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Chapter 21

The day after Alice's call, Isabella was anxious as she rocked Flynn in her arms. He was feeding off her energy and that was not helping him fall back asleep.

Althea still slept soundly in her crib, a small mercy at the moment. Isabella didn't know if she could manage both of her children crying at the same time.

"Bre, I brought something to help him sleep." Edward's whispered words startled her.

"I don't want to give him anything. What if this is the last night I have with him and I spend it giving him something to sleep?"

Edward stepped in front of her and took her face in his hands. "Where is this doubt coming from? We will survive tomorrow night. We have to."

"I'm scared."

"I know you are, but you are my Bre, Isabella. Alice saw they don't have the numbers they did before, and you're so powerful. Don't doubt yourself."

Isabella nodded and Edward placed a few drops of the sleeping dram into Flynn's mouth. Isabella rocked him a little longer until he was sound asleep. She placed him into the crib and stood over her children.

"Bre, we need to get some sleep. We'll have time with the kids in the morning."

"Okay," she said.

Edward and Isabella climbed into bed and fell asleep in one another's arms.

The day dawned. Isabella fed the babies while Edward prepared the room where Alice would hide away with the children. It was a quiet day for the families, spending their time together before being parted. The people from the east side of the island had all traveled to the capital as Jasper had proclaimed necessary.

Nearly all the preparations had been completed. Only last minute things were left, since they relied on Isabella's spell casting.

Just after lunch, Isabella and Edward walked side by side with their children in their arms, finding Jasper and Alice with Brandon in her arms. The babies were put in their cribs with a kiss from both their parents, and after hugs were exchanged and a private moment between the monarchs, the secret doorway was closed.

Isabella held up her hands, sealing it from all those who would do harm, only allowing the trio outside to open the doors if it was safe to do so. Alice could also open it from within if necessary.

Jasper nodded to the couple once the work was done. "I will see you both at the end of this fight. Be safe in the woods."

Isabella and Edward made their way out to the stables, collecting their carriage. With Argus in Bella's lap, they rode. The house was their first stop, where both changed for the upcoming battle. Edward wore a vest with a low back so as not to impede his wings, while Isabella dressed in pants and a blouse, her hair braided into a thick cord of curls.

They marched out into the woods together, Argus hot on their heels. The farther they got from their homes, the more distance they put between themselves and the capital, the safer everyone they knew and cared for would be.

Alice's vision had been clear. A half dozen blood elves, the children that had been hidden away before the last battle, were now all that was left of their kind. They were powerful, having been fed the blood of other magical beings, giving them their gifts. It was why they came after the witches the last time, their gifts would give them the power they needed to conquer the world.

Isabella cast protection spells, hoping it would slow them down. Not knowing exactly what the blood elves were capable of, she shielded their minds so they couldn't be read. She used the train tracks as a barrier to dull their senses and tried to conjure mist to obscure their view, but it was something she hadn't perfected in the time she'd had to prepare. Edward scouted the area picking the best spot for them to stand when the enemy arrived and checked in with the other fireflies while she worked.

The afternoon turned to evening, twilight filtering through the trees. Isabella felt the shift when the monsters reached their shore. Her shoulders stiffened in preparation.

The blood elves broke through the line of trees and Isabella saw the way their eyes swept over her and Edward. In her dream she'd seen wretched creatures, but what made them more menacing was their banality. With the exception of their pallor and the barely noticeable point of their ears peeking through their hair, the blood red of their eyes was the only clue to their true nature.

"A little lone witch. I'm going to enjoy tasting you," the blood elf in the center said.

"You'll never touch her," Edward growled.

"Shut your mouth, bug," the elf to the right spat out.

Isabella threw out her arms, sending debris flying at the elves. Edward picked her up and flew just a few feet to put her down away from where she'd been. He returned to his spot and used his glamour skills to project a few dozen more of his beloved around the clearing. They looked identical, and he hoped not standing beside the real Bella would keep the elves from attacking her first.

The elves began shooting some type of light, and as they did, the various apparitions vanished. Isabella focused her mind and used it instead of her arms to fell a tree on top of two of the elves. When a third ran past her to attack one of the glamours, she sent the full force of her power at him. A strangled gasp escaped him as the force of her power crushed his throat.

The head elf, having seen the exchange, realized he had found her true form. He turned quickly and shot a blast of light in Isabella's direction. She turned as it hurtled towards her, but just before it reached her, a flash of blue-green appeared before her and an agonizing groan escaped Edward before he fell to the ground.

Tears flowed down Isabella's cheeks as she saw the body of her husband and protector crumpled on the forest floor.

Her eyes quickly focused on the elves that remained. She forced the tree into the dirt and snapped the spines of the elves trapped beneath it. With a deafening buzz, the fireflies emerged from the trees behind her and bombarded the elves, blinding them to much of what was around them. As Isabella walked closer, the two who stood beside Edward's killer choked until they too dropped to the ground.

The leader of the blood elves stood, shocked to be so thoroughly defeated by this woman, as she wrapped her right hand around his throat.

"You and your kind are leeches that pray on the powerful. Never again will you threaten me and mine, because after today, you will be nothing more than dust."

Her fingers tightened and she felt the moment his life left him. Not sparing another instant for the worthless vermin, she turned and ran to where Edward lay.

She turned him over, her hands checking his chest and face for any sign that he was breathing, but found him lying still. "No! No, no, no, no, no, no … Wake up, Edward. I command you to wake up. Live!"

Her shouted pleas did nothing, but just as she was about to give in to despair, she felt a nudging at her left elbow. She moved and Argus scrambled up onto Edward's chest, nuzzling for a moment before he laid down over his heart. Isabella cried at the image; her husband and familiar had always had a close relationship. Their desire to see her safe had bonded them.

Isabella watched in horror while Argus' breaths grew shallow and his body went still.

"Argus?" she gasped.

Her gasp was echoed by Edward's as he took in a lungful of air, his eyes flying open.

"Bre?"

"I'm here, my love."

"What happened?"

"They're gone. I ended them all," she said, her voice hard.

"Did you bring me back?"

"No, Argus did."

Isabella placed her hand on her familiar's back and Edward lifted his head just enough to see him. "Oh, Argus. I swear I'll keep my promise."

"We need to clean this up, and then we can return home," Isabella told him. "I want to give Argus a proper funeral."

"We will. But what about them?"

"I told him they'd be nothing but dust, and that is exactly what they'll be."

With a wave of her hand, the six corpses of the elves disintegrated into dust and blew away. After a moment, she turned to Edward, who was looking up at the canopy of trees above them.

"Thank you, my friends. You can rest now."

The fireflies dispersed and Isabella helped Edward to his feet. She took Argus from him, his body cradled in his arms as they left for home.