Winter stood with the other Wild Powers and the rest of Circle Daybreak, outside the mansion. The entire place was surrounded by a ring of darkness, all the bad, evil, vicious, violent monsters that Nova could get her hands on. Nova herself stood at the front of the group, tall and proud, a sneer on her face.
Tension was heavy between the two opposing sides. There was less that two minutes to go and no one was doing anything. They just stood looking at each other.
Winter caught Jez's eye. Jez nodded simply.
"Now!" Nova yelled suddenly, and chaos exploded.
The two armies sprang forward, attacking each other, cutting, hitting, screams, blood, and colours of magic energy swirled about the air.
Winter accepted the tiny pocket knife Iliana passed to her, using it to slit her wrist, to draw the blood. She caught sighed of Donavon battling one on one with Nova.
Anger flared. Nova had taken him once, and wouldn't again.
The blue fire came out of her and the other Wild Powers in a giant stream of electric magic, blue white, filling her vision. Energies crackled all around, and Winter's mind became a whirling mess. Her blue fire met with that of the other Wild Powers, and mixed together.
Confusion rang. Screams were still sounding, but Winter couldn't see anything except an endless stream of blue up on blue and more blue.
~How do you stop this?~ she asked the others.
She tried concentrating on pulling the power back inside her, and the blue faded, becoming black.
* * *
When Winter came around, the fiery sky had faded, replaced by ordinary midnight blue, sparkling with stars and gleaming with moon. Her head ached faintly, her muscles were sore.
"What happened?" she muttered, trying to focus on the surroundings. There were people strewn all over the place, picking themselves up, looking as confused as she must.
Nova and her Night People were gone. There was no trace to show that they had ever been there. There was no blood on the floor, no one seemed to be injured.
Huh?
"Winter?"
At Donavon's voice next to her, she focused, turning to look at him. He was looking pretty baffled, but smiling as well.
"What happened?" Winter asked a second time.
"I think we won," Hannah said, providing an answer. She was grinning from ear to ear.
"We did it?" Iliana asked.
"There's no more Night People," Jez said with a grin.
Cheers erupted all around, as everyone began revelling with the knowledge they'd won. Soulmate couples were smooching, those without soulmates hugging each other, everyone was jumping up and down screaming.
And this time, Winter could hardly be pissed at them for being annoyingly bright and cheerful. She herself joined in with the cheering and screaming, particularly the smooching the soulmate thing.
Donavon didn't object to that. Their soulmate connection sparked around them, filling them with the wonderful light that brought their minds together.
"So we won," Thierry said with a grin. "Now what?"
"We party!" Jez answered almost instantly.
Cheers rose again. The air was filled with the sounds of joyful celebration as they partied long into the night.
* * *
Epilogue
Two days later everything was pretty much back to normal. Everyone was as annoyingly perky as ever, but Winter didn't really mind this time. It was just something to get used to before heading back home and to real life again. The Night World was gone, and everyone could go back to normal.
The witches kept their magic, the vampires had been turned human, the shapeshifters surprisingly remained shapeshifters. Why, no one knew. But they weren't questioning it.
Winter was sitting with the Daybreak group in the living room, the TV was babbling but no one was really paying attention to it, when Mary-Lynnette walked in, announcing, "You guys are *not* going to believe this!"
"Believe what?" Rowan asked.
"What did you do Ash?" Kestrel asked dryly.
"What makes you think I did something?" Ash asked, aggrieved as Mary-Lynnette sat next to him.
"Because you did," she answered with a grin.
"You're killing us with the suspense here," Winter said. "What'd he do?"
"I'm pregnant."
Winter could feel her eyebrow raise. That was unexpected. Everyone else cheered. Ash looked rather stunned. "Oops," he said.
"It's a bit late for oops," Donavon said dryly.
Ash shook her head. "I can't believe it."
"It's a good thing," Rowan said with a reassuring smile.
"You'll get used to it," Mary-Lynnette said, giving him a hug.
Winter grinned. "Don't worry Ash, you'll probably make a great father, if you stop being such a pain in the ass."
Ash gave her a withering glare. "Oh shut up."
"She has a point," Kestrel said with a grin.
The friendly banter continued. Winter snuggled up close to Donavon, happy again for the first time in months. There was a new future for everyone to look forward to.
THE END.
Tension was heavy between the two opposing sides. There was less that two minutes to go and no one was doing anything. They just stood looking at each other.
Winter caught Jez's eye. Jez nodded simply.
"Now!" Nova yelled suddenly, and chaos exploded.
The two armies sprang forward, attacking each other, cutting, hitting, screams, blood, and colours of magic energy swirled about the air.
Winter accepted the tiny pocket knife Iliana passed to her, using it to slit her wrist, to draw the blood. She caught sighed of Donavon battling one on one with Nova.
Anger flared. Nova had taken him once, and wouldn't again.
The blue fire came out of her and the other Wild Powers in a giant stream of electric magic, blue white, filling her vision. Energies crackled all around, and Winter's mind became a whirling mess. Her blue fire met with that of the other Wild Powers, and mixed together.
Confusion rang. Screams were still sounding, but Winter couldn't see anything except an endless stream of blue up on blue and more blue.
~How do you stop this?~ she asked the others.
She tried concentrating on pulling the power back inside her, and the blue faded, becoming black.
* * *
When Winter came around, the fiery sky had faded, replaced by ordinary midnight blue, sparkling with stars and gleaming with moon. Her head ached faintly, her muscles were sore.
"What happened?" she muttered, trying to focus on the surroundings. There were people strewn all over the place, picking themselves up, looking as confused as she must.
Nova and her Night People were gone. There was no trace to show that they had ever been there. There was no blood on the floor, no one seemed to be injured.
Huh?
"Winter?"
At Donavon's voice next to her, she focused, turning to look at him. He was looking pretty baffled, but smiling as well.
"What happened?" Winter asked a second time.
"I think we won," Hannah said, providing an answer. She was grinning from ear to ear.
"We did it?" Iliana asked.
"There's no more Night People," Jez said with a grin.
Cheers erupted all around, as everyone began revelling with the knowledge they'd won. Soulmate couples were smooching, those without soulmates hugging each other, everyone was jumping up and down screaming.
And this time, Winter could hardly be pissed at them for being annoyingly bright and cheerful. She herself joined in with the cheering and screaming, particularly the smooching the soulmate thing.
Donavon didn't object to that. Their soulmate connection sparked around them, filling them with the wonderful light that brought their minds together.
"So we won," Thierry said with a grin. "Now what?"
"We party!" Jez answered almost instantly.
Cheers rose again. The air was filled with the sounds of joyful celebration as they partied long into the night.
* * *
Epilogue
Two days later everything was pretty much back to normal. Everyone was as annoyingly perky as ever, but Winter didn't really mind this time. It was just something to get used to before heading back home and to real life again. The Night World was gone, and everyone could go back to normal.
The witches kept their magic, the vampires had been turned human, the shapeshifters surprisingly remained shapeshifters. Why, no one knew. But they weren't questioning it.
Winter was sitting with the Daybreak group in the living room, the TV was babbling but no one was really paying attention to it, when Mary-Lynnette walked in, announcing, "You guys are *not* going to believe this!"
"Believe what?" Rowan asked.
"What did you do Ash?" Kestrel asked dryly.
"What makes you think I did something?" Ash asked, aggrieved as Mary-Lynnette sat next to him.
"Because you did," she answered with a grin.
"You're killing us with the suspense here," Winter said. "What'd he do?"
"I'm pregnant."
Winter could feel her eyebrow raise. That was unexpected. Everyone else cheered. Ash looked rather stunned. "Oops," he said.
"It's a bit late for oops," Donavon said dryly.
Ash shook her head. "I can't believe it."
"It's a good thing," Rowan said with a reassuring smile.
"You'll get used to it," Mary-Lynnette said, giving him a hug.
Winter grinned. "Don't worry Ash, you'll probably make a great father, if you stop being such a pain in the ass."
Ash gave her a withering glare. "Oh shut up."
"She has a point," Kestrel said with a grin.
The friendly banter continued. Winter snuggled up close to Donavon, happy again for the first time in months. There was a new future for everyone to look forward to.
THE END.