The Call of War: The Watchers Chronicles: Book One

by Patricia Halladay

  The horn sounded again, this time hearing it more clearly, I knew I had made the same mistake. I trusted a trick, as the riders got closer one slipped from his horse, then another and yet another again. Jason looked to see who had fired their bows, but the rest of the soldiers were looking just as confused as he is. As the flag bear got closer, he was the final warrior to fall from his horse. I ducked out without the boys seeing me, when I got to the flag bearer, he was laying still with an arrow in his head. I was smart and cut his head from his shoulders. I place it in a bag and made by way back to our position.

  “We need to go out and see who they truly were. We need to know who is firing on them.” A soldier said placing his armor on to go out to retrieve information.

  “No need, I already did that. Here’s the flag bearers head!” I say lifting the bag up. When Jason removed the head from the bag, all the men fell silent. A golden arrow stuck out from the man’s eye.

  “Artemis’s Golden Arrow! Have we disturbed her without knowing?” Another soldier asks. I pull one of our blue arrows with a white fletching and send it back. Soon a whistling sound came, and an arrow embeds into the rock nearby. Attached to it is a scroll.

  Aretha,

  I hope that you are prepared for war, as it has found you precious child again. Train hard and learn all you can. It will come in great use in the future, your momma Rumara and Daddy Iverus are safe, the war has passed their hidden home.

  Get ready my child, more are coming! Stay safe, keep your eyes open, your heart guarded and true, and always remember help is always close at hand. Even if it is from your enemy.

  Artemis.

  “Ianna are you ok? Ianna?” I am brought out of my memory by a scared looking Matthias.

  “A memory came to me. I remember something from before I became the battle warrior. I was nine and positioned with the 32nd Legion about a two days march from Athens. I was having trouble getting my defensive stance right. Orion was making me do squats all day, he would snap my ass with a cloth if I lost balance.” I say laughing and rubbing my ass as if he had just done it.

  “We went to see the goddess Athena for help in training me. We spoke to my father Iverus, a centaur and momma Rumara, she was a gorgon. They said for me to practice riding horseback, and I would be all set in no time. There was a battle that started, and we had to leave to get back to the legion for war. General Octavian sent me to The Desert Scorpion’s Trail, to keep more of them from getting through to Athens. Some of the enemy used a trick of being our allies and comrades, by wearing our arm and carrying our King’s banner. It was a trap.” I say thinking about how this could relate to what is happening now.

  “That’s right, a group of about 20 men broke off from the enemy troops and went around us. They must have gotten the armor from a previous fight because they didn’t get any of us down. Even with the 30 sent with you, Jason, and Alexander, we still outnumbered them 4 to 1 and we were better trained. What did happen at The Desert Scorpion’s Trail?” Matthias asks with a look of remembrance on his face.

  “Well by the time they made it to us there was only 6 on horseback and even they didn’t make it. I took out their hawk and then once they were all killed by arrows, I went and took one of their heads to show Jason and Alexander, we never fired a shot on them. It was Artemis who took them out, her golden arrow was stuck in the guy’s head. She also sent a message, to keep my eyes open, my heart guarded and true, and to accept help even from my enemies. Could this dream memory have something to do with the rogues? After all they are our enemy, but right now they could help us so much.” I say looking at Matthias slightly anxious.

  “Maybe, let’s go see what they have for us and then we will know. I think talking to Helix would be a good idea too. He has more information on that battle. It might be able to help us with this war that is coming.” Matthias says intertwining our fingers when he holds my hand.

  Chapter 11

  We finish walking downstair and instead of heading out of the house to go to the dungeons, we head to the conference room. As we walk into the conference room, I am hit with familiar scents of fresh burnt wood, and ocean breeze.

  “Jason! Alexander!” I yell and two of the six rogues turn to me.

  “Aretha!” They shout in unison, then run and tackle me to the ground. I hear hissing and growling from all angles, but it soon stops as I start to full on laugh because the boys are tickling me. Everyone calms down and a throat gets cleared. Both the boys look up at Matthias, who is trying not to snicker. I get pulled from the floor, and the two rogue wolves give me a hug, before setting on my feet again.

  “What are you two doing here? How many more have been brought back?” I ask looking at the boys.

  “Aretha, we never left. We just traded something to stay.” Jason says looking at Alexander.

  “What do you mean?” I ask looking at them with farrowed eyebrows.

  “We traded our ties to the gods, to become soldiers to the first lycan to ever exist. We are Selene’s children now and immortal for the most part.” Alexander says.

  “Wait so you’re not actually rogues then are you?” Matthias asks looking at Alexander and Jason.

  “NO. They are not rogues.” A voice booms from behind me. It causes me to spin with weapons drawn. “I would put those away little girl, they will do you no good against me.” The mountain sized man says walking towards me, causing my blades to lengthen. He stops and raises an eyebrow.

  “Lycaon, this is Aretha, daughter of Prince Atten of Atlantis and the Atlantean Battle Warrior.” Jason says introducing me to the huge man.

  “Aretha, this is Lycaon the first Lycan to exists.” Alexander says placing a hand on my arm. “He is here to help; this war would cause more problems than even the gods can fix. We’re all here to help.” He finishes looking me in the eyes.

  “Then that explains the familiarity for the two of you. Although, I would prefer you point those blades another way.” Lycaon says eyeing my blades. His eye flicker back and forth between gold and brown.

  “I prefer a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean it’s going to happen.” I tell him taking a few steps away from him. I know just like the vampires, you don’t turn and run from wolves or lycans. The fuckers think it’s a game and then the mess they create is not something I want to help clean up.

  “Please everyone calm down and please take a seat. Let’s get this meeting started.” Marcus says walking in with Vlad, Meena and Angelica. Vlad sits at the head of the table, with Meena on his right and Matthias on his left. For some reason Marcus and Angelica have take the seats closest to the doors, and the rest of us take the seats in between.

  “Thank you Lycaon for coming, if I had of known it was your group who attacked Theron’s allies at their meeting then I would have come to you sooner.” Vlad says. Just as he is about to continue there is shouting and loud thuds that shake the house.

  “We’re under attack! Get our visitors and leader to the bunkers!” I shout as I see Vlad get a whisper.

  “Ianna, you need to leave. They are here for you! They are just knocking everyone out, they can’t do anything until they have your weapons!” Matthias yells. I walk over to the second exit, but when I look back Marcus and Angelica are gone.

  “Matthias! Where is …” My question gets cut short as I am grabbed from behind and pulled into the second exit. The last thing I see is Vlad running at the door before it slams shut in his face. I put up a fight the best I can, but soon a pinch in the neck has me blacking out.

  Memories …

  I woke up in a dark room, from the sounds coming from other parts of the room, it’s big and I am not the only one here. I hear rattling and look to a wooden door, a loud click and in walks three men. One moves over to an area just feet away from me and rips off the cloth from the window. How did I not know that was there. I look around and realize I am in the dungeon’s of our King. The three men standing in the middle of the room are taking a look at each of us chained to the wall
. I am the only woman in a room full of men.

  “Take her, she will do nicely as a payment to the visiting Emperor.” The guard furthest away points to me and gives commands. That was their first mistake, thinking that I would become some useless man’s toy. Not going to happen. When the guard gets to me to unchain me, I duck under his hands once the chain is removed and grab his sword.

  Turning so this guard is my shield, I drive his sword into his comrade’s leg and then his head. The guard I have a hold of is starting to fight, so I slam the sword through his ribs at an upward angle, putting it into his heart and severing some major arteries. When I face the last guard, several more have joined him. I scoop up the other soldier’s sword and start to work with the two blades. As I start clearing the cell, there’s a roar, and the soldiers stop attacking me.

  “Well, it looks like we have a strong fighter on our hands. How about we put you in the arena and you fight for the right not to become a sex slave to the emperor? You win, you stay here and have the luxuries of all the best fighters. You lose, you serve the emperor any way he wants you. That is if you don’t die first. Deal?” The Captain of the Guard asks looking highly amused that I killed five of his men.

  “I accept on one condition; you go back on your word, and I will kill you in open battle after I kill the emperor. Do we have a deal now?” I ask with a glare. I know how most of these men work, they look to exploit you if they think you’re weak minded. I can’t wait for him to see how weak minded I really am and how much trouble it will bring him and the emperor for underestimating me.

  “Deal, but you still have to actually prove you can be of a match for me. What is your name, so I know what to put on your grave marker. We at least put down the name of the dead.” He smirks like I am the one going to end up dying.

  “Zoe, my name is Zoe.” I say, keeping my eye on the captain and looking towards the door.

  “Then to the arena, and we’ll see how worthy you are.” The captain says, the rest of the guards fall in and escort me to the arena. I keep track of our paces, so I can escape later with little resistance. I can’t believe I took the fall for Diana! She owes me big time, and I will collect.

  It’s been about three months since I started to fight in the arena. I have yet to lose a fight, but there have been a few that I have come out hurt pretty bad. Being the emperor’s favorite brings some benefits though, when I get hurt I get the best care until I am healed again. So far I have only suffered two major injuries, but they weren’t enough to put me out of the arena. If they did, I would be sent to the emperor’s chambers for his pleasures and there’s no way in Hades underworld that’s happening.

  “Zoe your fight for the night is cancelled, and the arena is being turned into training grounds for soldiers.” Captain Haemon says walking in the training room under the arena.

  “What? Wait Captain what is to happen to me then?” I ask almost scared; they could send me into battle as well or I will be sold off.

  “You’re going to come and live in my home. You’ll take care of my estate while I am away at war. I am the only high ranking officer in the emperor’s army that doesn’t have any family left to help take care of my home when away.” Captain Haemon says.

  “Ok, I will pack for the ride.” I say breathing a sigh of relief. I hear the captain chuckling. I glare at him until he stops.

  “You almost think you were worried about go to the emperor’s chambers. So you know, that’s the reason we are going to war. The woman the emperor chose as a bride ran to another King. So we are going to war with him, he won’t hand over his cousin to the emperor.” Captain Haemon says.

  “No woman wants to be in his chambers, he is disgusting and vile. I would rather have to stay in the dungeon and be subjected to the dirty criminals than him.” I say shaking my head.

  “Well, you’ll just be in my chambers instead since the emperor doesn’t want a manly looking woman in his bed.” He says laughing at me when I glare at him. After I pack the few things I own, I meet the captain at the front gate to the arena. We ride out of the city, and two days later are in the country. We pass through a small town, many of the towns people come out cheering when they see the captain and many of the men. I see them get down from their horses and greet the people. Many of them go directly into family homes, to which I hear cheering and cries of happiness. The soldiers must be from this town and seem happy to see loved ones before battle.

  We turn to head towards a home built just on the hillside on the outskirts of town. It isn’t long before we get to the home and there are a few older men coming to collect the horses from us. Captain Haemon helps me from my horse and asks one of the men to take my stuff up to his chambers. As the men take the horses to the stables, he leads me inside to what looks like the central room. There are tables with food and some more people placing plates for us to eat. I am lead to the head of the table and placed at the right of Captain Haemon. Soon all the men I saw working come and join us to eat, along with the house servants.

  “Ladies and Gentlemen, this is Gladiator Zoe. She will stay here and take care of the estate as my wife while I am away at war. I know she will want to help and learn while keep our home safe, so please do what you can to help her find her place here.” Captain Haemon says. “Now let us enjoy this amazing feast you have prepared. I hope to share many happy moments with you before I leave in three days for the battlefield.”

  We all dive into the food and the chatter starts. Many are asking questions of how I came to be in the arena and what I hope to gain from battling there. I explain how I ended up in the arena to help keep my twin sister out of trouble and that I was given the deal to battle or become a sex slave to the emperor. Even the men had a look of disgust when I said that. We talked for the rest of the night before we all started to head for rest. I helped clean the table and went with Captain Haemon to his bed chambers.

  “So this is where you come to sleep when not bothering me at the arena. Your home is beautiful, but I thought you said you had no family left, who are all the people here?” I ask walking over to the captain and to help him take his armor off.

  “They were in a similar situation you were, they ended up in the dungeons and I gave them a similar deal that I gave you. The women I bought; I didn’t want them to end up like many of the others. The men were gladiators too. They have become my family, I worked hard, and this was my reward from the late King.” He paused while I help take his chest guard off. “His son has been trying to take my family from me because I don’t have a wife or children. So it was the perfect opportunity when he lost interest in you. I figured you would want out of the arena and with him starting a war, I was able to convince him that you would be better suited in the town here. It’s the least protected and I would hate for my men to lose their families because the emperor is a selfish child.” He finishes and sweeps my legs out from under me to place me on the bed.

  “So what is it that I have to do now? Be your wife or a warrior to protect the town?” I ask as the captain slips his hand up the inside of my thigh and plunging two fingers into my core. I throw my head back as I moan and feel my garments slip from my body, and the captain seals his mouth around my nipple before answering me.

  “Both, but for tonight you are mine to bury my cock into your pussy and plant my seed. After tonight you are to bare yourself to me when I come home to you and receive pleasures just as much as give them to me.” He says as he climbs between my legs and thrust in. It hurts like a motherfucker, but he doesn’t stop and soon it turns to pleasure. I moan and pant as Haemon keeps going even after he releases his seed twice. The rest of the night is filled with my cries of pleasure and in the morning I am sore. It feels like I just went two days straight fighting, when I get down to the central room, breakfast is being served.

  “Good morning Zoe, how did you sleep last night?” Helen asks. Helen is a sweet older lady, she really should be enjoy her days with children running around her feet and gardening, not being a
servant to Haemon. Although I can understand why he did it and why she stays.

  “Well what little sleep I got was amazing. Captain Haemon felt it justified to spend the night creating his family and solidifying my position as his wife.” I say causing the women in the room to giggle.

  “He has been talking about bringing you home as his wife for months now. The opportunity finally presented itself. I am glad he has a strong woman by his side.” She tells me smiling. As we continue our talk Captain Haemon comes in with guests and looks angry.

  “Sister! Thank the gods you are safe!” Diana says, causing the room to fall silent as everyone looks between the two of us.

  “Well if it weren’t for you being the murdering thief you are, I wouldn’t have the amazing life I have now. So I guess thanks are in order Diana.” I say as Haemon comes over placing his arms around my waist. Just as his hand make contact to my skin, I am consumed in darkness.

  End of Memory …

  I wake up to a cold splash as a bucket of water is thrown in my face. I take deep breaths to keep from choking and sputtering. I try to take the wet hair out of my face but can’t because I am chained to the wall. I make a slight movement to see where I am, and as I do another bucket of ice cold water is thrown at me.

  “I suggest if you want to live after I get out of here, you don’t do that again.” I say with venom as I see Angelica holding the bucket and smirking at me.

  “Not so tough now, without your weapons. You’re nothing but a useless toy, I will enjoy draining you.” She says the smirk growing. Just as she takes a step forward she’s yanked backwards and lets out a scream of pain.

  “You were told to leave her alone Angelica, touch her and your head will be removed.” Soren says holding a knife to her throat. She cries as he nicks her neck with it. He throws her towards the wall, and with a thud she slides down the wall into a heap. “Glad to see you’re finally awake. We need you to do something and you will do it, or your parents are dead.” He says looking at me like he has won already.