Vampire Nation 1: Titan's Story

by Joe Fowler

  “One of the questions he asked me once helped as well. He wanted to know if the thought of becoming unbeatable appealed to me. I saw how intently he studied me during my reply. At the end, he would have healed me sooner if the final test hadn’t been so tempting.”

  “What final test?”

  “Achilles. If I had drank from Achilles, I would have become unstoppable. That level of temptation would have been too much to let pass by if I had been power hungry. He knew that. I understand him making me wait. It wouldn’t have done him any good to heal me, if he would just have to kill me afterward.

  “The last piece of the puzzle actually happened some time ago. When he grew so angry over Patty’s attack on Sweetie, his illusion slipped for a microsecond. I shrugged it off thinking I had imagined it. When I added it all together, the story made a lot more sense.”

  “Then fill in the rest.” Arria said, as she laid her head back down on my shoulder.

  “Gray told us that Cronus had moved to stop Ares. I am fairly sure that Cronus saw Ares true intent and helped Ares kill himself off. Ares has been working for Cronus ever since. If I’m right, Ares might have let himself be known soon, even if I hadn’t come along.”

  “What do you mean? Why would he have shown himself?” Arria sounded perplexed. She wasn’t seeing Ares for what he was.

  “The corruption of the old ones was what led him to kill those so long ago. It was getting to the point that he would have acted soon. At least that is my opinion.” I wasn’t completely sure I knew all the details but all that I told Arria felt right in my head.

  “So why did he pose as Noah? Was it just to find out more about you?” Arria was thinking hard now.

  “Mostly to find out about me. You need to remember, Cronus was more worried about you. Since it was you, Cronus would have wanted the best protection he could send. Gray wasn’t much. I saw that when I first caught her listening to our group.”

  “How would you catch her? She was invisible?”

  “The gift reading. I could see her gift even when she wasn’t visible. That’s also how I caught the assassin at the council meeting…”

  Arria and I talked for exactly one more hour before we went to sleep.

  We woke with smiles on our faces. All the immediate problems were over with now. I would survive. Knowing this, we spent a little extra time in bed before she sent me to wake the group. This was how I learned I was to be her new second in command, sort of.

  I walked the beige hallways with a smile. When I reached our fighter’s area, my smile widened. I knocked on Sweetie’s door first. She ran to me for a hug. I held her for two minutes before I spoke.

  “Thank you, Sweetie.”

  “For what?”

  “All of it. The blood, the friendship, the support, and most of all, the inspiration. I know you might leave with him, but you need to know you will always have a place wherever I am.” I squeezed her a little tighter before I let go.

  “I still haven’t decided. He told me that I could wait until I was ready. He would make sure we stayed in touch until then.” Sweetie smiled. I smiled back.

  “We need to wake everyone. The plane will be ready soon.”

  Chapter 28

  I was presented with a huge surprise when the plane landed. Apollo, Loki, and Speedy were waiting in the hangar. I was bombarded with pats on the back and handshakes. Together the four of us led the current fighters through the dull green hallways to their rooms.

  Afterward, we spent hours catching up.

  “There wasn’t too much doubt by the last night. I saw the way you felt for Arria and I had seen the way you were with the others. You were good at seeing who could be trusted and who couldn’t. I figured if you saw so much good in Arria, then she should be the old one I worked for.” Speedy said.

  “It was much the same for me. My old one wasn’t one of the good ones. I could see that. I almost went to work for Lorac, but in the end, I knew Arria might be a better choice.” Loki sounded happy and relaxed.

  “If we could have kept Ghost away from Lorac, this would have ended up perfect. The headaches from trying to watch his mind weren’t fun though.” I admitted.

  “Was he really that smart?” Apollo asked.

  “Yep. He would have figured out who Noah really was a lot sooner than I did.”

  The phone Arria had given me rang then. After a brief tongue lashing, I bid a temporary farewell to my friends.

  “You may have some extra privileges, but you can’t just ignore your duties for hours at a time.” Arria tried to keep a straight face but failed. “Lorac is flying in. He will be here in a few hours. We are going to host an event in two days. It will be a seven member event among friends.”

  “That’s wonderful. It won’t be a long wait for Sweetie to get her tenth.” I hesitated a moment while trying to decide what I should tell Arria. “I may need to tell you something.”

  “What?”

  “Lorac likes to know things that you don’t.”

  “I already know that.”

  “Yes, but I’m almost certain he knew Cronus was still alive and he may have known about Ares.” I wasn’t completely sure but I wanted her to have the chance to know.

  “I will find out tonight. Lorac better have a good reason for keeping these things from me. The enjoyment for knowing things I don’t isn’t good enough this time.” Arria spoke semi-seriously. I knew she enjoyed the playful nature of her brother.

  “I hope he brings Ghost with him.” I said, casually.

  “He said that Cindy wanted to work for me. She won her tenth last night. He liked her and wanted to keep her but she said she wanted to be where you were. There isn’t anything there for me to get angry about is it?”

  “No, Cindy and I were always just friends.” I smiled. Arria was going to be fun to tease. “Although there was this one time…”

  Arria’s face started toward a strange shade for a vampire before she saw what I was doing. She smiled slyly and walked toward me. She put her hands on my hips and without the slightest warning, threw me across the room to land on the bed. Before I could start to rise, she was on top of me smiling.

  “Are you sure you want to play games with me?”

  Her beauty was so overwhelming. Her happiness at that moment made all I had been through worthwhile.

  “If it means I will end up in bed with you then you can count on a lot of games.” I smiled up at her.

  “I can see this is going to be a learning experience for you.”

  We were a little late welcoming her brother.

  Epilogue

  Ares and I sat in Arria’s suite. I was in the same chair where Lorac had his hand around my throat. Ares was more relaxed than I had seen him up to this point. Sweetie had won her tenth and was sleeping now.

  “We should have at least an hour before Arria returns. She has to entertain the other old ones before she can call it a night.” Ares said.

  “Good. That should give us some time to talk.”

  “You need to tell me what you have figured out up to this point so I will know where to start. I have seen your leaps of insight but I don’t know how far they got.”

  “One thing first, does blood taste bad to you?” I asked. This had been one of the things bothering me for some time.

  “Yes. I would think you would have figured out why by now.” Ares was smiling sadly. He knew.

  “Knowing the person you are killing sours the blood. We take from those that sustain us. With vampires, it is their gift. With humans, it is their memories. When you don’t know the person, it doesn’t have the same effect. When I was almost gone from the unravelling, there were no memories and the blood tasted great.”

  “Blood has always tasted bad for me. Now, what did you figure out about me?” Ares sat waiting. He was seeing how smart I was. I hoped I wouldn’t disappoint.

  “From what I can see, you were fed up with the constant maneuvering and backstabbing among the old ones. They were constantl
y looking for what would be better for themselves and they didn’t care who they needed to step on. You still had enough humanity to see how wrong they were. Having this gift meant you could actually do something about it.” I started. I was going to say more but his laughter stopped me.

  “You’re nailing it so far. Can you guess what Cronus said to convince me to stop the killing?” He asked, smiling.

  “I have an idea. I believe it went something like…The people in power will always want more power. They will do whatever it takes to further their own ends. You can’t stop self-serving monsters from being monsters. If you kill them, more monsters will take their place. This is the way it has always been, the way it is, and unfortunately, the way it will always be. The system sucks but we need to have at least some order. We can’t change vampire nature. So many among us will not listen to reason. Whether they are too monstrous to care or whether they choose to ignore the damage they cause, there are some that would destroy others for their own wants. All you can do is protect the ones who see what’s really important and try to minimize the damage the monsters cause.”

  “And to think that you wasted all that time washing dishes.” Ares laughed for a while, I’m not sure how long, after that.

  About this Book

  I like telling stories. It’s fun. I wasn’t sure about writing the epilogue since I didn’t want to sound preachy. You can take notice of the symbolisms from this book or just try to enjoy the story. That is your choice, kind of like draining a donor. I hope you enjoyed it!

  The Titan Saga continues in Titan Rising and Titan Rules. Now Available!