Tyrant's Stars: Parts Three and Four Read Online Free

follow D, but rather watched the young man’s fate unfurl.
    “What’s this?” Braujou cried out, and rightly so.
    In front of the galloping D, the soldiers that fell beneath his horse’s hooves were suddenly transformed into dead branches. D dashed right through an army of thousands, if not tens of thousands, leaving nothing but trampled tree limbs strewn in his wake. The magical might of Valcua—the Ultimate Noble—had been broken!
    “What in the world is this fellow?” the count groaned, finally giving his horse a crack of the reins.
    After racing down the highway for about twenty minutes, Seurat heard the beating of iron-shod hooves ringing out behind him. The android carried Sue and Matthew on the back of the giant’s steed.
    Turning around, Seurat was expressionless as he said, “I underestimated them. No doubt only the man known as D could’ve smashed through those military forces to give chase. Grand duke, what would you have me do?”
    He posed this question to empty space.
    A grave answer came in return.
    “Just keep going. I’ve taken measures.”
    “Yes, milord!” Seurat responded, feeling a chill run down his back.
    Only three hundred feet to go. D’s cyborg horse was rapidly closing on the enormous steed up ahead.
    Riding another three hundred feet behind him, the count’s eyes widened as he said, “Such speed! I’m glad it’s not me he’s after— well, actually he is after me, isn’t he? At any rate, I’m glad it’s not me today.”
    He watched as the black figure of D dwindled at an astounding rate. A second later, the count gasped. D had sunk without warning. And not just him, but the gigantic horse ahead of him as well. The ground had collapsed. And the black chasm was headed straight for him.
    “This is bad!”
    The Nobleman jerked the reins to make a sudden stop, but his body went flying through the air. In midair, the count saw his cyborg horse trip and the car behind it slam into the beast.
    A section of road twenty feet wide and four hundred and fifty feet long had given way. It wasn’t an explosion or an earthquake. The molecular structure of the ground had been altered, leaving it in an extremely weakened condition.
    Were these the “measures” Valcua had taken?
    As the ground swallowed him, D took the reins in his teeth. Using the strength of his two arms and his mouth to control his cyborg horse, he demonstrated a feat that could only be described as wondrous. Though his steed had sunk up to the Hunter’s knees into ground that now resembled pumice, it went no deeper. Skillfully working its four legs, the horse moved relentlessly, as if seeking solid footing.
    No longer sinking but still not rising, D watched as Seurat, his giant steed, and the siblings were swallowed by the colossal cavern that opened in the ground.
    A sound became audible. A splash. Obviously there was a river running deep underground.
    The earth and sand suddenly began to subside much more quickly. The water had begun to wash them away.
    Seurat and the others were swallowed by the darkness.
    It took about ten seconds for D to hit the water. Cyborg horses could swim across rivers where it was too deep for people to stand. However, the current here trumped that ability.
    As he was swept away, mount and all, D focused his gaze behind him and ahead of him. He couldn’t see Seurat, his gigantic horse, or the Dyalhis siblings. All that flowed through the massive underground cavern was black water. The cavern must’ve been at least thirty feet high.
    Unexpectedly, the Hunter’s horse sank. Something had dragged it underwater. And D went right with it.
    The Nobility—and others with vampire blood—were known to have problems with water. Of particular note was their inability to cross running water. When completely immersed, a dhampir lost almost all of his Noble strength, leaving him with only the power of a normal human being at his disposal.
    Even underwater D’s eyesight was perfect. Leaving the