I don't own Twilight. Stephenie Meyer does and she's gracious enough to let us play with her characters. No copyright infringement intended.
AN at the bottom.
Peitre's spell served to do more than just restrain. It was to Edward and Bella's horror that they found their eyesight blurring, darkening until they were completely blind. Edward's grunts, struggling against the spell, caused a bout of panic to rise up in Bella's gut. A feeling she was neither accustomed to nor particularly keen on.
Her every instinct was to reach out and protect her companion. She didn't want to think about what that might have implied but she found herself struggling too, her blind eyes flickering - wide open in panic.
"Peitre," she called out, though her locked jaw making it incredibly difficult to talk. "We are here to talk to you. We mean you no harm!"
"Lies," the high priestess bit back, elongating her 's' in a menacing hiss.
"I swear," Bella ground out, gasping when she felt the air leave her lungs in a crushing swoosh with a single hand gesture from Peitre.
She tried to gasp in air, opening and closing her mouth like a fish on dry land but no air would come in.
"Bella," Edward grunted, pushing up with enough strength to lift himself up an inch into the air before he was thrust back down onto the hard ground. He tried again, feeling his spine arch unnaturally under the spells pressure and he shouted out.
"Stop! Stop it! We are here to help you keep Yggdrasil safe!"
Bella was still gasping for breath, feeling her head starting to swim.
"I'll take you to my coven," Peitre said dangerously. "And then we'll decide what to do with you."
With a startling force, Bella and Edward were pulled to their feet. Bella gulped in precious bouts of air. The guns gently tapping against her thighs comforted her considerably; she wasn't going to hurt Peitre but she took heart in the fact that she could if she wanted to.
The spell pushed them onwards, allowing their feet to walk along with its pressure as Peitre guided them through the ancient town. They couldn't see a damn thing but the two raiders memorized the path of their feet, an action that was ingrained in them by years of practice and when they were halted, they both knew the exact way they had came from.
They were put down to their knees, side by side, and then the spell lifted. They were meticulous about not showing that their bodies were slackened by the sudden release. They looked strong and in control.
Looking around, they were surrounded by a circle of witches, male and female alike and all of them wearing equal looks of determination and hatred on their faces.
"What is your business here?" An older man, who must've been Gerald, demanded and Edward bit down his knee-jerk sarcastic reaction.
"We wish to talk to you," Bella said, letting all of her authority shine through in her voice. Her chin was up, her eyes a guarded fire. Edward was looking at her, absorbing some of her confidence.
Bella continued, her voice gaining strength as she spoke. "I'm Lady Isabella Swan and this is my respected friend Edward Cullen. I don't know if you have ever heard of us or what we do but we find and protect ancient sights and artifacts.
"We've been notified of a dangerous criminal organisation that is looking for Yggdrasil in order to turn it into a weapon of mass-destruction. They want it and they won't stop until they have it."
Peitre looked at Gerald, a frown on her face as she leaned in to whisper in his ear.
"For all we know, you are the dangerous ones," he spat.
Bella and Edward looked at each other, swallowing down the direct insult to their very core. Edward took a deep breath and met the high priest's gaze evenly.
"You can feel it," he said. "You can feel if our intentions were bad."
Bella and Edward instantly felt tendrils of focused energy surrounding them, invading their privacy and inner thoughts and they gritted their teeth through the experience. It was like being prodded and poked in private places by strangers and it made them feel nauseous and dizzy.
As quickly as the sickening sensation washed over them, it was pulled back and Gerald bowed his head towards the raiders.
"You are right," he spoke. "We apologize for the way we treated you."
"No apologies necessary," Bella said, bowing her head as well. "We need to talk about how to protect you and the location to Yggdrasil."
"No." It was Peitre.
Edward and Bella looked at each other again in poorly hidden bafflement.
"Did you not hear the part about the dangerous criminal organisation?" Edward said, circling his finger around his ear. Bella stamped on his foot. The last thing they needed right now was for him to insult them and endanger their precarious understanding of each other.
"We heard you," Peitre spoke. "And we'll deal with it accordingly."
"These men are heavily armed, Peitre," Bella said. "They will come with force, shooting everything in sight and not caring how many innocent people take the bullets."
"We'll stop them."
"It's impossible," Edward said. "I implore you to see reason. Spells and charms won't protect you from their violence."
"Like I said," she spoke stubbornly. "We'll handle it. It is our duty to keep our secrets hidden. You do not have the authority, however good your hearts might be, to know such dangerous things."
~*TR*~
"Son of a bitch," Edward swore, tapping his fingers against the steering wheel of the car violently. They had driven far enough inside the forest where they had been taken by Peitre to observe the coven from a distance. Bella, who was looking through a set of impressive binoculars, sighed.
"You have to put yourself in their shoes, Edward," she said. "Would you readily let strangers into the secrets you've been vowed by blood oath to keep?"
"If it was to save my ass, then yes!" he huffed indignantly.
"Not that I need anyone saving my ass," he couldn't help but add.
Bella rolled her eyes, adjusting her focus from Peitre to the other witches. They were in a loose circle, obviously debating but there was no way for Bella to hear what they were saying.
Unless she had a parabolic dish in the back of the car...
"No, we don't," Edward answered, causing her to frown and look over to him in confusion.
"You said that out loud," he explained with a shrug. Bella huffed. "Anyway, you favored the semi-automatic machine gun over the parabolic dish."
Another huff and she went back to observing the coven. "Stupid idea."
"Not so sure about that," Edward whispered, putting a hand on her shoulder and pointing to an all terrain vehicle coming to a stop a few hundred feet away from their car. Edward and Bella exchanged a pointed look and they both slid out of the car, crouching down until they were at the back.
"I'll take that one," Edward said, holding up aforementioned machine gun. Bella shrugged, opening another case and taking out an M14 sniper rifle.
"God damn," Edward swore, not even trying to cover up his arousal. Seeing Bella handle one of the most badass guns out there with perfect ease and confidence made his blood boil. He blatantly adjusted himself and Bella studiously ignored him.
His obvious response to her made her cheeks flush and the apex of her thighs ache. However, they had no time left since one of the men in the other vehicle had stepped out, taking out a rifle similar to Bella's and was currently climbing up onto the roof of the car for a perch.
It was as if the two raiders read each other's minds because Edward instantly squatted down and folded his hands to give Bella a boost. Bella, in turn, put her foot into Edward's hands and let him lift her up until she was high up enough to easily slide onto the roof of their own car to make a perch of her own.
Once in position, she cocked the gun, lazily looking through the visor and telling Edward to go around to the coven at the same time. Edward did so without question, sliding through the woods, almost completely disappearing in his stealth.
Bella would've marveled at his cat-like stealth if she wasn't too busy getting a clear shot on the sniper. As soon as she had it, she made no question about it and squeezed the trigger. The shot rang clear and loud through the otherwise silent forest and she watched through the visor as her bullet hit its target, knocking the other sniper off the roof of the car with a spray of blood.
"Forgive me, Father," she automatically muttered, slipping off the side of the roof and landing on the ground with a muted thud just in time for the enemies to catch up on what happened and open fire.
She was crouching behind the car, which was taking a heavy assault of bullets. With perfect ease, she slid away from it, into the bushes and made her way around through the thick overgrow of forest to the coven.
It was chaos, Edward was trying to herd the panicked witches away, all the while making a point to cover the woods in front of him through the visor of his gun, ready at all time to take down an enemy. He swivelled around as soon as he saw Bella break the treeline and sighed in relief when he identified her.
"We need to get them out of here," he grunted, going back to the safety behind his gun.
"No!" Peitre screamed. "We won't go. We have to protect the coven!"
"With what, exactly?" Edward bit back. "Potions? Spells? Do you think the Goddess herself will swoop down to take the bullets for you?"
"Edward," Bella shushed him, turning to Peitre who looked hurt by Edward's words.
"You can't protect your coven from these men," she explained hurriedly. "They won't hesitate to kill every one you've ever loved to get answers from you. They are truly evil."
"Take cover!" Edward shouted at that exact moment, only seconds before a folly of bullets bled through the trees, destroying the carefully made altar and killing everyone who wasn't fast enough to duck down onto the ground.
"Goddess!" Peitre cried, having been knocked down onto the ground by Bella. She and Edward made quick work to carefully drag the surviving members of the coven behind the large stone altar table, which was heavily damaged but thick and strong enough to withstand the bullets.
Behind the stone, they made sure that everyone was okay. Bella swore loudly when she saw Gerald, the large and intimidating high priest of the coven clutching his shoulder where blood was steadily gushing out between his fingers.
Peitre, who was crying, moved towards him and placed her hand on top of his, muttering spells and keeping pressure on the wound just as Edward and Bella exchanged another pointed look and grabbed fresh ammo out of their packs. Loading up their guns, they both took position on either side of the rock, not even cringing as the bullets flew all around them.
As one, they returned fire blindly, shooting at random and hoping their bullets hit target. It must've been working because the rain of bullets coming from the thick overgrown forest lessened considerably and a folly of angered shouts grew.
"Eat it, bastards," Edward grunted.
The gunfire lasted another couple seconds until the bullets coming from the forest ceased completely. Edward and Bella looked at each other, shaking their heads ever so slightly.
They were both thinking it: Trap.
The witches behind the stone were whimpering and crying, moaning in anguish at the loss of their friends and fretting over their fallen priest. Bella looked over her shoulder at Peitre, who was still steadily muttering spells. But Bella could see from her spot that it was too late; Gerald's eyes were dull and unseeing and the blood trickling from his shoulder had no force behind it. His heart wasn't pumping it out anymore. He was dead.
"Peitre," she whispered, to no avail. She looked at Edward who shook his head sadly.
"This didn't have to happen," he told her.
"I know," she nodded. They retreated back behind the safety of the stone, crouching to keep their heads hidden. They watched in sad silence as Gerald's death sunk in with Peitre. A gut wrenching scream filled the air and before Edward could stop her, Peitre had jumped up; leaving the safety of the altar stone. Gunfire immediately erupted from the woods as Bella and Edward struggled to pull the high priestess down to safety.
"No!" she screamed, but her voice was off - it turned deep and rumbling, like a thick almost demonic grunt. The remaining witches from the coven pushed the raiders out the way and placed their hands somewhere on Peitre's body to give her their strength.
With one fell swoop she stopped the bullets that were heading straight towards her and they fell on the grass with muted little thuds. Another scream filled the air, this one so high pitched that Edward and Bella cried out, covering their ears with their hands and making them crawl into a ball to get away from it.
It stopped as suddenly as it came and Edward pulled Bella as far from Peitre as he could without leaving the cover of the stone. The scream rang again and they huddled together, Edward covering Bella in protection from it. Bella, who under any other circumstance would've struggled with the idea of someone protecting her, didn't mind and huddled further into him. Anything to get away from the piercing sensation in her head.
There was a second scream, decidedly more human and male, and the last goon standing from inside the woods came flying into the clearing. Driven by Peitre's frightening spell, his body hit the altar stone with sickening force, cracking his ribs and making blood gush out of his mouth.
Peitre pushed him back, only to slam him into the stone again. This time his spine hit the very edge of the stone and the definite break of his back rang disturbingly clear through the air.
The inhumane scream stopped as the man's body slumped onto the stone, lifeless and Edward and Bella let go of each other, gazing at Peitre in astonished marvelment. And fear. Most definitely fear.
When Peitre turned around to them, they scrambled backwards a bit. The woman's eyes had turned from gentle green to demonic red, her nose was bleeding, and the general air around her seemed to crackle with residual power.
"I will take you where you want to go," she spoke, her voice still that deep demonic grunt.
~*TR*~
Edward and Bella looked out over the wild ocean that was beating down violently against the small stretch of beach below them. The cliffs were high and wickedly jagged, the danger this posed for repelling down was considerable but the raiders didn't seem to care as they strapped themselves into their harnesses.
Peitre was sitting silently on the ground, her eyes unseeing as she stared out across the sea. She had reverted back to her usual self but the loss of Gerald had punched a hole through her chest where her heart used to be. The display of careless use of power had drained her, exhausting her powers to the point where she doubted she would ever be able to use them fully again. It was cruel.
As the two raiders finished up, they turned towards the high priestess in calculated curiosity.
"When you get down there," Peitre started. "You need to go left until you reach a small, hidden cave-opening. Inside is a maze. Watch your step, not a lot of people have entered that maze and gotten out."
With a deep breath, Bella nodded, unsure of what to do. Were they to stay here to comfort Peitre or bring her back to her home?
"Go," Peitre said, surprisingly clear.
It was all the incentive they needed to walk up to the edge of the cliff and turn their back to the sea. Edward went over the edge first, carefully avoiding the sharp rocks on his way down. As he was about half way down, he shouted at Bella that it was safe to get down and so she slipped carefully over the edge, looking at Peitre the entire time.
The last thing she saw of the high priestess was the single tear that slipped from the corner of her eye and wriggled down her cheek. It caused Bella's stomach to clench in dread.
After she touched down on the pebbled stretch of beach, Edward and she made their way left. Careful to keep their eyes out for the hidden cave system, they were quiet. As they were both absorbing the happenings of today, the quiet quickly turned sad and frustrated.
It was Edward that spoke out first.
"What happened today," he started with a huff. "It didn't have to happen."
"I know," Bella agreed with a sigh.
"Why would they be so stubborn? Was our warning not clear enough or something?"
"It was," Bella nodded. "They were just overly confident in their own power."
"Yeah well, Peitre's power was pretty goddamn impressive if you ask me," Edward mused, kicking a few pebbles away.
"Yes, and the price she'll have to pay for it will be intense."
"What do you mean?" he asked with a frown.
Bella turned to him. "She used up all she had and then some, Edward," she spoke. "It's unlikely that she'll ever be able to recover from that."
"That sucks," he mused quietly, squinting down the beach.
Bella was so caught up in her thoughts, that she didn't notice the large driftwood piece sticking out from the pebbles on the beach. She grunted when she slammed her shin into the wood, causing her to lose balance and for the first time in ages, she felt the sensation of tripping.
She closed her eyes, holding out her hands to protect her face from the rough pebbles. Instead, she felt two decidedly strong arms wrap around her and pushing her body backwards. When her back hit the wall of the cliff, her front supported by Edward's body, she gasped and her eyes flew open.
"Careful," he muttered, his eyes focused sharply on hers. Her first instinct was to fight him, to release herself from the embarrassment that came with his body protecting hers - for the second time that day but Edward's gaze pinned her to her place just as his body subconsciously pushed into her further. Her breath hitched and it wasn't the first time that she noticed just how breathtakingly green his eyes were.
She could feel all of him against her. The hardness of his chest was pressed tightly against her softer one, his thigh was in between her legs and she could feel the muscles clenching against her. A rush of adrenaline surged through her body, leaving her tingling and there was an ache building up in her stomach.
She watched with baited breath as his eyes darkened from the usual grassy green shade to a shade so dark it was almost black. His gaze flickered down to her lips and without input from her brain, she licked them. His eyes darkened impossibly deeper, his hands coming up to take hers. Pinning her arms to the rock above her head, he whispered: "Do you have any idea what you do to me?"
"Oh God," she moaned when he enforced his words by grinding his growing erection into the softness of her belly. Closing her eyes, she waited for him to lean his head down to kiss her.
Her lips opened ever so slightly, waiting for the sensation of his lips against hers. She was ready for it, greedy even. He was gazing down at her, mesmerized by her beauty and fighting the urge to thrust his hips up against her to alleviate the pressure in his pants.
He slowly leaned down to her, watching her face as he descended and brushed his lips against hers softly. Once, twice, three times. The sensation was heady, overpowering, and he had to pull back a little before going in for more.
Just as he was about to do just that, to kiss her properly, a white light in his peripheral vision caught his attention. It was a large white orb, hovering along a small opening in the rocks and disappearing inside.
The reality of their surroundings, their mission, came crashing down on him and he summoned up the power to step away from the single most addicting woman he had ever met.
Her eyes flew open, an angered huff escaped her chest as he yanked his hand through his hair.
"I found the cave," he said, clearing his throat and pointing to where he had seen the white light.
"Oh," Bella's voice was clipped and distant, her demeanor had changed from open and lustful to cold and uninviting and he sighed. He left her hanging and she was angry about it.
"Let's go, then," she said, taking off. Edward shook his head, watching her walk away and silently cursed the moment they had just had. If only they were at her house, or in a hotel...
"Fuck," he swore quietly, turning to sprint after the woman that was now angrily pulling the overgrowth away from the cave's entrance.
"Bella."
"Don't," she warned. The intensity of what just happened was screwing with her head, confusing her and even worse, made her ache for more. His touch had ignited something inside her that she never thought was possible and those gentle brushed of his lips on hers had been the most sensual experience she had ever had, leaving her wondering what it might be like to kiss him fully, to embrace him, to...
"Stop it," she muttered quietly to herself.
"What?" Edward asked in confusion.
"Nothing, I didn't say anything," she bit at him and at his responding sigh, she felt the sharpest pang of guilt she had ever felt. She turned to him with a heavy breath.
"Let's just get this over with," she offered, a little less cold and he smiled at her.
"Yeah, come on."
Together they worked to clear the opening far enough so that they crawl inside. Bella went in first, the harsh beam of her flashlight dousing the the cave in light it had probably never seen before.
Edward grunted as he came in behind her, adding his flashlight to hers as he slapped the dust and spiderwebs from his shoulders.
"Let's go," Bella said and the two raiders set off to explore the narrow cave that loomed up ahead of them. Her thoughts went back to the moment she had shared with Edward on the beach and suddenly she was acutely aware of a thrumming energy that seemed to build between them, pulsating and tugging on her to step closer to him.
Confused, and admittedly frightened, she turned her head to see if the bond she was feeling was actually visible. It wasn't, but Edward had a distracted frown on his face and he was absently twitching the hand closest to her.
Was it possible that he was feeling the same thing?
The cave was an incredible structure of narrowing paths, huge open spaces, high ceilings countered by passages so low that they had to crawl. It seemed as though it was specifically designed to confuse and scatter. At one point, Edward had to pull himself up on a ledge that was too high for Bella to reach.
"Gimme your hand," he said, reaching down to her.
"I'll find another way up," she replied, placing her foot on the side of the rock in search of a spot she could use as leverage.
"Stubborn piece of..." Edward grunted, reaching down again to grab her hand.
"I'm fine!" she argued.
"Yeah, whatever." He gave an almighty pull on her arm, pulling her up and over the ledge. Irritated, she pushed him away as soon as she was up and scrambled up, patting the dirt from her clothes.
"I could have pulled myself up here, Edward," she quipped, launching into a rant how she'd been a raider for a long time and that she didn't need him. Her rant continued on and on but Edward wasn't listening to her.
There was a distinct shuffling in the part of the cave they had just left behind. It was hard to make out but his ears were pitched towards the sounds of boots on the stone ground, shuffling gravel away and sneaking past corners.
"Bella," Edward whispered, holding his hand up to get her to shut up.
"I've climbed numerous mountains and scaled walls without gear, Edward. I don't need anyone developing some sort of knight in shining armour complex for me. In all honesty, I don't even need you to get this mission done."
"Bella."
"I don't care how much taller you are than me, I do not now - nor will I ever - need your help."
"Bella."
"I've fared quite well on my previous quests before you came along and I will continue to do so after you've left, hear me?"
"Bella!"
"What?" she snapped back at him.
"We're being followed," he said, pointing down the dark caves.
Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for the reviews and favorites!
Special thanks to my wonderful beta-chick Smmiskimen for being the best beta and friend ever. Love that lady - LOVE 'ER!
Till next time! Kisses from Pixie.