CHAPTER 07:
The day of the newborn battle had dawned and everyone was thrumming with nervous energy. To keep Bella safe, it was decided to hide her in a different location, away from the main battle.
Despite Edward's insistence to stay and fight with the rest, Carlisle, without broking any of his laments, sent him with Bella to her secret hide-out. Seth, from the pack of shape-shifters was also ordered to do the same. Just as the trio was leaving, Charlie popped in and on the spur of moment decided to tag along with them, knowing that the crazy she-vampire would be heading straight to them and not to the battlefield at all.
Ron and Harry had visited the safe-place with Edward the previous night so they knew the location perfectly. Harry made short work of sharing the location with Charlie and Charlie grabbed Bella's hand, instructed her to stay put and apparated away with her. Edward and Seth wished luck to the group left behind and were on their way too. Seth had always got along fine with the vampires, much to his pack's annoyance, so Edward waited for him to phase and together they ran through the woods. "You're on," everyone heard Edward say while looking at the brown wolf as they both sped ahead in a blur.
Harry, Ron, Hermione and Luna placed and hid themselves up on strategically placed tress from where they could fire their hexes without harming their friends. The pack hid themselves close to their trees to keep their backs safe, should any of newborn decide on a small detour. Jarod took post near Harry's tree, Paul near Ron's, Jacob near Luna's and Leah near Hermione's. Sam, Quil and Embry patrolled between them all. The Cullens waited right in the front of the battle field, ready to bait the army.
Hermione carefully placed a few safety wards around both the groups and also some masking spells on the pack members to keep their scent away from the newborns. On themselves, the quadrant cast Disillusionment Charms and hid themselves perfectly within the thick foliage. Quickly whipping out her wand, Hermione sent a patronus to Charlie to do the same for Seth and himself. For Bella, they had spread out her scent to lead a few false trails all around the place.
And then the wait began.
The wait always grated on everyone's nerves, but for a change this time, they didn't have too long to fiddle their thumbs. The army of the newborn vampires came into view and they all waited for it to come closer at just the right spot, and when it did, as one the wizarding folks fired slicing hexes all through the ground on their side and when not one body was left whole, they threw off incendios in quick succession. Only when the entire army was burned to dust and a sickly sweet smell was permeating the air did the four youngsters jump down from their spots on the trees.
"Way to save time," Jasper smirked at them appreciatively.
The vampires and the wolves then thoroughly patrolled the area for strays from the army. Knowing the situation was then under control, Harry with Ron side-along apparated Hermione and the three joined Charlie in guarding the small tent, Luna having stayed behind with Jacob, much to the latter's pleasure and the trio's amusement.
Seth, who had witnessed the short war through the pack's mind link, informed his companions of their victory at the battle below the mountains and that the trio of friends was on their way up to meet them as the pops signaling their arrival rang through the area.
"Morning my adventurous trio," Charlie greeted them proudly. "My confidence in your prowess has significantly increased. Color me impressed, little ones."
"Ever the sweet-talker," Hermione teased him, just as Seth broke in.
"I can smell a blood sucker."
"Not this one, eh mate?" Ron grinned pointing at Edward, the former still giddy from their quick win with the army.
"Be nice," Harry chastised and Hermione and Charlie simultaneously raised their brows. Hermione bit her lower to keep from laughing, Charlie having no such qualms gave out a belly filled chortle.
"Zip it!" Edward hissed. "You're too loud. She's changed directions mid-way, she's heading here and trying to identify the number of smells."
"Hide!" Charlie ordered and the trio, along with Charlie flanked the tent, covering it on all four sides. Seth took his place inside the tent with Bella who hadn't stepped out of it since the previous day when she'd gotten in and Edward stood guard by the tent's flap door.
Shortly, Victoria came flying through the trees. Harry, being used to looking for tiny little snitches even in the most atrocious weather, immediately identified the blur of white and threw off a particularly nasty stinging hex.
Caught off guard, and for the first time in her long un-dead afterlife, feeling something akin to a life-like sensation, even a normal easily forgotten sting, caught Victoria off-guard and she immediately fell off mid-way through her jump. Everything after that was a peculiar blur.
Colors slammed into the vampire writhing on the floor, her limbs torn from her body by a myriad hexes, an overly excitable wolf and an angry vampire. In one sweep of a wand, one of the wizards lit a pyre near the tent and another levitated the broken body of disjoined limbs and torso into it, coating the crisp, cold morning air with a sickeningly sweet putrid stench.
Anti-climatically, the sole perpetrator of the day's battle emerged from the confines of her little tent and ran into the arms of the copper-haired vampire, plastering herself to his side, burying her face in the crook under his arm. Automatically, Edward reached for Bella and locked her under his arm.
The muggle, the vampire, the shape-shifter and the wizarding folks all looked at the pyre, finally a calm settling over them all, however miniscule the minute may be for some of them..