Daughter of Three Suns
Chapter 22
No one moved; no one spoke. My knife—the one I had so trustingly attached to Edward's thigh—was still pressed, tip first, against my belly. I had awakened with the warmth of his hand there, but that warmth was long gone. Instead, a trickle of blood soaked the edges of the slit he had cut in my clothing. Though I tried to reach him, his mind was still closed and locked to me.
The drudges seemed almost unaware of what was happening. They stood in their same places, waiting—I guessed—for Aro to tell them what to do. As for Aro, his glare was focused on Edward and me. Hatred, rage, and fury raced across his face. I wondered why anyone would obey or even listen to him. Did he not realize that as soon as I was released, my knife would find a home in his neck? Perhaps he didn't. Perhaps he considered the women from my world as weak and inept. He had never met anyone like me though. Edward had named me warrior, but Aro was too wrapped inside his insane mind to see the threat standing before him.
Anger rose within me. I gathered it, pulling together the power and the strength I would need to defend myself and escape this room. My body trembled slightly, and then I heard Edward's faint whisper in my head, Not yet, not yet.
I felt him move slightly, and then he spoke to the woman shifter. "Siobhan?"
Her eyes were slightly unfocused, and I realized she was communicating with someone. "Liam says they're on the roof. Esme just stepped through the portal, and … Wait! It's a trap, Edward. Demetri and six others are on the roof. James and the men have shifted and are attacking but Victoria is hurt and Tia has been captured."
"The other shifters?" Edward asked.
Again, Siobhan seemed to be listening. "Just arrived. They're attacking the drudges and holding them off, but they'll need our help soon. We'll have to hurry. Ah," she continued. "Senna just pulled Victoria through."
In the center of the room, Aro began to laugh uncontrollably. "Did you think I would just let you go? Give it up, boy. You've been bested by a smarter man." Still laughing, he waved the drudges toward us. "Get them," he commanded. As they began shuffling toward us, he grinned at Edward. "What are you going to do now?"
"This," my mate answered.
The knife left my belly and flicked upward to the rope that bound me. With one quick slice, it fell away. Behind me, Edward shouted, "Now."
The room was suddenly filled with wings and sharp talons as the remainder of Emmett's people shifted to their bird form and attacked the drudges. My staff was in one hand and a throwing disk in the other as I advanced on Aro. I couldn't find a clear path though. Too many shifters blocked my way as they swooped and dove. The air was filled with their screeching and the drudges' howling. When one stepped in front of me, I used the knob end of my staff to disable its knee, then stunned it with a blow to the head when it grabbed my arm. Its grip pulled me to the floor as it fell, and I scrambled to escape being trapped under it.
In the midst of the confusion and noise, I heard Edward yelling. "Bella, leave them, we can handle this. Go to the top of the building. James needs your help. We'll detain them long enough for you to get there, then we'll fly up and meet you."
A quick glance around the room reassured me that Edward was unharmed and the rest of the shifters seemed to be holding their own against the drudges, who swatted clumsily at them. Aro had retreated to one of the darker corners of the room where the other grays were grouped around him. Turning, I ran out of the room and to the stairs.
…..
Running up the stairs was harder than running in the desert, but the stamina and strength I'd gained from my training and my change served me well as I powered upward toward the roof. "Help me, Grandmother," I whispered as I climbed. The metal circle on my chest still glowed, lighting my way in the darkest parts of the stairwell.
I was almost halfway to my destination when I smelled the odor of drudge. Rounding a turn on the stairs, I came face to face with one waiting on a landing. Immediately, it began howling and waving it's arms awkwardly as it shuffled toward me. I reached for one of my throwing knives but then hesitated. Irina had called them "mindless monsters", and I could understand why she had named it so. The "mindless" part was easy to see. It seemed less aware than even a small child. As for the "monster"? I wasn't so sure. It was big and hulking and terribly strong and looked like it could easily hurt me if it ever caught me, but it seemed more like something to be pitied rather than feared.
So, I waited until it was closer, then used my staff to sweep both feet out from under it. It fell hard on its back, and I heard a deep thud when its head hit the metal floor. One hand continued to reach for me. I brought the knob end of my staff down hard on that hand. The skin split, and dark, foul-smelling blood oozed from the wound. Then it did something completely unexpected—it scuttled away from me, holding its damaged hand, and crying piteously.
Suddenly, I felt remorse for hurting it. It was a pathetic being, closer to a witless thing than a person. No wonder it followed Aro and did as it was told. It had no thoughts of its own. The damage from the rogue sun had robbed it of its ability to think. Edward had said they were all dying. Perhaps that would be a mercy.
Watching it closely, I edged around it, alert for any sudden movements it might make. Aro I would gladly hurt or even kill. His cruelty had affected so many people, but I resolved not to hurt the drudges any more than I had to in order to help everyone escape. Grandmother Spirit would decide their fate.
…..
When I burst through the door and onto the roof, the shifters were still attacking the drudges. One held Tia face down on the floor, its knee on her back and its hand wrapped tightly around her throat. She was struggling, claws scrabbling at the metal roof and flailing in her efforts to dislodge her captor. The knob end of my staff met the side of its head, and the drudge rolled off. It lay stunned, staring at the sky above it.
Tia was red-faced and gasping. With an arm around her waist, I half-carried, half-dragged her to the other side of the roof where the red archway still glowed and pushed her through.
When I turned, I spotted three drudges still on their feet. The others sat or lay on the roof, blood flowing from cuts and talon gashes on their faces, arms, and heads. One of them clutched a shifter to its chest. Its arms were squeezing, and I could hear the painful cries of its captive. My hands reached for my throwing knives, and in quick succession, one struck each hand and another lodged deep in the drudge's neck. With a scream, it dropped the shifter and stumbled backward against the low wall at the edge of the building. With another loud cry, it tumbled over and fell to the ground far below.
The remaining two seemed to have lost their purpose. They began to wander aimlessly, swatting at anything that came close to them. Now was the perfect time for us to leave.
"Through the doorway," I yelled. "If you want to leave, if you want to live, go through now."
As they flew through the doorway, one dropped beside me and shifted into his man form. It was James. He stood next to me, guarding the arch and making sure the remaining drudges were no threat.
"Where are Edward and the rest?" he asked.
"They should be here soon. They were keeping Aro and everyone else in the room so I had enough time to get here and help. Liam told Siobhan that Aro had set a trap and the drudges were here."
James nodded. "I thought perhaps they were communicating." After a moment, he spoke again. "Did you know what Edward was planning?"
"No." I glanced at James' face. It looked even worse this close to him. "Who hit you?"
"Demetri. The drudge that went over the wall," he explained with a wave of his hand. "I truly believed Edward had betrayed us all. I can't …" James threw his hands up, then shook his head. "How could he not tell me our mother was still alive?"
"I don't know. He lied to me, too. He said she had been injured when she tried to escape and never recovered. I thought he meant she had died."
Except for the drudges who still shuffled aimlessly, James and I were alone on the roof. The others had all gone through. I hoped someone was waiting for them on my world.
"Did you know my sister Rosalie?"
"Not really. She was captured but escaped soon afterward. I assumed Emmett and Edward had something to do with that. She was here only a short time."
"That can't be right." I shook my head. "She was gone for a long time. All the others had returned before she did. I worried that she would never come back."
Before James could answer, the air was filled with the rushing sound of wings and the rest of the shifters circled above us. "Go, go," I shouted, motioning toward the still glowing arch. "Go now."
They sped through while James and I waited. I scanned the sky above us searching for my mate, but couldn't find him. Sudden panic seized me. "James, where's Edward?"
"I don't … I didn't see him," he answered. "Can you feel him? Talk to him with your mind?"
I reached for Edward, desperate to find him. At first, there was nothing, then just a fuzzy awareness. Edward, Edward, can you hear me? Where are you? A clear picture of a bloody stair landing, of Aro and Felix, and of pain appeared in my head.
"He's in the stairwell somewhere. Aro and Felix are with him, and he's hurt. I have to get to him." Turning from James, I began running toward the stairway opening.
"Wait, I'll go with you." I heard James yell.
"No. I'm faster. Go through the arch. Victoria needs you, and I can handle this." I was gone before I heard his reply.
I ran down the stairs. Almost leaping from one landing to the next in my haste. The pull to my mate tugged at me, and the smell of drudge increased. I rounded a corner—and there they were.
Felix had one arm around Edward's neck, crushing him against his chest as Edward struggled. His other hand held one of Aro's larger, thicker needles, and he was jabbing it over and over into Edward's chest and shoulders. Blood welled up after each thrust and more blood dripped from previous wounds. Aro stood off to one side. I could hear him yelling, "Kill him, kill him."
I didn't pause, didn't even consider my actions. Both hands were suddenly filled with my knives. One buried itself into the hand that held the needle and another in the middle of his forehead. With a loud roar, Felix dropped Edward, who collapsed to the floor. A flick of my wrist, and a disk tore open Felix's throat. Then I turned my attention to Aro.
The knife I had given Edward was buried in Aro's thigh. I hoped Edward had been the one to put it there. Blood flowed from the wound, but Aro didn't seem to notice. He glared at Edward who was struggling to stand. Even as I watched, Aro reached for the knife. The rage on his face revealed his intentions. One of my throwing knives buried itself in that hand.
With a scream, Aro turned to me. "Bitch," he shouted. He took a step closer to Edward.
"Don't move, Aro." I waved the throwing disk I held in my hand. "You saw what this did to Felix's neck. I can put it through yours before you even blink."
Aro froze in place, and I asked Edward if he could move. His answer was a feeble yes. "Start up the stairs," I told him. "I'll catch up with you when I'm finished with Aro."
"Bella—"
"Go," I interrupted. "If you get there before I do, go through the arch. I'm sure a healer will be waiting on the other side." He nodded and started climbing.
Aro's eyes followed Edward as he ascended out of sight. Each time he moved as if to follow, I waved the disk in his face. "Be still," I warned him.
Aro focused his rage on me as soon as Edward was gone. "You bitch," he screamed. "You and your kind ruin everything."
Straightening my shoulders, I drew myself upward until I towered over him. Anger roiled through me and rage twisted my face. "You will NOT speak!" I commanded, sneering at him. This time, it was my spittle that splattered his face. "I am sick of your words, of your voice. You call me bitch, but do you know what I see when I look at you? I see a basherter who did not love its mate. I see a father who did not love his daughters. I see a man who wasted his whole life with his cruelty to others. I see a small, foolish, weak being whose life is ending here in the dirty stairwell of a ruined building on a dying planet. When you are gone, none will remember you. Your name will be lost forever. Better a bitch, Aro, than the nothing that you are."
I turned from him and began climbing the stairs. "You can't leave me here like this," he shrieked. "I have no water and no food. Who will help me when the heat from the sun becomes unbearable?"
Shaking my head, I turned back to him once more. "You're absolutely right. I can't leave you like this." With a flick of my wrist, I buried the disk I held in his calf. His screams echoed around us as it penetrated deep into the bone. "That is for Esme and the pain of her injury that never healed properly, leaving her limping in discomfort. And this," I drew back my fist and hit his face with all the strength I had. "This is for the damage to Irina's face and body while she was in your care."
Aro fell to the floor, moaning and crying. I stared down at him. Suddenly, I felt tired and sad. Although he wasn't witless like the drudges who obeyed him, he was just as pathetic. It would be a mercy to end his life and his pain. A mercy I should probably grant him but somehow could not bring myself to do so. "Your life belongs to Grandmother Spirit now," I told him. "May she grant you peace."
Then I turned and began running up the stairs in search of my mate.
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AN: Many thanks to Sally for her beta skills. I've loved reading the reviews and everyone's thoughts about Edward and what is happening. Hope this chapter improved his image. Haha. Your love and support for this story warms my heart. Thank you!
