Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight, and I don't own Charmed. The spell "Power of the Witches" belongs to Charmed, I don't own it at all!
The battle is finally upon us.
Chapter Twenty: Never Surrender
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this," Embry whined as he watched Callie dig through her closet.
"What do you mean?" she asked as she continued digging. She couldn't seem to find her ceremonial dress and cloak in her overly full closet.
"I can't believe I let you talk me into letting you do this!"
Callie stopped digging, "I didn't need your permission to do this Embry."
"That's not what I meant Cals, and you know it," he pleaded, not wanting to get into a fight with her, especially not on this day.
Suddenly, his eyes brightened, "Run away with me."
"What?" she asked him, her eyes wide.
"Run away with me. You, me and Brook. We could run away and never have to deal with this!"
Callie looked at him with sympathetic eyes, knowing that he just wanted her to be safe, "I know you don't like that I'm going to do this, but it's something that I have to do. Running away won't fix this, its not something that can just go away."
"But-" he began.
"Embry," Callie whispered, "I'm tired of running. First Kendra and I ran away to New York to get Brooklyn away from him, which in the end he caught up with us anyway. Then I ran away again and came here, and once again, he found us." She sighed, running a hand through her hair, "I've spent the last two years running away from him, and it's gotten to the point that I'm just so tired. I don't want to run anymore. Running away won't fix the problem, it'll just push it off for a few months; and in those months I'd still be running. I don't want to live like that, I don't want Brook to have to live like that, and I don't want that to become your life."
She looked at him softly, knowing that he was starting to understand why she was doing this, "It's time for me to stop running away from my problems, its time for me to confront them. It's for the best."
"I know," he sighed, running a hand through his cropped hair, "But just because I know its what's best, that doesn't mean that I have to like it."
Callie didn't answer, she simply resumed digging, finally pulling out her dress and cloak. She walked over to the bed where Embry was sitting and placed a soft kiss on his cheek, "I love you."
"I love you too."
"Does everyone understand the plan?" Gina asked seriously to the large group of people that had congregated in the Alexander's basement.
"Can you go over it one more time, just to make sure everything is clear?" the vampire, Edward Cullen requested.
Gina nodded her head, "When we get to the clearing, and the moon is at the correct location in the sky, we will begin the ceremony to call Kendra's spirit back to our world."
Callie stepped forward, her cloak draped over her shoulders, "I will begin by cutting myself with an athamae, and I will then recite the spell that calls to the blood that I share with my sister. I will also take hold of Brooklyn's hand so that the connection between this world and Kendra's is stronger."
Embry shifted in his seat uncomfortably as Callie spoke of cutting herself, not liking the idea of any harm coming to her, even if it was self-inflicted.
"Once Kendra's spirit has entered Leah's body, we will have a few seconds to make sure she knows what the plan is," Aria continued. "From there we will recite the spell that will strengthen our powers."
"Once that spell is complete, the spell that will weaken Damien will be recited," Demi finished.
"When Damien reaches the clearing, we don't know what he has planned. For all we know he will have an army of darkness at his beck and call," Gina told the group darkly, looking at every person in the room.
"That's why we have you guys to help us," Callie continued for her aunt. "Since we are almost positive that he has an army of his own coming with him, we need each of you to fight with us against the members of his army."
There were various sounds of understanding and agreement heard throughout the room after Callie's statement.
"It won't be easy," she continued, her voice as hard as steel, "If anything, it will be the most difficult fight you have ever been in. You have to remember the training that we had. Take your opponents by surprise."
The room remained silent.
Callie took a deep breath, "There is one more thing that you all need to remember," she told them, fighting to hide the fear that was in her eyes, "No matter what you do, don't kill Damien. I have to be the one to kill him."
"What?"
"Why not?"
"Are you kidding?"
The protests were loud and making Callie cringe.
"Shut up!" Sam commanded, the room becoming silent again.
"Thanks," Callie directed to Sam. She then turned her attention back to the occupants in the room, "You can hurt Damien, distract him, or anything along those lines, but you are not to kill him."
Callie turned her attention to her family, "If he kills me, he will be after you guys next. If it comes to that, then all of you can try to kill him."
Embry growled and stood up off of the couch, marching over to Callie, wrapping her in his arms.
"Callie, you're going to be fine," Demi tried to reassure her cousin.
Callie looked up from the ground her eyes shining, "I hope I do survive, but there is a chance that I don't. And if I don't, I need you to kill Damien, and keep Brooklyn safe, by any means necessary.
Demi nodded solemnly, "We will."
"Are you sure you want to do this Leah? This is your last chance to back out," Callie warned as the witches sat around a cauldron, the pack surrounding them with the Cullen's about ten feet away.
Leah took a deep breath, pure determination in her dark eyes, "I know, and I'm sure."
"Okay," Callie whispered. Gina placed Brooklyn into Callie's lap, her body covered in the recently shrunken dress and cloak that the rest of the group was wearing. Gina had on a dress that matched the group, but her cloak was all black, showing that she was simply the one speaking for Spirit. Callie lifted her own hood so that it rested over her red tresses, motioning to the group so that they would do the same.
Callie pulled an athame from next to the cauldron and carefully placed it against her wrist. Making sure that her wrist was directly over the mouth of the cauldron, she pressed the athamae into her skin, slicing through it easily. Quickly, Callie dropped the athamae to the ground and grabbed one of Brooklyn's hands with her uninjured one.
The group watched as a trickle of blood ran down Callie's wrist and into the cauldron as she began to speak, "Powers of the witches rise, course unseen across the skies. Come to us who call you near, come to us and settle here. Blood to blood we summon thee, blood to blood, return to me!"
The wind around them began to blow harder, circling the group before surrounding Leah. Leah's eyes widened as she gasped loudly, her eyes shutting tightly.
Just as quickly as the wind began, it stopped.
Slowly, Leah opened her eyes, but they weren't their normal dark brown; they were a silvery blue.
"Kendra," Callie breathed.
"Hello Callie," Kendra's voice escaped Leah's mouth, as light as air.
"Oh my God," Callie whispered, fighting back tears.
"As much as I would love to talk with you Callie, I think you need to get your wrist healed, and I think that we all have a spell to do," Kendra's sweet voice said remorsefully.
Taking this as their cue, Gina carefully picked Brooklyn up and walked back to her spot in the circle, placing the child on her lap as Demi walked up to Callie and grasped her arm. Demi's hand glowed a soft yellow as the cut on Callie's wrist sealed. Once the cut was completely healed, Demi took her spot in the circle.
Looking at the placement of the moon in the sky Aria stated, "Its time."
"Kendra," Callie began, "do you know what to do?"
Kendra smiled kindly, but the smile that was so unlike Leah that it was almost comical, "I've been watching over you, Callie, I know that I need to call upon my element and I know we need to say the spell to weaken Damien. But we must hurry, I don't have much time."
The group nodded and each member reached out and linked hands.
"Ready?" Callie asked the group.
They all nodded, "Then take it away Aria," Callie commanded.
Aria took a deep breath and began to chant in a strong voice, "I call upon the element of Air, May this Protector embody it with care. Empower me with its intellectual power, The element that makes the enemy cower!" she finished as the wind picked up once more, surrounding Aria. It was almost as if the wind sunk into her body as she gasped loudly. Her eyes suddenly flew open and they were glowing a soft yellow.
Demi took this as her cue to begin, "I call upon the element of Earth, May this Protector embody its rebirth. Empower me with its balanced care, The element that is made to be fair!" once the last word left her mouth, the earth around them began to shake, its epicenter where Demi was sitting. The vibrations shot into Demi's body and she gasped as her eyes closed and the earth stopped shaking. Her eyes slowly opened to show that they were glowing an ethereal green in color.
Leah began to speak with Kendra's voice next, "I call upon the element of Water, May this Protector embody its creator. Empower me with its nurturing ways, The element that keeps the enemy at bay!" the water molecules in the air surrounded Leah's body, absorbing into her skin. When her eyes opened they were glowing a light blue color.
Knowing it was her turn, Callie began her own spell, "I call upon the element of Fire, May this Protector embody its Sire. Empower me with the living flame, The element that none can tame!" Callie felt as if her body temperature was skyrocketing, a red light illumination from her body as the full power of fire entered. Her eyes flew open to show that they were glowing an intense red in color.
Gina began to chant for Brooklyn next, "I call upon the element of Spirit, May this Protector have it to inherit. Empower me with its connection, The element that defies direction!" a white light surrounded Gina and Brooklyn, sinking into their skin. When their eyes opened, they were both glowing purple.
"We don't have much time," Callie stated, looking at the rest of the group.
"He should be here any second," Kendra's voice stated.
Suddenly, across the field they saw a puff of black smoke.
"He's here!" Callie yelled.
"We have to start now!" Gina demanded. The group nodded and began to chant once more.
"We call upon the ancient powers, To aid us in our darkest hour. Our enemy is the most powerful kind, Take his powers, Let them bind."
A white light shot from each member of the circle and flew over towards the figure that had materialized out of black smoke, hitting him square in the chest. The power of the hit knocked him off of his feet, but it didn't keep him down for long. After only a few seconds, he was back on his feet and striding towards the group confidently. As he continued towards the group, other figures began to appear behind him, following him as he got closer and closer to the group.
"I must go," Kendra's voice called, as the number of demons behind Damien reached nearly twenty.
"But-" Callie began, not wanting her sister to leave.
"I must Callie," she told her sister softly, watching as the man and his army got closer to the group, "you have a job to do, please protect Brooklyn," she pleaded.
Callie suddenly felt the fire in her come to life, determination filling her veins, "I will."
She turned away from the group and began walking towards Damien. She didn't see a gust of wind leave Leah's body or Leah fall to the ground unconscious, Seth rushing to make sure she was okay.
"She's fine Seth, she'll wake up in a minute," Demi soothed her imprint.
Callie got closer to Damien, seeing his familiar smirk as she met him about ten feet from the group.
"That was some spell that you did," he mocked, "But it won't be enough to save you."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Callie seethed, conjuring a ball of fire and throwing it at him. It grazed his arm, leaving a scorch mark in its place. He glanced from his arm to Callie disbelief on his face.
Disbelief quickly turned to anger as he turned to the now fifty demons gather about fifteen feet behind him, "ATTACK!" he commanded.
Instantly, the demons charged at the group behind Callie. Each member of the pack, the Cullen family and Callie's family was engaged in a fight. Callie quickly turned her attention back to Damien, trying to block out the sounds of combat behind her.
A snarl curled at his lips as he threw an energy ball at her. Seeing it coming, she had just enough time to drop to the ground and dodge it. She hastily pulled herself back to her feet and threw a fireball of her own at the evil being. He smirked at her cockily as he easily dodged it.
"Is that the best you can do?" he mocked her.
Callie snarled at him, using her telekinesis to throw him to the ground. She wasn't able to hold him for more than a few seconds, because soon he was back on his feet, dusting himself off.
He grinned maliciously as he conjured another energy ball and hurled it at Callie. This time she was unprepared. She had turned her attention to the battle behind her, seeing that her family and friends were faring rather well. Since her attention had been elsewhere, she was unprepared for the attack.
It connected with her stomach and sent her to the ground. The fabric of her dress burnt away, revealing the gaping wound that left her flesh sizzling.
Embry was busy fighting a warlock when he saw from the corner of his eye, Callie fall to the ground. He turned away from the demon and charged towards his Imprint, the demon forgotten.
"Embry! She'll be fine!" Sam's voice echoed in his head, causing him to come to a halt, "Just keep fighting!"
Embry was about to protest when he saw Callie pulling herself up.
Embry let out a growl of irritation as he turned his attention away from Callie's direction and charged at the nearest demon, continuing the battle.
"I'm going to kill you once and for all," he told her darkly as she pulled herself off of the ground carefully, a grimace on her face.
"Not if I kill you first," she spat at him, throwing another fireball at him. He dodged it, cackling madly.
As he continued to laugh he threw another energy ball at Callie, taking her by surprise as it grazed her arm. Her hand flew to cover the new wound as she bit her lip to hide her pain.
"I can't wait until I've killed you, because once I do that I'll kill your family, then that pack of shape shifters, and then that useless family of vampires, then I'll kill that precious child," he taunted. He threw another energy ball at Callie, forcing her back a few feet. She stumbled over her own feet and fell to the ground, the wind knocked out of her.
She closed her eyes for a second to collect her composure. When her eyes fluttered open she found Damien standing above her, a smirk on his bloody face.
"This is almost too easy," he informed Callie as she struggled to sit up. "You know, your sister was easy to kill as well."
"Don't talk about my sister!" Callie demanded as she continued to struggle to sit up.
Damien leaned down so that his face was a few inches from Callie, "You know it didn't take much to convince your sister that she and I had slept together," he sneered, "All I had to do was knock her out after she had been drinking, perform the spell that would impregnate her with my child, and then leave her in bed, naked."
He cackled madly, "Its too bad that your sister was so against me, Calida; I could have taken her as my Queen. Alas, she was against me, and look how she ended up," he leaned in a bit closer, ignoring the murderous glare that Callie shot him, "Dead". He pulled his face away from Callie's, the maniacal smile still on his face, "After I kill you and your band of miscreants, I'll be able to take your precious niece and raise her as my heir."
Something seemed to snap inside of Callie, she felt the Fire that she had summoned earlier break to the surface. She was no longer in control of her actions; Fire was ready to destroy the enemy.
Letting out a shout she flung her hand out and a stream of fire hit Damien in the chest, forcing him to his knees as Callie continued to shoot fire at him. "You will never lay a hand on my family, my imprint, my friends or my daughter you bastard!" she screamed as the stream of fire intensified, the glow getting stronger and stronger with each passing second.
Damien screamed out in agony. In an attempt to stop the attack he threw a weak energy ball at Callie, which hit her in her already wounded stomach. It was too weak to do any real damage, but it was enough to break her concentration.
Damien summoned another energy ball, this one bigger than any that Callie had ever seen before, and she knew that if it hit her, it would kill her.
Using all the strength that she had, she summoned every ounce of Fire that she could, channeling it into a fireball of her own. Once it was filled to the brim with unmatched power, she flung it at Damien, at the same moment that he flung his enlarged energy ball at Callie.
The group had finished killing all of the demons, none of them seriously hurt. The wolves had turned back to human form, small cuts marring their tan skin. They turned their attention to Callie and Damien and watched in horror as first Callie's fireball connected with Damien's chest and he exploded into a burst of ash; the energy ball that Damien had thrown hit Callie in her chest as well, sending her flying back towards the group, where she landed on the ground in a heap.
Motionless.
"CALLIE!" Embry screamed as he broke free from Sam's grip and ran the ten feet needed to reach Callie. He skid to a halt and fell to the ground next to her, pulling her torso into his arms as he cradled her close.
"Demi, heal her!" he demanded as he gently touched her upper stomach. When he pulled his hand away from her torso, he saw that his hand was drenched in bright red blood.
Callie's blood.
Demi rushed over to the duo, the large group following behind her. She fell to the ground next to Embry and reached her hands over Callie's bloodied body. Her hands glowed as the wounds on Callie's chest slowly closed up, leaving no evidence that she had been attacked, aside from the burnt clothing and blood covered skin and clothes.
Embry looked at Callie's face expectantly, waiting for her eyes to open.
"Callie?" he asked, his voice hoarse. "Why isn't she waking up?" he asked Demi.
With shaking hands Demi placed her finger on Callie's neck, searching for a pulse.
Gasping loudly, Demi quickly pulled her hand away from her cousin's neck.
"What? What is it?" Embry demanded.
Demi looked up from her cousin's body and at the group surrounding them, tears forming in her eyes.
"She's dead."
So I hope you guys liked this chapter. Writing the battle was really difficult, so I would love some feedback.
This chapter's fun fact:
When I started writing this, I didn't know who I was going to pair Callie with. At one point I thought of putting her with Jacob (mainly because I don't like Nessie because she freaks me out), but after some thinking, I thought that Embry deserved some love!
Please review!