Disclaimer: Not mine
A/N: Are you ready for the first part of the big battle? I finally finished the second part today after some hand holding from Dalloway5906. She is the only reason you will be getting the chapter on Wednesday, otherwise I was going to have to push it back a week. But rest assured the culmination of the battle will be up on Wednesday.
Dally posted an important chapter yesterday. If you are not reading "Bittersweet" you are missing out. Powerful stuff going on over there. If you saw Eclipse: the scene when Rose is attacked is much better through Dally's eyes. I'm just sayin'.
I finally caught up on my review replies! Thanks to all of you who consistently review and those who just drop in from time to time. You make my day when my inbox gets all filled up with your words of love!
Happy 4th of July to my American readers.
And to my 39 readers from the Netherlands, 159 German readers and 34 readers from Spain… good luck on your upcoming matches. I don't have any readers from Uruguay, but good luck to you as well.
EPOV
Jasper had everyone in place. According to Alice's vision, the first round of newborns would come from above, launching themselves out of the tree tops. Once we had been weakened by those first few, Zafrina and Benjamin would accompany Maria into the clearing. That was the point when Alice's vision waivered. Sometimes Bella managed to hold her shield so we were protected from Zafrina's mental attack but were vulnerable to the physical attack of the newborns and Benjamin. At other times we all were incased in the bubble of Bella's shield and no one could penetrate it, yet Zafrina had us all trapped in sensory blindness.
With her visions changing so swiftly, she was not able to give me any idea of what the outcome would be. We were set up in a half circle, with Emmett and Jasper at the point position and Bella and I standing dead center. Esme was next to Tanya, keeping a protective arm over her shoulder. I felt her hate filled gaze on Bella, and instantly shielded her with my body. We were going to face enough horror in the next few hours, at least I could stop Bella from having to deal with Esme.
Jasper tensed slightly as he caught the desperation and excitement oozing from the newborns as they approached. We look to the trees as the first war cries sounded around us. Bella's entire frame shook as she realized that the time had come. She had practiced in the few minutes before Jasper rallied us, but she was still unable to keep her shield constant when distracted. I had told everyone that we would not be relying on Bella's shield to keep us safe. Rose look relieved and Esme looked like she would skin me alive. I knew she wanted to be able to blame Bella when things went wrong.
Emmett was the first to charge when the newborns came soaring through the sky. The second their feet hit the ground, Emmett had managed to de-head two, while Jasper had ripped the arm off of another and the leg off of a third. The first wave was only six deep, which left two for the rest of us to deal with. I kept Bella behind me as one of them came barreling at us. Carlisle stepped in front of me and planted his foot in the midsection of the attacker, using the forward momentum of its body to grab hold of its skull and yank the head clear off. The body parts accumulated as Irina, Kate and Rose managed to dismember the last attacker. Jasper quickly set a small torch and lit the corpses on fire, dousing the flames with a bucket of water once they were reduced to ash. There was no need to tempt Benjamin with readily available flames.
"The rest should be here in five minutes." Alice yelled as Rose helped Emmett to his feet. He had a large wound on his shoulder from where one of the newborns took a bite out of him. It was healing quickly, but without feeding he would be weaker.
"Emmett, go and hunt quickly." I shouted. He shook his head and hesitated, but when Carlisle said the same thing, he ran off through the trees. I worried that the noise had scared off the wildlife, but Emmett was fast enough to cover a few miles and be back before the next attack.
"Alice, what do you see?" Bella shouted from behind me. Her little hands were clenched tightly in my shirt and I could feel her nails making holes through the fabric.
"It is still the same, Bella. I'm sorry…" She trailed off as her eyes glazed over. I followed her vision along with her as it came and when I saw what would happen I sprinted away from the clearing into the trees. How had she found him? There was no way she could have known we would send him to hunt.
I heard Emmett's mournful wail as I crested the hill. There below me were three of the newborns, tearing Emmett's arms from his body. I knew we would be able to reattach them, but right now the only thing I was concerned with was the amount of pain my brother was feeling. I could hear Jasper coming from behind me and we jumped between Emmett's attackers and his now limbless body. One of the newborns threw Emmett's arm far into the woods while the other one dropped it and turned to run. Jasper took off after the deserter while I stood my ground against the other two. Their thoughts were chaotic, and it made it very easy to follow their plans. One feigned right while the other came directly at me. I easily snapped the neck of the first one, while I followed the other through his thoughts. The second one was trying to make a break for it after watching how quickly I had dispatched with his friend, but I was faster than he was and jumped up into the trees, using the branches to sail over his head and drop down right in front of him. He looked up at me with wild, crimson eyes.
"Maria is going to kill you all and then take the girl for part of her army." He sneered.
I could feel the rage boiling inside of me at his carless words. Before I could stop myself I had sunk my teeth into his neck. I snapped and bit, ignoring his screams until I felt strong hands pulling me off. I looked up, remorsefully, into the faces of my brothers. They helped me gather the body and together we set fire to the three dead vampires. If Alice's calculations were correct we only had 14 left to deal with.
Jasper had managed to find Emmett's missing arm while he was taking care of the other vampire and had already helped to reattach it. We located the other arm and set that back in place as well. Emmett was unnaturally pale as he watched his skin heal over the severed arm.
We turned back towards the clearing, knowing that Alice had only given us five minutes until she saw the rest of the army attacking. It had been very close to that already and I knew we would have to hurry to get back before they….
"EDWARD!"
I was moving faster than I had ever gone before. I could hear both Jasper and Emmett's thoughts wondering what could possibly be happening to cause Esme to scream that loud.
BPOV
When Edward and Jasper took off from the clearing in the direction Emmett had gone, I knew exactly what was happening. I wanted to yell to Edward, to warn him that this was what she wanted, to separate us. But I knew I could not make him stop and allow them to hurt Emmett. His sudden loud screams caused Rose to start off running after the boys, but thankfully Carlisle held her back. Alice was still gazing unseeing into the woods. Esme stalked over to me, pointing her finger painfully into my chest.
"You are tearing this family apart! Don't you understand what you are doing? If you would just go out there and give yourself up all this would be over. They would leave us alone." She ranted. I was speechless. Did she not understand if I actually thought that would work I would do it in a second?
Alice's sharp gasp made Esme swing her head around. I could see the bushes moving, signaling the army's arrival. I immediately pushed Esme behind me as I moved to the front of our group. Alice came over and linked arms with me. I was sure we looked very menacing, two barely 100 pound vampires against a newborn army.
A young girl came running out first, her auburn hair snagging on branches as she passed through them.
"Please, you have to help me!" She cried as she collapsed at our feet.
I instantly kneeled down next to the girl, even though Alice tried to restrain me.
"What is wrong little one?" I asked, trying to get her to look at me. She raised her head and gaze up at me with bright red eyes, her lips shinny and glistening with fresh blood.
"She told me I could have whatever I wanted if I got to you first." She snarled as she jumped up towards me, trying to wrap her hands around my throat. Before she could gain purchase on me, Irina grabbed hold of her and threw her into Kate's waiting arms. The second Kate touched her flesh, the girl let out a shriek and dropped to the ground, immobilized. Carlisle had released Rose and was there instantly to snap the child's neck. Even though she had nearly managed to do the same to me, I felt a moment of sadness at the loss of the little girl.
I did not have long to worry about the child, because a swarm of newborns came running through the trees. I motioned everyone to move behind me, and everyone except for Esme and Tanya complied.
"Please Esme, Tanya, you have to get behind me. I don't know if I will be able to extend my shield that far!" I pleaded. Carlisle jumped from behind me and grabbed Esme in a death grip, pulling her along with him. Tanya stood still, watching the newborns approaching. I closed my eyes and visualized my shield, hoping I could reach out to cover Tanya as well. It was easier for me now since there was a real threat to my family. I was able to completely cover the others behind me, but was not able to reach Tanya. The attackers were approaching fast and if I did not get her into safety, she would be lost. I did not like her, but I knew how Esme and her sisters would feel if I did not do everything I could to save her.
I slowly stepped towards Tanya, making sure to keep the shield over everyone else. I could feel someone trying to push through the barrier and looked over to see a tall dark-skinned vampire with her hands up, palms facing us. She looked shocked to see that whatever she was trying to do was not working. I could not fight the smart-ass smile that spread over my face as I realized my shield was working.
Tanya was just within my reach, but I knew if I tried to extend my shield to cover her, I would pull it away from Rose, who was still standing, staring into the woods were we heard Emmett's painful yell. I reached my arm out, trying to grab her, but before I could touch her a powerful shutter shook the ground. I dropped to my knees, knowing if I tried to stay standing during the earthquake, I would not be able to hold onto my shield.
I could see Tanya on her knees in front of me, and I reached my hand out, trying to grab hold of her ankle to drag her to me. My fingers were on the edge of her shoe when someone stepped right on my hand. I must have allowed myself to get outside the safety of the shield when I was reaching for Tanya. I tried to pull the shield back over me, but it was too late. I looked up into the face of my captor, who could only be Maria. Her blood red eyes were alight with humor and her dark hair flowed freely down her back.
"That was easier than I thought it would be. Zafrina was right, if one of your family members was in danger, you would sacrifice yourself for them. I wonder, are you able to keep them safe if we torture you?" She sneered. I could see Tanya shuffling back with the others as Maria was talking to me. I could feel the moment she entered the safety of the shield. I glared up at Maria, knowing there was nothing I could say to keep her from hurting me. I only hoped she kept me alive long enough for the others to take out Zafrina and Benjamin. If she killed me, they would not be able to save themselves.
She pulled me roughly up by my hair, her powerful hands pulling some out by the roots. I bit the inside of my cheek, trying not to scream out in pain. She turned me around to face my family, all of whom were staring at us. I tried to give an encouraging wink to them, but Maria twisted my left arm back roughly as I did, and it came out more as a grimace than a wink. I could feel the strength of my shield wavering, but it held tight. Carlisle and Esme moved towards the edge of their protection, somehow knowing they could not go any further safely. I could see a change in Esme. I must have been able to earn back some of her trust after trying to save Tanya. Her eyes softened as she looked at me, and my chest tightened as I realized she was looking at me like she used to. My mother was back.
A searing pain spread across my shoulder and chest as I felt Maria pulling my arm from the socket. I could feel each individual muscle and nerve and artery separating, the pain unlike anything I had ever felt. I bit clean through my lower lip trying to hold back the agony. I could hear a scream, wondering if it was me, but it was not my cry of pain I heard, but that of my mother as she screamed for Edward.
A/N: Yeah for Esme being back! Boo for the horrible cliffy. Sorry about that, I totes suck. But everything will be resolved on Wednesday!
Oh and I started a new story. Is is called "Darkness and Light" and it is AH and really different from Silent Auction. I would love it if you checked it out.
http:/www(dot)fanfiction(dot)net/s/6108324/1/