Never before
had the song of war
been the song
of hope ascending
~Jacob's POV~
We knew one day we'd come across an obstacle too difficult to conquer. A battle too big we wouldn't all walk away from unharmed but…I'd never pictured we'd end up like this.
Alone.
I padded my way across the vast clearing, snow crunching beneath my paws, melting with each steadied step. Compared to the battlefield it had been a year ago, it was a foreign land. So quiet with only the sound of birds in the distance as proof of any life here at all. So quiet but I could still hear the deafening crack as the Earth broke in half, the hiss of funeral flames and the echoing howls of my brothers and sister, falling one by one until they were all gone. Though this place stunk of death, I missed Forks. Had missed it. I hadn't realised how proud I'd been of our home until the time came to stop calling it that.
A brisk and cold wind hit us full-on and I angled my head to the child nestled between my shoulder blades. If she were cold, she didn't shiver. Like me, she just looked around the empty land, face emotionless but through the tips of her fingers in my fur, I could feel the rapid drumming of her small heart. In that touch, she conveyed a message: she was ready to leave. I turned and headed into the forest, disturbing snow as we ducked into the thicket. It was a risky move, returning to Forks but we'd heard nothing. An entire year away, living in Southern America, alone, and we hadn't heard a snippet of what had happened to our family. It had been a risk but we'd both needed closure and now we knew.
No one had survived the Winter Battle with the Volturi.
I saw their faces as I ran. Carlisle. Jasper. Seth. Leah. All within minutes of the battle beginning. Then…it worsened. Sam. Paul. Jared and Embry. The Denali's save for Tanya, who'd disappeared into the fray as her sisters and parents were killed. The strange Amazonian's, the Irish Coven. Stefan and Vladimir who'd finally got what they wanted and lost their lives.
So many gone.
Edward and Bella.
Together they'd beheaded Aro, ending the leader of the Volturi but were quickly overcome by his soldiers. Through the memories of the few remaining wolves, I'd seen the two of them dragged away from the battle, kicking and screaming until the sound of tearing immortal stone echoed through the forest.
I winced at the memory, thankful that Nessie could only send images to others and not receive them in return. I'd hate for her to have seen that, to have it engraved into her immortal memory.
She'd already been through so much in her short life, the last thing I wanted for her was a permanent reminder that everyone she loved was dead.
Asher's Note
Hello! To anyone who reads, I hope you are well. My name is Ash and this is the first Chapter of Vengeance. Vengeance was a story I wrote and published on this site in 2013! However, I recently wrote and started publishing the sequel to this story not long ago and wanted to improve the first one. On my profile, you will find two stories of this name. One is the update done I am publishing now, the other is the original, published years ago. I wanted to do this to fix plot holes and improve the writing.
If you are reading this for the first time, I suggest staying with this version of the story (not the old one) as the chapters, though following the same plot, will have distinct differences. Any reviews on this story would be greatly appreciated and will be responded to at the bottom of the next chapter. Thank you so much! Stay Safe!
~Asher~