Chapter Twenty Six

Aurora Chandra


"You learned to run from what you feel, and that's why you have nightmares. To deny is to invite madness. To accept is to control."

-Megan Chance


"Aurora?" Lilith suddenly sprung up, a look of guilt and fear in her eyes.

"Yes child, do you know here?" The crone said to Lilith with a slight undertone to her voice.

"She is your sister isn't she? You're the witch who ran away from her destiny many years ago and threw the whole witch council into chaos trying to find a new crone." The crone said, "You were supposed to be crone. Not the woman before you. Not me, you."

"What is your name?" Lilith asked the crone, "You don't even look old enough to be crone, let alone old enough to be calling me a child."

"I am Tiffany, and I am twelve years old, but I am the only one who is also descended from a crone other than you and your sister." Tiffany suddenly looked very small and vulnerable, but at the same time she was powerful and not to be underestimated.

"So… why didn't Aurora take up the spot? She was old enou-" Lilith suddenly stopped mid sentence and her mouth dropped open. "Tiff? That's really you?"

"Yes." Tiffany gulped slightly and then glanced at Lilith, "I was chosen to be crone because I am the direct descendant of one and the eldest daughter of those descendants." She spoke quietly.

"She's your daughter?" Edward asked in disbelief reading the two witches minds, they both were thinking the same thing, they just didn't seem to want to admit it out loud.

"Yes." Lilith breathed the word out on a sigh.

"What? Why didn't you tell me this?!" Judeya growled at his girlfriend; sure he loved her, but a secret child?!

"I was going to tell you, Judeya! I couldn't right away though. Tiffany was born because I was raped, I was only a child myself. I'm sorry." Lilith cried, and Tiffany looked guilty then.

"Why did you let humans adopt me? Why couldn't you have looked after me?" Tiffany suddenly asked her mother.

"Because I was only a child myself. I may have been fully grown but I was seven years old, I was in no fit state to raise a child." Lilith said to her daughter, looking her straight in the eyes, "And I do not regret my decision for one second. If I had taken care of you, right now we would be gallivanting off somewhere in the subtropics and I wouldn't have been able to take care of you properly."

"At least we would have been together though." Tiffany blurted, a few tears falling from her face.

"I think it's time we broke this up and took a new approach on this, don't you think? Don't even pay attention to that traitorous bitch. She ran away from her responsibilities and her family." Aurora walked in and looked around the room, "So tell me about these vampires then." Her eyes narrowed at Carlisle.

"Maybe I should let them speak for themselves." Tiffany waved her hands at Carlisle, indicating that he could stand and address Aurora.

"Miss, I would like to clarify that we are not merely vampires, we are not killers like your enemies that keep attacking you." Carlisle stepped forward giving the witch a half smile, looking a little timid as he had seen what kind of power witches were capable of before.

"We'll be the judge of that, vampire." Aurora spat, "Now, why are there so many of… Oh my goodness!" Aurora suddenly exclaimed, "Youre…. Youre… vampires and werewolves!"

"Yes, we are a mixed clan of werewolves, vampires, witches, all different kinds of hybrids and rare species… What is your point?" Karamiz stepped forward for his family.

"May I present to you the kind of werewolves?" Lilith said to her daughter, Aurora's mouth dropped open and Tiffany just stared blankly at Karamiz as he spoke.

"What kind of rare species?" Aurora quizzed, she was suddenly interested in this family.

"Well, Mary used to be a necromancer, the last of her kind." Leo said with a slightly dirty look to his girlfriend, "Though she wants to be again."

"We also have Stigram Sanguis in our family and Ingis Orbis." Bella said to the witch whose eyes suddenly widened in fascination.

"I think I may have judged you too quickly, I can see that quite a lot of you are witchblood here. I see no Ingis Orbis though, I do see a hybrid…" Aurora scanned the family, her eyes grazing Charlotte for a few seconds with a smile, and then running over Noah. "You… you're not a vampire or a werewolf. You're a hybrid... a werepire?" She asked Noah.

"Yes, ma'am." Noah said politely with a smile.

"Well then. I think that we should make our guests more comfortable and let them rest." Aurora looked at her niece for agreement. "Except Lilith. She comes with me. I need to talk to her."

"I agree." Tiffany said and narrowed her eyes at Lilith dangerously.

"I'm not going anywhere without Lilith." Judeya growled at the witches.

"Is this your mate?" Tiffany asked her mother with a frown as she looked at the young male werewolf with a slight glint of fear in her eyes.

"Yes, he is. If you have a problem with that take it up with Hecate." Lilith spat, after realising she loved Judeya, she was pretty defensive about them; because no matter what happened she knew that she wanted to spend forever with him, be that as a witch or a werewolf or even a vampire, witches be damned if she couldn't love a werewolf.

"That's interesting." Aurora looked at the werewolf with a sly smile, "As I recall your type was always the tall blonde guys, not dark haired middle eastern guys." Her eyes scanned Judeya again. "Where are you from?" She asked the werewolf.

"I'm from Egypt." Judeya half smiled, he could see that the witches were trying to be civil as they didn't want to be upstaged by what they thought of as savage creatures.

"What are you here for and who is your leader?" Aurora asked the vampires and werewolves, wanting to know who lead them so that she could speak to the leader.

"I am the leader of the werewolves in this family, Ma'am." Karamiz stood up and then bowed to Aurora, trying to show respect.

"And I am the leader of the vampires in this family." Carlisle stepped forward and bowed slightly to Aurora like a gentleman too.

"What are your names?" Aurora asked, it was clear that she had more authority than the young crone and that is why she had been called to deal with the vampires and werewolves.

"I am Carlisle Cullen." Carlisle answered Aurora with a tentative smile trying not to scare her.

"I am Karamiz Racluse." Karamiz bowed again slightly and Aurora's eyes widened dramatically.

"You're the Cullens and the Racluses who destroyed the Volturi?!" She suddenly blurted losing some of her calm aura as she stared wide eyed at the vampires and werewolves.

"Yes." Carlisle answered her looking a little shocked that the witches knew that they were the ones who had destroyed the volturi.

"And you're the king of werewolves? The one who made the werewolves back down from this war?" Aurora turned to Karamiz, a look of wonder on her face.

"Yes, I am the king of the werewolves." Karamiz confirmed and then Aurora smiled.

"Then your families saved our lives." Aurora said slowly, and then she dropped to her knees. A few of the other witches gasped, but dropped to their knees as well and even the crone, Tiffany looked her aunt with wide eyes and then bowed to the Cullens and Racluses.

"Our families saved our own lives. The volturi were conspiring against us and it was only a matter of time before we met our doom." Carlisle said, feeling a little guilty that the witches were bowing to him when he had only really gone to war with the volturi to save his family.

"But in saving yourself, you saved hundred of us too, Carlisle." Aurora sighed happily and then she raised her hand, "I call unity."

All of the other witches, including Tiffany raised their hands and chanted, "We call unity!"

"So, what are you here for then, Carlisle?" Aurora walked over to the vampire and stood at the side of him, treating him as an equal now rather than one of her subjects.

"We are here to diffuse this war. Hundred of innocent people are getting killed, and with the werewolves out of the loop we presumed things would sort themselves out, but apparently they haven't." Carlisle sighed heavily and placed his hand on his head for a brief moment, running his fingers along his scalp in a frustrated motion.

"When the dark witches, the malimagam as they are known to us, joined this war, it threw everything back into turmoil. The vampires will not accept that we are not to blame for their demise, they see all us witches as the same. We have tried calling a truce but it is no use, they are picking us off one by one." Aurora sighed as Carlisle had and then looked to Karamiz, "Taking the werewolves out of the equation only made things worse for us witches because the vampires were then concentrated on us more than the werewolves."

"I could always as them to fight again, in the witches name. We have long been allied with witches so it wouldn't cause too much of a fuss." Karamiz placed a hand on his chin and rubbed the beard that was there.

"No." Aurora said quickly, "You can't go sacrificing your own people for a feud that isn't any of your concern anymore."

"We don't have a choice, either way my family is involved in this feud, which means I am involved in this, which means my species will follow me into battle. You have our allegiance whether you want it or not." Karamiz spoke strongly, and a small smile spread across Tiffany's face. She could already see how loyal this family was to each other, it almost made her wish that she could be a part of that family, so she could feel loved again and not abandoned.

"Fine. You may rally your werewolves, because we are going to war against the malimagam." Aurora said strongly and then looked at her fellow witches who stared at her in complete shock.

"I thought we were going to war against the vampires!" One of the younger servant witches gasped and then looked at the crone.

"No, I agree with Aurora. She is right. This is not the vampires fight, they only fight us because they think we are allied with the malimagam, which could not be further from the truth. We will rise against the malimagam." Tiffany agreed.

"But it is against the law to fight our own!" Blurted one of the council members and then placed her hand over her mouth stopping her words coming out further.

"They are not our sisters. Too long have then threatened us, too long have they fought against us, too long have they bleached the colour from their magic! The dark magic wasn't even considered evil until they got their hands on it, it was just the balance to white magic. They tore down our homes, burnt our culture to the ground, blasphemy against Hecate! It is time we took a stand against them and rid our lived of them. Once. And. For. All." Aurora chanted to her witches, "In the name of Hecate!"

All of the witches looked around, and all of a sudden, Lilith stood up and fisted her hand over her heart like her sister, "In the name of Hecate."

Tiffany, the crone was next to stand, "In the name of Hecate." And as soon as she stood, all of the witches began to stand in respect, following the crone in their ancient values of respect for their spiritual leader.

"We will also fight in your name. We will also bring the vampires onto our side." Carlisle fisted his hand over his hand in a mark of respect to the witches, though he didn't call to Hecate he still did the salute of respect to the witches goddess, and his family followed.

Back In Washington

"What do you mean they have run away?!" Renesmee screeched at Jacob as he rambled frantically down the phone at his wife, "Why would you even let them out of your sight?!"

"I thought they would come back! Izeya said she just wanted to go on a little walk with her sister!" Jacob growled down the phone at his wife angered at Izzy and Tee for making him argue with his wife, but she was right. He had being stupid to let them out of his sight, especially Izeya who made it quite clear she wanted to go to Volturi.

"Go check Madison's house! Check her draws for passports. If they're not there ring the airport and tell them not to let the girls on!" Renesmee yelled at him, and then slammed the phone down in anger.

"What's wrong, Nessie?" Tara asked her with a smile and then a groan, it was clear that she was only days away from giving birth, the girl looked like she could pop at any moment.

"Keep still, don't worry. Jacob just let Izzy and Tee out and he can't find them. He has the whole pack on patrol looking for them, Embry is going out of his mind because of Tee." Renesmee sighed and ran a hand down her curls, it was amazing how fast they grew, less than a year ago she had cut the butt length curls off, and now they were back down to her waist.

"Jacob did what?!" Tara gasped and then she sprung to her feet, awkwardly, but she managed to keep her balance. "We have to find them!"

"No, me, Nessie and Winnie will go out and find them. You stay here. If anything changes, I want you to tell me immediately." Eddie touched his wifes face lovingly and then bent down to kiss her nose.

"Okay, but don't be too long. I'll get worried if not." Tara sighed and then stroked her bump whispering, "You better be worth all of this pain and loss of adventure."

"We'll go collect Winnie and then take a scout of the perimeter of forks and La Push. They can't have gotten too far." Eddie pulled on his coat and then passed Renesmee hers, she quickly zipped it up, and then they both ran out of the door as quick as they could to find the girls that JAcob had lost.

"Nefertiti!" Eddie yelled into the cold night, it was pitch black, though luckily been a vampire; he could still see pretty clearly.

"Izeya!" Renesmee yelled at the top of her lungs. They both sniffed the air and couldn't smell the girls, only the faint lingering scents from hours ago when they had gone back to Renesmee's house with Jacob.

"I'll go get Winnie. You carry on looking for the girls." Eddie dashed off in search of Winona, bursting through the door of his old house, his parents house and shouting out for his sister.

"Eddie?" Winnie walked down the stairs wrapped in a bathrobe as if she was about to get a bath, "What's wrong? It's not Tara is it?"

"No. Jacob let the girls get away, we think they've run off to join Madison and Benjamin in Volterra." Eddie growled in anger, he couldn't believe how irresponsible Jacob had been.

"He did what?!" Winnie gasped and then yelled, "I'll be just a minute!" Before bounding back up the stairs and emerging only seconds later dressed back in clothes and boots, running down the stairs, "Any leads on where they could be?"

"No, none ye-"

"Eddie! I found their scent! They're heading east!" Renesmee yelled, and then Winnie looked at Eddie with a slight smirk before dashing out of the door after him, following their sister back to the scent trail of the youngest Racluses.

With Nefertiti and Izeya

"Right, remember, you go left and follow the bank of the river. I will swim in the river upstream until I get to the airport, thank you for doing this Tee." Izeya hugged her sister and then pulled away.

"Leaving you behind was the wrong thing to do, this is the only reason I'm doing this. Good luck, Izeya." Nefertiti pulled on the last piece of clothing Izeya had given her and then she turned and ran into the distance, as Izeya dived into the river and began to swim upriver towards any kind of city she could find that would have an airport.

Nefertiti carried on running, purposely heading into the forest so that she could brush her scent and her sisters scent that still lingered on their exchanged clothes against the trees. Izeya's scent would be washed away by the river, so by doing this they would confuse the scent. Hopefully.

Back With Renesmee, Eddie and Winona

"I can smell them too, they're heading straight for the… no." Renesmee breathed as they reached the edge of the river, they all looked out onto the large expanse of the river.

"You don't think…?" Winnie trailed off and looked into the murky depths of the water with a confused look on her face.

"I don't think so. I can smell their scent heading that way, down river." Eddie pointed towards the forest again, and Renesmee nodded with a smile. They were on their trail, and they would find them both.

The small group continued forward and ran into the forest, gaining on Nefertiti. Both of the girls scents seemed to be going in that direction still, but as they got closer to Nefertiti, they realised that Izeya was nowhere in sight.

Nefertiti realised that the game was up and that she had been caught, so she slowed her gate and then stopped fully, Renesmee was the first to get to her and grab her arm, pulling her to face her.

"What do you think you are doing scaring us like that?!" Renesmee demanded.

"I… I…" Nefertiti stuttered and then set her jaw into a neat line, a trick she had seen her sister, father and grandfather do many times before when they were ready to fight their corner, "I was helping my sister."

"Where is Izeya, Nefertiti?" Eddie asked the young girl, towering over her.

"Look, we only want to know because we don't want any of you to get hurt." Renesmee sighed again in frustration and released her grip on Nefertiti's arm.

"I can't tell you." Nefertiti growled, "I won't tell you."

"Then Eddie will just have to read your mind." Winona looked to her brother and Eddie began to expand his ability outwards from just his mind, trying to get Nefertiti under his blanket so he could read her mind.

"He will not read my mind!" Nefertiti yelled and then Eddie suddenly felt a mental block in his mind that wouldn't allow him to access Nefertiti's thoughts. He tried again, wrapping his power around his family like an invisible sheet, but it wouldn't take to Nefertiti.

"What's wrong?" Renesmee looked at Eddie and could tell that he was frustrated by the way his face was scrunching up with confusion.

"It seems her power goes a little past enchanting and drawing people. She can also stop people using their powers on her if she tells them to." Eddie looked at the girl as a small smile spread across her face.

"You mean like compulsion?" Winona asked with awe.

"I guess." Eddie rubbed the back of his neck and then said, "Tell me to do something else."

"Don't try find Izeya. Any of you." Nefertiti blurted, it was worth a try, "And you won't mention this to any of the family who are in volterra."

"Come on then, let's go home." Renesmee suddenly said, holding her hand out for Nefertiti casually as if nothing was wrong.

"Yeah, I need to check on Tara anyway." Eddie smiled at his two sisters and his adopted niece and then they all began to run back home.