Hi all!
Welcome to the latest installment! Apologies for the wait. These chapters are getting tricky, which necessitates a bit of time, but hopefully it will all be worth it in the end!
Thanks as always to JaneyGWF for her betaing help.
Enjoy, and please let me know your thoughts!
The tiny airfield looked peaceful and quiet in the pre-dawn light, but still somehow radiated menace. There was one small road that led to the property, winding through the trees in a meandering way that suggested an attempt at misdirection. This airfield was built to be hidden.
The only structure was a small hangar, big enough for one aircraft. There were jet fuel tanks on the side of the hangar, and it opened directly onto the runway. One jet sat outside the hangar at the end of the runway, seemingly ready to fly. Thanks to some borrowed knowledge from an unknown donor, Maura identified it as a Dassault Falcon 900LX, more than capable of a direct flight to Italy from the States. There were signs that the long runway had been recently cleared, most likely by vampiric hands. The Volturi obviously only used this facility sparingly, and didn't bother with upkeep in between visits.
The guard was spread around the perimeter of the airfield, keeping a distance from the surrounding trees. They had barely moved since Maura had started watching, and they showed no signs of boredom or restlessness. They looked like a professional, well trained group, and Maura was not looking forward to any confrontation with them.
Fortunately, the wind was blowing strongly, so Maura and the others had been able to approach from downwind and remain undetected. The thick forest gave them plenty of places to hide out of sight, while the slight slope they were positioned on allowed them to see everything their opponents were doing. Once the sun came up in a little over an hour, the vampires would have to take care to stay out of the sun or risk their shimmering skin being seen.
As she tried to be patient and wait for their plan to commence, Maura found the tension hard to take. She kept replaying their planning and preparation, trying to find any flaws, but kept coming to the conclusion that they had done all they could, and she simply needed to remain still and watch. Her mind refused to stay settled however, so she went through it all yet again.
Many hours ago, they had broken camp and sped towards the airfield as soon as they finished planning. Esme had suggested they hunt on the way, to restore their strength. Both Jane and Maura were reminded that neither of them had eaten since before Maura regained consciousness, since they had turned down Betty's blood bags, and they had been through a lot since then.
The experience of hunting together had proved most entertaining for Maura, as Jane was being completely truthful when she confessed to having no vampiric hunting instincts. Maura had been treated to the sight of Jane attempting to wrestle a bear to the ground, trying to pin its arms like a perp. After several minutes of struggling, Jane let the bear get away mostly unscathed while Maura laughed uncontrollably. Torn between not wanting to hurt the bear and knowing she somehow needed to feed, Jane finally asked Maura for help with a disappointed scowl.
The awe on Jane's face when she watched her successfully hunt a bear had caused an odd mix of emotion in Maura. She still instinctively flinched away from her instincts, ashamed that she could perform such a predatory act so naturally. At the same time, she had a sense of pride that there was something she could undeniably do better than Jane, and that she could share with Jane.
When Jane managed to copy her motions clumsily and fed off her first bear, Maura couldn't help but smile. Jane had wanted to watch her hunt right back when Maura had first been changed, and it was finally possible. It was something they could do together, rather than being a source of danger and discomfort. Unfortunately, Jane had already seen Maura feed, when she was almost mindless and injured, but this was less animalistic, and less inhuman. They were hunting for a reason, and being as kind to their prey as possible. Maura had felt a pang of yearning, for the life they might one day have if their plan succeeded. It wasn't what she would have ever imagined for herself or for Jane, but there was potential for their life to be good, and useful, and not as lonely as she had wholeheartedly feared.
When they had hunted their fill and felt as energised as possible, they had found Esme and continued on. As they ran towards their planned meeting, the three continued to discuss both Maura's and Jane's powers, hoping to find any insights that could potentially turn the tide of the coming confrontation. Esme had years of first-hand experience with all the Cullen powers, so she had plenty of advice for Maura. Jane was something different, as Esme had only ever met one other energy user. He had been able to control the elements, much like the pyrotic that Jane had blown up back at the Cullen house, and Esme relayed the few stories she had with as much detail as possible. Maura could tell from the thoughtful expression on Jane's face that Esme had given her a few ideas.
They had also discovered that Maura was capable of utilising more than one power at a time. She had been vaguely aware of this fact already, as she had been using empathy and mind reading at the same time at various times over the past day, but she hadn't consciously realised what she was doing. As they ran, Maura took the time to practice different combinations, carefully mapping out the mental connections and the mind-set to make them work. Since all mental powers required focus and concentration, it was debateable how many she would be capable of using at once during a fight, but at least she had some options available when the time came.
Finally the trio reached the agreed location and waited for the others. They hadn't had to linger more than a few minutes before they were abruptly surrounded by giant, snarling wolves. The look of astonished awe on Jane's face hadn't stopped her from pushing Maura behind her defensively, but fortunately no violence had erupted. Esme had calmed everyone down, and the wolves had turned into a group of angry looking young men. Their leader, Sam, had been wary of Jane and Maura's red eyes, but had accepted Esme's explanation of their circumstances. The rest of the pack had looked on all three vampires with great distrust and hatred, but had toned it down to angry glares after a few minutes of high tension.
Once everyone was introduced, Esme explained their roles in the upcoming confrontation, and everyone moved to their positions. Before Esme could settle in, Maura and Jane had pulled her aside, curious about why the wolves would help them given their obvious distaste for vampires. Esme briefly explained the origin of the pack, of their task as protectors of the Quileute tribe, and how their descendants sometimes developed the ability to shift when vampires were in the area. She also explained about the phenomenon of imprinting, and that the pack was here out of loyalty to one of their pack mates, Jacob, who was imprinted on Bella and Edward's hybrid daughter, Renesmee. Fortunately the pair were still in hiding, since Renesmee was still too young to get involved in a confrontation with the Volturi and Jacob would never risk her safety. In addition, the pack had faced off against the Volturi previously with no actual fight eventuating, and the pack was eager for the opportunity to actually engage the group in battle. Their very existence was an anathema to the pack, so this chance to remove them from the world would be eagerly embraced, despite the danger.
Once Maura and Jane had accepted the explanation, Esme had moved to her position and settled in to watch and wait. Jane had given Maura a disbelieving look, still amazed by the amount of new information they'd had to absorb in the past week, before putting on a resolved and determined visage and moving to her designated spot. Maura had smiled at her friend warmly before finding her own vantage point, and immediately started doing her part to prepare. That had been more than two hours ago, by Maura's reckoning.
Maura resisted the urge to sigh impatiently, and instead rechecked her mental connection to her companions. She had been using Bella's shield power to protect the minds of the entire group, and she could feel each person's position as if they were illuminated with a spotlight. Fortunately the wolves had some sort of group mind when shifted, so once Maura's shield found one of them, they were all under her protection. This oddity required less concentration, so it was most welcome since she was sure she'd need all her focus once the action began.
Since they were in such a remote area, she had been able to use Edward's mind reading power without hesitation, where before she had been reluctant to utilise it given how overwhelming it could be around crowds. In this situation however, it would be extremely useful. She could hear everyone in their group reporting what they could see, and she could also hear their opponents.
Fortunately, she had also been able to hear Edward, who could hear her as well, allowing them to have a mental conversation the Volturi couldn't overhear. He had managed to relay the events following their capture at the house, and some information about the Volturi. He was extremely worried about Carlisle, who had been separated from the group to prevent the other Cullens from causing trouble. Aro had demanded that Bella not use her shield, either on herself or the other Cullens, and Bella had grudgingly agreed. It had seemed like an odd request, since none of the Cullens had any intention of escaping while Carlisle was in Aro's hands, but Edward hadn't been able to work out why Bella's shield was important. It did mean that Maura couldn't risk including the captive Cullens or Hope in her shield, since Aro would most likely have a way to detect it and might take out his displeasure on Carlisle.
The Volturi were apparently in no hurry to leave. They had arrived at the airfield several hours ago, with their captives perfectly under control, but instead of immediately boarding their plane and leaving, the majority of the guard had been directed to create a perimeter around the hangar.
The prisoners had been secured inside the plane at the back, all of them carefully restrained, with two Volturi watching them carefully. Hope had been brought in later and secured with them, clearly still alive and unharmed by the Volturi, however she seemed to be unconscious. Edward couldn't tell whether she had been knocked out, sedated, or if the toll on her mind had simply become too great. Hope looked unhealthy and fragile, and obviously needed help soon.
After overseeing the Cullens being situated on the plane, Aro had gone inside the hangar talking with Carlisle, discussing inane topics that related to nothing. Edward had been unable to read Aro or any of the high ranking Volturi since they first encountered them, so he suspected the chatter was simply Aro concealing his true motives as always. The rest of the Volturi inner circle had followed them, and closed the door. They had been in there for hours, and nobody on the outside had thought to question how long they would be waiting.
When Afton had returned, he had immediately gone into the hangar, and hadn't come back out. The newer guards were nervous about the fact that he had come back alone, since he hadn't filled them in on what happened to his companion. Since she was new like them, it suggested they might be more expendable than they had hoped, and their unease seemed to be growing by the minute. Edward had been encouraged by the apparent building dissention in Aro's forces, but he was in no position to take advantage. He suspected Jasper had been trying to subtly influence their guard's emotions, heightening any fear and distrust, but they couldn't communicate well enough for him to ask without tipping off their guards.
Maura had dutifully passed on what information she and Edward had been able to glean to their allies, including the numbers of Volturi and the powers they knew about. Out of the twenty two guards outside, three were hybrid mothers that had developed energy powers when they turned. The rest had been Volturi for much longer, between five years and several decades. None of them were exceptionally gifted, only loyal and obedient. Reading between the lines, Maura realised that these members of the guard were basically cannon fodder, raw muscle for Aro to throw at a problem before his real heavy hitters mopped up.
The three new energy users were more interesting. Cassandra could manipulate water, and was idly splashing a nearby puddle with her mind as she waited. Her thoughts were slippery, and devious. It seemed as though she had joined the Volturi because it seemed like her only option for survival, not because she felt any loyalty. She seemed like the sort of person who was unable to trust, only staying with people when they were of use. Maura suspected that she would disappear and make her own way as soon as the opportunity presented itself.
Lily could read energy signatures, similar to what Jane could do, but didn't seem to have any active component to her power. She was also clearly hesitant about being part of the guard, and a good candidate for leniency once the fighting was done. She was disgusted at her new life, and the seeming need to take life when she got thirsty. Maura hoped that she might have an opportunity to help this woman, to explain her own discoveries about control and resisting the thirst.
The most alarming, Catalina, drained energy from her surroundings, including anyone she touched. It seemed that her power perfectly matched her personality, as she appeared to be cruel and vicious. Maura had 'heard' her recalling a particularly disturbing incident from her guard training. One of Aro's new recruits had disappointed him, and he had decided to test both Catalina's powers and loyalty. She hadn't hesitated, draining the life out of him in less than a minute. None of the other guards had dared to cross her since the demonstration, and Aro had been delighted with his new weapon. Catalina had clearly enjoyed the experience, and the power that came from being a murderous vampire. She was definitely going to be a dangerous opponent, and had been added to the list of targets for elimination. Maura knew there would be no talking her into a vegetarian lifestyle, since she had actively enjoyed causing suffering and death even before she became a vampire.
Edward had also managed to 'overhear' that there were only three more new guards with the group. They were siblings, triplets in fact, and they had some kind of mental power. The sister had been taken to breed a hybrid, and when her transformation was completed, Aro had immediately ordered her brothers taken and turned as well. The trio had been immediately welcomed to the inner circle, and Aro had rarely let them out of his sight. Nobody in the guard knew what their powers were, but there was no small amount of fear surrounding the Archer siblings. They were in the hangar with the rest of the Volturi leaders, and were Edward's best guess for the cause of the mental silence since there were no other unknowns in the group.
The last wild cards were Aro's hybrids. He had brought four with him, but unfortunately their powers had been kept a secret from everyone they could read. They were all the offspring of Alec, so it was likely that they had some kind of mental power, but since nobody really knew how hybrid powers developed, it was impossible to predict their abilities. The Volturi hybrids were slightly older than the others Maura had met, looking around fourteen years old, and had most likely been trained to be guards since birth.
The four hybrids Aro had brought were in the hangar, along with the eight they had abducted with the Cullens. There was no way to know what state they were in, since they were under the same mental blackout that was blocking Maura and Edward from reading everyone in the hangar. The plan was to get one of the younger wolves to lead them into the forest and away from the fight at the first opportunity.
The rest of the new guard and most of Aro's hybrids had been left back in Volterra, being trained by Demetri. This detail made their victory today even more necessary, since Demetri would be able to find them and direct any pursuit. However, everyone else on their hit list was present, and inside the hangar.
After hearing all the information Maura had obtained, the group had decided to sit and wait until someone left the hangar, so Maura could try and discover what had been going on. Alternatively, if anyone started the plane, they were all primed to attack immediately, to prevent their family from being lost. Everyone had lost some confidence after hearing about the capabilities and temperaments of the new guard, but there was still hope that they could succeed.
However, that had been hours ago, and it felt like waiting any longer was not going to achieve anything. Maura was about to find Jane and suggest they alter their plan when she heard a ripple of thought from their allies. Someone was approaching from downwind, a vampire. Before anyone could react, Betty was in their midst, carefully holding up her hands in surrender. She flinched back from a massive brown wolf that snapped at her, but fortunately nobody made any noise that could be heard by the Volturi.
Maura rushed to her side, gesturing for everyone to stand down and return to their surveillance of the airfield. The wolves didn't look like they wanted to yield to her request, but after a few tense moments Sam stepped in and gave Maura a distrustful nod. Betty, looking harried, quickly grabbed Maura and pulled them well out of earshot.
When they abruptly stopped, Betty didn't waste any time with pleasantries. "We've got a problem. We managed to get the network back up, but it's very fragile. We used to have all sorts of contingencies and parallel processes in place to make the network run smoothly, but they took time to build. We haven't had that time yet. Aro is doing something to take advantage of the situation. We don't know what exactly, we can't read anything from the Volturi for some reason, but from what we know of his motives we suspect he's trying to commandeer the network. We need to stop him, now."
Maura nodded seriously, thinking through their plan and situation. "We've been watching the Volturi and waiting for an opportunity to attack. I think Aro is using some of his new recruits and possibly the rest of his inner circle to do whatever he's doing. They're all in the hangar. I haven't been able to read them either."
Betty gripped Maura's arm desperately. "We can't wait. We need to attack right now. I'll help you, just tell me what to do."
Maura smiled in appreciation. "Use your gift to freeze the Volturi and set them up for our attacks. Just watch the battle from afar and help where you can."
Betty nodded with determination, and they returned to Maura's previous position, with a view of the airfield. Nothing had changed during their brief conversation. However, just as she was about to call Jane over to suggest attacking immediately, the hangar door finally opened. She tensed in response, as did everyone else, and Maura started trying to reach out and read whoever emerged.
She heard Esme helpfully identify the Volturi as Caius, although the long blond hair and the superior attitude had already made his identity clear. He was dragging Carlisle with him, the Cullen patriarch looking decidedly worse for wear. Maura 'heard' Esme gasp and rage as they saw hairline cracks all over his face and arms, clear signs of being either attacked or tortured.
Caius yelled for two of the guard to take Carlisle, ordering them to bind him and put him in the plane with the others. It sounded like the Volturi were finally about to leave, which meant that whatever they were up to in the hangar was almost finished. Before Maura could react, she heard Jane mentally swear as a blur of limbs shot out of the trees and flew towards Carlisle.
Maura realised their element of surprise had just disappeared as Esme leaped over the perimeter of Volturi and lunged towards her husband, who saw her coming and weakly yelled for her to keep away. Esme ignored him, displaying impressive agility as she evaded the guard and managed to make it into his arms. They embraced frantically, only managing a few seconds of comforting closeness before Caius grabbed Esme by the hair and pulled her away. With dizzying reflexes, Esme turned and punched him in the face, following the move with a lunge at the nearest Volturi.
The Cullens and three nearby guards practically vanished in a blur of vampiric speed, which Maura had trouble following. Caius stepped away from the melee, anticipating a swift victory for his guards. His face morphed from gleeful pride to shock a mere second later when a huge werewolf lunged at his head. Sam had led the charge, and his first target was Caius.
Maura realised with a gasp that she was the only one that hadn't moved. All their allies had taken Esme's move as the cue to attack. More wolves shot past her and lunged for the nearest Volturi, who quickly reacted with brutal force. Streaks of red, brown, black and blond fur shot across the field, mixing savagely with blurs of black and red. She immediately launched into motion, dashing forward to the edge of the trees, stopping once she had an unobstructed view of the whole airfield and was in range to use her abilities easily. She felt Jane moving towards the plane to free Hope and the Cullens as planned, and started to enact her role as ranged support.
Ignoring the blurs of motion around her, Maura focused on finding her targets. The first was Catalina. She was too dangerous to be allowed free reign of the battlefield, and it had been agreed that Maura needed to remove her from the equation altogether. She found the newborn chasing a young werewolf and immediately froze her in place, the vampire falling on her face and remaining motionless. Using a combination of Betty and Edward's powers, Maura managed to maintain her grip on Catalina while diverting her gaze to another target.
Next she found Caius. Without their leaders, they hoped the Volturi would become disorganised and easier to overcome. He had managed to evade his werewolf attacker and was rallying a group of guards to make a concerted assault. Maura's power washed over him mid-sentence, and the guards around him stared in confusion for several long seconds before they were set upon by a team of werewolves.
Lastly Maura located Cassandra. She took a moment to assess her frame of mind, and found her edging towards the forest at the perimeter of the airfield with Lily. They had both taken one look at the pack of werewolves and decided to take their chances on the run. Maura let them go, and watched as the disappeared into the forest. Two less to worry about.
Maura spotted a few more Volturi standing frozen and found Betty watching the field from the trees. She was working with a group of four werewolves, setting up targets and letting them knock them down. They were making a very efficient team, and were carving through the guard quickly. They had already managed to eliminate two male guards, and the rest of the Volturi were giving the group a wide berth as they tried to form a defence.
The rest of the battle was more even, as despite the surprise of being suddenly attacked by a pack of werewolves, the guard were frighteningly efficient warriors. They worked together to repel attacks efficiently, and there were at least four wolves injured after a failed attempt at taking on the guard. The fight had passed the quick and brutal initial charge with minimal casualties, and everyone was being more cautious, teaming up and waiting for opportunities.
Maura paused to ensure her holds on Caius and Catalina as well as her shield for the group were still intact, and that she could still feel everyone. It seemed as though everyone was accounted for, and Jane had just reached the plane unnoticed. Her assigned partner, an angry werewolf named Paul, jumped through the door and charged into the cabin. Jane quickly followed, and within moments Jane mentally called out that they had defeated the guards and were freeing the Cullens. Paul shot back through the door immediately, lunging at the first Volturi he saw with a vicious snarl.
As Maura was about to find another target, she suddenly felt an overwhelming pressure against her shield. She managed to hold it, keeping all her allies protected, but it was a tremendous strain, bringing her to her knees with a cry of pain. The pressure increased, threatening her control, and she closed her eyes, focussing all her attention on maintaining the shield. She had no idea where this attack had come from or what it was, but she was sure it would be the end of the fight if she allowed herself to crumble. She felt the shield compressing, tightening in on her, but she held on with an agonised cry, using all of her strength.
Abruptly, it was over. The pressure released, her shield springing back to full strength as she mentally flexed against nothing. Opening her eyes, Maura realised she was on the ground, her face in the dirt. She also realised she had lost her grip on Caius and Catalina.
When her frantic eyes whipped across the battle, she realised she had missed a lot of crucial events. Catalina had vanished from her sight. Betty and her wolves had taken out three more of the guard. Several more werewolves were limping or panting painfully after a failed attack. The Cullens had been released and had just left the plane, but they were now frozen in horror as they looked at the centre of the battle.
It seemed that Caius was done playing nice. His guards had managed to restrain Esme and Carlisle, both of them being held a few metres away on their knees. Caius had pulled out a weapon, a gun that was most likely loaded with incendiary ammunition. He was pointing it right at Esme with a sneer, and there was no doubt in Maura's mind that Esme was about to be executed for the affront of laying a hand on Caius.
Despite the mental fatigue that the mysterious mental attack had inflicted, Maura immediately tried to freeze Caius. However, despite the sensation of her power activating, Caius didn't so much as pause. As his finger tightened on the trigger, Maura threw her most devastating ability at him, directing all her desperation and fear into a spike of blistering pain that should have knocked him to his knees.
Instead, Caius' finger squeezed the trigger, and a loud gunshot froze the battlefield.
Maura's eyes shifted to Carlisle and Esme, realising there was nothing she could do. To her surprise, Esme was screaming at Carlisle desperately, pleading with him not to move. Instead, Carlisle had sprung to his feet with more strength than anyone could expect given his damaged state. The bullet intended for Esme pierced his chest, the cracks in his flesh allowing the bullet easy entry.
However, Carlisle didn't stop. He defied the momentum of the bullet and the force of the explosion as the ammunition detonated and started to burn his insides. With a superhuman effort, Carlisle charged at Caius, wiping the smug smirk of victory off his face with a brutal punch to the torso.
Carlisle had obviously put everything he had into that blow, as his hand penetrated Caius' chest and cracked the skin all around it. Tongues of flame licked between Carlisle's body and the new crater in Caius's body, spreading rapidly into the exposed interior. Caius was so surprised that he didn't react as he started to burn, he simply stared at Carlisle in shock as he tried to understand how his long, brutal and murderous life had come to end at the hand of one of the world's great pacifists. His unfeeling mind and heart hadn't understood that even a pacifist will go to extremes when their family is threatened.
Carlisle spun around, allowing him to look back at the rest of the Cullens standing in horror next to the plane. He smiled gently, conveying his pride and love for all of them with a fatherly look of affection. Finally he looked to Esme, his devotion and soul consuming love evident in his expression and in his contented smile.
Then the flames permeated through the cracks in his body, and he was consumed.