Chapter 3

War Torn

Even in the warm, fragrant breezes of the island, I can't escape the knowledge of Denali. I can still hear the shouts and screams. I can still see the blinding brightness of the fires, and I can smell the burning of the flesh. I sit in the tropical sun and feel frozen

When the Volturi came, it was like before. They came in robes, in perfect formation, each of them even on the same foot. Like a ghastly parade they came across the snowfield where we'd set up to meet them. Even before they arrived, I had our people shielded. I'd become good at it, and I could guard our whole side, no matter where they were stationed. It was Delphine's idea that I stay back out of the fighting if possible. She knew I was a target, even more than Ness. I was an enemy they already knew.

They numbered over a hundred, and they were terrifying. The knot of leaders in the center of their formation was dressed in blood red as before, but there were four in red, not just three. Jasper had his units arrayed in the most advantageous spots, and he was waiting to give the signal.

The signal almost came too late. The Volturi army was ringed by newborns. There were at least a hundred of them as well, and we didn't even see them until they broke formation to attack. They'd been somehow hidden from our eyes. Edward and Jasper would have felt their minds, but they were away from the front lines. The Volturi drew first blood that day, even before Jasper gave the signal to attack.

With military precision our side retaliated. Like a giant pincher with the force from Volterra caught between. It was brutal, but the first tide of the battle went our way as our trained forces massacred newborns indiscriminately. When the Volturi tried to withdraw to regroup, the wolves attacked from their rear. At first it looked as if we would easily win the day.

Then they changed tactics on us. The newborns were disciplined and organized, and they assembled into small units, and those units each had individual targets. The first major casualty of the war was Delphine, since she commanded from the front. She was surrounded before we understood what was happening. She fought madly, and over half those attacking fell to her, but I felt her when she died in my shield.

It was then we also discovered one of their most terrifying tools of war. As soon as Delphine was killed, a pillar of fire went up, and she was quickly incinerated in the fierce and deadly thermite flames. As brightly as it blazed, the column burned itself out quickly, and she was just gone, as if she never existed. It was a demoralizing blow.

Nessie was following Jasper's orders, and trying to get our forces back under his control. We rallied into a strong defensive formation, but the newborns struck again, and again. We lost Kate, and Benjamin's mate Tia in those attacks. The message came through loud and clear through Nessie, that the Volturi weren't using their mind based attacks. We'd come prepared to battle those like Alec and Jane, and instead we were falling to newborn strength and viciousness.

Jasper got our forces reorganized, and we went after the newborns with a vengeance. I had to forget that each one was once a human being, and fight the life or death battles that came my way. Still, it became clear to me that they weren't fighting the way Victoria's forces had fought. They weren't disorganized, and they weren't as easy to kill. They challenged our forces over and over again, and even with Jaspers military expertise, they took many of us down with them when they died. Worse, the Volturi formation still had most of their numbers unscathed.

When most of the newborn pawns were obliterated, the Volturi recombined into a giant wedge of vampiric death. Anyone who attacked the force, was met with a strong, swift, organized counter attack. In that way they tore through many of the Southern forces. Jasper observed from a perch in a tall pine, then he dropped down to send a message through Nessie.

"They're fighting as if with one mind! This is a hive mentality, it's like we're trying to kill a swarm of angry bees. We need to know who's controlling them."

Edward began to organize a force that would be able to penetrate the "swarm." With his gift, he'd be able to know who was leading, if he could get close enough.

If I could live that day over, I never would have let them go. I would have begged him to stay behind with me. I didn't know. I thought the universe couldn't possibly let him die.

Edward came to me, for just a moment before he would lead the attack. He held me and kissed me as if it would be our last. He reminded me of a soldier being deployed. "Watch over our girl. I love you Bella, I always have and I always will." I wonder if he knew what was coming.

I could protect their minds from attack, but their bodies were vulnerable to the horrors of the day. Emmett, Carlisle, Garrett, Eleazar, the two Romanians, Vladmir and Stefan, Benjamin, Maxim of Mississippi, and four others, joined with Edward to penetrate the Volturi hive. To make sure they wouldn't be swarmed over, Jacob and his pack would attack from the other side and draw their focus. It was a daring plan, but with so many of us falling to their deadly strikes we needed to take out their leaders.

Jasper, Nessie, and I were joined by Alice, Tanya, and Esme. We were far enough away from the fight, we thought we would be able to see any incoming attack.

Alice held my hand. "Keep the shield up. Whoever is making them fight like that is using a mental attack. They're just using it on their own people." I hated my vampire eyesight, as I was able to see how small our force looked next to theirs. When the wolves attacked, I saw the fear on Nessie's face, as she worried about Jacob. As we expected, they turned as a whole to face the attack, and Edward's tiny group rushed in from the other side. It was roughly a dozen against a hundred.

"Bella, extend your shield around Aro." Jasper's voice was authoritative, but his command confused me. "Just do it, Aro would never give up power and control voluntarily." As our group moved in swift and powerful, I stretched the shield before them, and pulled Aro into it.

"Aro's leaving their formation!" I gasped. "My god, he wants out!"

"Look, that's Edward's signal. It's Caius in control!" Jasper sounded as shocked as I felt. "He's not supposed to have a power – what the hell? Ness, let everyone know our target is Caius! I should have known, Look at the way they're fighting the wolves. Caius is terrified of the werewolves. He's let his guard down on our side. They've gotten in so close..."

"NO!" I screamed as the whole Volturi hive collapsed in on our group. Aro left, and Caius turned his attention toward our forces. I took two steps to run to them, but Alice held me back.

"Hold that shield, Bella! Damn it, if you drop it now, we're all dead."

"I can't stay here – he needs me!" I only made it about a hundred yards, since she was holding me back. I still kept the shield in place.

"Bella, please..." Alice had my arm, trying to pull me back to our command group.

I heard her scream, both in my head and in my ears. I froze and turned toward my daughter. Our command group was under attack. Whoever shielded the newborns earlier, had shielded the attackers, and they were all fighting for their lives.

"Shield, Bella!" Alice commanded. I turned my attention back to the main battle. "Don't let them distract you. Jasper will protect her." I was torn between being with my daughter and going to my husband. Then I saw the tide turn for the worse. Emmett was trying to protect his family when he fell. Benjamin created a minor earthquake that pushed back part of the swarm. Carlisle fought to get to Emmett, but he was held back by the sheer numbers against them.

The Romanians broke ranks, and charged to the center of the swarm. I saw them pull down one of the red-robed leaders, then they all disappeared into the churning mass. Thanks to Benjamin, a small cyclone erupted, and pushed back the enemy. It gave our force a bit of room, to regroup.

I held the shield for them, but our strike force fell apart in the face of overwhelming odds. Carlisle pulled Emmett from the fight, then charged back in to support Edward. When the wolves on the other side gave way, the whole Volturi army focused on Edward's small force. Our side rallied to help them, but it was too late. They were surrounded, and only Edward, Carlisle, Benjamin, Eleazar,, and Garrett survived. They charged at Caius.

Benjamin went down to Jane and Alec, who weren't using their powers, but still fought like a trained team. Carlisle went for Caius. I saw Marcus and Caius join together to crush Carlisle.

"Hold the shield, Bella!" Alice was beside me, and I saw her face reflect the horror we were both witnessing. When Edward took his place to attack Caius, I watched in horror as they again teamed up against him. Marcus was blocking Caius and Edward managed to put an end to him, but then Caius attacked. My beautiful, kind, loving, faithful, husband was broken and torn right before my eyes. I saw him ripped apart like a child's rag doll.

Just a few seconds too late, Jacob bounded into the center of the throng and tore into Caius. I watched the russet wolf and Sam's solid black wolf, rip into the ancient monster with a deadly ferocity that ended his existence. His death quickly turned the tide in our favor as the control holding them together disintegrated.

All I had to do was get to Edward and pull him out of the battle. I don't know who did it, but one by one, three thermite fires flared within the enemy ranks. I ran, but I was too far away to save him. I heard the shrieks as Rosalie came from out of nowhere and tried to save Emmett's remains from the flames. I pulled her back or she would have been completely consumed. Edward, and Benjamin were both gone, as was Emmett.

My mind refused to believe it could be happening. I felt a surge of grief and horror rise up, and flood through me. It choked me as it clawed to be free, and I let it out in a wild forceful storm front that pushed everything before it. My shield went out from me like a tidal wave of emotional force, smashing everyone on the outside in one powerful pulse.

I watched the Volturi army topple, like a field of domino's before an angry child. I collapsed to the ground, completely drained to the point of unconsciousness. I don't know how long I was out, but I couldn't find the strength to stand even when I came to. My mind refused to cope with all I'd seen and what I knew. It just wasn't possible that he was gone. I couldn't even face the reality of his death.

When the chaos resolved, I saw Aro coming out of the fray, and he was carrying what remained of Carlisle. Alice ran to help, and I crawled, then stumbled back toward my daughter. It was then I saw more heartbreak. Eleazar was battered and grief stricken as he discovered that Carmen and Tanya had been destroyed in the battle. Then I found out Esme was gone as well, and her body had been carried off and destroyed.

"She saved my life, Mom." My daughter's tearful sobs echoed in my head as I saw Carlisle began to mend. It was startling to watch his pieces pull together, and reconnect. Rosalie sat alone, rocking back and forth as she hugged herself. It looked like the war was over, as there was no leadership on the side of the Volturi. There were still some isolated skirmishes going on, but for the most part, the survivors were gathering in small defensive groups. The fight had gone out of everyone. The field was covered in blood, and there were two bonfires and Volturi newborns were being fed into the flames before they could heal.

"It's been Caius all along." Aro was speaking to Jasper, as if Jasper was now our leader. "He's always had the ability to unite us all, but he's never used it until now. It's something we always thought of as a secret weapon if we ever needed it We agreed it was for a conflict between humans and vampires – the end of days. I didn't want this! I don't even think he wanted it. We were foolish, and we've been used."

"That's a piss-poor excuse, if you ask me!" It was Garrett who confronted Aro. "Wah wah, it wasn't my fault," he sneered. "Take a look around you and see what you've done! My Kate... her blood is on your hands!" He stalked aggressively toward Aro, and I thought for sure he was going to attack him.

"Garrett, you need to keep yourself under control." Jasper's words were soft, but they were clearly a command. I also knew he was using his ability to calm him.

"He's right." Hearing the defeat in Aro's voice shocked me. "We let it happen. We were arrogant, and we thought we were the most powerful beings on the planet. But it's a big planet." He looked around at the fires, the chaos, and the grief stricken people left behind. When he started speaking, I realized he wasn't the same calculating, mildly amused man I'd met before. He was a man facing his judgment day.

As the word went out that the war was over, he began to tell a story that had us all hanging on his every word.

"It was after our visit to your home ten years ago that we made our biggest mistake. Cauis felt like someone should pay for our failed mission. At first he wanted to hunt down all those who'd turned against us and then fled. But then he remembered the half-breeds. He couldn't go after the Cullen child, but the one who'd created the hybrid called Nahuel was one of us, and therefore subject to our laws." At the mention of Nahuel I realized I hadn't seen him on either side of the war, nor had I seen his aunt Huilen.

"He must have known we were coming for him. He left his home in Chile, and we sent Demetri to see if he could be found. It took a while, but we discovered him in Africa, living among the Congolese Pygmies. It's one of the least civilized places in the world, and he'd set himself up as a leader among the natives. He had already succeeded in creating six more hybrids, and there were at least a dozen women in various stages of pregnancy, and each of them was prepared to die for him." His eyes looked haunted as he spoke.

"Caius is – was – my friend for over a thousand years. But he couldn't let go of what he saw as our humiliation when we were last here. There was no reasoning with him, and so he was part of the small army we sent to bring the renegade Joham back for judgment." Aro fell to his knees as he told his story, and his head dropped to his chest.

His tortured whisper shocked us. "I never really saw my friend again. The man who was destroyed today wasn't the same man who left on his mission. The Caius I knew never would have broken so many of our laws – he was the one who wrote them. When our army returned, they had Joham with them. What we failed to realize until it was too late, was that he wasn't a prisoner – they were." He looked up and met our eyes.

"We should have left them alone in Chile. The danger has never been the hybrids, the danger is with Joham, the sire. He could have stayed isolated for the rest of eternity, and maybe eventually he'd have a small army of hybrids and we'd have noticed. But instead we hunted him and made him defensive." Aro knelt there on the ground in the trampled snow, looking completely forlorn. He looked up at us, his eyes so dark they could have been black.

"He has a power we never expected. We all have the ability to lure humans to their death: Beauty, scent, strength, speed, and guile. We didn't think there was anything special about the way the mothers of his children sacrificed themselves. But we were wrong. It's simple and quite devastating. He has charm."

His head fell to his chest in defeat. "I'm not talking about simple mannerisms that make him hard to resist. I mean he has a compulsion that works so subtly you don't even realize he's stealing your will. It's a powerful influence that works even if obedience means your death. Among the local women, it meant he could have his choice of mates. Even knowing exactly what he was and what he would do to them wasn't enough of a deterrent. The women gladly offered themselves up as human incubators for his children." He looked my way meaningfully, and I wanted to hurt him for the implication.

"When he retreated to Africa, he used his power to set himself up as a chief. The women offered themselves to him, and the men bowed to him in adoration. When our army came against them, it was a massacre. The men defended their chief to the death, and the woman who weren't bearing his children laid down their lives as well. He surrendered before any of his children or impregnated mates were harmed. They apprehended him and they thought he was their captive."

Aro stood up. "They were mistaken. One by one they fell to him, without a single blow. We are ever ready for an attack, but the man who comes with smiles and open hands, doesn't even warrant a defense. It took over a month for them to return. That's how long it took the women to give birth to the hybrids that tore their way out of their bodies. Our army became his army, and they went on to invade another tribe so that the hybrids and his army could feed."

Aro had an audience for the story he seemed compelled to tell. "They came back to Volterra, and Joham took over. From the beginning, he was in the red robes of leadership. In a few months all of us were under his complete control. He preached about the benefits of breeding hybrids, and he maintained that the days of the 'ordinary' vampire were numbered. We were all his disciples, and immediately the search began for human women who wouldn't be missed. He wanted women we could breed"

Aro looked right at me with horror on his face. "Right now in Voltera, there are over a hundred hybrids – I've fathered three myself. Joham wanted to lead an army of them against the rest of the world. He believed they were better because they can blend in with humans more readily than we can. They're warm, their hearts beat, they can eat human food, and they sleep."

He strode over to Garrett. "You think this war was about rebellion and resistance, but you're wrong. You merely gave him the excuse he needed to start the war. Have you had a chance to look beneath the robes yet? Our army was primarily female. All the women, along with the men who didn't have enough control to mate with a human." He looked suddenly overwrought with grief. They're all gone now: Marcus, Caius, Jane, Alec, Renata, Heidi, Chelsea, Felix, and Sulpicia – my wife. Caius controlled them, but Joham commanded them." He smiled bitterly. "The irony does not escape me that it was Vladmir and Stefan who killed him. It's the only good thing to come of this day – his death."

The story he told was almost impossible to believe, but little by little the evidence proved he was telling the truth. The army was almost entirely female. The men it seems were necessary to father his master race.

As what was left of our forces came together, it was common to hear how the women were targeted, and the men were left behind. I wished they had been as successful with me.

Carlisle healed, and then he had to be told all the horrible news of the days losses. He was silent and still as we told him of the deaths of Emmett, Edward, and Esme. He looked like he was carved from stone, even as Alice and Rosalie tried to hug him. Jasper crumpled to the ground, as he shared in his pain and sorrow, and all I could do was stare as the nightmare continued to unfold.

It was her warmth that snapped me out of it. Ness had her arms around me, needing my comfort as much as she gave me hers. Her tears flowed so freely, and I pressed my face against hers to try to experience them for myself.

"Daddy's dead? It's not possible! He would never leave us – it can't be true!" Her shrieks brought Jacob running to her side, and she passed out in his arms.