Maximillian Sitz, the vampire that John Readman had pursued across an ocean and a continent, was dead. Or dead again. Once undead, now most definitely doubly dead.

A warm wind rushed through the forest, stirring the trees and rousing the old thing that slept beneath them.

After the latest Alershian attack knocked out most of the planet’s communications network, it took almost three weeks for Lieutenant Williams to learn his brother was dead.

Michael had never seen the pit so quiet. The guttural whirring of the excavator drills had finally ceased, their teeth no longer gnawing at the planet’s rocky skin.

‘You will be tested’, the condemned convict said, voice low and accent thick as the Magistrate gave the final chance for redemption to the accused.

Even with the enviro-mask latched to her face and a thick line of sea salt paste drawn under her nose, the smell clawed its way into her.

I have tried to venture beyond the cave, but I can learn little of the beast’s habits. I have seen neither hide nor hair of the creature, nor any other for that matter, during these last two days.

The severed goat’s head stared at him from the hay-strewn floor, judgement in its clouding eyes.

The boy’s ruined sandals slapped against his cracked heel, each step a hollow echo of a life he had fled.