Vampire Hunter D: Dark Road Part Three Page A

Gillis?”
    â€œNone other.”
    â€œWhere are you?” the girl inquired raptly.
    â€œAt your feet.”
    Only darkness lay there. But if the major general said so, it was probably the case. She had no particular dislike for the man.
    How did you get here? she was going to ask, but she stopped herself. For the man they called “the Dark One,” night and the darkness were his own personal kingdom.
    â€œWhat do you want?” she inquired out of reflex. “Don’t tell me you’re out to take D’s life . . .”
    â€œIn the end, yes,” Major General Gillis replied. “But at present, there’s a more pressing matter. It concerns a woman very dear to me.”
    â€œWhat might that be?”
    â€œGeneral Gaskell has abandoned us. In exchange for the lives of three of us, he intends to dispatch a more powerful assassin. Lord Rocambole.”
    â€œOh my,” Lady Ann said, and then she lost her voice. “Of all the dastardly things to do . . .”
    â€œYou must run away.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œI came here because of you. Your name is one of the three on his list.”
    â€œAnd who are the three?”
    â€œBaron Schuma, Grand Duke Mehmet, and yourself.”
    Lady Ann raised a delicate eyebrow. “Which list are you on, Major General Gillis?”
    â€œFate will decide that.”
    â€œYou alone have found favor with the great General Gaskell, it would seem.”
    Though young, Lady Ann had a fearsome ability to analyze and draw conclusions.
    â€œWait. Hear me out.”
    â€œNo.”
    Saying this, the girl stuck her right hand into her golden hair, plucked out a number of strands, and jabbed them into the ground without any further discussion. The hairs became trenchant needles. Pulling out one that had sunk a good eight inches into the ground, she shouted as loud as she could, ”Come right out here, you coward!”
    â€œCalm yourself, Lady Ann.” This time she heard him quite clearly. “I was merely concerned about your well-being—”
    â€œYou think that everyone will absolve you of your guilt, don’t you? I won’t be your tool!” Lady Ann exclaimed, driving one of her hair needles into the spot from which she thought his voice had come.
    The following replies came in a sincere tone, each from a different spot.
    â€œStop it!”
    â€œListen to what I have to say.”
    â€œI can help you.”
    Though both of them lived in the world of darkness and night, the man known as the Dark One proved as elusive as the day was long.
    Finally, Lady Ann shouted, “D!”
    â€œWell, I wanted you to come along peacefully, if at all possible. I’ll have to make you listen to me the ‘shadow’ way.”
    His voice faded, and a few seconds later, Lady Ann turned pitch black from the feet up, and then the lovely little Noblewoman sank right down into the ground . . . or rather, into the shadows.
    Several seconds later, D rushed over to that silent region. Though he looked as hard as he could with Noble eyes that could turn darkness into midday, he could detect nothing in the gloom that spread across the ground. Moving no further, he did something strange. Drawing the longsword from his back, he thrust it into the ground in front of him. Then turning his back on the blade, he asked the darkness before him, “Can you hear me?”
    After a while, a voice responded, “Yes.” It was impossible to tell whether the voice rained from the heavens or rose from the earth. “I was under the belief I’d concealed my presence, but you saw through that, did you? You truly are a man to be feared. But your ability earns you my name, at least. I am Major General Gillis. They call me ‘the Dark One.’ We’ve met once before.”
    â€œWhat happened to the girl?”
    â€œI’ve taken her. Fear not. I shall see to it that she escapes.”
    â€œEscapes?” a