The Allies of Old; Book Two Renewal: Chapter Thirty Eight "Plans for the Battles Ahead"

Book Cover created in acrylic by the extremely talented @therealpaul

If you have not read the first book of the series, "Reborn", it is advisable you do so before reading "Renewal" or you will be lost. This link will provide you with a series summary as well as all sixty-eight chapters of Reborn

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Jared looked down at his little mate and felt the first real sting of fear. He gathered her close to his chest trying to block out the images of the vampires that had been lost, decimated by the grotesque Pishacha.

“You were thinking of the battle of Novogorod weren’t you?” Mathias studied his face and he nodded slowly.

“What’s the battle of Novogorod?”Anna asked, her eyes searching Jared’s with concern. When he had blinked and looked down at her she had scented fear as he’d pulled her closer. She was sure fear was not something he often felt and it made her shiver to ponder what caused it.

Mathias answered. “It’s where he became a legend. They say that Le’Jariende’Dachielle fought like an entire army of vampires and singlehandedly took out more than half of the demons. And these were not your garden variety shadow men who have no strength. Or even the fucking Dantalion that we saw on the roof in London who have claws and can cause some physical damage. No, these were monsters straight out of your darkest nightmares that could tear a vampire to shreds. And in the stories I heard as a boy it was said they ate the pieces.”

Anna and Jenna exchanged a look of horror.

“Shit, if they can tear a vampire to pieces, we’ in trouble boys and girls,” Will’s eyes were wide as he spoke and Josh was nodding.

“What about you Mathias, you’ve come up against higher demons, haven’t you?” Josh asked.

“Yeah, the Dantalion which can be some pretty nasty motherfuckers if you get enough of them together, but next to the Pischacha…” he shook his head.

“What about the fourth gate, what did you call it?” Will nodded towards Jared.

“Asuras. I’ve never encountered them. The only time in recorded history the fourth gate was open was when vampires were first created in the year 111 AD. From the tales I heard they were like Demigods, each one with power so great they could flatten a village with just a wave of their hand. And they did not look like monsters, not unless you were to gaze into their eyes which held fire and destruction, mayhem and death. In physical appearance they were said to be eerily beautiful and resemble man.” Jared frowned trying to recall more.

Mathias sat up suddenly. “The Asuras! My grandmother spoke of them when I was a boy. She said they were once the beloved Angels of the Most High, but became corrupt and filled with greed, wanting to userp His place.”

“Um…that’s like the story of Lucifer,” Jenna spoke up, “isn’t it? He was God’s favorite Angel cast out of Heaven for those reasons, and demons are the angels that followed him, right? At least that’s what I was taught.”

Mathias smiled wryly. “The Bible you’ve been taught from is not the original, is missing many pieces, and is grossly misinterpreted, but yeah some of the stories are close. Corrupt people, likely influenced by demons themselves, seek to confuse the masses by distorting things. Not that they’ve succeeded. Those who understand the true message of the Creator have all they need from the stories.”

“That message being?” Will raised a brow.

“You know…love God, love everyone, forgive idiots for shitty behavior, mind your own fucking business and worry about your own corrupt intentions. Only the individual and He who makes the grass green can know what’s in a person’s heart,” Mathias grinned, “it’s really pretty fucking simple.”

Jenna had to smile at that. It was so right, all the doctrine she’d been taught had always seemed beside the point. Distorting the point for the most part.

Everyone grew silent for a moment and then Will sat forward putting his arms on the table. “All right so where are we at? If the Gate of Pishacha is opened how do we find it and close it? Or are there certain beings responsible for that? I always heard there were Guards at the Gates, God’s angels who kept it from happening.”

“There are. But for reasons that aren’t explained there are times when the angels are called away from their posts, and there have also been times when the demons managed to move the gate out from under them. The assumption is that the Creator is disgusted with man and allows it in the first case and in the second…well that’s what we should hope for because then we’ll have divine help in locating it.” Jared shook his head and sighed heavily. “But we’re in real trouble. There were once vampires who knew far more than I do, they were called the Keepers of History and aside from keeping records they also conversed with the angels. They were the ones who would aid in locating the gate and closing it. And if there are any left alive I don’t know where they are, they haven’t shown their faces in centuries.”

Mathias nodded. “The last battle I was in, I met three of them. Se’Nicolai’Derasha, Se’Corine’Derasha, and Se’Lucien’Derasha. Even then I remember them stating the numbers of the Keepers of History had dwindled, and that was well over three centuries ago, before the last of our healing females were hunted down and killed.”

Anna was gripping Jared’s shirt. This was a lot of information all at once. The things they were saying seemed unreal, like she’d been thrown into the pages of a fantasy novel. Which was silly considering what she was, things like this should not throw her for a loop. But they did.

Jared rubbed her back gently. “Don’t be afraid Ka-lira, I won’t let anything hurt you,” he murmured.

She kissed his chest and felt an intense desire to prove she was worthy of him, a warrior who won battles all by himself.

“Did you fight in human wars as well?” Josh asked breaking the new silence.

Jared snorted. “Only when demons were directly involved and in great numbers. Most wars men wage are based on foolishness and greed.”

“But isn’t there sometimes a side that fights for the right reasons? You know battling against tyranny and all that, like William Wallace against the English Crown?” Jenna piped in.

“Sometimes,” Mathias agreed, “but it’s not our place to get involved in man’s affairs, not in that way. Doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened though.”

“You?” Will quirked a brow.

Mathias’s lip curled. “Eh. Well, I may have had a few human friends that roped me into it from time to time.”

Josh redirected the conversation to the present. “So, what’s our basic plan from here?” All of the males looked at Jared for direction. The loner had become the leader and he took the reins with ease.

“Mathias and I, and of course Anna will continue searching American cities for any vampires who haven’t yet turned and might be persuaded to help. As for you two, I would suggest you do something similar. Your father may know a great deal of hunters, but it’s likely he doesn’t know them all. Also we need to continue to search for old prophecies and pieces of history. You mentioned that the hunters in London were doing that?” He directed the question at Mathias.

“Yeah, last I heard. Also Michael left me a message stating he was gathering vampires in Europe. And Seth called yesterday, he sounded…troubled. He can’t seem to locate his family. Last he knew they were living in Australia’s outback, but he hasn’t been to see them in almost fifteen years. They basically live like the Aborigines, very simply without benefit of technology, so it isn’t as if he could call them. He’s going to keep looking, but if he continues to be unsuccessful he’s going to head to Ireland. He claims it’s possible they went back to their homeland, and at the very least he should find relatives there.”

Jared nodded slightly. “Well if nothing else Anna and I met a family of Lyncane in Scotland, so perhaps we’ll fly over there at some point. We need to spread the word as far as we can, the more people looking the better our chances of success.” He leaned back and stretched his arms. “I met a shape shifter, a panther, when I was in South America, so at some point I’ll make a trip down there, see what they know. With our diverse group, especially if I can establish a link with the shifters, we’ll be on track for uniting the allies of old.”

“Amen to that,” Will stated.

They decided to rest up and go their separate ways in the morning.

Later that night Jenna lay awake willing Mathias to come to her room. She hadn’t spoken to him since those few minutes on the porch the previous day and in the meantime she’d had plenty of time to watch him and make up her mind where he was concerned. She’d come to the conclusion that there was nothing wrong with a fling and considering the whole mortal/immortal dilemma that was all it could ever be anyway. She’d decided she could use him to gain some experience and push a little further past her childhood trauma. There was certainly no doubt that she wanted him physically and vice versa.

When it became obvious he would not be seeking her out she gathered up her courage and slid out of bed. She found him sleeping on the couch in the living room. Josh and Will had apparently gone upstairs, which was a good thing since she’d also decided she wanted their affair to be kept on the down-low.

His back was to her and she crept up beside his sleeping form then realized she didn’t have the nerve to wake him. She started to turn and nearly shouted when he seized her wrist.

He looked up at her with a raised brow, “Can’t sleep?”

She shook her head slightly and he yanked her down on top of him.

“Hey!”

“You didn’t come so close just to see if it was me,” he stated with a knowing smile, then kissed her neck and ran his tongue up to her ear. “Without anger this time?” he said softly.

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