Secrets of the Wild

Author's Note: So I got a job

Soundtrack: The Spectre: Graven Image by Zack Hemsey, (I'm not going to name this one because this will give away plot summary, but I'll name it at the end) : Rise of the Black Curtain by Audiomachine.

Chapter Twenty One:

She gulped, listening to what he was saying, exactly. The firelight danced off of the walls, cracking in the hearth. The leaders had left a half hour ago to gather their men. Harren Ros had left camp cheering and Ilyrio Maro slithered back into the black night, dagger in hand. She fought to hold back her tears. His words were becoming blurred as he tried to explain why this was the only way.

"Why so soon?" she asked him, holding her child to her breast, feeling his feathery soft hair on her fingers. "Why not wait?"

He shook his head, wiping her tears from her cheek with the calloused pad of his thumb. He explained to her how it was a threat and how they came to their territory and mounted flags. He explained that this war was a long time coming.

"They are strong and powerful," she told him, clutching Luca a little tighter. "Together, they have 6,000 men. 500 for artillery, 2,300 for cavalry, 2,900 for ground soldiers and 300 highly skilled archers. You do not fully know the true extent to the fire that you are about to be playing with."

"You are the Great Mother," he explained calmly, overlooking his wife's fears with a soft chuckle. "This has been prophesied—"

"I don't care!" she nearly screamed. The child in her arms was immediately startled awake and began to cry, along with the rest of the children. Both mother and father went to soothe their frightened children with gentle words and soft caresses. Bella set Luca down in his cradle and kissed his little head, giving the child a blanket to grip onto. Tears were in her eyes when she looked upon her babies. "You may say I am this…Great Mother…but how can you truly be sure? What if Itzalle's prophecies were lies? How can you attack the Forksians, thinking that you will have an easy, automatic victory just because of what you think I am?" she broke down, burying her face in the crook of her arm.

He moved towards her on his knees, reaching out to caress her shoulder, but she shied away from him. "I know you are the Babban Uwar. I've seen with my own eyes today, the sun melt the plaguing snow covering these grounds. I've seen you give birth to four children and survive."

"I don't feel any different," she replied, wiping at her eyes with the back of her hand. "I don't believe that I am your prophesied goddess, or whatever she is. I'm just your wife, who happens to still be alive after birthing four children."

"You'll believe it soon enough," he told her, stroking her hair. She pushed her face further into the crook of her arm as if trying to escape him.

"You can't honestly believe you'll have a chance against Forks just because you think I provide some sort of magic," she said, voice breaking. "I can't save you. If Forks were to attack us, the silly title of Babban Uwar wouldn't stop them."

"I don't think you fully understand what we plan to do," he whispered softly in explanation, clasping her hand in his own. "I've talked with the other tribe leaders—Maro, Ros and Call. The Quileutes alone will contribute 1,100 fighting men to rally to our cause. Jahakar has 2,000 to give us. The Makah, 800, and 1,700 from Sospa."

Bella's eyes widened and she picked up her head to look at him—truly look at him, and see if he spoke truth. Tears stained her cheeks and she sucked in a juicy breath. "If what you say is true and if my calculations are correct…that means we have 5,600 fighting men of the wild."

He nodded his head. "If I'm not mistaken, lerato la ka, then I believe we have a fighting chance against the bastard king and his pale-faced army."

Aria began to cry in her basket and Bella lifted the child carefully into her arms. She cradled the child close to her, soothing her with gentle shushing. "How will you attack?" she questioned, looking at her baby girl that laid in her arms, calming down. How would they be safe from these monsters?

"We will come from all directions and lay siege upon the castle," he replied. "The Sospians will shoot down the archers on the wall and then climb said wall. The Jahakans make their way through the underground water way and kill the night guard patrolling the streets. The Makah will stand lookout and the Quileutes…some of my men and I will travel through the underground passageways and find that king and kill him while he sleeps."

"It won't be that easy," she said dreadfully.

He scoffed in shock and felt his pride slightly scorned. "Have you no faith in your husband?" he asked. "Have you no faith in the wild? The wild that vows to protect you with the lives of its people?"

She looked upon him with ungentle eyes before they quickly softened. She breathed out, her shoulders drooping. "Forgive me, my love," she apologized solemnly, her lips curling into a frown. "I must seem to you ungrateful. But I have seen many things as their queen. I have seen my late husband's army decimate enemy soldiers like a wildfire would a prairie. I have seen torture methods so unspeakable that it would surely burn my tongue if I were to try and utter them. I'm just…afraid. Terrified, actually. I don't know what I'd do if…"

A sob escaped her lips and Jacob shushed her, sliding closer to her and wrapping her in his arms. "I know," he murmured. "But be free of your worries. Give the people hope and they shall sup on it like a bear does the finest honey. Give them hope and it will fuel the fire that these footprints have started and Forks, I promise you, will feel our wrath." He said with such a vengeance in his eyes, such assurance and confidence that she felt comforted by his promise.

"And when do you plan on leaving?" she asked, seeing the faint traces of dying sunlight pouring in through the opening in their tent flap.

"In the dark of the night," he told her. "And that dark will shield us as we prepare our attack. No…they will not see us coming."

She lifted a sleeping Aria back into her basket before stripping her furs and pulling her hair from her braid. "Then come to bed," she whispered. "So that I might lay with you one more night before you slip away into the dead of night to come face to face with that monster I once called husband."

And he complied, leaving the side of his sleeping son and joining his wife in bed. He sidled next to her and she laid her head on his chest. He pressed his nose to her hair and she could feel his smile against her. "Your hair smells like cinnamon," he commented. She chuckled and pinched his side playfully.

"Goodnight," she whispered. "I love you."

"And I you, lerato la ka. More than life itself," he replied.

0o0o0o0o

JACOB

An hour later, he arose. It wasn't yet time for battle but he found himself not able to sleep. Something had stirred him and he felt this growing feeling inside of him. He was feeling anxious…he wanted to meet this king and lead him straight to his demise. He wanted to destroy the Forksians. Yes…yes, it would be his long awaited revenge.

But yet he also felt something else. An urge, it seemed. An urge to leave the tent and enter the forest. Why? He did not know.

He looked upon his sleeping babies. Little Aria and Dani and his two strong boys, Luca and Nakota. Then to his wife. His Bella. The fire in the hearth cast a certain light onto her, shadows dancing across her smooth ivory skin. She made a noise and tossed her head to the side. She was dreaming. Her lips parted and her brows furrowed. She murmured his name.

He sighed. He knew she was worried about him. Suddenly, a flash of blue appeared in an opening at the tent flap. He gasped, seeing it flicker in the night, before going dim. Oh, he was intrigued. Carefully, he slid out of bed, making sure not to wake her. He went to the tent flap and peered out of the small opening.

The blue light was there, in the form of an orb, just waiting outside of his tent. It moved slightly in the air, glowing brighter from the moment he laid eyes upon it. He quickly drew back from the flap in shock.

Jacob slipped on his boots and buttoned his coat. He had to follow it! It startled him when Bella kicked off the covers and threw her arm over his pillow, snuggling into it. He breathed out softly, going to the edge of their bed and taking the quilts into his hands. Careful not to wake her, he pulled the covers up and back over her body. He knew she would have gotten cold and that would eventually wake her. And then she'd realize he wasn't beside her.

He paused for a moment to make sure she wouldn't wake before exiting their tent through the flap, trying to be as quiet as possible. He expected the cold, but was surprised when a breeze still cold yet somewhat warm touched his skin. This was it. Bella was the prophesied mother. Bella was bringing the long awaited spring.

He looked for the orb, but it was nowhere in sight. He trudged past the tents towards the forest, where he felt like he was being pulled. Everyone was sleeping with the exception of the night guard standing watch at La Push's borders. Jacob disregarded them and emerged into the forest. He had his daggers and his bow in case of emergency but to be rather frank, he felt no fear. The Babban Uwar promised triumph in battle. The prophesy promised good luck and fortune.

Then he saw it. The blue light!

He trudged through the snow, which was rather wet with the warmer weather thinning its icy outer layer. He followed the spectre light past the barren trees with their naked branches seemingly clawing at the sky. It led him straight to the cliff's ledge, sitting above the snow quietly before vanishing with a bright flash of blinding light. Above him, the Auroras stretched across the sky like the gods had painted Jacob his very own picture. Pinks and greens and blues floated with the stars and moon in aesthetic harmony.

The spectre had brought him here, to his place where he would always go if he needed solace. Maybe the Gods wanted to tell him something. He sat down in the snow, figuring he could talk to Melitta while he was here. He knew that this was where she lived again.

A breeze rolled through the forest and kissed the back of his head, ruffling his hair in the wind. He looked to the sky and studied the colors, breathing out air like a puff of smoke from the lips of a dragon. The stars twinkled above him. "Melitta…" he whispered, lips trembling. "If anything should happen to me during this battle, look over my children. Look over Bella. Protect them, my love, where I had failed to protect you."

His chest tightened and he swallowed a thick gulp of air, fighting back the painful urge to break down. He pushed those memories back with a strong hand. He had to have courage. "O You Gods," he began softly. "Vyra of the Light, Myrko of the Dark, Tilysia the Mother, Uvo the Archer, Bria of the Earth…guide me." Above him, the Auroras sparkled with light. "If Itzalle's prophecy was true, give me a sign! Anything!"

So he waited.

And waited.

But no sign came…just still, quiet skies. The Gods would give him no reason to believe that his wife was the very embodiment of this prophesied Babban Uwar, predicted by a woman who lived nearly 3,000 years ago. He looked down to his hands, which were folded in his lap neatly. He swallowed thickly, hoping to the Gods that Itzalle was correct.

Suddenly, a flash of light nearly blinded him. He looked up as a shooting star shot across the sky, before darkness fell completely upon him. He watched with widened eyes as the Auroras faded and thick nighttime clouds rolled into the sky, covering the stars and moon with it. The sky was a muddled black and there was no light to be had. Jacob's heart raced. He could barely see.

He stood up and quickly scrambled from the edge of the cliff, flinging snow everywhere. He headed back into the direction of the forest, his breathing becoming ragged. He ran straight into a tree, one of the branches smacking his shoulder violently. He moved forward, his foot catching on an overgrown root. He was falling. He blindly put his hands out to brace his fall in the snow.

Something happened then. A sliver of light appeared in the forest, like an orb. It was blue in color and glowed like magic. Jacob was mesmerized. The rest of his world was black, but there was that light. There was that spectre again. At first he crawled towards it, barely giving himself enough time to stumble onto his feet. The light flickered as he reached for it, disappearing entirely. He gasped in shock, shaking his head in shock.

A few feet away, the ball of light reappeared. Jacob lunged for it again but instead of it disappearing this time, it moved. A light appeared in his mind. The strange spectre of light wanted him to follow it. So he did. And the spectre moved through the forest, illuminating the ground with its strange blue light.

Jacob followed it in the snow, making his way over snow piles and past the dead trees. The spectre moved faster through the forest and he found himself struggling to keep up with it. "Wait," he called, feeling out of breath. One could only move so fast through the forest. He started to run—it was the only thing left he could think of to do. The spectre was leading him somewhere—an omen from the Gods, perhaps. Or…could it be?

The light flickered through the forest and Jacob found himself slowing down, panting heavily. It stopped near a dark corner of the forest, standing by a tree. He stood and watched it as it began to…grow. The light spread down and out until it resembled the shape of a woman.

She was naked.

His breath caught in his throat and in that very moment, time seemed to stand still. Her hair was long and black and covered her from his eyes. She had a twinkling blue aura about her, her hands stretched at her sides. Then she turned her head slowly to the side. Oh Gods, his heart simply ached.

It was her. It was Melitta. He took a step forward in the snow. She moved her arms, her light casting through the forest like the most radiant starlight he'd ever seen. Her laugh seemed to echo in the forest as she turned on her heel and ran into the darkness. And he could do nothing but pursue.

He followed her radiant blue light to another cliff's edge, one that overlooked the mountains and valleys below it. He saw her standing there on the very edge, black hair blowing in the breeze. She must have felt his presence because she lifted her head a little higher, her light growing just a little brighter.

And then she turned around fully.

Her body…it was just like how he'd remembered it. And he'd seen every inch of that body and knew it well. He'd worshipped her body like a temple and the woman like a goddess. He knew the soft curves of her breasts, the suppleness of her backside and thighs, her wide hips, the flat plane of her stomach…Her hair like the night that was long and seemingly never-ending and the eyes that had the power to bring out the truth in his heart. Her eyes sparkled like gems in the sockets, sweet lips curling into a smile. She was truly an angel sent from the heavens. All he wanted to do was hold her again, like he used to in those many years ago. Mesmerized, he took another step.

He was shocked when her outline flickered and was quickly horrified.

That body was scarred. That beautiful face of hers, bruised and bloody. Blood painted her thighs and the apex of them, lacerations and stab wounds to her torso. Those eyes were full of such pain…those eyes that were once glittering gems were like sunken caves. He cried out in anguish, turning his head quickly away. But some strange force, something that wasn't of this earth, forced his head back to her.

She was staring at him with those glossy eyes, mouth slightly agape. He wept like a child in her presence, pathetically murmuring to her, "oh please, oh please." He wanted to be put out of this misery but she continued to stare, to stare directly into his soul.

Suddenly, her outline began to violently ripple. He watched with widened eyes and tears rolling down his cheeks as she began to change into someone new. Her shape shrunk and her hair shortened. Her skin grew pale and her dark eyes came to resemble the sea. The shape cried out and doubled over in pain, hair thrown over her shoulders, baring her pale white back. Puzzled, her looked upon this new woman first in confusion.

Then it became clear.

Too terrifyingly, shockingly clear.

It was Bella.

Slowly, she stood up, revealing the true horrors that awaited him. She was beaten and bruised. Her lip was split and bleeding and the word "whore" was painted onto her skin with her own blood. She looked to the side, tears rolling down her cheek. She clenched her fists at her side and closed her eyes.

Suddenly, he saw a graven image behind her. A black bag over his head and his body rippling with monstrous muscle. He had an axe in his hand.

Jacob's eyes widened and he reached out his hand, a scream tearing from his throat. The executioner picked up his axe. He screamed her name, warning her of this man's presence. But it seemed like she already knew.

She looked right at him, beautiful eyes aching with sorrow.

The executioner swung and he couldn't bear to look. He screamed, flinging himself away, trying to escape from this horrid nightmare. He ran and ran through the forest, but it felt like he wasn't even moving at all. No, he didn't understand it.

It was deathly quiet in that forest.

Did he dare turn round?

He did.

And staring back at him was Melitta, her blue light sparkling more beautifully than ever. She stared at him, seemingly in wonder, holding her hand out to the side. Her fingers folded and she pointed, slowly turning her arm over towards the horizon, out towards the cliff. Then she beckoned him with her other hand, and he had no choice but to follow. Tears froze on his cheeks and his heart pounded.

She brought him to the cliff.

The Auroras were sparkling again and she walked out over the edge of the cliff and onto the air. She walked a few steps before turning around to look at him again. And then her lips began to move and he listened to what she spoke, her breath like the crisp winter wind.

"Hurry."

Then she vanished into the sky with a burst of blue light, rejoining the Gods in the heavens above.

His heart pounded and he sloppily wiped away the tears that had dried on his cheeks, giving a juicy sniff. He held onto the base of a tree and looked over the edge of the snowy cliff, towards the valleys and mountains below. What was Melitta trying to tell him with those horrid images of her and Bella?

The Auroras, in addition to the stars and moon, had just enough light combined to be able to illuminate the earth below. No, he didn't know what he was looking for. Melitta told him to hurry for a reason, but he didn't know what the rush was…yet. He desperately searched among the hills for some kind of sign, but found nothing.

Suddenly a flash of blue light sparkled near the horizon line, catching Jacob's eye. And on the snow near the valleys, indeed something caught his eye. He squinted, moving closer to the cliffs in confusion. What was it?

The more he looked, the more he began to make out that something. It was moving, bobbing up and down slightly.

It was a flag. It was…blue. Jacob's breath caught in his throat. He saw a man emerge from the valley into the flat ground. They'd been traveling uphill from the north. The man was on a white horse, and he led his men behind him. Like a plague, they spilled upon the earth in hoards. And they came like an infestation, hundreds and thousands of beasts crawling and creeping onto the virgin snow of his lands.

Now he understood what Melitta was trying to tell him. She was trying to warn him. She was trying to warn him that Forks was coming and if they succeeded in their battle, Bella would be murdered just like Melitta was.

He turned on his heel as fast as he could, racing through the forest and back to his camp. Oh Gods, he had to warn the others. He had to prepare them for battle, he had to send the messengers and falcons to the other tribes.

But there was no time!

Forks was marching on La Push, and they would reach his people in a quarter of the hour.

0o0o0o0o

End Note: Sorry about the time it took for this chapter, but I recently got a job at a restaurant and that's been demanding my time. Also, so has school. I'm hoping updates won't take this long again, but honestly I can't tell. If I'm lucky, I'll try to get an update out every week. But if I'm not, chances are they'll take two weeks or so. It depends on my workload.

So again, to reiterate the soundtrack: Forks Marches on La Push: Rise of the Black Curtain by Audiomachine, The Spectre: Graven Image by Zack Hemsey. Listen to those soundtracks, they're amazing! It makes this haunting chapter even more… haunting.

Anyways, thanks to my previous reviewers and I hope you enjoyed this chapter. A little plot twist, another cliff hanger. Uh oh…

Courtney xx