by A Y Venona
“What are we going to do?”
Hearst scanned his surroundings and then back to Aaron.
“You can hide here with Jason while I go back to inform the guardians.”
“If the guardians can wear the glamor, so do you think Jason has one?”
“Check his pockets. Or check your bag. I saw him putting that damn cloth in it.”
With his hand shaking, Aaron fumbled inside the bag.
“Anything?” Hearst said.
“I’m not—”
Hearst snatched the bag and poured its content on the ground.
“Now search for it.”
And they did and found the necklace along with the blanket. Lucky for them, they found not only one but four necklaces. Aaron and Hearst stared at each other and grinned.
Chapter 23
Sara grinned from ear to ear. She had all the four aces in her hands. She was winning. Anthony drew a card from the pile and grimaced.
“This is ridiculous. It is not probable to draw all the lower numbers. I should at least have one high-value card!”
Sara laid her card down. “So what are you going to do about it? The only probability in this game is 3 to 0, three wins for me, zero for you.”
Anthony stared at her suspiciously.
The loud knocks at the door halted any more incoming banter that often proceeded every time they finished a game. Anthony rose and sauntered toward the door.
“Sara!” Anthony hollered. “Come and see this.”
Any given day, Sara would think it was another of those people who wanted the guardians to handle their cases, but the out-of-character urgency in Anthony’s voice prompted her to grab her sword.
Anthony tilted his head to the side when he saw her coming. This gesture gave her idea where to look. Her forehead puckered in confusion upon the sight of Hearst drenched in sweat, gasping for breath. Did he fight a gorilla and lost?
“Hearst, is something wrong?” she asked. “You practically live upstairs, so why not coming in?”
“There’s no time. You, guys, need to prepare to defend this place. Get all your guardians, alphas, whoever the heck else that can fight these monsters. They’re so close! And they’re all coming here!”
All right, Sara did not have patience for hysterics especially if the one doing it was an alpha—she would definitely advise Jason to send Hearst to the academy because he needed to learn the alpha ways of doing this—but she digressed, on to what Hearst was saying, which was…
“What are you talking about?” She glanced at Anthony’s side and gave him a ‘what-in-Hades-was-he-saying’ look. Anthony just shrugged his shoulders.
“They’re coming,” Hearst said, his arms flailing as though he was trying to describe something. “Their eyes are red… like not alpha kind of red… but bloody red!”
Bloody red eyes?
“Okay, I get it,” she said, trying to calm Hearst down. “Where are they? And where the heck is Jason?”
“It’s a whole fleet of them at the river there at the back of the forest.”
“There are two rivers here, so which one?” Anthony participated in the conversation now that the situation was becoming dire.
“I don’t fucking know the name. It’s the one connected to the… to the lake.”
Sara shook her head. “Both rivers are connected to the lake, but I have an idea.”
Her idea was to retrace where Hearst came from. As soon as they entered the An-Kian forest, Sara already knew which river Hearst was referring to.
“Alright, boys. We don’t need to go any farther. I think I know which river,” she said. “Now where is Jason?”
“He’s all right… he’s asleep as of this time. But he’s alright.”
“Now you’re back to talking gibberish. Start from the very beginning,” Sara said.
“We’re wasting time!”
Sara crossed her arms. “I got time. So speak.”
And then Hearst told his story starting from how they planned to sneak Jason out of Pershiane and how the captain of the guardians ended up asleep instead of with them preparing for a battle. Sara's patience was running thin as the story progressed and started to regret ever asking Hearst to recount it. And when Hearst ended his story, Sara breathed a sigh of relief. Marvelous. Anthony just stood there like he did not just hear the most ridiculous story he ever heard. She nudged his arm and raised her eyebrow. Anthony rolled his eyes.
“Okay,” he said, trying not to laugh. “So our esteemed captain is having his beauty sleep, courtesy of your potion. So now it’s all up to us to defend this island from a fleet of vampires.”
“Vampires?” Hearst said. “What the heck is that?”
Sara met Anthony’s confused-as-hell gaze.
“You don’t know about a vampire race?” Sara asked.
“No?”
“Well, then you’re about to get a close and personal with them in about… how far are they from here?”
“Right by the river,” Anthony answered.
“Not that far so, Anthony, let’s call the guardians and the alphas from the academy.”
“Why not the one at the fort? This is more their specialty.”
Sara stared at him in disbelief. “Vampires have the gift of speed. They can move faster and may arrive in a matter of say a few minutes, which made me think. Why are they not here yet? But then again… they might not be able to considering.” Sara paused. “This entire island is under a Protective Shield. And the vampires know that, but why will they still try? Hmmm?”
“They have someone from the inside who will bring that Shield down,” Anthony answered.
“What made you all think the Shield is still up and working?” Hearst asked.
Sara thought his question had merit. But was there a way to test it? She held her waist and the sword materialized.
“Whoa!” Hearst said, moving away from her when she started brandishing the sword. “What are you doing?”
The sword changed color from steel to blue. Just the color she needed. She gripped the handle with her two hands and stabbed the ground with the sword. The sword started to glow from blue to red.
“The Shield is weakening. Someone is trying to shut it down,” she said.
“How did you know?” Hearst asked.
“Red is a warning that the Shield will shut down anytime soon. Let’s go. We need all enforcers we can get.”
She put the earpiece to her ear, calling a backup to all guardians and academy officers while running back to the castle. Anthony and Hearst trailed close behind her.
“We need to surround the garden!” Sara said through the amp-comm link. “Their only entryway to the castle is through the garden.”
A few minutes later the siren wailed. Sara knew then the Shield was gone. A few of the guardians arrived at the designated place, even Delvin who appeared thoroughly confused. Sara explained to him what they were about to expect in just a few minutes.
“Here they come,” Anthony said.
Sara glanced toward the garden and saw a horde of black-caped vampires coming their way.
✽✽✽
Jason woke up disoriented.
“Thank the heavens!”
He turned to the direction of the voice and saw Aaron’s frantic face. He sat up from the ground.
“What happened?”
“There’s no time. Let’s go,” Aaron said, tugging his arm forward.
He wrenched his arm back. “What’s going on? Answer me?”
“I’ll explain on the way, but right now, we need to go back to the castle. It’s under attack!”
He stared into Aaron’s eyes and saw both panic and dread. Without any further question, he raced back to the Pershiane castle. Aaron was hot on his heels.
An icy cold chill shot up his spine when Jason saw the carnage spread across the castle. His mind automatically went up thinking about the safety of one person. Xander. He needed to get to him. He knew the guardian would be in the middle of
the melee. Beside him, Aaron changed into a wolf and howled. When a howl answered back, Jason smiled. He knew it was Hearst. Taking that as a cue, he transformed into his third form—a human-like version of a wolf—and made a sound that rattled the ground. A couple of seconds later, all types of werekin beasts answered his call.
One of the red-eyed creatures blocked their way to where most of the fighting was happening. Jason did not really know what this creature was, but Xander’s enemy was his enemy.
The creature opened his mouth and exposed his fangs.
“Who are you? What are you doing here?” he asked though he knew better than trying to reason with a monster.
But surprisingly the monster talked. “Thief!”
Jason raised his brows. “I stole nothing from you!”
There was not much talking that occurred next as this red-blooded monster attacked him with his fangs. Jason defended himself by swiping his claws across the monster’s face and down to the neck. Jason only meant to scare the creature, but the cut was huge and deep enough to cut a major artery. The vampire fell to the ground.
A piercing scream pulled his attention to his left. Another of this creature was coming his way. Jason stood waiting and grimaced when he saw something behind the behind the blood-shot eyes of the monster. He saw pain, a pain that Jason could easily empathize, a kind of pain born from losing a loved one, the kind that tortured a soul. Jason dropped his gaze back at the fallen monster on the ground. And at that moment, he realized that he might have killed this person's mate.
He glanced up and felt cold hands wrapped around his neck. The creature pulled him, bringing his face a few inches closer, and snarled at him. Jason couldn't breathe as a pair of icy hands squeezed the life out of him. The creature opened his mouth, poised to suck Jason's neck when suddenly a sword came to slice the creature’s neck. The creature fell and joined his mate on the ground.
Jason locked eyes with the person who wielded the sword. Sara gave him a sly smirk.
“You’re late,” Sara answered.
“It’s a long story.” He glanced at Aaron who was still in his wolf form. “Who are these creatures?”
“Vampires,” Sara answered. “There are more of them over there.”
Sara pointed her chin toward the castle’s main quadrangle. “Does your friend need a sword?”
“No, he’s good in that form. Is Xander in that melee?”
“Nope. He’s somewhere else.”
Jason thought about in a second and remembered that today was supposed to be his father’s funeral.
“I think I know where he is.”
“I hope you’re not leaving us here, at least not until the reinforcement arrives.”
“Hey, tea time's over!”
They looked toward the voice and saw Hearst standing with a sword in his hand and a foot over the body of a dead vampire.
Hoards of vampires moved to their direction so fast that Jason thought that they were floating. His team moved to his side as they readied themselves for the clash. But the vampires fell one by one as a warrior appeared behind them, cutting their heads with expertise and precision. When all the vampires were on the ground, the warrior glanced to their direction and revealed his identity to them. Delvin.
Delvin jogged toward them, soaked with a vampire’s blood.
“How did they manage to get past the Shield?” Delvin muttered.
“My question is, why are they here?” Jason asked.
“We need more warriors in here,” Anthony said as he joined them in the circle.
“Incoming!” Sara yelled.
More vampires were charging toward them, and this time they were all holding swords. A long-haired man, an inch shorter than Jason, with smooth marbled skin was at their center.
“Ah, so that was just a taste,” Delvin said. “These are the warriors.”
“And you guys cool with that?” Hearst said who now stood beside Jason.
“The only cold thing with these guys is their blood,” Anthony said. “Preferably oozing out of their bodies.”
They all formed a semi-circle as they moved to meet the new hoards of vampires. ‘Don’t break the circle’ was Delvin’s last order before the skirmish began. Sara threw him a sword to block the one coming his way. But Jason was not good with the sword, so he threw it back. Sara caught it and quickly swung it at her opponent. With two swords in her hands, she took down vampires by twos. All the guardians fought with grace like they were born with swords already in their hands. With Delvin taking the lead, chopping heads left and right, they were actually winning. But Jason did not understand the animosity between the two races. He did not know why the vampires attacked, and why the werekin were so eager to kill them. He needed to end this so he could go back to where his father’s body was waiting for him, where he could likely find Xander.
So he stepped forward, howled and released his spirit-wolf.
Huge white wolf came out from behind him as though his very soul transformed into one and detached itself from him. He heard the collective gasp and ignored it. The beast looked around and snarled at the hoard of vampires who stood frozen on the spot. Jason gazed into their eyes, trying to understand them, and found what he was all along suspected. Beneath those bloody eyes were defiance, courage, and fear. Very much like a human. At the command of their leader, all the vampires who once attacked them knelt down.
“Forgive us, my lord,” the vampire leader said, his voice stern and confident.
Jason just stood there staring at them in shock.
“Vampires are religious,” Delvin whispered to his side.
“And yet you did not hesitate to kill them,” Jason said. His claws retracted.
“Vampires feed on us. We are nothing but food to them.”
“Is that true?” Jason asked the leader of the coven. “Rise so you can speak to me.”
The leader rose and held Jason’s gaze.
“We feed to survive just like humans.”
“I killed your friend, your kin, but still you submitted yourself to me. Why is that?”
The vampire's gaze fell on the ground. It took a moment before he glanced back to Jason.
“Because you’re a god. We respect all gods even those who betrayed us. You’re right to kill my kindred because they attacked you. If they had known, they wouldn’t have.”
“So that’s it? You blindingly follow a god?” Delvin said.
The vampire responded with a snarl.
“So why did you attack us?” Jason asked.
The vampire touched the pendant of his necklace before he took it off his neck.
“Because of this,” he said, handing the pendant over to Jason.
Jason examined it. It was a ruby stone.
“Look hard.”
And Jason did, but it was Delvin who recognized it.
“Where did you get this?” Delvin asked.
“All the leaders of the clans wear it. It’s a replica of the one we have at our altar.”
“But what is that going to do with this war you created?” Jason said, his impatience showing in his voice.
“Because this is the symbol of our home, the home that has been taken away from us!”
“And I assumed you thought we did?” Delvin replied. “So you think your home is here in Pershiane? Then you better check where your information came from lest you accuse the gods of stealing your home.”
Jason faced Delvin. “What do you mean?”
“Because that pendant bears the seal of the An-Kian castle, the first castle built in Pershiane, the first home of the gods.”
Chapter 24
"So we are just going to let the war savage this world? And you, gods, will not do anything about it?" Riker said.
“Your part in the plan is done, Riker. We flushed Jason out of hiding. I apologized for letting you believe you can mate with Alexander,” Janus replied.
“We choose whom we bed,” Riker answered, defiant on his face. “We die when we wa
nt. We write our own stories. We create our own myths and burn the old ones. That is how it is going to be in this new age. And if you, gods of the olden times, are against it, then it’s time for the new gods to rise.”
It happened so fast. The other gods in attendance joined Riker and stood at the periphery and in doing so encircled those who remained on their spots including Xander and his family and Janus and the elders.
Except for Zeus, Janus and the elders positioned themselves so that they were now facing those who encircled them. Riker and his group responded by unleashing their respective animal affinities. Glowing beasts of different kinds started appearing behind them. Janus smirked at the display.
“You’re all too young to fight the elders. Too young at all,” he said. He tilted his head to his side and a dragon with three heads sprouted from his back.
“You cannot have this fight in the garden,” Melo said. “You will burn this entire place down.”
"Does this bloodshed among our kind really necessary, Janus?" Zeus' voice pierced through the noises and murmurs. "I understand that the war outside needs to happen as it is part of the ritual that we are about to perform." He moved toward the center where everybody could see him. His gaze directly fixed on Riker. "I also understand the need for stalling through silly statements that did nothing but provoked our young ones here. Riker and your friends, if you wish to claim godship of this world and wish to deify yourselves without providing the stipulation of creating a new species, then you have my blessing if my blessing still means anything to you. But all we want from you is to help us pass from this life to a new one which will not be possible if we do not break the curse. Fortunately, today we have half of the solution standing among us while the second half…" He stopped to stare at the entrance of the garden. "Has just arrived."
Jason sauntered toward the crowd, looking confused at the attention he had garnered, but he used this moment to voice what he had come to speak. “So while the people out there were killing each other, the gods are inside the palatial garden, talking.”