Gabriel felt the Brudes behind him as he fought 2 lycans. He felt the change in their manner and lust as soon as they realized Brude women were not gone and he felt the vibration when Thorne unleashed the power of the Sword of Light. He cut down the lycans and saw Leif & Ingram move out of the corner of his eye. The next thing he felt were strong arms around him and he was being sucked underground. What the hell is happening he thought as he heard Isabelle scream his name in his mind? That is when his torment began.
He was stripped and chained to a wall. He forced himself to go deeper into berserkergang than he ever had been and was still unable to free himself. He tried deep listening to the Brudes but was unable to penetrate their defenses. At this point he knew he had to calm himself and watch and wait for an opportunity to escape. He looked around and saw Brudes, druids, lycans and demons, he realized he was in the underworld and it was not a good place for him to be.
The questioning began. Who was he? How had the Hamilton's hid Brude women? Were there any more? How had they found out about the plan? What exactly were he and the rest of the Hamilton's? Who was his mate? They tried to take the information from his mind but this was not the first time someone had tried and he was able to fight off the attack.
Gabriel had no idea how long he had been here when suddenly he picked up a vampire scent and heard, "He is the Overseer. You have managed to capture the Keeper's mate and I am sure she is pissed." He could not believe who was standing before him, "Caius! I always knew you would turn on Aro but I never thought you stoop so low as to associate with wolves and demons."
"Yes, well we do what we must." Caius replied. Walking behind Gabriel with the cat o' nine in his hand he said, "I am sick of Aro's rules and hobbies." As Caius shook out the cat and each sentence was punctuated with sound of it landing on Gabriel's back. "Tired of him putting up with Carlisle." Whack! "Tired of reigning in the southern armies." Whack! "Tired of staying hidden from the humans." Whack! "Tired of the Guardians butting in." Whack! "Tired of Aro keeping everything to himself." Whack! "We should rule the humans not hide." Whack! "But mostly, right now, I am tired of your skin healing so quickly!" Whack! Whack! "She will come for you and when she does the Brude's can have the 2 females and you will watch me kill her. When she is dead we can continue with our plan and rule." Whack! Turning to one of the demons he said, "Continue the lashes until his skin doesn't heal and then administer another 25, even if he passes out."
Isabelle was above ground in agony. How had they taken him she thought? More importantly where had they taken him? When she stood and turned around her family, the Cullen's and the Denali's were looking at her shocked that this had happened. "Boys, search the field and the mansion, find me live druids, wolves and any lycan or vampire in on this plot. I need to interrogate them and find out where in the underworld they have taken him. A mated pair would work best." As she turned to speak to Carlisle she grimaced in pain and held her side, "Bastards. They have chained him so they can beat him. Pussies." "What?" her sons yelled as Isabelle arched her back in pain. "They have him chained and unless I am mistaken he is being whipped with a cat o' nine now." she spoke through clenched teeth. "Ruth, mix me a potion that will dull the pain without dulling my mind. He will attempt to shut off the bond and that I will not allow."
"Carlisle, if you and the Denali's could start a fire and take care of the bodies I would appreciate it? I need to go the mansion and ready the holding cell in the suite for interrogation. Thorne, take the other girls and sift back to the castle. Ready the dance, rings and the clan for our arrival. Once I am done here I will sift with the rest to the castle. It is important everything is as ready as possible when I arrive. I do not know how long your father has and I refuse to lose him." Everyone nodded and went off to carry out her orders as she made her way into the mansion.
When they had about half of the bodies collected Carlisle saw Soren and Leif escorting a female druid and a female lycan across the field. "Soren, what are they for?" Carlisle asked. "They are to be interrogated by the Keeper." Soren answered. "I feel I should warn you. She needs information and quickly, the person doing this will not be Isabelle it will be the Keeper. It is a frame of mind she rarely goes to but her mate has been taken and she is living through hell with him. He is trying to close the link and she is fighting him. This will be an Isabelle that you have never seen and we have only witnessed once." Carlisle had no idea what to say or if he even wanted his family to witness it.
Isabelle's voice suddenly pierced the air, "I SAID OPEN TO ME. YOU CAN NOT HIDE, OPEN NOW." Everyone took off for the mansion. Upon entering the Guardians suite they saw the wall by fireplace was gone and in its place was what looked to be a torture chamber. There was a prison cell currently holding 4 people, a chair in the middle of the room with bindings and a lot of different instruments on the wall. No one had any idea what to say. Isabelle was sitting behind her desk with her eyes closed and her hands like steeples against her forehead. Her lips were moving but no one could make out what she was saying. Carlisle looked to Soren with a raised eyebrow wanting to know what was happening. "She is comforting him. She forced her way in and opened the link fully and is now trying to give him something else to focus on instead of the pain." Soren answered.
Isabelle opened her eyes and stood, "He has passed out and still they continue the lashing." she said in a pained voice. When she looked at the group gathered in front of her is when they noticed her eyes had turned an ice blue. "None of you have to stay to see this. If at any point it becomes too much just leave the room, do not offer comfort or guidance. It is not needed or wanted." With that said she opened the cell pulled out the female lycan and strapped the screaming woman into the chair. Allowing her fangs to drop Isabelle backhanded the woman, grabbed her hair and forced her to head up. "You need to understand that I am going to kill you. My mate was taken and that is a crime that calls for death. If you tell me what I want to know I will make it easy and if not I will make it hard but either way I will find out what you know. All four of you need to listen; I want the answer to one question. Where is he being held in the underworld?"
The lycan started screaming she didn't know anything and Isabelle slowly dragged her fangs up the woman's arm causing shallow cuts and releasing venom. Venom that would kill her slowly. "I don't know anything, I swear!" she screamed again. Isabelle did the same thing to her other arm. Again she swore she didn't know anything and Isabelle had had enough. "How about I just take the information I want" and she bit into her neck. The girl knew where some of the prisoner cells where in the underworld but not if Gabriel would be held there. Isabelle went to a map marked the place, went back to the girl and loosened the bindings. When the girl stood Isabelle grabbed her from behind and snapped her head off saying to Michael "Get rid of the body."
As she pulled a male wolf out of the cell the Denali's left the room. He knew even less than the lycan and died quicker. As she grabbed the male druid and was walking him over to the wall to chain him, all the Cullen's left the room except Edward. She went over to the table and picked up a whip. The fact that it was a cat o' nine tails was not lost on anyone. She was deep listening to him as she was whipping him. The female druid left in the cell was more involved and knew more than he did. With that knowledge she gave him another 5 lashes and then snapped his neck. Leaving him hanging on the wall she pulled the female out of the cell and bound her in the chair.
Isabelle pulled a chair up in front of the druid, I know you have the information I want. That you know where the Brude's are and where they will keep him. The male was not very good at hiding his thoughts. If you tell me I will kill you quickly, if not I will take what I want from you." The female spit in her face. "So be it then." Isabelle leaned forward and grabbed the female by her hair forcing her head forward until their foreheads met. Isabelle closed her eyes and just listened. The female was fighting the intrusion to her mind and her body was shaking with the effort. They had been like that for 5 minutes when Isabelle whispered, "Ah. There is the information I want." When she opened her eyes blood started to trickle from the druid's nose, mouth and ears and when Isabelle released her hold the female slumped forward - she was dead.
Isabelle stood facing her family and Edward, "We will take the jet back instead of sifting. I need to put a plan in place and time to think. The flight will give me that. Michael, call and tell the pilot. We will go on foot to the airport. Get the Cullen's and Tanya, we need to go now."
Once the plane was in the air Isabelle, her sons and Ruth went to the front of the plane to discuss the plan for when they arrived at the castle. The Cullen's and Tanya were in the back of the plane discussing what had just happened at the mansion. Edward explained what happened after the others had left and their minds were just blank. Alice explained about the conversation she and Gabriel had on the way to Reno. "As much as it pains me to say this, he was right. After seeing just the small amount I did today there is no way we or even just Edward could have lived with that for 3,000 years. I understand she was getting information about her mate but how close was that to what they were doing when we were at the castle. Even if it only happens once every 25 or 50 years could we live with ourselves if that is what we had to do? I don't think so."
"She has her link fully open" Jasper interrupted, "so it is easy to read her emotions. There was a lot of rage and determination. The part of her that is concentrating on Gabriel is filled with love and comfort but never was there remorse for what she was doing. She wasn't enjoying it but she didn't feel sorry about it either. Her actions and feelings were not new to her, so she has definitely done this before. I agree with Alice, I don't think this is something we could do for any length of time, especially if someone hadn't wronged us personally."
Everyone turned and looked at Edward to see how he felt about things. Not looking at anyone Edward started to speak. "I have mixed feelings about everything. She has not changed in my eyes because of the things she has done. I love her and if anything I love her even more because of the things she has done to protect our world and the humans. I will always love her but I also realize this is not something I could have done with her. She is strong, so very strong, emotionally, mentally and physically, much stronger than I am. I know myself well enough to know I would not have been able to live this life for long, even with her. It is very hard to let her go, I can't let her go totally that would kill me but I can recognize that Gabriel is the better match for her and the life she was destined to have. If I can't have her as my mate then I need her in my life as my friend and I will do whatever it takes to make sure she is happy with Gabriel. I do not want to discuss this anymore." The Cullen's watched sadly as he walked to the galley to be alone.
What Edward didn't tell them was that from some reason with Isabelle's link open he could hear her thoughts this time and the things she said to Gabriel to comfort him. While some of them tore him to pieces, like when she thought of the times they had been intimate, it helped him to realize how much they depended on each other. In the history of the world he was sure no two people had ever been more closely intertwined and dependent on each other. It was seeing those times that they comforted each other after a battle, watching her draw strength from Gabriel just so she could live with the things she had done that he developed a true respect for the man who was her husband. He thought about the fact that Gabriel chose this life, it was an informed decision and was in awe of the depth of love he must have for her. As the plane was descending to land at Wick is when he made the decision to make sure Gabriel came back to her alive. He knew he would never find another true mate so he would do this one last thing for her before he stepped into the role of friend and tried to move on with his life. He knew she needed Gabriel to live and he needed her to be as happy as possible before he attempted to make a life for himself.
As the plane was approaching the hangar Isabelle gasped, "He is awake and in pain. I love you cèile and I am coming for you." She turned to Soren, "Call the castle I need the entire clan assembled. The solstice begins the day after tomorrow and we need to be ready. I will be retrieving Gabriel at sunrise. With this fight I want to end the Brude's and hopefully we can live in peace for awhile."
The helicopters landed near the training fields at dusk, a very subdued Isabelle led the group up the hill. When she reached the crest she was in awe, every member of the clan was gathered holding a candle. When she was spotted they put one hand over their heart and went down on one knee, pledging their loyalty to her. "Thank you. I can not express how much this means to me and Gabriel. This right here, this show of loyalty and strength is why the Hamilton Clan was chosen to carry out this duty. I have faith in all of you and now let me explain what needs to be done to get your Laird back." She spent the next three hours explaining exactly what they would be doing to finish what the Brude's started.
When Gabriel was conscious he could hear Isabelle talking to him in his mind. He knew she was coming for him if he could hold on long enough. Neither the Brude's nor Caius knew much about Isabelle or the Guardians. This is why they protected their secrets so strictly. He would not talk and without more information they would not attack. The balms and potions that Ruth was applying to Isabelle also helped Gabriel deal with the pain and heal. He knew they couldn't figure why they couldn't break him so they doubled their efforts. 24 more hours he thought, I can do this and then he passed out again.
At midnight on the solstice the hay bales were lit at the dance and the rings to show respect and cleanse the area. At 4:00 am parents starting arriving at the castle with their children under 16. Thorne & Thunder would look after all the children in the keep. Should things go wrong they could sift all the children to safety quickly. At 5:00 am the clansmen started arriving at the dance and the rings with their weapons. The men circled the outer part of the ring looking out, protecting the women within. The women formed circles inside the men looking into the ring. They were the ones Isabelle would pull energy and strength from to complete the spell. They were to focus on protecting the women and the women were to focus and projecting the love and fierceness they felt in protecting their family. At 5:45 am the Hamilton's and Cullen's made their way to the ring at the waterfall. The one that had always been special and just for Isabelle and Gabriel. Once again the men circled the perimeter and the women formed circles inside with Isabelle standing alone in the heart of the circle. The sky was starting to lighten when she said, "I want to thank each and every one of you and tell you it has been an honor to stand beside you on this journey. Your love and faith in me give me strength, know that I love you all also. Go with God. Be safe." She had warned them all about what could come out of the underworld with Gabriel and they had chosen to stand with her anyway.
At 6:15 am as the sun started to peak over the mountaintop she unsheathed the Sword of Light. "He is conscious again." Piercing the ground in front of her with the Sword she said the spell, "What was taken, will be returned. For the takers, a lesson to learn. With faith and strength and love I call, break through the underworld's wall. As I force open the mouth of hell, lay in front of me, my mate, Gabriel." As she removed the Sword from the ground Gabriel appeared at her feet. He was beaten and bloody and bruised. He had broken bones and open whip marks all over his body. Most importantly he was alive.
As Isabelle kneeled down next to him, the ground started to shake and fissures opened up outside the rings. She took a protective stance over Gabriel and warned the others, "Prepare yourselves, here come the hounds of hell."
Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight or its characters.
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