A/N: I promised a chapter this weekend so here it is!

Chapter 7: Trees

Edward looked at Bella and saw her eyes large with curiosity and anxiousness. He then took a deep breath and took his mind back to when he was just another 12-year-old; when the responsibilities of being a Prince or the heir to the throne didn't matter to him.

Flashback: June 19th 2003, Almorea

Edward was playing in the lush gardens behind the castle he lived in with Alice. He was sat cross-legged in the air; using his power of aire to make himself levitate. Just as he was about to beat his record time of 10 minutes, he heard Alice thinking that she wanted to push him and lost his focus completely. With a gasp he felt himself fall 2 metres onto a pile of leaves with a soft thud.

"Alice! Why did you do that? I was so close!" Edward bellowed. He turned around expecting to see her laughing but she was nowhere to be found.

"What, are you playing hide and seek? Because if you are, you'll be hiding for a very long time." There was no reply. He crossed his arms and perched himself on a bed of red and gold leaves with a huff.

Edward looked across the valleys that separated his town from the dense forest filled with all sorts of beings that haunted him in his sleep. He shuddered at the thought then looked at the giant oak tree that was happily sitting in the middle of the garden. It was autumn now; his favourite time of the year. The once bright green leaves of spring were now beautiful shades of brown, gold and red, desperately clutching on to the century old branches of his mother's beloved tree; knowing their days were numbered.

That's how Edward saw it too. Life is the tree, and each being is a leaf. People change as life goes on; going from young, hopeful and green, to old, desperate and gold. Maybe that's why humans call old age, 'the golden years'. He thought as he chuckled to himself.

With Alice still not back, he decided to look for her. She wasn't behind the oak, so he walked down the lavish marble walkway and bowed at the statues of past Kings and Queens that lined the path as a sign of respect. He kept walking until he got to where the path ended. There, was the largest fountain in all the lands. Spouting sparkling water from her lips was a statue of Almora; the founder of this realm, the goddess who had control over all the elements and the one who gave Almoreans their power.

He skimmed his fingers over the surface to create beautiful ripples in the water before walking over to the gazebo at the back of the garden. It was completely white; as if there was some sort of magical never-ruining-or-fading paint. It was a sort of half hexagon shape, with white benches around the inside edges to sit on. There were 4 pillars all with strings of vibrant green ivy climbing up the sides; a beautiful contrast of colours.

Just then, he heard a blood-curdling scream in the distance. One that was so loud and full of pain that it almost grabbed his heart and squeezed all the blood out of it. One that was all too familiar.

Alice.

Without a second thought he sprinted in the direction the scream came from, his heart pumping with so much fear and adrenaline it made him run even faster. He used his powers of mind reading to try and locate her.

Edward froze. In Alice's mind he saw armies of darkness coming closer and closer. With each step they took, Alice's mind got a jab of pain; only a fraction of the kind of pain they were bound to inflict when they reached her.

The warrior in him focused his mind, took away the childish fear from his heart and gave him the courage to run straight to Alice. He found her curled up in a ball, clutching a small tree trunk with her even smaller hands. Edward approached her slowly, so as not to startle her then put his hand on her shoulder. She jerked a little but eased into his arm. He unraveled her from her ball and held her head in his hands.

He sucked in a breath as he saw her face. She was white as a sheet; it was as if all the life had been taken from her body and her eyes were completely black; no iris, no pupil, nothing.

Edward wasn't usually scared of anything. Lieutenant Colonel Swan taught him how to swordfight like a high-ranking soldier by the time he was 10 and had made him fight all sorts of creatures. But that was nothing compared to the fear he was feeling just by looking at the girl he'd grown to call his sister.

After a few minutes of trying to coax her into getting out of the state she was in, he picked her small form up into his arms – after a lot of struggle – and carried her into the castle. Just as he'd stepped through the gigantic mahogany doors that were carved with the ancient lettering he loved, Alice screamed once more. He looked down into her face with so much sadness, but that changed into relief as he saw her eyes become bright crystal blue again.

She looked up at him in alarm, "They're coming, Edward. They're coming," She told him in an unusual monotonous voice.

"Who, Ali? Who's coming?" He asked her.

She never answered his question as he lowered her onto her feet. She just repeated the same thing. "They're coming. They're coming."

"We need to tell the King." Edward resolved. He grabbed her arm and ran up the immense hand-carved ebony staircase, all the while hearing Alice continually repeating what she'd told him.

They finally reached the 3rd floor; Edward huffing in exhaustion.

"I need to talk to my father. It's urgent." He told the two soldiers guarding the High King and Queen's library.

They looked at Alice in a weird fashion then nodded in understanding and pushed open the heavy doors to let him in. Still clutching onto Alice's hand, he ran over to his father who was sat upon his favorite rickety chair reading Hamlet.

He always thought his father was an odd King because he never liked to sit on the beautiful golden throne with a velvet-cushioned seat that was made especially for him. He said he didn't like the view because of how high it was and that it hurt his back. He preferred to sit on a miniature, cheap, broken wooden chair that was a gift from an old woman from town. Yeah, like that wouldn't give you back problems.

Edward ran over to his father and said, "Your Highness, Alice and I have some dire news!"

King Carlisle removed his reading glasses from his face and smiled, "Did Bach swallow a frog, son?"

Bach was the Royal Family's dog and he always managed to swallow something he shouldn't. Edward almost swore in anger at his father's nonchalance. "No, father! Alice had been unconscious when we were outside, and when I read her mind; I saw that she had seen hundreds of dark soldiers coming to our city! Right now!"

King Carlisle looked down at his son with his brows furrowed, "And you're sure of this, yes?" He murmured.

Edward growled in frustration, "Yes! Look at Alice! She is completely beside herself! She's rambling on like a mad woman! 'They're coming' she says! Stop sitting there doing nothing! Go and call Charles and tell him to rally the troops and any other people that want to fight. This is going to be a massacre, My Lord!" Edward bellowed.

"ENOUGH!" The King yelled angrily. "You'd better lower your voice when you speak to me child. And remember that, you are a child."

Edward recoiled; his father had never yelled at him like that. That means he believes me! Edward thought hopefully.

He kept silent as Carlisle strolled around the room. "But I believe you son." He said after a very long pause, "Go and take Alice to your mother while I call Charles." Edward nodded then turned and hurriedly ran to the door. "Wait," he continued, "I'm proud of you for being responsible, Edward." He said with a smile.

"Thanks, Father." Edward returned the smile then pulled Alice along to his mother.

Throughout the day, Lt. Col. Swan had been preparing his army and had allowed Edward to watch as they practiced. To Edward it was completely exhilarating to see it all. The army consisted of men and women from many different castes and species. Edward's eyes widened as he saw a man turn into a wolf and lunge onto a woman who had sprouted wings and had fangs. Oh how he wished to be able to take part. And that's when he decided he would. When he became marked, he'd become a soldier or part of the League. Even if the King refused, he'd disobey him and do it anyway. Edward Cullen was a fighter through and through.

Just then, he sensed danger from behind him so he jumped and flipped around in the air, using aire to land safely and see his attacker. Standing there, gripping a black-bladed sword with a black chrome hilt, was King Carlisle Cullen. Edwards's eyes widened as he took in the image of his father in his warrior stance. "Father? What are you doing?" He exclaimed, jumping backwards just as Carlisle had swiped the sword down at him diagonally.

Carlisle just smiled, "Would you ask your enemy that question, son?" Then he spun in the air and brought his sword down at Edward again, but it created a large clashing sound as it was met with Edward's pride and joy. Edward's sword was 3 feet long, the beautiful silver blade enhanced with powers from the deep red engravings that ran along it.

They battled valiantly until Edward found himself looming over his father with the end of his blade just above his father's jugular. Carlisle smiled widely, and then Edward sheathed his sword and held out a hand to the King. He took it and got up.

"Wow, Edward, you're a lot faster and stronger than I was at your age. Of course, I let you win just now…" Carlisle looked at the disbelieving expression on his sons face and chuckled heartily. Just as they were about to embrace, a deafening explosion sounded from afar. They both locked eyes with each other as an unspoken conversation passed between them in their minds.

Edward turned to see Charlie watching them. He also had that sad look in his eye; probably thinking about his own family and whether he would see them again. "Go into the castle! We'll fight them at the gates to stop them getting in!"

He then spoke to Edward through his thoughts, look after my Isabella please.

Edward replied, I will.

His father grabbed a hold of Edwards hand and ran with him into their home. They ran into the infirmary and found Queen Esme sitting on a bed with her back to them. As they got closer, they saw her cradling Alice in her arms, whispering soothing words in her ear. She looked up at them with tears in her eyes. "I don't know what to do, she's not saying anything and her eyes have gone black! Oh, dear Gods, help her please." Carlisle hugged her from behind and placed a kiss on her caramel hair as she began to cry.

Edward couldn't bear to watch his mother cry so he turned on his heels and ran in search for his brother Emmett. He was just about to check the games room when he heard his brother's voice inside his head.

I've gotta leave before Father or Eddie find me. They're gonna try and stop me but I know that this is what I need to do. Emmett thought.

"What in the world?" Edward ran to the weapons room where he'd seen thatEmmett was inside his thoughts. Once he got there, he locked the door behind him; causing his brother to notice his presence.

"Edward, I know what you're going to say to me, but I don't care! I can't just sit here while our people are dying!" He exclaimed whilst inserting daggers into his weapon beltwhich hung across his waist.

"I'm not going to stop you, because that's the same way I feel about this Em." Edward said reassuringly, joining him next to the weapons cupboard to strap his body with lots of belts to put gear in.

"Are you sure about this Edward?" Emmett asked.

"I've never been more sure of anything in my life." He answered as he finished strapping himself up.

They both looked at each other for a while then embraced. As soon as they turned to walk through the doors, they stopped in their tracks because at the door was both their parents.

"Dad," Edward started, not bothering with all the formalities, "You can't stop us. We have to protect our people."

"We know." His father answered, putting an arm around his mother's waist as he spoke, "And that's why we're not going to stop you."

A tear ran down Esme's blushing cheeks, "Just be careful, and bring yourselves home to me. Okay? I don't think my heart could take it if I lost you both." She buried her head in the crook of Carlisle's neck.

Both Edward and Emmett ran up to their parents and hugged them tightly, wondering if it would be the last time they did. When they parted, Emmett and Edward had a conversation through their mind link before turning back to their parents.

"We're not going to fight alongside the army. We'd probably be giving ourselves a death sentence." He chuckled humourlessly before letting Emmett carry on.

"We're going to the villages and rounding up the women, children and the elderly, to take them someplace safe. Then we'll fight with whatever men are able to protect the people."

"We promise to come back to you, Mother." Edward said with utter certainty.

"Just take care of Alice and everyone here."Emmett concluded. "We'll try and be back by morning."

They sent reassuring smiles to their parents before running out of the castle, and towards the nearest village.

Edward felt confident as he let aire help him and his brother run at their full speed. After all, he was on his way to fulfilling the responsibilities of being a Prince. As he got closer to the screams and growls, the last thought he had before he got his mind into battle-mode was that it was his 13th birthday in about half an hour.

What a way to become a teenager, huh? He thought to himself. What a way.

A roaring battle cry escaped his lips as he unsheathed his sword and charged towards a troll with deathly red eyes.

Happy 13th.

A/N: What did you think of that guys ? That was kind of like THE WAR PART ONE & the next chapter will be like a PART TWO. So if you wanna read that part 2 you're gonna have to review! If I get alot of reviews for this chapter, I'll post the next one quickly.

So review, review, review ! Scroll down and click the bloody button mate !

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Thank youu ,

Nae xx