Dark War Chronicles Box Set One

by A. L. Kessler

  He shoved against me, but in his drunken state his motions were scattered and held no effect. I drank deeply, going through his memories, his battles, his losses, his victories, his grief and happiness, everything that made him the strong warrior he was.

  His heartbeat slowed and I knew I was getting close, his body slumped against mine and I transported him to my home outside the city. Laying him on a pallet, I watched as he took his final breath. I scored my own wrist with my teeth and held it to Markus’ lips. His instincts kicked in and he latched on to me. My blood flowed through him and gave him life. His eyes opened and he met my gaze. With a snarl he shoved my wrist away and wiped his lips off.

  “What have you done to me?”

  I gave him the only answer he wanted to hear. “I made you immortal. For the price of your soul, blood lust and the ability to walk in the sun, I gave you immortality.”

  I could see the curiosity in his eyes. “Immortal.”

  “A vampire, and tomorrow we shall travel to the Father and you will learn about your new life.” I assured him. “He has hordes of humans there to feed your blood lust until you learn to control it.” Humans that the other Originals and I helped to gather. It made me sick, but we had to play along, for now and until we had the power to take him out.

  Markus glared at me. “A vampire. Such creatures are myths.”

  “You don’t believe that, Markus. I’ve seen you tell stories to your troops to beware of those touched by the gods, of creatures who are not human, and of woman who can seduce you to your death.”

  He bared teeth at me. “Just tales to make them weary of their actions.”

  “So you say, but you don’t believe it. You told me yourself you feel that a creature had a hand in the death of your wife and child.”

  He snarled. “Do not mention them. That was a drunk ramble.” He ran a hand through his hair in an angry jerk.

  Maybe I had made a mistake when I chose him, but he had the strength and skill to become a powerful vampire. He was just what the Father was looking for. “Either way, this is your new life.”

  “And if I choose not to follow you to this...father’s house?” He spat.

  I shrugged. “Then you lose out on the chance for power. I know you. That’s what you crave. I saw it when I saw your memories. I have given you that power.”

  “Prove it.” Markus snarled. “Show me that you have power over someone who isn’t a drunk.”

  I laughed. “Fine.” I grabbed his wrist and took him back to the town square. The streets were empty at this point except for the women looking to make some coin. Markus crossed his arms and motioned for me to continue. I closed my eyes as the wind swept by. Another human, and not the woman being pinned against the wall by a man; no, this was the scent of another female.

  I walked down the street following the scent and turned the corner. My heart ached. It was like Elissa all over again, only this time she stood in the moonlight wearing a white gown loosely draped over her body, pinned over one shoulder with a brooch. A royal insignia graced it and caught the moonlight. The curls of her hair were pinned up away from her neck. What on earth was a royal doing out in the streets so late?

  She looked startled to see me, but offered a smile. “Can I help you?”

  Markus opened his mouth to speak, but I put a hand up to stop him. “I’m just looking for a meal.” I let my powers out, using them to calm her, easing the panic my words caused in her.

  Markus hissed behind me and I knew it was because he felt the powers, they pushed against his own developing abilities.

  “You are beautiful.” I praised her and she beamed. Holding my hand out I took a step forward. “All I ask is for a little bit of your blood.”

  She hesitated at that. “Blood?”

  “Just a bit.” I promised and let my power brush over her. She took my hand and gave me an evil smile.

  “Oh sir, I do think you are mistaken.”

  From the folds of her dress she produced a dagger. I saw it in time to jump away from her.

  In a blink of the human eye I was out of her reach and watching her. She moved like a hunter. Graceful, watching, careful. She chuckled. “You will not be feeding from me tonight.”

  I had made a mistake. This wasn’t some innocent woman, not like Elissa had been. No. This was someone familiar with our kind. I grabbed Markus again and took him back to my dwelling.

  “I felt the power, you could have convinced her otherwise.” He snapped. “Why would you just run from that? She is a mere woman.”

  “No, she wasn’t. She knew what we are and knew how to fight against my powers. That does not make her a mere woman.” I paced the room. I had not encountered such before. Not unless it was a bound human, but she did not feel like one. There was no sense of vampire around her.

  “The sun will be rising.” Markus muttered. “My troops will notice that I am missing, and yet I grow weary.”

  I sighed. “Come.” I led him to the back room made solely of stone, no holes to let in light. “As you grow you will find that staying awake through the day is possible, but as of now you must rest.”

  “Rest?”

  “Sleep, die, each vampire refers to it differently. Your body shuts down, fails on you, and your mind is dragged under. When the sun sets you’ll have your strength back.” I motioned to the pallet on the floor. “Go.”

  He looked at me. “And you?”

  “It’s not required for me.”

  “And why is that?”

  I met his gaze. “Because I’m an Original. I maintain my soul still.” I left it at that and went back to the main part. I could still not walk in sunlight, but I did not have to sleep for the day. I’d feel weaker during the night, but because we were going to the Father’s, I did not have to worry about keeping my strength up. A good meal and I’d be good as new.

  I took Markus to the Father’s mansion. It’d changed over the years. He’d relocated to Greece. Far out in the country he’d had his people build him a home made of marble and pillars, protected from the sun with rooms a plenty. I walked in and looked around. He was nowhere to be found, but Nuala was lounging in his chair.

  “Zaaren!” She grinned and shot up. “The Father is busy at the moment, taking his early evening meal.”

  The sinking feeling that used to claim me no longer did. I had pushed all thoughts of my sister out of my mind. “Of course. I just wanted to bring Markus to be taught and trained with the others.”

  “So you finally changed someone.” She walked around Markus. “Hmm Roman, soldier—“

  “General.” Markus corrected. “A female vampire, are you kept around for entertainment?” He reached out to stroke her face. “I have never seen a more lovely woman.”

  Nuala hissed and backed away. “Watch your tongue or I’ll remove it from your mouth.”

  “He’s powerful. Zaaren’s first choice was a good one.” We froze when the Father entered. He smiled. “Come, I’ll take you to the humans to feed. Zaaren, Nuala has been waiting for you to visit.”

  I glanced at her and she nodded. “Of course, come Nuala.” I held my arm out for her and she gathered her dress and took my arm.

  We walked in silence for a while until we were out of the mansion.

  “I want you to come back to Ireland with me.” Nuala started and let go of my arm. “The others will be there soon and we are going to start something big. Plans need to be made.”

  “Ireland is much further away than Rome. I know I have not spoken to or seen my sister in nearly three hundred years, but I do not want to be that far from her.”

  Nuala took a deep breath. “See her once more and then come. If this is going to happen, we must start planning. Already the vampires are getting out of control, villages have noticed people going missing or acting strange. Vampires are leaving victims to be found. If you want to stand with us, then you need to come with me.”

  It would mean leaving my sister for another few hundred years I was sure, but I h
ad to trust Nuala in this. She’d been with the Father longer than I had, she knew more about stopping his plans than I did.

  “Let me go see her and then I will join you.” I nodded and turned to go back to the mansion. My heart grew heavier with every step. Something told me I’d be saying goodbye to her forever.

  The Father was in his chair when Nuala and I entered again. He smiled at me. “Nuala has told me that she wishes for you to return to Ireland with her. She thinks she might be able to fix your fear of changing more people.”

  “So she’s told me.” I said easily. “I wish to see my sister before I leave.”

  He chuckled. “I believe she’s in her room attempting to recover.”

  “Of course. Furthest room from the exit, I suppose?” Just in case she tried to escape again.

  He nodded. “Straight back and down the hall.”

  I bowed my head and turned away.

  “Oh and Zaaren, I finally gave my whore a name. She’s forgotten her original one after all these years.”

  I was almost afraid to ask. “What is it?”

  “Tegan.”

  If there was a meaning it was lost on me, but I would not use the name that monster gave her. Never, even if her original name had faded.

  I walked down the white halls and paused at the door. I could hear sobbing and my heart broke. I’d left her for three hundred years and now I’d be leaving again.

  I walked in and found her on the floor. Curled in a ball all I could see was her back, blood dripping from various wounds. “Amunet?” She didn’t respond. Of course, he’d said she’d forgotten her name. Maybe she’d forgotten me. “Sister of mine?”

  She tilted her head towards me and I cursed the blindfold. I wanted to see her eyes, I wanted her to see the sorrow that I know showed in mine. “I have to travel again, but I wanted to see you.”

  “How could you leave me for so long?” Her voice was strained, tinted with pain. “The others come, but you, you stay away.”

  I stood straight and tried to hide my emotions. All I wanted to do was bend down and comfort her. Hold her until her pain stopped, until whatever power was in her dissipated and left her empty. I couldn’t though. I couldn’t tell her what I was planning, the Father would learn. “I can’t come to you without thinking of the past.” I turned to leave.

  “Brother?” She reached out to me before I had the chance to turn all the way around.

  “Sister of mine.” I knew my voice sounded harsh.

  Her body moved and twitched with the pain the bites caused.

  “Help me, please? I don’t want to live this life, save me. Please?”

  I didn’t want her to live this life either, but I couldn’t save her. Not now. “I can’t stop him.” I turned my back and took a few steps towards the door.

  “I can feel the power in you, brother, please. If you cannot save me...kill me.”

  If I did as she wished, I’d be destroying the last thing I had to live for. “Sister of mine, you know I cannot do that. Be strong.” I walked out without looking back. No more visits, I couldn’t keep doing this. I swore the next time I’d see her was after we found a way to destroy the Father.

  ***

  I lay next to Nuala, her head on my chest. I stroked her hair and just enjoyed the moment together. A hundred years and the only thing we had managed to do was formed a group of humans to help police the vampires. In the first twenty years they flourished and from there we gave different families control. They called themselves Hunters and they were spreading around the world. They got all the support they needed from the Originals in exchange for their silence and their work. As far as Nuala and I knew, the Father had no idea who had started them.

  “Have you considered bonding a human?” Nuala asked me and turned her green eyes up to me.

  I shook my head. “No. I don’t see the need. Every time I think of one, my mind goes back to my sister.”

  “She isn’t a bound human. She a Blood Human.” Nuala reminded me. “A bound human can help your powers grow, let you access the daylight world, and help keep you safe.”

  “Only if they come to me willingly.” I sighed. “But I take it by the subject you are considering one?”

  She nodded against my chest. “He’s from a Hunter family. He has a younger sister that was taken.”

  A child disappearing was a common act; their fate was cruel and rarely were they rescued. The hunter she spoke about was determined to rescue his sister. “I know who you are talking about. I’ve seen you watch over the training.”

  “Ayden is strong, smart, and he’s a Hunter.” She shrugged and smiled. “I think he’d be a great addition to our cause.”

  We hadn’t lost sight of trying to figure out how to overthrow the Father. The other Originals were working on their own parts of the plan. From what we could figure out, we could only trap him by removing his soul, but we needed a witch to do that. Like the ability to turn a human into a Blood Human, soul magic was a rare talent and could only be preformed by someone who was blessed by the gods. We had no luck finding such a person.

  “I think he’ll compliment you well.” I said after a moment. “I will have to leave here soon to start my own section of the Hunters. I think you need someone to keep you company.”

  She chuckled. “You act like you won’t be returning. Once this all is done we can be together.”

  But we both knew it wasn’t true, we would all have to be in different areas to clean up the Father’s mess. I kissed the top of her head. “At some point, yes.”

  She let out a sigh and snuggled into my chest. We were lovers, but not in love, we each wanted something different after the Father was gone. I smiled against her hair.

  “Have you picked your choice for the Circle?” I asked. “I have but one fledgling to choose from, so it will have to be Markus.”

  She nodded. “I’m thinking James. He’s cunning and a leader.”

  “Do you think this is the right idea?”

  “The Father has already agreed to it. He agrees it will help with the growing amount of vampires.” She sat up. “You’re not having second thoughts, are you?”

  I shook my head. “I’m just thinking about how power hungry some of the fledglings seem to be.”

  “We are all power hungry, to an extent. Think about it.” She lay back down. “Where do you plan on going from here?”

  She was right, even if all my intentions were to rescue my sister I still wanted that power. “Back home, to be close to the Father. We need to know what he’s planning, what he is doing. His sanity slipped since he lost favor with the gods.”

  “Gods we’ve never seen or heard.” She added. “We don’t know if that’s really what happened.”

  Either way it had stopped him from killing my sister and she was still alive. Reports from the others had confirmed it.

  “That’ll be a good job for you. He doesn’t know how much you’ve grown in power, he’ll still trust you.”

  I nodded. With Nuala’s help I had worked hard over the years to and hide most of my power. I learned that I could control people’s memories, take them away or change them. It was not one that I enjoyed, but it was a helpful talent.

  The door burst open and Ayden came in. His blonde hair was matted with blood and in his arms lay a petite woman...no, a child. His sister. His green eyes met mine.

  “I found her in one of the trading centers down south.”

  Nuala jumped off the bed and rushed to him, taking the child from him. She placed the girl on the bed. Her long blonde hair brought back flashes of my sister and I hissed.

  “If you can’t handle it Zaaren, then get out of the room.” Nuala demanded.

  I shook my head. “What can I do to help?”

  “You could have destroyed that center when you found it.” Ayden snarled at him. “Or rescued her when you were there.”

  I kept my face blank. No need to let him know that he’d struck a nerve. “You know that we cannot—“

>   “You could have told us about it.” Ayden snarled.

  I stepped up to help when the girl made a noise, but Ayden shoved me away. “You do not get to touch her.”

  I shook my head and walked out of the room. Nuala followed me. “Why didn’t you tell me about the slave center?”

  “I assumed you knew.” I kept my voice calm and watched her. “We need the hunters thinking clearly. Ayden would have been rash and gone in the moment he knew there was one there, which is why I didn’t tell him.”

  “I need his sister to live in order to gain his trust.” She growled at me. “Saving his sister would have guaranteed that he’d agree to be my bound human.”

  “As I said, I thought you were aware of it, Nuala. I did not sabotage your chances.”

  Nuala grabbed my arm. “Come back inside and help me with her. Ayden does not know how to take care of a victim like this.”

  Like I did. Images of my sister flashed in my head. It had been years since I’d spoken her name, even thought it, fearing that I would forget my mission to bring the Father down. I wanted to go and simply take her from him. The memories of her begging me to kill her hit me hard. “If that is what you wish me to do.”

  “Please.”

  I nodded and gathered my pride. I would not let the human make me feel guilty for this. I followed her back in and Ayden was kneeling by the bed whispering to his sister. He stroked her hair and held her hand. “You will heal.”

  She made a noise and reached for Ayden’s hand. “How old is she?” I asked and Ayden glared at me over his shoulder.

  “Twelve. She was taken last summer.” Ayden kiss her hand. “Stay with me.” He turned to Nuala. “I need water for her, please.”

  I stepped closer to the bed. “Her wounds need to be tended to. Even if most of the bleeding has stopped you need to clean and wrap them to keep them from infections.”

  Ayden nodded. “I know.”

  Nuala kissed his head. “I will go get the items you require.” She looked at me. “Stay here.”