Standing around the pool table in the Lounge, he looked at the team that had assembled. There were six of them in all including himself. The odds were going to be bad and he knew it, but he would risk it to save her.
“Let’s go.”
He attached several rounds of ammunition to his vest, two pistols in holsters, and a large silver dagger in a case at his hip as the others followed suit. They had stocked up on weapons during their sweep of the building.
“We’re going on a suicide mission, Draven,” one of the Guardians said as they headed out. It was James, at one time was his pool-playing buddy.
They all entered the elevator and headed up toward the parking garage. Draven turned to the young Guardian, his face full of determination and rage, his frame dominating compared to his.
“Maybe. But I’m going to save her.”
“You’ll probably die trying, just like we all will,” James hissed back. At that moment, the elevator doors opened, and as they did, the rage so carefully controlled inside of Draven snapped. He yanked the Guardian forward by the straps of his vest and threw him outside onto the concrete with a snarl.
“If you want to be a coward, then go! Get out of here, because I certainly don’t have time to mess with your foolishness!” he screamed furiously. An old couple passing by in the garage stopped briefly to stare. They all grew silent for a few heartbeats until Jerry casually stepped forward with usual charming smile.
“How are you lovely folks doing tonight? That’s good… We’re just some military brats—” He led them away some distance toward their car, out of sight. They were making eye contact constantly with him. The others could taste the mysticism in the air: Jerry was hypnotizing the elderly couple to believe they hadn’t seen anything.
Thomas reached forward and touched Draven’s arm tentatively, his eyes widened in shock. James was also starting to stand, a look of disbelief on his face as well.
“Draven,” Thomas started.
“You’re…” and then he stopped, quickly pulling his hand away.
“What?”
“Cold. And I don’t mean the normal kind of cold for our kind. Just look at yourself.”
Draven looked down at his hands and gasped.
In the darkness of the garage, he emitted a faint silver aura. He approached the metal elevator doors again and used them for a mirror. It faded in the instant that his emotions calmed, but his eyes remained the same, and they had changed in the last forty-eight hours. No longer a solid bright blue, they were a multitude of colors swirling together. His blue was the dominate color, but within the depths of his irises now danced a swirling mixture of gold and violet flecks.
“What the hell is going on?” he whispered, mostly to himself, touching his cheeks with awe.
“You’ve been changed because of her,” a sudden strange voice boomed from behind them all at the entrance of the garage.
Turning, they were all met with an unexpected sight. There stood eight Fallens in formation and geared for a battle. Their full, towering frames blocked out much of the light from the nearby streetlamps. Gold eyes glowed and glared at the six of them through the darkness as if they were being scrutinized mentally, and their large, black wings were tucked neatly behind them.
Draven swallowed nervously, unsure of the situation.
Then the Fallen in front, a six and a half foot tall, muscled man with long blonde-red hair, stepped forward and turned his gaze toward Thomas. He must have been the leader, Draven assumed, the one who had spoken the first time to get their attention.
“Thomas, we’ve come to fight as a favor to your mother. A last request of hers that we shall honor.”
The Fallen folded his fist and placed it over his heart to show a sign of protection and honor, the others followed his action quickly after.
Draven felt a smug smile tug at the corner of his mouth. Perhaps now they had more of a fighting chance against the Rogue army after all. Turning back to James who was now standing at the back of their group, he smirked.
“Are you with us now?”
Twenty-Five
Zarah awoke to find herself wrapped in darkness. She was lying on cold concrete and strong silver cuffs were locked securely around her wrists.
When she tried to move her arms, she found that the cuffs were linked to chains that had been hooked somewhere into a nearby wall. No matter how much she tried to struggle, she couldn’t break them. Her body was too weak, her mind still fuzzy and spinning from the drugs coursing through her body. Even her vision was still blurred as she continued trying to adjust her sight to her surroundings.
“Well it looks like our Sleeping Beauty awakens,” a husky voice broke through the eerie, dark silence near her. She recognized it immediately, jumping from her spot on the cold floor and trying to back against the wall behind her.
Her head was swimming again and her vision still wouldn’t focus well enough to adjust to see her surroundings. She could only feel the concrete beneath her shaking body and the smooth concrete wall behind her back. The cuffs on her wrists were attached to chain that led to something holding her in place, but still allowing her some movement. Even though with every move she made, her muscles screamed, tense and sore, and her head spun and ached.
Zarah heard the footsteps approaching then. She knew it was the same Rogue who had snatched her from The Compound, the one who had stabbed her with the needle and drugged her with whatever it was coursing through her system at that time.
“Tranquilizer mixed with a dose of sedative. It put you out for quite a while, and I didn’t mean for that to happen. I only meant for it to drug you up some. Guess I had too much tossed in,” he said as if he’d read her thoughts. That would certainly explain her drug-induced state. Most human drugs didn’t affect their kind, and in order for them to, it would take an extremely high dose or a mixture.
She jumped when his hand touched her cheek.
“Is it you?” She finally found her voice, hoarse and dry.
“Are you really The Commander?” Somehow, Zarah knew the answer before he even responded. The Rogue before her was merely a pawn. A powerful one.
He laughed. The image of him kneeling in front of her was slowly coming into her focus, a bit blurry as her eyes tried to adjust.
“No. You’ll meet him soon enough.”
“The Commander told me something interesting about you…” he started after a moment’s silence.
Zarah held her breath. The Rogue brandished a silver dagger and began to trace a line down her jaw, careful not to break skin. Chills erupted up her spine and she shivered.
“…You carry great power because of your blood. He said you’ll create a new race,” his voice was barely above a whisper as he continued, breathing deeply and close to her ear as she began to struggle against her restraints.
She let out a cry when the blade dug deeper into her skin. The stinging sensation followed by the burn and dizzy spells that overcame her told her senses that the silver poisoning was slowly working its way into her system. She fought hard and remained focused as she watched him pull the dagger back to him. He smirked at the sight of her blood.
“I don’t u-understand,” Zarah stammered.
“What is there not to understand? You’re special! You will be building a new race of Vampires with your blood. It’s called Elemental Magick. It’s a part of a Fallen’s power. I know you’ve felt it, and can still feel it within you even there in your drug induced mind. Why else do you think we wanted you?” The Rogue was laughing, staring at her with cold, red eyes.
“I thought you just wanted a cure.” She thought she could be stalling by keeping him in a conversation. At the same time, she was learning information that she had wanted to know more about. No matter how hard it was hearing it.
He laughed harder and shook his head.
“Rumor. We weren’t after any particular cure. We just wanted your blood. Plain and simple.”
“The humans will overpower you, either
way. They have an extensive military system. And chaos will cause people to do outrageous things. Vampires will never rule over the human world. It will be constant war.”
Zarah was growing weaker, the silver getting deeper into her system from the cuts.
“War we can win, Zarah. Especially with a new race.”
She saw the look in his eyes, the bright red flash of desire and hunger, and began to shake her head frantically.
“No,” she tried to plead but it barely came out in a whisper.
When he pinned her up against the wall and turned her head to the side, his body pressed against hers and his breath hot on her neck, she managed to let out the scream just before his fangs plunged into her flesh.
“No!”
************
Draven and the others had walked to the base instead of trying to take a multitude of cars. They figured it would be a better form of attack.
“Are you sure this is it?” Draven turned to Thomas and asked when they reached the outside fence. Looking in, the place looked dark and deserted. There weren’t even any Rogues standing guard around the doors like they’d assumed.
“Yeah, I’m sure.”
With a sigh, they each began climbing over the chain-link fencing, landing quietly in the grass on the other side before making their way along the shadows behind old buildings toward the largest. They followed Thomas from that point.
“What did you mean, back there at the garage, that she had…changed…me?” Draven asked in a whisper to the Fallen, whose name he had learned to be Seth.
Seth looked down at him with a frown as if he were thinking on how best to explain it.
“Fallens are gifted with special powers for defense. It’s called Elemental Magick. Fire, Earth, Water, Spirit, Wind, Ice. We don’t have the power to use them all. Some powerful ones can, but most not. Seems you have Ice, or perhaps both Water and Ice since the two Elements can combine easily. The Fallen, and her mother, weren’t sure that Zarah was ever going to develop that defense, though, since she’s a Halfling.”
“And she passed it on to me? Because I fed from her?” Draven asked in shock.
Seth nodded.
“Zarah can be dangerous in her own way, Draven. She can create a whole new race of Vampires if she wanted. I’m not sure if it’s even safe that she is alive.”
Thomas stepped in between them and stared at Seth, his eyes dark and angry.
“Stay away from my sister.” His voice was warning enough.
“Are you forgetting that I and my guards are here to help?”
“I’m not. But what are the plans once this battle is over?” Thomas asked through narrowed eyes.
“That we will see about.”
“Yes, we will certainly see.”
With the exchange finished, Thomas turned on his heels and started for the base again. Everyone had grown quiet during the tension.
When they arrived toward the front, they looked around in confusion. It was quiet and still dark.
“Thomas, I’m really not sure this is right—” Draven began with a frustrated sigh.
“Oh, it’s right, Guardian,” a sudden voice said nearby, laughing.
They all turned, drawing their weapons at the same time, and met the Rogue that had taken Zarah from The Compound. He was casually leaning against a side door with a smirk plastered on his face. His eyes caught Draven’s attention immediately.
They weren’t red.
They were silver.
“He knows where Zarah is,” Draven growled to Thomas and began to head toward the Rogue.
Just then, one of the bay garage doors opened and the army of Rogues began to charge out for the fight. In a final glance before joining the fight, the Rogue with the silver eyes waved a farewell from the side door before disappearing. This caused Draven to let out a roar of anger.
“Go!” Thomas yelled.
“Go on, we’ll hold the fight out here!”
“Who is that?” Draven asked, shooting a nearby Rogue in the head.
“His name is Ethan. He’s the one who turned me Rogue. If you find him, send him my regards.”
Draven nodded and then turned and headed toward the side door where Ethan had disappeared.
Twenty-Six
When Draven stepped into the base, it was dark save for a few small fluorescent lamps scattered in a couple of far corners. The garage was huge. He could tell it had once been an old airplane hangar, probably having held several military crafts at one time along with trucks. It was empty now, though, and every sound echoed around him.
“You’ll lose, Guardian.”
Draven’s attention snapped toward Ethan’s voice in the dark, his nerves tensed and gun held steady. The Rogue, or whatever he was now since Draven couldn’t even determine what he was himself, was smirking at him from a windowsill.
“Where is she, Ethan?” Draven asked with a hiss, raising the gun.
Ethan let out a dark chuckle.
“So you know who I am. I figured all along that Thomas was working with the two of you. He’s special, too. Did you know that?”
Draven hesitated and looked at him in confusion.
“Maybe he doesn’t even know it because he’s always thought it was just Zarah. But their mother was apparently very powerful, and she passed something along to each of them. Thomas brought our mentality back, our mind, our control. Zarah holds the Elemental Magick. Quite interesting, don’t you think, Guardian?” Ethan continued chatting as if there wasn’t a gun with a silver bullet pointed at his head.
Draven’s curiosity won out and his thoughts wavered. Ethan was handing out information. Perhaps something important he should know.
“What do you mean Thomas brought the Rogues back to intelligence? He became Rogue after you already were intelligent or do you not remember how you and your gang ambushed him and Zarah one night? That’s how he was turned. Zarah remembers it,” he snapped.
“Ah, yes. But it was his blood. The Commander brought a vial of the Guardian Thomas’ blood to me shortly after I became Rogue and fed it to me. Once it was in my system, I became intelligent. From there, whenever I turned any Vampire or a Rogue fed from me, they became intelligent. It’s also how I found Thomas. I remembered his scent and his taste.”
Ethan winked. Draven growled.
“Where is Zarah?”
“That is a question I’ll be happy to answer. She is in the room at the end of this garage meeting with The Commander. He threw me out when he caught me breaking his rules.”
Draven frowned and kept the weapon pointed him as he slowly started walking toward the back of the garage, toward the door that Ethan was directing him to. His eyes met Ethan’s and he was reminded again of what must have happened to Zarah.
“You fed from her. How should I believe you that she’s even alright?”
“She was fine when I was thrown out. I only took enough for this, no harm done. I can’t make any guarantees as to her condition now that she’s there with The Commander though.”
“Why are you just letting me waltz in here and telling me where to go? Shouldn’t you be guarding? Or attacking or something?” Suspicion laced Draven’s words.
“Hey man, you have the guns. Besides don’t you hear it in the background?” Ethan had a crazy personality. Perhaps he was mentally unstable even before having gone Rogue, however long ago that had been.
Draven stopped moving and listened. Yes, suddenly he heard it. Over the sound of the fighting outside, he could hear the coming sirens in the distance. A helicopter was flying in also and would be landing somewhere outside the base within the next few minutes. Heavy armored trucks were clamoring up the road nearby. Humans. His heart was racing as he stared at Ethan in shock, who continued sitting on the window, now wearing a sly smile.
“The whole world is about to change in just a matter of hours. I’ll be seeing you again soon, I’m sure. Tell Zarah I might repay her sometime for at least curing me,” Ethan said. In a blink, he dropp
ed from the window and disappeared.
With no time to bother chasing after him, Draven turned back and tried to head toward the door that Ethan had directed him to at the back of the base. That’s where he would find Zarah he was told. A spark of hope rose in his chest.
That hope sizzled when a gang of Rogues stepped out from the shadows. Obviously they had left the outside fight and followed him in to protect The Commander. Looking around at the group, he counted twelve. They sneered mockingly forming a half-circle around him, blocking his way to the door.
Draven’s emotions churned and anger boiled into rage. He was not going to let the monsters stop him from reaching Zarah. Staring hard at the group, he noticed their wide-eyed shock and then looked down at his hands to see the silver aura returned. A smirk turned up his lips. She had gifted him with a power he could use for fighting. He would learn to control it and use it to his advantage. Especially in that moment.
Glaring again at the group around him, he saw that they were no longer interested in whatever strange new thing he was. Only that he was trying to get to their leader and they had to stop him. The monsters were preparing for an attack. And better for him that they didn’t have any weapons. Rogues had always been a bit “old school” in that style of fighting. With the exception of Thomas, who loved his little Glock. If anything at all, the Rogues may carry silver knives at the most.
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