Divine Comedy (36)
Jane
As a whole family, finally united for the first time in over a millennium, we headed for the direction of the wolf howls. While I ran with Alec to lead the way, I tried to prepare the rest of my family for what laid ahead.
"These are wolves unlike anything you've ever seen. They're shapeshifters—large, swift, and strong, and they can talk and think like people."
"They're our friends," Alec added. "There's no need to be frightened of them."
"Wolves for friends...now that's not something I hear every day," our father remarked.
We ran along a stream, which seemed to lead us on a straight course to the howls. Alec and I pushed leafy branches out of the way, and instinctual fear froze us on the spot.
We'd been expecting Seth and Leah with their deceased father, not four other wolves. The biggest and whitest of them all greeted our arrival with bared fangs and bristling fur.
"The Cold Ones," he spat.
I heard Mother's gasp behind me. I didn't know if spirits could faint, but I grabbed her arm all the same, to keep her from swooning. Father and Connor sprang forward, meeting the huge wolf with drawn swords.
"Jane, Alec, get back," Father called.
"Get behind me, Mother," Connor said in a low voice. Unlike Father, he also wielded a shield that spanned nearly two-thirds his height. He'd keep it slung over his back, and to see it drawn out now made me realize just how huge and hefty it was.
The wolves on the other side moved in unison, though three I didn't recognize bounded up to side with the white one, while Seth and Leah jumped in to turn their backs to us and face the others.
"Great chiefs, please stand down," Seth called.
"They're surprised, that's all," Leah said. "They're not here to fight."
After a tense pause, the russet brown wolf was the first to relax his aggressive position. After another pause, the pair of wolves beside him followed suit.
I mustered the courage to speak up. "Father, Connor, put away your swords and shield. There's no danger here."
They kept up their guard, and only when I rested a hand on my son's broad shoulder, he slowly returned his sword to its sheath and hung the shield on his back.
Father did the same with equal reluctance. "They're much bigger than I thought they'd be, as big as my warhorse."
"And they talk." Despite my warning beforehand, Connor still seemed in awe of the fact. In the world my family had known, animals weren't supposed to open their mouths and have human speech come out of them.
Seth's wide-eyed gaze swept over us. "You must be Jane and Alec's family."
"Yes, we are." Mother had gathered herself to as much composure as one possibly could in a strange situation like this. "How do you know us? And who are you?"
He lowered his head to her and my father in polite greeting. "My name is Seth Clearwater. The grey wolf next to me is my older sister, Leah. The other wolves are past spirit warriors from our tribe."
"I am Taha Aki," the white wolf growled. "I am the chief who led our people to war against the Cold Ones, against enemies like these two." He gestured to me and Alec with a jerk of his pale snout.
So that was the legendary Taha Aki I had heard about from Seth and Leah.
The russet brown wolf took a step forward. "I am Ephraim Black, the chief who forged a peaceful alliance with the Cold Ones who live alongside my descendants to this day." He flicked his tail toward the other two wolves. "This is Levi Uley and Quil Ateara the second, members of my pack."
Alec and I tipped our heads to them, in an attempt to be respectful.
The one named Ephraim glanced at our family members. "Those three aren't Cold Ones."
"That's right. They're human," I said. It was our turn for introductions. After me and Alec, our parents and Connor stepped up to give their salutations. Upon hearing the unusual mother-son relationship I had with Connor, I sensed curiosity and intrigue among the wolves.
The tension seemed to diffuse a bit, as the wolves' hackles relaxed and they assumed more neutral stances. Only Taha Aki kept up his guard with his ears cocked forward and shoulders hunched.
His piercing dark gaze fell on me. "I assume you are the mate to this young wolf." He gestured with a sweep of his tail to Seth.
Seth quietly joined my side, sliding his furred head into my palm so it rested on his neck in a gesture of support and comfort. I buried my fingers into his hair. And I nodded, acknowledging for the first time that we were indeed mates.
In the spirit world, where one could sense emotions like heat or chill in the air, the reactions at my reply unleashed like a storm. Intrigue that was present before became magnified tenfold. I also sensed confusion, skepticism, wariness, even disgust, though the reactions were so intermingled that it was hard to tell where they came from on sensing alone.
I looked back at my family, who seemed mostly confused. I could hardly blame them for that. There was much I had yet to tell them. Seth scanned the wolfish faces of his predecessors, and by the looks of their narrowed eyes and flattened ears, most of the wariness and disgust seemed to emanate from them, from Taha Aki most of all.
Alec and Leah stepped up to join our sides, in a silent show of solidarity.
"Never in our tribe's history has anyone taken in a Cold One for a mate," Taha Aki rumbled. "It is unthinkable, against our nature and what we fight for." He looked back at his tribesmen, then at my family, and craned back his neck to stand at his full height, regarding me and Seth with the full weight of his authority. "You two, come forward. It seems that you owe everyone here a testament to the bond you apparently share."
With a gentle squeeze of my fingers into Seth's fur, I willed myself to obey the chief. Seth's footsteps matched mine in pace. Suddenly I was acutely aware that with my family on one side, and Seth's family on the other, we stood in opposition not unlike the Volturi confronting the Cullens on the snow.
As we drew closer to Taha Aki, he seemed to loom larger and larger over us. He peered down with suspicion, and though his muzzle was closed, I didn't forget how long and curved his teeth were at first sight. Like an uninvited guest, the memory of Alice sprang to my mind. More precisely, the memory of her recounting her vision to me, back when I had first come to the Cullens and we were on far less friendly terms. She had elaborated on the battle that could have broken out, the alternate reality when I had been killed. She had told me in great detail of how she, in vengeful rage after Jasper's death, seized me by the collar and flung me into the jaws of the big black wolf in Seth's tribe, and how that wolf ripped my head clean off my neck.
Taha Aki, in his massive ferocity, could very well do the same thing to me here. I tried not to look at his mouth, and I swallowed hard. Fortunately, the truth was on our side. As the most powerful chief of the Quileutes stared at us, expecting our story, Seth and I told it in full. Our families that surrounded us were quiet spectators. We had nothing to hide, and even if we did, there was no way to keep things secret in the spirit world. The story of how Seth and I went from enemies to lovers ran the gamut from harrowing to embarrassing—the harrowing events including being saving each other from near deaths, and the embarrassing including the night we had first made love.
Our families listened to it all, and no details were left out. Taha Aki took everything in without interruption, and the more he took in our honesty, little by little he lowered his high wall of defense.
"An incredible story," he finally said. "I wouldn't have believed it if we were somewhere else. But here in the spirit world, I hear nothing but the truth."
His verdict made me relax my grip on Seth's coat. I felt the knots of tension loosening from his shoulders.
Taha Aki's gaze rested on the wood-carved wolf's head, the pendant Seth had given me and the one I'd been wearing ever since. "You two really are committed to each other."
Seth and I nodded.
He looked next to where my right arm should be. "That is the power of the threat you're facing." That wasn't a question, but a grave observation, and I tightened my jaw.
He looked between us. "In my time, the Cold Ones have been nothing but bloodthirsty, violent creatures who preyed on my people. I did what was necessary to protect my tribe. I didn't believe that the Cold Ones were capable of any decency or civility." Taha Aki closed his eyes and said nothing for a second. Then he opened them and said, "Times have changed. You two represent a future I never would have imagined for Cold Ones and humans alike. I choose to believe in that better future now. You have my support." He took a step back and gestured with his tail to the wolves behind him. "Though we are spirits long gone, we will do what we can to help you fight for that future."
Ephraim and his pack nodded in agreement.
I felt a surge of validated joy from Seth, and he dipped his head low before the older wolves. "Thank you, great chiefs. That means a lot to us."
Taha Aki tipped his muzzle at him, and turned away to cross the stream in a single great leap. On the other side, he looked over his shoulder at Seth and Leah. "Fight with all your might. When you have reached your limit, and you feel that you cannot go on your strength alone, call for us and we will come."
Ephraim, Levi, and Quil leapt after him, and in another leap, they disappeared behind the undergrowth.
Tangible relief emanated from Leah. "I'm glad that we didn't start tearing into each other."
"Me too," Alec said with a small sigh.
"What's this about a battle?" Connor stepped up to me. "I can't stand idly by knowing that. If the wolves can help each other, why can't we?" He clasped my shoulder, the one missing an arm. "I can give you mine, Mother, my arm to replace yours. I can give you a shield, too. Say the word and I'll come help." He pulled the shield from his back and held it out to me. "I took this from a great Viking warrior when I felled him in battle, and claimed it as my own. The other Vikings came to fear me and knew better than to cross me when they saw this."
I rested my fingers on the shield. "It's certainly sturdy. Beautiful, too." As I thought, it hadn't been made by our countrymen. The design painted on the shield—black lines of paint intertwined to form coiling serpents—was distinctly Norse.
My son frowned at me. "I don't know how it works...the wolves seem to have a better idea of it than I do...but if you need my help, I'll do my best to come to your aid."
I smiled up at him. "Your support means the world to me."
Not too far from me and Connor, Father removed his domed helmet to rest it over Alec's head. "I see you've got two swords, but no way to protect yourself the way Jane can with Connor's shield. You can have my helmet, son."
"Thank you, Father," Alec managed to say through a tight throat. When he and I were children, he would beg to wear Father's helmet, but Father would say it was too big for him. Now it finally fit. Alec's joy radiated like the brightest sun.
Someone cleared their throat. "Hey, Jane." I turned to see the older man I didn't recognize. He shoved hands into his pockets and shifted his weight. "You mind I come over so I can get a better look at you? I'd been wanting to meet the girl my boy fell in love with."
"Of course." I reached out a hand to beckon him closer. "You must be Harry."
He took my hand and shook it heartily. "In the flesh. Er, in the spirit, I mean. Pleasure to meet you." Merriment twinkled in his small eyes. "Has Seth been good? He hasn't been annoying you too much with nerdy references, has he?"
It was hard not to smile around someone like Seth's father, and I shook my head. "On the contrary, your son is an absolute joy to be around. You must have raised him well for him to have such a good heart. You must be proud of him."
Harry puffed up a little and beamed at me. "Sure am."
Meanwhile, my mother shyly approached Seth, her hands wringing the gown below her waistline. "Excuse me, do you mind if I could see you in your other form? My children told me that you're a shapeshifter."
Seth wagged his tail. "Oh, I don't mind. Um, let me see if I could do that here...You might have to close your eyes."
Fortunately, the spirit world spared him the embarrassment of shifting back into a naked human. Somehow the clothes he'd been wearing in Mongolia came along with his shifting. He smiled down at himself with satisfaction, then smiled at my mother. "There, how's that?"
She let out a soft "oh," then reached out to rest her palm on his cheek. "You look like such a kind, sweet boy. I'm so glad that someone like you is part of my daughter's life now, especially since she's been suffering for so long."
Seth tried to blink back tears. "Yeah, I know she's been through a lot. She doesn't have to suffer anymore."
Mother lowered her hand and smiled at him. "I know you'll keep taking good care of Jane. She can't be in better hands."
It felt surreal, breaking the boundaries of time and space as we knew it to have all our families together and meeting like this. Soon, however, we needed to get back to the land of the living. We had a threat to face and overcome.
My parents must have sensed my urgency, because they enveloped me and Alec in a tight hug. "It's so good to see you two again, my darlings," Mother said. "I cannot fight, so all I have to give you is my neverending love and support."
We hugged her back, feeling appreciative for her nonetheless.
Father was the first to pull back from the embrace, and he tipped his helmet to us—a knight's salute to a fellow knight. That gesture alone spoke volumes of his respect and pride for us.
Connor was next to embrace me, his arm wrapped around my shoulders and his hand resting on the stumped remnant of my right arm. I leaned onto him, taking comfort in his strength I hoped I could draw from him later.
Harry pulled his son and daughter into the biggest, tightest hug he could give them. "See you around, kiddos," he told them. "Tell your mom I said hi."
The four of us regrouped, and with tears thick in our eyes, we bid a last collective farewell to our families. Then we turned away and headed for the tunnel that would take us back to the land of the living. Because Seth had changed into a boy for my mother's sake, I was able to hold his hand as we stepped into the tunnel. When I closed my eyes and let the darkness take over, the warmth of Seth's touch endured as a source of strength and comfort.
Like this dark tunnel, we didn't know what was ahead. Still, we believed that there'd be light at the end of it. We would take bold steps to that brighter future together.
Seth
Crossing from one world to the next came with an explosion of color I hadn't been prepared for. The Fiery Forest, being so bright and, well, fiery, almost blinded me. The four of us stood there, dazed and blinking like deer in headlights, as Tsermaa and Ganbold welcomed us back to the land of the living.
"How long have we been away?" Alec asked.
"You don't look very worried for us," Jane remarked.
Tsermaa waved her hand. "You've only been away for a few minutes."
"Really?" I frowned. "It felt like hours back there."
"Time in the spirit world runs differently than time here," Ganbold said.
Leah, still in her wolf form, flicked her ears with amusement. "Huh, no wonder why you two don't look like you've been pulling your hair out over us."
On our way back to their home and Ganbold's family, we shared our experience in the spirit world. Tsermaa was particularly interested in the part where we were offered help.
"I've never been given that before," she admitted. "I suspect that having strong family connections make that possible. While I've conversed with many spirits of the dead, I know practically no one in my family, so I never had to rely on that kind of support in a battle. I have to admit, I'm almost envious of you four for achieving what I couldn't." She cracked a smile. "Let me know how it goes."
"When we live to tell the tale, anyway," Jane said.
I gave her an assuring pat on the back, then said with confidence to Tsermaa, "Sure, we'll tell you all about it later."
Later that day, Alice called me to let us know that she just had a vision. She predicted that Luka would arrive on our shore in three days. She couldn't see the kresnik himself, only Goro, but she had seen how fast he swam, and the panic stamped all over his face, and I wondered if he'd be fleeing from a full-blown army of horses stampeding above the waves.
The four of us had to head home and brace ourselves for impact. It was time to say good-bye. We couldn't thank Tsermaa and Ganbold enough for their time with us and how much we had learned from them.
Enkh was sad that we had to leave. "If I was bigger and older, I would've gone to fight with you," he said to the four of us, pouting like most ten year olds would.
"You're not going anywhere until you've come of age," his mother said.
"You don't have to worry for long," Ganbold assured him. "You're growing up so fast."
I patted Enkh's shoulder to try consoling him. "After the dust has settled, and when you're old enough, you can come travel with me, if you want. I plan to go see the world."
His eyes lit up. "I can't wait!"
I couldn't help feeling a surge of pride for the kid. He had really improved his English since we had met him. We had given him lessons when we had the time, and that time sure paid off.
Tsermaa reached out to shake each of our hands. "My husband and I have nothing more to teach you. From here on out, all we can do for you is pray for your safety and victory."
Jane accompanied shaking Ganbold's hand with a small bow. "Thank you for teaching me throat singing. I don't know what I can do to repay you."
His smile at her was as bright as the noon sun. "Go out there and share it with the world. That's repayment enough for me."
Ganbold's family, the herd of horses, reared up on their hind legs and raised long neighs to the sky as their way of good-bye. Leah and I, with Jane and Alec on our backs, took off to leave the ger behind and cross the plains that never seemed to end. The way the twins rode now was so different than when we had first come to Mongolia. Before, they had clung to us for dear life, close to falling off. Now there was a natural ease in the way they sat on our backs and moved with our running rhythm. I was proud of how much they had grown and changed.
At the last stretch, the last few miles, we even fell into a fun little race to see who would get to the capital first. (It was close, and I had gotten faster, but Leah and Alec still beat me and Jane.)
Garrett arrived in his private jet to pick us up from Ulaanbaatar, and we flew straight across the Pacific for Washington. Mongolia was beautiful in its own stark, haunting way, but to come back to so much forest green brought tears to my eyes. When we got off the jet, I almost bent down to kiss the ground.
The Cullens, Goro, and the Denali coven had anticipated our return, and they welcomed us back with as much warmth as you could ever see in a bunch of cold, stone-like vampires. Mom and Jake had even waited with them at the Cullen house, so they could snatch up me and Leah into big bear hugs.
Mom, knowing what we would have to face soon, tried hard to keep her palms from shaking as she rested them on our cheeks. "You two promise me that you look after each other, and look after the twins."
We gave her solemn nods.
"Come back alive so I can hear all about your dad and the past great chiefs."
"We won't let you down, Mom," I said. "You deserve to know." Those kinds of stories can only be told over a bonfire, on La Push land, and I wasn't going to let Luka get in the way of that special time.
We spent the second day preparing for his arrival. Goro was away on swim patrol since dawn, keeping an eye out just to account for an unexpected turn of events. But if Alice's vision was correct, we had the advantage by planning a day in advance.
"We should gather at the clearing where we fought the army from Seattle," Jasper suggested. "We have a good vantage point and ample space for maneuvering."
No one objected. Wolves and vampires, being creatures from superstition, seemed to act out of superstition now—fighting in the area where we had last won might give us good vibes for the next fight. Sam's pack came over, wanting to add to our numbers and check out what Leah and I had been up to since we left for Mongolia.
The vampires were curious, too. "I know you've told us before, but I just have to see it to believe it," Emmett said to me.
At nightfall, the four of us showed them what we could do. Shock and awe erupted from everyone watching as our spirits emerged from our slumped over bodies.
"In this form, we can stand toe-to-toe against Luka," Jane declared, then gestured to our vulnerable, unmoving bodies. "In this form, however, what we leave behind is prone to attacks."
"If our bodies are destroyed, we have nowhere to go back to," Alec said. "As wandering spirits without bodies, we might as well be dead at that point."
I caught nods of understanding from Jake and Sam's pack, who know all too well the story of Taha Aki and how he had lost his body.
"If this fight's going to be anything like the last one," I said, "Luka will try to split up and target our bodies. They have to be protected while we take him on."
"That's where we can come in," Edward said.
"Yeah, we got your backs," Bella said. "It's the least we can do."
The rest of the Cullens and the Denali coven nodded in resolute agreement.
Renesmee made a show of deftly flipping the knife in her hand. "With these, and the training Goro had us go through, we should be able to at least fend him off."
The confidence radiating from that girl was infectious and reassuring. I could tell she really benefitted from the weapons training, and like Emmett and Jasper, she looked eager to test her mettle.
To Sam's pack, who wasn't there when Luka last attacked, Jane made a grim show of baring the stump of her right shoulder. "This is what happens you let something like Luka take a chunk out of you. Every inch of his body is covered in fire. Be careful not to let anything besides your fangs and claws touch him. His hooves and teeth are especially deadly."
Sam and Jared narrowed their eyes, Quil and Embry flattened their ears, and Collin and Brady shrank back. Despite their wary reactions, they stuck around, determined to fight alongside me and Leah. Jake would join them in guarding our bodies.
Goro swam to shore and met up with us at the clearing the next morning. "No sight of him so far," he reported, and nodded at Alice. "Your prediction may very well be spot-on, little one."
Jane let out a chuckle. "You have no idea how good it feels to not be the only 'little one.'"
The Japanese vampire cracked a playful grin back at her, then his scarred, rugged face grew serious. "I can tell you've learned a lot from your time with Tsermaa." He looked next to me, Leah, and Alec. "All four of you, in fact, look like you've come back stronger and wiser."
"I hope you're right," Alec said.
Goro briefly laid a hand on his sheathed sword. "I will join you four on the battlefront, and do what I can to assist."
With bated breath we waited for the sun to crawl down the sky. As it began to sink beneath the horizon, the four of us left our bodies at the very same rocky outcrop where Edward and Bella had camped out and ended up tusseling with Victoria and her henchman, Riley. I remembered being there, fighting alongside Edward to protect Bella in my wolf form. Now they were returning the favor by protecting my body.
Jane, Alec, Leah, and I headed down for the clearing in our spirit forms, the same clearing where the Cullens and the wolves had taken on the Seattle army. We waited for Goro, who was out swimming. In the tense silence, Alice's high voice pierced through like a knife into glass.
"Goro's on his way back. He's coming! Luka's coming!"
I could hear her all the way out here from how she shouted into our bodies' earshot. At her warning, we assembled into battle-ready formation. Jane and Alec drew their swords and mounted on me and Leah.
Goro charged toward us. Seawater flattened his hair and clothes against his large body. "Twenty seconds," was all he said as he skidded to a halt between me and Leah, turned on his heel, and pulled out his swords.
Twenty seconds until Luka reached us, he meant.
Even with my good hearing, I heard nothing except for the autumn wind rustling through the trees, through the few withered leaves that still clung on. There was twenty seconds of stillness and darkness. But a kresnik wasn't someone to be heard. I remembered how Luka's hooves made no sound on the ground. A kresnik could only be seen. Twenty seconds later, I saw Luka, and the sight of him made my hair stand on end.
He didn't come alone. Last time he had attacked us as a herd of ten horses. Now he was charging at us, at full speed, with at least fifty. Their heads bucked up and down as they ran, like crests of waves in the sea. The flames blazing from all those horses seemed to consume the whole forest in a blue inferno.
Leah blanked out with so much shock that she couldn't even say "Holy shit." That lasted for only a split second. She let out a challenging snarl and Alec brandished his two swords, one blade angled in front of the other.
I bared my teeth, lowering myself closer to the ground as Jane braced her upper body above me and held her sword at the ready. She dug her heels into my flanks—"Forward," she said, without a word from her mouth.
I charged. So did Leah and Goro. Five of us against at least fifty, outnumbered ten to one—bad odds, but we surged forward, anyway.
The sound that came from Luka and the other horses was like the roar of a huge wave. The blades of five werewolf swords flashed, cutting into the wave of horses like scythes. Leah and I tore our teeth into any pale blue flanks within reach.
In our spirit forms, our attacks cut into the horses as if they were ordinary horses of flesh and blood. Knowing that, the other horses leapt away and tried to slip past us.
I pivoted in sync with how Jane twisted her torso, both of us twisting to sink sword and teeth into a horse too slow to slip away. The horse flailed in panic. As I sank my teeth and claws into its back, I let it carry us to other horses nearby. I jumped off to let Jane hack away at the horses. She aimed for their necks, and as their long heads fell away, the rest of their bodies burst into wisps.
"We can't let them get up that ledge," Goro called, his swords like a lethal whirlwind.
"On it," Alec said through gritted teeth.
None of the horses took us head-on, so Leah took off after them like the wolf she was, chasing down her prey. Her swiftness helped Alec slice his swords into horse necks.
The battle would be over if it had just been ten horses, like before. But Luka came with an even bigger herd, and despite our best efforts, we couldn't cut them all down. Forty something horses galloped past us, charging across the clearing like rampant blue wildfire.
"No," I cried.
Then I heard Alice shout into my body's ear: "We're coming down!"
Before any of us could protest, I saw several blurs streak down the ledge. They moved so fast that all I saw next were slashes that popped up across some horse necks. The horses reeled back, nostrils flaring in surprised rage.
The entire Denali coven, plus Renesmee, Alice, Jasper, and Emmett, all barred the way to the rocky outcrop, all wielding daggers in one hand. The curved blades gleamed in the moonlight, looking not too different from the werewolf fangs they were made from.
"We've been watching you from up there," Jasper said as he swiped at the nearest horse. "We thought we might provide backup."
"Thanks, guys," I gasped, and in my spirit form, everyone can hear my gratitude.
"Don't mention it," Renesmee called.
Unlike Goro and the twins, who wielded proper swords, the other vampires had to be careful with their smaller weapons. They were more exposed to risk of injury. Good thing they seemed aware of it, as they wouldn't let the horses lunge for their unarmed spots. They fought kind of like fencers, with the pointed end always facing the foe and their unprotected sides kept out of reach.
Alice and Jasper fought back to back, as did Kate and Garrett, Carmen and Eleazar, even Emmett and Tanya. Renesmee stuck close to Alice and Jasper. With reinforcements on our side, the horses had a harder time slipping past our defenses.
"Kudlak scum," Luka snarled in disgust. I couldn't tell which one he was among all the horses. "You only delay the inevitable."
We cut down five more horses, but like a hydra, even more seemed to pop up to replace the ones that fell. And as our vampire allies swung their swords and daggers, the horses started to match them in quickness and anticipate the attacks.
A horse caught Alice's dagger in its teeth. Before she could let go, it wrenched its neck to fling her to the side. She tumbled into the grass and dirt, completely exposed and unarmed. The horse spat away the dagger and reared on its hind legs, about to crush her. Jasper leapt on it to plunge his knife into its back. He was smart enough to grip the hilt with both hands, to keep from touching the horse's fiery skin. Alice rolled out of the way, but the horse, instead of slamming down to the ground, let itself fall back and crush Jasper to the ground.
He screamed in pain. Alice cried out his name. Goro, who was nearby, plunged his two swords into the downed horse, like sticking meat through skewers, and heaved it off of Jasper.
Knowing what Jane had in mind, I broke into a run toward the fallen horse, and she leaned over my side to slash her sword through its neck. The headless horse fell apart into little flames.
Jasper groaned as Alice and Renesmee helped him to his feet. Nasty black patches covered his torso, but at least he wasn't torn apart, too. I had no time to ask if he was really okay as more horses pressed in on us.
They drove in between me and Leah like a ghostly, fiery wedge, and as Alec had his hands full trying to hack into them, others slammed into Jane's exposed side. She was wrenched off my back, with one horse's mouth clamped down on her blade. I couldn't react fast enough. To my horror, she was trampled underfoot.
I howled out her name, which almost drowned out her scream. I caught a glimpse of her rolling to dodge the thundering of hooves. She sprang to her feet, and without her sword in hand, she fell back on evasive maneuvers. She was light and quick on her feet, her single palm striking out to slap away heads lunging at her. But the trampling had taken a toll as her spirit form flickered and wavered, like a disturbed flame. That cost Jane her agility. She dodged to narrowly avoid her remaining arm being torn off by a horse's jaws, but another horse tackled her to the ground. There were just too many of them.
On the other side, Goro, Carmen, and Eleazar were trying to help Leah and Alec. Carmen cried out as a horse caught her by the forearm, but Leah slammed into it to keep its teeth from ripping her arm off. Carmen's knife hand was no good anymore. Eleazar had to fight twice as hard to defend both himself and his mate. Fighting nearby, Emmett, Tanya, Kate, and Garrett jumped in with me to try saving Jane.
The ten or so horses they aimed for collapsed and got sucked into another horse, which blazed and grew like a fire out of control. The mish-mash monstrosity expanded in bulk and height, so together they loomed almost twenty feet above us, and Emmett's body could fit into each limb.
"Holy hell," Garrett breathed.
Hell sounded about right. Was I getting a glimpse of it? My hair stood on end. Emmett and Garrett restrained Tanya and Kate, while I clamped my teeth over Jane's clothes and pulled her out of the way.
Something brewed in the giant horse's see-through belly. Something pulsing and bright blue. Instinct spurred me to dodge. Fireballs spewed from the horse's mouth, raining down like a meteor shower. Pandemonium broke out. The vampires cried out in surprise and scattered like bowling pins. Jane leapt onto my back as I sprang out of the way. I could feel the heat singing the ends of my hair.
The horses were doing the same on Leah and Alec's side, swallowing each other to grow into a a single massive one. The vampires on that side also narrowly dodged the fireballs hurled their way.
Jane leaned over my side to pluck her sword from the ground. She almost fell over, though, and I heard her wince.
Alarm shot through me. "Jane, you okay?"
"I'm fine," she said, but the strain was obvious in her reply. Her voice was hoarse as she raised it, so it rang with command. "Fall back! We can take hits better than you lot. Get back up on the ledge."
She meant that we four, in our spirit forms, were in better shape than vampire bodies vulnerable to the fire. And now that there would be even more fire, our vampire friends were in trouble. With some of them injured, unable to fight anymore, and their small daggers no good against such big horses, they had no choice but to retreat.
Jake's voice cut through the din of the battle. "Time for us wolves to fill in for them!" He and Sam's pack leapt down the ledge to join us in the clearing. Their howls filled the night air.
The monstrous pair of horses—Large Luka One and Large Luka Two, I called them—leered at my fellow wolves. "You fools." I was surprised to not just hear Luka's voice, but many at once. "You can still walk away from this. You don't have to be involved."
Jake curled up his lip and bristled. "You say that, but from the sound of it, you've pulled your ancestors into this fight, too. Why shouldn't we make this our business? You want to get to the vamps, you're gonna have to get through us."
Sam let loose a snarl, a wordless command to charge. His pack of seven split up roughly in half, so three and four took on a big horse each. They swarmed in like angry flies, sinking their teeth into fire shaped as legs.
I may not be connected in mind to Sam's pack anymore, but I saw what they were trying to do. The wolves served as distraction, and as the horses diverted the lashes and kicks of their legs to them, the rest of us could stab at exposed spots.
I felt Jane sway a little on my back. Alarm stabbed through my chest again. "Jane, can you still fight?"
"You bet I can." She brandished her sword, Kurojaki, and spurred me forward.
Jake, Paul, and Quil dragged down Large Luka Two by its hind legs. I seized the chance to leap right onto its back, and hang on with my claws for dear life. Large Luka One was under the same kind of assault, as Leah and Alec boarded him like invading pirates. Jane jumped off me to plunge her blade into Large Luka Two's neck. But it was too thick this time for the head to fall right off. She swung Kurojaki into it again and again, like trying to chop down a tree. With her only hand handling the sword, she didn't have a second hand to hang on. She paused in her hacking to attempt correcting her balance.
Large Luka Two twisted his half-severed neck around to grab Jane in his jaws. There was no blood, or the sound of bones cracking, but she cried out in pain. I jumped out to try grabbing her back, but the horse's head twisted away and I landed on the grass instead. With a single great swing of his head, Large Luka Two flung Jane straight into the ledge.
The rocks didn't cave in from the impact, since she was an intangible spirit, but she felt the blow all the same as she crumpled to the ground. Before I could react, Large Luka One had thrown off Alec from his back and lashed out with his hind hooves to send him flying into the ledge. Now both twins had the wind knocked out of them. Their pale silhouettes thinned and flickered even more violently than before.
Leah and I cried out their names and rushed over to them. "Can you stand?" My voice rang with panic.
"C'mon Alec, talk to me," Leah barked.
Jane responded with a groan and slung her remaining arm over my back.
"I heard you loud and clear," Alec said weakly. He used Leah as support to lean on, rising with gritted teeth.
Jake and Sam's pack were fighting hard, but all the wolves in La Push weren't enough to completely hold down the horses. Large Luka One and Two shook them off like gnats and advanced on us four.
"He's gaining more ground," Jane said grimly. "We're at a disadvantage at this point."
Alec nodded in agreement. "The Cullens should take our bodies and run. Perhaps we'd even out the odds that way."
"It's worth a shot," Leah said.
With the vampires not too far above us, they must've heard our change in tactics. I heard them scoop up our limp bodies, and heard the rustling of leaves, as they took off deeper into the forest.
The Large Lukas split up into smaller horses, breaking into hot pursuit. They did this so fast that they rushed past us like a fiery gust of wind. We intended for them to get a headstart, though. In my spirit form, after training with Jane in Mongolia to work closer together, I knew her strategy so she didn't have to explain.
"Let's go," she said.
"Right with you," I replied.
Once we had Jane and Alec on our backs, Leah and I took off after the herd of horses. We passed on an order to Jake to stay behind, so he could pass it on to Sam's pack. Luka was really after the vampires, not us wolves.
Sprinting through the forest after Luka...this felt familiar, yet different. Before, we had tried to chase him down in our bodies. Now that we were freed from the limits of our flesh, we were swifter, more graceful, more able to keep up with Luka's own swiftness and grace. And, thanks to training with Tsermaa and Ganbold, we might just be able to outrun him.
All these trees reminded me of the wooden posts Tsermaa had put up for us on the plains. Leah and I wove our way around the trunks without a slip in our step. The efforts of Jake and Sam's pack weren't in vain. Luka and his herd flagged a bit, like an injured horse after its legs were chewed on.
Leah and I were able to catch up, and as we ran neck-to-neck with the horses, Jane and Alec lashed out with their swords. The blades cut through the dark like phantom blue crescents. The horses, now smaller and nowhere near as sturdy and bulky, collapsed headless from the blows. Half of the herd remained, running faster still.
The trees thinned out—the vampires were running along the coastline. Now at eye level with them, I could see who had what body. Carlisle had mine, Esme had Leah's, Edward had Alec's, and Bella had Jane's.
Forest soil turned into sand. Leah and I pelted on the shore after the horses, then we skidded to a halt as they whirled around to face us. One horse ate up the rest, and they combined to become a single Large Luka again. This time there was just one, not two. Our run through the forest had made that possible. We had cut down half of Luka's numbers.
Large Luka whirled back around, reared on his hind legs, and spat fire at the vampires. No, not at them. Around them. Goro and the covens, still lugging our bodies, were trapped in a ring of fire. Not even their enhanced strength could get them high enough over the wall of flames. They huddled against each other at the center, with fear stamped all over their pale faces.
Leah hurled a taunt at Luka. "What's the matter? Changed your mind about destroying us?"
The kresnik swung his horse head back to us, and what he said next sent a chill down my spine. "I don't need to destroy your bodies when I can break your spirits."
Alec
Luka seemed to have learned his lesson. He wasn't going to give chase again.
He pawed the sand with one big hoof. "You four have been a thorn in my side long enough. Once I get you out of the way, nothing can stop me from ridding the earth of kudlak."
Behind him, waves pounded into the cliffs. Luka gestured to the sight with a flick of his tail. "I will pound you into submission again and again, just like those waves, until you are like little pieces of rock swept away by the sea, never to be made whole again."
Leah and Seth crouched low to the ground and bared their teeth at him.
Luka barely seemed to notice the wolves as he said in disgust, "Kudlak in spirit forms...impossible. What paltry witchcraft have you two managed to pull off?"
Jane flinched out of the corner of my eye, and I shared her cringing response. We used to be called the witch twins—an old nickname for our dark past. That accusation of trickery stung us.
"This is no trick," my sister said, trying to keep her voice as serene as the open sea before us. "This is to prove how human we still are."
"Lies and sorcery," Luka spat. "I refuse to believe in this insulting illusion." He tossed his mane of flames. "The night is still young. My family has waited centuries for this moment. Try to defeat us if you can."
At his arrogant declaration of challenge, we hurled ourselves at him. That had us unwittingly fall into a deadly dance of his own rhythm. Luka bucked away from us as Jane and I tried to land blows with our swords. I thought we'd been getting the upper hand when we chased him through the forest, but now it was clear that he was taunting us.
"It's like he grows stronger as the night goes on," Seth gasped.
"We have to stop him before the sun's up," Leah growled. "Otherwise he's just gonna come back for us and the covens the next night, and the next."
I clenched my jaw. "This has to end here and now."
Luka unleashed a torrent of fire that Leah and I couldn't escape. We were knocked to the sand, and with both of my hands gripping Timur and Khan, I couldn't hang onto Leah. I tumbled onto my back. The fire poured down on us like a relentless, searing waterfall. My two swords could do nothing against something like that. When she had it, my sister had never used her dark gift against me. But now, I was getting the closest semblance to it. I couldn't hear myself scream and barely felt the hilts of Timur and Khan leave my fingers. Some of the heat let up as Leah bravely stood between it and me. She hunched her shoulders and dug her claws into the ground.
"R-Run," she said through gritted teeth.
I shouted myself hoarse. "No, Leah, I'm not leaving you!"
She lashed her tail. "Get outta here, you idiot!"
"Alec, Leah," I heard Seth cry out.
I peered through squinted eyes to see him and Jane running to our rescue, but Luka let up on his fiery assault and turned to slam his front hooves into them. He turned his wrath on them as he slammed into them over and over.
"And you two," he hissed. "You freaks of nature." His words seemed punctuated with each blow of his hooves. "A kresnik and a kudlak, as mates? You make me sick."
Every cry of pain from my sister sent a stab through my chest, like I was the one being crushed. The flood of fire from before, however, left me too broken to get up and save her. Hot tears pricked at my eyes.
"Father, where are you?" I croaked. "You said you'd protect me."
I kept hoping he would come and help us win this battle, but my pleas were empty and reached no one. Beside me, Leah struggled to find a foothold, but collapsed. I rested my hand on her neck fur. I couldn't bear to see my pain and despair reflected in her eyes, as she felt every agonized howl from her brother. Where was Connor, and where were the old wolves? Where were they when we needed them?
Like Leah had done with me, Seth tried to put his body over Jane's, to protect her, but Luka's hooves smashed him down with her. Luka's brutal assault on Seth and Jane left them sprawled on the shoreline, their forms dangerously close to fading away. I could see the grainy sand underneath them. The covens and Goro looked on in helpless horror. My sister's spirit looked as still and limp as her body. I sensed her clinging on to life by a thread.
Luka lifted a hoof over Seth and Jane. "You two should be the first to go. I'm doing the world a favor by cleansing it of filth. There's no room in this world for abominations like you."
"Stop," I pleaded, but only I could hear such a weak plea. I forced my dried, charred throat to give voice to my greatest wish: to see my sister alive and happy with the boy who loved her. But the only thing that came out was a strangled sob.
Luka's hoof slammed down with a resounding finality. I squeezed my eyes shut. I thought right then and there that I had lost my sister forever.
Suddenly, in a small voice I almost couldn't hear, she said, "That's enough."
My eyes flew open, and widened even more still. Luka's hoof didn't slam down into Jane and Seth, but on a ghostly white hand. It was propped up by the long, muscular arm of a grown man. To my amazement, that arm came off of Jane's right shoulder, as if she had gained a brand new arm to replace the one she had lost. Luka's limb trembled with exertion, but the arm and hand didn't give way.
"That's enough," Jane said through gritted teeth. "That's enough!" With that raw-throated cry, and with one hand, she pushed back against Luka, surging up to her feet and sending him toppling over.
She stood protectively over Seth, who was still sprawled on the ground. That man's arm on her small body was disproportional in bulk and length, almost ending at her knee. Her glare at Luka blazed like the sun, and her voice, usually soft and high, rang and resounded with unearthed passion. "I'm so sick of you prattling on about kudlak this and kudlak that, how we are monsters and scum and filth who are less than human, and better off dead. Maybe we should have died the first time. I didn't ask to be this way. A lot of us didn't. Pain and suffering gave many of us our second lives. Still, a second life is still a life. We have hopes, fears, and dreams, and can love and mourn as much as any human." Tears ran down her face. "We're here, and we'll keep being here. We deserve to exist!"
That roused Seth to his paws. "I stand with Jane on that. I always will." Though his legs stopped shaking, his voice started to. "And I love her, so I want to be with her for as long as I live. Simple as that."
"That's what I want for them, too." I staggered to my feet, picking up Timur and Khan along the way. "I'm going to keep fighting for their future."
"Same here." Leah rose alongside me.
Reeling back from Jane's unexpected counter, Luka had nothing to say. Instead he uttered a wordless roar of rage. We met it with defiant shouts of our own. Battered and beaten down as we were, we charged at him.
Luka let loose a fireball. Too late to dodge. In an almost mad streak of courage, Jane thrust out her right arm—Connor's right arm—and his shield materialized into his hand. Jane took the brunt of the fire with the shield, protecting the rest of us from it.
In that moment, all I could do was behold her with awe. Against the blazing backdrop, with the shield in one hand and Kurojaki in the other, my sister looked like every inch the knight she had always wanted to be.
With Connor's borrowed strength, she pushed back against the fire and scattered it with a swing of the shield. The downward motion of the swing coupled with her leap onto Seth's back. Together, they looked like knight and steed.
As Seth leapt forward and snarled at Luka, his teeth that flashed no longer looked like his. They became longer, sharper, and his muzzle turned snow-white. His snarl was no longer his alone, but joined with another's: Taha Aki, that ghostly white wolf with the largest fangs I had ever seen.
The covens trapped inside the ring of fire raised a cheer. The sight of Jane and Seth charging on spurred me and Leah forward. Something sturdy and warm enveloped my head, and the visor of a helmet ringed my vision. My heart wanted to burst with joy. Father came to protect me, after all. Leah's paws were no longer grey, but tinged black, just like the wolf named Levi Uley. As her paws changed color, she gained even more speed than before. That wolf must have lent her his swiftness.
This time, on black paws, Leah could outrun the stream of fire that had flattened us. She dashed straight past the attack and right under Luka's legs. I swung Timur and Khan through his legs, and they gave way like felled trees. Father's helmet protected me from the tail of flames on the way out.
Luka screamed and buckled to the ground. The hooves that had dealt so much damage before now collapsed into harmless sparks. He no longer had legs, but still had his head. Blue fire brewed in his belly, and he unleashed a shower of fire upon Seth and Jane. Seth didn't jump out of the way, but ran straight through. Jane raised Connor's shield to protect herself and Seth from balls of fire. Fire that could have slammed them back down to the sand glanced off harmlessly against the stout shield. With her other hand, Jane thrust out Kurojaki, the blade aligned with her arm like a knight's joust.
She and Seth raised a unified, bloodcurdling war cry that sent a shiver down my spine. The sword called "black demon," together with fangs of an ancestral white wolf, pierced through Luka's chest, where his heart would be.
The giant horse shuddered from head to tail. The clashing sounds of battle dropped away. Only the waves lapping against the shoreline could be heard. Then there came what sounded like a long sigh as Luka's horse form lost shape and caved in.
Jane pulled back her sword and Seth released his fangs from the dwindling mass of flames. The blue fire didn't fade away, but grew even smaller. The silhouette of a horse became a human's. The mane receded into cropped dark brown hair on a man's head. Luka, in his true appearance, was a man of slender build and long limbs. He was on his knees, his shoulders slumped and head hung low.
He looked up at us, who surrounded and stood over him. When he spoke, the voices that had accompanied him before in battle had left him. He sounded not just defeated, but so small, so alone. "I am the last of my bloodline. I could've had children years ago, but I chose not to, because I didn't want to burden them with this cursed mission. I wanted to be the one to finish it once and for all. But I've failed. A world where kudlak can live...that's the future you want?" He looked between Jane and Seth, his dark eyes piercing through them like Taha Aki's. "This is what you really want for yourselves?"
They nodded. Neither of them broke their gazes away from his. Leah and I stared back at him, in silent support for our siblings.
Finally, Luka closed his eyes and lowered his head back down, almost in a tiny nod. Then, faster than we could react, he pulled out a knife and plunged it into his stomach. Startled cries started up and died in our throats. Blood pooled over his front before he fell forward, unmoving. His body faded away like the last embers of a dying fire, leaving no trace he had ever been here.
No more fire on the shore...just water, a whole stretch of it. We had broken Luka's spirit before he broke ours. So fixated he was on his legacy, his mission, and centuries worth of old hatred that he couldn't see my kind as worthy of respect and existence. He would rather die than live in a world where that could be accepted. This had been a battle of wills, and ours won over his.
Jane's borrowed arm shimmered and faded, and the shield along with it, leaving her without a right arm again. She clasped her remaining hand over her chest. "Thank you, Connor," she said softly. She looked like on the verge of crying. Seth pressed his head against her side.
I felt Father's helmet disappear from my head. The white fangs and black paws of the old Quileute wolves left Seth and Leah in the same way Connor's arm and shield did.
It was all over. We couldn't have done defeated Luka alone.
Human blood had made me and Jane stronger, but not in the way most people would think. We drew upon the strength and blood of our family, and that was the strongest blood of all. We lifted silent thanks to our departed families as the sun rose.
I've waited a long time to get to this point: the big battle and final showdown against Luka. Two songs served as major inspiration for this chapter:
"Libera Me From Hell" - Gurren Lagann
"Break The Chain" - Takayoshi Tanimoto, Digimon Adventure 2020
"Libera Me From Hell" is an unusual song even by anime standards, for combining opera and rap: two very different genres and set of lyrics that seem to clash and butt heads, but actually work well together to create this unique, epic track, in my opinion. I like to think that the Catholic prayer for the dead sung in opera represents Jane, and the "do the impossible!" vibe sung as rap represents Seth. Even better: the opera part is sung in Latin.
I love "Break The Chain" because not only I adore Digimon, but the lyrics happen to fit, too. The English translation has lines like "the light shines because I know the darkness," "go through the future you believe in", and "penetrate into the world you're aiming for," which is a big theme of this battle and last arc. "Break The Chain," being the evolution theme for Wargreymon and Metalgarurumon, was definitely the song I had in mind as I wrote about Seth, Jane, Alec, and Leah "evolving" their spirit forms.
There isn't much left, just one more chapter and an epilogue. Thank you for coming this far.