The Call of War: The Watchers Chronicles: Book One

by Patricia Halladay

  “I knew that this would weaken you! Why do you think I had this planned? This was all just to get Eli out of the way and have you under my control!” Soren says. I can’t stop the tears as I feel I have failed once again.

  “Then you won’t get any of them!” I say driving my ejector blade into my chest. Soren is a ghost as I pull the blade out and the brace falls off my arm. It turns into a piece of ripped leather and the ejector is now broken.

  “NO!!” Tanner screams and runs from Eli to me. The long blade Eli was holding has become a useless piece of metal and the short blade will turn back into a stick with metal in it. “No Ianna, you can’t leave. Please no, oh god what have I done?” Tanner asks frantically.

  “You were both to take the title, but now you have proven unworthy, and I will rise again.” I say as I can feel my heart stopping. Tanner leans down and hugs me as the last of my life leaves.

  “Ianna, Vlad gave Eli blood so we could trick them. You were never supposed to kill yourself. God please save her!” Tanner whispers through sobs. I don’t know what is happening around me, but as darkness consumes me I hear hissing, screams and a disgusting ripping sound. Then as suddenly as it started it all stops.

  The River Styx …

  Through the darkness I can hear someone talking, whether or not it is to me, I have no clue. I start to move a little and feel sand under my body. Where the hell am I? Olympus doesn’t have sand! I can hear the tide as small waves splash the shore. Wow I really did it this time, I must be in limbo waiting to be judged. Then I hear a soft female voice calling my name, so I start to open my eyes, and immediately wish I hadn’t. I shut my eyes quickly to protect them from the blinding sun.

  “Aretha? Aretha my child come here. It’s been ages since I saw you last. How are you my beautiful child?” A beautiful young woman asks. I stand up and walking to the water’s edge once I was able to see again. This has me totally confused, because normally when I die, I go in front of Zeus and the other gods on Olympus and then I wander until I am reborn.

  “I’m sorry mother, I didn’t mean to disobey. I didn’t know they had a plan to keep Eli safe. I should have though. I am so sorry for failing you again.” I say looking across the water as a boat comes into view.

  “Come child, Charon is not here for you, he has others to take across.” The young woman says when I make eye contact with the ferry master, I turn to the woman scared of what I have done.

  “Oh Hera!! This is the Underworld isn’t it? Oh god no, I screwed up so bad this time, please forgive me.” I say dropping to my knees. Charon has stepped off the boat, which is highly unusual to start, but he is letting someone else off too, that’s not right.

  “You didn’t screw up. You just stopped the other gods from rebirthing your soul. I guess Momma Rumara’s advice is being taken literally.” A man says, he must have been who got off the boat. I finally look at who I am talking with, to my surprise Hades, Persephone and Charon are standing in front of me.

  “My Lord, my Lady I am sorry for the lack of respect. I am sorry Ferry Master, but I do not have a coin to pay the toll.” I say bowing before I look at them again. Charon chuckles and comes to give me a hug. He smells of mint and there is a bit of rosemary in there too. I know these were used during our funerals in ancient Greece, but the smells have always been comforting for me.

  “Well child, there will be no need to pay the toll. You won’t have too ever again.” Charon says when he pulls away. His face looks like a mummy, the skin pulled tight over what is left of the muscle and bone. His bony fingers are basically just skin and bone, but still feel smooth and gentle when he touches my face.

  “Why do I not have to pay the toll? All souls who come to the Underworld must pay the fare to cross the River Styx, or have the punished souls rise to take you with them into the depths of Hell. Is that not what will happen?” I ask looking to Hades.

  “It is child, but you don’t pay because you’re not dead. You’re just here to let your body deal with the transition, that is all.” Persephone says giving me a hug.

  “What transition?” I ask looking between the two gods and the ferry master.

  “After you lost consciousness, Vlad, Meena, Lycaon, Eli and Matthias went after anyone left from Soren’s army. Killing all of them. Matthias turned you after he knew the enemy was dealt with. He made Soren and Marcus watch as he drank from your heart and gave from his. Because you were already dying he just made it happen quicker by snapping your neck. You should reawake as a vampire in about 24 hours.” Persephone says with a smile.

  “But I watched Eli bleed to death! He couldn’t have gotten up to fight!” I say with tears coming again.

  “Aretha! When have you ever believed what you are told or see? You know yourself living, working, and existing in our world means the unimaginable is possible. Girl you should know better! Hell I’m a walking talking bag of bones!” Charon scolds me with humor. He has always found a way of giving you shit but making it funny to point out what is right in front of your eyes.

  “True, but a loving bag of bones.” I say giving the ferry master a hug. “So how is Zeus and Poseidon going to take this? I am sure Athena is tickled pink.” I say looking between Hades and Persephone.

  “To be honest, Athena asked for this. She proposed it to all the gods about 19 years ago when the Fates said your soul had weaved its way back into the threads. She challenged Poseidon to take you as her child, he said the only way was if the next in line was here too. I guess Athena knew they were because she won the challenge. But you know the gods, most of them never keep their word or they play dirty to have the tide rise in their favor.” Hades says giving Persephone a hug of his own.

  “The fates didn’t want Pegasus helping because Eli and Tanner are his hunters. They were trying to help the battle go in the favor of whomever wanted to keep me as the Atlantean Battle Warrior. But why? Do I not deserve to live a happy life, I mean over three thousand years is a long time to serve someone.” I ask looking to Hades for answers.

  “It’s just like anything else child, it’s for entertainment and power.” Persephone says. “What do you think happens when war is being threatened?” She asks with a look.

  “We pray to the gods for knowledge, strength and victory.” I say trying to make sure I cover all the bases.

  “That’s right and the more power the gods feel, the more they want to keep that. So with you being on the mortal plane, war is inevitable and so is an increase of power to the gods.” She says causing Hades to hum in agreement. “The only problem now is that you have forced the gods to show their hand in all this. So there may be some repercussions, but I highly doubt it because now the weapons have shifted to meet the needs of the two warriors.” She says playing with a small dagger she hides in her hair. It looks like a hair pin, when in actuality it’s not.

  “What do you mean? How did they shift?” I ask looking at the goddess.

  “What she means Aretha, is my weapons have become something more useful in the modern world above.” Arreon says coming up from walking the length of the shore.

  “Arreon!” I yell, running to give the blacksmith a hug.

  “Wow kid, easy there on these old bones! I didn’t get a new body like you did.” He says laughing.

  “Why are you here? Did you do something wrong?” I ask my old friend, who gives me a sweet smile and happiness shines in his eyes.

  “Oh goodness no child. I am Hades’ personal weapons master! I still get to do what I love, making weapons. Even though we are here in the Underworld, we still have some souls that try to cause wars. Theron will probably do it here too as he did on the mortal plane.” Arreon says giving me another squeeze. I wince a bit as my neck, chest and throat start to burn.

  “W-what’s happening?” I rasp out trying to soothe my throat by placing my cold hand on it.

  “The last of the transition. This means it is time for you to go back.” Persephone says smiling with excitement.

  “Before
you go, Aretha. The blades are yours to keep. They won’t be the weapons of the Atlantean Battle Warrior anymore, but a symbol of your dedication and lives spent fighting for the innocent. Take care child, I will see you when you visit!” Arreon says, giving me a final hug before I am consumed by bright blinding light.

  Opening my eyes has to be the hardest thing I have done lately, but for some reason they just won’t open. So I start with other body parts, and work on getting them to respond. I start with my toes and concentrate on getting my right big toe to wiggle. It took what seemed like forever, but it finally went, and I was a toe wiggling master. My left was actually easier because I already had the right one going. Soon all my toes were wiggling, and then I got the biggest shock to my body in the form of extremely cold hands.

  “Awe come on girl. I saw you working them. Keep at it you’re doing great!” Charlotte says and I can feel her healing circle my body. After a while Charlotte had to leave but she said she would be back. I hear a bunch of talking, from what I can tell it’s Eli, Tanner, and the doctor after the door closes.

  “It’s been about 18 hours since she was turned, so she is starting to wake up. The transition is almost over, seeing her working to get blood flow back into her extremities is an extremely encouraging sign!” The Doctor says.

  “Thank the gods! What about Eli here, is he going to be ok?” Tanner asks with what sounds like heartache.

  “Tanner, I am fine. Stop. We both knew what the possible outcomes of that plan was, and unfortunately she took the one we didn’t want to happen. She will be fine and once she talks to us. Everything will be ok. She loves you, and you will always be her big brother Dorian. Remember I tried to kill her for stealing my Legionnaire uniform and had her deemed a traitor, but she still loves me. You will be no different.” Eli tells Tanner and I hear him give a pat on the back. I have moved from my feet which I am proud to say I can wiggle my toes and role my ankles! Yay me! Now for the knees.

  The feeling of my knees bending and lying flat, only gets accentuated when I feel hands help me guild them back and forth, and a chuckle.

  “Not too high or you’ll nail yourself in the boobs or mouth Ianna.” Tanner says and I can hear myself laughing in my head but it’s probably all it is.

  “Holy fuck Tanner don’t make her die from not breathing!” Eli says and Tanner gets a Gibbs.

  “I think she was trying to laugh because I told her not to nail herself in the boobs or mouth with her knees.” Tanner explains and again I am laughing because I can imagine the look on Eli’s face.

  “Oh shit, yea she is short enough isn’t she?” Eli says, and without realizing it, I shot my hand out to smack him. “Damn watchout girl, you almost nutted me.” He is still laughing at me. I continue to work on each body part and as I get closer to being able to do full body, I try my eyes again. They pop open quickly, just to shut them instantly because of the light in the room.

  “Hey Tanner, get the lights. There should be enough with just the sun light coming in for her to see.” I hear Eli tell Tanner. Soon I hear soft padded running away from me and then back. “Ok Ianna, try opening your eyes again, the light is off.” Eli says. I open my right eye just to test the waters, after looking all around the room and seeing he is telling the truth I open the other eye too.

  “Damn your eyes are a rich milk chocolate brown now, not the light maple brown. Looks good, but now I want chocolate.” Tanner says making a face, to which I laugh. It hurts a bit and I point to my throat.

  “Oh right, drink this. Matthias said you might need it.” Tanner says handing me a glass of what I am presuming is blood. And I was right, but it’s animals blood, rich and gamy probably deer or elk.

  “Thank you, it was greatly needed. How are you two feeling?” I ask looking at the boys after I take another sip of the blood.

  “The Doctor has cleared me, so I am good to go back into service. He said having the vampire blood beforehand had created an abundance of blood cells, so the wound looked worse than it actually was. Healing was complete with in five minutes of being stabbed, so everything worked out for the most part.” Eli says looking at me and giving Tanner a pat on the shoulder when he mentioned the last part.

  “Other than the obvious I am good. Ianna, I am sorry we didn’t tell you what we planned. It was kind of spur of the moment. I have been playing spy for at least six years now, do you remember the last time you stayed at Chateau Bellevue?” Tanner asks, fidgeting with his hands.

  “Yea, Helix and I were travelling for the Coven. It was some huge meeting, and the leader we were to talk to said they felt safer at Chateau Bellevue. How does that have anything to do with this?” I ask still wiggling my body to get blood flow back.

  “The leader that met with Helix was the Delphi Oracle. I have no idea why the strongest seer is called that since she is from China not Delphi. Anyways when she bumped into you before the meeting, and you apologized to her. She saw everything that has happened. She told us that either you would die, or we would, so I have been spying on Soren for six years. The idea of playing the jealous brother would help him believe the back story Kane, Kya, Eli, and Charlie came up with for me.” Tanner says still fidgeting with his hands. I pull open the bedside table drawer and hand him a fidget spinner. I put a bunch all over the coven house for Matthias. He get like that when really nervous.

  “Ok, just next time give me a signal, or something would you. I died in more ways than one when I saw you do that. What happened after I blacked out? I heard things and I am sure it was way better than that.” I ask the guys. Tanner and Eli both sit on either side of me, they put me in Matthias’s room, which is how I knew the fidget spinner was in the nightstand. They get under the covers, and we sit snuggled together talking about what happened.

  Tanner says that when I started to lose consciousness, Matthias went psycho bat shit crazy. Full wings, full fangs and like eight foot tall Herculean bat. When he did, the two guys holding onto him were drained in seconds and then ripped apart. He forced Marcus and Soren into submission, while the rest of Soren’s army was wiped out. There has been a massive cleanup being done in all territories where attacks happened. What is more surprising is everyone is helping clean each other’s territory up. I was not happy to hear that both Soren and Marcus are still alive in the dungeons, but Hyda is getting to have some gruesome fun.

  Eli said that Matthias is helping oversee the changeover in both the vampire covens and the Watcher Council, since technically he is even more important than Vlad! Matthias told the guys that we will finish our soul bond and claiming once he gets home. He told them it would be much easier when I was turned and finished transitioning. So that is something to look forward too. Eli also said that the weapons went dead after I stabbed myself. I waited until he finished telling me everything, so I could tell them what Arreon told me at the shore of the River Styx. When I told them, their mouths dropped.

  “So do we need to find them like you use too?” Eli asks looking comfortable, almost to the point of falling asleep.

  “I don’t know, but you guys have your favorite, go to weapons here right? We will test them to see if they respond to you. If they do, then we know which ones are the new Atlantean Battle Warriors weapons.” I say getting comfortable too. I can hear light snoring, so I think Tanner has already fallen asleep.

  “He has been here since Matthias turned you. He wouldn’t leave because he felt so bad. He wanted to be the first person you woke up to so he could explain everything.” Eli says just as he yawns.

  “It’s ok, Persephone, Hades and Charon did that when I was with them. I am sorry I did what I did, I should have thought about it first.” I say with a yawn of my own. I slide back down into bed as soon as I do Tanner roles over and throws his arm across my stomach. I snuggle in further, remembering how this use to be us in our life together. The boys would always sleep on either side of me, and someone would stand guard. We are just missing Eros, he was my brothers best friend, if they weren’t saving
my ass then he was.

  “Don’t worry about it…” He tries to stop another yawn. ”If you didn’t then Matthias wouldn’t have become like mega powerful, and you would be waiting to be reborn instead. Ahh.” Eli yawns again. “So all good, we just need to give you warnings next time. I will make sure to make a mental note of thaaatt.” He finishes with another yawn. I can't blame them for being tired, and with the high emotions running in the last few weeks I am surprised we lived through it. The three of us are curled up sleeping, and the worst part I just woke up. I hope Matthias will wake me up when he gets home.

  Chapter 15

  There is a light tapping sound along with chirping. I start to stretch out and realize both Tanner and Eli are still in bed with me and have me wrapped like a cat in a carpet, you know like in the cartoons. I look over to the table Matthias has set up as a desk, he is there tapping a pencil as he does work. He writes everything in pencil first so he can correct mistakes before putting it in pen. There is a small stack in the work pile, and I see him hand another into it before I get his attention.

  “Psst, psst!” I sound out causing Matthias spins in the chair and has a beautiful full smile.

  “How was your rest?” He asks getting up from the table and walking over.

  “Good, but I need to pee can you help get the gorilla twins off me?” I ask as there is a small break in Tanner’s snoring.

  “I think they will want to get up too, the three of you have been asleep for about 21 hours now. Doctor Ng said that he left them with you yesterday when you showed signs of waking up.” Matthias says before tapping Eli’s shoulder.