Chapter 121 Neos Army

Nikolai

I felt water come out of my mouth and I woke up with a gasp, coughing up water.

I squinted my eyes as they got adjusted to the view of the beach in front of me. The sand and the water shone under the harsh sunlight.

And then I felt more water rise up my throat before I puked it all out.

Where the fuck am I?

And then it all came back.

The hurricane.

Jumping in the ocean.

Getting sucked in the hurricane.

The feeling that I was going to die before I could save Ava.

Ava.

Ava.

Shit. I need to find her.

A pair of jean clad legs came into my vision and I tensed. I sprang to my feet, ready to kill.

My eyes met familiar ocean blue ones.

"Did you really think I would trust you enough to save my daughter all by yourself?" Javier swung at me.

I flew back and fell on the sand. Moththerfuc—that hurt.

"You had one job." He roared in anger. "One fucking job. To keep her safe."

A growl escaped my lips but I said nothing. I couldn't. He was right. I deserved it.

"Calm down Javier." Mikhail stopped him from coming at me again.

"It's fine." I grunted, standing up again. "I deserve it."

"No shit." He spat. I had never seen Javier this angry. Not even when he wanted to kill his twin brother.

"And Avalyn deserves to get out of the hell hole she is in right now, without further delay. And preferably with her father and mate not at each other's throats." Mikhail scowled at both of us.

That got my out of my self pity.

"What your plan of action now?" Javier asked me.

"How far are we from the location?" I asked Mikhail. He's always aware of the location, no matter what. It's instinctual to him.

"A couple dozen miles." He replied.

I brought my wolf forward and took a feel of our surroundings. "The island is abandoned. We need to find a mode of transportation." Our speedboat was ruined and I couldn't see a single part of it around here. "How did you get here?" I asked Javier.

"Through water. Let's go." He replied and then started walking towards the ocean again.

Although confused, we followed him.

When we reached the water, instead of our feet dipping in the water and stepping on the sand, we started walking on the water surface. The surface we stepped on turned solid and the second we stepped forward, it liquified again.

What the fuck?

Looking at Javier, I knew it was his doing. I had no idea he was this powerful. I had heard stories, but nothing like this.

After walking a couple of feet, he stopped and we stopped behind him.

And then suddenly, the water beneath all our feet turned solid and rose a little and rested on the surface water like it was a wooden plank. We were literally standing on a block a water.

And then it started moving fast. Like really fast.

We all lost our footing for a second but then caught each other's forearms in a lock and stood straight again.

I watched as Javier stood in front, his back to us, his arms crossed and the wind hitting all of us in the face.

How the hell did Emmanuel manage to capture such a powerful man for ten years? It baffled me.

After another ten minutes, an island came in our view.

"Is this the one?" Javier asked.

"The location is of some nearby place. It isn't very precise." Mikhail replied.

Javier directed us towards the island, our speed increasing.

When we neared the island, I could hear the sound of human voice, heart beats and daily activities. It can either be vampires, werewolves or humans.

I'm hoping for vampires.

When we neared the dock, I immediately knew that this was Ovzdusia.

This couldn't be any other place.

How did I know?

There were posts on the docks on which slaves were attached to. Their wrists and ankles were hammered to the wooden posts using long nails.

Some were dead, most of them were alive.

The smell of flesh, blood and fear was thick in the air. The sound of leather meeting skin, of humans screaming with their hoarse voices, pleading incoherently for death to come was loud.

Why were so many humans being punished at the same time?

I could hardly see a single post empty. And each post was only about ten feet away from the previous one. It lined the entire coast.

The smell was so terrible that I almost felt nauseous.

"Let's go." Javier muttered and started walking ahead. We followed him, keeping close on this foreign land.

People stared at us as we walked.

The more I saw of the island, the more I felt like I had traveled in the past. There were no cars, no proper houses and no signs of technology.

The people used carts pulled by slaves to travel, the houses were made of stone, like they were made in the olden times. Also, each and every person who walked had a leash in their hands that was connected to the collar of a slave who was crawling next to them, like a dog.

It disgusted me.

What kind of place is this? No shit Xillian is a psycho.

There was a little ruckus on the road and everyone rushed to step aside.

A carriage pulled by five slaves came into our line of sight, the man sitting at the from lashing the five slaves hard and fast, making them run faster. Much to our surprise and suspicion, the cart stopped in front of us and a average sized man with a sword attached to his lip jumped off.

He scanned us before he stopped in front of me and bowed deeply before standing straigjt again. What? Does he know who I am?

"Alpha Adrik. It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

I stiffened. What the fuck is he talking about?

Before I could get another word out, he continued, "You had informed us that you were coming next week so our preparations aren't done, clearly. But much to our and your pleasure, the wares you had ordered have been trained."

What is he talking about? What the fuck is Adrik up to?

"Wares?"

"The Neos Army."

Army. Adrik is buying a fucking army?

"Ni—" I raised my hand, shutting Mikhail up before he said my real name and exposed us. I know Javier is watching me silently.

"I will purchase the wares, as promised. But I want to talk to your King first." I replied, my eyes boring into his brown ones.

"Forgive me Alpha Adrik but Master Kaduna might be a more appropriate candidate to talk to you about matters regarding King Xillian." He replied.

Bingo.

I felt a sense of relief from Mikhail's and Javier's bonds. At least we were in the right place.

"Take me to him." I replied.

"Yes, of course, King Adrik. Please sit in my humble carriage. We will be there in ten minutes." He opened the drapes that covered the inside of the carriage and acted as doors, motioning us to go in. I stepped inside the carriage which was surprisingly spacious with two benches that faced each-other. I took a seat and so did Mikhail and Javier.

The man started to get in but I just raised my brow sardonically and he bowed before he hurried out and shut the curtain. After a couple of moments, the carriage raised, half on wheels and half by slaves and we started moving. I heard the sounds of a couple of lashes meeting skin and our speed increased.

"We don't have time for this." Javier hissed at me, low enough that no one else could hear us.

"Do you want to break in Xillian's palace with three people or with an entire army?" I hissed back.

"I don't need anyone's help to save my daughter." He snarled. "I'm not going to let her go through what she went through for ten years again. I am enough to save her."

"I will be the judge of that— you are certainly not enough to save her." I growled. "And nothing will happen to her."

"This exact same attitude of yours got her kidnapped in the first place. Some King you are. You can't take care of your own beloved and you are talk about protecting your Kingdom from Adrik's wrath. I'm going to get Ava out of here and she is never going to see your face ever again." He banged on the walls of the carriage and yelled, "stop."

He jumped off once the carriage stopped. A growl left my lips.

"Go." I shouted, making the carriage start again, "go fucking faster, I don't have all fucking day."

We reached in five minutes flat and I jumped out.

We were out in an open ground and I could see hundreds and thousands of vampires dressed in armours stand in rows.

Why is Xillian showcasing the Royal army right now? I need to see the army that I'm going to buy. I need to see the army I'm going to command. And then crush him with it for even having the audacity to think about hurting my Ava.

Yes, she is mine. Mine only. And no one and nothing with take her away from me. I don't care if Javier is her father. No one is safe from my wrath if they stand between me and Ava.

I stalked towards the stage where I saw a man stand proudly with a clean shaven head. It might be his attempt to look intimidating but something about him brushed me the wrong way. He was definitely 'Master' Kaduna.

"Alpha Adrik." He nodded.

I spared him a look and glanced at the army in front of me. There were thousands of armoured vampires. It was large as fuck.

Maybe Adrik was planning to purchase some of them. He does not have the funds to buy the entire army.

"Impressed?" He asked but his gaze kept flickering behind me.

"I haven't seen anything impressive yet." I replied.

"You." Kaduna pointed towards the vampire in front and motioned him to step forward with his finger.

The vampire warrior took a step forward without hesitation.

"Stab yourself in the stomach." Kaduna ordered in a rough voice.

Without missing a beat, the warrior took out a dagger from his belt and stabbed himself im the stomach.

What the actual fuck?

He stood straight until he started loosing a lot of blood and couldn't anymore. He fell on the ground and his comrades stared straight ahead, not even turning their eyeballs to look at their brother.

I looked at Kaduna and he raised a cocky brow.

I nodded in return.

"Take out the dagger and stand in your place." Kaduna ordered and even at the brink of death, the warrior managed to take out the dagger impaled in his stomach, stand up and take his place. He would heal, for sure, but it would take some time and it would still pain. I couldn't see his expression because the visor covered his face but from his eyes, it seemed like it was no big deal. Like it didn't hurt him at all.

"I own ten thousand Neos out of which eight thousand five hundred are fully trained and a part of The Great Neos Army." Kaduna boasted. "They will do exactly what you order, when you order with no questions asked, just as you like. All of these men are trained all their life for this role and do their duties till the day they die."

"I want all ten thousand." I said, scoping the vast expanse of land the entire army stood on. This army will definitely help me destroy Xillian's army, save Ava and still have enough of them help to give a tough fight to Adrik's army.

"You told me you needed extra time to arrange for more funds to buy the army of only two thousand Neos." So this is why Adrik had stolen twenty million dollars from me. "You certainly cannot afford the entire army. Regardless, it will bring my Island great shame if I sell untrained Neos and they make a mistake. I simply cannot sell untrained Neos."

"The funds are my concern, not yours," I growled. What the fuck does he mean by his island? I thought Xillian owned it. "I want all ten thousand or none at all."

Kaduna clenched his jaw. "Fine. Two hundred million for ten thousand Neos."

I narrowed my eyes at him. "A hundred million." If it's twenty million for two thousand Neos, it should be hundred million for ten thousand. He is just pissing me off for no reason now.

"Hundred and fifty and throw in that wolf." He stuck his hand out, feeling Mikhail biceps.

"Deal." I replied.

"You saw your wares before purchase. I want to see mine." A smirk curved his thin lips as he looked at Mikhail with a lustful expression. My brother was glaring flatly at the fat man.

"I will give you the money, you give me the Neos Army after that. Once they are under my command, I will give my wolf to you."

"Fair enough." Kaduna replied.

"I want to talk to King Xillian." I told him.

Kaduna boisterously laughed but then grew silent when he realised I was serious.

"King Xillian lives in the main island of Ovzdusia and not in the Slave Islands. He doesn't not step on our Island, he thinks himself greater than that." Kaduna snorted. "You will have to go there if you want to meet him." Slave Island. Eliyah was from here, I made the connection. Every single man in this army had been training since they were five. And the best were chosen and converted into vampires. I had seen Eliyah in the arena. And each of these men had better skills than him.

Fuck.

What the hell was Adrik planning?

"Fine." I replied and then looked at Mikhail, "wire the money to his account." He gave a sharp nod and took out his phone, pretending to do what I told him to do.

I looked at Kaduna again. "How do I command the army?"

He took out a thick ring with a black stone on top of it out of his finger and passed it to me. "Wear it and the army is yours."

I wore the ring in my first finger and clenched my fingers in a fist and announced loudly. "Neos! Forward march."

In a synchronisation I've never seen in my life before, all ten thousand Neos started marching forward, the thumping sound of their feet hitting the ground loud in the air.

"Now it's my chance." Kaduna licked his lips and his hand shot forward to grab Mikhail's man-junk.

"Not so fucking fast, fucker." In a flash, Kaduna's heart was in his hand. "Never knew having a pretty face could be a problem." He muttered, tossing the heart away.

The man who brought us here in the carriage was looking at us with wide eyes.

"Arrange for a transportation for all of the Neos army to the Island Xillian resides on." He nodded vigorously and scrambled out of the grounds.

I looked at the Neos army.

I took out the black stoned ring from my pointer finger and raised it high in the air so they could see it. "This is the ring that controls your life right now." I said and then dropped it on the ground and crushed it under the heel of my shoe. "No more!"

No one said a single word.

"The master that ruled you is dead. You are the ones who are alive. You will decide your own fate. Not me. Your freedom is yours. It is not mine to give. But I will give you all a choice." I paused, letting the tension built.

I could feel the anticipation in the air. As trained, no one moved a muscle or said a word. But I was good reading the masses.

"The choice is to call Soare-Luna your home. I am Alpha King Nikolai Volkov and I am offering you an opportunity to become a part of the Royal Army which is led by the Lord of Arms, Field Marshall Andrei—with honour and not a damn Master with a black ring. It is your choice, stay here and fight with integrity, by my side, or leave right now. Unharmed." My voice was loud enough the reach the far ends of the ground on which the army stood. "What is your choice?"

No one moved.

I waited a solid minute.

One vampire started thumping his leg, slowly followed by more and more until every single Neos was thumping his leg.

They all wanted to stay and fight by my side. Not a single person chose otherwise.

I raised my hand and all of them stopped. "I want all of you to select your own leader who will represent you in court." I don't know these people and I need someone who understands them, who has been one of them. "He will work with the Lord of Arms, directly under his command."

A man stepped forward from the first file and walked towards me and bowed.

"Rise. Take off your visor." He did as ordered.

He was medium built but he had a stable flow of strength in him. And I sensed a great potential. He had a tanned skin tone with dark brown eyes and a buzz cut. One look in his eye and I could tell he hadn't had a good life. I suspected that most of them didn't.

"What is your name?" I asked.

"One." He replied.

"I suppose the Masters gave all of you numbers instead of names?"

"Yes, Master."

"Everyone will choose a name for themselves right this second." I announced before I turned to the General of the Neos Army. "From today, your name is Ratmir. It means defender of peace in Russian."

I saw the gratefulness in his eyes along with devotion. He bowed his head and agreement.

"As you command, Master." He bowed again.

I placed my hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "Call me Nikolai."

He froze but then unfroze in a second and bowed again. And in his voice, I felt respect, the beginning of unwavering loyalty and devotion. "As you command, King Nikolai."