Chapter 8

That Which Submits, Rules.

            Silver leaned forwards to catch what Renn had said. "Stop whispering. I can't hear you."

            The vampire's head jerked up, and he tossed his head rather arrogantly. "I said, Silver, that the young man who just crashed into our table was probably the strongest thing that stands on two legs I have ever seen."

            Risika nodded and smiled a little. "That's our Ty. He's a total nut case."

            Renn was about one of the stranger things to show up in Las Noches over the past few weeks. His skin was of an odd hue, one that no one could quite place. He was probably from a desert country, which would explain his seemingly eternal tan. When anyone asked him where he originated from, he began speaking in a tongue that no one could understand.

            The language changed every time he spoke, occasionally it was old Latin, and occasionally it was the language of the ancient Germanic tribes. Every so often, he spoke in Hebrew, or ancient Greek. Once he spoke in Gaelic, but a vampire who's origins were in that country answered him, and he stopped that quickly. Most often, however. He spoke his own language; the language of the Mesopotamians.

            It was likely that Renn was just as old as Siete, but neither was about to try to prove their ages. However, the self-proclaimed oldest vampire of all was simply called Blood, and he had a mate, Ave. Together, they were the strongest vampires to ever walk the earth.

            But Ave and Blood both lived somewhere near their birthplace near the Euphrates river. Renn, their child by birth and by blood, was an elegant and knowledgeable man who spoke nearly every tongue under the sun, and who always seemed to make sense, no matter what he was saying.

            Except for now.

            The things he was saying were completely impossible. Seite refused to believe any of it.

            "There is no way the Den could possibly be back!" he hissed, cutting into Risika's conversation with the ancient being. "We killed them all the last time!"

            "Not true." Renn's voice was sharp. "Shi told Silver about it, and Blood told me about it. Ave almost got killed by one of the Den. Don't be stubborn."

            This was news. Bad news. "Ave? Almost killed?" Siete sat back heavily. "That's... not possible."

            Silver grumbled something, and was doubly irritated when no one asked him what he said.  Louder, he said, "We shouldn't act too soon, that will be our failing."

            "But we can't wait too long." Risika's tiger-gold eyes flashed as a memory passed over her. "A lifetime is too long to live in fear."

            Renn's voice took on a tone of bitter irony. "That's what we thought at Masada, so everyone killed themselves."

            Silver and Siete both knew about the ancient Jewish War against the Romans; they had both lived through it. But Renn had actually fought in it, and the memories still troubled him.

            Risika, however, was sorely confused. "What's Masada? And why did everyone kill themselves?"

            "Because it was the only way to win."

             A single thought passed through each Vampires mind at the moment, transmitted to them from an elusive but powerful source.

            That Which Submits, Rules.

            Ty had always detested being around witches, especially Macht witches. He found that their dwelling places always smelled like secret things, things that the witches never even knew about, but were there just the same. Tertia's home, for instance, was filled with the brimstony scent of Shadow Dragons; some of the rarest and most elusive Shadow-Creatures in existence. For one, it was annoying that the witches were living with such good things and never even knew it, for two, the brimstone irritated Ty's nose.

            Triste's were different; Ty himself had been a Triste in life, so he had a certain respect for them. Especially Alexander, brother of Risika, who was likely the bravest Triste Ty had ever met. He walked without fear among vampires and witches alike. The only thing Alexander feared was Demons, but Ty was afraid of Demons too, so there was nothing wrong with that.

            "I like cheese." Raven had stopped talking for a while when he noticed that his friend was deep in thought. When he noticed Ty coming out of it, he said the first thing that had come to mind.

            It worked.  Ty cut up into laughter. Then , he noticed an old carved mahogany door with a silver doorknob.

            Raven saw him looking at it and rolled his eyes. "That's Aunt Tertia's top-secret-ultra-confidential-totally-forbidden-off-limits-room. Nobody knows what's in there, not even Car-Yin." Raven squinted at his friend, who was looking rather odd. "Hey, Ty. You okay?"

            Ty snapped out of his trance as they entered Raven's temporary residence. "COMIC BOOKS!" He shouted as soon as the door opened. "Wow!" he practically dove into a chair and grabbed one of the many Manga's that littered the floor of Raven's room. "Ripfire hates these things!" Ty said, holding out the comic book. "He says that he can't stand the big-eyed morons running around in oversized metal armor blowing things up. He says real war isn't like that." The silver-eyed boy shook his head. "He says that real war is men in leather and iron armor fighting with bows, spears and axes."

            Raven shrugged. "I don't know much about war. I read these things because I like trying to draw them later. Hey, check this out..." He gestured to a vent in the wall. "Aunt Tertia doesn't know about this. From here you can hear EVERYTHING they say!"

            For some reason unknown to Raven, Ty stiffened. "What do you  hear usually?"

            "Mostly stuff about my cousin Sarah." Raven pointed to a picture on the wall, one of the few times they had actually taken a picture of his aunts and his cousins all together. Raven and Sarah had been good friends for a while, but then they had separated as she grew closer to her sister Adrianne and her mother, Dominique. "She disappeared a while ago, and no one's seen her since. It sounds like they're all in some kind of vampiric cult, know what I mean?"

            Ty gave him a look that, for the briefest of moments, showed his true form. "You have no idea, Rave. Your aunts are into some deep stuff. I'd stay out of it if I were you." The boy shook his head, breaking his eye contact with Raven. The moment was over, he was human again.

            "So! What kind of movies' d'ya got in this place?"

            Silver was lost as to what he should do. He amused himself by throwing newspapers into a fire and watching them burn. He then picked up a long-stemmed rose, a blood-red one, and threw it into the flames.

            Watching things burn was only a momentary pleasure. Silver sighed and brushed back his hair with his hands. What is REALLY going on here? He wondered. Because of Jessica's books, the Den would know exactly where to come to obliterate my line. Silver wasn't an arrogant man by nature, but he also knew the futility of modesty when the truth was obvious: his line was the strongest of all known vampiric lines. And what of this new threat from Europe? Shi hasn't told me much about this one. He sorted through the information he had. Lycanthrope packs moving oddly in England, Mer-folk attacking human sailors in the Baltic Sea, LiveShadows grouping in France, the Banners organizing themselves once more, the Black Sorceress rising up again... as usual, Nothing makes sense.

            Silver picked up more papers and threw them into the flames. Nothing made sense. Nothing ever did.

AN: I am aware of the general crappiness of this chapter. I put it off for too long, and it sucks. I got Shattered Mirror in the middle of writing it, so that's why Sarah and Adianna suddenly make appearances. Gomen Asai! Don't shoot me!