Hello everyone!

I'm back from Europe and I got this chapter out as soon as possible. I'm sad to report that I probably won't have co-author Alex's input for the rest of the fanfiction. *Tear* She is rather busy for the next week, and I plan on finishing this by the end of the month. That means my personal deadline is in about ten days! I'm fairly sure that I will be able to make that deadline, and this story will be finished up within this short time. I plan on posting the epilogue on July 31st, but we still have two or three chapters in between now and then. So, keep checking for updates in the next few days, because I'll have to post the remainder of the chapters in this time.

Keep reading everyone, and hold on to your keyboards because this story is taking off towards the end!

RxR

-TG


Chapter 21- Fueling the Fire

Jasper POV

I ran in a large loop around the western border of the Houston territory, heading toward the general direction of where I expected the enemy training camp to be. It wouldn't be long at all until I was reaching the end of our territory and the beginning of theirs, meaning that I would no longer be safe from warranted ambushes. By warranted, I mean that no vampire had the guts to attack me on my own territory—at least, none that had lived to tell about it. If I stepped on to an enemy coven's territory, attacks were not uncommon, if not expected. I just had to pay very close attention to the territory border lines and how deep into foreign territory I ventured. If a did this correctly, I could spend only had much time in foreign territory has absolutely possible.

There were three divisions of territory in the Houston area, claimed by three different armies. Our territory- Maria's land- was the largest, as she held all of the southern and eastern portions along with a section of the Northeastern. The city limits, suburbs, and exurbs within those portions all belonged to Maria. We placed our camp a few miles out of the Houston border to remain secluded. When a large group of vampires resides near a very public place for an extended period of time people tend to notice—especially when that particular group of vampires brings their carnivorous appetites with them. Luckily, Houston has more than 10 million people living within; therefore it's a bit easier to hide the evidence when ten or so of those people go missing at a given time. Of course, we weren't the only group that had to deal with hiding our meals.

One other group, a small army of 12 newborns and a single leader, held onto what remained of the northern territory. We greatly outnumbered this group, and Maria often complained that it was ridiculous that we allowed that group to remain. The only determining factor of their reign was the army's well-planned hiding tactics. From what we had discovered, their leader had a gift for not being found. It was a very annoying gift for those who wanted to dominate all of Houston (Maria), though it was a very handy gift for the bearer. This factor alone kept Maria from being able to launch an attack against their meager forces in the years we had held our claim on the majority of Houston. Their territory wasn't significant enough to bother over just yet, anyway. The other coven, the one which we planned to attack in little over a week, had the more significant amount of land. For a frustrating amount of time, they had held all the territory from the southwestern to the northwestern portion. The border between their southwestern portion and Maria's southern portion had been fought over and debated on for years, and never peacefully.

Up until very recent events, our two armies had been fairly even in numbers. We had always boasted a very small upper hand, having four leaders instead of two, but our newborn count had always been practically equivalent. Ever since a fight had broken out within the enemy coven diminishing its numbers by four newborns, Maria had been ready to start the feud to get their territory. Before Alice had come along, Maria had just been looking for a stimulus to begin an all-out war against them. Then, when Alice had been- I cringed internally at the thought- killed, it had only given Maria a reason to attack; not that Maria really would have cared if anything actually had happened to Alice.

I was far outside of our army's territory now, but too far outside the Houston limit to actually be in the enemy's territory. I was dancing on the border now, knowing I'd have to enter sometime if I wanted to get anything done. Finally, preparing myself to spring forward at my fastest pace, I entered. Wanting to avoid being in their territory for very long, I shot through the woods at a breakneck speed. I was in the layer of forest that bordered their camp, looking for a scent that would lead me to their headquarters. I picked up on a faintly familiar scent a few miles into their territory, guessing it was probably one of their leaders, both of which I had encountered on a previous occasion.

After a few seconds of following the scent, I started to hear very familiar sounds. If I hadn't known exactly where I was, I could have sworn I was approaching our own camp. The sounds were ferocious snarls emitting from the chests of sparring newborns and the rush of wind passing them as they moved so quickly around each other that they would have been incomprehensible blurs to a human. I didn't know if I should make my presence detectable before I entered, eliminating the element of surprise. Just before I reached their field, I purposefully snapped a twig beneath my foot, deciding that interrupting them in the midst of their practice session might not be the best decision I've ever made. As soon as the little piece of wood broke, creating a infinitesimal sound to anyone other than a vampire, the growls cut off completely. The wind stopped moving as the entire army froze. I took this as my cue to enter, almost laughing at how similar the entrance was to the one I had just made in front of my own army—almost. This wasn't exactly a laughing matter.

The differences between my audience here and the audience I had had there were obvious. My army had expected my arrival, while, by the look on these newborn's faces and the surprise in their emotions, the enemy army had no inclination that I would be arriving. My army had not only anticipated my arrival, but was furious that I would return after such an impetuous display of treason against Maria. This army feared my arrival—well, the majority of them did. The entire army of sixteen newborns analyzed me carefully, taking in my horribly scarred surface in awe. I grinned a little, knowing by their fear that they were probably estimating how many newborns I had killed (too many to count) and their chances against me (Slim, if any). Two emotions were set apart from the rest, however. The two leaders eyed me disdainfully. They stood off to the side, and it was obvious that I had just interrupted them in the middle of observing their army practice. The leaders weren't afraid of me, though I had won quite a few battles against their armies before. If the battles we had fought previously were any inclination, than they had justified reason to be afraid of me. Still, if anything, they were only annoyed that I had disturbed their practice when they were supposed to be battling me in little over a week.

"Wesley, Regina—always a pleasure to see you." I greeted in a friendly tone, though my voice was laced with sarcasm. The relationship between the couple and I was anything but friendly. Wesley raised one eyebrow in surprise, while Regina stayed on her guard. She was crouched a little, as if expecting me to spring. After a few seconds of analyzing my relaxed posture, she straightened up, nodding once in response to my greeting.

"Whitlock." Wesley began formally. "I don't see any reason for you to be here. Your leader has already informed us of the date, and you don't look like her normal choice of scout." Wesley looked me over once and crouched a little. "Normally scouts are more… dispensable soldiers. I always thought Maria found you too invaluable to send into enemy territory. A little down on your game lately, eh?" He grinned, and I knew he would like nothing more than to think I was any less dangerous than I had always been. Not likely, I thought, but didn't express aloud. I had to drop my guard a little if I was going to compromise with them.

"No, Wesley, I actually volunteered to come here." I let that hang in the air as I read the puzzled feelings in Wesley and his mate.

"Oh? And why would you volunteer? I've never heard of a vampire with a death wish." He and Regina chuckled at the threat, but I remained stoic.

"I came here as… an informant of sorts. You see, our army has 20 newborns. That, along with our four leaders, including myself, makes us a formidable number against your mere 16." Regina's eyes squinted in anger, but Wesley's expression didn't change.

"Yes, we know. Give us some credit, Whitlock. Your army isn't the only one with scouts." He paused, as if waiting for a reaction from me. When he didn't receive one, he continued. "From what we understand, we have no need to worry. Not only have you lost two newborns recently- one with a formidable gift, so I've been informed –but the four newborns you added have only been in your army for mere weeks. Fresh strength isn't enough to make up for lack of experience, as you should know. We are not worried about your slapdash numbers. Let me tell you this—soon after the battle starts, we will be even in numbers."

I was actually quite surprised. I hadn't expected such a good observation from the army, so I expected that they must have gained some great scouts since I had last observed them. I put on a grim expression. "Yes, I expect that you're right. Any battle we were to have now would probably be a close one, with many unfortunate fatalities. Except, I'm afraid to say you have more to worry about."

Regina finally broke her silence, "Please, Jasper, if you are trying to frighten us into surrendering, you have another thing coming to you. No amount of warning or manipulation from you could make us falter for even one second." Regina's expression and furious emotions told me that she would only be too happy to be the other thing coming to me. I almost wanted to laugh. I wasn't at all afraid of Regina, though it would be rather bothersome if I had to deal with Wesley's vengeance should anything happen to Regina because of me.

Heavily feigning concern, I appeared appropriately abashed, "I would never! That would just be plain insulting to you, Regina. Where would I find the audacity to do that?" Regina narrowed her eyes once again, annoyed with my mockery of her.

Regina's emotions twisted with fury, though I dampened them a little with my power. "Whitlock, I-" But Wesley cut her off.

"Jasper, you have three seconds to explain yourself before I have to forcibly remove you from our territory." Wesley wasn't kidding now, so I began to think of how I'd put my request into words.

"Ok, then. I have a proposition for you to consider." Wesley gave me a look that told me I had the remaining two seconds to continue, or his original threat applied. "I'm not asking you to surrender your territory. I know that's far too much of you to request, and that's also the last thing that I need. What I do need is for you to simply not show up to the battle."

Wesley looked at me like I was crazy. "I don't see much difference there, Jasper. Either I forfeit my territory by not appearing at battle, or I fight for my territory and the rest of the territory I deserve." I frowned, realizing I'd have to change my approach. I was dealing with territorial, greedy vampires, and if I was going to succeed, I needed to appeal to their interests.

I started again, "What if I told you that, by not appearing at the battle, I can grant you all of Maria's territory along with what you already have?" The offer I had presented was far too good to refuse, and I could feel their interest growing at my persuasion and some minor manipulation from my power.

"Go on." Regina said, a hint of a grin appearing at the corner of her lips—though it was more from greed and the prospect of more territory than from genuine happiness.

"I can't tell you all the details of my plan, but I can tell you this—if everything goes according to this plan, then Maria will no longer be at the end of these nine days. But that is only if everything goes according to plan. If you agree to remain here on the day of battle, than I can guarantee that Maria will not be here to claim her land any more." I couldn't really 'guarantee' this, but I figured that if things went wrong I wouldn't be around to face my punishment for false promises.

Wesley still looked more concerned than greedy, which made me worry if this would work. "If you plan on overthrowing your leader, how do you expect us to trust you? Why should we believe that you will just hand over the territory once Maria's gone? What should make us think that you won't take the territory for yourself?"

I laughed. "That is a good a point, Wesley, but I have no desire for Maria's territory. All I want is to make sure Maria, Nettie, Lucy, and all of their newborns are gone when I leave this place. I think I'll be leaving the South for good after this, and I don't want to be followed by Maria's soldiers. I've been here far too long, and the battle for territory doesn't really appeal to me any longer."

Regina still felt suspicious, but something told me that she wasn't suspicious of whether I was telling the truth or not. She was probably wondering why I was suddenly so changed from the way I had been when we had encountered each other previously. It surprised me when she spoke up first, "I believe him."

Wesley was surprised as well. He looked down to his companion, judging her expression for a few moments before nodding. "Ok then, Whitlock. You have yourself a deal. We will not show up to the battle, under the impression that from that point on, all of Maria's territory will be ours. Am I correct?"

I nodded. "Yes. It's a deal. Lay low for a few days, and all but a small portion of the Houston territory will be yours."

Regina smiled greedily, "That will change soon enough. That little army won't be able to hold us off for long." I laughed as the couple began to go off into battle tactics. They didn't seem to mind that I was in such close proximity as they discussed their domination of the city I had once co-ruled. I took this as a sign that they truly trusted me to keep my word. I was glad, because this was exactly what I needed.

I turned to leave, thinking of how I would relay this meeting to Maria when I got back to our headquarters. Of course, I wouldn't tell her what really happened with the enemy army. I would tell her that I offered surrender to Wesley and Regina; that I told them how grossly outnumbered they were against us and how there was no chance that they would succeed. I might even tell Maria that their army was even weaker than I had originally expected. I would lie. I would do anything to fuel her greedy, malicious, blood thirsty mind so that when she approached that battle field and realized that her opponent was the Volturi instead of the weak enemy coven, it would only be that much more enjoyable to watch.


I know this one was shorter than the past few chapters have been, but trust me--the next chapter will be rather long. Hahaha... trust me. Oh well! Gotta go, some people have epic battles to write! Oops, didn't mean to give any hints. ;)

-TG