Lanius arrived at their property still famished. He would feed off of the vampire that he and Diana had turned before he left. The blood of a vampire would give him more strength. He entered the house and walked casually through the dining room, past the kitchen and down the stairs to the large oak door. What he found behind it frightened him.
Both of the cells that had been occupied when he had left were filled with blood and gore and the ashes of a fallen vampire. Blood stained the walls and the floor. What has she done? he thought incredulously. He looked around at the carnage in wonder.
When Lucas arrived Lanius was sitting in the living room still stunned from what he had seen in the basement. Lucas was not alone. He had done as he was told and gathered the other Patriots and there they all stood, except for Cinnin, awaiting orders.
Once they were inside Lanius took Lucas into the kitchen away from the others.
"You must look in the basement." he told Lucas
"Do you mean the mess Diana left in the wake of the pain that you caused her?" he replied with daggers in his eyes.
"You knew of this?" Lanius inquired. "How could you not tell me?"
"She went berserk when you left. Besides the carnage in the basement she attacked two other humans in broad daylight on the street outside. It was only chance that I found her before anyone else. I covered it up for her and tended to her."
"She did all of that because of me?"
"You broke her heart, Lanius. You two have the strongest love I have ever witnessed and you left her. What did you expect? That she would just take it in stride?"
"I cannot believe that she would do that."
"Believe it. I saw her, covered in blood, standing over her kill outside on the porch of the poor old man's house. I sped her inside and disposed of the bodies. She was catatonic. When she did come around she only wept."
Lanius was taken aback. He knew leaving Diana would hurt her but he thought that she would see the wisdom in what he had done and carry on as the strong woman he knew. He could never imagine her doing such things.
As his mind spun in these thoughts his phone rang. It was the Magistrate.
"Sir, I've found but one property on record for Cinnin and will text you the address. We have little other information on him. He was an elder, after all, and not subject to investigation but once I told the Governor of you making the request yourself he immediately gave me permission."
"Thank you." Lanius said and hung up. He immediately checked his messages and saw the address come through. That must be where he has her. He's waiting for me to come and get her he thought and then looked up at Lucas.
"We have a location. Let us devise a plan of attack." he said and they joined the other Patriots in the other room. Diana's maniacal behavior will have to wait Lanius thought entering the room.
"Patriots." he said loudly, they all stood at attention. "Today we do what we never have done before. Today we march against one of our own. Cinnin has betrayed us and attacked me, taking Diana hostage. We believe he is waiting for us at a location we have details on and we will soon descend upon it and kill him for his treason."
It was Sarasoto who spoke first. "I will cut him down with my axe for you, my Lord. Just point me in the right direction."
"Settle down, you fool." interjected Balor. "Cinnin is as old as most of us. He will be a hard vampire to kill. Not only that, surely he expects us all to come in support of Lanius and in search for our precious Diana. He may have an army, another army, in wait for us.
He looked at Lanius and Lucas knowingly, saying but not saying that he understood that Cinnin had been the unknown general.
"Nonsense." replied Sarasoto "Surely it was his army that we recently fought in the desert. He has no vampires left to ally with, we laid waste to his army already."
"There is wisdom in Balor's words, Sarasoto." Lucas chimed in. "Surely Cinnin still has allies, and likely Oberon is there with him. Remember, he escaped us in the desert as did many of the young vampires."
"Yes." said Lanius "We must be on our guard. We do not know how deep this treason goes. Cinnin may have many old and young vampires alike involved in his coup. Who knows what riches he has promised in return for their allegiance to a traitor. I believe he lays in wait for us to attack, and that is what we must do, but we must do it carefully."
"Balor, have you fed?" Lanius asked.
"Yes, my Lord, just before I came here."
"As did I." said Lucas.
"I have need for more blood to be strong for this fight." said Lanius. "Balor, you and Lucas stay here and find out all that you can about the address I will text you. Whoever wants to feed with me before our fight come with me to the border."
Several of the Patriots joined Lanius while the others stayed behind to assist Balor and Lucas. They immediately went to work. Balor took the address when Lanius sent it and looked up the blueprints online. He and Lucas studied it for weaknesses while the others looked on anxiously. They were all itching for a fight.
"It's surrounded on three sides by concrete walls." stated Balor.
"Yes. And the fourth side is wetlands. Difficult to traverse at best."
"We will need horses." sighed Balor.
`
Lanius and three of the Patriots piled into his SUV and headed south. He would need more blood for strength to face Cinnin. They drove in silence. Lanius thinking about Diana's carnage and the others nervous about the war they would face.
"How many do you think Cinnin will have to face us, my Lord?"
It was Hunter. The youngest of the Patriots but still an old vampire. He was turned at the age of 22 in 555 and joined the Patriots just a few years later.
"I do not know for sure, Hunter. Maybe just a few, maybe many." Lanius replied sensing the nervous nature of the vampire inquiring. "Worry not. We will be victorious. We must. To preserve our way of life. If Cinnin plans on killing me he surely plans on replacing me at the head of The Council and who knows what such a vampire will have planned. You know him as well as I do."
"I only ask as a detail towards plan of attack, my Lord. I'm not worried." Hunter said trying to sound strong and resolute. Should we attack in daylight so the young vampires be removed from the equation?"
"When we return we will see what Balor and Lucas have learned and devised and we will all know the plan. For now just get ready to feed, you will need your strength, I'm sure."
Approaching the border during the day is dangerous for them. The patrols are more frequent and their line of sight is much farther. In order for the vampires to find a meal they must actually cross the border to find the coyotes in wait for the border patrol and they, too, are much more careful in daylight.
It takes them quite a long time to find worthy humans to eat and they take care to dispose of the bodies in the desert. They find themselves rather deep into Mexico and have to sneak back over the border. Patience has always been a virtue for Lanius and he guides them safely back over the border away from the patrols.
They return to the property he and Diana shared and find the other Patriots waiting for them nervously.
"What have you discovered?" Lanius asks immediately.
"We have come up with a plan that we think will work, even against large numbers, my Lord." replied Balor
And then, Lucas "We have seen that Cinnin's property is guarded on three sides by high concrete walls and on the fourth by marshland. We believe that he will leave a small force to patrol the marshland but concentrate on the front gate as that is the best way in. This will serve us more than him as it will bottleneck whatever force he has gathered against us."
"However we must take great care as we do not know his numbers." interjected Balor. And then he continued. "We have arranged for five horses to take five of us through the marshlands to attack whatever guards he leaves there.
The rest of us will attack his force at the front gate and, with luck, meet in the middle."
"This is the best plan, then?" asked Lanius.
"Yes, my Lord." Came the reply, in unison, from Balor and Lucas.
"Very well, I trust your judgement. The more time passes the more opportunity Cinnin has to gather forces. Let us depart."
The vampires adjourned from the room. Outside five piled into one SUV to go and get the horses while the others took two vehicles to head straight for the front gate. With Lanius in the lead, again The Patriots were off to war.