Taming Darkness: Artemis Lupine #4 (15 page)

MAURICE

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

The expressions on their faces were priceless. I knew they had assumed that I would have an army here and that I would hold to the plan I had told Artemis, but they were very sadly mistaken. Today was going to be a wonderful day for me. Today this field would be covered in dead bodies and none of mine would be injured.

I loved war.

Artemis walked towards me with an air of confidence, but I could see her fear. I could taste all of their fears and it was the greatest aphrodisiac ever. The gods, if they had existed, must have created terrible catastrophes just to taste the humans’ fear and drink it down. Maybe I should draw this out so I could enjoy their fear. Maybe I should let them see a bit of my power so that I could find out what desperation tasted like.

ARTEMIS

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Victor and I continued walking until we were only one hundred feet away from Maurice.
It was as close as I could get to his evil stench.

“
I love you,”
Ares whispered in my head.

“
I love you too
,” I whispered back, gaining more confidence from him.

“Today we end your tyr
anny,” I said confidently to Maurice.

He waved his hand and a throne appeared out of mist. He sat down
, crossed his legs, folded his hands in his lap calmly, and said, “You always were a cheeky girl. Now you and Victor will watch as I kill all of your family and friends while you can do nothing about it.”

“I am fire! I am
the sun!” I yelled at him.

“Yes, but I am death!” Maurice
screamed. His words made me shrink back from him and I felt true fear as I stared into his black eyes.

“Where is your army?” Victor asked.

Maurice laughed, relaxing back into his throne as he talked to us like peasants talking to their king. “Army? What need do I have for an army?! I have acquired more vampires under me than any King in the history of the world. I have surpassed even the gods themselves with my power.” He looked me in the eyes and whispered, “Turn around and run, Artemis. Run to Ares as his body falls to the ground and there is nothing that you can do about it.” Maurice closed his eyes, inhaled, and then everyone behind us began screaming. I spun around and stared in shock at our entire army on their knees, even the dragons.

“What are you doing?” Victor asked, “What magic is this?”

I turned around to face Maurice, my body shifted into a half-shift on its own. “Stop it,” I growled at him.

“I am the rightful King of this world and no one will stop me
. I had thought killing you would be the best course, but I have decided instead to let you wallow in misery and loneliness,” Maurice said. He snapped his fingers and disappeared in a plume of smoke. As soon as he disappeared the screaming behind us stopped.

I ran to Ares who was lying face down on the ground beside
his parents and Hera. “Ares,” I whispered as tears streamed down my face. “Ares, wake up.”

He wasn’t breathi
ng and my heart already knew what I did not want to admit. The feeling of emptiness inside of me and the feeling that my heart had been ripped from my chest confirmed what my brain did not want to accept. Ares was dead. I looked at all of the bodies of my friends, family and pack. Every last one of them was dead. Koda’s lifeless eyes stared at me from behind Ares. I had let him die without forgiving him. He was dead and I would never be able to tell him that I forgave him.

I tilted my he
ad back and screamed as tears flowed down my face. How had we allowed this to happen? How could any one person be so strong? What could I do?

Victor knelt beside Ares, resting his hand on his shoulder and cried silently.

“Artemis,” Victor whispered as he stood up and wiped his face, “We must leave. Come on, we need to take you to someplace safe.”

“Safe?!” I screamed at him. “Who cares about being safe? Everyone I love is dead! Everyone!” I screamed.
Was this Death’s way of getting one over on us? Had he known this would happen all along?! “That’s it,” I whispered, “This is Death’s price for letting Ares bring Sotare and my souls back. Everyone had to die.”

“I knew Death would not let it go so easily for Ares.
I knew there was a price, even if he did not tell Ares one. There is always a price.” Victor growled.

Nothing was changed with our new knowledge. My pack and mate were still gone and I had no way to protect my son from what was to come. Maurice would surely find us and take my son away from me just as he had everyone else. “Ther
e is nothing for us to do. No place we can go.” I was utterly helpless. I might as well have been human.

“Your baby still lives,” Victor
whispered. He teleported us to Ares’ field without waiting for my consent. “There is only one way to save the world,” he said softly, “But you will not survive.”

“Tell me,” I growled.

“If I bite you, it will infect your child and he will be born a full hybrid of vampire, werewolf, human, and sidhe. He will be the most powerful being ever created and it’s possible that he will be able to learn time travel. Originally Father had wanted to turn you so that you would become part vampire and be under his control. I would not normally suggest something suicidal, but it is the only way.”

“I thought you could not turn halfbreeds?” I asked.

“Only the Originals can. My father was the first and then he created my mother and then they created me,” he whispered.

Was this the price Death had decided? He would trade
all of our lives so that my child could live? I moved my hair to the side and tiled my head to the side exposing my neck. “Do it.” I had no need to think. I had no need to debate my decision. I would gladly die for my child.

“We need someone here to help us with the birth. I’ve never helped a woman give birth before,” he said with a hint of fear.

I teleported myself to Lyngvi and walked into the Healer’s quarters. “You, come with me,” I said to an older female with a decent amount of power.

“Where to?” she asked.

“To assist in my childbirth,” I told her.

Her eyes widened in shock, but she grabbed a bag and filled it with several jars of medicine and equipm
ent and then walked over to me.

“Alpha, what has happened? We felt Ares and Koda die. Is it true?” another healer asked.

“Yes,” I said without empathy, “Everyone is dead. My child is the only hope we have.”

I grabbed the woman who was going with me and teleported back to Victor. He informed the healer about what we were doing and after
arguing with her and snarling at her to do as she was told, we got ready to begin.

“As soon as I bite her, her labor will begin. Do not let the child die,” Victor ordered her.

She nodded her head and got her tools out. “I understand.”

I exposed my neck again, “Tell him that I love him and that his father was a hero,” I said tearfully.

Victor rested his hand on my shoulder and whispered, “He will know of your sacrifice and your love for him. I promise he will set everything right.” He paused a second and whispered, “Good bye Artemis. I am so glad that I had the chance to know you.”

Victor bit into my
neck and my body began burning at the same time that the contractions started. It was in my final moments that I realized that I was never the prophesized one. I was not the true halfbreed. My son would be equal parts human, werewolf, sidhe and vampire. He would be the one to save the world. Why had we been so foolish? How could I have let everyone die for me when I had been the one destined to die? I thought one last time about Ares and I knew I was ready to see him in the afterlife. The fire of death engulfed me and I welcomed it with open arms.

VICTOR

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SIX

The world was lost to darkness now that my father had won. Any who opposed him were killed and after the massacre that had killed most of the Sidhe, werewolves, halfbreeds and their allies, no one wanted to oppose him anymore. The bastard had won and he had done it without lifting a finger. I tried to learn about his new power, but there was no information. I was supposed to be the strongest vampire in the world and yet my father surpassed me somehow. Where had he learned this spell that let him kill all my friends instantly? I knew now that the best course of action was not to kill my father here, but to train Sotare to time travel and send him back to kill my father before he had gained his powers. A large part of me felt conflicted raising my best friends’ son to sacrifice himself, but the sacrifice would save many. It was for the greater good and sometimes one must sacrifice himself for the greater good.

I waited until Sotare was six years old before I decided it was time to start his training. I still worried that he was too young, but he was much more mature than a normal child which I attributed to his genetics. He was an incredible boy who learned very quickly.
I had been on the run from my father the entire time, hiding Sotare from anyone who might run back to my father and tell him.It was easy to see that Sotare was the child of Artemis and Ares since he had an identical face to his father and had Ares’ startling blue eyes. I could not let anyone see him
.
Sotare was a happy child and I strived to keep him that way. There was no reason that his life needed to be unhappy when his parents had already lived such dreary and sad lives. After celebrating his sixth birthday I sat him down and began to explain what we were going to start doing.

“Today we are going to visit a friend,” I said softly to him.

He watched me with intelligence beyond his years and nodded his head when I paused.

“There are many things that I have not told you about your parents and how you came to be in my care. You are a very powerful being and now it is time to start training you. Unfortunately I am unable to train you in this specific magic and so we must see my friend, who is as far as I know the only other being able to perform such magic. It’s not going to be easy and you will not have a normal child’s life anymore after this, but it is necessary.”

“I understand,” he said with a nod of his head. “I’m ready.”

The strength he showed me each day constantly amazed me. “Okay. Grab your bag and we will go.”

Sotare walked into the other room of the house we had been living in. He had very few belongings since we were constantly moving around to avoid detection, but of the few things he did own his most cherished items were the picture of his parents and a clip of hair from both of his parents that I had saved for him. Even though I knew the scent had to have worn off by now, he claimed he could still smell them and kept it near his pillow each night. Some nights I heard him speak to his parents as if they were still here. It was those nights that my heart hurt the most.

I did not dare take him to a werewolf pack for fear of them turning us in to my father despite knowing it was painful for him not to be near one. He would sacrifice some things and in the end sacrifice everything.

Sotare returned with his bag on his shoulders and smiled. “Don’t look so glum, Victor. I’ve known since I can remember that my life would not be the same as others. You’re great to me and I am ready for this.”

I hugged him to me and smiled despite the tears now on my face. “Let’s go.”

He was so much stronger than I was. I had lost everyone and felt their emptiness every day, but he had never had anyone and he smiled at the cruel world each day. He was so much like his mother.

SOTARE

CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN

The swirling vortex of Victor’s teleportation ended and when I opened my eyes we were inside a large cave with very old paintings of weird animals on the walls. A man sat in the back of the room with closed eyes and seemed not to have noticed our presence yet.

“Greetings, Chronos,” Victor said and then bowed low.

I followed his cue and bowed to the man as well despite having no idea who he was. Manners were very important to Victor so I tried my hardest to always be on my best behavior.

“Victor, I wondered how long it would be before you brought him here,” he said as he stood up. “Let me have a look at him.”

Victor smiled at me and said, “It’s alright. Chronos was a friend of your father’s and is a good man. He won’t harm you.”

I walked towards the man who as I got closer was more visible. He was tall, about seven feet tall, with alabaster skin and
grey eyes that seemed translucent. He stopped a few feet away and looked down at me with a deep frown. “You look like your father,” he whispered.

I nodded my head. “Yes, sir.”

He smiled and said, “And you have your mother’s aura. Are you prepared to start training?”

I straightened my shoulders despite my nervousness and said, “Yes, sir.”

He nodded his head approvingly and looked at Victor. “Are you leaving him in my care or will you stay while he trains?”

I looked at Victor and hoped he stayed. He was the only family that I had. He was the only pack that I had. “I will stay,” he said.

Chronos nodded his head and then smiled at me. “Let’s begin with a short tutorial about time travel and the effects one change can make on the world.” Chronos took my hand and we floated through what felt like mist as images of events past flowed by us. We traveled for what felt like hours until he finally set us down in the middle of a jungle area. “That boy over there,” he said pointing at a small boy wearing nothing, but a loincloth that I had not seen, “Is supposed to die.”

I nodded my head to let him know
that I was following him so far.

“If I save him from dying do you think the world will be changed?” he asked.

“Yes, but I can’t see it affecting much,” I admitted, “Perhaps just this area.”

Chronos released my hand and made his way around the trees, undetected, towards the boy. I squatted down and watched as Chronos made his way over there silently. The boy was making some type of weapon, it looked like a spear made from a branch and was completely oblivious to his surroundings. Nearing us I could hear a boar running, the angry puffs it was making meant it had been scared and angered by something. The boar came into the clearing, headed towards the boy, but Chronos intercepted it and stabbed the boar in the head before it could get close enough to hurt the boy. Chronos hurried over to me and whispered, “Now, let’s go to the future and see what differences there are.”

We began floating again and then we stopped in an area that looked familiar and yet different. “This is supposed to be San Francisco,” he told me, “but that boy became one of the strongest and most influential Aztec leaders ever. His children took over all of South America and quite a bit of North America as well. They defeated the Spanish and took their guns and now own what would have been California. What you did not know was that he was a preternatural and all of his offspring as well. With their abilities they claimed much of this area.”

“What about Maurice?” I asked.

Chronos smiled, “Oh he still rules in the future. The preternaturals take over this land from the Aztecs. Do you see what one small change can do?”

I nodded my head. “I understand.”

He nodded his head happily and we traveled back in time again. I was beginning to feel the difference in which way we traveled now. When we went back in time it was as though someone was pulling me backwards and when we went forward I could feel what felt like a hand moving me forward. He went back and we watched instead as the boar killed the boy. It was hard to watch, but I knew it was necessary.

We traveled back to Victor in what was my present and without speaking we had a meal.
It was a huge responsibility to be able to travel back and forth in time. When I began to travel alone I would have to learn to be extremely careful so that I did not alter history too much. One wrong move could mean my parents not even being born. One wrong move could mean I was not born.

To save my parents, no to save the world I would have to do a lot of planning and research to figure out the perfect way to rid the world of Maurice and yet not change too much of history.
I knew so little about history.

“Your first task is to read these,” Chronos said, pointing to a shelf of books that were in the back of the cave. “It will take you quite some time, but it is the most important part of having these powers.
You must fully understand our past to learn from the mistakes to help the future. You do know how to read, right?”

I smiled and nodded my head. “Victor taught me early to read and write.”

“He’s skilled enough to read most of the history, but you might have to explain some words to him since I have not fully completed his education yet,” Victor said.

Chronos nodded his head. “I expected as much. Go to sleep for now, Sotare. Tomorrow you will begin your education.”

“I will return in the morning,” Victor said.

“Happy hunting,” I said as I laid out the bedroll that I had brought with me.

He rested his hand on top of my head and whispered, “Stay safe.”

I lay down and went to sleep. I was ready to start this training and ready to get to start traveling.
I already had a few dates and places picked out that I wanted to visit so I was prepared to train hard to begin my travels.

Before I had a chance to really sleep Chronos was waking me up and shoving a book into my chest. “Time is wasting away,” he said, “Seriously.”

I rubbed my sleep heavy eyes and sat up. “What time is it?”

“Never ask a time traveler that,” Victor said with a yawn, “You’ll get a long lecture about time and the wobbliness of it.”

“Here he goes quoting an old TV show again,” Chronos grumbled.

“There was a TV show about time travelers?” I asked. I wanted to watch that!

“It’s garbage,” Chronos growled, “Dumb British show.”

“It was a good show for its time,” Victor argued, “It had a huge following.”

“So did all those idiotic reality shows which were completely staged,” Chronos said with a smirk.

Victor rolled his eyes. “Sure, throw that in my face.”

“Just because it has a following does not make it good,” Chronos continued.

“Just because you think you’re the authority on time travel doesn’t mean a show about it isn’t good,” Victor countered.

“I
am
the authority on time travel,” Chronos said loudly.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had seen Victor have a conversation with someone like this. How long had it been since he had had a civilized conversation with someone besides me? One where he could talk and smile and not think about all those who had died?

“Remember when Koda was obsessed with it?” Victor asked with a laugh.

“He would carry around that trinket one of them used to fix everything and pretend it worked,” Chronos said with a laugh.

“Yeah, until Selene spelled it to start doing random things and he made the books start flying around the room,” Victor said with a laugh. His smile slowly slipped away and he whispered, “I do miss that crazy wolf and his Mohawks.”

Chronos patted his shoulder and said, “We miss everyone, but in time it will be set right.”

I giggled and they looked at me strangely. “He made a pun,” I explained, “‘In time it will be set right’. Literally.”

Victor and Chronos laughed for a moment and then the seriousness returned. I opened the book in front of me and started reading. I had a feeling I was going to be reading for a LONG time.

* * *

2 YEARS LATER

“Are you sure about this?” Chronos asked me. “You do know the consequences if you change anything, right?”

“Yes, Chronos,” I said for the millionth time, “I could end up erasing myself from existence. I have been planning this trip down to the last possible outcome. I know what can happen.”

He frowned, his brow furrowing into several deep lines. “Alright. Just be careful.”

I could tell that he wanted to go with me, but unfortunately he was not strong enough to time travel often. The traveling we had done when I first came to him had used up most of the energy he had had and recently the only thing he would do was sit in his chair and lecture me. I smiled brightly and said, “I’ll see you soon.”

He laughed and sat down in his chair to wait for my return.
For him it would only be an instance while it would be however long I spent in the past. At one point I had spent an entire week in the past before returning.

I closed my eyes and focused on the exact day I wanted to travel to. This trip I would be going and visiting my father. I would not speak to him, but I would be able to see him and watch him from afar. It was the best I could hope for. The world blurred around me a
nd images of days past swirled by me in a stream. Before they had just seemed a jumbled mess to me, but now that I had been doing my research they were actually useful markers which told me how far I was traveling. If for some reason I got lost I could use them to make my way to the time period I was aiming for. Today’s trip I did not need that assistance and I released my magic, materializing in the Roman Era when Caesar had been in charge. I made sure that I materialized where no one would see me on the outskirts of town and next to a pile of clothes I had gathered on short trips to help with this specific one. I could have just made the journey the first time, but I wanted to spend time in the middle of a crowd and to do that I needed appropriate period clothing. I changed clothes and then headed towards the main road and the sound of cheers and fighting. Today at the coliseum there were several gladiators fighting. I admit I was a bit soft hearted for a predator and I did not particularly like watching fighting, but today was a special day. Today my father would step into the arena and the people would declare him a god.

I put a hood over my head to hide my face from my father should he try to see me and looked down as I walked to keep people from seeing my
face. The town was pretty empty as I made my way, which made sense because who would want to miss the fights?! I hurried to the coliseum and into the stands, taking a seat in the middle of all of the humans to make myself less conspicuous to my father. I was also hoping that being among so many humans would help to mask my scent. The individuals fighting in the arena at the moment were two human slaves and their opponents were two tigers. It always angered me when animals were forced to defend themselves against humans, but I was not here to change that and I knew that such a change would dramatically alter our future and probably not for the better despite my good intentions.

I avoided the fight, but each time the crowd cheered I could not help to glance and see what they were cheering about. The fight finally ended with one human left standing. He raised his spear triumphantly and the crowd cheered and whistled and screamed for him. Idiots.

The arena was cleared and a hush fell over the crowd as Caesar stood and prepared to speak. I ignored his speech because the gate into the arena opened from underneath the stands and a man with muscles that glistened in the sun, hair the same color as mine and a face so eerily similar to mine that it left no doubt that we were related walked into the arena. Father. He walked proudly, his every move that of a predator and showing the grace he seemed natural with. He looked so at home in the bloody arena that it seemed impossible that he could also have been the same man to hold my mother’s lifeless body on a battlefield and cry without reservation even though his troops and pack all stood around him.

He looked around the stands and despite knowing better I hoped he would lock eyes with me. He scanned over me and the humans and then bowed to Caesar. Two giant men entered the arena, along with a platoon of soldiers. The crowd began murmuring and several smiled with bloodlust in their eyes. I had no doubt that there would be bloodshed, but
not from the person they thought. Father carried two swords and several people commented how stupid it was to enter the arena without a shield. I smiled happily and knew that there was no need for a shield since he was too fast to be hit by these mere humans.

The giant men pounded their clubs against their shields and charged towards father. He stood perfectly still, a smile lighting up his face, a smile of pure enjoyment and then his blades spun in silver flashes and the giant men fell to the ground in several different pieces. Father wiped his blades on their tunics and then turned towards the platoon of soldiers while the crowd screamed at the top of their lungs. Four men charged him at once and he made quick work of them. Some of the crowd booed, not wanting the fight to end too quickly. What did they think would happen when they put my father in the arena? Did they think these humans could hold up against him?