By the last breath of the four winds blow
Better raise your ears
The sound of hooves knocks at your door
Lock of your wife and children now
It's time to wield the blade
For no you have got some company.
The Horsemen are drawing nearer
On the leather steeds they ride
They have come to take your life
On through the dead of night
With the four Horsemen ride
Or choose your fate and die.
The Four Horsemen, Metallica 1983
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight. Big surprise, I know. I do own a copy of Zumba for Wii and I rock out on it every day. It's awesome.
Important Author Note: Due to recent fuckery in the fandom, I wanted to let you all know that I fully support anyone who wishes to download copies of any of my stories for posterity. I would never remove my stories, but given recent events regarding a certain pulled to publish fan fic, I don't know that we can be sure the fandom will always have the ability to publish FF on this site. (Before you ask, I'm not getting into details. Just know there was fuckery and I'm not down with it. Lol) The only thing I ask is that you don't try to republish my stories anywhere without my permission and my name attached. Just ask … if you wanna list me somewhere, chances are I'll say yes. I've spent a lot of time on these stories and I wrote them for you; I want them available to you no matter what happens in the future. I'd just like credit for it wherever it is posted.
Many thanks to my beta team: DeJean Smith, Swimom7, and Shasta53. They are lovely women and all amazing writers. Check out anything by them; you won't be disappointed.
"Ready, hen?" Maggie asked, placing a reassuring hand on Bella's shoulder.
She nodded and focused her attention on her shield. For Edward, she told herself, and pushed it out. It stretched out like a great, flexible blanket, surrounding all three of them.
"You okay, Alice?" Bella asked.
Alice's eyes had narrowed the minute the shield fell over her, and Bella worried that it was interfering with her ability to see. The small psychic vampire surprised Bella, however, and turned toward her sister with a devilish smile on her lips.
"Let's kick some ass, sister," she growled.
Bella threw her head back and laughed, nodding. "Amen to that, Alice. Amen."
The enclosed city of Volterra sat atop a plateau in the middle of an eroding canyon. Unbeknownst to the humans in surrounding Italy, Aro used the strength and ingenuity of those on the Volturi guard to install steel rods within the core of the plateau to prevent any destruction to the city, despite massive erosion in the surrounding canyon. It was the perfect location for Aro's kingdom; remote and inaccessible to humans save for the winding, narrow bridge that led to Volterra's fortified gates. Without much thought, the vampires within were able to control who and what got in. Immortals who chose to scale the walls were dealt with swiftly and accordingly.
Bella and the others looked down on the walled city from the lip of the surrounding canyon wall. They could easily see the Volturi gates and the lone guard who perched like a cat within a small turret of the wall. To a human eye, he would be invisible. Immortal eyes, however, were very different. They could see the guard's red eyes watching for any movement. The girls' plan was to scale the side of the plateau quickly and walk along the thick stone wall. They could case the city from that vantage point and choose when to make their move. The field Alice had seen in her vision lay below the Volterra plateau, off to the side of the narrow bridge. The group decided, however, to check on the activities within Volterra before going to the field.
Bella felt more comfortable shielding the group if they remained close together; though she knew she could easily stretch it in case of an emergency. As they silently traversed the leeward side of the canyon toward the plateau, Bella felt her senses go into overdrive. This was what she had prepared for, and she knew it was time to put their plan into action. Surprisingly, she felt a wave of calm settle over her they neared the bottom of the plateau.
The seclusion of Bella's shield was uncomfortable for all of them, but it affected Maggie most of all. She felt exposed despite knowing that they were invisible. They were cut off from the scents around them; it made her feeling jumpy and unprepared. Still, there was no better way to approach Volterra than under Bella's shield. They climbed the rocky wall of the plateau, reaching the top in under a minute. Bella, again, marveled at the abilities that immortality provided her. The surface of the wall would have been impossible for even the most experienced rock climber to scale, and yet the three of them had no difficulty reaching the pinnacle.
"Alice, wha' do ye see?" Maggie asked, her red eyes darting back and forth as she surveyed the archaic buildings of Volterra.
"Aro is in his chamber attended by a fair number of the guard. There is some kind of meeting going on, and the brothers are exceptionally displeased. I don't see our family or Leo."
"Tha's in line wi' wha' ye saw earlier," Maggie murmured. "Can ye see what they're gon on wit'?"
"They can't find Edward, despite sending out dozens of spies. Caius is blaming Aro for letting it go so long. Aro is … biding his time."
Bella crinkled her brow. "What do you mean, 'biding his time'? What is he waiting for?"
"I don't know … it keeps shifting."
"He's blocking you," Bella said, frowning. "But what could he be hiding?"
"Battle plans," Maggie said gravely "Let's have a looksee quick-like and then go find yer family."
A few immortals walked around the city in broad daylight, their alabaster skin dazzling in the bright Italian sunshine. The decadence of what they were doing struck Bella immediately. It gave her a sense of what the vampire Aro was like. There was arrogance in the way he'd set up his dominion, flouting the very rules that kept other immortals out of sight. It was the same arrogance that made him believe possessing Alice and Edward was his right. Seeing those vampires out in the sun steeled Bella's resolve to end Aro's hold over the Cullen family.
Aside from those few immortals, the three saw no one else. Volterra was nearly a ghost town. Alice estimated that Aro had sent out upwards of thirty spies around the globe in search of Edward. It seemed, unsurprisingly, that they had picked the most opportune time to visit Volterra thanks, once again, to Alice.
"It's no right," Maggie said, shaking her head. "Makes me nervous te see tha streets deserted like this."
Maggie wrapped her arms around herself and shivered in a very unvampirelike way. Maggie's uncharacteristic behavior made Bella uncomfortable; of all of them, Maggie was the most experienced fighter. She was also the most familiar with the Volturi themselves. If she was worried, weren't they all in more danger than they thought?
"Bella, tis nothing. I've just ne'er seen Volterra like this afore," she explained, seeing the worry on Bella's face. "Volterra ha' always been tha envy of all immortals because ye could walk in tha daytime; ta see it almost empty … it's just no right."
Bella nodded and looked back toward Alice. She was concentrating, looking for the family. They waited in silence, Maggie's eyes trained steadily on the doors of Aro's great castle and Bella watching her sister.
"We'll find them in the field now," Alice murmured when she opened her eyes. "And Leo is with them."
As they moved along the wall and toward the narrow roadway that would lead down to the field, Bella wondered how close Edward and the others were. They had clearly followed her instructions and waited. They should be nearby. She wondered if the large group of immortals was waiting just outside of Volterra for some sign of them. They'd have it soon enough, she thought. In the valley just below, she saw six immortals spread out in a field.
They waited—perched twenty feet up the plateau—watching. The Cullens were engaged in idle pursuits: Carlisle was writing, Rosalie and Esme were reading together, and Jasper and Emmett were sparring. Some ways off, a lithe figure reclined in the tall grass, his brilliant red eyes darting back and forth among the family members. Though ostensibly he watched the family, there was something amiss with him. His angular, pale face sagged on one side, as though it had lost muscle tone. Bella nodded to herself; Leo was deteriorating under the strain of implementing his gift for such an extended time.
Alice's low growl startled Bella; it was a sound she had never heard before. Maggie moved quickly to hold Alice's shoulder, but the small vampire never moved an inch. Bella looked anxiously between Alice and Maggie, worrying her lip in a decidedly human fashion.
"Alice, honey, what are you seeing?" she asked quietly, reaching over and placing a hand over Alice's fingers.
Alice's bright, golden eyes snapped away from the field and up to Bella's, her bright red lips turned up in a sinister snarl.
"He's going to kill him," she hissed. "They've waited for this moment and now that I'm here, they'll kill him. And me too. They want to kill us all."
Her high, tinkling laugh, so familiar, sent a chill down Bella's spine. Alice's voice sounded wrong—her laugh, as well. The words made sense, but the tone didn't sound like Alice at all. She continued.
"I see blood, Bella," she murmured, licking her lips. "The field is bathed in blood. My blood. They know they can't have me and now they're going to end my life, but not before they end his as well."
"Alice," Maggie said, a tremor in her voice. "Yer no makin' sense. Ye canna see yer own blood, hen. We've none of us have any."
Alice laughed again, higher and stranger. "They like you to think that. But when he kills me, my blood will paint the field crimson."
Maggie and Bella exchanged glances. This wasn't a vision, at least not the kind Alice usually saw. She couldn't be seeing the actual future, because as Maggie said, what she just described was impossible. This vision Alice described was demented and twisted, a strange perversion of her true gift. It was as if …
"Oh, my God, Maggie," Bella breathed. "It's Leo. She's looking into Leo's future and it's driving her mad. Alice, stop. Stop searching. I'm begging you, baby. Stop for me."
Alice's face twisted and contorted, her golden eyes misting over as she continued to look into the future. Suddenly, her red lips rounded into a horrified 'o' shape. Her body shook, but no sound emerged from her mouth. Bella silently screamed for Edward, knowing only he would be able to calm Alice down.
"Oh, no," Alice whispered. "Oh, no you won't."
Her voice had lost the maniacal edge, and her eyes had become sharp again. She had stopped looking into the future, but somehow, Bella was not relieved.
"What you saw – it might not be what you think …"
Alice reached over and grabbed Bella's shoulder's tightly, a cockeyed smile on her face. She placed a gentle kiss on Bella's cheek before pulling away. "But it is," she murmured.
Before Bella could react, Alice had darted down the plateau. She was well out of the safety of the shield.
"Fuck!" Bella cried as the strain of Alice running through the shield made it snap back into place.
The Cullens immediately spotted Alice darting toward them, her arms flung open as she headed straight for Jasper. Bella knew exactly what she needed to do. Without wasting a moment to make sure Maggie was behind her, she flew down the steep incline and launched herself across the open field. Vaguely, she heard Maggie zooming up behind her, growling protectively, but she paid the sound no mind.
She darted in and out of sight—her shield covering her one minute and then uncovering another to confuse the other immortals. Leo was only a few hundred feet away. Emmett, a great bear of a vampire, swung his arms toward her. Before he had even come close, Bella had disappeared from his sight, concealed once again within her shield. She heard Maggie reasoning with Carlisle, using her gift to confuse him. She also heard the sickening sound of stone meeting stone as Alice crashed into another vampire. Bella couldn't look to see if Jasper had struck her; instead, she pushed herself harder.
Leo moved slowly, almost as slow as a human, rising up from his prostrate position on the ground and looking stupidly around the field. She could see his eyes rolling in his head, trying to process the sudden change in events. A growl rumbled in her chest as Bella neared him. With a great burst of speed, Bella reached the small vampire. She flung her arms up in the air and with them, her shield. As she grasped Leo around the neck, she threw her shield around him and prayed that it would work.
Silence.
Leo stood in her arms, sagging and non-combative. Bella held his head tilted back so that his neck was exposed to her teeth. Though her mouth was less than an inch from his neck, he didn't flinch away from her. Instead, he breathed calmly.
Disarmed, Bella turned her attention back to the rest of the vampires in the field. Rosalie's eyes were narrowed on Maggie, but her hand was touching her forehead, as though she was confused. Next to her, Esme's head was tilted to the side, almost as if asking a question. Her eyes were focused on her mate, who had stopped his conversation with Maggie quite abruptly.
"Bella, don't ye let him go," Maggie called.
Her voice rang like a bell across the field. It seemed to wake the others out of the stupor that had fallen over them when Bella had captured Leo. Rose turned round to look at Emmett.
"Where did the other one go? The one you almost had?"
"I dinna know," he murmured. "She wa' there, and then she wa' gone."
Though Bella didn't want to, she turned her eyes toward where she knew Alice had run. She gripped Leo more tightly as her eyes focused on Alice and Jasper. She took a breath for the first time when she saw her sister still standing, still fully intact. Jasper's arms were fully extended, hands on Alice's small shoulders. Her golden eyes shone as she beamed up into his face.
"I … know you," he murmured. "Carlisle, why do I know this female?"
Alice let out a happy moan and attempted to fling herself into his arms, but he still held her at bay. It didn't dampen Alice's spirit any; her smile was still as radiant as it was the moment she heard his voice again.
Carlisle appeared ready to speak, but something had reanimated the dead weight in Bella's arms. Leo sprang to life, surprising Bella with his quick movement. He grabbed at her arm and swung it around so that they were facing each other. She stretched her shield, making sure to keep him within its confines. Though the Cullens hadn't completely recovered, they showed definite signs of improvement. Exposing them to Leo full force might mean certain death for her and her friends.
"What kind of evil witch are you?" Leo asked, his voice a high-pitched lisp.
"Witch?" she hissed. "No … wrong mythological creature." She snapped her wrist, twisting her arm around so that her hand grasped Leo's forearm. She dug her nails deep into his flesh, smiling as he dropped to his knees. "But I am your worst nightmare."
Bella flashed behind him, once again grabbing hold of his white-blonde hair and yanking his head backward. She released his forearm and ran a fingernail down his exposed neck before grabbing the base of his neck with her whole hand.
"Im-possible," he gasped.
His eyes rolled in his head, always in motion, until they settled on Bella's. His mad eyes fixated upon her and suddenly she saw all of his insanity, churning there within the depths of his crimson irises. It drew her in, hypnotized her with the swirling endlessness of his disjointed thoughts.
"You see? Nothing could be worse than the nightmare of my own mind." Her grip loosened as pity filled her, but his hand covered hers at his throat. "Do it. Please."
Bella closed her eyes and twisted his head viciously off of his body, grimacing at the sickening sound of splitting granite. She opened her eyes. Leo's gaunt face had a peaceful expression on it for the first time since Bella spied him across the field. His frail body fell to the ground with a dull thump, and she was left holding his small head in her hands.
The silence was the first thing that drew her attention away from the somber sight of the lifeless body on the ground. None of the other immortals in the field made a single movement. Bella looked up and saw that they were all staring at her. Her shield must have snapped back as she tore Leo's head off. Aside from Maggie and Alice, the rest of the immortals on the field looked at her with a mixture of horror and surprise. All … save for Jasper.
The red-eyed warrior was staring in utter amazement at the small vampire he held in his arms, recognition written all over his face.
"Alice?" he whispered hoarsely. "I don't – what happened?"
Alice turned back toward him, a beatific smile on her face. "It doesn't matter now."
He leaned his forehead against hers, and the moment was too tender to continue watching. Instead, Bella turned her attention to the tall, golden-haired vampire next to Maggie. Carlisle – Edward's father – she had so many questions, so many things to tell him. Bella was certain that he would have as many questions for her. She opened her mouth to speak, but he held up a single finger and stepped forward.
"I don't know who you are," he murmured, "but you've saved my family. I want to thank you, but first we must destroy Leo."
Collectively, the family's eyes turned harshly on the prone body at Bella's feet. Their immortal minds had bridged the gap quickly; they understood enough of what Leo had wrought to want him gone for good. Emmett stepped forward, his great size making Bella take a single step backward.
"Don't be afraid," a beautiful voice said. "My husband will finish the job."
Bella looked up to see Rosalie regarding her kindly. Emmett held out his hand, and Bella gladly handed over the head. With a fluid movement, Emmett drew a lighter from the satchel hanging around his waist. Flicking it open, he set fire to the head and tossed it on top of Leo's body. Bluish-purple smoke plumed up into the air as the body ignited. Bella cringed at the acrid odor of burning immortal flesh.
In an instant, the flames had burned themselves out, and Leo was nothing more than a pile of ash. Bella shuddered at the finality of it, of the sheer magnitude of what she had done. Before her, lay a being who had walked the earth for centuries, and she had ended its life. Regardless of what he'd done to her family, the reality of it left her feeling hollow. She was not meant to be a killer. Bella looked up pleadingly at the great mountain of a man standing in front of her, venom stinging her eyes as the human reflex to cry over the dead consumed her.
"Perhaps ye'll tell us what's become of our brother, Edward?" Emmett asked, his face serious.
"Bella is Edward's mate," Alice said, flashing across the field with Jasper. Her hand remained entwined with his; Bella doubted either would let the other go until they were well away from Volterra. As Alice approached Bella, her eyes became clouded over. She was searching the future.
Astoundingly, the family all waited quietly for her to finish, as though not a moment had been lost in their time together. They seemed to all move as a unit, each so in tune with the rest that their bodies almost mirrored one another. Alice bit her bottom lip as she emerged from her trance. She looked first at Bella and then at Carlisle.
"It's time," she whispered.
From above, a great roar sounded. They all looked up to see the thirty-odd vampires Edward had amassed storm from every direction toward the gates of Volterra. Bella saw Edward's shining, bronze hair leading the pack, his mouth drawn back in a menacing grimace. He leapt up just as the lone gate-guard jumped from his perch, catching him in midair. Bella both heard and saw Edward tear the unknown immortal's head from his body.
"Edward," Carlisle whispered.
And without another word, the entire family streaked across the field toward Volterra.
A/N: A few reminders, since it's been a bit since we talked about everyone's history. Maggie's gift is not judging the truth (as it is in canon); instead, she is able to implant whatever idea she wishes into another's mind. She is telling Carlisle the truth in this chapter, but because of Leo's gift, it is difficult for her gift to work. We'll hear more about that later, when they have a chance to talk. Also, Emmett is Scottish as well; Rosalie found him on a battlefield in Scotland and he would have been a Highland warrior. Think Jaime from the Outlander novels. *SWOOOON* Anyways, I hope you enjoy this chapter. The next will be soon in coming, I assure you. Combining the full battle would have been far longer than I usually make chapters and I felt that this was a good breaking point. See you next time, loves! ~Jen
