Descendant: The Protector (The Descendant Series)

by Daniel W. Koch

“No, I don’t.” Chase narrowed his eyes. “They have no honor in what they do, that’s why my brother’s army is so much better.”

  “So you are building an army. Elliot will be very happy with that information.” Peter smiled lightly. “Your brother has been trying to hide the fact that he is putting together a large group of Rogues. Did the Jagers make him do this? I know Alexander has been trying to strengthen his numbers.”

  “You’ll get nothing more from me!” Chase turned away to stare at the wall. “I should have kept my damn mouth shut,” he whispered through gritted teeth.

  “You’re going to tell us everything we want to know, Chase, or things will get very painful for you,” Vlad threatened him. “You don’t want that, do you?”

  “I’m not saying anything! There’s nothing you can do to me!”

  “Oh I’m sure I can think of something.” Vlad walked over to Chase’s chair. “There are so many ways to break you, but I know one that’s better than the rest.”

  Peter tapped me on the shoulder. I was so engrossed in Vlad and Chase’s conversation that I nearly jumped off the bed.

  “What’s wrong?” I asked him.

  “It’s about to get bad in here. We’ve been trying to get information for so long that we can’t give up this chance. You’re welcome to stay, but I’d suggest you go. Vlad’s techniques can get rather…gruesome.”

  “I want to stay.” I swallowed hard as I fought back the urge to leave. I had never been good with torture movies, and I knew this would probably be ten times worse in person. “I’m tired of being kept in the dark. I want to know what’s going on.”

  “Fine, but if you want to leave at any time, just let me know.” Peter winked at me, and I nodded back.

  “So, what now?” Chase asked. “What’s your great plan to make me talk?”

  “Your brother told me it can be pretty painful to shift from human to animal form,” Vlad replied, taking a few slow steps in a circle around Chase. “Am I right?”

  “Yeah, so? You can’t make me shift.”

  “Well now, that’s actually not true.” Vlad shot his right hand out like a bullet and clutched Chase’s neck. “If you don’t want to die, you’re going to have to shift.”

  “Wait! You can’t do this!” Chase yelled. Vlad must have squeezed harder because when Chase tried to talk again, his voice sounded scratchy and muffled. “Please…ugh…stop. Don’t…ugh…do this….” Vlad began to squeeze even harder, to the point where Chase’s eyes started to roll back into his head, and when he finally let go, there were shallow indentations in Chase’s neck from his fingers. As Chase gasped for air, he began to shift into his animal form, but he didn’t go all the way.

  “I guess the damage wasn’t great enough to make you complete a full shift,” Vlad said as he examined his victim. “I’ll have to make the injuries more severe next time.”

  “I told you I’m not talking.” Chase’s breathing was still heavy, and beads of sweat were forming at his hair line. “No matter what you do to me, my mouth will stay shut.”

  “I highly doubt that. You look horrible already, and I’ve barely begun.” When Chase didn’t respond, Vlad began to untie his left arm from the chair. There was no struggle from Chase; he knew that even in his animal form there was no hope in fighting a Dahmshed.

  “What are you doing?” Chase asked resentfully. Vlad didn’t answer him; all he did was walk behind the chair with Chase’s wrist in his hand. Then, he jerked Chase’s arm back swiftly, causing his shoulder to explode with a crack. Chase let out a violent shriek, and his arm went limp at his side. “You freaking…!” He began to yell at Vlad, but then got himself together. “If it’s not enough to kill me, I’m not shifting!”

  “Now, why would you tell me that?” Vlad smiled and walked back in front of Chase. This time, Vlad grabbed Chase’s jaw with one hand and the top of his mouth with the other. With one small tug, Vlad separated Chase’s jaw from the rest of his mouth and blood began to pour down his neck. That one made him shift very quickly, and even when his jaw had reattached itself and his shoulder had healed, he was still screaming in pain from the shifting itself; though, it wasn’t screaming, so much as a yelping howl. My stomach lurched at the sight. I couldn’t even begin to conceive of the pain Chase must have been feeling.

  Vlad didn’t wait for him to be able to do any damage in his Rogue form. He immediately began to tear his head off, and about a quarter of the way through, Chase started to shift back to his human form. As he finished, I could see a tear falling down his cheek.

  “Are we done yet?” Vlad asked.

  “Please stop! I can’t take this!”

  “You’re the only one that can make it stop.”

  “What do you want to know?” Chase broke. “I’ll tell you anything! Just stop this!”

  “And I thought you said there was nothing I could do to make you talk,” Vlad mocked him. “Your brother would be so disappointed.”

  “Vlad,” Peter interrupted. “Please, just get to the point.”

  Vlad turned to Peter, narrowed his eyes slightly, and then looked back down at Chase.

  “Fine, let’s start from the beginning. Who is really in charge of this Rogue army? Your brother or the Jagers?” Vlad asked Chase.

  “Alexander asked me and Caleb to create it for him. He told us that if we rounded up as many Rogues as possible, we would be allowed to command them. Of course, Alexander is in command of us, though,” Chase explained. He was still panting hard, and his voice was low.

  “There was no alternative reason for you to do this?” Vlad questioned him. “You just wanted to command an army of your own?”

  “Alexander promised us a place in his new world. He said that if we didn’t do it, he would order a mass annihilation of Rogues once the voedsel were taken care of.”

  “So you really had no other choice?”

  “No, but we would have done it anyway. We can save the people we want and be a major role in the new world. It is the perfect opportunity for us.” Chase began to brighten at his own words. I was new to this world, but even I could see that Alexander, or Falko, really, was lying to them so that he could obtain another ally against the Peacekeepers.

  “Why do you keep saying ‘us’? From what we’ve come to know, Caleb is in control of everything.” Chase gave Vlad an evil glare, and I could see he was getting ready to shift. “Is that a touchy subject for you?”

  “Shut up!” Chase spat at Vlad. “My brother is doing what’s best for me! I get to help him lead the Rogues, and he gets the blame from people like you!”

  “He also gets the fame and praise from Alexander.” Vlad seemed to have cut him deeply, because he began to shift again. His teeth became long and razor sharp, and his fingernails started to grow into claws. “Watch it, Chase! I won’t hesitate to hurt you again!”

  “Vlad!” Peter yelled. “You’re getting off subject again.”

  “You’re right, you’re right. Let’s get back to business.” Vlad paused in thought for a few seconds before continuing. In that time, Chase was able to calm down and return fully to his human form. “So, where are you keeping this army?”

  “I can’t tell you that.” Vlad reached out and grabbed Chase by the throat in the blink of an eye.

  “You can either tell me, or I will begin again. And believe me when I say that it will only get worse as we proceed.”

  “The Jagers will kill me if I tell you! Please don’t make me!”

  “You’ll wish the Jagers would kill you once I’m done,” Vlad whispered menacingly. Chase closed his eyes and began breathing hard.

  “All right!” he yelled suddenly. “Most of the army is spread out. They only come when they’re called. But…”

  “But, what?” Vlad released his grip on Chase’s throat and gave him a few seconds to think.

  “There is a place in Maine where a large group of us stay. Most of the time, we share it with a small portion of Alexander’s army,” Chase said as he rubbed h
is throat with his free hand.

  “And where exactly in Maine might this place be?”

  “It’s a small town in Cumberland County.”

  “What town?” Vlad’s voice instantly turned cruel again. Chase turned his face away. “I’m getting the feeling that you need a refresher on what will happen if you don’t keep talking.”

  “I can’t. I won’t let my brother down any more than I already have.”

  “I guess you’re feeling brave again.” Vlad reached out toward one of Chase’s eyes, but I stopped him.

  “Wait!” I shouted.

  “What’s wrong, Jason?” Peter asked me. “Do you want to leave?”

  “No, I want him,” I nodded at Vlad, “to stop torturing Chase. There has to be another way.” I heard Vlad sigh and saw him roll his eyes.

  “I wish as much as you do that there was something else we could do, but this is the quickest and easiest method we have at the moment.” Peter tapped my shoulder and stood up from the bed. “The only thing I can do is bring you out of this room.”

  I looked from Peter’s outstretched hand to Vlad and back again. Finally, I let Peter help me up and lead me to the door. I took one last glance at Vlad and Chase to see Chase mouthing the words “help me.” I closed my eyes and let Peter guide me the rest of the way from the room.

  ***

  Peter-

  I listened at the door after Jason and I left Vlad alone with Chase. Although Vlad was on our side, his love of inflicting physical and emotional pain kept me very skeptical of his true intentions, but since Elliot believed his story, so did the rest of us. Vlad had been with the Jagers for almost a hundred years when he finally learned that his leader was not really Alexander but Falko, and what Falko was after was the total destruction of the human race. Much like the Knights of Obscurity, Vlad realized that without humans, Dahmshed would struggle to survive and ultimately become extinct as well. So, he had left the Jagers six years ago to join us in the fight to protect the human race.

  Now, I was just making sure he didn’t hurt Chase excessively. We did need to torture him to get our information, but we didn’t need to hurt him more than that. It was pointless and against the moral code of the Peacekeepers. Just like most of us didn’t drink human blood, we tried our best to stay away from harsh punishment of our enemies. Of course, some did drink human blood, and a select few even favored torturing the Jagers.

  “Well, it was nice talking to you!” Vlad said cheerfully from behind the door. “I’m so sorry I must leave when we were having so much fun!”

  “You’re sick!” Chase yelled at him. “You’re worse than the Jagers!”

  Vlad cackled madly. “That might be because I taught the Jagers most of their techniques! You forget that I practiced my skills long before I joined them.” There was a short pause before Vlad spoke again. “But now, I really must go.”

  The room went silent, and I knew Vlad was on his way to the door, so I flew over to the couch where Jason and the others sat. Only a second later the bedroom door opened, and Vlad stepped out with a wide smile that seemed to expose every one of his teeth.

  “I haven’t had that good a time since I left the Jagers.” Vlad sighed. “I forgot how good it felt!”

  “We have a room full of humans here, Vlad. If you keep talking like that, Andi and I will have to restrain you,” I warned him.

  “I know, I know.” Vlad leaned up against the wall. “So, what’s new out here?”

  “Absolutely nothing!” Andi exclaimed. “It’s wickedly boring. I came here because I thought it’d be more exciting than waiting around at the marina, but boy, was I wrong.”

  “Be glad it’s boring, Andi,” I said, giving her a fierce look. “If it wasn’t, then that would mean Jason and the rest of us would be in danger, and we don’t want that.”

  Everyone went quiet, so I took a seat on the arm of the couch. My eyes drifted over to the window where I noticed it had gotten very dark; at least, it would have been dark if I was human. It wasn’t totally dark for me, though. The moon was breaking through the swirls of black clouds, creating an eerie glow on the frosty wilderness outside. It was so peaceful out there that it was hard to believe the evils that were trying to engulf the world at that very moment.

  “Son of a gun!” Vlad cried out suddenly. “Andi, I think you’re about to get your wish.”

  At first I wasn’t sure what Vlad was getting at, but then I began to feel it. It started with only a few, but soon the numbers began to grow. Over fifty rapidly beating hearts were now coming closer to the house, so many that I could barely distinguish between them. They seemed to be radiating from every direction, closing in on us in a giant circle. I leapt to my feet instantly as I tried to think of a plan. The heartbeats were less than half a mile away and gaining ground fast, giving me less and less time to get all of the humans to safety.

  “Peter?” Andi’s voice shook me from my thoughts. I looked around to see that everyone was staring at me. “Peter, what are we going to do?”

  “What’s going on?” Jason asked. I had forgotten that the humans wouldn’t be able to feel the pounding of the heartbeats that were drawing closer.

  “Rogues,” Vlad replied. “A lot of Rogues.”

  “How do you know?” Trevor asked apprehensively. “Are you sure?”

  “They have heartbeats,” Andi told him. “And they’re moving way too fast to be human.”

  “Trevor and Faith.” I turned to look at them. “We need your help.”

  “What can we do?” Trevor volunteered.

  “I’m going to put Jason, David, Emeric, and Lukas in the loft. One of you must stay up there, and the other should stay at the base of the stairs.” I instructed them, and then I turned to my sister. “Andi, turn off all of the lights. Then stay at the back door.”

  “What should I do?” Vlad asked.

  “Front door with me,” I replied. “Let’s go, everyone. They’ll be here in less than a minute.”

  Everyone got in position just as the Rogues came to a stop outside of the house. Most of them were in the front, but some were set up in flanking positions at the sides and back. It would be a difficult fight, but as long as we kept the Rogues outside, Jason and the others would be okay.

  “What are they waiting for?” Vlad whispered. “Do they think we’ll make the first move?”

  “I’m not sure. But maybe we should strike first. It will keep the fight farther away from the house.”

  “Fine with me.” Vlad smiled.

  “Andi!” I called as quietly as possible across the room. She turned to look at me. “Get ready to go!”

  “All right, then,” Vlad said happily as he reached for the doorknob.

  “Wait, not yet!” I tried to stop him, but it was too late. The door flew open, and the Rogues immediately began to flood through it. They poured past us and into the house, heading straight for Jason. “Damn it, Vlad!” I yelled at him as I jumped through the air and landed in front of the Rogues. Most tried to stop where they were, but others kept moving. I grabbed the closest one and threw it at the rest with all of my strength. The Rogue crashed into the others, causing them to fall like dominos.

  I looked up to see that Vlad had stopped the rest of the Rogues from entering and had taken the fight outside. Now, all I had to do was push my small group out, too. I threw my arms around one of them and began to shove him back into the others. Just as I had planned, they all began to fall out the door and back into the cold, night air.

  Once outside, I slammed the door closed behind me and looked around. Vlad was under heavy attack, but he kept throwing them away as he worked on killing them slowly, one at a time. Before I could yell at him, I was suddenly pounced on by a few young Rogues, and two that were semi-developed. I started to rip them to pieces immediately, and in seconds, all of them were dead at my feet. Without hesitation, I jumped into the sea of Rogues that were attacking Vlad. My arm flew around, grabbing and tearing as I made a path to him. About six Ro
gues lay scattered around at his feet, most impaled by large branches and still alive.

  “Hey!” I yelled at him. “Maybe you should concentrate on killing the majority of them instead of taking your sweet time to torture each one!”

  “Whatever you want, Peter!” Vlad instantly grabbed a Rogue and tore it in half, then proceeded to throw the two pieces at the other Rogues. “But, if you’re here scolding me, who’s guarding the door?”

  I turned back to look at the house and saw the door hanging wide open. I bolted through the oncoming assault back to the house. None of the Rogues seemed to realize the door was open, and none followed me as I ran through it. Inside, I could see that nothing had been disturbed. Faith was still at the bottom of the stairs, Trevor was still guarding the humans in the loft, and Andi was still fighting off the hordes of Rogues in the back of the house.

  “Who opened the door?” I called to Faith.

  “I didn’t see anyone,” she replied. “Not that I can see much. It’s kind of dark in here.”

  “Come stand by the front door then, please.” She did what I said, although I knew she still resented me and the rest of the Peacekeepers. “Trevor!”

  “Yeah?” He ran to the balcony of the loft.

  “Stand at the bottom of the stairs where Faith was. None of these Rogues will be able to jump through a second story window. They’re too young and underdeveloped.”

  “All right.” He began his descent down the stairs, so I turned and ran out the front door to help Vlad again.

  ***

  Jason-

  “Great!” Lukas smacked the wall closest to him. “No one is protecting us now!”

  “They’re all out there fighting for our survival,” I said, infuriated. Lukas had been complaining about how he was being treated ever since Peter had put us up in the loft, and I had had enough of it.

  “Correction, Jason. Your survival.” Lukas walked over and put his face close to mine. “They care nothing about me or David or Emeric. Those damn Dahmshed are even risking Trevor’s and Faith’s lives to protect you.”

  “They care a lot more then you think.”

  “Oh? And how would you know this?” Lukas turned to look out the window. “Are you a mind reader?”