get a free copy of a Luke Irontree Prequel
The Centurion Immortal here:
www.cthomaslafollette.com
PRONUNCIATION GUIDE & AUTHOR’S NOTES
Pronunciation: Latin names and words are mentioned throughout the book and are intended to be read with the classical Latin pronunciation. For instance, “c” is always pronounced hard, like a “k.” “U” is always a short “oo” sound. “V” typically sounds like a “w.” If you wish to go deeper, here's a link from Loyola University of Chicago.
Lucius – Loo-kih-oos
Silvanius – Sihl-wahn-ih-oos
Ferrata – Fehr-rah-tah
Cassius – Cahs-sih-oos
Latin Words: Latin words are used for effect and to add to the “flavor” of the story, not to reflect Latin grammar/declensions/conjugations.
Anachronisms: It’s nearly impossible to write historical settings without some anachronisms, especially when you’re writing scenes set nearly 2,000 years in the past. Those used are done so intentionally for the purpose of story telling and to convey sentiments that would be recognizable to people then and now. Also, there are vampires.
Contents: This book contains some gore and body horror. There is also a brief, non-specific mention of child abuse and domestic violence.
ONE
Luke’s prey stumbled in front of him; the weight of the intoxicated woman slung over the vampire’s shoulder made him clumsy. With all the vamp’s attention on the drunk woman, he had no idea what other dangers lurked in the night. The vampire maneuvered his impaired victim into the shadow of a massive statue of a woman kneeling, one of her metal hands reaching down while the other grasped a trident. Rain drizzled over the statue’s body and down her arm, streaming off her outstretched fingers onto the street below. Luke reached over his shoulder into the folds of his hood, ensuring his sword’s handle remained unobstructed by the damp cloth, then returned his hand to his side.
“Excuse me, sir. Could you spare a moment? I seem to be lost. Can you point me in the right direction?” Luke asked.
The overly polite and formal tone should mark him as an easy target. A bit of buzzed slur added just the right spice to Luke’s charade. He distractedly scratched at his overgrown, scruffy beard. He hadn’t cared enough to trim it since he’d returned from his trip to Belgium last spring. The vamp, clad in a stylish jacket, hefted the woman against the wall.
Luke waited for the man to turn around. What Luke didn't expect was to see a woman disentangling herself from her victim to deal with Luke. Most vampires tended to be male. Without the support of the woman, the drunk slumped forward, momentum stopped by the wall. The vamp strode toward him. Luke wasn't sure how he'd misidentified his target, but he adjusted his plan as the short, dark-haired, white woman looked him over. Her expression went from annoyed to predatory to pleasantly helpful in the blink of an eye. If Luke was as drunk as he was feigning, he'd have missed it.
“Certainly!” She casually approached Luke, walking slowly with a small smile on her face. “What are yo
u looking for?”
When she was close enough to see Luke’s unsteady stance, the predatory gleam returned to her eyes. As oblivious as she was to her surroundings—letting Luke follow her and missing that his drunkenness wasn’t genuine—she must be a young vamp.
Luke, dressed in dark colors—a black hoodie, baggy faded jeans, and black combat-style boots, ran his right hand through his long, dark, slightly damp hair and left it casually resting on the back of his neck as if scratching an itch. “Um, I’m not sure… I’m staying at a hotel near here, but I seem to be lost.”
“Fortunately, you ran into me,” the vampire said, her lips parting into a carnivorous grin.
“What’s—what’s wrong with your teeth?”
Needle-sharp fangs descended from her top teeth, her grin growing even more feral. She tilted her head slightly to the side. “Oh, these? In a moment, you’ll forget you ever saw them.”
Luke feigned a nervous chuckle and let his hand slide down into his hood to grip the well-worn handle of his gladius. Sheathed on his back, the gladius was twenty-five inches of viciously sharp Toledo steel alloyed with a bit of silver. The scabbard was angled toward his right shoulder and was open except for the last eight inches that covered the tip of the blade and the snap band at the top that held it in place, allowing for easy, quick draws.
His new friend walked closer, turned toward Luke’s left side, and raised her arm as if to put it around Luke’s shoulders so she could more easily guide Luke to his destination—her dinner plate.
Luke grabbed the vampire’s arm and spun the creature around so her back was in front of him, keeping her fangs away from his more vulnerable spots. He pulled his gladius from its sheath and brought it down through the woman’s leather clad right elbow.
“WHAT THE FUCK, MAN!” The creature whirled around as black blood splattered in an arc from her stump. Her eyes glowed red, all traces of humor disappearing from her face. “We could have done this the easy way, but now you’re going to feel every moment.”
A wound that would have downed a howling barbarian had merely pissed her off. The vampire crouched and flexed her remaining hand, nails extending into nasty looking claws. She launched a series of clumsy swipes at Luke’s neck and torso he easily side stepped. With each subsequent miss, her rage grew, fueling her speed, but not her skill.
Luke snorted in amusement, eliciting a growl of fury from the one-armed vampire. She finally landed a swipe that cut into the cloth covering Luke’s chest. Her claws screeched against hard steel. Her momentary look of triumph quickly morphed into confusion.
Luke’d had enough. He waited for the next awkward swipe, letting the vamp’s rage and momentum carry her past Luke as he spun and brought the blade down on the vamp’s left shoulder, relieving her of her other arm. Luke kicked her in the back of her legs, sending her crashing to the ground. The creature’s rage turned to whimpering as she tried to push herself off the ground with her bloody, oozing stump. She only managed to slip and slide, landing on her face. Luke put a foot on the vampire’s butt to keep her on the ground as he reached under the waistband at the back of his hoodie. He flipped the catch holding the rudis in place and withdrew it from its scabbard.
The rudis, a gladius made of wood, was a piece of art. Gleaming, razor-sharp steel lined the cutting edges and point while intricate designs made of silver filigree covered the wooden blade. The wood itself was a warm, deep honey gold intermixed with rich brown and dark brown hardwood with a pattern that highlighted the wood’s grain. Luke flicked his right wrist, and the steel sword sliced into the vamp’s leather jacket between the shoulder blade and the spine.
“My coat!” she whimpered. The blood was slowing to a trickle, her stumps already sealing.
“I already cut both sleeves off. What’s one more rip?” With that, Luke plunged the rudis through the cut he’d just made and felt the blade scrape along the vampire’s scapula, backbone, and ribs until it found the heart. As he knelt over her body, Luke rested his forehead on the pommel of the rudis, whispering an incantation he’d said more times than he could remember. The silver filigree began to glow with a pure, white light, slithering down the silver into the vampire’s body and then back up again to disappear into Luke’s forehead. The corpse went rigid, and steam rose where the silver touched it. Once he removed the rudis from the vampire’s body, the corpse gradually deflated and dissolved into a viscous reddish-black goo.
“Damn it,” Luke muttered, shaking his head. “A new vampire. All goo and no go. I thought her moves seemed weak.”
The sound of retching reminded him he wasn’t alone. He turned to see the vamp’s intended victim on all fours, heaving up everything he’d consumed that night. Luke scanned around for something to clean his blades on. The vamp’s clothes were out as the erstwhile young lady of the fang was currently drenching her trendy ensemble in the rapidly spreading goo that had been her body. He looked down, pursing his lips.
“Fucking vamp ruined my favorite hoodie.” He set down the rudis and slid the blade of the gladius into the belly pocket. Gripping the blade through the rain damp fabric, he slid it clean, then resheathed it. He treated the rudis in the same manner and put it away. With the weaponry stowed, Luke slowly walked toward the man.
“W-what’s wrong with me?”
“It appears you drank too much.”
“Did she drug me? Was she going to rob me?”
“Something like that,” Luke replied as he slowly approached, trying not to spook him. Luke followed the man’s gaze to what remained of his would-be date slowly liquefying on the sidewalk and running into the gutter. He retched again.
“Pl-pl-please don’t hurt me,” he whimpered between dry heaves.
“I’m not going to hurt you.” He pointed at the slick of vampire goo. “She was going to.”
The glamour drunk man nodded.
Luke pointed west. “Let’s walk up to Broadway. It’s well lit. Do you have a phone? You can call a Lyft or a taxi.”
“O-OK.”
They stepped as quickly as the man’s frightened but still slightly inebriated body would carry him. As they walked past the nearly vanished remnants of the unlucky vampire, the man was careful to look anywhere else. When they got to Broadway, Luke waited with him under a streetlight while his car arrived to take him home. Just as he stepped into the back seat, he paused, looked at Luke and said, “Thank you.”
Luke nodded at him, then turned and walked back into the dreary night.
Luke parked his old Volvo wagon in his garage and grabbed the equipment-filled tote from the rear hatch. Propping the tote against the door frame, he hit the garage door button, then unlocked the door and walked in. A hulking, orange tabby cat greeted him.
“Mrrrraaaoooo!”
“Hey, Alfred. Stay out of trouble tonight?” He usually did, not having opposable thumbs and all.
Luke set the tote down, then dropped a scoop of kibble into the cat’s empty bowl. Alfred ran to the bowl, buried his giant head in it, and chomped down. Luke shucked his ripped, wet hoodie and grabbed a hand towel to dry his wavy hair. He unlaced his boots and left them on a mat by the door before heading to the fridge. Grabbing a Pfriem Pils out of the fridge, he walked back and snagged the tote.
“I’m headed down to the Batcave, Alfred, if you want to come…” The tinkling of the cat’s collar bell as he sauntered over to Luke answered the invite.
Once in the office, he engaged the hidden mechanism that opened the passage behind one of the bookcases, revealing a steel spiral staircase. At the bottom of the stairs was a square room with dark hardwood flooring. Along one wall, two Danish mid-century chairs sat, an end table of the same style between them. A huge rug covered the floor. Luke set the tote on the floor near a workstation recessed along the wall furthest from the stairs. Alfred ran over to one of the chairs, hopped onto the seat, spun a couple donuts, then sprawled out, taking up most of the seat.
Luke looked at the cat. “What’s it going to be to
night, eh, Alfred? We feeling up? Down? Al Green?”
“Mrao!”
“Ah! Good choice, Alfred. ‘Let’s Stay Together’ it is!” He walked to the wall of records and flipped through the albums in the “G” section until he found the right one. Pulling out the album, he stopped halfway, shoulders slumping as he stared at the wall, then slid it back into its spot. Luke stepped over to the “Ns.” Taking the second disk most of the way out of “The Downward Spiral” album jacket, he hesitated again. “What do you think, Alfie? Nine Inch Nails? Or is ‘sad guy listens to Nine Inch Nails’ too cliché?”
Alfred responded to his name with a raspy purr.
“You’re right. Al Green was the correct choice.” He opened the top of the huge console unit and set the needle down on side one. Luke released an exhausted sigh as the smooth interplay of horns, guitars, and drums led into the silky voice of Al Green. He grabbed a glass from the bar shelf and poured the beer.
Luke stopped to listen for a moment before setting his glass down on the worktable. Sitting down, he popped the top off the tote and pulled out his swords, both wooden and steel. He meticulously cleaned both, checked for damage, and oiled them before placing them on a rack. He opened a tall cabinet next to the worktable and rolled out an armor stand on a rotating base. With both hands, he reached into the tote and carefully pulled out an ancient set of armor and placed it gently on the armor stand. Phrases engraved in Ancient Greek, Latin, and Old Persian covered every flawless band. The lettering—so thick the light didn’t quite know how to reflect off the steel—wove protections into the armor that made it far stronger than it naturally was while also keeping it silent for the hunt.