The Lunar Spirit

Chapter 11 Captured

Jakob had revealed that the pack warriors caught a drakul, who surrendered. I remembered seeing a vampire that wasn't doing anything but watching. I wondered if it was the same drakul.

"All of the warriors gathered in the war room to discuss tonight's events," Jakob told Sheila and me. "The captured drakul was brought in for questioning." With everyone sleeping, the house was completely dark. Luckily lycans had good night vision because Sheila and I were eager to hear what Jakob had to say. I could make out just enough of his face to see that he was bursting to tell us everything. I knew I wasn't going to be getting sleep anytime soon.

"The vampire's name is Vince, and he works for a drakul named Damarcus." This wasn't a name that I was familiar with. Each vampire clan has its leader, and the drakuls had five clans, and the clans ran the local vampire seethe's. Each of the clans had different tactics and agendas, but all were deadly. It was clan Obsidian that had attacked the camp where my parents died.

"Which clan does he lead?" Sheila asked.

"That's the crazy thing. Vince says that Damarcus has managed to unite all five clans. Obsidian, Nightshade, Lurker, Noctem, and Bloodworth. He rules them all." This was terrifying news. If the drakuls were united, there's no telling what destruction they could cause to the lycan population.

"What?" I said in disbelief.

"Vince says that Damarcus promises the drakuls that they will rule our lands again." Jakob continued to explain. "They want to wipe out the west pack houses. Restore drakuls to the same glory that the first vampire had created. Vince says if they can kill the lycans, us, it will prove their strength and power over all the Naturam."

Naturam is a word that encompasses all supernatural beings; lycans, vampires, witches, selkies, naguals, harpies, and more. Each group of naturam beings tends to keep to themselves to maintain the peace between our races and the normal humans. Like vampires, harpies tend to be violent and take what they want from anyone. Witches sometimes can meddle in the affairs of other beings. In contrast, the other animal shape-shifters like selkie and nagual are a peaceful race that wants no trouble with anyone. One of the few places where several naturam species live together in somewhat peace is a big city called Faeton. If Damarcus intends to rule over all of the naturam, I doubt he would do it peacefully.

"Why would he do that? How could he do that? He can't just take our lands. Right?" Asked Sheila.

"Alpha William asked Vince just how Damarcus plans to accomplish his mission. Vince said that Damarcus is searching for something, the talisman of Desmodus."

Over one thousand years ago, the first vampire created was Desmodus. Damned by a coven of witches, Desmodus learned that he could poison his victims with his condition, thus creating a legion of vampires. To gain more control and push out the witches and lycan from the area, Desmodus stole a talisman from the coven. By mixing his blood with a vampire bat's blood, he used the talisman to grow his army, instantly turning people into drakuls. At first, his plan worked, and the drakuls ruled what is now the pack west land territory. However, the lycans and witches worked together to defeat Desmodus and lost the war and lands to the lycan.

"The talisman of Desmodus?" I puzzled, "I thought that was just a legend." It was part of our history we learned, but not all history happens the way we recall it, so I assumed the magic talisman was a myth.

"That's what Lucas said."

The mention of Lucas' name made me ask, "Is he okay?" I blurted it out before realizing how it sounded. "I just mean, I saw him get clawed in the back." I shifted my eyes between Jakob and Sheila.

"Oh, yeah, he got checked out and bandaged up. He should be fine in a day or two." Jakob answered, a bit irritated that I interrupted him or maybe uncomfortable I asked about Lucas. It wasn't a topic I wanted to discuss right, so I listened as Jakob continued, with no more interruptions.

"So, the legend goes that Desmodus hid the talisman somewhere in the western lands. Vince says the only clue they have is the shield of Desmodus, which was buried with the talisman but discovered by rogues half a century later. Since the rogues were not from the lands, they didn't know how to describe the exact location. All he could tell the drakuls was that it was in the rocks or mountains. Probably in the western lands." He exposited.

After a pause, I thought it safe to ask, "So, why did they attack us?"

"According to the traitor Vince, the drakuls plans were to force us into the main house and keep us occupied while a stealth group broke into the archives. They were looking for any information about the talisman or Desmodus. They're desperate." Jakob said disdainfully. It took a moment for all of the information to process in my head.

"Wait, even if what this traitor says is true, why would he betray his kind?" I questioned, and Jakob nodded his head as if he had that same thought.

"Exactly. We were all a bit skeptical. For all we know, this is one big elaborate plan of the drakuls. However, Vince is the only vampire that didn't attack us tonight, and he says that he doesn't want vampires to rule."

Something I thought to be interesting since vampires need to feed on beings, it would make sense if they could have a steady supply they could control. The question then becomes, why wouldn't a vampire want to rule? Jakob continued talking.

"Again, it could all be a ruse, but Alpha William thinks he might be sincere. So, tomorrow he will call Medani Josephine to come and question the traitor."

"Who is Medani Josephine?" I asked. I knew what a 'Medani' was; it's a title given to wise female witches in a coven. However, I didn't recognize the name, Josephine.

"Medani Josephine has been working with the pack for a few years now. We bring her in mostly on investigations. Witch magic can be quite helpful. We'll see if she can verify that Vince is telling the truth."

"Oh, okay, wow. That's a lot for one night." I said, a bit stunned from information overload.

"Yeah, we should probably get some rest. I know I'll have a lot of work to do tomorrow." Jakob said as he took off his jacket and balled it up into a pillow. Sheila yawned in agreement with him, and we all lay down on the floor.

"Good night," Sheila said to Jakob and me.

"Good night." We responded. I stood up at the ceiling, my mind running a mile a minute. I still wasn't tired, and with all that Jakob told me, I didn't know if I could sleep even if I were exhausted. The floor wasn't very comfortable, so I tossed and turned for a while. It didn't take long for me to hear the sounds of Jakob snoring.

All my friends were asleep, except me. I realized I hadn't had anything to drink since the attack, and I was suddenly parched. It had to be almost one in the morning, when I slowly stood up and carefully stepped over the people lying on the floor. Made my way over to the kitchen. I noticed one of the kitchen lights was on.