“Then you must come with us now. We need you to gather as many ogres as you think are capable of being… reliable around humans.”
I couldn’t deny that I felt nervous about having ogres join our army. I trusted the werewolves well enough, but ogres? I feared what would happen if even one of them lost control and went on a human-eating rampage when we got to Earth. That would be an absolute PR disaster for TSL. And the IBSI would try to milk the incident for all it was worth.
We had to prove the IBSI wrong in their belief that no supernaturals could be trusted, responsible beings. That they were incapable of helping solve Earth’s problems. In spite of all that I’d been through and all that I’d seen in my long life—all the times I’d been betrayed and all the evil I had witnessed in people—I still preferred to give people, be they humans or supernaturals, the benefit of the doubt. Thus I placed my faith in Anselm to pick out an army who would do right by us, and control their nature, given all that we had done for them.
Of course, if he or any of his ogres messed up, there was always the threat that TSL would come after them, just as we had come after the hunters. They knew that we had a fierce army of dragons… That alone should be enough to make them control their nature and deter any of them from taking a misstep.
Once the king had summoned his army, we headed to the beach to join the werewolves. It was interesting watching the werewolves and ogres interact, or rather not interact. Apart from Bella and Brett on our island, I didn’t think I’d ever seen how werewolves responded to the presence of ogres and vice versa. The two species stared at each other from across a stretch of sand, both of them apparently distrusting—particularly the ogres, oddly.
I cast my eyes over the ogres and set my gaze on the king, who was looking no more enthusiastic than his kinsmen about the prospect of joining forces with the werewolves.
“I suggest that you warm to each other,” I said pointedly. “Because soon you will be cooperating with many other species—including dragons.”
The king nodded, his lips forming a hard line.
Next, we headed to The Sanctuary. Although we had played no part in saving the witches recently, they owed us a lifetime of debt already. First, for ending the black witches practically single-handedly a couple of decades ago, and secondly, for my daughter having rescued one of the royal sisters. We’d had decent, amenable dealings with them ever since.
I experienced intense déjà vu as we arrived on the shore of the witches’ country. We had come to seek out Loira Sulvece only days ago to assist us in discovering the Hawk-vampire boys.
Ibrahim took the initiative to call out through the boundary for somebody to attend to us. A youngish blond warlock with shoulder-length hair emerged.
Ibrahim seemed to recognize him. “Coen,” he addressed the man. “We need to speak with the Ageless.”
“What is it about?” he asked. His eyes bulged as he took in the beach jam-packed with supernaturals.
“We need to borrow some of you,” Ibrahim replied before adding, “We need to speak to her urgently.”
“Hm, all right,” Coen said. His eyes traveled once again, up and down the beach. “It seems that it will be easier if I bring her to you. I will head to her palace at once.”
“So,” Ibrahim said, turning to me as Coen vanished. “How many witches do you think we should bring?”
I ran a hand through my hair, eyeing our army thus far. Witches were probably the most valuable kind of supernatural we could gather. “As many as possible.”
“Right,” Ibrahim muttered, nodding.
We waited for about fifteen minutes before the oldest Adrius sister arrived on the beach. The current Ageless.
She bowed her head to me courteously as she approached in a long silver gown, her fair hair trailing down her shoulders.
“Good day, King Derek,” she said, bowing her head slightly. “And Ibrahim.” Her eyes passed over the warlock. Although she looked at Horatio, too, and I was quite sure that she knew his name, she chose not to greet him. The witches of The Sanctuary still had some way to go to catch up with the witches of The Shade in regards to their relations with and prejudices against jinn.
Just like the ogres and werewolves, this was a prejudice they were going to need to snap out of fast.
“We require witches to accompany us to Earth,” I began. “As many as you can spare. As you can see”—I gestured to the supernaturals packing the sand—“we are building a multifaceted army. I’m sure that you are aware of the IBSI and their general dealings on Earth—and in the supernatural dimension.”
“More so in the supernatural dimension,” the Ageless replied, wetting her lower lip. “My people have not had many dealings with Earth recently, as you know.”
“Well, you are about to have a whole lot more.” I explained to the witch all that we planned to accomplish as quickly as I could, while giving as much detail as was required for her to bite.
Once I finished, she nodded slowly. “I understand your requirements… While I cannot guarantee you any specific number of my people, I will call an urgent meeting now, and I will gather as many volunteers as I can.”
White witches were not known to be the most selfless of beings. As she vanished, I had to hope that she could provide a substantial number. We had a staggering amount of work to do. And although I held out hope that, on seeing TSL’s growing army, some of the IBSI members would jump ship. Jennifer Thornton had suspected many in the IBSI weren’t happy in their roles within the organization and would welcome the chance to leave. Unfortunately, we could not pin our hopes on that. That would be a bonus.
It really would be a boon though if many IBSI members did join us. They would be extremely valuable in the early days, because they already had internal structures in place. We could learn from their systems while building upon and improving them.
When the Ageless finally returned, an uncomfortable amount of time had passed. To say that we did not have forever was an understatement. I had not been able to give Xavier or my son a specific time frame for when we would return, for that was impossible. There were so many variables on this supernatural side of the universe. All I could tell them was that we would do our utmost to return with an army as soon as physically possible.
I was pleasantly surprised by the number of witches and warlocks who arrived—over a couple of hundred. These would compliment our current group of magic wielders nicely.
It had occurred to me that more jinn would also be extremely useful, but unfortunately, those were not creatures we had any leverage with, and certainly not ones that we wanted to meddle with.
The beach was so packed now that the ogres had retreated into the sea in order to make room for everybody to stand. Witches, ogres, and werewolves, oh my.
But we were not done yet.
We had two more ports of call—the next being The Hearthlands. That visit would not be challenging at all, given our friendly relations with King Theon. We had become like family over the years, even though we lived worlds apart. Theon had come to visit with his wife Penelope and brother Altair on occasion, staying in the dragons’ quarters in the Black Heights. And their invitation was always open to us; indeed, my son’s wedding had taken place there. Although The Shade and The Hearthlands were two nations, we were as good as one.
The ogres were understandably jittery about our next stop, but I assured them that it would be a good… exercise in trust for them. I promised them that none of the dragons would harm them, so long as they harmed no humans when we returned to Earth—and I trusted the dragons enough to uphold that assurance.
Thus, the witches transported us all to the verdant land of The Hearthlands. We landed outside the royal castle. Before entering, I took a moment to gaze about the town, nestled among rolling green hills and valleys. It was in moments like this that I wished I could be human again, enjoy the feeling of the sun on my skin. But henceforward, I would remain a vampire. I couldn’t keep switching; I’d done so too many
times before. The body built up resistance to the cure—the last time I had tried, I’d almost died. Since then I had promised Sofia that I would remain as I was. Forever a vampire, like her.
I breathed in deep, relishing the fragrant air for a few seconds while clearing my head of the dizziness that sometimes accompanied magical travel.
Then, followed by Ibrahim and Horatio, I approached the front door and knocked. A guard opened the heavy oaken doors and, instantly recognizing us, his face lit up.
“Come in! Come in!”
“Thank you,” I told him, smiling in appreciation. “But first of all, please cast your eyes upon my fellow travelers.” I gestured behind me. The guard’s lips parted as he took in the supernaturals crowding the town. Particularly the ogres.
“You see, we have arrived with companions. I have come to speak to your king, but I need you to ensure us that no attempts are made by your dragons to snap at our ogre friends while we are inside the castle.”
I could practically see the hunger in the guard’s eyes as he gazed at the ogres, even in his humanoid form. He returned to his senses and looked back to me. “Of course, Your Highness. It shall be done.”
The guard looked over his shoulder and barked behind him, beckoning over more guards. He explained to them that the ogres were with us, and they agreed to stand outside and make sure that any other passing dragons were aware that the ogres were not to be touched.
Then the first guard who had greeted us led Horatio, Ibrahim and me into the magnificent castle. He seated us in a richly furnished waiting room. He offered us refreshments, which we politely refused. We had no time to indulge in the luxuries of the dragon kingdom.
We were waiting for only five minutes by my calculation before Theon burst into the room. His thick wavy hair grazing his shoulders, his chiseled face lit up in a brilliant smile that illuminated his golden eyes.
“Derek!” he boomed.
He crossed the room to greet me with a hearty hug and a slap on the back that practically knocked the wind out of me.
I returned the embrace before gripping his shoulders and creating a few inches of distance between us.
“Theon. The time has come where we need your help more than ever before.”
I was only a couple of minutes into explaining why we needed his help when he agreed unconditionally to provide us with as many dragons as we needed for our mission.
“Good man,” I said, squeezing his shoulders. “I suggest that every dragon who is willing to help us head to The Shade immediately.” I had to be mindful that the dragons were not ones to travel by magic. That meant that they would need more time. They could be traveling to The Shade while we finished up in our journey.
Theon escorted us to the castle exit before bidding us farewell—for now. Then he closed the door, hurrying off to begin giving orders.
Now it was time for us to head to our fifth and final destination.
Aviary.
Of course, there were many other supernaturals who could have come in use to us, but these five were the only ones we had leverage with for now. I hoped that in the future this would change, and we could turn still more supernaturals into forces for good. Into guardians, rather than threats.
As we returned to the area outside the castle where the witches, werewolves and ogres were waiting, I thanked the dragon guards and said that they would likely be wanted in the castle now.
My gaze swept over the ogres. They let out silent sighs of relief as the dragons placed distance between them and disappeared into the castle. They looked infinitely grateful to move on.
Everybody gathered close together and the witches transported us away from The Hearthlands.
When our feet hit solid ground again, we were surrounded by the sweltering heat of Aviary. We had arrived in the midst of a jungle.
I turned to Ibrahim. “Now, I suggest that you wait here with the witches, werewolves and ogres, while Horatio and I go to gather the Hawks.”
The last time we had been here together in Aviary, we had only brought back fifty Hawks. There were many more we could find use for now.
Horatio rose with me in the sky. We gazed over the ocean of treetops, trying to get our bearings. Horatio, thankfully, had a better sense of direction than I did. It took us less time than I had feared it might to locate the new city of Aviary, if the makeshift colonization could be called such.
As we passed the rickety homes, we called out to the Hawks. Many of them recognized me from the speech I had made only a short while ago. I requested all of them to head to the same circular platform as before, and once several hundred had gathered around, I began to address them. I explained to them that The Shade and their fellow Hawks who still remained with us needed their help urgently, and all who came with us would have The Shade’s, and indeed, Earth’s, eternal gratitude. Even as I spoke, I couldn’t get over how strange it felt to be requesting Hawks to become guardians of the Earth, when only several decades ago they had been practically as manipulative to humans as the Elders.
But they agreed. They agreed, I supposed, because they heard the passion in my voice, the sincerity and earnestness with which I called them to arms. Even though they were shadows of their former selves in terms of confidence and aggression, I trusted that, when the time came and we were all together, they would rediscover the strength that had once made them feared warriors.
Finally, the IBSI would receive the comeuppance that was long overdue.
As soon as a large group of the Hawks had assembled, Horatio and I returned with them to where we had left Ibrahim and the rest of our army. After introducing them briefly—barely having time to watch everybody’s reaction to our new members, particularly the witches, who had a history of discord with Aviary—I announced that it was time for us to return to The Shade. There, we would reunite with the rest of the Hawks, along with the dragons who should have arrived by now. And finally, I would touch base to see what had been happening with my son and the rest of the League. They were supposed to be infiltrating the media and should have done a thorough job by now. They’d had plenty of time.
When we all returned to the island, naturally, we had to bypass our usual rules of having witches check that nobody was an imposter—I knew that they weren’t, and it would be far too time-consuming now. Ibrahim allowed us inside, and our army lined up on the beach by the Port, where the dragons were thankfully already waiting—including Theon and his brother Altair. I noticed only three ice dragons among them, which was probably wise, given the mutants we might be forced to face.
I told everyone to wait on the beach for my next instruction, and had Horatio stay to keep an eye on everyone, while Ibrahim went to transport weapons and armor from the Armory.
I first hurried to Eli and Shayla’s apartment, which he had left open for me. He had access to more television channels than anyone on the island, but as I began to flick through them, all of the major ones were blank. I had to switch into channels located outside of the United States to discover what had been going on, and as I watched the reporters relaying the news, I swore beneath my breath.
The IBSI had brought down the borders of not only Chicago, but New York and Los Angeles. Dammit! At the back of my mind, I had been fearing that Atticus would do something rash like this. My heart pounded. We had to get a move on, and my gut instinct was telling me that our first port of call had to be Chicago. That was where Ben and the others were first due to head.
I hurried out of Eli’s apartment and fetched the rest of the Hawks, who were staying in temporary accommodations. I directed them to wait by the Port with the others before I dashed to the Black Heights to see if any of our resident dragons were here. None were.
I hurtled back to the Port, and, standing atop the jetty which gave me a vantage point over our entire army gathered on the sand, I bellowed, “We must leave as soon as possible!”
Ibrahim had already returned with what looked like our entire stock of weapons and begun distributing them t
o the Hawks along with armor. Ibrahim demonstrated how to use the guns, something that took patience I didn’t have in this moment. The ogres had brought their own weapons with them, and as for the werewolves, they couldn’t hold weapons anyway in their wolf forms.
Once Ibrahim was done with the demonstration, he and Horatio arrived at my side.
“We need to head to Chicago,” I told them. “We can meet near the same news station Ben and the others were due to head to first. Horatio, you should accompany the dragons. They will travel fast, but not fast enough for the rest of us. Guide the dragons there. Ibrahim and I, along with everybody else, will travel by magic. Is that all right?”
Horatio and Ibrahim nodded.
I barked out orders to everybody. The dragons parted from the crowd and approached Horatio, while Ibrahim and I mingled with the rest of the army.
A few seconds later, The Shade disappeared.
Arriving at our destination, it was clear that things had gone even worse than I thought they had. Much worse. The building had been blown up, ash and debris coating the street that lined it.
What happened here?
I needed to scope out the city to figure out what was going on. I took to the sky on the back of one of the Hawks, rising above the buildings, where I witnessed even more destruction. In the distance, the residential area of the city was ablaze—buildings smashed and charred, bodies strewn everywhere. And then, still further, near the river, I spotted a massive horde of hunters riding atop mutants. In front of them were my people. It was clear that the League was under the protection of a spell, for the mutants could not approach closer than a dozen feet.
I flew with the Hawk back to where I had left the others and climbed off the Hawk.
“Right,” I said, my heart hammering. “We can’t wait for the dragons. We’ve got to go in now and eradicate the IBSI.” I explained that I wanted to do this in stages. In waves. First I would arrive with the Hawks. We would launch the attack on the mutants in the sky, draw their attention toward us. And following us immediately would be the witches. Only once we had managed to successfully take the hunters out of the sky could we have our ground army of ogres and werewolves surge forward and sweep the streets for survivors, assisting any innocent humans, while felling any IBSI members—assuming they did not surrender.