Page 42 of The Vampire's Thirst
Dax flashed to her side, grabbing her fingers. “Listen. Better hungry than dead. They will find you. If they can, they will kill me, and I don’t know what they plan to do with you. I am your best bet.”
“God help me then.”
“Yeah. I don’t think he’s going to give a big assist.”
****
Lortstood on a mountain peak early morning. On one side, he overlooked the bustling Arisen Dawn garrison. On the other was a view of Narobi Flats in Darque. The muscles around his heart contracted.Anticipation. That was the sensation. The time grew near when the army he was putting together for Cerberus would conquer Scath and Earth.
Though the encampment was in a remote region of the wildings’ realm, a spell protected the huge site from all but their own foot soldiers and officers. Big enough to quarter the current number of troops, it occupied a small valley nestled among towering mountains.
A strong wind blew Lort’s ankle-length leather coat open. His dishwater-blond hair swirled around his face. Below, the garrison was alive with activity, soldiers rotating between barracks, heading to training grounds, the mess, or strategy meetings.
Following Cerberus’s order, he recruited two kinds into his army. The dregs of his command were those males and females taking a drug which compelled them to join the cause. Each dose of Gold Dust was laced with a compulsion spell. The perfect cycle. Taking the drug made the user want more, and each hit made the user a stronger convert. Sure, most were crazy from abnormal side effects, but they were perfect front-line fodder. In all skirmishes, they would be sent in first to draw fire. They were expendable.
The other soldiers were the backbone of the army. They joined Arisen Dawn because they were believers. Aeternals were destined to rule all realms. They would once again be the species fate intended them to be before Blood Coven interference.
Lort had directed his officers to keep the soldiers busy. Inactivity was a killer for any army. They trained and marched. Strategy lessons, supplemented with indoctrination, fostered the cause. Below him, sergeants led drills on the practice fields. Others oversaw instruction on the shooting range. Experts conducted sessions to enhance the innate talents of the breeds, whether they were demons, warlocks, or vampires.
A smile pulled tight at the corners of Lort’s mouth. Forays Earthside would begin soon. The disposables, those strung out on Gold Dust, would be sacrificed in the name of the greater good. Sent through a portal, they would ravage an unsuspecting population, feeding on them, draining them for nourishment. The goal was to create fear among the Earthers. When others learned of their successes, more supporters would join the cause. Nothing gained true believers like victory in battle. The bloodier the victory the better.
The garrison on Darque could quarter 9,000 soldiers and 2,000 support personnel. A bigger, grander garrison in the same mountains but further south was under construction. Nearly complete.
Using the ancient Macedonian army as a template, Lort organized Arisen Dawn into military units of varying sizes, the smallest group being sixteen foot soldiers. The Aeternals he appointed as officers earned their spots based on skill, cunning, savagery, and most importantly, one simple moral code. Aeternals, the superior species, will rule all realms no matter the cost.
The garrison site was a two-story rectangular structure with barracks on three sides, lower and upper levels. The mess and indoor training facilities were in a center building with offices and meeting rooms on the second floor. Outdoor training occupied all other grounds. The firing range sat at the north end against a cliff. Though mages at the Ministry of Well Being kept guns from the realms, Cerberus created a spell to allow them here. That made Lort certain Cerberus was a warlock of extraordinary power.
As he assessed the strength of the encampment from his observation point, the vampire general shifted his stance, his hand gripping the hilt of the short sword strapped to his waist. The buildings were not shoddy wooden structures. Rather, the rock foundations and walls were impregnable. Even if not cloaked by a spell, the garrison blended into its environment.
A harsh chuckle escaped his dry lips. And all was hidden from the prying eyes of the Scion Firebrands.
****
Thedirector of the Ministry of Compliance kept Cadmon, Nace, Jarek, Kole, and Skyler waiting in the conference room for thirty minutes.
“I’m gonna fry his ass when he gets here.” Kole thrummed his fingers on the table.
Skyler massaged his shoulder, her touch usually calming. “I may let you.”
Hands folded, Cadmon was always the patient ylve high commander. “Too bad we need his help.”
Nace growled, his jaguar close to the surface, while Jarek rested a bored chin in the palm of his hand, his numerous braids dangling to his waist.
The door pushed open and Director Boden, a bureaucratic smile on his lips, entered the room. “Greetings. So sorry. Other duties occupied me longer than I expected.” The smaller-than-average sloth demon gripped the back of a chair to pull it out and slide his smarmy body into it. “What can I help you with?”
Kole released a burst of fire, an ember landing on the director’s expensive wool jacket. “Oops.”
Boden brushed off the ash, his lips curling into a peevish snarl. “My lateness could not be helped, Commander.”
“Yeah. Neither can my temper.”
Skyler rubbed her mate’s shoulder again, whispering in his ear.
Kole patted her leg. “I’ll be good.” He didn’t like the director of the Ministry of Fuck-All-Incompetence. They had history.
Boden, whose parents led the rebels in the Demon Insurrection of 1451, rode Kole’s ass all through school. Most of his breed had joined the rebellion, including Kole’s relatives such as his grandparents and Uncle Horach. But his parents, Scion Firebrands Hestia and Aedon, remained loyal, rounded up rebels, and fought against their own.
Abrahm may have been the knife-wielding demon who mutilated and killed Hestia and Aedon, but others, possibly even Boden’s parents, condoned him and his team of cutthroats. Kole took his revenge by killing all those who’d had a direct hand in the death of his mother and father. Because no solid evidence against Boden’s family existed, he left them alive. But his gut, which was rarely wrong, told him they were complicit.
