Clarke couldn’t believe the amount of training that he needed to go through before he went into soldier training. It turned out that new vampires had to undergo a sort of physical to make sure that they were at their peak strength before they could start training for war. If he passed the physical—which he hadn’t gone through yet—he would have to go through a knowledge-based test, a history test, and a pep talk from Damian. He had been assured by Trey that the speech had convinced some volunteers to turn tail and take a wife rather than join the war.
But Clarke wasn’t afraid. He’d always wanted to join the human army, so he couldn’t imagine the vampire army being much worse. It should, logically, be easier to go through since he had advanced strength, eyesight, and hearing which would be a huge advantage in a war against humans. He had left Catalina worrying in their new chambers about when and in what condition he would return from war, if he ever returned.
In the meantime, Clarke was called forward for his physical. It was different from any other physical that he had ever gone through. Instead of the usual weight and height evaluations, blood tests and coughing to check that everything was in working order, he was told to stand in the middle of the room and wait while the test was administered.
Before he knew what was happening, a car was dropped on top of him, from a winch in the ceiling. By natural instinct, he reached up to protect himself, finding that his vampire strength not only stopped the car from crushing his head, but held it in the air with no effort. He could have stood there all day, holding up that car. But as soon as he had spent a few minutes there with no wavering of his elbows and no sweat building on his forehead, the administrator gave his sheet a tick. The car was hauled back up to the ceiling for the next candidate.
Clarke was passed through to a race track just outside the mansion, where he was told to beat the current vampire record of running one hundred laps of their county in twenty minutes. It seemed impossible, but he thought positively about his feat with the car and did his best. As he went past his first lap, he found himself gathering even more speed than he thought was in him. To his relief, he managed the hundred laps in twenty five minutes, which seemed to impress the administrator.
Clarke had a confusing and grueling day, but even after two hours of testing his abilities and physical strength, he wasn’t sweating and he had discovered a few things about himself. For one, he enjoyed the physical part of the workouts he was given and realized that army life as a vampire was probably where he belonged. To make it even better, he realized that he actually had a special ability.
Just like Damian could read minds and Kaitlin had magical powers, he was able to move things with his mind. He had never thought that telekinesis was possible, but the fact that he had discovered that ability during his physical meant that he was going to be put at the front of the war. That is, if he managed to pass the rest of his tests.
A little later in the day, he had completed his basic knowledge test—which required more information about humans than vampires—to see that he knew his enemy well enough. He passed his vampire history test thanks to the stories Catalina had shared with him. Once that was over, he was left sitting in a room with the twelve other vampires who had completed their pre-training assessments. It was time for the pep talk from Damian.
“All right, men, listen clearly. We are preparing for war. It may come tomorrow; it may come in a week or a month, but we must be prepared. Now, I’m sure you have all heard the rumors that we are going to war with humans. This is incorrect,” Damian began. He knew fine well that people were already talking about how the war would be easy because they were fighting humans and that they shouldn’t need to do anything other than volunteer to fight, but he wanted to make sure that they were all as prepared as possible. When they reached The Island, he wanted to make sure that they were able to fight and know what and who they were fighting, without running scared or meeting a roadblock of magicians.
“A war with the humans may come shortly. Before that time arrives, we must fight a different war. One which will require any and all abilities we possess and more endurance than you are used to. We will travel through time and space to an island in another world. This island is under our control thanks to the brave efforts of Edward, the elder Trey’s son.” There were a few mutterings as he mentioned Edward. They all knew him in some way or another, apart from Clarke. But surprisingly, he was the only one quietly taking it all in, listening to every word that Damian said and taking note of it. “An old evil has resurfaced and endangers Edward’s life. We must go to this island, rescue its people from a tyrant and reinstate our control while making sure that one of our people, Edward, is unharmed. He must be protected at all costs,” Damian explained.
One of the men raised his hand and Damian gave him a nod. “Sir. This island … you say that it is in another world. What shall we face when we get there?” one of the men asked bravely. He normally wouldn’t interrupt Damian’s speech, but when he began to think about this strange island that they would have to travel to “through time and space”, he became uncomfortable. He was already rethinking his decision to volunteer for the war.
“That’s a very good question. The Island is magical,” Damian answered honestly. He wanted them to be prepared for what they would face there, so he was pleased that someone had dared to ask, rather than wait for him to bring it up. “The natives are magical-born people, like your Queen, with powers of their own. There are seers, who can see the future; there are strong working folk; regular soldiers and humans. There are also vampires on The Island, as it is part of our world. You must use every tool available to you to identify these vampires and deal with them appropriately.”
Damian wasn’t going to lie to anyone. The war was going to be difficult. They were going to have to make a lot of quick, yet calculated decisions about whom they were fighting and who was more important to take down first. It was a judgment call that only they could make when they were there facing their enemy with the situation before them.
“Some will have an allegiance to the evil spirit, Walter. Some will remain true to their own people. This you must calculate for yourself in battle. We wish to have as little bloodshed as possible,” he said, giving them a few positive words of encouragement before dismissing them all. He informed them that training would begin in the morning around nine o’clock. If they were still willing to volunteer, all they had to do was to show up. Clarke was the only one who walked out of the room, determined to join the war.
As soon as Damian received Ellis’ phone call concerning the war on The Island, things started happening all over the clan house. The warning bell was rung and all available, trained soldiers came flooding into the main hall, looking stunned. Damian greeted them with a nod and left the Captain of the army to explain the situation to them.
He had a personal, heartbreaking errand of his own.
Trey appeared at the top landing, wondering why the warning bell had been sounded, just as Damian finished speaking to the Captain. They caught each other’s eye and in an instant, Trey withdrew from the staircase banister and slowly backed down the hallway. He knew what was happening, but he returned to his chamber, where Emily was sitting talking with Kaitlin about the room that had been set up for Edward’s return. He didn’t speak as he walked into the room, but only went across to the chair where Emily sat and stood behind her, trying to be strong.
She instantly knew that something was wrong. No one spoke, but she found her gaze wavering between her husband and Kaitlin. Her queen shook her head in a silent admission that she didn’t know anything other than that the bell had been rung. A moment later, Damian appeared at the door.
“No …” Emily pleaded, close to tears as Damian walked into the room with an unreadable expression and closed the door behind him. Tears were welling up in her eyes, as Trey placed a strong hand on her shoulder. She reached up to take it, her reaction understandable and automatic to the other parents in the room. She had no room for thought once she knew what Damian was about to say.
“I’m very sorry, Emily. War has been declared,” Damian announced.
Emily burst into tears.
But the war couldn’t be helped. Damian explained the situation to them as best he could so that they would understand what was going on and prepare themselves for the worst outcome.
“Has it begun?” Trey asked, wondering if the warning bell was a precaution or an immediate call to arms.
Of all the questions he could have asked, Damian liked that one least. “Yes, Trey, it began right away. Ellis has been gathering troops from the old islanders that now live in our world. He has one hundred men willing to fight. He called just a moment ago to say that he has been warned that war is coming before the end of the month. We must move now, before too much time separates us.” Damian continued to give them all of the information that Ellis had shared with him. They all knew that the time difference between The Island and Avelina could work for or against them. There was no way to know which until his men arrived on The Island. He only hoped that things worked their way. He knew that he wouldn’t have the strength to tell his friends Emily and Trey that their son had been killed in the war.
“I have asked the Captain to prepare the men and I’ll give a special assignment to Clarke. He has the power needed most for the safe extraction of your son,” he said. Being able to move things with his mind would allow Clarke to remove Edward’s body, to a safe place, whether Walter still possessed him or not. He could at least keep him out of harm’s way.
“Let me join them in the war,” Trey demanded suddenly.
Damian sighed, knowing fine well that he couldn’t join the war for multiple reasons. And he certainly wasn’t going to send him to The Island where he could get in a soldier’s way and interfere in case something had to be done to Edward to keep him safe or to stop him from harming others. The last thing he needed was Trey bursting onto the scene and causing havoc as a father protecting his son would.
“No, Trey, I cannot. You are an elder now, as am I,” Damian said. “We must stay here to protect our people. War still faces us on our homeland, and we must be prepared to fight if the humans attack.”
Damian didn’t like reminding anyone, never mind himself, that war could still reach the clan house from the humans in Avelina. If it did coincide with The Island war, he knew that they could easily be overrun, having sent all of their men to The Island to protect people that they had taken into their care. The consequences of that lay heavily on his shoulders. Every day he was reminded that, as easy as humans were to overcome, the limited number of the vampire clans could work against them and their whole race could suffer for it.
“I must go speak with Clarke.” He sighed, leaving Trey and Emily alone to bear the burden of their solitude and separation from their son.
Kaitlin joined him in leaving the room, taking his hand comfortingly as they made their way back downstairs. The soldiers were being armed and put into their uniforms.
Damian took Clarke aside once he had his uniform on, saying, “I must place a heavy burden upon you, Clarke. Ellis and Edward must consume your every thought in this war. When they are within your sight, you are to do nothing but ensure your own and their safety. Use your powers if you must, although I know that they are new to you and are draining.” Damian understood the difficulty all too well, but thankfully, Clarke was a dutiful and loyal man.
Clarke owed the vampires his life, for saving him and teaching him how to survive and for allowing him to love Catalina. Clarke understood what a responsibility it was and how he was being trusted to take the task on by himself. “I swear, Master. I shall keep them safe and unharmed,” he promised.
With Damian’s nod of thanks, there was little left to be said. He returned to his unit, to be given a pep talk by the Captain. Although Ellis had explained that he would leave for The Island in the morning, Damian didn’t want to take any chances. Once the men were armed and dressed for battle, he handed a note to the Captain to explain their participation in the war to any travelers that they encountered.
“Darling … would you do the honors?” Damian asked Kaitlin with a forced smile. He hated asking such a thing of her, but he also knew that it was the only thing she could offer to the war, at least until they had news that Edward was safe.
Kaitlin kissed his cheek with a few tears of her own, willing them to stay at bay until her task was done. No one could see her cry, but she couldn’t help it; she was frightened for Ellis, for Edward, their soldiers, the travelers, her homeland, and for everyone who remained there. So much was at stake. But she focused, envisioning the camp site that Ellis had told them of within the caves of the Forbidden forest.
Damian watched with pride and fear as over one hundred and fifty men and women disappeared before his eyes.