General Sterling

Nineteen

    The cave around me is glowing with a river of molten lava. It had been a small opening when I was brought out here. Now, it's a massive crater in the ground. I'm standing in a pool of lava. It feels warm, like a hot bath on a cold day. I survived the second transition of the emblem. The markings have not just reached my neck, they're covering the entire top half of my torso. They're glowing underneath the Geometria Sagrada rankings of the Marchioness of Aleksander. The bright light of the emblem makes the black ink stand out beautifully. 

    "Alright, this is not exactly what I expected," I whispered as I looked my body over. 

    The heat that had left my body has allowed me to heal and my body is slowly drawing it back in. Relief is flooding my aching body as the emblem is getting brighter. I can't leave the massive hole in the ground. It need also needs to be aired out. The fumes left behind can kill any normal being. Darknessian or not. I crawled up the way I was brought in. It's daylight out but it's not going to last very long. It's early in the evening. 

    I placed my hand on the top part of the crater and pushed the fire into it melting away the thin layer of earth left until the fumes below were released. The entire side of the empty hill is charred. The damage is a lot more than it had been the first time thing evolved. I laughed knowing that when the others saw this, they're going to be worried. If they aren't already. 

    This is different than anything I would have expected. The fire is stronger. My body is alive with it. It feels like it has a mind of its own. More like something waiting to be conquered. However, my good mood isn't coming from the power. It's coming from my farewell to my brother. I feel like a weight has been lifted.

    Eyes are on me as soon as I walked into the capital. Angels, demons, humans they're all probably wondering why I'm completely naked and covered in thick pieces of rock that are drying up on my skin.  

    "You look insane," I stopped and turned back to see Azrael with a massive grin on her face. 

    "I transitioned," I informed her. "General Azrael," 

    "I see. How do you feel?" she asked coming over to me. She pushed my long hair off my shoulders and looked me over. "You're bigger," she looked down at my breasts and the rest of my body. "Taller," 

    "Hotter," we both looked up to see Nymph looking me over. Her grin made my own. 

    "Be careful Marchioness of Aleksander. The wolves are close and we can't help here," Azreal bowed. 

    "Bite snacks," I winked at her. She laughed before motioned me to get out of here. 

    "You look amazing Major General Darius," Nymph took my hand and led me towards the castle. 

    "I want to apologize for before. I didn't reject you because I've lost interest. I wasn't feeling up for anything," 

    "I understand," she gave my hand a reassuring squeeze. "Charlie has been waiting for you in your room. She hasn't come out of there since you went underground," 

    "How long was I away?" 

    "A couple of weeks," she answered. I stopped and looked over at her. 

    "Weeks? Where is General Sterling?" 

    "They moved towards the outskirts of Aleksander last night. I believe you've woken up right on time for reinforcements," 

    "What do they think happened to me?" 

    "Since there is no record of your emblem transition. Most think you didn't make it," she admitted. 

    "Thank you, gorgeous. As soon as I return, we'll have some alone time," I tipped her chin with my index finger making her face flush. 

    I rushed back to the castle and went straight for Charlie's room. If she's asleep, I don't want to wake her. A couple of humans followed behind me and were quick to help me with my bath. I normally would ask them to leave me but as soon as the sun settles, I have to go after them. There is no way in hell I'm going to sit back and let them follow through with my plans why I sit back and do nothing. 

    "Are you hungry?" one of the males asked. I nodded. The others began to excuse themselves. I shut the door before they left. They all turned to look at me. 

    "If only one stays, he's not walking out of here. I haven't fed in weeks," I explained. Some of them smiled as I dried myself with the heat in my body. They surrounded me as I made myself comfortable. 

    They probably expected me to have a little fun with them but the amount of blood I required didn't leave room for them to stay awake for anything more than this. They're all sleeping now. I went over to the window to see that it's dark enough for Charlie to go outside. I went over to my room to see her sleeping in my bed. I can smell her tears, her grief as I pull the curtains open.

    "Go away, Armad," she growled. 

    "He's not here," I laughed. She shot up looking at me, her eyes glowing. I laughed when her body collided with my own. Her eyes are a little swollen from the crying and I can no longer sense myself inside of her. 

    "You're alive," she cried. 

    "I am. Why did you think I wasn't," I asked. 

    "Your blood burned away," she placed her hand on her chest. "Inside of me. Inside of the General. There was nothing and no one was able to go near your hole," 

    "Did he feed you?" I asked. She nodded almost as if she were ashamed. "Did you hurt someone?" 

    "Someones," she nodded. 

    "Are you fed?" I asked. 

    "I am," 

    "Let's go help him. He's going to need the help. Alpha's are nasty little mutts," I smiled at her. Her eyes lit up brightly. She ran around the room getting ready as I walked down to the throne room where Alexander is sitting alone. His eyes lit up when his eyes met mine. I was missed. That's cute. 

    "You're alive," he stood up. 

    "Why does everyone keep saying that?" I laughed. 

    "You were gone for a long time. The General couldn't hold off anymore. Two more Generals were murdered last week," 

    "Why are you here and not out there with him?" I asked. 

    "He told us to stay back. For this very reason," he motioned me.  

    "Get everyone ready. Let's go," I ordered. 

    "Major General," he bowed and whistled. 

    It was like they were all just waiting for me to return. I laughed when they all came over to us excitedly. We headed in the direction the General went with Alexander leading the way. I checked my weapons and armor to make sure I'm completely ready for a fight. I ordered them to take the high ground. Wolves like to hide in thick vegetation and we can use that to our advantage. 

    There are dead wolves all over the place along with the ashes of our fallen vampires but nothing else. No sulfur from the demons. No wounded angels. No naked incubi. I can hear the wolves fighting in the darkness of the forest ahead. Everyone split up and surrounded the area. I jumped down alone and began to walk towards them. Wolves all rushed surrounding me in seconds. 

    "Good evening. I'm looking for General Sterling. Do any of you know where he went?" I asked.

    "Don't play with your food," Alexander laughed. 

    I jumped up when one of the wolves attacked. I landed on its back and easily locked my legs around him and bit into his neck. The others jumped down as I made my way deeper into the forest. Some of the wolves still smell like mortals. They haven't been wolves long enough to know how to handle us which means the villages around us might all be compromised. There are too many of them swarming around here. 

    "He's not here. My guess is he's in the village getting to the alphas," Alex informed me. "Go, Charlie, and got I have got it here," 

    "Are you sure?" I asked. We both looked back to see Charlie laugh maniacally as she pounced on a wolf stabbing him with a hunting knife. "Yeah, okay," 

    "Locate the other alphas. Stick to the plan," he handed me a map. I opened it up. He pointed out where we are and pointed me in the direction of the first checkpoint. I nodded and rushed in that direction. 

    The first two locations have been cleared. Two dead alphas out of thirty-six. I can taste the General's blood in the air. He's not too far away. I stretched my limbs and shook off the run here. There's fire all around me. My body is pulling it in greedily. He's only got a few men with him. The rest have already fallen to this. 

    There's a group of wolves surrounding what looks like a chapel. His scent along with others is coming from inside. I smiled to myself as I got a little closer without them noticing me. I don't smell like a vampire right now. The heat in my body is masking my scent. It's still there, just mixed it in with the days I spent in flames.

    "You in there, General?" I called out catching the mutts' attention. 

    "Ada?" he called out. 

    "Stay where you are," I growled. 

    The wolves turned their back on the chapel as I jumped up and scaled the side of the building as they tried to get to me. The flames I pulled in gathered in the tips of my fingers. I jumped down to the floor as they all ran towards me at once and I released them. A loud whistling sound erupted from inside as they burn through everything they came into contact with. I pushed more heat, bending the flames to go after the ones that tried to run away. I pulled them back inside of me as soon as we were cleared. I don't feel weakened in the slightest. That's interesting. Let's see what we've got, now. 

    "What was that sound?" the door to the chapel opened. The General and six others walked out. 

    "That was the sound of the calvary arriving," I smiled. 

    "Major General," the others came over to me as if they didn't believe it was me.

    "Did you come alone?" the General asked. 

    "No, Alexander is right behind me. You're surrounded. Did you know that?"  I removed my half-burned cloak and tossed it aside.  

    "I didn't," he laughed. "It wasn't like we were trying to survive in a mortal chapel of all places. We're going to need to find you stronger armor," he tapped my bare shoulder. Part of my armor melted away. "We still have six alphas left. They turned all the surrounding villages. We need back up," 

    "You want to send for the captors?" I asked. 

    "When you took a few extra days down in your hole of magma, the other houses found it too big a risk. Michael thought it was too risky to send in his angels. With the angels out, the other houses pulled their generals as well. It's just us out here," 

    "f**k, why would you bring everyone out here if under these conditions?" 

    "We didn't have a choice," he handed me a map. "The Queen is pissed. She sent people in without us. We're technically reinforcements," 

    "s**t, I'm sorry I left you to deal with this," I spread the map on the floor. He has four crossed out. They had taken the alphas by force and in numbers. "We need to call everyone back," 

    "Why?" one of his guys asked. 

    "You're right," the General agreed. "We pull everyone back here," he tapped our location. "And we move in on the other alphas quietly," 

    "Right," I nodded. "We can still give her what she wants and we can get a little payback. I'll have Alexander and Hellbourne-" 

    "Hellbourne is gone," he sighed. I looked around at the others to see them look away. 

    "Ok," I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Alexander and Charlie can take the front," I paused and looked up at him. "What the f**k do you mean Hellbourne is gone? Why is Hellbourne gone?" 

    "He called the Queen crazy. He was the one leading the first wave," one of his formers answered when he couldn't. 

    "Why would she do that?" I asked the General. He turned away. "Armad, I'm talking to you,"

    "She thought you were dead. Milly does stupid s**t like this when she's-" 

    "When she's what?" 

    "When she's grieving. You were down there for fifteen days. Your blood burned out in both me and Charlie. I had to force-feed her before she lost it. Milly saw the whole thing. I happened right in the middle of a meeting. She attacked one of the captured alphas and killed a few guards," 

    "Charlie?" I asked. He nodded. The rest of us laughed. "Alright," I stood up. "This is the only way to get what she wants right now. Call everyone back. Let Alexander know they need to draw the new wolves out towards them. One of you needs to get this back to the Queen," I cut my thumb, smearing my blood on the map over the location I'm going to need her to send the captors to. If I'm right, she's going to come with them to make sure it's really me. "We have a few hours of darkness left. Let's make them count," 

    "Let's go," the General nodded. "Jess, you're the fastest. Go," 

    "Yes sir," she nodded. I folded the map up and handed it to her. She tucked it into her cloak before disappearing in the direction I had come from. I can feel his eyes on me. He gave them his orders and they disappeared. 

    "I thought you were dead," he admitted. He didn't look up at me when I looked over at him. 

    "Me too," I admitted. That's when his eyes met mine. 

    "You look like a different person. You smell different. Your eyes," he reached for my face. "What happened to you?" I pulled my shirt where he had bitten me. His eyes met mine again. "How?" 

    "I don't know. I think I did die. I saw him," 

    "Mathew?" he asked. His eyes sparked red. 

    "I already knew. Mathew and I were close," 

    "You don't know," he scoffed. 

    "That he was in love with you?" I asked. 

    "Was he?" he chuckled. "Your brother had a sort of-" 

    "Feminine charm?" I offered. "I know. He was my brother. His scent, even his blood. I'm not judging you. Mathew was beautiful in a way I wasn't. We lacked what the other had. It's what made us so close to one another," 

    "I see it," he smirked. "You're just-" 

    "Easier on the eyes and bigger in the chest?" 

    "A lot bigger," he looked down at my chest before looking up at me. "I'm sorry," 

    "For what?" 

    "Had I not-" he stopped himself from admitting it. "Your brother would still be alive if it wasn't for me," 

    "You gave my brother something he thought was worth dying for. Something my family would have killed him for. Something they'd kill me for if I wasn't who I am. Apologizing for that is dumb. You're my friend General. Maybe more than that. A little less lovers. It feels less lonely with you around. I'm sorry I made you worry," 

    "I'm just glad you're back," he pulled me into a hug. "I was barely holding it together myself. Charlie and Milly, they lost their s**t," 

    "To think the queen actually cares for me," I laughed. 

    "Edwardian went for my neck when she found out," he pulled on his armor to show me her claw marks. I laughed. 

    "She's not going to remember that when she's older," I smirked.

    "I hope so," he nodded. "Let's get back to the others. We don't have much time left,"