The Immortalized Soul (Book 3 Original version)

Jake had grown accustomed to the weight of his sword. He had been rather impressed with himself at his ability to change the forms of ice to suit his needs and hoped it would be enough. Many of Syndicate had grown lax with the fall of the Association and dulled their edge when engaged in combat with other vampires. Word had reached the Nation that their queen was both awake and alive, giving the moral to rise against the armies of the king. Adam was wrong, revenge and hatred were not needed to unite people; justice and peace an end to suffering were enough. Once again war had become an open battlefield, being able to see the face of the person you kill; survival of the fittest.

Normal humans who had been allies to the Nation took up arms with the few AVWs that Alucard had overlooked and fought. This was no longer about a species, this was about the greater good. Jake, as Supreme Commander, wished to make alliances with the United Nations, though nearly all voted to stay out of the vampire war. It was no longer their war and they had no means to fight immortals, let alone a god. He is no god. Gods to not bleed, gods to not lose their arm to a Ghoul--Kira proved his mortality and now all they need is to bind together; free the last person who stands a chance against him and against ‘that’.

As Jake’s icy blade sliced his enemies apart he began to look back to the old days, a simpler time; peaceful; full of light. High school was distant memory, but still one he treasured. The time he gave Kira his clothes, when he and Lizzy went shopping in the city. Their lives were like a dream, one he could regret waking from. A Noble swung their metallic arm left, shattering the sword; Jake jumped back and created a thick shield--it was heavy. Time and time again his weapons and shields were broken and each time the thickness would decrease--Jake was on the ground, the Noble lifted his arm and just before it hit; shattered into a million pieces. If metal is frozen too quickly and too cold it will break with ease; Jake rendered him dust before the fields.

“Fight! Citizens and comrades of the Nation!” Jake rose his blade to rally for the next wave, “Fight for our families! Fight for our future! Fight for Eona Nightraven!”

The armies clashed. They ripped one another apart, heads; limbs; entire lines were cut thru by the few who held a greater power than most.

'Commander!' Jake still had a hard time being referring to as such especially when speaking to a Pureblood.

'Syndicate reinforcements are on their way in helicopters!'

Their best chance was to shoot them down before they arrived, 'Take first and second platoon from second division and intercept them in the mountains! The helicopters won’t be able to evade in time to miss the mountains and our attacks!'

This depleted half their ground forces, but it would have to do. If those of the second division manage to stop the reinforcements then they could return and flank whatever enemies remain...that is unless the remainder of the division hasn’t fallen by then. It was a gamble they had to take--this valley must become theirs or it would mean trying to go either above or around the mountain range to reach the Syndicate stronghold--the queen’s former castle.

Their reinforcements did not arrive, for either force; the mountain pass was silent. The main armies continued their assaults, destroying one another until one yielded or the other fell. For vampires, rest was unneeded, but recovery from their wounds; hundreds of thousands of blood bags and tablets were consumed. The humans had no choice, but to withdraw as night drew near and for their safety Jake personally lead the detail back to their base. The sounds of battle grew fainter and fainter in the distance and the apologies of the humans were heard more clearly. They did not regret being human, but only have the weakness of one; not being able to match immortals in a long-term battle. The men and women were bitter at the fact they could do no more to help. Jake brought them to the base and was to depart, but in his compassion for humans he could not allow them to doubt their own strength. Humans possessed a power no immortal could match, it was only a matter of whether they would see it for themselves or not.

“My best friend was human.” A smile cracked on the commander’s face, “She was always worried about getting in people’s way and thought she was lesser than vampires, but she wasn’t too fond of her own kind.”

Kira wanted to keep out of everyone’s way, she lowered herself refusing to develop her capacity. That could also be why she had such a large heart, she cared about everyone else above herself and wanted to keep them safe; recognizing her weaknesses she wanted to protect people in her own way.

“As time passed she realized she could no longer stand by and watch. She was a nice person who hated fighting, but as a human she made choices no vampire could.”

Kira changed, whether it was good or bad was not for anyone to decided. She had choices, many of them, but to her most were not an option, not for the results she wanted in the time she would accept. The world would not know of the real Kira, the girl who only wanted to protect her loved ones. A stubborn, shy brat who refused to act on her feelings and caused more trouble by trying to stay out of the way than anything else. She sucked at sports; English; had a horrible temper--Kira was a normal teenager.

“Never under-estimate the power of the human will. I may have never been human, but I know that we can understand each other and that there are things that vampires can’t do that only humans can.”

The mortals’s eyes widened. The commander himself believed in them; not in their skills, nor abilities, he believed in their will-power. Ariel, a twenty-three-year-old former Royal Marine asked a question she took notice of.

“Sir...you said your best friend was human...did she...”

Jake continued to smile, not fazed by the question or by the truth of it, “That’s the thing about the world we live in, no one knows about the person someone was before they became who the world knows them by. I knew her as Kira Nightraven, but the world knew her as the One-Eyed Reaper.”