A/N: Hello again! Wow, this is weird to be posting FREQUENTLY again! The reason, this chapter is up so quickly is because I seem to have lied last time xD There's too much battle to fit all of it in, so I'm updating this now, which will run right up to when they're about to fight. Um, I MAY have thrown in some mild smut to appease you... Maybe :D Enjoy!

My study was dimly lit. I preferred to work by candle light even with electricity a switch away out of habit and the odd comfort the flickering flame gave me. Shadows grew and morphed on my wall and I smiled, thinking of the London ghasts we had met a few years back. Small imp-like spirits that lived in shadows, they would snicker behind someone's back or change a shadow to look like some scary animal. They were pests, but amusing ones for those looking from the outside in. I had a special place in my heart for them.

"Bella..." Alice's reproachful voice pierced the quiet of the room.

I sighed and smiled, turning in my chair to face her from her seat on the low couch. She was reading a Hunter training manual on finding, detaining, and slaying creatures while I put finishing touches on our battle plans. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, you know I think you're working too hard anyway. Everything will be fine, I promise," she said, smiling up at me. Her thoughts were so warm and confident that my chest couldn't help but swell up.

I grinned and opened my arms, inviting her onto my lap. With a grin she rose and accepted my offer, seating herself and allowing me to wrap my arms around her waist. I pulled her close to my chest and sighed in happiness, breathing in her scent. "How did I get lucky enough to end up with a girl like you?"

Alice chuckled under her breath and turned sideways, resting her head in the cook of my neck. I felt her shrug, but her thoughts, wordless as they were, meant so much more. I felt her happiness, how content she was even in the face of this enormous danger. The vast ocean of her love for me, unearned as I felt it was, stunned me. Tears pricked my eyes and I found myself surprised by my own emotions.

"Bella, are you..?" she led off.

"Yeah, I guess I am. I don't know. I'm just so..." My voice trailed off, unable to put into words how stressed and worried I was as I pawed at my eyes. I was terrified to my core. All those people out there were looking up to me, expecting me not only to protect them but liberate them as well. The entire fate of the Underworld rested on my shoulders, that I would prepare them and make the right decisions. We had been training for a week and a half now, and the improvements were staggering but still. We had yet to make the final bits of armor, the final odds and ends. My tribe and I spent all our spare time enchanting and discussing new spells. Rosealie would probably be having her baby any day now. The Thieves were getting restless, the dwarves and goblins had begun to fight. We were all getting a little stir crazy. Tomorrow we were going to move camps. The only thing keeping me sane was Alice's consistency in staying at my side and supporting me. A simple hand around the waist set my nerves at peace and she knew it. It was her, not I, that was holding this all together.

"I owe you so much," I murmured into the top of her head. "And I'm so, so sorry that we met under these circumstances. I would like nothing more than to just sit with you like this for a year and not even say a word, but instead we're about to fight a war. I'm sorry you need to settle for me," I sighed holding her tighter.

Alice stiffened before looking up at me. "Bella..." she said slowly, as if tasting the word on the end of her tongue. She smiled the softest, sweetest smile and brought her hand up to my cheek. "Sweet, beautiful Bella. No. This war means nothing to me compared to how happy I am that I have you in my life now. I wouldn't have cared if we'd met in the depths of Hell, the very fact that you are here with me... What else could compare? Never apologize. You are the most amazing thing in the world. There are dragons sleeping in your back yard and I still find you a thousand times more wonderful. Never doubt that."

I just shook my head slowly, tears pricking my eyes once more though I refused to let them fall. With quick yet graceful motions that startled even me, Alice threw one leg over the other side of my lap and wrapped her arms around my neck. She leaned in quickly and then her lips were on mine and my hands were on her hips. A tingling spread from wherever her fingers ghosted over my skin as the kiss deepened. I gasped, feeling her chest press against mine, and she took that opportunity to gently, oh so gently, run her tongue over my bottom lip. Quivering I allowed her admittance and the battle began. We both heated up quickly. My grip on her hips tightened, pulling her closer to me almost unwittingly, only realizing what I had done when the friction caused us both to moan. Alice sucked hard on my bottom lip and held me tightly, flush against her body. My hands, having grown a mind of their own, slid down into the back pockets of her jeans. I nibbled on her lip and was rewarded with a curse.

"Ah, fuck..." she moaned, body quivering. That seemed to break us from our trance. For the first time we both realized the heady scent of arousal permeating the air.

"Hmm..." I hummed, allowing my head to rest on her shoulder, body still buzzing. My lips were warm and tasted like her. My breath came in short, uneven gasps and I was thrilled to notice that hers did as well. "I know I'm not..." gasp, "always the best at speaking what I feel inside," pant, "but before I get back into alpha mode I just... I just want you to know that you are the sexiest woman in the world and I love you so much it terrifies me."

Alice shivered and I felt her smile. "I love you too, Bella. And I know we've been taking it slow until after the war but... tonight..."

The images in her mind were vivid and my heartbeat sped up. Surprised that she wanted me that way, truly surprised, I looked into her amber eyes. They were alight with a fire that thrilled me. I grinned and leaned in slowly, capturing her lips in a sweet, slow kiss all while picked her up and taking her over to the couch...

I woke with the sun the next morning. Alice's small form was nestled into my side, a warm quilt draped over both our naked forms. I smiled down at her and she, sensing that I was awake, looked up. A sheepish smile splayed across her lips and I leaned down and kissed her good morning.

"How did you sleep?" she whispered, not wanting to break the quiet of the morning.

"Like a baby," I murmured, my voice raspy.

She leaned up and kissed me once more. "Good," she smiled against my lips. Shifting she moved herself so that she lay atop me. Her cold body pressed into mine and I flushed, wrapping my arms around her waist.

"We need to get up before someone stumbles in," I frowned.

"You really think we'll be able to keep this from anyone?" she smirked.

"No," I answered immediately with a grin. "And I wouldn't want to. But I'd hate to have to kill anyone and I'd have to if they saw you naked. Only I can do that," I smirked.

Alice giggled and inched her way up farther towards me. I tried to ignore the twinge in my stomach, despite the fact that I knew she'd feel it anyways. "Hmm, I think I like this Bella."

"And who is this Bella?" I asked.

"This one isn't a Bella the Hunter or Bella the Alpha or Bella the war general. She's just Bella, and she's so, so mine," the little pixie mused.

"Hmm, that she is," I hummed again.

A knock on the door broke the moment. "Bella? You awake?" It was Rafael.

"Go away Raf," I grumbled.

He persisted, "The troops are wondering if they should start breaking camp now."

"We discussed this last night. Yes. We're moving at noon," I said, my tone exasperated.

"Shouldn't you be doing the same, then?" I could hear his amusement through the door.

"I'm busy!" I growled out.

"Yeah, I can smell just how busy you are. Get your naked ass up, we're addressing everyone in twenty."

"If you're still outside that door in ten seconds I'm turning you into a ferret," I hissed out and heard low laughter accompanying the quick footsteps working their way down the hall. "Ugh," I groaned when he had gotten out of earshot, letting my head fall back against the couch's arm.

Alice just giggled. "C'mon. We better get ready." She pushed herself up onto her arms and, after kissing me once more, stood up. The quilt fell off her body in a smooth wave, revealing her porcelain skin to me for the first time in the morning light. I blushed and grinned at the same time, standing up with her. She, feeling the impact of her allure on me, turned and smiled. She walked up and wrapped her arms around my waist. We couldn't keep our hands off of one another, and while we were enjoying the rapture of one another's thoughts it wasn't exactly productive.

"We should have done this a long time ago," she hummed, tracing patterns on my stomach and chest, tracing the outlines of my numerous scars. "Where'd you get this one?" she asked, continuing from last night, pointing at a scar and asking for the story behind it. I looked down and saw her pointing to a long horizontal scar, nearly eight inches long and a centimeter thick.

"We were helping escort an elvish caravan and got jumped. One of the merchant's wives was pregnant and had tripped. I moved to catch her before she could injure herself or the baby and a sword caught me between the plates of my armor."

She frowned and ran her fingers over it once more. I shivered. "Ouch," she mumbled.

"It was nothing, don't worry about it," I said with a small smile. Now come on. Put on last night's stuff and I'll teleport us t my room. We can change there."

She sighed, pouting that our alone time was coming to a close. Her face lit up and before I could dissect her thoughts, she asked, "One on condition," she mused.

"What?"

"You promise we get to repeat last night some time soon," she smiled, unabashed.

I chuckled and leaned in yet again. "Do you even have to ask?"

Alice and I dressed in newly made leather armor. Mine was black with white markings, similar to stripes and badges on a human soldier's uniforms to denote rank. A vest slid over light chain mail that fell to the elbow, and from elbow to wrist stretched boiled leather arm guards. Chain mail leggings slid on over breaches and over that went leather pads for legs, as well as knee high boots. Steel clasps and buckles glistened in the light. Alice's armor was marked with bits of gold and amber colored leather and fabric to mark her as one of the vampires. The black, silver, and gold matched her appearance very well and I had trouble tearing my eyes away. She spun in place, grinning from ear to ear at finally be kitted out like the others.

"It suits you very well," I said with a warm smile. On my hip Archangel swung, and at Alice's side her newly forged sword, one she had affectionately named Sanguine, hung in the same place. Two daggers hung at my hip, Alice's were in her boots. At her belt hung two pouches. One held a powder that would extinguish any fires and prevent anything it was touching from catching, and the other held a type of capsule I had recently invented that would speed up the vampire healing process, cutting the time in half and then some. My belt was loaded with gems and the like that I had been storing excess power in, in the event that I or any of my tribe would run dry during the battle.

Alice smiled and took my hand, leading me out of my room and downstairs. On the floor below the rest of the Cullens waited for us, along with Sam, Jake, and Seth, then Arin and Skyler too. Seth was looking at Holly with goo-goo eyes much the same way Jake was looking at Skyler. Unfortunately, Skyler seemed to still be making a point of ignoring him. I almost felt bad for the guy, then again, I doubted there was a man in the world I wouldn't feel sorry for if they ended up with that she-devil. Beyond that, I noticed everyone else's attention was elsewhere. In fact, it was on us. Emmett, catching my eye, grinned from ear to ear. Rose turned her gaze from Alice and I to her man-child husband and elbowed him in the gut. I think that must have broken the spell. I smiled gently and walked over to her, laying a gentle hand on her bulging stomach, sensing the energy and life force pulsing within.

"How's it looking?" she asked with trepidation. This was a morning ritual now. Every day I would check, every day I would reassure her that everything was going along nicely.

"Feels great, Rose. How do you feel?"

She chuckled and said, "Tired, actually. I haven't felt tired in a century. Hungry, too."

I looked up at Emmett and jerked my head in the direction of the kitchen where we had stored blood bags for Rose now that hunting was becoming more difficult. He smiled and blurred off, returning with a blood bag and a bendy straw. I snickered; the image had amused me since day one.

I looked up to where my tribe was lounging against the back of the couch, and after pointedly ignoring their proud smirks, asked, "How are preparations coming along?"

"Good," Birch said. "The dragons, Were-Clans, and Thieves, and the general mien are ready to go. The dwarves are still packing up at the forge, the Centaurs still have some of their herd out hunting. We should be able to leave an hour ahead of time, honestly."

I nodded slowly, running over my checklist in my mind for the umpteenth time. "Raf, you've double checked our provisions, right?"

He laughed and said, "For the tenth time, yes. We're good to go with supplies, particularly medicinal items."

"And spare weapons?"

"The dwarves made doubles of all the standard weapons, we should be fine. Every archer has two stocked quivers. You helped make the armor, I should hope you know how that turned out."

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, already feeling the stress boil back up. "Right. Okay. Good. I'm going to go do a sweep of the ranks, then."

"One thing," Birch said, pulling me back before I left.

"Yeah?"

"Uhm, I'm not sure of course, but I think we'll have some unexpected visitors when we reach camp tonight. Not... not bad necessarily, but unexpected."

My brows knit together. "Ambiguous. Anything else?"

"Um," he seemed to hesitate. "It looked pretty chatoic from what I saw. So just... heads up," he finished, his voice was weak.

I sighed and smiled, walking up and laying a hand on his shoulder. "You gotta keep working with Apollo on this. He told me you're the youngest Hunter Oracle since ancient times, you're gift is stronger than even he expected. Have more confidence. If you trust yourself things are going to get easier."

He took a deep breath, closing his eyes for a long moment before opening them again and smiling. "Right. Okay. Thanks, Bella."

I just patted his shoulder and turned towards the door, calling over my shoulder, "All of you, make sure your specific groups are ready to go. When I've heard from all the Generals, we'll move out."

A chorus of agreements followed me out the door. I looked down at Alice and asked, "So what do you think of all this?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, clearly confused.

"Just... all of it. I mean, looking at all this, now that the moment is upon us, what do you think?"

She took in a deep breath and considered carefully before speaking. "Its very impressive, honestly," she said eventually. "All of this seemed to spring up over night. And here you are, stressed, sure, but you've still got such a level head. I fell very safe with you," she concluded, looking up at me with a bright smile I couldn't help but return.

Over all, the camp was cleaned up nicely. Neat backs sat in rows in front of the barracks, which had been swept clean, not a scrap or bone left behind. Campfire pits had been dug out and refilled, the additional forges had been disassembled as well. Ranks of troops ran past, fulfilling the daily workouts their trainers had set to them. Many smiled and waved good morning to Alice and I. We spent an hour talking to folk, asking how they were doing, if they had any complaints. The majority had nothing to complain of, and those that had ill to say were usually younger and scared. We spent most of our time with them, talking about battles I'd been in before, the tough fights and advice for being courageous.

The entire army, numbering over four hundred now, all ate in the clearing behind the house. Nearly two dozen creatures had helped to hunt, gather, and cook this farewell feast. We all ate until we were full to bursting, knowing that our meals and rest beyond this point were uncertain. The air was undeniably tense, but chatter and laughter still filled the air. The sound of an goblin reed flute floated through the air, making me smile. It reminded me of old festivals I had gone to when I was younger. Finally, when the sun reached it's peak height above us I hopped up onto the porch and everyone fell silent. I took a deep breath then began to speak.

"Well friends, the time has come. These easy days are over. We don't know what waits for us beyond these city limits, and I don't know about you, but I think we're ready for it!" My voice rang with a false enthusiasm, a charismatic arrogance that put a smile on people's faces. "What do you think?!" I called out, grinning at the roar that answered me. "Are we ready?!" I called out once more, and once more a sound wave blasted back at me. "Well then! I'll take that as a yes! Then what are you waiting for! Get your arses up and form ranks! Generals to me, we march in five!"

Cheers surrounded me as the calm setting erupted into a tumult of confused motion, each separate entity running hither and thither. I hopped down from the porch and was immediately swarmed by friendly, familiar faces. Alice was, of course, by my side. Her family stood at my left, beaming at me with prideful eyes that made my skin itch. My tribe came to stand beside me, forming ranks of their own. The Quilleute wolves walked up to us, standing beside the Cullens without a single jest or raised hackle. Carlisle's friends came to join us as well, and Skyler walked up, backed by ten of her Weres. I noticed Arin lounging in the shadow of a large pine not far away. He shot me a wink. Yet again I was suddenly overwhelmed by this show of support.

"Well..." I said, my throat dry and wavering. "You guys ready for this?"

"'Course we are," Skyler said with a smile. "The only one who seems so on edge is you. You're doing yourself no favors, you know."

I just smiled a weak smile, only one side of my mouth twitching upwards. I gave a helpless shrug and said, "What else can I do? In a few days I'm probably going to have to kill my family. My father, grandmother, my baby brother, may have to die at my hands. So no, I'm not looking forward to it." My words seemed to hit them like a brick wall. I wasn't surprised or even angry that none of them seemed to have made the leap that while these people were intrinsically evil, they were still my flesh and blood. They had raised me from infancy, taught me my skills. And Milo... he was just a child. I would save him if I could. I hoped. Alice had heard my inner monologues many times before and was not surprised, but the others seemed shocked. "They're evil," I said, "and they shouldn't hold the throne but it will still be a bittersweet victory if we succeed."

"Oh, Bella..." Esme said softly, but before she could continue, ranks marched up before us. Each was broken in a group of twenty, each led by a Captain. My generals had appointed Lieutenants who commanded five of these platoons to make up battalions and the Lieutenants reported to my generals who reported to me.

I looked to those who had gathered before me and said sadly, "Go form your ranks, guys. We gotta split."

Carlisle was technically a Lieutenant, who looked over three platoons of vampires. Jasper led one, then Jasper's friends Charlotte and Peter led the others. All three were season veterans of the Vampire Wars. Carlisle left to gather his ranks, Sam left to organize the pack, and Skyler left to organize the Were-Clans. I looked up to see Arin had disappeared as well. I sighed and looked to Alice with a small smile. A whistle broke the silence, then another and another until every battalion had reported in. I looked into the sky and whistled myself. Loki's green orb buzzed over the trees before landing beside me, turning ethereal then solid all within his languid motion of landing.

"We all clear?" I asked.

"All clear, he said, smiling up at me." I hopped up onto his back, helping Alice up behind me. My tribe whistled for their companions as well, and then we were off.

The location we chose was northeast and farther locked into the mainland, near the Canadian border. Our best guesses gave us two days of hard travel before we made it, which had us hoping for two days of rest before the Askari and Volturi arrived. The trek there was long and miserable until we were far enough from the coast to avoid the near constant rain. It was growing colder which, while for many of our troops this was not an issue, sickness could spread quickly and easily under these conditions to those who were susceptible. I rode out front, as was expected, though I would much rather have been in among the lines joking around and telling stories with the rest of them. My tribe scouted the area ahead of us, while the centaurs, for the most part, lagged behind to ensure we weren't being followed or tracked. We stopped after four hours to rest for twenty minutes before going yet again. I called a halt as twilight began to fall, calling for camp to be set up and fires built and rations divvied out. The moon rose above us as sentries were sent out and we all settled down. The mood around camp was somber, no way around it, and a stark contrast between the aura of this morning's feast. Conversation was for the most part forced, many were just too deep in their thoughts to express themselves. Of course, for Alice and I it was one in the same. We leaned against Loki's warm side, his body curled around us both as Alice curled into my side. We murmured to each other through our thoughts in a lazy, drifting way, reaching for no thoughts and holding on to none, letting them come and go as they pleased. It was relaxing and sooner than later I was drifting into my dreams.

We broke camp before the sun breached the horizon, the next morning. We were quiet yet again. There was no music this time, and we chose to forgo a warm breakfast for the extra time at our base camp. We marched until ten before taking a small rest, then until three when we paused again. The terrain around us was growing steadily more hilly and rocky. Erosion had exposed boulders and the elements had felled large trees, strewing them in our path. By that evening, Loki stirred beneath me and murmured, "I do believe we've arrived."

We pushed through the thick growth to come out in a large meadow with tall grasses nearly waist high. The meadow stretched perhaps a quarter mile on all sides. The surrounding cliffs created a horseshoe like area. Our plans were to ward their summits so that the Askari could only come from one direction. A small creek ran through the woods on the far side, and our noise had startled a herd of deer. It seemed like such a fertile, beautiful area, and we were here to destroy it. Frowning, I bused through, leading the line to an area at the base of the horseshoe. I hopped down from Loki's back and waiting as the lines arrive, arranging themselves before me in neat patterns, silent and waiting for commands. I still found it astounding that these races, so independent and individualistic normally had so easily bent the knee to me.

"Well, we're here," I said with a smile. "This is where we'll camp until they arrive. Set up your living spaces by platoon. We'll need fire wood gathered, a hunting party to go out, and sentries assigned, as well as a latrine dug. Not fun, I know, but it has to be done. My tribe and I are going to ward the area before we do anything else so please direct any of your questions to one of the officers. After dinner there will be an inspection of your gear and your person, so make sure you're in tip top shape. Also, be ready to fight at any time. Stick to your platoons, never get too far from one another. Alright?"

A volley of 'yes ma'am's and 'aye's came forward and with a smile I turned to leave. A roar above us halted my tribe and I just as we were entering the forest line. Thorskir landed before us, the other dragons hot on his tail.

"We've done a far reaching swoop of the land, we couldn't see any humanoids besides our own. I can't imagine the Askari have forest sprites working as spies, so I believe we're safe for now."

I nodded, smiling. "Thank you. Now we just have to hope that Aro has brought Demetri along so that they can find us via the Cullens."

"Talons crossed," Maeesi joked, her silver eyes glinting in the evening light.

"Talons crossed," I agreed with a wry smile. Talons crossed indeed...

Here it was, then. The moon was half full and clouds dimmed it's light further yet. Torches blazed from the cliff face and around our tent city, giving off paltry light and elongating shadows. The bustle of the camp was caught in stark red, yellow, and black contrast from the flames. Low hoots and whistles were the only sounds to be heard besides gentle foot steps of the hardened ground and the rustle of the meadow grasses, all painted a milky silver in the moonlight beyond our camp. I stood just beyond that ring of light, breathing slowly and deeply. My only alternative was rapidly and shallow, to hyperventilate like my body so body wanted to. I had always been so cool and collected under pressure before, this was foreign to me. This was blind panic.

"Bella," a wind chime voice broke through my panic induced haze. I slowly turned my head to see Alice at my side. A small hand reached out to clasp my own. "It'll be okay."

I couldn't speak. My jaw had locked together to keep the contents of my stomach down where they were supposed to me. Instead, I just shook my head and closed my eyes.

"It will be," she insisted, taking a step closer. "We've prepared. We've trained. The plans have been laid, they're bullet proof. Calm down. Look at me." I did as she asked and waited. "Relax," she soothed and I tried my best to do as she asked.

"We're ready," a new voice spoke from my other side. I turned to see Rafael, Skyler, and Sam standing there. Rafael continued, "Arin's boys are in their positions, all the scouts have been accounted for, returned safely. Thorskir and the other dragons are perched atop the cliff, ready to pounce at your signal. The barriers are still in tact, so are the trip spells."

"The troops are all ready, I just got the Lieutenants' reports. All accounted for," Skyler said.

I looked to Sam and raised a brow. He grinned and said, "The pack has transformed, Arin and a handful of goblins are helping them get their armor on now."

"You should go join them then," I said with a small smile. I turned to Skyler and said, "And you should go say goodbye to Jake." Despite her stubborn insistence, I knew the young wolf was growing on her. Sam and Skyler both huffed and turned away, walking off to the side where the pack stood, shaking and stretching in their flexible plate armor. I looked to Rafael and said, "Well."

He smiled and agreed, "Well." The boy looked up at the masked stars and then back at me. "The gods say tonight's stars favor our battle."

"Where are they, anyways?" I asked.

"Around. You know how they are," Rafael said with a shrug. I did know it. They were notorious for not taking orders. They would move at their own pace, make their own decisions when it came right down to it. That was okay, though.

"And the others?" I asked him, knowing he would know what it meant.

"Holly is saying goodbye to Seth. Aria and Archer are having one of their twin moments, I think Birch is with Apollo again."

I nodded slowly, taking it all in. "Five more minutes," Loki's voice whispered in my ear, though he himself was not with us.

I took a deep breath and put my fingers to my lips. I let out one low, long whistle. The camp behind me froze, then began moving again at double speed. Ranks formed, Captains took their places, and they began to file past me into the field. I had wanted to give them a long speech. I wanted to tell them that they were brave and valiant and strong, that their efforts today would decide the course of the future, that songs would be written about them and sung for decades to come. I wanted them to know how very, very grateful I was, but the time had passed. My chest constricted with a fresh wave of panic.

"It's okay," Alice whispered. "They already know." She tugged at my hand and I turned to her, all the fear and panic I felt pouring out through my eyes. She smiled the softest, sweetest, warmest smile I had ever seen and leaned up to move her lips against mine. She seemed to be trying to kiss my worries away, and for the most part it worked. She moved back from her tip toes onto flat ground with a lazy smile on her face.

"Time to go, then," I said, taking a deep breath. My old training master had always told me that fear was a beast you must always keep caged. He warned against getting too close to the bars, that the beast might lash out if you stepped to close to the line. I took that lesson to heart now and took a step back from the emotions within me that were causing me to feel this way. My body grew cold and professional, all the Hunter prowess I had grown into flooding back into my veins. This was, after all, just another battle. Just another enemy. And now it was time for me to do my duty to the world and eradicate this danger.

I walked Alice over to where Carlisle stood so that she might join her platoon. It pained me that she would be fighting. If it were up to me she would be back at camp with Rosealie, Emmett and the Denalis who were helping them protect Rose and her unborn child but she refused. She insisted that against other vampires her gift would return and that she wanted, needed to help. It was beyond my power to stop her, so instead I vowed to always keep one eye on her, to never stray too far from her side. That, and set every ward on her that I knew of.

Our goals tonight were clear cut and concise. Aro, Caius, Marcus, my Grandmother and my Father must all me taken down. Milo, if he was here, was to be brought to me alive. All others were to be killed unless they surrendered. Arin's thieves would drive them in, the dragons would cut them off, and then the fun would begin. Deep in the woods a long howl, one of Skyler's watchmen, echoed in the night sky. The troops rustling feet and subtle murmurs faded into silence. It had begun.

A/N: *Bounces excitedly* I love you all and I love reviews. That will be all!