Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight! I can't because I'm probably too lazy for all those book signings!
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
"This isn't were I meant to lay down."
~Christina Perri
The ferocity of Edward's growls is astonishing. He cannot seem to decide whether to help his family, which are being detained by massive, foreign aliens or if he should stay posed in front of his mate and child. He's lost all of his logic, reverting completely to an instinct driven male – one who will simply kill to protect what he considers his.
The Northern caps are silent, only Edward's growls echoing against the white landscape.
I hadn't noticed until now how chilling the scenery was – huge white glaciers, cool grey mountains capped by a dusting of white snow in the near-distance, the water positively clear and free of life, the ground icy and pure.
I can almost see the snow painted with various shades of red – blood from every species here.
It was just a matter of who would die.
There wasn't a doubt in my mind that a battle would come from this.
It was us or them.
How long had it been since I'd seen Yvette? Months, nearly six months – perhaps even a year on Earth. I didn't know. But she had told me, on my last day, which big changes would happen in my future.
This was one of them.
This was between my father and I.
Resolve hardened in my gut; I would kill him if I had to.
Pricks of power surges through me, raising the hair on my pebbled skin, startling the baby in my arms. Caelum sniffs at my skin as it becomes slightly charged with electricity but he seems to embrace the shift.
"You were not supposed to be here," my father says monotonously.
I raise my chin, defiant, stronger than I had been when I saw him last. "Of course I was. You sent me here."
A ghost of guilt passes over his face before he closes it off. "You belong here."
"I do," I agree, my voice firm. Unforgiving. It was true. I do belong on Leumin. "But you don't. Why are you here?"
If I had been younger, if my Leumian side hadn't been awake, I would have missed it – but Charlie's eyes shift towards the naked trees, the barks a stark contrast to the warm tones of the mountain palace's forest.
I follow his eyes and press my lips together.
Of course.
Several black bags, durable and made of some scaly leather sit under the trees. One bag has fallen over and untied itself.
Several small lormaline stones are seeping out of the bag.
"It was about lormaline," I whisper.
That was his whole reason for sending me here.
Edward roars, falling into a deep crouch. I place my hand on his shoulder, stopping him from charging.
I needed more information.
I shift Caelum, wrapping my cloak tighter around us as the wind howls. "You've been stealing from the mines," I tell my father, confident and assured though inside I am fuming.
How dare he steal from my family, my planet?
"Hardly."
"I see the evidence right there. You can't lie to me anymore."
"They leave it lying around."
That wasn't true. From what I knew, lormaline had to be mined and uncovered from rocks, dirt, mountains, and deep water. It was hard work getting lormaline.
Behind my father, Carlisle begins growling, his arms tight around Esme as she stands tall, strong, in front of Rosalie. I can tell that she is trying to shield Rosalie from the lecherous sight of the foreign alien crowding their space. Emmett is being restrained by another.
My mind inches, craving the control of metal.
There is much around me.
But I had to time it right.
Electricity rose on my skin again, higher in voltage, causing Caelum to coo at the coy sting.
"That is yours?" My father's voice is flat and he is indicating, pointing at the child in my arms.
"He is mine. Yes."
"I thought they might kill you before you could get knocked up with the bastard," Charlie says petulantly, smirking when Edward roars out again in outrage. I tighten my grip on my mate's shoulder.
"You knew about my mother, then."
There is no question.
He knew.
"Three months of pregnancy and then a baby? Of course I knew."
I nod, suspecting as much. "Then you knew about the lormaline, too."
"A remarkable stone," Charlie says, strolling casually around in a pacing circle. If I hadn't known how he could be, cold and calculating but scared deep down inside, I would have thought he was relaxed.
But there was a certain twitch of his fingers, the way they laced together that indicated his anxiety.
"How much do you know about it?"
"Everything," he tells me coolly. "It's a power source, a healing stone, a vitamin, a mineral. They eat it here – it can be crushed and ingested. It conducts heat and electricity. It's a metal. It's everything. One lormaline, less than a gram of lormaline, can power an entire planet for a year or more. Do you have any idea how valuable that is?
"Do you know how powerful I would be if I was in control of lormaline stores? How much money I could make? I would be a King. I would rule the universe. Everything would be at my fingertips."
My jaw is clenched.
"Lormaline is sacred."
"It is power!" my father yells, his hands above his head and his face red. "You stupid girl, it has always been about power!"
Electricity, a higher voltage, dances across my skin and my eyes rove to my surroundings – I can feel the lormaline mines a quarter of a mile away, almost too far, but the percentage of metal is high enough to make an impact. Then there is the abandoned bags of lormaline in the tree line, the metal-based rocks on the shore line.
Would it be enough?
A movement catches my eye – Alice, her hand holding the disk-cam that seems to be running, is pointing directly to my left.
She has to be mad.
Of course, I had felt the heavy metal, the essence blinding, but it was, by far, the heaviest concentration I had ever come across.
There was no way I could move that.
But then, as I shifted my focus away from the massive boulder, another essence was caught in my awareness.
The hulking aliens.
They appeared snake-like, flat noses, long, flat mouths.
With blood as pure as steel.
I had never considered blood to be a weapon.
Now it was taunting me, staring me in the face.
It might kill me, but I could take all five of those aliens and my father and my family, my baby Caelum and my mate might make it out alive.
The timing had to be perfect.
I clear my throat, which had suddenly become parched, and grip Caelum tighter to me, my hand slacking on Edward's shoulder.
"What happened to you?" I ask, my voice carrying across the white expanse between my father and my life. "Why are you like this?"
He pauses – freezes, actually, his glare shooting at me, through me. Edward stops growling and all eyes turn to my father.
"She left me," he says harshly.
And I know who he is talking about.
"She died," I tell him gently, pulling at the lormaline mine, feeling huge hunks of the stone disconnecting and traveling towards me.
It wouldn't be long now.
"No," Charlie disagrees, his eyes crazed, his hands pulling at his short, dark hair. "No, she left me with a child. Left me with you! A useless half-breed!"
"She died," I repeat, stepping up to Edward's side slowly and shifting Caelum in my arms – he whines softly, pulling at my cape. "Not even lormaline could keep her alive on Earth."
Charlie coughs.
He shakes his head.
And pulls out a pristine gun, the modern versions made with lasers instead of bullets – it shakes, unsteady, in his hands.
"You're wrong!"
And in that moment, I can't hold back.
I hand off Caelum to Edward and, with a single sweeping motion of my hand, knock the gun out of my father's grasp.
It skids against the snow covered ground.
I don't stop, my left hand raised above my head as huge chunks of lormaline arc through the air, glinting off the ice, and towards my father.
I crush him without hesitation.
He stains the ground crimson.
High screams echo through the air, shock and panic.
The foreign aliens are attacking or getting ready to.
I feel Edward somewhere behind me.
Quickly, I latch onto one of the aliens – the essence of his blood is intoxicatingly rich.
Imagine him blowing apart, his blood expanding and hardening into cold metal in his veins.
His skin cracks.
Blood trickles down my nose.
Another alien gone, frozen in his movement.
And then another.
And one charging towards me, crumbling before my eyes.
Lormaline flying through the air, attacking the last one as he becomes a statue, his blood turned to steel inside his body.
And I am on my knees.
Panting.
Dizzy.
Red dots are seeping into the snow under my knees.
Drip.
Drip.
"Bella?"
Drip.
I'm tired.
The cry of a baby is in the back ground.
My eyes are closing.
Drip.
"Bella!"
It is over.
Edward
My mate is being transported back to the palace.
She is breathing.
She is no longer bleeding.
Caelum refuses to sleep. He cries loudly for his mother.
I cry, too, but I keep quiet.
She is reckless.
Always near leaving me.
Always almost disappearing from her life.
But she is smart.
She knew exactly what she was doing.
My mother tends to the dried human blood on my mate's lips, wiping the flaking away with a damp cloth.
She is worried about Bella, too.
I am still reeling from what has happened.
My mate's father appears similar to my mate – the eyes, the hair, the human determination.
He was crazed.
I am anxious about my mate's reaction.
She killed her own father.
That would be something deeply troubling to deal with.
But she is strong.
And I would help her.
We arrive at the palace late in the day, Emmett and Jasper lugging one of the aliens that attacked us.
Who are they?
Why did they help my mate's father?
I had been stunned when I saw what my mate could do with their bodies, though I did not know how she did it. They seemed to become void of life the second she looked at them.
My mate is set up in our chambers, several Healers anxiously looking over her beautiful sleeping body.
They are quick in their assessment and confident.
They call her Princess.
I cannot help but smile at that, though I am crouched loyally at her bedside, our son tucked against my chest.
I will not leave until she wakes.
Mother and Father come to check on her.
They stay.
Emmett and Rosalie also come, seating themselves on the floor around the bed.
So do Alice and Jasper.
Eventually, the Elders come.
And they confirm what I had suspected while my mate was taking control of the situation.
She is the prophecy.
She is the reason the scrolls were made.
They thought it might have been my son – and they might have been right.
But timing had made it so my mate was the savior.
The Elders also come bearing news about the aliens.
They are called the Naz'feya.
The Gathering has already contacted the Fazi planet in the 39th sector.
These Naz'feya were rebels.
There will not be war for their death.
The Elders also inform us of an informant – a servant named Renata. Jasper confirms that he thought her behavior was odd.
She was executed without trial.
I did not protest it.
When the Elders leave, my mate sleeps on, her face frozen and calm.
I would fear for her death, but I can feel her life in my bones.
Caelum sleeps.
I allow Mother to hold him.
She smiles.
A certain Healer comes next, a puzzled expression on his face. He says that the blood of the Naz'feya had turned into metal.
He says my mate turned their blood into solid metal.
I think it is extraordinary.
But I would not want her to do it again. It made her too weak.
We continue to wait after he leaves.
And then, Caelum cries out, wailing as loud as he can.
Mother hands him back to me.
I rock him and he continues on.
And he wakes my mate.
She is groggy and confused, her eyes bleary as she takes in the sight of us surrounding her bed.
And she automatically reaches for Caelum, who calms immediately after being accepted into his mothers arms.
I bury my face in her hair.
I have not lost her.
We will remain together.
We will have more children.
We will live happily.
I press my lips against my mate and my child.
Nothing is looming over our heads.
It is over.
A/N: Only the Epilogue left. I might miss these characters. And, who knows, maybe there might be a short sequel for them in the far, distant future?
brittany86 – only 15 chapters because, simply, their story is done. Sure, I could make them run around with drama for 30-something chapters, but that's not my style.
PanteraFenix Negra – Leumians Anon? Maybe it does exist! Of course I read it all – I read every single review I get!
DoubleFate – I wasn't sure about the sex-after-birth-thing so I just let them stay at 3rd base lol
Maysnrs – Oh man, some kick ass powers those were!
james3142 – Charlie sucks at planning lol Right place, wrong timing. Scooby Doo?
MonaRider – stab away! Please! Get evil Charlie off my back!
stupidlamb2010 – 2 updates, 1 day!
Twilight Rocker 12 – if you put 2 crazies together, does that mean you get 4? lol
YesMyRealNameIsBella – I will be writing another story, yes lol
CrimsonRed-ink1792 – no, no, nooooo. Class first, reading second lol
Shoutout to the first review of the last chapter – handsdowntoo, Charlie is out of his something, alright lol
And another shout out to celia azul who gave me the blood idea.
Be brutally honest. I can take it!
~cupcakeriot