The Allies of Old; Book Two Renewal: Chapter Thirty Seven "Ancient War and Warrior Present"

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-Seven

The following day was cloudy and cold, a few flurries marking a true beginning to winter. The group caravanned to the funeral home in town where they settled in for the short service. Only Anna’s friends and Bonnie were in attendance since there hadn’t been an announcement in the paper.

When it was over Anna hugged the older woman and thanked her again for taking care of her dad as well as making all of the arrangements. She had a feeling this would be the last time she would see her and couldn’t help being a little relieved. Bonnie meant well, but she was a bit of a busy body and had regarded Jared with a wary suspicion since she’d met him.

When she parted ways with the woman, Austin walked up to her and shifted uncomfortably. He seemed at a loss for what to say or do.

“I would hug you but…”Anna shifted her gaze to her mate who was standing with Mathias on the far side of the room. He didn’t appear to be looking at them, but she had reason to know that his peripheral vision was excellent.

“I know. I just wanted to tell you again that I’m sorry about your dad.” He flexed his hand which was free of the cast. “And thanks to you I can start training. I’m gonna meet up with Will and Josh in about a month, I figure that’s how long it will take to get at least a basic handle on weaponry. They say they could use the help.” He gave her a lopsided smile, his eyes crinkling. “I’m looking forward to kicking some demon ass.”

She grinned. “You’ll be great at it.”

He chuffed a laugh and nodded. “Well, I’m gonna head out.” His smile slipped a little and a shadow passed over his expression. “I want you to know I’ll always,” he took a breath, “I’ll always be there for you if you ever need me.”

Her eyes teared a bit and she nodded, wishing she could say the same. “I’ll always love you,” she whispered instead.

His eyes glistened for a moment then a grin split his face. “I’m beginning to think we have more endings then the Lord of the Rings.”

She choked out a surprised laugh.

He shook his head still smiling then briefly touched her shoulder. “You be good Anna.”

“You too.”

He saluted her and she watched him walk away feeling a bit lighter. Things will work out for him, she thought, he will find a girl who will love him more than life itself, the way he deserves to be loved.

They didn’t linger long at the parlor, Anna could barely stand the atmosphere of the place and she desperately wanted it over with.

When they got back to the house Marina, Macey, and Holly announced they were going to visit their families before heading back to college. So they gathered once more on the back patio with a round of hugs and reiterated expressions of sympathy, and of course the admonishment to keep in touch.

Jenna and Anna watched them drive away then went inside and located the males who were seated around the dining room table discussing prophecies and strategies. Anna walked over to Jared who absently pulled her into his lap.

“Okay big guy, tell us about the last time you encountered higher demons.” Will was looking at Jared in anticipation and Josh looked equally intrigued leaning forward on his elbows.

Jared’s gaze turned inward as he thought back to a time before time. He had told them that if they were dealing with demons other than the Jinn then the stakes had been drastically raised to a level they hadn’t seen in centuries, during a time when there were still thousands of warriors to fight them.

Their only hope was that the The Gate of Pishacha had not been opened, or more importantly moved, because he had no idea how to locate it. Mathias had forgotten the names of the last two gates, referring to them as the hunters did-higher demons. Jared could never forget their names, they were ingrained on his very soul.

The first was called The Gate of Jinn. This was the one that was unguarded and always moving. It was never closed and what came out of it were what Anna called the “shadow men”. The second gate, Dantalion, was the portal through which demons much like the shadow men came except they were smarter, stronger, and more prone to organize. They had been on the roof of the building that he’d rescued Anna from, but like the Jinn they were no match for him and any warrior like him which was why they had fled.

Pishacha were a different story. Pishacha held monsters from the darkest of nightmares….

The modern room faded away, replaced by another. It was small and cold and damp-the winter in the Kingdom of Germany had come early and it was brutal. He stoked a fire in the small hearth to warm his hands, waiting for his two cousins to arrive with news from the Kingdoms of Aragon and Castile, where they had tracked the largest gatherings of Hell’s regurgitation.

Even now a band of vampires aided by the Creator’s Angels were searching for the Gate of Pishacha which had disappeared several months before. And creatures had come forth from it, creatures who could appear to men at will and drive them mad with just a glimpse. And they seemed to control humans in a manner he and his brethren had not yet deciphered, possession rates were the highest he’d ever heard of. While the Jinn and Dantalion had to coax their hosts into submission, the Pishacha seemed to have the power to bully.
He and his cousins LeSanter and LeNiathon had killed more than a dozen in the past month alone, and each one had been like fighting an army of the Jinn. If the Jinn wielded weapons or even had claws and teeth, which they did not.

The worn wooden door banged open and LeSanter came inside stomping the snow off his boots in the entrance. His hair was disheveled and his eyes were shooting laser beams, it took him a moment to focus on LeJarien.

“What’s happened?” LeJarien strode up to his cousin and grabbed his forearms willing him to calm.

“They killed him,” his cousin whispered in a haunted voice. “They ripped him apart…and dear Heaven, they consumed the pieces.”

“Who?” LeJarien breathed, fearing the answer.

“LeNiathon. He’s gone.”

White hot anger blazed through him. Grief would come later, for now the fury would leave no room. “Show me where,” he growled.

“It’s a half a day’s travel, and they don’t stay in one place,” LeSanter looked around as if lost. “They slaughtered one of our villages in the Kingdom of France. Males, Females, and little ones. We saved less than ten.”

LeJarien ran his hands through his hair, bile rising in his throat. “I will go to my father now, see how many he has gathered and what they have found.”

LeSanter grabbed a hold of him. “They are seeking us, they came to that village with the purpose of destroying our kind, our females and little ones are not safe, and we don’t have enough warriors to fight!”

“Yes we do!” He placed his hands on either side of his cousin’s face. “You cannot let fear overtake you, not now. There are many of us, and we will fight, and we will win. It’s what we were born to do.”

LeSanter nodded bleakly. “My brother…” his eyes shone with emotion and LeJarien pulled him into an embrace.

“We will avenge him. We will tear them apart, every last one!” He aligned his forearms with his cousin and gripped his hands, touching his forehead to his. LeSanter took in a shaky breath and let it out, then squeezed his fingers. “Horah!” he gritted.

LeJarien pushed off him and bellowed “HORAH!” then burst through the door of the cabin with his cousin on his heels and blurred.

It would be five years before they would come to a final battle in the desolate wasteland of the principality of Novogorod. Five years of death and destruction, falling of human empires and rebuilding of new ones at the direction and hand of the Pishacha.

Jared felt the weight of a thousand boulders crushing down on him as he remembered the final moments, the eerie silence, the black and purple smoke filled air with the smell of sulphur burning his nose. And as the air cleared he had seen a ground littered with bodies- Vampires, Lyncane, Faerian men and humans. But the Pishacha were no more, no bodies to prove they had ever been.

“LeJarien!” He heard the cry and turned towards the sound. Then he heard his name cried out again from another location and turned, and then the cries came from all around, growing louder and becoming a chant.

LeSanter ran up to him, his teeth showing through his dirt crusted face, a fierce grin across his features. “HORAH LE JARIEN!” Others picked up the words and he stared in confusion at his cousin.

“What is this?”

“You tore through them like a gale force wind, destroying scores of them singlehandedly, do you not know this?”

“We all fought them-

“NO! We all tried, but you, LeJarien, you ripped through them like a warrior god!”

In the next moments he was swept up on the shoulders of his race and carried across the field as they shouted their triumphant cries. For him it had been a great and terrible victory. So many had fallen, but he had done his part…

He felt a soft caress on his face and blinked, coming slowly back to the present.

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